Lessons from the past

Some lessons from Marketing Disasters,

Starbucks do not rely on traditional television and print ads for their marketing. Instead, they gain mindshare by having their coffee shops every street corner. They also fill the shelves of stores with their bottled drinks and ground coffee. Beyond that, they allowed licensed stores to be opened in seemingly every grocery store, office building, and airport. Great idea, you would say as it gives lot of exposure to the brand. But the result is not so good. The Starbucks brand has become watered down to the point that it doesn’t represent quality coffee and great customer service anymore. Also, the very purpose for which it was established, to provide a comfortable place for people to sit and discuss business, was defeated. In short, Starbucks became fat and greedy, and they bit off more than they could chew.

Moral: Allow your brand to have an organic growth. Do not accelarate the pace of growth artificially. Then, your brand will become watered down, and eventually, mismatch between expectations and delivery will come to the surface.

All of you know about Titanic. The Titanic was a massive ship that was touted as being unsinkable. The boat captured the attention of the public, and it was to be the most luxurious vessel ever to grace the sea. Then, April 14, 1912 happened. During the Titanic’s maiden voyage, the boat struck an iceberg and sank a few hours later. No one could believe that after such hype, the vessel was destroyed on its first journey. One of the main reason for the disaster was the overconfidence of the Crew, who believed the marketing hype, and did not take precautions when Ice bergs were in the vicinity. You can say that Titanic was a victim of its own vanity.

Moral: Don’t make claims you can’t live up to. Only make guarantees if you plan on fulfilling them.

Who benefits from Reforms?

Success of any reforms lies in overall development. I have heard nothing but tall claims as to how economic reforms initiated by Narasimha Rao Government in 1990's has kickstarted India's economic revival leading to overall prosperity. That quite a lot of it was media spin, we did know. The sceptics have been having a field day with the inability of the Government to reign in inflation and with the latest GDP growth figure slipping to less than 8%, there are definite signs of economic slowdown.

We have also heard Manmohan Singh talk about the trickle down effect of the reforms, which means that the poor will benefit in the long run. 17 years is a long time to assess the benefits that have accrued due to reforms. If the benefits have not trickled down in 17 years, it never will. Let us see whether it has. Have a look at the extracts from a latest World Bank Report on poverty (Slightly edited for brevity without altering any facts. Emphasis mine).

India has a higher proportion of its population living on less than $2 per day than even sub-Saharan Africa. That is the sobering news coming out of the World Bank’s latest estimates on global poverty.

The fine print of the estimates also shows that the rate of decline of poverty in India was faster between 1981 and 1990 than between 1990 and 2005. (This means that economic reforms, which started in 1991, have failed to reduce poverty at a faster rate)

India, according to the new estimates, had 456 million people or about 42% of the population living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day. The number of Indian poor also constitute 33% of the global poor, which is pegged at 1.4 billion people. India also had 828 million people, or 75.6% of the population living below $2 a day. Sub-Saharan Africa, considered the world’s poorest region, is better — it has 72.2% of its population (551m) people below the $2 a day level. The estimates are based on recently recalculated purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates, which makes comparisons across countries possible. The dollar exchange rates being referred to here, therefore, are not the ones used in normal exchange rates.

While the full report has not yet been released, a briefing note sent by the Bank had some of the data and showed that the poverty rate — those below $1.25 per day — for India had come down from 59.8% in 1981 to 51.3% by 1990 or 8.5 percentage points over nine years. Between 1990 and 2005, it declined to 41.6%, a drop of 9.7 percentage points over 15 years, clearly a much slower rate of decline.

4 out of 10 Indians live in poverty’

Think about this next time when we gloat over how much of an economic power are we post reforms. Also compare the above report to this one,

In 2007, India had 36 billionaires, according to Forbes, the largest amongst Asian Countries.The increase in the number of billionaires in India between 2005 and 2006 was almost 64 per cent while the increase at the global level was slightly more than 23.1 per cent.

So, pray tell me who benefits from the Reforms?

Free at last

Perhaps no one in the history of the world has done as much as Martin Luther King for the upliftment of human race. To eradicate deeply entrenched prejudices and to bring a surge of Black humanity to the mainstream is no mean feat. His relentless campaign for equality for the Blacks had far reaching consequences for subsequent generations of the Blacks not only in USA but all over the World. On 28th August 1963, on the steps of Lincoln Memorian in Washington, he gave a speech that ranks as one of the finest. The whole speech is reproduced below without editing (the highlightings are mine). It has passion, dream, logic, fine choice of words and more importantly, it is inspiring. It is apt even today in many countries including our own, where there are so many underprivileged people.

"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But 100 years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

And so we've come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a cheque. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of colour are concerned. Instead of honouring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad cheque which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we've come to cash this cheque - a cheque that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

There will be neither rest nor tranquillity in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: in the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvellous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realise that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights: "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied and we will not be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning: "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California. But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Can we have some self respect, please?

Though we, as a nation, should hang our head in shame for our poor performance in Olympics (a ritual or torture we undergo every four years. this despite us winning something this Olympics, unlike in the past), what is of more concern is the fact that as a nation we just do not have the will to fight adversity.

I have written in the past how inept our Government is in handling national security issues. Four months since that post, nothing has changed. Let us revisit some of the flash points.

