A pen without a pen

It was late evening, I had stopped at the local supermarket to buy a few things. As I hastily walked towards the car to leave, a man approached me. He was in his late 30s or probably early 40s. He looked haggard and had a stubble. His clothes were soiled & bag hung across his shoulder & chest. He had some thing in his hand... a thick handkerchief. I grew wary as he neared me.

He started speaking softly & discreetly. He said that he had lost his job & is doing odd jobs now to sustain himself. He was carrying some pens (new) covered in piece of cloth and said that he is selling them. Each one was costing 5 Dhs & requested me to buy. Every sale would help reduce the burden on his brother & that he will make "du'a" for me.

I paused for a moment, trying to figure out whether he was genuine or a fake, and then decided to buy one. I gave him the money & asked him to keep the pen so as to sell to someone else. The refusal to take the pen might have offended him. He said that he was not begging, to which I responded that he can accept it as a gift. He agreed and walked away.

As I drove back home, my mind was searching for some answers - Was it sympathy or fear that made me do this? Was he saying the truth or was it a deceptive move?

Answers, possibly, I could never find...

Technology that changed lives

Today, technology has permeated into every aspect of our life. From health care to space travel, from education to sports, from cooking to gaming. The list is endless.

But 3 technological developments have really made a dramatic impact on our lives... They have touched almost every one & changed lives... The way we work... we live... our social life... time management... relationships...

1) Internet & Computers
social networking, online shopping, emails, IM chats, spreadsheets, word processing, presentations ... whew !

2) Television / Broadcasting
One can see news & sports as it happens... stock markets live... Soaps... Movies... Reality shows... (time management skills required!)

3) Telecommunication
You can reach people anytime anywhere... business or personal...

Management

"Management in all business areas and human organization activity is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives" (source : Wiki).

But somewhere down the line the methodology of "getting people together to accomplish goals..." has been overlooked. Today, aggressive behaviour, unpleasant language, intimidation, patronising, lack of trust are all common in organisations. Reverence for people in the workplace is diminishing. This effects the employee motivation & job satisfaction.

Then motivation at the workplace is achieved through - the carrot (remuneration/bonus) & the stick (punishment) method. If I do "X", I will get "Y". Employees become blinkered. People become unenthusiastic & less passionate. This takes a toll on the employee's productivity & innovativeness.

Managers should know how to manage, motivate & enthuse people the right way. This is a huge challenge.

CK Prahlad in his classic article "The Resposible Manager" says - "managers must remember that they are the custodians of society's most powerful institutions. They must therefore hold themselves to a higher standard. Managers must strive to achieve success with resposnibility."

Sadly, only few uphold this.

Nostalgia

Once again it is time for them to emerge from hibernation...to see the light of the day... remove them from the cupboards & under the bed & dust them...the luggage...
It is time for some frantic & impulsive shopping...
It is time to pack your bags...
It is time to say goodbye to IMs & video chats...
It is time for grand parents to see their grand children...
It is time to see ones kith & kin...
It is time to escape the scorching heat for a while...
It is time to smell the air after the rain... and feel the rain...
It is time again to hear the temple bells...
It is time for the schools to close...
It is time to enjoy the vacation...
It is time for some good times...

And then one day... abruptly... it will be time to to say 'au revoir'...
As they say all good things have to come to an end...

Yes indeed, all these, are just for a few weeks... before one is back to the grind...
And then continue, wistfully, cherishing the vivid memories until it is time again for the luggage to see the light of the day...

Amongst Friends

It was the first week of April 2003 that I changed my job. It was in the new organisation that I met a colleague who later became a good friend of mine. When I met him, I felt that he was genuine & was able to connect with him immediately.

He helped me to settle down into the new milieu & organisational culture...
He guided me through the intricacies of the organisation...
He was there when you wanted an unbiased view on a business problem...
His inputs were valid when you had a dilemma...

