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 huge numbers and unfortunately this community is not paying attention to education of their kith and kin.
• Though we are the nation of the youth, we are led by oldies (our HR dept is led by a man who cannot walk by himself)

It is not easy to build a strong educated country if the present system continued. Due to the lop-sided increment in population, the Government is forced to come out with concessions like reservations that push meritocracy to the back seat. The very system of reservation is wrong. If, in its implementation of 50 years, we claim that the backward are still in backward condition, either the system is wrong or the implementation pattern is wrong or those considered backward can never be uplifted.

If the system is wrong, why not discontinue it? Why not re-visit the system? I am not against reservation but against the present system. Imagine we are participating in Olympics. The entire world knew that India is poor in athletics. Just to encourage India participate in athletics, can the federation bring in a rule that Indians have to run only 50m instead of 100m sprint? It might sound weird but our present system of reservation is similar to this.

• Provide reservation facility to one person per family.
• Members of the same family should not avail this facility generation after generation.
• If one member of the family had availed it, then only the 3rd generation can avail this facility provided they had not really uplifted.
• Provide the reservation facility only once in his career (either in SSC or in HSC or in College or in employment or in promotion).
• Unlike the present system where reservation is given from birth to death, we should provide this only once.

Simply by providing opportunities, one cannot develop. It sounds as if we provided bats to people, we can make many Tendulkars.

The basic problem lies with the lack of primary education at rural areas. At the outset, the Govt should bring out some concrete plans in starting primary education centers all over India. This can be possible if we had enough teachers for this. Unfortunately, teaching profession has no takers. To have a strong foundation in education, the teacher to student ratio should be less than 40~35.

The government should encourage the profession of teaching. As on date, teaching is the last resort of the boring house-wives in India. The pay packet is not lucrative and hence this profession is not sought by a common man. Those who are in the profession are here either by desperation or they did not have another option.

will be continued.....

Boon or Bane?

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, it is the reverse on the Hindi-heartlands. States like Rajastan, Madhyapradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkand, Uttaranchal, Uttarpradesh, Maharashtra are not severe in implementing this.

A recent news tabloid gave me another jolt. Since the community of Parsis is shrinking, they encouraged their community personnel to have more children. Parsi community did not shrink because they adapted birth-control but because they banned those who married outside their community. If such narrow-minded people were made leaders of communities, India definitely had it.

Same is the case with Islam religion. They are not bothered about the consequences of having more and more children. Their growth rate is phenomenal and the Govts for the sake of votes keep mum on this and are shying away from pressing the panic button.

We should have following rules:

• Pay tax if you had more than 2 kids (this should be a hefty penalty)
• One cannot be eligible to be a Government servant if he / she had more than two kids. If they were employed prior to their marriage and had kids later, their employment should be terminated. They should not be made eligible for pension also
• Leaders of this country have to lead by example in this. One cannot contest election if he had more than two kids nor he can be nominated to RS.
• Free treatment in Government hospitals are eligible only if the family had birth-control. If they violated, the charges will be doubled
• Same rule should be applied to school fees also.
• (I am not recommending imprisonment, because, imprisonment guarantees food without any job being done and adds burden to the Government)
  

Will these happen? ….. Contd…..

Games kids play

“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 cricket, chess, carom, sprinting, hopping, volley ball and of course local games like flying kites, top, marbles and gilli-danda. I stayed away from sprinting and all other local games. Nevertheless, we happened to run around those spaces and enjoyed our evenings. Indeed, I was lucky enough to have such an open space (however, small it was) in a so-called metro-city.

My son, as long as we resided in Vapi, never stayed awake after 2130hrs. His daily routines started as early as 6 in the morning as to get ready by 6:45 as to catch his school bus. He will be back by 14:00hrs and will have his lunch. He will complete his homework by 17:00 and used to go out for playing. He will be back by 18:30. He will freshen up, have his prayer, have his dinner and by 21:00 will hit the bed.

I was sure, he could not stay no longer awake as he used to get tired from his hectic schedule of schooling and playing. We had a huge open space in our colony and all that he has to do is to run around. He skated at times, cycled, played cricket or football. Though Vapi is a small town, even his school had a good big play ground and my son literally had a nice time there to keep him engaged in physical activities.

Now I have shifted to Pune a relatively bigger city. It has its own advantages and disadvantages. At the outset, space is a bigger constraint here. There are no free spaces here. Even the schools lacked play grounds. I had a tough time choosing a school for my son that could engage him physically also.

I hardly saw people strolling. Everybody is busy but to themselves. Either they are hooked onto their TV sets while their kids are hooked onto their play-stations. All the gaming that kids do here is virtual game. If you cannot afford to have a PC at home, there are cyber cafes where more stations are dedicated to such kids who literally play. They play virtual cricket, fire virtual crackers and those kids in such cities playing games means playing Video / PC games and not the games that are played in open ground.

Irony is, such video games are harmful to the kids. It makes them lazy at the outset. Due to lack of physical activities, they do not get tired and sleep comes late. They wake till late night and get up late in the morning. “Early to bed and Early to rise” has no meaning in today’s living standards. Needless to mention, the harm that is created to the eyes (that go dry) and small kids with spectacles have become very common nowadays.