The Kashmir separatist movement has gained strength. Now, the aggrieved Jammu people who are 100% pro india are so upset at the preferential treatment meted out to jehadis in Kashmir, that they have upped the ante. And the blundering government is blaming pro indian Jammu agitation to appease the pro separatist Kashmiri agitation.

The ISI backed infiltration in Kashmir is continuing unabated along with Pak troops firing across the border as a cover to push in the Jehadis. And what does our Government do? Absolutely nothing, with an idiot of a Defence Minister saying things are grave. Fine Anthony. Things are grave but what the hell are you doing about it other than mouthing platitudes. It is said Manmohan Singh and Anthony are the two gentlemen in our Government. But can be have a little less of Gentelmanness and a bit for firmness in dealing with this issue.

Bangladesh has encroached our land and are still occupying it. And we have still done nothing. Any other country in the world would have stormed OUR LAND occupied by Bangladesh,taken it back and then inflicted such a lesson on Bangladesh that they would have never again dared to put a foot on our territory for 100 years.

There are a million illegal migrants from Bangladesh in India, which is a national security threat. What goes as an apology for a Home Minister (handpicked by and backed persistantly by Madam Sonia Gandhi) again sleeps over it. What a shame?

The less said about (mis)handling of terrorism, the better. Even when Gujarat Government arrested the conspirators, there is no peep from the Central Goverment. No follow up action done.

Compare this with what Russia did to the upstart Georgia, who was being a nuisance in their border, aided and abetted by the US and NATO, who were using it to make pinpricks on Russia. Russia just sent in their army, scared the hell out of Georgians, taught its President a nice lesson and withdrew.

This is what any self respecting nation will do. But then, when did our leaders ever had Self Respect?

Tatas - What a fall!

I am a little disappointed with the Tata Group of late.

During JRD Tata's period, the Group was so highly regarded that the common man never questioned the intentions or integrity of the Tata's. My father used to swear by Tata products, so much so that he was one of the first to by Tata Iodized salt in 1980's which was retailed at 10 times the prevaling price of common salt (Salt was being sold as commodity @ 25 paise per Kilogram when Tata came up with packaged iodized salt @ Rs 2.50 per Kg). I used to mock him being the skeptical fresh MBA that I was for being taken for a ride by a good marketing firm. His refrain was 'If Tata says it is good, then it must be good'.

Times have changed and the Group, under Ratan Tata has really consolidated to become a truly global player. Tata's was one of the Groups that adapted itself beautifully during and after the Economic Reforms in early 1990's and developed multiple layers of core competencies.

What is ironic is that Industrial giants like Tata, Bajaj, Reliance,Infosys, Wipro etc shout on top of their voice through all media (and there are many who are their mouthpieces and do not dare raise their voice against these Groups for fear of losing advertising revenue) on the need for less governmental intervention (in fact they ask for NO governmental intervention) and for the Government to adopt free market economic policies. I have heard all these industrial heads on TV and newspaper advocate this opinion in no uncertain terms.

But, what people do not understand is that these very Industrial Groups lobby for and get far too many concessions from the same government by way of cheap land, subsidised utilities, tax exemptions etc. The money lost to the excehquer by way of these exemptions runs into thousands of crores which could have otherwise utilized appropriately for a host of other development purposes.

Our Private Sector has steadfastly refused to accept the need for affirmative action to help the underprivileged in the society. They have lobbied hard. Admitted, I am not a great fan of Reservations as it has proved to be a disaster in modern India. But we need to have some kind of a structural support to help the really needy. The most ideal thing will be for these industrial groups to help bright students from needy family with their education and if found suitable, to offer them lucrative jobs.

Anyway, I am digressing from the main point. What made me write this post was the continuing agitation against the Tata Nano plant in Singur in W. Bengal. I cannot understand why those who propound the free market theory should hide behind the Government's saree to get a piece of land to set up a Car Factory. You can either have free market in totality or you should allow governmental intervention. What you cannot do is ask for Governmental intervention when it suits you and then fight against it when you are made accountable or when it doesnt suit your business needs.

The farmer and the poor have a peculiar relationship with his land which city bred people do not understand. The poor's whole life revolves around his land. If one were to take it away from him, it is as good as killing him as it has both social and psychological implications. Resettlement by providing him with a land may not suffice. One has to be view fair compensation from this viewpoint.

My take is that if Tata, or for that matter any private industrial group, wants land to set up a factory, they should buy land from the owners directly. Why should the government interfere in this? If an industrial group can raise capital, purchase machinery, recruit people and procure raw materials from the market, then they should also be quite capable of negotiating with the land owners for the land that they need. No government agencies gives you and me any sort of help when we buy land to build a house in India. Then why should the government help a profit making private industry by going out of the way. But then, why should an esteemed group like Tata's behave like a land grabber and deny the market price to the landowner, when they buy a company like corus at a premium? Is it because the landowners are poor and the corus shareholders are rich?

Shame on you Tata! Your group used to show the way to others on social responsibility. JRD even created a City around the Jamshedpur Steel Plant. It is sad to see Tatas fall from such a high pedestal

How good were the good old days

Were the good old days, so good?

One of the features of getting older is to have nostalgia about our past and to compare it favorably with the present. How many times have we heard about ‘the good old days’. But, were those days really good?

