Time is ripe when YOU feel IT IS...

A.

It is one of those rare friday nights when i am watching a movie. I could not resist myself from writing this piece after watching the Tamil Movie 'Naayakan'. For those who are not aware of it, it is a masterpiece by Mani Rathnam (was made way back in 1987 and featured in the list of 'All time Top 100 movies' in Time Magazine. ) and stars Kamal Haasan.

A ten year old boy loses his father to a police encounter in front of his eyes, attempts to kill the policeman and flees to Mumbai. Not knowing where to go, he lands in Dharavi just like the thousands who end up @ Dharavi everyday even today. What follows this is a host of intense events like 'Baba' (almost like a father to Kamal in the film) being killed in the poilice station or the one where he meets a 10 Std girl in a brothel who asks him to leave her early so that she could study. These extreme circumstances redefine 'Velu Nayakan' aka Kamal in the film.

B.
I was returning from one of my regular weekend trips to Pune. It was about 15 mins since I had left Swargate (bus terminal in Pune) and we were going past a road which is one of the most busiest roads in Pune. Calamity strikes in the form of a puncture. With great difficulty, driver gets the bus to left side of the road, which was already shortened due to the ever-continuing, eternal road repairs.

I was just casually observing the conductor when i rediscovered something that has always been there in front of us. There was a problem (that was not my discovery..).

Problem : The only replacement tyre is on top of the bus and has to be taken down without disrupting traffic.

Solution 1: Get it down with the help of a rope or some other instrument.

Solution 2: Just allow it to fall freely under gravitational force (to test Newton's Laws) and then replace the punctured tyre.

Solution 1 was not feasible in the absence of a rope or anything that closely resembles the features of a rope. Realising this, the conductor comes to the center of the road and manouvers the traffic with such ease as if he has been doing that all throughout his life. Would have given a complex to almost every traffic policeman. The tyre is changed and now, it is business as usual..


Now comes the real message -

Be it Velu Nayakan in 'Nayakan' or the conductor of Asiad bus, what brings them on the same platform is the exposure to circumstances which pull out tremendous power from within them. This, in normal course of life, would have been very difficult to happen.

The point that i have been pondering over is "why do we have to wait for these events to change the course of our life???".

Why don't we chase our dreams with the same energy and power that we would have experienced in circumstances like the ones mentioned above or in other numerous other similar events.

Time is ripe when you feel it is...

So, start 'feeling' and just experience the change in perspectives..

The New Age 'Shop Floor'...

One of the most dreaded places on earth is a place called 'Shop Floor'. Mechanical engineers would agree in totality. During my transition from an engineering setup to an IT company and then to telecom has made me think "Are we witnessing the emergence of a new shop floor???"

Well, typically a shop floor would be defined as:

Workers + Machines + Supervisors = Production

Over the years, the young Indian graduating out of any school has seen a drastic change in this equation. It has now become:

(Workers=Machines) + Bosses/Supervisors = Deliverables

At the core level, there has not been any significant change. It is still the same old story. Reach office at nine (Or whatever flexible time you feel like coming). Do the same work you did yesterday (or day before or the day before day before..) and leave office once you are done. There have certainly been some minor changes here and there:

• Shifts have been replaced by 'Flexi timings'.. Though you still work nine hours a day.
• 'Machines' are more jazzed up. They are sleek and dont occupy as much space. No oiling required but frequent restarts required (thanks to 'Windows').. But, there is one thing that has not changed - They are still black and don't listen to what you say...
• The worker is replaced by a smart (i am not sure if that is the right word) B-School grad who earns much better than the worker by doing nothing.
• No more overtime. Thats because you dont even contribute for what you are paid for... is contribution inversely proportional to salary drawn or is it vice versa?? or is it a straight line passing through the origin where contribution is on the X-Axis and compensation is on Y-Axis. (Now, this is called an engineer's language..)

The discussion would go on and on and on... But, the point is :

If you are one of those who look forward to Mondays (Provided that Monday is not a weekly off) then you are certainly NOT working on the 'Shop Floor'.. This is the question each one of us needs to ask ourselves - "Are we working on the 'Shop Floor'???"

