Of Hairy matters

When I was a kid, I had to endure a monthly ritual - hair cutting. All of us young kids will be rounded up by our grand father under a banyan tree and made to sit on a rickety wooden chair holding a small mirror on our hands. Perumal, our barber, will cut our hair as close to the scalp as possible under the stern eyes of the grand father. No amount of pleading to leave the hair a bit long will move our Grand father. Once the cutting is over (well it was one step ahead of being having a clean bald plate), water will be poured over our head prior to us being allowed to enter the house.

The guy, Perumal, was a specimen. Tall, fat, with hair pleated in the middle, sporting a Hitler moustache and round thick black framed glasses, he had a sinister look. His loyalty was to the grandfather and we were mere worms in his eyes. While cutting the hair, he will gossip non stop about the people nearby to my Grandfather, with least importance given to the quality of hair cutting. Nicks and bleeding were norms than exception. He used to charge a measly 4 annas (equal to 25 paise) per hair cut. Oh! how we kids hated him.

Then one day, he came to our house and declared that he will not be coming anymore to our house as he has opened a small one seater barber shop across the road. We were invited for the inauguration and there it was in all its glory. A small shop with wooden removable planks as doors, a thick wooden chair, with some mirrors. Perumals Barber Shop has taken off. One up for entrepreneurship. The cost of a hair cut was written in bold letters in a black board as 50 paise (100% inflation).

Time flew. About a decade later, I was in the college, and Perumal had sort of semi retired. His son found out to his dismay that the market potential in the nearby Palghat town, about 22 kms away, was much better. Off he went to Palghat (now called Palakkad), found a shop which was available for sale and purchased it ( my first exposure to Acquisition!!!). Now called 'Star Haircutting Saloon', the shop was in a prime location, had 3 full fledged Barber chairs with lots of mirrors, a music set blaring film songs all the time, some old magazines (why barber shops and doctors waiting rooms still have 3 month old magazines is still a mystery to me), driers, curlers and what not. That was the time when teenagers were sporting step cut, wearing long hairs and were very conscious of their hair. The cost of a hair cut has increased to Rs 2 by then.

In the years to come, I saw the business growing with the ubiquitous cable TV replacing the music system, saloon offering additional services like facials, bleaching, hair colouring etc.

I left Palakkad in search of my destiny and rarely visited this saloon for almost a decade and a half. When I went back recently, I wanted to have a haircut and obviously made it a point to go to a saloon which I was familiar with. I couldn't recognize it. The shop has been modernized beyond imagination. The name has been changed to 'Men's beauty parlour'. There was a neon sign board, the shop has been expanded by acquiring the nearby shops, now it had 12 chairs and looked high tech. The third generation of Perumal Family was running the show.

I had my hair cut, paid Rs 50 and was about to leave when a guy in his mid 20's stopped me at the exit. He looked strangely familiar. He gave me a visiting card which had 2 mobile numbers and said " Sir, we offer home service now. Just give us a call on this mobile numbers and we will be in your house within one hour and the charges are Rs 100 per hair cut". I looked up at him with an amused look. The guy was having long brownish hair pleated at the middle, was wearing a round frame less glass, was a little plump and had a thick moustache. If only he had the Hitler moustache, he would have looked exactly like his grandfather Perumal.

I thanked him and walked off. But couldn't help wondering. "What the heck! Home Service! This was exactly what your grand father was doing 3 decades ago and that too for 25 paise. The world has come a full circle and I now have to pay Rs 100 for the same service that I used to get all those years ago.

As I said earlier, 'The more things change, the more they remain the same'

What is Professionalism?

A personal blog serves as a forum not only to air my views on various issues but also to share interesting stories and information I may have come across, with my readers. I was really impressed by the following real life story that carries a wonderful message. I read this in http://www.rediff.com/

Professionalism = more than just doing your job -Dennis Snow

"I don't like to shop. Clothes shopping, grocery shopping, car shopping; it doesn't matter -- I don't like it. I want to get in, get what I want (fast), and get out. A recent shopping experience, however, was a pleasant surprise.

This experience showcased customer service at its best, and at its most simple. Once again I was reminded that great service isn't about grand acts, it is about common courtesy, artfully delivered.

While on vacation in Chicago, I needed to buy a pair of casual shoes (I had forgotten mine). I found myself in a store called the Walking Company. A friend once told me it was a good store. It was crowded, so I almost left. But one of the salespeople made eye contact with me. It wasn't the kind of eye contact that said, "Oh no, another customer." Instead, it was eye contact that said, "I'll be right with you." It was good eye contact.