Apart from these well know problems, the additional problem now is the content per se of the game. No longer kids are interested in Car racing, or Mario jumping – it is the turn of terrorists winning over the good. Bombarding bombs, firing with sten-guns, use of ammunition are all quite common in games. If it is not preferred, then there is WWF. In a nutshell, we are encouraging violence from the childhood. Or we might say, we are preparing our kids to tackle terrorism (or teach them to live with it) at this young age.

If two kids played together then one of them must be Khali & the other must be Undertaker (I doubt whether these kids knew the meaning of this word). What sort of ethics are we imposing on our kids?

British Govt has come out with a novel plan of issuing a censorship certificate for such games so that parents can have a choice. I seriously doubt whether this will work. By issuing a certificate the govt approves production of such games with such topics. Is it right? At the least it gives some control. Here again the problem is sharing. Even if one parent allows their kid to have an access to such games, it spreads across to his buddies. Whoever not supposed to have an access will have an access to it and the very purpose of the certification is getting defeated.

Unfortunately, parents treat children as menace. They fail to realize that the menaces of such games are more harmful than the menace of kids. In fact, parents should start enjoying the menace of their children that would develop a bonding relationship among them. Say no to video games – if it is of violent games, then it must be a taboo. Similarly, let us stop purchasing toys like gun, pistol, etc., that can indirectly encourage violence among kids.

See with a Smile

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 when you look at people in the eye with a positive smile, they will respond to you with an equally positive smile and probably remember you the next time you walk around and ask for something.


Obviously, if the CEO of your company looks your way, you can never give him a nasty look. The point is, even when addressing somebody relatively lower in the corporate ladder, maintain eye contact and flash a friendly smile his way. You never know when you will need his help or support. You will also notice that people will tend to treat you better and they will go that extra mile for you. This extra effort will make a big difference in many crucial situations.


Some might say that a little smile or smirk is a sign of arrogance. The simple action of keeping your head up high and smiling when acknowledging someone conveys confidence and a demand for respect. It is pretty simple; if you show people that you are confident and friendly, they will be more responsive to you. This friendly environment will create a positive climate for trust and business. With a positive environment you can negotiate contracts and create great partnerships, or even get a promotion.


Next time you walk around in your office environment, simply look at people in the eye and smile, but remember not to over do it. You will eventually see people's attitudes change, as they will become friendlier and will definitely remember you.

Compenstaion for Carelessness

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 the bore-well in-between. During those times, these channels had some thing more interesting to cover.

Let us get out of this emotional tangle and view this episode in a different perspective. Indeed our army personnel had done a marvelous job in rescuing this young kid but I fail to understand whether our army personnel had some other value added job?

• Whose fault is this? Did we ever try to think on this angle?
• How the mother of this young one can be so irresponsible and careless by leaving the kid like this?
• Who was digging this bore-well? If the work is in-progress, why the well was not covered?
• If the work is complete or declared incomplete, why it was left uncovered?
• Why there were no sign-boards? You might ask how a young kid can read the sign-board. My answer is at the least the mother can read it.
• Who will bear the expenses incurred in this rescue operation? Obviously the parents cannot afford and Government will bear because of the lethargic attitude of its people (the parent, the contractors who had not covered the well, and the officials who were least bothered to do so...)

I vaguely remember a Malayalam film a decade back on this episode. A kid playing ball accidentally falls into a pit and the parents struggle to rescue the kid. At the end kid dies. I literally brushed off the logic of the movie then and never expected such things to happen in reality.

Courtesy, cable channels, we have numerous news channels than the soap-channels. These news channels providing more entertainment than the soaps are another story. With more channels, every one is enthusiastic to provide Breaking News to the public. News Flash and Breaking News are two different things and they can scroll all day along as News flash.

With severe competition in their field, they are running short of the substance. Hence every activity happening around becomes news. If it is a festival, an essay (literally essay as kids write in their exams) is read in the name of news. Festival celebrated in every housing society will be covered and telecast as news. There are no criteria decided to be termed anything as news. All activities that are interesting is termed & telecast as news.

This brings my nostalgic memories. In those days, we used to ridicule a Tamil Daily named “Dina thanti” means Daily Telegraph. It never covered the major issues but all trivial issues like this. The major attraction was who eloped with whom? How many illicit relationships are there in the society? Which actor is following whom, common fights among public in housing societies etc., however, this daily had the number 1 circulation till technology had taken a toll on it. This daily was famous in all tea-stalls, saloons etc., and people were hooked on to this just to kill time.

This daily was literally ridiculed by the so-called educated club. I do not find any difference between these news channels and the Dina Thanti. The quality of news coverage had stooped down to such a level that we almost spent 27 hours of satellite connections covering a single episode that displayed the lethargic attitude of our people, our style of parenting, etc.,

Such coverage will encourage more and more episodes of this kind to happen. Governments will be forced to bear the brunt and will keep on giving compensation amount. I am fully convinced that the parents, at the outset, were responsible for such happenings. They both may be toiling for their bread; however, this does not mean they can be so lethargic about their kid. I do agree that accidents do occur but we have to be careful. The next one responsible is the contractor who dug the well. Why such wells are not kept closed if not used.

The entire expenses should be reimbursed from the parents and the contractors. If the parents cannot give the money, let them work in a Government organization (on temporary basis) and repay the amount. Such actions will prevent recurrence. Instead if the government decided to give them compensation, this would only encourage such lethargic attitude.