It was a relationship built on trust & respect. Gradually, the relationship started to grow and did not confine within the boundaries of the organisation.

He was there to help us when our bundle of joy arrived...

Many a message was communicated even with out uttering a word, when I met his gaze...
Those long sessions over coffee & tea, working together on analysing data & making presentations...

And today as he stands on the threshold of departing from the organisation to boldly take up a challenging & exciting new assignment elsewhere, I wish him the "very best in his life" with a heavy heart.

Managing Success & Failure

There is an important learning that comes out of the "Dubai Story". It is important to manage your success & also your failure.

At times, one can be influenced by excessive growth. When spurt in growth occurs, organisations grow rapidly in size. In times of these high growth periods, it is extremely important that one manages the entity properly – by having the right people & systems in place. India is a good example of this. Since the finance & banking sector had certain controls & checks in place, it was not so severely affected by the economic slowdown.

With success also comes failure. It, then, becomes equally or even more important to accept the failure & manage it accordingly. What is then crucial is how one manages failure, what you learn from it & then rise from the fall. IBM, GE, Sony are some of the great companies who had stumbled at some point in time, but refused to accept defeat.

And this is indeed true for nations, organizations & even for individuals.

Organisational Glut

Organisations today are using sophisticated technologies - in software (ERP, CRM), for communication etc. These have indeed given them immense competitive advantage to develop products that are innovative & value engineered; reach out to customers & retain them, communicate with employees & customers quickly & also become global to tap economies of scale.

But at the same time, the fact is that, they have also made organisations complex. They have loaded organsiations with - immense amount of data, analysis & even more analysis, emails, discussions, meetings, presentations & also many problems. This complexity actually drains energy & reduces productivity of organisation's biggest asset - people. In most of the cases, this phenomenon fails to get the attention of the management.

Simplification can definitely help increase productivity which will improve satisfaction levels & thus indeed make work & life better...

Choose Your Career

Many of us, do not choose our career... What we do in our job or profession, in our ‘work life’ is by chance. Though this is changing gradually, this is the case with the majority of the people & not all. The root cause of this problem lies with the society, the culture & our educational system.

In the 60s ~ 70s, everyone wanted to have a job with the Government or Govt owned companies (ISRO, Telecom etc) or Govt educational institutions or Nationalised banks. Job security & pension was the attraction.

In the 80’s, engineers or doctors were the most wanted professions (sometimes I even felt that these were the only two professions in the world!). And one had to choose between the two! Since there were limited colleges, there was a mad rush to get an admission & those who could not make it were looked down upon. Remember the ‘Brilliant & Agarwal Tutorials’ & ‘Entrance Coaching & Exams’! Even parents, of these students, who made it to these professional colleges had a sense of accomplishment. There was fierce competition between the parents of different students. They (parents), in fact, were tense & more stressed than the students.

Then came the great IT wave & also the MBA ...

No matter whether one has a flair for a particular domain or not –

One opts for Computer Science in Engineering since IT is the ‘hot’ career.

One becomes a carpenter since his grandfathers were carpenters.

One decides to do a CA or an MBA since it has lot of ‘scope’ in Finance & Investment banking or Marketing or Retailing.

One decides to do bachelors in literature or history, since financially one cannot afford what he really wants to do.

One is running the family business, since you are the only one to take it forward & hence is forced to do it.

And sometimes we succeed & at times not...

When we choose our field of study & then our career, we never think whether we have an aptitude or passion for that field. We choose it merely because it is the ‘hot’ career & it has lot of ‘scope’. Hoping & dreaming that it will land us in a fancy job in a great company with a good remuneration.

Toxic Chemicals... Shocking...

An interesting piece of information on - toxic chemicals used in household products & their impact on human life. (The article had appeared on a news paper some time back.)

Take a look... It is indeed shocking ...

(click on the image below)

Embrace Change

As years pass by, life changes...

When we pause for a moment & look back on life - some incidents, events, things & people remain in our protective instinct.