It is said that legends get a bigger than life image years after they were dead and gone. One hears about the heroics of W G Grace, Don Bradman, Mahatma Gandhi, George Washington, Jesse Owens, Mozart, Beethoven, Churchill, Bernard Shaw ………though we never know if any one of the stories were true or false. In India, more so, as we are uncomfortable questioning the past and doing a honest judgment of a historical figure. We dare not, then, question any of Gandhiji’s debatable opinions. We are happy idolizing the people.

Similar is the story of our past. We tend to look at only the positive side of things, forgetting the pain and difficulties we had to endure then.

Buses were rickety, trains had wooden seats and steam engine (though there was a sense of love and affection towards the mighty steam engine), there was no STD facility (one had to wait for eons after booking a trunk call to speak to someone even living 10 kms away), no internet, no mobiles, no LPG, no computers, no information explosion, no breaking news, no modern comfort equipments, less opportunities to study and work…………… the list is endless.

Today’s world is much better than what it was a couple of decades ago. Today’s children are smarter than we ever were at their age, today’s youngsters are more ambitious and career minded than when we were 24, people have more options, are more risk taking, more dynamic, more qualified. In quest of all these, they may have lost some of the soft skills. But that is the price one has to pay.

The good old days are here, right now. Make the best use of it.

Quality Management in Ramayana

There are many management principles that has its root in our epics. I chanced upon this reproduced portion in web,

In Sundarakandam of Ramayana, there is a fine description of Pushpaka Vimana, an aerial car that is in possession with Ravana. After describing how spacious and neatly decorated the vimana is and how it can fly from one place to another on voice commands and how smoothly it lands etc. Valmiki says,

“It was build by Vishwakarma, the divine architect, exactly as conceived in the mind of Brahma.”

Again he says,

“There was no part of the car that was not built with great effort, no part that was not significant, and no part that was not from the best material(literal translation of the sloka)”

Simply put it means, “Each and every part of the aerial car was considered significant and built with the best material available and with all required effort to make it perfect.”

Brahma gives it as a gift to Kubera. Ravana engages Kubera in a war and takes possession of the pushpaka vimana. After Ravana was killed Rama returns the vimana to Kubera.

What is relevant here is the sentence ““It was build by Vishwakarma, the divine architect, exactly as conceived in the mind of Brahma.”

This is the definition of quality. If it can be assured that the design and construction processes employed is such that the product turns out exactly as conceived by the customer in his mind, what more can the customer ask for?

Again, this sentence, “each and every part of the aerial car was considered significant and
built with the best material available and with all required effort to make it perfect” sounds
like the earliest definition of Total Quality Management.

Interesting isn't it?

Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Moral Dilema

Both Ramayana and Mahabharatha conveys the point that good always prevails over the evil.

The fundamental difference is that Rama refuses to adopt unethical means to defeat Ravana, but in Mahabharatha, any means is acceptable as long as the end objective is achieved. For Krishna, it is more of 'end justifying the means' whereas for Rama it was like 'if it were to be done, it is better if it were to be done correctly'

Managers face similar problems in their life. Should one adopt any means to achieve the corporate objectives? or Should one stick to ethical practices, come what may, even at the risk of delaying the achievement of objectives.

It is a moral dilemma. And there is no one answer to it. Both Ramayana and Mahabharatha denotes ideal situations. In real life, there are always ifs and buts. One has to make a call on this. Ramayana is ideal, Mahabharatha is more practical. But the price one had to pay in Mahabharatha was much more. If one were to do a cost-benefit analysis Ramayana scores.

7 years bad luck!!!

One of the superstitions pertains to a mirror getting accidentally broken. It is supposed to bring 7 years bad luck.

In ancient times, before mirrors could be invented, people would see their reflections either in water or in smooth shiny metal objects. They took their reflections as their souls. So, if their reflection was shattered somehow, then their souls were also broken. The belief continued even after mirrors were made. We still believe in it!

Round up

Haven't done a quick round up with comments for a while. Here it goes,

Have you noticed the deafening silence from the Central Government on the Gujarat Police cracking the bomb blast case and the subsequent arrest of the SIMI people? The Prime Minister and the idiot who goes as Home Minister has been giving tele interviews every time a blast occurs as to how terrorism will not be tolerated. But the moment the case is cracked and arrests made, they vanished from the TV screens. Is it because the people behind were from minority community or is it because Gujarat police, ruled by BJP, cracked the case? What pettiness!! Who cares about National Security?

China, whom India tried to please by crawling when the Olympic torch relay was in India, pointedly snubbed India by not inviting either our President or Prime Minister for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. But, surprise, surprise! Sonia Gandhi managed to get an invitation from Communist Party of China and was present at the Opening Ceremony. Why she chose to go when her own PM was humiliated is a mystery. That she was totally sidelined, pushed to the background and had to be an ordinary spectactor is another story.

Despite Abhinav Bhindras Gold, the pathetic story of Indians in Olympics continues. Can we, on their return, line up all the Association heads and ask a Firing squad (or better still Abhinav Bhindra - others might miss the target by a mile) to shoot all of them. It is tax payers money these Associations are squandering. We have a right to demand accountability from the Administrators who have been (mis) managing the sports in our country for decades. Mismanaging is a mild term.

