Can Indians be a little more Professional please?

One grouse I have against Indians is their lack of Professionalism. Not all, but a vast majority. They are the worst when it comes to responding to professional E Mails or requests. They just dont reply. Most dont believe in keeping appointments. Just yesterday, a Calcutta based ERP Company, had fixed a Demonstration at 7 pm my time for me and two of my Omani Friends, who are his prospective partners. This was fixed one week ago. I didnt get any communication till 6.52 pm. I sent him a message, and the guy said, "I will confirm in 30 minutes" I told him I have another meeting after his demo. His reply "My Technical Head is on his way home, and I shall get him and reply to you" At 7.10, he is sending a message "Guys, Meeting is called off. Can we have it on Tuesday 8.30 pm?" "I told him I shall get back to him on my availability" I texted my Omani Friends and posed a question "If this is how he treats a prospective partner, how can we recommend him and his product to a Customer and be sure he will deliver?" Four months ago, I got in touch with a Solar Installation and Operations Company with a proposal to work together in Oman,for a lucrative PDO Project. PDO is the Government Oil Exploration and Marketing Company and a giant. A junior guy replied, but hardly gave info I wanted I had to get someone in India to get hold of a Top Level Manager in charge of Overseas Operations. He was barely accessible, and delegated the same Junior Guy to answer my queries and give me supporting documents. They were inadequate Since that day, neither the Top Guy or the Subordinate has followed up with me as to what happened. People will give their right hand to get a contract with PDO. I did in fact ask whether they were keen to work in Oman, and they said yes. I just cannot understand them. The Contract was worth a few million dollars over 15 years!! A year ago, I wanted a quotation urgently. Called a friend in Delhi at 9 pm his time on a Friday, and asked him to send. He said "Too Late. Will let you know tomorrow" I googled and activated a few other contacts, and in the next 2 hours got 4 quotations from all over the World, negotiated and finalized by mid night. My friend called me up at 3 pm next day and asked me to repeat my requirement. I told him not to bother. He was indignant I gave the order to someone else and is not talking to me since. In today's world, you have to be on the button, 24x7, 365 days

Let COVID 19 mark a new beginning for Entrepreneurs

COVID exposed a fatal flaw in most of the Indian Companies, especially the MSMEs. 

It is apparent that MSMEs were literally working on a hand to mouth existence, and just did not plan for a crisis. There was no contingency plan or fund.

This could have been because MSMEs are not professionally managed. In most of the cases, the Entrepreneur is a technocrat or a marketing guy who lacked skills in other domain. The entrepreneur falls into the trap of 'I know everything and can manage' syndrome and were clueless when the sky fell on them as they ran out of cash.

Cash flow is critical for any business.

As a New Venture Advisor, I always insist that either the Entrepreneur employs quality people to man Finance, Marketing, Logistics or alternatively have professionals advising him in these areas.

I have heard complaints that Banks do not entertain funding requests from MSMEs. Having been an Investment Banker, I can vouch that 99% of the proposals are poorly made, do not cover what is required by the Financial Institution, and is more of Project ideas, than detailed Project Reports with 5 year financials plus risk assessment. The least MSME can do while seeking funds is to involve your Auditor and ask him to prepare the documents are required by the Financial Institutions.

Be Professional, assess your Business Risks, have a Risk Mitigation Plan.

Let COVID 19 mark a new beginning

Ashtami and Navami

Working in TN, I found out that people dont do anything or take decisions on Ashtami and Navami. I asked them why.They say ' athu appadi than.We wont do anything on these thidhis'.I asked Father. He didnt know either. Searched for 2 years. No go.

Then had a chance to meet Sri Jayendra Saraswathy Swamigal early morning one day and asked him. He clarified. Once Naradan asked Vishnu who was his most ardent devotee. Vishnu points out to a poor farmer who calls his name 3 times a day as his best devotee

Naradan was aghast. He moaned ' I utter your name every minute and you think this guy is more devote?'. Next day Vishnu places a pot full of oil on Naradans head and asked him to walk till evening without spilling the oil.