Is this new emerging 'Shop floor' going to be as dreaded as the older one?? Only time can answer...

NOTE: There is no intention to spoil the beauty of a manufacturing setup, it is just being used as a metaphor...

No GAME @ FAME !!!!

I am just back from the preview show of 'Chandni Chowk to China' @ Fame, Ghatkopar. Here is what i have gone through in the last three hours or so;

1. Book a ticket for Rs 190 (Was it too costly for this movie???) for the preview show.
2. I take my seat, totally unaware of the emotional turmoil that is to follow.
3. There are these employees (or waiters) of Fame who keep roaming around with sandwiches and pop corns. It gives you a feel of being at Juhu chowpatty or at any of the busiest markets in the city. Not too sure if that is the 'experience' people pay for at Fame (or any other multiplex). All those who have passed out from a B-School would be able to link to the 'Starbucks' case study when you hear this.
4. The movie begins and i enjoy ONLY those RARE moments of Akshay Kumar's charisma and glimpses of Deepika in the movie. Now comes a twist in the story.
5. I go to get a hot coffee for myself. Nobody at the coffee shop. i ask the corn shop employee sitting next about the whereabouts of the coffee fellow. He takes my order and tells me coffee would be delivered at my seat.
6. Coffee arrives. I pay Rs 100 and the waiter tells me he would come back with the change.
7. The wait for the waiter continues till the end of the movie.
8. I go to the coffee shop after the movie. Ask for the balance. I am told i gave him a Rs 50 note. I am not sure if this is an intentional tactic or not.. Whatever it may be, it certainly is not a great thing to do to your customers. It is not about the money but about how an already disastrous experience is being stretched even more.

Is this what we pay for @ Multiplexes?? I dont think so...

The customer is certainly NOT the king always and neither is Akshay Kumar... (Remember Singggh is kinggg!!!)

I am not going to talk anymore about the movie.. Watch it to find out.

From Masakalli to Corporate Strategy

The teaser of Delhi 6 is lovely. Saw it on one of the television channels. Probably rehman is the only music director in India who dares to experiment. This one, i must say, is starkingly different.

The song Masakalli, which features in the teaser, is a treasure to listen. Also, the visualisation of the song by Rakeyyysh Omprakashhh Mehra (Still dont know if i got the name right) is too good. I am not sure how the movie (and other songs) are going to turn out to be. But, this one certainly has struck the chords with the audience.

All these are a result of Bollywood directors/music composers starting to innovate in all aspects of film making.

Well, that reminds me of the article by CK Prahlad in Economic times today. He talks about how innovation would drive growth in emerging economies and that dominant logic (Implicit logic followed by conventional thinkers) is on its way out. He talks about how innovation would flow from emerging economies to developed nations.

There are some more good articles from so called Strategy Gurus. There is a lot of Strategic gyaan (or Gas as you may call) in the edition. Dedicated to those who dwell on strategy..

Have a read...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articlelist/121385957.cms

It happens only with females !!!

Before your mind starts wondering if this one is a blog on human anatomy, let me clear the air. This certainly is not one of those, but you may certainly classify it under human psychology.

One question has haunted me for a long time. And it surfaced again today during one of the discussions with a female colleague at work...
Have you ever wondered why females have so many quarrels/ego clashes while their better halves (Read 'Men') have hardly any.. (Probably, women may not agree to the fact of men being 'Better halves').

Dictionary.com defines EGO as follows:
–noun, plural e⋅gos.

1.	the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought.

It also states an example to prove the case under discussion:
"Her ego becomes more unbearable each day. "Looks like the dictionary guys have enough empirical evidence to have 'Her' rather than 'His' in this example.

But then, what differentiates the misunderstandings amongst men and those amongst women are the following facts (I would like to call them facts rather than myths..)

