The Buzz & Beyond

At times, I am driven to think whether this is a boon or bane to our country. BOON: Turn this into advantage. Hone the skills of manpower and make cheap, skilled workforce and dump the global markets with your products Half of the population is youth meaning India is in its youth - Full of energy and the fire to achieve something. Capitalize this and make India a world leader. Let all Indians be Educated, Well conversant in English - shrink the world to mini-India BANE: Half the population is youth and the average Indian life is increasing. This means after 100 years we will be a country of old ones – We may not know, at this growth rate, we might as well have equal number of youth too! The learned or educated families today are having only one kid while the illiterates have multiple kids meaning the share of educated ones is shrinking while the illiterates are on the rise. Abuse of natural resources leading to damage of nature. On particular religion is expanding their base in hug...

By the time you are reading this, our population would have crossed 125crores and more. The figure literally gives us jitter if one is worried about the future of our country. It is not a joke, in days to come if one said to another, “Hey man! Just move a bit, I have got a new born babe. It needs some space!” It is the habit of every Indian to expect someone to provide us a solution for our problems. Or one can say, our Government has pampered us to behave so by giving all the solutions ready made. However, in this particular issue, despite many measures from Government, the population growth is beyond one’s control. This is the Government’s responsibility, although, to take some measures for this problem, we cannot expect the Govt to enter our bedrooms for such control. The control is in the hands of us, we the citizens of India. It is the high time we had some stringent rules for this population control. While the southern part of India had almost achieved zero population growth...

“Honey! I told you to play and you are staring outside the window. What’s up?” “Mom! You told me to take a break of 5 minutes for every half-hour and stare outside. Instead, I am staring now for full 20 minutes and play for two hours together” This is a joke I just read in one of the magazines. The kid without understanding what the mother said had innovatively come out with an alternate idea for a break-free game. The kid unknowingly defeated the very purpose of the break his mother wanted to provide. Lighter moments apart, this joke indirectly tells us a one dangerous evil that has entered all our living rooms without any warning. You guessed it right and we are talking about the menace of the video games. I was born and brought up in Chennai and luckily I happened to live in a Agraharam – a secluded place where Brahmins resided in groups. We had enough space to play around there. Though cricket was the predominant game, the games used to change according to seasons. They played cric...

I used to get surprised initially, convicted politicians, whenever, came out in public, they maintained a direct eye-contact with people and would give a smile shamelessly. Now, we are used to it. How could they give others a personal and intriguing smile despite being convicted? Sitting back in a relaxed manner when I think on it, I realized one fact. Smiling & having a direct eye-contact is a great way to approach people and relate with others. That friendly smile seems like a minor detail, but it's enough to make a person seem approachable and personable, and is a great way to convey confidence. Precisely, all the politicians have learnt this well and are practicing it in the right spirit! You would have also observed that when a CEO walks around the office with a smile, he usually looks at everyone in the eye. This simple personalized greeting or salute makes people feel important. We should remember: treat people the way you want to be treated. You will soon notice that ...

I certainly do not have any intention to hurt the sentiments of people; however, I would like my thinking be driven by reality and not by emotions. If, in case, this piece has hurt you, I do not have any hard feelings but only can pity you. The film makers, book-writers, our leaders have made Indian people sentimental oriented and our thinking is conditioned to be driven by sentiments and not by rational thinking. Ever since the kid Prince fell into a bore-well and the entire nation was provided a live telecast of what was happening to rescue this young kid from the bore-well, it has become a regular feature in Indian happenings. I fully empathize with the parents whose kids fell into the well however, I am getting sick of the attention given to such episodes by the entire media. If it was Prince 2 years back, it is the turn of Vandana this time. For the past one and half day, the entire media (read – news channels) was busy covering this episode. There were kids who died who fell in ...

As expected, the sixth pay commission is announced and being implemented. This would result in a hike of around 40% in pay for the fifty-five odd lakh employees of India. It sounds too good. However, if one is intelligent enough to ask where from the funds would come, and then he must be an idiot. It is an unwritten rule that in a year of election such questions are not asked. I do agree there were days that the government employees were paid far less as compared to the private sector. However, this is not the case now. With severe, un-healthy competition prevailing in the market, private organizations are no longer generous as our Government is in terms of distributing the pay. There may be one or two sectors that give a hefty pay, courtesy, huge supply-demand gap. Once this gap is reduced, entrepreneurs are not fools to just give away the money. At the outset, I always fail to understand when a government cannot govern itself properly, how it can play a role of an employer. Can it d...