Naradan came back successful and bragged he accomplished the difficult task. Vishnu smiled and asked "How many times did you say my name today?" Naradan sheepishly told 'Not even once'. Vishnu told 'That farmer thought about me thrice despite all his worries'

Naradan was humbled. The point here is that 'When you start something new, your focus will be on the task, and you wont be able to do your godly duties'.

Hindu Dharmam expects you to Godly Pursuits. It also tells you to do your Karmam. There is a conflict here

Hence 'ATLEAST TWO DAYS IN A FORTNIGHT, DONT START ANYTHING NEW, BUT DEVOTE THOSE TWO DAYS FOR GODLY DUTIES AND PRAYERS'. Over time doing godly duties slipped into background and only dont srart/do anything remained, as it is convenient

Now why Ashtami and Navami? Ashtamam denotes decline or death in Horoscope. So dont start anything. 

Also, For Devi pooja, Ashtami is auspicious. Sreekrishnsn who gave Geetha was born on Ashtami. Uthama Purushan Sreeraman was born on Navami. Hence these 2 days for prayer

Resumption of Blogging

I took a break from Blogging to recharge myself and to explore Twitter @swamy64 with a purpose in mind

Now that what I wanted has been achieved, blogging services shall resume

Thank you for your understanding

How to Celebrate Deepavali as per Smriti

Happy Deepavali to all.

Let us see how the smritis instruct us to celebrate Deepavali.

In Bhavishya Purana

कार्तिके कृष्णपक्षे तु चतुर्दश्यां विधूदये |
तिलतैलेन कर्तव्यं स्नानं नरकभीरुभिः ||

In the month of Kartika, during the dark fortnight on the fourteenth lunar day, before sunrise with Sesame (Gingely or Til) oil, the one who is afraid of naraka, should take bath.

In Brahmapurana

तैले लक्ष्मीर्जले गङ्गा दीपावल्यां चतुर्दशी |
प्रातस्नानं तु यः कुर्याद्यमलोकं न पश्यति ||

During Deepavali, on chaturdashi (fourteenth lunar day) in the til (sesame) oil is Lakshmi and in the water is Ganga and the one who takes bath early morning will not see yamaloka (avoids naraka).

Further for special results (to get rid of paapa) while taking bath, one can take the apaamaarga stem or branch with thorns and leaves along with a clod of earth from a furrow and ritually rotate it over one's head.
सीतालोष्ठसमायुक्त सकण्टक दलान्वित |
हरपापमपामर्ग भ्राम्यमाणः पुनः पुनः ||

अपामार्ग - In Hindi चिडचिडी, चिरचिटा, चिचड़ा, लटजीरा, In English Prickly chaff Flower, In Tamil நாயுருவி and Biological name - Achyranthes aspera Linn.

After taking this bath one is supposed to do tarpana for Yama. Yama is both a devata and a pitr. So one has to do this Yamatarpanam as both Devatarpanam (yajnopaveeti) and Pitrtarpanam (praacheenaaveeti). Also Yamatarpanam and Bheeshmatarpanam has to be done by everybody i.e. even by the one whose father is alive.

During pradosha (thirteenth day) and amaavaasya (new moon day) in this period, one has to do deepadaanam (donation of lamps) to temples, mathas, gardens, public water bodies, animal shelters etc.

In Skandapurana

ततः प्रदोषसमये दीपान्दद्यान्मनोहरान् |
ब्रह्मविष्णुशिवादीनां भवनेषु मठेषु च ||

Finally Fireworks - उल्कादानं.

In Jyotirnibandha it is said

तुलासंस्थे सहस्रांशौ प्रदोषे भूतदर्षयोः |
उल्काहस्ता नराः कुर्युः पितृणां मार्गदर्शनं ||

When the sun is in tula rashi, during the month of kartika, on the 13th, 14th and 15th days of Krishnapaksha, men with fireworks in their hands, should show the path to their pitrs / ancestors.