Hue and Cry over the hike

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 do good business, which requires a bit of ruthlessness? If the government claims that they can do business and at the same time take care of people’s welfare, it sounds weird to me!

It is a good hike no doubt. This is too good that even private sectors would think twice, thrice to make such a decision. Courtesy, elections in the year ahead, the government had no choice but to implement this. Still, I listen to some whining noises that the pay is not on par with that of some of the private sector companies.

All those whiners should throw light on the following points before they complain:

• In a private sector, every employee is accounted for the bottom line.
• It is “Perform or Perish” in private sector. If one cannot contribute, they are fired immediately
• There is no job security in private sector
• One cannot take his place for granted
• One cannot come 5 minutes late even a single day.
• One cannot read magazines on the office desk during office hours.
• One cannot behave rudely with customers and walk away scott-free!
• One cannot use office equipments to take print-outs, surf websites, make personal STD calls etc.,
• There is no relaxed-working environment
• There are only 7 paid holidays in a year and if situation arises, they can be cancelled.
• It’s a six-day week and many a times it can be 7 day week also
• Recruitment is based on meritocracy only
• Promotions are not based on the years spent but on the contributions made
  

Perhaps, most of the government employee might not understand what is mentioned above or might pretend that they do not understand. It is the Government who is investing such huge money and they should be careful enough to ensure that the money is not squandered and returns are made.

Earlier, whenever bribing used to take place, the one excuse we heard was lesser pay. With the pay hiked to this extent, shall we expect these money guzzlers to stop accepting bribe? It is a bitter truth that nowadays one has to bribe an employee even to get his job done. Earlier it was given to get a job done out of the way. Having tasted the additional money, would they stop this bad practice? Time will tell us.

The loan-waiver, implementation of pay-hike, all these will certainly add burden to the common man but in an indirect manner. One is not sure, that the practice of bribing would get reduced if not eliminated or not. Had the government threw light on reducing the number of holidays, working for six days a week, strict timings of office, incentives based on performance – all these were suggested already – this would improve the performance. With no commitment from the employees, here the employer has given a hike hoping this will get translated into votes. This will cause more harm than good to the country. Will ever our politicians learn?

PROUD MEN

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 the same outfit you just might become lifelong friends.

You are not expected to know the names of more than five colors.

You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.

At least a few belches are expected and tolerated.

Your belly usually hides your big hips.

One wallet and one pair of shoes, one color, all seasons.

You can "do" your nails with a pocketknife.

You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

Deepavali shopping can be accomplished for family on last day in 45 minutes

Menacingly Irritiating

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 hard. You should present yourself in the ugliest way you can.

Kids and Old ones are the most common types of beggars one can see. This is because, to cash on the sympathy feeling. They are aware they cannot feed them but they breed kids. Perhaps, this is the only entertainment they have with them. So, what to do with the by-product of this entertainment? Instead of treating this as a liability, invest them. Ask them to beg for alms. Sympathy adds and they earn(?) more money!

Old ones either driven out by their own kids or those who willingly take up this profession. Though there are Old Age homes available in numerous numbers in India, I fail to understand whether they are insufficient or these old beggars do not like a life there.

Next in line is a mother with an infant in hand. This is terrible. They knew they cannot feed themselves and how do they keep on breeding. As I said earlier, this is an entertainment and investment in their process. To gain more sympathy, some of the kids are made handicapped forcibly. This is the atrocious things that remain uncaught.

Eunuchs are the pitied ones. They are neglected by our society. They were not given the proper treatment they deserve. For the fault of some one else, they suffer. When they are not even given seats in a bus or train, how can they expect to lead a normal life like going to an office and earn their bread? They end up begging. Considering their blessings as auspicious in one part of India encourage their begging. The only other profession they can think of, to make money, is sex.

To an extent, every religion attributes to this menace. It always maintained that to have a balance, rich has to aid the poor. As days passed, to give alms to poor has become a tool to earn punya. With the growing demands of an average man, he does not have time to calculate his papa or punya. He thinks he is reconciling his sins by giving alms.

Subsequent Governments of India also played a vital in this regard. All of us are aware that Indian Government is a government of subsidies and sops. They give you fish rather than teaching you to fish.

All these had made life easy for beggars and they are on the rise. Why they have to toil hard when they get more by sitting at one place. It is the high time we stopped encouraging beggars instead provide aids to Orphanage or old age Homes. We might end up reducing their numbers.

I have to stop here as I cannot withstand the yelling of our “rapichaikkaran”

Two stories of TOO MUCH

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 # 2

Nothing succeeds like success. However, this success should not rule your brain but your brain should rule it. MS Dhoni does not seem to be learning it. Not few months ago, his presence in the team was debated at length for his wicket keeping abilities (or the lack of it). Stars worked in his favor and he is the captain of Indian cricket team for ODIs. His recent remarks on senior players are unwarranted.

He could have kept it simple by stating a team needs younger players for ODIs. Boasting of his recommendations on team selections and chest-beating based on single trophy would not take Dhoni in the longer run. One cannot forget the way we were beaten up in the league matches. Dhoni should also not forget that it was Sachin, the senior player played a pivotal role in India’s winning and it was a collective effort.