Kashmir is on boil. But did you notice something! How the issue of denying land for temporary shelters to Hindus for their pilgrimage to Amarnath and the grievances of the Hindu majority Jammu has now been conveniently pushed to the background. This happens every single time. No one talks of Godhra, but only of the post Godra riots. No one talks of Amarnath yatrees, but only of how Kashmir muslims want a separate country. No one talks about M F Husain insulting Hindu religion through his paintings (there is an utter lack of insensitivity on his part in todays atmosphere of religious intolerence) but rather about his self imposed exile in Dubai. Who prevents him from coming back to India? No one forced him out. The beauty is that there is an arrest warrant against him and technically he is an absconder from law. Have we heard of any one squeak about revoking his passport as they would have done in your or my case? ( I personally feel it is not a big issue that he painted as he did. It shows him up rather than show hinduism down. But if an adult were to do something, he should be man enough to face the consequences and take recourse to legal means. What he cannot do is run away as an absconder). But in all the above cases we see a trend. The issues pertaining to the majority community is muddled and converted to something that is purported to be anti minority. This is ridiculous.

I was surprised to note that the SIMI activists were training in the jungles of Kerala. The rot has set in deep. I am sad for my home state.

Phelps, Bolt, Isanbeyeva - Olympics is seeing legends being made. Just hope that they are not tainted by dope scandals. We need clean athletes to make us believe in Olympic movement again.

Concept of Guru

Let us look at the origin of the word 'Guru';

गु शब्दस्तु अंधकारः स्यात् रु शब्दस्तन्निरोधकः
अंधकारनिरोधत्वात् गुरु इति अभिधीयते

‘Gu (गु)’ refers to darkness assuming the form of ignorance and ‘ru (रु)’ to the radiance in the form of spiritual knowledge, which dispels this darkness. Thus the Guru is the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Quite a lot of teachers consider them to be Gurus. But there is a difference between a Guru and a Teacher.

The teacher teaches for a specific period of time and only through the medium of words. On the other hand, the Guru continues to guide His disciple twenty-four hours of the day both through the medium of words and beyond them. A Guru takes care of His disciple in any catastrophe while a teacher has hardly any concern about a student's personal life. In short, a Guru pervades the entire life of a disciple while a teacher is associated with a student only for a few hours and that too confined to teaching a few subjects. In short, a Guru is omnipresent in the student's life, as a friend, philosopher and mentor

The golden dream coming true

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out if they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you." - William James(1842-1910, Author).

I got up early in the morning to see history being made. A wonderful athelte dared to dream big and what a great dream. Oh! Such a wonderful dream.8 Golds in a single olympics!!! In the bargain, the dream became not only his, but ours too. We need someone to prod our imagination to kindle interest in us.

He announced his intentions at the start of the games and went on to win each event he participated one by one systemmatically. In the bargain, he created 7 World Records and 1 Olympic Record. What a swimmer!!

Great athletes and leader come good when it matters. At the end of second leg in the final race of 4x100 medley, the US team was trailing. In jumped Michael Phelps, and his powerful butterfly converted the deficit to a huge lead for the anchor freestyle swimmer. The rest, as they say, is history. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

We are fortunate to have lived and seen the greatest olympic performance in our life time.

Dreams do come true!!!

Michael Phelps - We salute you!!!

Vande Mataram

A bit of knowledge on our 62nd Independence Day. Our NATIONAL SONG written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee reproduced in full. Normally people sing only the First two stanza.

Bankim Chandra composed the song Vande Mataram in an inspired moment, Rabindranath Tagore sang it by setting a glorious tune to it and it was left to the genius of Shri Aurobindo to interpret the deeper meaning of the song out of which India received the philosophy of new Nationalism. The English translation of Vande Mataram rendered by Shree Aurobindo, is considered as official and best.

We, Indian's, have a relatively poor sense of our history and national symbols. Let us revisit the national song it its full glory on this 62nd independance day

"Vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM
malayaja shiitalaaM
SasyashyaamalaaM maataram

Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM

Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
koti koti bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale
abalaa keno maa eto bale
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM

Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma
tumi hR^idi tumi marma
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire

Baahute tumi maa shakti
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi
mandire mandire

TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM

Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM
SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM

ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM
DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM "


Translation by Shree Aurobindo
Mother, I bow to thee! Rich with thy hurrying streams, bright with orchard gleams, Cool with thy winds of delight, Dark fields waving Mother of might, Mother free.

Glory of moonlight dreams, Over thy branches and lordly streams, Clad in thy blossoming trees, Mother, giver of ease Laughing low and sweet! Mother I kiss thy feet, Speaker sweet and low! Mother, to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands And seventy million voices roar Thy dreadful name from shore to shore? With many strengths who art mighty and stored, To thee I call Mother and Lord! Though who savest, arise and save! To her I cry who ever her foeman drove Back from plain and Sea And shook herself free.

Thou art wisdom, thou art law, Thou art heart, our soul, our breath Though art love divine, the awe In our hearts that conquers death. Thine the strength that nervs the arm, Thine the beauty, thine the charm. Every image made divine In our temples is but thine.

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen, With her hands that strike and her swords of sheen, Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned, And the Muse a hundred-toned, Pure and perfect without peer, Mother lend thine ear, Rich with thy hurrying streams, Bright with thy orchard gleems, Dark of hue O candid-fair

In thy soul, with jewelled hair And thy glorious smile divine, Lovilest of all earthly lands, Showering wealth from well-stored hands! Mother, mother mine! Mother sweet, I bow to thee, Mother great and free!