Different memories for different people...

Here are some of mine... & what or how they are today...

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Watching TV was a community event... the whole neighbourhood at home...
Today there is a TV in every room... bed room, living room, kid’s room.

Televisions were B&W (remember Keltron?) with cloth hanger like antennas on the terrace...
Today it is the LCD HD Television with no or small DTH dish antennas...

The starting music & rotating logo of one & only one channel - Doordarshan (a dot emerging from infinity); the boring Krishi Darshan...
Today we have reality shows & reality shows in various languages & channels are innumerable...

Meaningful Hum Log & Buniyaad have given way to insensible Ekta’s K serials... rebirth, amnesia, plastic surgery, one husband-two wives & vice-versa, vicious step-mother...

Interesting 'The World This Week' on Fridays & DD News...
Today scores of 24x7 news & business channels are on air...

Home work had to be completed before the exciting Chitrahaar on Wednesday...
Today forget the day & time we have 24x7 MTV & VTV...

Black 5-1/4 inch floppy diskettes & booting computers with MS-DOS...
Today – stylish 4 or 8 Gig USB memory sticks & Windows...

Kapil Dev's unforgettable catch... India winning the Prudential World Cup. Ravi Shastri’s 6 sixers & winning the Benson & Hedges ...
Today Indian cricket personalities are seen more on product commercials...

A BSA Cycle was the most wanted gift (if you do well in your exams)...
Today it is the iPOD...

Automobiles like - 'Moped', Vijay Super, Lamby, Padmini & Ambassador zoomed on the roads...
Today teenagers go to college on Hero Honda & Bajaj motor bikes... A Zen or a Santro is on the wish list after getting a job...

The tilting of Chetak every day morning before kick starting...
Today just push a button to start the ignition...

Telegrams, postcards & blue coloured 'Inland' Letters...
Today – emails, SMS, text & voice chat... distance has been diminished along with that personal touch

Had to wait 2~3 years to get a telephone connection...
Today, mobile phone connections can be obtained in a jiffy...

Booking & waiting for the 'Trunk' calls...
You can reach anyone anywhere anytime... Thanks to mobile phones...

Reading, stamp & coin collection were the common hobbies. Bartering the 'doubles' with friends & cousins, visit to the library...
Hobbies ?? Surfing the net & shopping are common... Libraries are no longer viable...

Eating-out was a taboo & expensive. Wedding feasts & temple feast were the only exemptions...
No mood to cook, no problem... Let us eat-out...

Elaborate celebrations during festivals at home & the temple Aaraat (annual festival)... Navarathri was the best festival, since there is no reading & no books on the 9th day... !
Today – Celebrations are scaled down & do not precisely follow the traditions...

The fun filled, big family gatherings ahead of weddings & other family events...
Today - Busy with work... cannot attend the function...

Friends from the locality used to meet at the street corner or at wicket gate of the house for a long chit-chat...
Today friends meet in chatrooms & Facebook...

You knew who your neighbour was...
Today you meet your next door neighbour more often at the super market than on the street or corridor...

Fond memories from the past...

Like the line from the popular song by Bryan Adams "...those were the best days of my life..."

Health takes a backseat

The last few years witnessed tremendous economic activity globally. The pace of business was accelerating & growth was at unprecedented pace. This had put immense pressure on people. Longer working hours, with a zillion things to do… Projects had to be completed, deadlines had to be met, top line & bottom line targets were stretched & had to be achieved, market share had to be increased, new markets had to be conquered and new products had to be launched. The list is endless...

In this flurry of work-life, health & well being took a backseat. Headaches, common colds & bout of flu were not a problem at all. Had to take refuge in loads of paracetmol & antibiotics... Strong medicines had to be had. Work could not be missed or was not accepted.

For those who stayed awake, pondering about the deadlines & numbers, strong coffee is an antidote the following day for lack of sleep. Then there is the most dreaded & popular word - "stress". This villain of villains could help to bring in various types of strange & weird ailments. Our sedentary life style coupled with high calorie food & lack of exercise helped gain some weight. All these, imminently, brought along its set of health problems.