Phone Conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. Dry cleaners and hair cutters don't rob you blind. You don't have to learn to spell a new last name. You can leave the motel bed unmade. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. Wedding plans take care of themselves. If someone forgets to invite you to something, he or she can still be friends If you are 34 and single, nobody notices. Everything on your face stays its original color. You can quietly enjoy a car ride from the passenger's seat. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. Car mechanics tell you the truth. You can quietly watch TV with your buddy for hours without thinking: "He must be mad at me." Same work...more pay. Gray hair and wrinkles only add character. You don't mooch off other's desserts. You can drop by to see a friend without having to bring a little gift. If another guy shows up at the party in ...

Beggars! All around and everywhere in India we can see them. I had been to many other countries, some of them are poorer than ours, and still, I hardly found beggars on the roads as menacingly I find them here. You name a place & spot them there. On the traffic signals, religious worship spots, picnic spots, bus-stands, railway stations, at times inside the compartments of running trains (even in AC coaches – I fail to understand what the attendants do or they have a share on the alms they get?) and where not? So long, they are not found inside the airports, however, if you happened to go abroad you can find those beggars in the form of security checking constables who literally beg for some dollars or a perfume can. Beggars - in all forms; young, aged, kids, handicapped, old, eunuchs, you get the most of the variety – all begging for alms. Many a times, it becomes menacingly irritating. Begging is an easy profession. One does not have to read, score marks however, has to work h...

Story # 1 The Indian Govt had released a stamp on Madhubala. I am perplexed and fail to understand why this was done? Earlier, stamp was released with Nargis’s photo. Are these actresses delivered such a yeoman service to the society that we have to release a stamp on them? If they had done a good service to the arts (?), which I seriously doubt, then there are better actresses down south who had done better than Nargis and Madhubala. But for acting in the film that created a fantasy world and minting money, they did not do anything that is worth. Neither of the actresses had set an example for the society with their deeds in their real life. Whether you accept or not, it is a blatant truth that in this profession, actress is a fashion name for expensive-whores. However, the Govt had decided to release postal stamps with their images. It had not thought of Kurien, MS Swaminathan, Udayamurthy, the gentle man who started Shulabh shouchalyas. All I can say is This is too much!! Story...

Scarlett – Perhaps, this word would have got printed more or sounded more in the recent past in the media. She had been murdered after being raped. Worse is, she is a minor. It happened in Incredible India where we proudly claim, “Athiti Devo Bhava…” This particular episode has taken multiple turns and everyday a new story is unleashed. Needless to mention, this episode has been providing more masala than a Bollywood movie or a Ekta Kapoor’s soaps. However, this episode can be viewed in 3 different angles. The eroding ethos among the Indian public Parenting has no meaning nowadays Indian Police can twist the story in whatever manner they would like it to The third point is the most dangerous one. Police are supposed to be protectors of public and still some portion of the public believe in Police. It is a different matter that police have lost their respect which they used to command three decades back. Even our Indian Cinema projects police as comedy stuff. If the hero happened to be...

The “Prince-in-waiting” had made a comment that took the entire Indian political arena by surprise. He remarked, “The internal democracy in the Congress party is to be nourished”. Had any other party member made such remarks, he would have been bullied from all corners of the country by the so called loyalists of the party for the audacity. Such a golden opportunity was not provided to the sycophants of India’s oldest party. If you were a close follower or observer of Indian politics, you would know the reason for the surprise. However, this has opened the eyes of those who still think that this lad can prove different. All one can do is to pity the Prince-in-waiting, Rahul Gandhi for his lack of knowledge on Indian politics or even the lack of knowledge of his own party’s history. Perhaps, Rahul needs a re-visit to the school of politics if he had made this statement genuinely. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is aware that it was Rahul’s grandmother who sealed the fate of internal democr...