So I browsed around for a few minutes and found a pair of shoes I liked. Sure enough, the salesperson came up and said, "Sorry about the wait, let's get you some shoes." I showed her the pair I wanted and asked to try size 10. She said, "Let's measure your foot just to make sure." I know I wear size 10, but her whole demeanour showed that she wanted to make sure I got the right shoes.

She measured my foot and said, "Size 10 is right, but you have a very 'Rubenesque' foot. The type of shoe you've selected won't be the most comfortable for you. I think this other style would feel much better."

Being the sceptic that I am, I looked at the price of her suggested shoes to see how much she was upselling me. Same price. Hmm. With nothing to lose, I tried on the style she suggested, and they were extremely comfortable. I must admit: they are the most comfortable pair of casual shoes I've ever owned.

As I paid for the shoes, the salesperson continued to wow me. She said, "If you ever buy a pair of shoes somewhere else be sure to tell the salesperson that the arches in your foot have fallen a little, and you need shoes with some arch support -- like these."

When I get good service like this, I want to keep it going. I asked her if there is a Walking Company in Orlando, where I live. "Absolutely, it's at the Millennium Mall." Since then I've bought two pairs of dress shoes at the Orlando Walking Company, again with great service. I can't imagine buying shoes anywhere else. And I've sent plenty of friends there."

Now, let's look at what this salesperson did that made this a great shopping experience. I'll analyse the details in a moment, but one word sums up her style -- professional. This lady was a professional in every sense of the word. Her skills would apply anywhere, as applicable in a bank, hospital, theme park, or law office as they are in a shoe store.

Here are four universal traits of a professional in any job position:

Professionals are responsive: When I entered the store, the salesperson made immediate eye contact with me. It was sincere eye contact that said she cared that I was there. And as soon as she was finished with her customer she came right over to help me and apologised for the wait. The store was busy. But I noticed that everyone was being helped. The salespeople had mastered the art of handling more than one customer at a time while making each customer feel like he/she was the only one. None of the salespeople looked frantic, just responsive.

Professionals are knowledgeable: This salesperson knew about shoes. On the other hand, I know very little about shoes. Seeing that this was the case, she took charge of the situation and made sure that I was getting shoes that were right for me. I benefited from her knowledge. There is an art to sharing knowledge, I admit. Some customers may say, "I know what I want. Just get it for me." By briefly talking to me, however, she realised she could make a recommendation for me, that I was flexible. Professionals read the situation and adapt to the personality and needs of the customer. Of course, all of this means knowing your product. Professionals are constantly learning about their products and their customers. The only way that the Walking Company salesperson could steer me to the right pair of shoes was by knowing shoes and feet. Professionals know their stuff.

Professionals care about what they do: My Walking Company salesperson could have easily brought me the pair of shoes I originally asked for. But she wasn't selling shoes -- she was selling the right shoes . That's the difference. Professionals aren't happy just selling a product. They want it to be the right product for the customer.

Professionals teach you something: I left the Walking Company knowing more than when I walked in. I now know to ask for extra arch support in my shoes. Not a big deal, but I will always remember that advice.Think of some of your best service experiences: the waiter who made the perfect recommendation, the computer help desk that gave you a tip on how to make an application more effective, or the clothing store employee who helped you coordinate colours. In most cases of outstanding service, the employee left you more knowledgeable than when he/she found you. The new information might not change your life (though it could), but it does make your life a tad better.

Professional behaviours are simple. What's not simple is the consistent application of them. Being a true professional takes thought and effort. But, once you are truly professional you can go just about anywhere.The skills are universal, and they are rare. True professionals stand out from the crowd and grow rewarding and satisfying careers. And the customers of the world know when one is at work.

(Dennis Snow is the president of Snow & Associates, Inc. He worked with the Walt Disney World Company for 20 years and now consults with organisations around the world helping them achieve their customer service goals. He is the author of the book, Unleashing Excellence -- The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service)

One need not confine the philosophy of making the other person a little more knowledgable to a Sales interaction alone. If we can extend this to each and every single interaction in our life, it will make life more meaningful apart from leaving a lasting impression on the other persons mind. I try to do that. Why don't you too?

Will you do a business where the Cost of Capital is 1500%?

Can you imagine doing a business with a Cost of Capital of 1500%!!!!

Sounds absurd isn't it! But this is precisely what is happening in rural India.

Let me elaborate...