What a waste!

I had taken a vow not to criticize the Manmohan Singh Government any more. Not because I have changed my mind, but as they are incorrigible.

But I must today. I read a news item that the Government is planning to implement the Sixth Pay Commission Report during the next couple of days. It is bad enough that our Sarkari baboos who fleece the common man and are a rule to themselves don't deserve this pay hike without any commitment as to reduction in corruption or increased productivity. This announcement now is a soap given to the so called government servants to vote for UPA Government in the upcoming General Elections. The ultimate bribe. Let that be. My worry is on another point. Inflation has crossed 12% and the PMs economic advisory panel has indicated that it is likely to touch 13%. Government's only policy in fighting inflation has been to raise the interest rates, which in effect means squeezing the liquidiy in the market. Less money chasing same amount of goods is likely to bring the prices down. That is the philosophy. As a result of this, we all have to pay higher interest on home loans, industrialists and businessmen's cost of capital has gone up, forcing them to put on hold growth plans. In short, everyone is tightening his belt to save the economy. Then , why oh why do you want to inject more money into the market by way of implementation of Pay commission with retrospective effect. The higher purchasing power and the surplus money created by the two years arrear payments will result in a huge inflow of money into the market, fuelling inflation. And all this for no apparent benefit.

When P Chidambaram took over as Finance Minister, he had promised considerable action on reducing government expenditure. But his government has been the worst spent thrift in the 61 years history of independant India. All so called Social Welfare Schemes has been disasters. PC has to pamper Sonia Gandhi by ear marking funds for NREGS and the Farm loan waiver scheme. And, then had to bow to Rahul Gandhi's wishes of extending NREGS (which is an unqualified disaster) to more districts. Congress Government has always used the social spending schemes when they are in power using the excuse of helping the poor. The poor hardly gets any benefit. 85% of the money goes to line the pockets of politicians and other middle men. What a waste!

People pay tax so that they get certain basic infrastructure and protection from the Government. Governance is in shambles. Police and Judiciary hardly functions. There are bomb blasts everywhere. No one is safe. Roads have pot holes. There is power cut even during monsoon. Pure drinking water is not available to most. Ditto with unadulterated food. Then why pay tax? Why should honest citizens be penalized to support dishonest, unproductive people? When will people stand up and be counted?

Oh for a Maverick

Yesterday in the class a student asked me whether it is required of a good manager to be unconventional. Being a maverick myself, I tend to view with suspicion everything that is illogically conventional.

Mavericks can be a pain in the ass, especially in an organizational set up. They do things that shock others and could even cut the corners to get things done. But in reality, the best maverick managers make the world go round. They try to fit in square pegs in a round hole, and they do succeed in doing so. Without them many great companies and industries could not exist. At least they bring lot of sparkle in an otherwise staid organization.

In a way most of the great business leaders, and most certainly all important entrepreneurs, are mavericks, rule-breakers who disregard the herd and follow their gut feeling. None of these makers and shakers could ever be described as conformist. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Rockefeller, Akio Morita, JRD Tata............. the list is endless. They dared to dream and followed the dream to its logical conclusion. World is a better place because of their unconventional thought process.

There is this story about Philip Knight of Nike who broke the norms by letting people make decisions, rather than rely on him. One simple method was not to answer their questions; or, if he did give an opinion, to reserve the right to change his mind, the next day if he wanted. By hiring the best people, mainly mavericks, and shifting them about the business, Knight was able to optimise the impact of his doubtless ability to inspire.

You will not achieve great breakthroughs through conventional means. The maverick qualities of nonconformity, imagination, independence, belligerence and divine dissatisfaction with the status quo are required. Mavericks are the harbingers of change. May they live long. The world will be a dull place without them.

(Statutory Warning: I am a maverick and non-conformist. Hence my views on the subject might be clouded a bit)

The Slow Boil Syndrome

You can't kill a frog by dropping him in boiling water. He reacts so quickly to the sudden heat that he jumps out before he's hurt.

But there is a way. If you put him in cold water and then warm it up gradually, he never decides to jump till it's too late. By then he's cooked!

Most of our business and we, as professionals, are like the frog slowly getting boiled.

We don't realize that our business is losing market share a little at a time and do not respond till it is too late.

We are complacent when the Sales don't show a substantial growth and we don't react when our competition comes out with new products, promotions, and programs.

We are also guilty of being in our comfort zone in our present job, not willing to take additional responsibilities or even change when things are stagnant. We end up slowly being boiled and are guilty of not responding to the dynamic environment in which we live in.

Shake off your complacency and do not get roasted slowly. Go out there, look for opportunities, grab them by the scruff of the neck and get ahead in life.

GOLD AT LAST

Let us savour this moment. I have waited for an Individual Gold from an Indian in Olympics ever since I can remember. It is such a shame that a country of 1.1 billion has to wait for 61 years to get the first individual gold in Olympics. Well, better late than never.

Let us salute Abhinav Bindra, the shooter, who won India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal on Monday with a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the men's 10 metres air rifle event.

You have helped us get over our despondency at last!

Three cheers!!!

End of the Road

The end of the road is visible for some of the distinguished sportsmen India has produced in recent times.