Dhoni, single handedly did not win us this trophy. He should learn to be a little modest. There is a lot left in him and he has a long way to go. He may be riding high today, courtesy, the support he enjoys from girls and media. He has not proven yet himself in Test matches or even in ODIs played outside India where the ball really bounces and swings. Never in their career, Sachin or Rahul, despite their great successes (than MS Dhoni) made such remarks. He should learn from them.

I reiterate, nothing succeeds like success but success should not get on your head. Then you will face the similar fate what L Sivaramakrishnan and S Vishwanath faced two decades ago.

Would somebody tell our Dhoni on this?

Scarlett Lessons

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 a police, then the constables would be comedians. What an irony?

Surprisingly, none seems to be bothered about this. What is the Home ministry doing? What is the ethical and moral strength of our police? At times, one is driven to think that it is always better not to believe in Police. Why their respect levels are stooped so low? How will they regain this? I do not have an answer for this. It is good if some one of you has.

In this particular case, police had been changing stands from one to another day after day. It was the victim’s mother who was hell bent on raking up the issue and finding out the truth. Had it happened to an Indian girl (from slums), whether the media would have given this much of importance to this? Whether these turns, whatever happened in this episode, would have happened?

I agree that being a visitor to our country, we should hold the responsibility and we should see that justice is met. However, the real fact behind all this is, unless you are a mighty one, getting justice or even finding the truth pertaining to you is impossible in India. Have we gone so low?

I am not here to sling mud on the life styles of Fiona or Scarlett. Their life styles are still not accepted in Indian society (of course, hypocritical) but they displayed it unabashedly in public and they met with the consequences. I will not even advice on the parenting part as this has no meaning in today’s world.

Hardly the parents and kids meet each other let alone sharing their views. Kids are exposed to fantasy worlds through the cable channels where they depict what is not happening around our society but kids keep growing believing such things do happen and they are common. Slowly, the base-line of ethics has faded and a new line is laid.

Same is the case with raping. One can have intercourse with a girl for years and if one fine morning, she felt she had been raped, you are labeled as rapist. The way in which the modern girls dress today literally creates a turbulent spin in my stomach. Thank God! I have only a son and no daughters.

Cinema is the one to be blamed next. It depicts that the girl fall in love on 8th reel with the very same eve-teaser who teased her in the 3rd reel. What does this imply? Does one have to be an eve-teaser to win a girl’s heart? What sort of love is this? Is eve-teasing normal? Acceptable? All of us fail to understand but yes this happens. Similarly, the girl has to marry the very monster who had raped her 2 reels back. What sort of justice is this? Can this lady live a normal life with that rapist? Whenever she sees him, will he not look like a rapist and how can she see him as her husband. All this happens in our movies and we justify it.

This means we accept all this but feel shy to say so in public. Ours is a hypocritical society and all of us are hypocrites. If we justify that a girl wearing bikini or having drug has to face this, then how will we justify numerous innocent girls being raped in India. Worse is, yesterday, a guy has molested a 50 year old lady. What a pervert he would have been?

Scarlett issue has opened a can of worms but many such can were opened in the past but we never seems to learn from it. We divide our society by gender in buses, in queues, in schools, everywhere and create an imaginary attraction towards each other. Added to the woes are the hypocritical standards we apply to us. All this leads to perversion.

Imagine I have a coin in my palm and close my fist. Now I ask you to guess what is inside? You guess starts from diamond ring to what not and it creates a curiosity. When I open and show the coin, the interest is lost. Same is happening with girls in India. Let us correct this.

Prince in Waiting

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 democracy of the nation’s oldest political party in the early 70’s. He cannot escape that he is unaware of this. If he is unaware of this, then he is unfit for the post he aspires or his party loyalists want him to. Indira Gandhi’s unabashed behavior in killing the internal democracy, purging those who opposed it, encouraging sycophancy were the salient features of this party from 70’s.

It reached its worst height when Rajiv Gandhi was made the Prime Minister without convening the meeting of the CPP. Sonia brought new heights when she enacted a well-executed drama in the name of putting down the papers.

All of us could not forget what happened to Sitaram Kesri, who was bundled out of his office the next moment Sonia was elected. However, the question of not adding even a single more seat in the following election under her leadership goes unanswered. Narasimha Rao met with a similar fate. All of us are aware what had happened to stalwarts like Morarji bapu, Nijalingappa, Kamaraj (the man who made her the queen), and likes of those.

Rahul should not forget that if internal democracy would have been there in the party, he could not have become the general secretary so easily. He should realize that this party is nothing but a family-run firm in the name of dynasty whose fame is fading.

I would prefer let Rahul discover his party in its original form rather than discovering India. We will see his discovery expedition in blogs to come.

Better Late than Never

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 scheme of VDIS (Voluntary Disclosure) in which violators of income-tax were allowed to go scott-free let lone rewarding the genuine tax-payers! Such schemes only encouraged people to cheat the Government expecting it to be repeated. To implement such schemes, people would keep them electing, thus ensuring the safety of their political future!

Hence, it was not surprising the loan-waiver idea from PC this time that would pose a major moral-hazard. If one gets deeper into this issue, it reveal such a dangerous picture, I am worried whether the common people are aware of the consequences or they playing an ostrich (dipping the head in the soil) to this issue?