1. Women never forget. Men never remember. That makes the problem much more simpler. Women don't forget even the tiniest of fights and carry them all throughout their lives.
2. Women are insecure; they are always on the lookout for security. Though women may not agree to this fact but i certainly feel that there is always an underlying sense of insecurity in every woman.
3. When a woman passes by, men look at her top to bottom to analyse her whereas females scan through every inch of her.. All this just to find out if the lady in front is better looking than her or has better accessories. Remember "Hiii... Lovely earrings... Where did u get them from" or "hey.. your sandals are a good match to your dress" and others alike...

But when i try to convince myself with a psychological and a scientific explanation to the question, i am not too comfortable with these arguments stated above...

Just as we say, most of the things in life are not Black n white but rather in gray, this one too may be one of them..

To put it in other words -> You can't answer something -> Blame it on gray.

All the views/facts mentioned above are my interpretations based on whatever little interaction i have had with the 'Other' sex. Feel free to comment if you don't agree with any of those so called 'facts'. By the way, you can even comment otherwise.

The Afghan girl

Came across this masterpiece about life in afghanistan. It talks about how afghanistan has faced invasions over the past 25 years which have caused millions to become refugees in their own homeland..

"It is the ongoing tragedy of Afghanistan. Invasion. Resistance. Invasion. Will it ever end? "

The article tries to answer this question...

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-text/1

'Babus' Zindabad - A Live Story (Part II)

I am back after being foot-balled from one 'Babu' to another. All these visits seem so normal these days. Probably, i am getting used to all this. But getting used to this is like accepting defeat at the hands of these corrupt 'Babus'.

But then, i start thinking about a solution and i go blank. There must be something that can be done to improve the situation and provide relief to the class of people called 'entrepreneurs'. There is an urgent need for a change in attitude amongst these 'Babus'. A renewed sense of accountability and responsibility is what is required. That doesnt seem to be coming.

Looks like these 'Babus' draw heavy inspiration from the sensational song 'Babuji zara dheere chalo' featuring Yana gupta.

I would love to see that day when a budding entrepreneur doesn't even think of regulatory hassles while thinking of any business plan. I am hopeful it would come. The earlier the better..

BABUJI ZARA JALDI CHALO !!!

'Babus' Zindabad - A live story (Part I)

Before you start thinking whether i am referring to Telegu surname 'Babu' or anything else which sounds similar, let me clear the air..

I am sitting at one of the government offices as i am writing this piece (Luckily had the laptop with me)... One of those endless waits at government offices for getting a licence for a commercial establishment. These long 'lunch breaks' (or chai breaks) and so called 'field visits' make me wonder when is it that we are going to come out of this illusion.

These 'Babus' (As they are fondly called.. Though not often fond of ordinary citizens) live in their own world of isolation. Just like there are exceptions everywhere, here too there are a few (actually quite a few). They are people called 'Agents' who have exclusive access to the lives of these almost alien individuals working for the people.

Looks like the lunch break is over.. Ill complete this one in the Chai break. (I am dead sure i am going to wait till then)

The fort Called 'PEB' (Part II)

So, five of us (Amol, Sachin, Pravin, Milind and Me) start the trek towards PEB.. Pravin, the researcher, had brought some printouts which were the only source of information for us. None of us had been to the place before and that made it all the more interesting.. (He is the one busy looking at printouts even while he was photographed)

With directions from Pravin's printouts we embark on a journey that proved to be one of the best treks we have ever had.. Here is how it looked when we started:






Here are some more of them on the way:



There is an advantage of lagging behind in treks, you get captured in a lot of photographs. Going by this logic, Milind benefitted the most just like in this one:



There are some beautiful rock patches on the way to top. Though they are not all that risky, they are certainly a delight for trekkers. Here is an example: (And milind gets captured again...)



Me and Pravin at one of the climbs..















After about three and a half hours of intense trekking we reach the top just to be surrounded with images like this one:



There is a temple of Lord Shiva and also a math (Read in Hindi/Marathi) of Swami Samarth at the top.


























We then finished our breakfast at what you might term as lightning speed and proceeded towards our final frontier. The fort is in shambles and you have to explore quite a bit to reach the topmost point (though there might be nothing worth seeing available there). Amol at the stairs leading to the final climb.