The fab four of Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman has been a major disappointment in the current Srilankan Series. What was incomprehensible was their reluctance to have a counter attacking strategy to Ajantha Mendis. These four has been crease tied and has been bamboozled by the mystery spinner. I would have liked to see Sachin handle him if it were a few years earlier. Remember how he prepared for Shane Warne prior by having a leg spinner bowl outside the leg stump for hours. He thrashed the living daylights out of Shane Warne. We have grown up with the fab four in the last decade, but I am afraid age, slowing reflexes and lack of confidence has finally caught up with them. Having admired them all these years, I just hope that they leave the field gracefully rather than be in a situation where they are shown the door kicking and screaming. Same is the case with Anil Kumble. The heart is still there, and what a big heart!. The competitiveness is still there. Again, what a competitor!. But the skills are waning. He got the opportunity to lead India too in the fag end of his career, deservingly so. Let us not worry about who will lead India in Tests (I am not sure about MS Dhoni. Would rather prefer Sehwag to lead the Test Team) or about their replacements. Most of the lot of Yuvi, Kaif, Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Raina, Piyush Chawla are not upto scratch compared to the veterans. But young Calves need to be given milk. We need to give them opportunities. They are the future. The past has to make way. From the millions, there will arise someone better than even the fab four.

It is also time to say goodbye to Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi after the Olympics. They have brought laurels to the country and could have achieved more but for their off the field antics. What a pity! The tennis scene is not very rosy. Sania has reached a plateau and the mens circuit in India is very weak. It will be a long time before we see the likes of Paes and Mahesh.

There are hardly any other stars that we can be proud of in the sporting arena, except for the finest India has produced - Viswanathan Anand. He is at his peak and let us hope that he remains at the top for years to come.

It is the season of change for sportspersons. But not so for our administrators. The unaccountable nincompoops who are the blood suckers. The people who destroy Indian sports year after year. As long as we are apathetic, we will continue to see Indian sports taken down the drain by the Suresh Kalmadis, MS Gills, Priyaranjan Das Munshis and their ilk for a long long time. A country of 1.1 billion and we are not even hoping for One Olympic Gold. Into the first two days of Beijing olympics, it is the same old story of underperformance or non performance. We just make up the numbers at every Games, more of administrators than athletes. What else can you expect with the sporting culture we have.

Ramayana Masam

The month of 'Karkidakam' as per Malayalam calendar ( July 15th to August 15th) is called 'Ramayana masam''(Ramayana month).

As per traditions, Ramayana is read during this month every day in the evening when the lamp is lit. The Karkidakam month is the last month in the Malayalam calendar. The monsoon is at its peak in this month; and during olden days majority of the people in Kerala depended on agriculture. Due to heavy rain, the Karkidakam month is referred as ‘panja masam’ or the month of scarcity for people were dependant on agricultural income and the was months away. There were no grain in the house and no money to boot.

With the paddy fields flooded, there used to be no work and the economy used to come to a stand still. People used to solely depend on what grains they had stored during the previous harvest season. There used be such heavy rains that it was even hard to go outside the house or village and earn a living. As per Malayalam Panchangam, new ventures and auspicious functions are not held during this month.

There is no religious reason for not holding auspicious functions as is made out to be. It is just that functions need money and cash flow was the lowest during this month. Also, the incessant rains makes it impossible to have functions held in thatched temporary halls. Those days there were no marriage halls or other auditioriums.

The reason why Ramayana was read has its roots in a philosophy. 'Dhramachyuthi' happens when people dont have money. When people starve or are short of cash, they tend to think of evil ways to get food and money. Ramayana exhorts one to uphold the right and lead the path of Dharma. Raman's story is full of doing the right thing. He renounced the crown to uphold his fathers words, fought Ravana fair and square to win back his captive wife, he left Sita in the forest when people started casting aspersions on her character, for he believed that the King should lead by example and was above suspicion. Ramayana tells us how to lead a dharmic life, never wavering from the path of right. It was felt that people reading Ramayana will never succumb to the temptations of evil.

Times have changed. Society has moved away from an agrarian economy. The reading of Ramayana in the houses in Kerala is a rarity these days. Instead of houses, the Ramayanam is now read in temples and in programs conducted by organizations, if at all.

The temptation to succumb to wrong ways is now throughout the year. When such tempation arises, let us take Ramayana and read it.

Go for GOLD

Inflation is 12% plus (officially that is. unofficially it is much more)

So where do you invest?

Bank Fixed deposits are not attractive since the inflation is higher than the Bank Interest rates. This means erosion of your capital in the medium term in real terms.

Share Market has followed the global financial market meltdown and have lost nearly one third of its capitalization. Maybe a good time to buy. But you need to buy wisely, in companies that have shown a sustained performance even during bad times. Also means invest in those companies who has a sound management and strategic perspective. In short, buy blue chips when they are traded at a low. They are likely to bounce faster than midcaps. But buy keeping in mind the long term returns. Do not aim for quick returns. You have to be patient. Dont invest in mutual funds, but invest directly.

Real Estate is a strict no no. Interest rates are higher. Property is over priced. Building materials are expensive. Rental income has not risen in line with the property price. The market may have peaked or is on the verge of a downturn. Be careful.