And now as the world economy goes into a free fall & businesses go on a parlous journey through uncertain & challenging times, people are set with a new set of demands which brings in a different kind of pressure. Fear, anxiety & uncertainty are gripping people. Stress levels are on the rise again. Once again health will be disregarded.

Irrespective of whether the economy is in a boom or gloom mode, health is taking a back seat. Hope people & organizations will pause for a moment & take conscious efforts to revive this negligence.

V-Day

It is the month of February. Valentine's Day has come & gone.

Where were all these 'days' a few years back? Since the late nineties, there has been a deluge of such special 'days' - Valentine's Day, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Friendship Day, Hugging Day & many more...

The question is - do we need to earmark a day in an year for love, to remember friends & dear ones? Is it conditional & timed? Is it not perpetual & unconditional?

It is purely a marketing gimmick. Just look at the amount of money spent on gifts 'for her' & 'for him'. During the countdown for these 'days', the market is flooded with various bespoke gift ideas - from cards to diamond studded pendants to expensive pens to holiday packages. It is indeed a clever marketing manoeuvre.

The story does not end here. Now comes the discussion & comparison on the gifts given & received. If one has been drawn into this vortex of various 'days', you will be forced by circumstances to give something better next time.

Valentine's Day has come & gone. And it will come back again, next year with more hype & fervour.

Endangered Species

Hobbies are activities that one gets engaged during spare time.

It was not so long ago that hobbies like stamp & coin collection, playing a musical instrument, gardening, reading were the actively pursued & popular hobbies. But today, many of these activities are on the verge of extinction & hobbies per se, are going into oblivion.

This can be imputed to modernisation, changing priorities & a lack of time. Other priorities have taken precedence over hobbies, in that little spare time if at all available.

In school & college it is the demanding rigour of the academic curriculum, competition, the pressure to be the 'topper’, additional coaching, entrance-coaching...

The pressure does not end with school & college. The travail of securing a good job comes next. And once you start your career, the rat race begins, intense pressure to perform better & better, office politics, survival of the fittest, long working hours, daily commuting...

When you assume that you have settled (???) in your job & leave a sigh of relief, comes the decree from the parents - start a family ! Priorities change, once again...

Indeed it is the pressure of modern times, which has made time the biggest luxury of the century.

In this modern world there still exist some weird & sedentary activities which people who purse, term as hobbies & some even include them in their CV ! - surfing the net, shopping, sleeping...

Kudos to all those who are still engaged in a creative & productive activity based hobby.

Customer Loyalty

Jack Welch in one of his articles in “Winning Ways of Management” talks on customer loyalty. He says that, in today’s increasingly competitive market place, customer loyalty has not disappeared, but has taken a new form.

In today’s fiercely competitive market environment, just offering best services, better products, competitive prices, discounts, rebates, lunch, holiday trips, goodies etc will not help retain customers. One has to help the customer to compete & be successful in their (customer’s) market place. This needs to be achieved by understanding the market (competition, products etc) & also your customer. And will require implementing a combination of actions to support the customer, incessantly.

An organisation which fails to understand this & react accordingly will face difficulties in retaining customers & will not have customer loyalty.

Satyam Asatyam

Satyam in many Indian languages stands for truth, honesty, rightful. But the recent accounting fraud at Satyam Computers is not befitting its name. It is a definitely a setback for the IT industry (which India is famous globally), for corporate India, for corporate governance and above all it has tarnished India’s image.

Satyam is (was ?) India’s 4th biggest IT company. It had won many accolades – Golden Peacock award for corporate governance; E&Y Entrepreneur of the year for Ramalinga Raju. Has World Bank & some Fortune 500 companies as customers (GE, Nestle); has operations globally; is listed on the NYSE; employs over 50,000 people.