The amount that will be waived is pretty huge. The ministry had not taken any pain to explain or even cared to tell us where this money will come from or how will it be generated. All of us are aware that this amount is not being given from the pockets of the ruling party or from any other party that expects to rule the country. To expect such sorts is the height of foolishness! As a common man, I am convinced that this amount will be recovered in one form of tax or other from us, the people, only.

The Government has been sleeping all these 4 years waiting for the situation to go from bad to worse and at the vague end of their reign, declare such populist measure without a strong backup plan. It has been the habit of Congress to spoil the people of India in the name of sops and subsidies. They failed to teach people fishing instead kept on giving those fishes. This sort of socialism had spoilt the country and made us the laziest one still; they prefer to follow this path.

This loan-waiver makes it clear that the problem is forthcoming elections and not the agricultural sector. Since 1990s, a sort of stagnation is found in this sector. No diversification is applied. Stagnation is observed in fertilizer consumption. Added to the woes of sudden change in the monsoon pattern, farmers are helpless. Subsequent Governments have failed in implementing the Drip irrigation systems and water conservation systems instead went on giving free power to draw water from the Earth to the maximum and causing damage to the nature. This subsidy value has gone to 7 folds (from 400 crore to 28000 crore) in Haryana alone. Imagine if we combine all our states, what will be the magnitude of the so-called subsidy? Who pays for this?

The loan waiver would benefit hardly 4 crore farmers out of 11 crore of them. Hardly 22% of the farmers would get benefited (and God knows how many of them are well-off and politicians themselves). Since the time banks are nationalized, politicians abuse the banks to avail loans without an intention of paying back. Banks end up writing off such loans adding to the burden of common man. Same is the case with co-operative banks also. Under such circumstances, a common farmer had the remote possibility of getting loan from nationalized banks. Only those with the political clout could have availed them.

It is certain that those with political clout hardly had the need to avail a loan but they availed and they are getting exemption. The genuine common farmers had availed loans from private parties and they are suffering. Accepted! It’s a great deal to waive off the loans for this year. What will happen to those who had genuinely paid back the loans availed. Will that money be returned back to those farmers? What will happen next year? Will the loans be waived off in a periodical manner? How will the situation of farmers be improved? Does the Government have any action plan for this?

These rhetorical questions remain unanswered by the Government and the so-called media with (out) any responsibility is going gaga over it!

PC hailing from Tamilnadu had a soft-corner (?) for this state always only when reads out the kural scripts in the budget. He might be spending more time on identifying the right kural (couplet) than to finalize the budget. In 2004 budget, he mentioned about the water scarcity in Tamilnadu and floated a unique thought of desalination plant (without doing a cost viable project analysis). Four years have gone, all of us have forgotten, however PC woke up from his slumber and declared another 300 crore would be given if this project works out. Here again, there is no concrete plan, none of us know who is working on this project, If so, when is it expected to get completed, what will be the benefits, etc., Yes. This being the election year, this has to come in the memories of PC and he had declared it. By simply declaring on paper, he depicts a picture as if half the work is done. Will the other half have to wait for next term election?

The congress boasts itself of concerning for Aam Aadmi but fails to recognize that aam aadmi needs potable water, sanitation facilities, primary education and a decent shelter. He is not greedy if he expects to turn into a middle-class man. Do we work towards this?

The infrastructure department had slept for all these 4 years. We still count on roads & rails built by the British and perhaps ours might be the slowest train running in the world. The conditions of the highways are pathetic. Courtesy, previous government, some of the cities are well connected, however, this is far from the requirement.

As a part of appeasement measures of minorities, they were granted additional 7300 crore. I am not sure what they mean by this? Are the Hindus not entitled to any sort of treatment from the Government but for the step-mother treatment they receive?

In all fairness, I vote for expanding the base of the income tax but with reduced burden. Service tax is another problem. If I watched cable TV, I pay service tax, If I got my TV repaired, I have to pay tax, If I availed mobile services, I have to pay tax, If I surfed on Net, I have to pay tax then why not lawyers are brought under this net? Is this because PC’s family and most of the politicians are in this profession?

I can keep on writing but I am sure hardly this would matter. I have vented out my feelings in this blog. I do not know whether this will reach the right one and am not sure even if it does, something will happen.

To Work or to be imprisoned - some lighter thoughts

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 taxpayers with no work required.

AT WORK........You get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from you salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON.......You spend most of your life looking through bars from inside wanting to get out.

AT WORK........You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON......There are wardens who are often sadistic.

AT WORK.......They are called supervisors.

IN PRISON.......You have unlimited time to read e-mail jokes.

AT WORK........You get fired if you get caught.

Are you reading this while on job! How dare you do this? NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Nip-slip Shows of Fashion

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 display our hands, legs, face but not these important organs. Under such circumstances, even face (being covered by one particular community) becomes a sexual organ. (Bharatiyar said this long back in one of his poems).

However, with change in the rulers, the customs also modified. The dressing patterns changed. Yes. Change is the only constant fact in this universe. The dressing patterns changed everywhere around the world. As we are from the apes, we started aping each others dress patterns without even giving a thought that whether these would suit us.

All of us study in Geography classes that cotton / khadi is the best suited fabric for an Indian but still we end up using less of cotton or Khadi but use a more of synthetic fabrics. Let me come to the point.

Fashion is the new mantra among the Indians since 5 years. Since the day Sen and Rai won the beauty pageants, India had shed all its inhibitions in aping the dress-style of the west. The West, aware of the Indian market potential and to exploit it manipulated such pageants and repeatedly Indian girls won year after year. Now this culture of fashion dressing and beauty pageants are imbibed in us.