You must have seen the lady vegetable vendor who comes to your house everyday carrying a basket full of vegetables every day. She gets up at 4 am in the morning, goes to the local market and asks the money lender for a small capital to buy one basket of vegetables. The money lender gives her, let us say Rs 500. He, in fact, gives her only Rs 475 after deducting his interest of Rs 25. The lady, then buys vegetables for Rs 475, and goes around her beat selling vegetables at a nominal profit. At the end of the day, she has to return Rs 500 to the money lender. The same scene is repeated the next day. This means that she is paying Rs 25 as interest per day for Rs 500, i.e 5% per day. Assuming she works 300 days in an year, excluding Sundays, the cost of capital works out to 1500%. This is the plight of 60% of the population indulged in small scale sales in India.

All the Government has to do is to implement a micro financing scheme to help these people, a la Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. But the successive governments have never cared. They are more worried about the cost of capital to major industrialists, who anyway are the major defaulters. It remains a mystery as to why the money allocated to many poverty alleviation schemes cannot be used to establish a viable micro credit facility. This will be a big relief to millions of poor people and shall encourage entrepreneurship at the grass root level.

Was Gandhiji right when he propounded his Gandhian economics that stressed on the need to develop rural communities? The bottom up approach to economic development. We have never had a chance to find out the efficacy of that model.

If our Economist Prime Minister were ever to be asked to evaluate a business venture where the cost of capital is 1500%, he will not touche it with a 1000 feet barge pole. But millions of his countrymen continue to be under the evil influence of the money lenders , wallow in poverty and do trading by incurring such ridiculous costs. And no one cares.


"But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly, because you tread on my dreams" - William Butler Yeats


The successive governments have not just tread on the poor mans dreams, but they have trampled on them. There in lies the tragedy

Thanks for your time!.....a beautiful story

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday."

Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him.. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing.. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away. The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

"The box is gone," he said "What box?" Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said.

"I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox.

"Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read.

Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside. "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.

Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser."

"The thing he valued most...was...my time" Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days.

"Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.

"I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!"

(This wonderful story was e-mailed to me by one of my students Sharon Philips. My heartfelt thanks to him)

Future of School Education?

This is the last and concluding part of the series of articles on School Education.

Let us to some crystal ball gazing and see what the future holds for our children?

• Home learning through computers and Internet
• Technology based training
• Instructor less training
• Access to live audio – visual lectures through video conferencing
• International syllabus
• Global Virtual School and students of different nationalities attending the same class and interacting through net
• International certification
• Flexible class timings
• Online assessment

Sounds absurd? Mark my words. This is going to happen sooner rather than later.

This model however does not take into account the development of Inter personal and group behaviours. This, dear parents, is your responsibility.

Buy him the latest computer with Intel 25 processor with 100 GHz clock speed, 10000 GB HDD and 1000GB RAM (remember we are in the future) and load Windows Omega operating system (Microsoft and Intel will still be there making our life more and more complicated in the guise of making them simpler)
But also spend some quality time with your children
Hug them
Treat them like your friend
Take them out
Share their joy and grief
Give them freedom
Give them space to move about
Stand apart and watch them grow into responsible human beings
Identify role models in the society and amongst your friends
Encourage them to share their thoughts with your children and their friends
Do not miss a single opportunity to spend time with children whether they are yours or not
Share your knowledge
Gently prod your children to spend time with others of his/her age group
Make them play any team game on a regular basis
Allow them to take decisions concerning their life
Encourage them to accept criticism
Identify their areas of interests and push them gently to excel in what they do best
You can start doing it even now

“ When your children are young, give them Roots
When they are old enough to fly, give them Wings”

10/20/30 Rule of Power Point

Ever heard of the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.

It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. This rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, selling a business idea etc.

Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting. If you must use more than ten slides to explain your business or idea, you probably don’t have a business or a worthwhile idea. The ten topics that people normally care are:

Problem
Your solution
Business model / proposed working structure
Underlying magic/technology
Marketing and sales / how do you plan to go about it
Competition / constraints
Team
Projections and milestones
Status and timeline
Summary and call to action

You should give your ten slides in twenty minutes. Normally, you have an hour time slot for any presentation, but you’re using a Windows laptop, so it will take forty minutes to make it work with the projector. Even if setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you give your pitch in twenty minutes, and you have forty minutes left for discussion.

The majority of the presentations normally have text in a 10/12/14 point font. As much text as possible is jammed into the slide, and then the presenter reads it. However, as soon as the audience figures out that you’re reading the text, it reads ahead of you because it can read faster than you can speak. The result is that you and the audience are out of sync. The reason people use a small font is twofold: first, that they don’t know their material well enough; second, they think that more text is more convincing. This pitfall has to be avoided. Force yourself to use no font smaller than thirty points and you are guaranteed that it will make your presentations better because it requires you to find the most salient points and to know how to explain them well.