It is indeed mind boggling as to – how a person (Ramalinga Raju) who is the founder and at the helm of the organisation could fudge assets & accounts for years & it went unnoticed. Is it so easy to show assets & margins worth crores? The board of directors which has many distinguished members & an international auditing firm too did not take notice of it. Or was it hand-in-hand?. The scale of the scam is also shocking. It was not a few, 10 or 15% but was a staggering 94% (7000 cr). Even the number of employees has been falsified (not 53,000 it is 40,000). Mind boggling indeed...

In his poetic resignation & confession letter (“... riding the tiger...”), he even advices future course of action for the company! Interesting...! How could one instill belief from some one who has lying for the past 5-6 years.

The investigations & restructuring are on the way at a frantic pace, but the future of the company & moreover the fate of the employees hangs on a balance. Whether it was greed or calculated gamble or stupidity that was behind this fraud, the trust & faith of the clients, stakeholders & employees are badly shaken.

As it is titled, Satyam is undoubtedly the ‘Enron of India’, the biggest financial scam of corporate India that will be forgotten not so quickly & easily. But eventually will be...

"Negative" Growth

The reversal in trend that is happening now, for the Dubai economy was much awaited & expected. Only point is that the pace & severity of the downturn was something that was unexpected. But this correction, in a way, is a healthy one.

In the last 4~5 years, Dubai had seen exponential growth, which was unprecedented. With numerous mega-sized & iconic projects underway, it was believed that two-third of the worlds construction cranes were in Dubai! Though business was growing, life, per se, was reaching an extremely difficult pace that deteriorated the quality of life. Rents were soaring, acute traffic congestion, extreme inflation and above all - lack of quality. Problems associated with crazy, unplanned & unregulated growth.

With no proper regulation in place & with no genuine demand for houses; real estate prices were speculated & exorbitantly high. And for certain people the growth & economic prosperity had gone in to their heads & had lost ground with reality! The path of life that were traversed were going into oblivion & virtues like - modesty, humility, simplicity, courtesy were tardily evaporating.

Hence the correction or rather ‘negative growth ;-)’ is a healthy one, though there is price to be pay. Hope, henceforth the focus is on value & quality, by having proper regulations in place, rather than on exponential quantitative growth. Bigger the bubble, steeper the fall.

Rock On – Live Your Dream

The movie ‘Rock On’ really rocks. The movie, with its excellent theme & Hindi rock music makes compelling viewing. The movie & its music, will strike a chord with the young urban educated masses. The movie is bound to popularise Hindi Rock.

The theme of the movie is about following your dreams and doing what you like in life & what you are good at. It is about reaching out to ones true calling & living your dreams, that gives immense joy. This also needs fortitude and determination. Friendship & Love also plays a part in this success. It is a movie, with which many of us will relate to & connect with, wistfully.

Signs of the Times

It is mid-Jan, festive season is over & so is the New Year celebration. But newspapers & radio channels are flooded with ads of ‘discount sale’.

Up to 70% off on selected items, all items at 50% are common billboards with international & local retailers. It starts with a simple ‘sale’, then moves to more complex (rather desperate) ones like ‘up to 70% off’ which then leads to ‘further reduction’, ‘final reduction’ & finally ‘last 3 days’!

Shopping malls, electronic shops & automobile dealers are all trying to lure customers with special deals & promotional offers. Such aggressive promotions even after the end of festive season & the New Year are definitely signs of the times. The dismal economic situation & reluctance to spend is pushing the retailers to offer discounts on price, which might not find many takers. This is proved by the fact that there are no long queues at the cash counters.

Time to Reflect

It was late evening on Wed 26th Nov, when the breaking news of multiple terror attack in Mumbai flashed on the TV screen. I had a feeling of anger & frustration. Anger – since there was yet another terror attack in India & frustrated due to the callousness & inaction of the authorities against terror attacks in general. There were a series of attacks in the recent past.