I just could not understand what this fashion is all about. Fashion meant current style or custom. Initially, people were naked. In the name of fashion, they started covering their hips. Slowly it started covering other parts of the body and fashion was established. Now with no place left over to cover further, fashion decided to shed clothes. Slowly, exposing more and covering less had become the fashion. Fashion is ever changing.

Nowadays in the ramps the nip-slips are quite common! Once bitten twice shy! But it seems the other way around here! Repeatedly, the garment slips from its place to expose what is supposed to be covered. Believe me! All this happens accidentally! It is the high time the moral police (India’s I&B Minister PR Munshi) started a censor board for such shows in which the officers will have the private show and allow others to see!

Our News channels never lagged behind. Just to make while sun shines, repeatedly these clips were shown (of course morphed images) on the channels as if nothing else had happened in India.

We could have just ignored it. What has happened? After all, people have seen some one’s breast. Breast is nothing wrong. It is the organ that facilitates feeding every one born in the world. What if some one sees it? Is it immoral? Is it obscene? If this is obscene, then all Indian films are to be banned.

Look at the song and dance sequences! Those gyrations of hips, pelvic thrusts are literally eye-soaring! They have all the innovative ideas to show in provocative manner! What happened is happened. Let us ignore this. If we give undue coverage to such events, more and more episodes are there to follow. This is the 3rd occurrence after it started with Carol. If we keep on covering such uncovering exposures, it is sure we will have them more in days to come!

Dealing with "Getting Fired"

It's something everybody hopes will never happen to them; but the truth is that it happens to the best of us. It has happened to me, to be worse, when I am climbing up in my career-ladder. With Business-Process-Re-engineering (BPR) is the mantra of modern day management, downsizing or right-sizing(?) will to be the talk of the town. Whether you're a money hungry young professional or an old-time executive, you just never know when you'll be handed the pink slip.

A company can't fire you at will, given a somewhat valid reason, there are no moral barriers when it comes to discarding an employee. So the best way to cope, if you do get fired, is to be prepared, handle it with grace and make the most of it.

How to prepare?
It is harder to find a new job than to retain the existing one. Hence, be proactive and volunteer yourself for projects and assignments. Not only will this help you remain employed by increasing your importance within the organization, but it also gives you the opportunity to meet people and make contacts, even if it's only within the company.

Even if you don't believe there is the slightest possibility that your employer would kick you out the door, be on the lookout. You don't know if the new superior has it in for you, and is just waiting for the silliest mistake on your part to take you out like the trash.

You can be the best employee two-three years running, never miss a day of work and have a bunch of golden stars in your personal file, but losing your cool with a superior one day might be enough to garner you the pink slip.

Another task on your "getting fired with ease" checklist is sporadically checking the classifieds to see what your industry has to offer, and which new opportunities are out there.

Mingle with new clients, chitchat with executives at parties and be genuinely nice to others. You never know when they could be of use to you (I mean that in a respectful way).

All of this is fine, but how do you react when you actually do get the royal boot?

The moment:
The most toughest moment in one’s life is accepting the pink slip. Still, one who handles this situation gently and overcomes it is a real winner. He will transform into an asset for his future employers. Some tips on behaving at such moments:

Don't Be Angry - The last thing you want to do is go on an insult rampage about your boss's pot-belly and short-height. It's very likely that he might hate letting you go as much as you hate getting fired.

Find Out The Real Reason - There's a big difference between getting fired and being laid-off. Ask whether this is an overall decision because of your attitude in the workplace, one specific event, or a result of downsizing (or right sizing whatever they call it) and cutting costs.

Don't Waste Any Time: The bomb was dropped and now you know why, but there's no use in reminiscing about old memories. Unless you see the possibility of negotiating your job back, make a clean exit.

Stay On Good Terms: You don't want to burn any bridges for the future, especially considering that upcoming employers might be phoning your ex boss for references.

Finalize All Pink Slip-Related Paperwork: Make sure that all official papers concerning your employment contract and the reason for your dismissal are in place. Find out if you're entitled to a severance package or some kind of outro bonus.

Pack Up & Go: Don't roam around telling co-workers you just got fired, but rather inconspicuously gather your personal belongings (and I'm not talking about the stapler, calculator, visiting cards or your data-collection on the job). Simply take the time to call your closest co-workers that evening and no need to go office to office; they'll understand.

At the outset, be careful enough not to allow yourself to get into such a situation. If you think your life is downhill from now on, don't despair. This might be a blessing in disguise.

Facts on Women - Male Chauvnism?

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 always have 5 pounds to lose, but don't bring this up unless they really have 5 pounds to gain.

If it is not Valentines day and you see a man in a flower shop, you can probably start up a conversation by asking, 'What did you do?'

All women seek equality with men until it comes to sharing the closet, taking out the trash, and picking up the check.

It's okay for women to dance with each other, but you don't see men dancing together.

Women will spend hours dressing up to go out, and then they'll go out and spend more time checking out other women.

Men can never catch women checking out other men; women will always catch men checking out other women.

The most embarrassing thing for women is to find another woman wearing the same dress at a formal party. You don't hear men say, 'Oh-my GOD, there's another man wearing a black tux, get me outta here!