After roaming around for some time at the top, it was time for the descent. We were certainly exhausted after all the incidents in the past 12 hours or so. But we decided to get back immediately. The rock patches which seemed simple while climbing up were seeming to be really risky ones. But then, that is the fun of trekking.















Helping each other maneuver one of those 'risky' rock patches on the way down:















At last, we are through... and what a trek it was. A wonderful one which was enjoyed by each one of us thoroughly.. Though not advisable for beginners. Not because of the risky nature of the trek, but because of the exertion involved.

The fort called 'PEB' (Part I)

"Peb"bing can be a lovely break from the usual and monotonous 'Pubbing'... :-)

Just back from an arduous trek to a fort called 'Peb' after a four year gap in trekking. After having conquered forts like Harishchandragad, rajgad, Jivdhan Naneghat, Dhak, Duke's Nose, Torna and others, this one was a refreshingly new trek altogether.

One thing that gets reinforced after every trek is that you can never ever beat nature in its own game. Hats off to Shivaji maharaj for going this far to build these lovely forts across Maharashtra. This atleast gives us a reason to fight. To face extreme conditions and come out even stronger.

This is one of those beauties built by Shivaji Maharaj. He used the caves a silos for the purpose of storage of grains. Atleast that is what we hear from people around and those who have visited before.

I was in pune on one of those regular weekend trips catching up with friends. Had gone to meet some of my childhood friends (Though not sure if i am still out of that stage in life). Thats when Amol told me that he was going for a trek with some of his friends. As it is, i was leaving for mumbai the next day (Sunday), so thought i would do this trek on the way and then come back to 'Amchi Mumbai'. Not knowing what lay ahead for me, i accepted...

So, we reached Pune station at 11 PM hoping to catch the passenger and reach nerul (Base for the trek) early in the morning on Sunday (28/12/08). What was waiting for us at the Pune railway station was a long queue for tickets with some intermediate fights adding spice to the never ending wait for a ticket.

Then we called upon Amol's 'TO BE SASURJI' to do the honours. He is an employee with the Indian Railways. Five mins more and we have a ticket in hand. We boarded the train that was supposed to halt at Nerul (Thats where the trek begins) and the same was confirmed by the TT.

Three hours of sleep and we reach Nerul - Only to find that the train doesnt stop there... So we did what logical souls would call 'common sensical' -> Get down at the next station. So, we get down at Badlapur. The clock was showing 3:30 AM. One more surprise - The next train to Nerul is at 5:30 AM. Two hours of chatting and Garma Garam chais help us pass this time.

And here it comes.. The first train in the morning towards Karjat - A chilly morning that promised a day full of activity and fun. Just before we reached Nerul, there is a halt. The signal is red. We get down from the train to explore the surroundings enroute to nerul. Luckily for us, Nerul was not that far..

We reach Nerul at about six in the morning. Our initial plan was to reach the base of 'Peb Killa' around 5-5:30 AM. The base is still about 3 kms away.

The climb to the top, which was equally exciting, is coming soon in Part II...

‘P’ for Professionalism; ‘P’ for Politics

Just like there are 4Ps for marketing (Product, place, price and promotion), these are 2Ps which prescribe the success formula for any organization.

I often think why do some organizations succeed while others don’t and what is it that differentiates these types of organizations.
And then I realize that there is a stark similarity amongst the successful ones. These organizations follow a culture of ‘Professionalism’ to the core. They don’t do it for the sake of doing it…

Then comes the next question.

Why doesn’t every organization aspire to be a truly professional organization??

It is not all that easy for that idea to percolate within each and every employee. The vision of the top management should drive the employees into ethical and professional practices at work which would take them longer in the long run. There is always dilution of information as it passes up and down the hierarchy and horizontally across departments. The extent of this dilution decides the amount of effort to be put in to align everything to a common goal.

Now, you might be wondering what I mean by ‘politics’ in this case. Politics here refers to everything from regionalism to bias based on religion to favoring a specific employee irrespective of his/her performance. These are small things, but make a huge difference when you look at it from an organization’s perspective.

This makes me remember a quote by Hillary Clinton “The challenge is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible.”