The mantras to be chanted in this process are mentioned as follows, in the praachyanibandha:

शस्त्राशस्त्रहतानां च भूतानां भूतदर्शयोः |
उज्वलज्योतिषा देहं दहेयं व्योमवन्हिना ||

1) those (ancestors) who were killed by weapons or by other means, I burn/cremate their bodies with the bright light of this fire in the sky

अग्निदग्धाश्च ये जीवा येप्यदग्धाः कुले मम |
उज्वलज्योतिषा दग्धाः ते यान्तु परमां गतिं ||

2) all those beings of my kula / family, who were burnt by Agni or not burnt by Agni, may they get burnt / purified through this bright light and get an exalted state (paramagati).

यमलोकं परित्यज्य आगता ये महापथे |
उज्वलज्योतिषा वर्त्म प्रपश्यन्तो व्रजन्तु ते ||

3) Those ancestors who left the yamaloka and have come to this earth (during Mahalayapaksha), may they return in the path guided by this bright light.

So let us indulge in fireworks with this attitude. Om.

(All references taken from the book Smritikaustubha) ... Courtesy My friend Srikanth, Muscat. 

@swamy64

I joined Twitter in 2010, but rarely tweeted.

I was never comfortable with FB, Instagram etc. I do use Whatsapp but strictly for one to one communication. I am not part of any group, and bluntly discourage people from send me forwarded messages, audios or videos. Made some enemies that way.

I had always felt that I am reasonably good at quips, one liners and have a fair sense of humour. I have always looked at the lighter side of life. This makes me suitable for Twitter.

Finally, I decided to plunge into Tweeting since the beginning of this month, and am finding it quite a nice way to get my point of view across on many issues facing the Nation.

You can follow me on Twitter  @swamy64  ( https://twitter.com/swamy64 )

Since I am building my followers from ground up, you wont see much original tweets in my Timeline. I reply to those whom I follow. Hence you can see more tweets of mine under Tweets & Replies tag in my Home Page.

Blogging here will continue.

Why do people buy gadgets with features that they don't need or will not be able to use fully?

I have always wondered why PC/Laptops prices dont come crashing down. Both products are in declining stage in the Product Life Cycle, and have skimmed the market for a long time. The Prices should be really low. This is exactly true of Mobile Phones too.

Instead, the manufacturers, add unwanted features and keep the price artificially high, whereby inducing 'Solace Spending' by Consumers.

Why do people buy gadgets with features that they don't need or will not be able to use fully?

For many years, marketers and salespeople have realised there is money to be made selling people features they do not need and may never use. Many people when asked about the intricacies of their Mobiles or the complexities of their digital cameras are not sure whey they did indeed buy. Most sport-utility vehicles with complex off-road traction systems are rarely driven on anything but paved roads.

So if people don't use expensive high-end features, why do they pay more to get them? A series of experiments that explored this question found that people buy unnecessary features because of two cognitive errors: 1) they overestimate the risk that a product without such features will become obsolete, and 2) they overestimate the likelihood that they will learn to use the new features.

Consumers, especially those buying expensive electronic items, fear that if they don't buy this feature and a new product launches on the market, then they may have to rebuy everything again. Because features introduced more recently feel as though they are less likely to become obsolete, consumers who buy them experience less anxiety. The money they pay is really not for the feature but for the psychological solace it purchases .

Another experiment found consumers tend to think of new features as a kind of investment—something that costs money but will pay for itself as they learn to use and love it. Of course, most people never do learn to figure out the technology, meaning the investment is largely a bust.

Cognitive errors, of course, are not the only reason people buy things they cannot afford. A Sociological study found that parents, especially poor parents, tend to buy products they cannot afford because they are acutely focused on whether their children are fitting into peer groups. Parents are acutely sensitive to how certain consumer products influence their children's search for dignity.

There is one last reason people pay more than they should for products: They mistakenly believe a product has more value because it costs more money.

So the next time you buy a fancy gadget at a premium price, reflect for a moment you are getting value for money