If I do not mention the Indian Union Budget in my Blogs, that goes incomplete. Better late than never – as the saying goes, I took some time to go through the same in bit of detail. I am neither economist nor a person with finance background. I am an ordinary citizen of India who expects or believes that the Union Budget presented every year is doing some good for me or my country. Mr. Chidambaram is also not an economist or a man with commerce background. Surprisingly, he got into the shoes of the Finance Ministry and he makes a mockery of the same while all the media going gaga over it! With elections expected later in this year, it was obvious that this year budget will have all populist measures than the so-called reforms. It is needless to mention that the major highlight of this budget is the loan-waiver for farmers and the IT tax restructuring. Mr. Chidambaram has the unique track record of aiding the dishonest in the name of novel ideas of reforms. Earlier, he introduced the...

When you think about the differences between work and prison, maybe prison isn't so bad... IN PRISON.......You spend the majority of your time in an 8x10 cell. AT WORK........You spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle. IN PRISON.......You get three meals a day. AT WORK........You get a break for 1 meal and you have to pay for it. IN PRISON.......You get time off for good behaviour. AT WORK........You get rewarded for good behaviour with more work. IN PRISON.......A guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you. AT WORK........You must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself. IN PRISON........You can watch TV and play games. AT WORK.........You get fired for watching TV and playing games. IN PRISON.......You get your own toilet. AT WORK........You have to share. IN PRISON.......They allow your family and friends to visit. AT WORK........You cannot even speak to your family and friends. IN PRISON.......All expenses are paid by taxpay...

When God made us, he gave us only the body. We named it naked or nude. You blame it on Satan or the dimensional development of human brain, men / women hated the nature’s gift and started covering it. He could have started covering it to save him from shivering cold or scorching heat or from some embarrassments. In India, till the time Moguls invaded us, men or women never had the custom of covering their torso. This means, we used to wear only clothes on hip. Even this will be a piece of cloth with no fasteners like button or zip or threaded knots. It was simple piece of cloth wound over our body tied at the ends. This is the reason we could find that in all our temples, the sculptures are depicted in half-naked conditions. It never meant to kindle your sexual desires but it reflected the dressing pattern. Till the time, it was all open there was no charm, no harm and nothing was wrong. As we started covering our own organs, these organs have become a taboo to be displayed. We can dis...

Women love to talk on the phone. A woman can visit her girlfriend for two weeks, and upon returning home, she will call the same friend and they will talk for three hours. A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, or get the mail. Women will drive miles out of their way to avoid the possibility of getting lost using a shortcut. Women do NOT want an honest answer to the question, 'How do I look?' PMS stands for: Permissible Man-Slaughter. (Or at least men think it means that. PMS also stands for Preposterous Mood Swings and Punish My Spouse. Women will make three left-hand turns to avoid making one right-hand turn. 'Oh, nothing,' has an entirely different meaning in woman-language than it does in man-language. Women cannot use a map without turning the map to correspond to the direction that they are heading. All women are overweight by definition; don't agree with them about it. Women alwa...

You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape . The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship "I apologize" and "You are right." Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm. The only really good advice that your mother ever gave you was, "Go! You might meet somebody!" If he/she says that you are too good for him/her--believe them. Learn to pick your battles; ask yourself, 'Will this matter one year from now? How about one month? One week? One day?' Never pass up an opportunity to pee. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance! Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you. Work ...

.....continuation of part 1 If a cricket player visits a salon, he is traced by the TV News channels, if he sacrifices (read – kill) a goat he is traced (surprising that this cricketer is not yet arrested by PETA), if he dates a girl this is tracked, and the only places where a cricketer is not tracked is perhaps his visit to bedroom, bathroom or toilet! These bring him more money in advts. Cricketers are provided with farm-houses on hill-stations even if they lose not to mention the money they mint in every match they play. While the cricketers sail on Mercs, pity other sports person straddle on local trains. Cricketers were given a juloos yatra for winning 20-20 but Anand was not even given a welcome by Indian Govt when he came to India after winning the World Title. When a cricketer gets so much of attention why on the earth one should choose a career other than this? How many sports channel had covered hockey matches as they covered cricket? Can an average Indian recognize an...