That leaves my trustworthy friend - Gold. It is always a safe bet to buy Gold during the times of high inflation. But never buy ornament gold. Always buy 24 carat Gold biscuits that are sealed and numbered. You get swiss gold under the brand name Pampa in Kuwait. You can buy either 10gm, 20 gm, 50 gm biscuits. Or alternatively take the route of Gold bonds. Since it is easy for a layman to buy the gold biscuits, go for it.

It is Olympics time. Let us follow the motto of the atheletes......

GO FOR GOLD

Of iddly, vada and inflation

The first sign of rising prices and how serious it is, is visible.

No I am not talking about you having to pay more to get one kilogram of rice, provided you can get it.

You know prices are going to rise for magazines, when they go on a diet. The magazines start attending a good fitness centre and becomes thinner. The number of pages/ contents are reduced by 30% while holding the price. The magazine starts getting a leaner and meaner look. The justification being, our customers wont pay the increased price, not realizing that price is relative to the benefits.

Once you are through with the reading, you go out for a breakfast in a Udupi hotel. Here the inflation hits you square in the eye, oops!! in the stomach. It is a killer punch.

Not that this happened overnight. I have been watching the transformation for a while. The waiter came and asked me for the order.

"Give me a plate of Curd Hole", I said

"What?", he asked flabbergasted.

"My friend. you used to give Curd Vadas long time back. Then it used to be big vadas with a small hole. Now all i can see is a big hole with a small vada dough like an onion ring around it. Since the hole is bigger relatively, should we not be calling it Curd Hole?"

He walked away furious. I thought that the poor guy has been getting it from all the customers for a while now.

I got my Curd Hole. He asked me whether I required anything else.

"Give me iddly", thinking it is a safe bet

When the iddly came, I looked at it and queried,

"I didnt ask for mini iddlys. I asked for normal iddlys"

"But sir this is the normal iddly now"

Silently, I ate. What used to be good solid food has now become an appetizer. I wanted more,

"Ummm.........give me a A4 Dosa"

"Sir.............................", he was still polite.

"You normally give Ghee Dosa the size of a A3 paper. Of late, you have reduced it to the size of a A4 paper which is half the size", I patiently explained

He was getting really upset as other customers started nodding their head in agreement and it was bad for his business.

"Sir , dosa is not available. Only meals"

Having no choice, I ordered one.

When the south indian thali was served, I got up and went to the landphone and started dialling the number of the Police Station.

"What the hell are you doing?", screamed the Cashier

"I am calling the Police"

"But why"

"I want to file a missing person report"

"But who is missing"

"Couple of side dishes, sweet which used to be in the Thali are missing"

All hell broke loose.

I am afraid I am personna non grata in Udupi Hotels these days. So, don't ask me to take you there for a spot of lunch or tiffen

Weakness can be leveraged

"There was a boy who was born without a right arm. On his ninth birthday he asked his parents if he could join a karate club. They were delighted by the idea and the boy quickly became a regular at the local dojo. The boy wanted to compete in a tournament and asked his master if this was possible. The master said he could but only if he listened carefully to his master and trusted him.

The master taught the boy one move and one move only. The boy practised it diligently but after a while he was worried that the other boys were learning a range of moves and he only had one. He asked the master to teach him other moves but the master said no. The master just urged the boy to keep practising that one move.

The boy won the first round of the tournament and then the next round and the one after that until he found himself winning the entire tournament. The boy was baffled. How did he do it? He asked the master how a boy with only one arm and only one move could win a karate tournament against these other boys. The master smiled and told the boy that there is only one defence against the move the boy learned and that defence involves grabbing the attacker by the right arm."

I remember a film from my early days where a blind woman switches off the light in the house to ward off an intruder who is out to kill her. When lights are off both cannot see, but she being blind is in her comfort zone and has a territorial advantage over the intruder.

Know your limitations and leverage it to the maximum. A classic case of WT strategy in TOWS matrix?
as

Olympic memories

Olympics is just a few days away.

As a youngster, Olympics was the greatest sporting event for me.

In 1984, I travelled all the way from Kerala to New Delhi to watch Olympic games being telecast on TV (TV came to Palghat in 1985).

My brother, who was a batchelor then, had promised to buy a colour TV by the time I reached there. Typical of him, he had not planned in advance. Both of us went to a local dealer of Beltek TV to buy one. But couldn't as the demand for TV was so high that he couldnt accede to our request. But he was good enough to give us a small 14 inch colour TV just for the opening ceremony. Then it was back to the dreary black and white. But for a teenager, the scale of Olympics being visually beamed was beyond imagination.

So many wonderful performers over the time. The genius of Carl Lewis going for 4 golds. The explosive power of Ben Johnson much later and then the disgust one felt when it came to be known that he had cheated. Who can forget the flowing grace of Florence Griffith Joyner and the shock on hearing Flo Jos untimely death. Was it drug induced?

I lived the dream of a perfect 10 with Nadia Comenici, the little gymnast and cheered. Ed Moses in 400 m hurdles was a true champion as was Sergie Bubka in Pole Vault.

Somehow the track and field have always held the charm for me. The first week is a bore with endless Swimming competitions followed by Diving and the stupidest of all, the synchronised swimming.

But today I am skeptical. Drugs have become a reality. I can't look at one athlete without thinking how clean he or she is. Hardly any one is. Win at all costs have spoiled and soiled the great event.