In the beginning, nobody had a clue of how different & grave this attack was from the previous ones. As the gruesome battle continued & went on (for almost three days), people & stories started emerging. Some were fortunate & some were not. Their chronicles were heart-breaking & sorrowful.

These are people who saw people being massacred in front of their eyes, people who had near-death experience, people who miraculously escaped a bullet by a whisker, people who heard gun shots & grenade explosions outside their door, people who were petrified when there was a knock on the door – is it the terrorist or the police or a person from the next room who needs help?. The trauma of the people who went through this ordeal is beyond comprehension & imagination.

It is a matter of shame that even at this crucial juncture of national importance the political parties & politicians could not stand united & were involved in bickering & mudslinging. They politicised the attack & used it as a marketing tool for image building. Some were busy campaigning for elections hence could not attend important crisis meetings. Some were announcing compensation packages for the dead, some were busy attending funerals. Some responsible persons had to pay a price for their irresponsibleness & for making preposterous statements.

Even the PM’s address to the nation lacked that special power to motivate & elevate our spirits at a time of distress. It had the usual wordings ‘condemn’, ‘dastardly act’ etc etc.

Unlike previous attacks, this time the public outcry & anger was heard & also aired by media without restraint. There was anger, frustration & questions of accountability towards politicians & the Government. Levels of nationalism & patriotism were very high. We were pointing fingers at our neighbours as the epicentre of this attack. There was a mood of a looming war. Will there be an attack or not? Candle lit gatherings & a minute of silence were held. Eventually all of this jingoism tapered off.

While we are blaming our neighbours for the attack, why are we not looking inwards – as to what have we as a nation (Government) done so as to curb such attacks? How can we & what are we as citizens contributing to this? Are we as citizens ready to forfeit some of our liberty & freedom?

Why was the public emotion so high this time? It was seen, mostly, in the urban middle class & the elite. Is it because the financial capital, Mumbai was attacked? It is no longer suburban trains & stations but also 5 star hotels & pubs. Though the causalities’ were higher at the CST, the focus of the media was more on the hotels. Is it because the elite are no longer safe? Is it because the mode of attack this time is different? Sociologists will take some time to unravel the reason behind this.

Gloom & Doom

Media these days is abuzz with news of the global financial crisis. Job cuts, recession, bankruptcies of banks, manufacturers & even countries, financial ‘tsunami’, credit crunch, worst performing stock market... index down by 50%, plummeting real estate prices are the most common headlines. Reading newspaper or watching news channel makes you feel dispirited & dejected.

Parallels are drawn to the Great Depression of the 1930s & the economists, who still do not know whether the worse is over yet, predict that the present situation is supposed to be worse than the former. Since none of us have experienced or know how bad the 1930 situation actually was, the gravity of the issue can not be comprehended.

On a positive note, I also learnt some heavy-duty economic-financial theories & phrases (since I come from a non-financial background) – importance of certain figures like industrial output data, consumer spending & US unemployment figures; leveraging, filing for bankruptcy, Govt bailout packages, significance of central bank injecting liquidity into the ‘system’, cut-down or freeze on ‘capex’, how the “wall-street” impacts the “main street”, Repo Rate. The list of jargons goes on & possibly they have now become common household phrases. You can hear them in the office corridors & party gatherings. Many a layman would have transformed in to econo-financial experts by now.

It is, in fact bewildering, how the loans extended by various institutions to consumers in the US (misdeeds of a single country) can push the whole world into a major financial crisis. This is a part of ‘globalisation’ & the ‘world becoming flatter’! The US was not only exporting its nuclear technology, software, fast food, coke etc but also its toxic debts. Every country (except Antartica!), every industry, every person is paying a heavy price for this today. We now look at this unregulated financial system with scorn. When the bubble is big, the crash is also steep.

Today, we are all paying a price for - somebody living miles away from us could get easy money & could not repay it back. So let us be sensible to take debts judiciously & live within our means.