It is upto each individual to decide which ‘P’ he/she wants to take. And if the vision of the top management is strong enough, it ensures that every one who is a part of the organization is aligned with the common vision. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen in 99% of the cases.

All said, a work environment that is driven by professionalism is the best motivator for employees and makes them give their best performance every time.

It certainly is a challenge, but not all that difficult to achieve; if all employees share the same vision for the organization and have a sense of responsibility and accountability.

Hillary Clinton Quote Reference: http://www.woopidoo.com/business_quotes/company-quotes.htm; All other thoughts are original.

Fusion is in.....

Fusion is the in-thing these days... Music too is not averse from it..
The Grand finale at November Fest organised by Hindu at Music Academy was just that. Four Great artists came together and the result was a seamless fusion of classical and western forms of music. All those present were indeed fortunate ones; for this was a concert which could not be missed..

Trilok Gurtu, the master of percussion and vocals.
Vikku Vinayakam, The first Indian Musician to get a Grammy Award, a great Ghatam player.
Prasanna, wonderful guitarist.
Selva Ganesh, master of kanjira.
And when all these get together, what you get is an extraordinary mix of Indian classical music and western music.

This November fest was one of the best musicals i have ever attended...

Would remember it forever.

Ghazal Bandhi - Hariharan and Mandolin Shrinivas

A very special jugalbandi called 'Ghazal Bandhi' which brought two great artists together - Hariharan and Mandolin Shrinivas. It was one of the concerts of the November Fest organised by Hindu.

Just a brief background of the artists:

Mandolin Shrinivas has a vast experience in jugalbandhi and has established extraordinary supremacy over the instrument, mandolin. Over the years he has adapted the instrument to carnatic music and leaves listeners awestruck at every performance. And this time too, he did just that....

Hariharan needs no intro... Here are some facts we dint know abt him.. He was trained in carnatic music by his mother. He had an early passion for ghazals and hence perfecting urdu diction was really important. He mastered it and then forayed into hindi cinema with music director Jaidev in the film 'Gaman' which resulted in the creation of a gem called 'Ajeeb Saane'. There has been no looking back since then.. Today, he is one of the most sought after artists for stage performances across the world.


The show began with a lovely ghazal 'Dil pareshaan hai raat bhaari hai'. Here goes its lyrics:
'Dil pareshaan hai raat bhaari hai'
'Zindagi hai ki phir bhi pyaari hai'
'Dil dhadakne ka aitbar nahi'
'Warna Awaaz to tumhari hai'

Wah Wah..

The show was just getting better with each Ghazal.. Then it was the turn of a Tyagaraja composition which was very popular amongst the masses 'Tulasidara...'

Time for a Break... (Coffee was provided free of cost at the venue as part of a marketing gimmick by a coffee powder company)

To be continued in the next blog... (as soon as I get time)

Athma's Disclaimer: Opinions and views are personal.

Muhurath Day

'Aakhir Naariyal phodne ka din aa hi gaya'.... (For those who dont know Hindi, it means that today is an auspicious day)
After all, today marks the beginning of my blogging career.

Let us see how it goes...

Right To Information Act

Right to information act commonly known as RTI was passed two years ago. How many of us know of this??? And even if we know, do we know how powerful this act is? I got to know about this some days ago, when i did some data collection on this topic. This was not accidental. It was for a documentary(Short film) on RTI, which i made along with a friend of mine called Suraj. This documentary was to be presented at IIT Bombay SJMSOM's B-School event Avenues '07.
It was a novel concept of having a short film for the promotion of RTI. Kudos to the organisers, Creative Commons, for organising the same.

You may find the newspaper article on the same at:
http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/october/166168.htm

Also, you can view our documentary at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5rBRsECGZc
After working on this documentary, i have realised the power this act has. It can transform the system if we make judicial use of it. We just need to be more aware of the rights we have so that we can atleast start thinking of exercising them. Let me tell you, if each one of us decides to use this act atleast once in our lifetime, we can make a huge difference!!!

More Information on RTI can be found out at :
http://rti.gov.in/