Generally, I do not react to any event immediately. I take my own time as to allow the issue gets settled down. This would give me more clarity on the picture, the real problems concerned etc.; Impulsive reaction is the result of heart ruling the brain that is quite common among us, Indians. India has lost to Great Britain (is it still Great?) in the qualifier round for Olympics. Since 1928, this is the first time; India is not in the race for an Olympic Gold in hockey. Hockey is the national game of India. India has a great track record of winning the most number of Olympic Gold medals in hockey. Now we are not even in the race! Indeed it is saddening, very much. However, it seems that the entire media and the public (initiated by the media?) are going over-board in the manner they react to this. At the outset, we should now stop the ugliest habit of basking in the past glory! We should start realizing the reality and accept it without any inhibitions. We might have won Hockey gol...

Creating a Bad Organizational Culture: At the outset, due to the improper design, Organization A has a lot of inefficient and confusing processes and procedures. As a result, managers of the organization have to constantly “fire-fights” and “put the screws ” to the operating personnel thus adopting the roles of “ fire fighter” and “butt buster”. Over the time, the behaviors associated with these roles take on a life of their own and now become the expected behaviors for that role (as a result of the inadequate processes and procedures ). These behaviors morph into attitudes about how business operates. That is, all people are lazy and need their butts kicked to do things right. As the original managers move up the organization, they seek to hire people of like mind or attitude so the behaviors can continue to support the historical roles to compensate for the poorly designed processes and procedures. As time passes, “fire fighting” and solving problems become sacred valu...

How Can I Change People’s Roles? We Are Getting Close! If an organization is struggling to survive or be competitive or just to get better, the roles people play mirror the tasks that must be accomplished. If inadequate processes and procedures prevail, then the role of “ fire fighter ” is held in high esteem. If inadequate processes and procedures cause us to be late with our customer, then a little “ butt busting ” is the role that is needed to get the job done and become successful. We need to change our processes and procedures, i.e., improve our system for doing business. How Do I Change Organizational Processes and Procedures? Congrats, You Got It!!!!!! Finally, something we can see, touch and measure directly. There are a number of process improvement methodologies that are being used in business today. One of those, Six Sigma , is proving to be quite powerful in achieving dramatic improvements in reducing the rejections, thus increasing the productivity, customer sat...

How Can I Change Organizational Values? You Can’t! Organizational values are the shared attitudes people have about what is right and wrong to do in an organization. Our personal values are shaped by our parents, our teachers, our friends, our religious and spiritual guides and by the society in which we are raised. When our personal values are compatible with our employer’s values we feel comfortable working in that environment. Values, like culture, can’t be measured, touched or seen. We can observe how people act and infer values but organizational values took a long time to create and a new “values document” won’t overturn those very easily. In such case, why don’t we just change the attitudes? How Can I Change People’s Attitudes? You Can’t! Well, maybe with the proverbial “2x4 attitude adjuster”. Attitudes develop as a result of personal experiences with people and situations. A person will develop a set of personal biases, prejudices and opinions based on their view...

Many organizations decide at some point that they need to “change our corporate culture” so they can be more competitive in the marketplace. Here are some thought provoking comments should you decide that if you are one among those organizations. The following hierarchical model will be used to guide the reader. Culture Value Attitude Behavior Roles Process & Procedures How Can I Change Organizational Culture? You Can’t! It is not so easy. The only quick and significant way would be to get rid of everyone and start all over again; meaning massive layoffs, extensive rehiring and restructuring. What is the “Organizational Culture”? Well, sociologists, anthropologists and archeologists spend entire careers trying to understand and reconstruct cultures. In a business setting we might describe “culture” as the collective shared beliefs, goals and values of the employees. It takes decades to create cultures so it is doubtful that a consultant or executive proclamation or edict...

Hindu Dharma (Hinduism is not a religion but a walk of life) is rich with lessons that suit to every aspect of human’s life. Those lessons even suit to the modern days and that is one of the reasons that spiritual gurus from India are more successful in the West. All that one needs to do is to draw parallel of those stories with modern days’ strategies! In Hindu mythology, the 4th avatar (climbing down - reincarnation) of Lord Shri Vishnu is “Narasimha”. Nara means Man and Simha means Lion. Narasimha is the combination of Man and a Lion. Just for explanation, I will tell you the entire story. However, the intention of this blog is not to share this story of Hindu Mythology but to take some leaves from this story to marketing strategies. Once upon a time, there lived a demon-king named Hiranyakashyap. He was a tyrant, who won over all the other kings. With almost no rival to challenge, he wanted to rule the entire universe. For that, he wanted to be immortal. He did a severe pena...