Observe the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint and be a success.

(this is not my original idea. I read it on web about 2 years back and have found it to be quite useful)

Adhithi Devo Bhava!!

The other day, I wanted to meet a friend (!) of mine in Kuwait and didn't think twice before starting the car and reaching his place in 10 minutes. I have not been to his house for more than a year. It was around 10 a.m on a Friday morning. He opened the door himself and with a scowl on his face said, "Oh! you. But you didn't call me up and tell me you were coming". I was taken aback. This was the same guy who barged into my house two months ago at 10.30 in the night when he wanted my help. This was the guy who used to sit in my house from morning till night on weekends when he needed my skills on editing written materials or when he wanted to pick my brain.

Anyway, I am made of sterner stuff. Though hurt, I went inside. He started complaining about how busy he was at work and how little time he has for himself. I was able to get a word in after 10 minutes. Mind you, no coffee or tea was offered. Nor did any of his family come out to say 'hi' to me though we are family friends. As if on cue, in the 11th minute, his 12 year old daughter walked in and asked her father "Papa, We are supposed to go out in 5 minutes". Believe me, neither my friend nor his daughter had even taken a bath nor were they dressed to go out. I have had enough. It was clear that I was not welcome. I left the place as quickly as possible.

One of the trends I have noticed of late is peoples reluctance to invite someone to their house.

Why are we like this? What happened to the old world courtesy? I have told you before that I had my childhood in a rural area. The nearest bus stop was 10 minutes walk away. Since I started driving at the age of 14, it was my duty to drop whoever has come to our house in the bus stop either in a scooter or in a car. We used to have regular traffic from Bombay by way of relatives from my mothers side. The railway station was 30 kms away and the incoming Bombay train normally comes at 2 'o' clock in the night. The relatives would tell my father not to bother to send a young boy at 2 am but rather they will stay in the railway station till a decent hour. My father used to insist that I be present to bring them home at 2 am telling me that these people have travelled for 40 hours and the least we can do is to ensure that they are home early and dry.

Just a couple of years before his death, I was outside when I got a call from my father. He was ailing and a coronary patient by then. All he said was "Come over". No explanations. As is my wont, I reached home in 30 minutes. It was 8.30 in the night. He was dressed, holding a flask of coffee and a tiffin carrier. He rarely travelled during those days. Before I could ask him where the hell he was going, he asked me to turn the car around, got in and brusquely said 'Railway station, Trivandrum Mail'. On the way he explained that his friend was travelling from Cochin to Chennai and the train will stop for 5 minutes in Palghat Junction. I asked him,'but what will you talk to him in 5 minutes and why does he want coffee and food at 9.45 in the night?'. His reply,"it is not the coffee, but the fact that I made it a point to meet him that is important. Both of us are old, and we may not meet again". I was skeptical. But the beauty of it was that his friend was anticipating him, expecting him to come and was not at all surprised to see him with a flask of coffee that he drank with relish. Standing back, watching two old friends share coffee, albeit for 3 minutes, I learned a big lesson in life. What friendship really is and that personal gestures do count. My father was tired by the time he reached home. The meeting lasted the whole of 3 minutes, the journey one hour ten minutes. Within three months I got the news that my fathers friend had passed away. I had a lump on my throat. What if I had not taken my father that day?. The picture of two old men sharing a quiet moment is etched in my memory.

Have we lost the old world courtesy? Our house was always open to anyone at any point of time. There was always food for one extra person on any given day in our house. We never turned back anyone who came to us for help, whatever our inconveniences are. We, the children, had to come out and greet the guests always. We were encouraged to interact with the guests, allowed to sit through discussions and we in turn learned a lot from them. It constituted a critical component of growing up.

Why have we changed? Why are we more self centred? How can we expect others to help us when we don't take the trouble to lend a supporting hand? Have we really progressed? People always whine that "no one is helping me". My repsonse always is "when was the last time you helped someone?". The answer is always 'i dont remember'.

I try to follow the simple principle that has ruled Indian household from time immemorial "Adhithi Devo Bhava". My doors are always open at any time of the day or night. I always have a welcome smile and a cup of coffee for my guests. And my time is at their disposal. I always find time to send a personal reply to all my incoming mails.

I cannot change others, but at least I can practice some old world courtesy.