However, the games live on promoting the motto of 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' or 'Swifter, Higher, Stronger'

Another advantage of watching Olympics is that we have no stake in it. One doesn't have to worry about Indians competing for medals, as we never did. Hockey was on the wane after 1980 and there was little else to show for, despite the hype. What can you expect from a country who sends more officials than participants and believes in the motto 'Winning is not important, participating is'. What a crying shame!. And the same guys, Suresh Kalmadi and his cronies, have been heading Indian Olympics for donkeys years with absolutely no accountability. The story of athletes being given the short shrift at the expense of officials and sundries hold good even this Olympics. Certain things never change.

If my memory serves me correct, Rajiv Gandhi once asked his sports minister the size of the Asiad contingent. When she told him 392, he asked her how many Medals will India win. She replied deadpan that P T Usha will win a couple. To which he quipped 'Then why are you sending these 392. Just sent P T Usha and her coach Nambiar. At least tax payers will be saved of the expense'.

3674 lives lost in India in 39 months due to terrorism!!!

Normally I am not one to reproduce contemporary articles from web. But today's editorial on oday's Indian Express by Shekhar Gupta is a must read. Here are some excerpts,

Last week, Somini Sengupta of The New York Times quoted a stunning fact from a report of the Washington-based National Counter-Terrorism Centre. It said, between January 2004 and March 2007, India had lost 3,674 lives to terrorism, second only to Iraq. And we can’t even claim that this is happening because some imperialist occupation army is running amok here. In fact that number, by now, must have crossed 5,000. If this notion spreads globally, it would do more to damage India’s image as an oasis of democratic stability, pacifism and economic growth than any twists in its politics, or even a half-decade reform holiday.

So far the UPA government has had one standard response: compare this with the record under the NDA: Kandahar hijack, Parliament attack, Akshardham. But there is a short use-by date on these arguments. You cannot take them into your next election campaign. Soon enough, the memory of those incidents would have faded, been replaced by new ones: Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kabul, Mumbai trains, Samjhauta Express and so on. And then the unchecked Naxalite attacks.

Most amazing is the sense of cool with which this government, particularly its home ministry, has responded to these losses. ................................................... The two most striking things here have been the equanimity — frankly, cynical and sometimes sanctimonious indifference — with which this security establishment has treated it.

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Internal security has been communalised. It began with the last election campaign and the composition of this alliance. There may have been a sound case against POTA because it was misused, but both in public discourse and political action its repeal was made to look like a favour to the Muslims. Then, the same “communalised” politics interfered in police investigations following the serial blasts in Mumbai trains and Hyderabad. Ask senior police officers there — even Congress chief ministers if they’d dare to speak the truth — and they will tell you how they pulled away in fright, under pressure from the Centre for targeting and upsetting Muslims (voters) in their investigations. This proceeded neatly alongside the utterly communalised discourse on the Afzal Guru hanging issue. Each time this government and its intellectual storm-troopers proffered the minority argument in support of this soft policy, it emboldened the terrorists. They figured they were dealing with a political leadership which had already committed a self-goal by equating counter-terror with Muslim alienation and which had, in the process, totally demoralised its intelligence agencies and police forces. And if it is not guilty of communalising our internal security policy, how does it explain sitting on special anti-terror laws in all BJP-run states when exactly similar ones have been passed for the Congress states? Now you can say special laws are good or bad, but they must be equally so for all citizens in all states. If these laws are good, or necessary, then citizens in BJP-run states have as much need — and right — to get their protection as those in the Congress states. Unless the message is: you want protection, you better vote for us. You vote for others, you are on your own.

It is not going to work. It is morally wrong and politically suicidal. Protecting the citizens’ life is the first responsibility of any government. Surely no government can ensure no terror attack would ever happen. But it has to be seen to be trying, fighting, and being even-handed. This government fails on all three counts so far...............................................................................

Virus' KISS

There is something surreal about Virendra Sehwag's batting. He follows the age old dictum of 'KISS'- Keep it Short and Simple (or the more popular 'Keep is Simple Stupid').

His philosophy is simple. Batsmen's job is to hit the ball and score runs. Not for him the complexity of technical analysis and virtuosity. Maybe Dravid and Sachin should take a leaf out of Viru's book and bat with gay abandon. I remember Sunil Gavaskar play with much more freedom in the latter part of his career with remarkable success.

When the fab four (with the exception of VVS Laxman) about how to handle Ajantha Mendis and Murali , Sehwag went about the task with an amused look as to why others are struggling while he was at absolute ease. That is his genius. And it is not about hand eye co ordination or sheer luck. He was spot on in shot selection and very very tight in defence. Also he was reading both the spinners from their hand unlike others who were playing off the wicket.

It was a classic case of sticking to the basics, playing straight, sure in picking the length and despatching the loose balls promptly. Batsmanship at its best. It is not easy to carry ones bat in a test innings. Only SMG has done it before. And scoring 5 double hundreds and above has placed Sehwag in an elite company.

But what endeared him most to me was the third ball of the second last over. He was on 199, with Ishant Sharma at the other end. He pushed the ball to point and could have had an easy single to reach his double hundred, but refused. He waited till the last ball to get that single and retain the strike. Not many in contemporary cricket will do that. That alone puts him, in my eye, at a very high pedestial.

In Management too, what works best is that which is simple. Complex processes, policies tend to reduce the efficiency. Remember to keep things simple. A casual call to explain a point of view is better than a long winded memo.