Golden Words are REPEATED

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 is good, but it's not that important.

And finally... Be really nice to your friends. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.

Basking in past Glory - Part # 2

.....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 any of the hockey players who played for India? What is the contribution of these news channels to this who simply flays those hockey players?

All of the media cry shame of this defeat. Did they ever ponder what made this serious fall of one-time-glory? The present day team is full of youth players. They need motivation and not de-moralization. However, our media chose the other way! If a cricketer fails, detailed analysis is done on every news channel but they chose to ridicule when the same happens to hockey players.

The so-called King Khan, who was glorified by the media as the savior of Indian hockey (just for the reason he played the role of a coach in a fantasy-movie), is being asked about the India’s failure? What a stupidity? How can he answer this? In what way he is related to this? He has taken his share of money for the role he played. His relation with hockey has ended there. Now he is busy auctioning cricketers for IPL. Let him do his earning.

The media was stupid to term him as savior of hockey and now they flay these pity players. Simply by declaring this sport as national one does not make it excel in itself. We need a road-map for the improvement of our performance in hockey.

• Stop Basking in the past glory!
• Play to your strengths. Hone the skills of wrist game.
• Learn new skills. This starts from the grounds. Invite sponsors for building turf grounds.
• Government should allow sops for sponsors or pump in funds to their share.
• Identify those kids who show interest and skills in hockey.
• Conduct tournaments for Under 13, Under 15, Under 18 and Under 21.
• Do not limit tournaments to schools. (read – not only urban schools. Include rural ones)
• Priority to Meritocracy!
• No officials for IHF. Only past players can be officials. Limit their numbers from 1 to 3.
• Government should not target profit while telecasting hockey matches.
• Screen Chak De repeatedly. Not as entertainment but as lesson.
• Learn the lessons: India first, no place is granted, importance to meritocracy, Discipline, team-work, no individual is important etc.,
• Invite coaches from Europe (as to learn the tricks of turfs and their new defense style)

It is the high time we stopped basking in the past glory. Only aged people keep thinking of their past. Younger one never does as they do not have a past. They think ahead of future. India may be old but it does not mean we have to keep thinking of the past and let go slip the present and future from us.

If an aged guy learns to look ahead of future (beyond death), he is claimed as Sadhu. Similarly, India should now stop looking at its past. Think ahead! Turn the age as our strong point. Let us learn to be a Sadhu by thinking far ahead.

Bask in the past glory?

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 gold medals in the past but it does not mean that we are the juggernauts – we are no longer one. Past is past. In the hockey arena, the fact that Indian team does not pose even a mild threat to any of the professional teams is a bitter truth.

I don’t recollect that in the past decade we had won any major tournament in Hockey. The last Gold in hockey we won was in 1980 (7 Olympics ago) held at Moscow where the major half of the globe did not participate and we won over all small rivals. Nor in the recent past, we have defeated any major team in hockey, let alone winning a tournament!

We are forgetting another fact that Pakistan was a part of India when we won more Golds in Hockey. Pakistan is more talented team than Indian Hockey team. We have to accept this fact and there is no place for jingoism in this. Another sad aspect is, we had won the Gold medals when the hockey was played on grass grounds and not on astro-turfs. In grass ground, the wrist play is the key to win whereas in astro-turfs, one has to be athletic enough where Indians are pretty weak!

It would be an imaginary statement if someone said; India had 25 astro-turf grounds for hockey all over India. Let us not talk of IHF and its officials. If at all, we achieved some success, it is not because of IHF and the Govt but despite them!

I can’t help drawing a parallel to cricket. There is no room for a green-eyed monster here! However, the fact is, Hockey is not getting the requisite patronage to it despite being the national game of our country. The patronage to hockey vis-à-vis cricket is negligible. In all fairness, why one should choose a career in hockey? Just for the sake of government quota job and for the quarters (where one cannot even imagine living there) they provide? What other fringe benefits does one get if he chooses a career in sports other than cricket in India?

to be continued....

Changing the Organizational Cutlure - Final Part of the series

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 values of the organization. As these values become accepted by all, you now have an organizational culture that thrives on chaos and mayhem that continues to attract other people who are nourished by this environment.

We all know of such organizations. They appear as “ducks”…calm on the surface put paddling like crazy below. So in the end, you have created an organizational culture that values chaos, where the attitude is that the behavior of “fire fighting” is accepted in the role of manager who compensates for poorly designed processes and procedures. So, how are we going to change that culture?

Creating a Good Organizational Culture?

The first step is to implement a quality and improvement philosophy to focus on improving the key processes of the organization. Led by senior management, this approach will utilize the Voice of the Customer to determine what is important. Also the policies and procedures will be put in place to improve these processes and eliminate defects (defined in Six Sigma as any event which does not meet the customer’s requirements).

Since the processes are designed to be efficient and productive, the role of the manager will change to be one of mentor, strategist and coach. The behaviors associated with these roles are quite different then those required of the “fire fighter” and “butt buster”. Better designed processes and positive outcomes as a result of changed behaviors might cause people to reconsider their views of how a business operates (attitudes). Given time, the collective might consider that how they treat people and customers are worthy of being a corporate value.

Once the value has had a chance to become widely accepted, the organization can be described in terms of those values and thus we have defined a cultural element of the organization.

The thought process seems to hold up under scrutiny.

So, if you want to improve your organizational culture, consider starting at the root cause and don’t try to treat the symptom. Just a thought!

Changing the Organizational Culture - Part 3 of the series

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 satisfaction and financial performance. Other approaches like LEAN, TPM, KAIZEN, TS and ISO are around and have also enjoyed degrees of success. As this is not a paper on improvement methodologies we will leave that discussion to another day.

To lend credibility to the above iterative thought process and model, it must hold up under multiple scenarios. Let’s examine two hypothetical situations in the upcoming blogs... Wait for the next blog.

Changing the Organizational culture - Some school of thoughts -- Part # 2

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 of how the world operates. I know this is getting old, but you can’t measure, touch or see attitudes either. Like the situations above, you can merely observe and interpret what people do and say and how they behave. There is no direct measurement. At the least I hope we can change the people’s behaviors. Shall we give it a try?

How Can I Change People’s Behaviors? Be Careful!

Don’t jump to a conclusion too quickly. Yes, there is an entire body of research involving behavior modification. Through the appropriate use of “rewards and punishments” you can alter behavior of people or animals. But are we sure of what kind of behaviors we want people to exhibit?

Keep in mind, that in a business setting, people’s behaviors might be a result of the “role” they are expected to play and do not reflect the true personal behavior patterns of that individual or group of people. A generous, mild mannered person might exhibit the behavior of a tight fisted tyrant if their role in the organization is that of “cost cutter”. Oops!! Isn’t it getting complicated? Why don’t we just explore the possibility of changing the people’s roles in the organization?

To be continued…..

Changing Organizational Culture - some school of thoughts

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 will significantly alter the values of the employees.

Jack Welch took over two decades to create the “GE Way”. IBM, Microsoft and other leading organizations have taken many years to fashion a corporate culture. In fact, “culture” can’t be measured, touched or even seen. One can observe some semblance of the shared values and norms by listening to what people say, the rituals they perform, the way they dress, their dances and music and what is generally important to them. But those are open to interpretation as scientists discover when attempting to excavate a site. So shift the focus from changing the culture. That leaves with changing “values”.

to be Continued….

Competitive Advantage and Hindu Mythology

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 penance to the God who granted Hiranyakashyap the boon he wanted. Hiranya wanted that there should be no death to him.

Listening this, the God told him, “It is not possible, whoever has taken birth in this world has to die one day or other. So ask something different” Now Hiranya started thinking and came back with an innovative demand. Hiranya demanded, “Okay! I accept that I have to die one day. However, I would like to have certain conditions for that. I should not die in the day or in the night. I should not die inside a shelter or outside. No weapon should kill me. I should not die on the floor or on the bed. I should not be killed by a man or an animal”

These conditions made him almost invincible. This boosted the confidence levels of the demon-king and he started conquering king after king. However, the people were not happy of this king as he mis-ruled than he ruled. Slowly, these successes went to the head of the king and he declared himself as the God and ordered everyone to worship him as God.

Meanwhile, the king had a baby-boy named Prahlada. Prahlada was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. He disobeyed his father, the demon-king and worshipped Lord Vishnu only. The demon king made attempts after attempts to get rid of Prahlada but all went vain. Prahlada claimed that he was saved Lord Vishnu every time.

One fine evening, (neither day nor night) Hiranya wanted to see the God and asked his son where the God is? The lad replied, “He is everywhere.” “Where can I find him, here, or here…” asking so he stumbled upon a pillar and hit-broke the pillar. To everyone’s surprise a creature came out of that pillar. The creature had the face and limbs of the lion and a body of a human. The creature pounced on Hiranya roaring and caught hold of him with its jaws. It simply pulled him to the main door and sat on the door itself (neither inside nor outside). It laid Hiranya on its lap (neither on the floor nor on the bed) and with its claws (no weapon used) it tore open the stomach.

That ended the story of Hiranya and the creature is named as Narasimha – Nara meaning Man and Simha meaning lion.

What this has to the strategies of marketing?

Hiranya with his innovative thinking in the form of boons made himself the Competitive Advantage. If one sees the ingredients of Competitive advantage, it is the combination of resources, capabilities and distinctive competencies that would give Cost leadership or Differential leadership resulting in value chain.

Let us not grope the cost part and the same is subjective. Hiranya had the resources, being a great warrior, he had the capabilities, and his fire to be the God of the world gave him the distinctive competency that was supported by the boon he had. All these combination gave him the differential leadership over other kings.

To challenge Competitive Advantage, one has to reconfigure, redefine and spend all. As we have left out cost part, let us not discuss the Spend-all part here.

Reconfigure: This allows challenger to compete differently in the same scope of activities. Either the value activities are performed differently or reconfigure the whole value chain. Here by reconfiguring the structure of the body (a combination of lion and man), the God stunned Hiranya.

Redefinition: Broadening or narrowing the scope of competition is required here. While broadening the scope may give you synergies and heightened ability to deliver products, narrowing the scope can allow tailoring of value chain that delivers greater value at lower lead time.

By suddenly appearing before Hiranya, He not only stunned the demon-king, but also gave him no time to react. The innovativeness in reconfiguring the body, appearing from nowhere, shortest lead time all lead to the fall of Competitive advantage.

I have tried my level best to equate this story to this subject. Your feedback is appreciated.