Micheal Jackson - King of pop R.I.P ! !

Moonwalking MJ

Yesterday when I was walking in Andheri Sports complex, I remarked to my friend that 13 years ago MJ had walked here and cast his spell on the audience… and promised to return which he could not keep. R.I.P M.J - The king of pop ! !

An era has come to an end. As they say … once in many decades are such people born who change the face of the world with their imagination, genius and creativity. When it comes to entertainment the fact that Micheal Joseph Jackson stormed the world and redefined Pop music and dance , goes undebated. Like his illustrious father-in-law his spectacular life was brutally cut short … was it by over dosage or a stupid doctor? The planet was waiting for his epic comeback ‘This is it’ on July 8th and just weeks before it, the tragedy struck. While we were waiting for him to redeem his career, his allegations and then retire in style.

He seemed to defy gravity, perform complex physical manoeuvres which would otherwise seem impossible… He produced music which will live on …long after he is gone! He inspired many generations, and so many of us have atleast secretly tried to mimic his moves… and have failed to do so.

A little known fact is that he also owns a patent on his name. This is regarding a specially designed shoe which allowed him to perform gravity defying steps .... remember Smooth criminal ? He practices devoutly and is a maniac for details .... he even gave up 2 meals a day to regain his dancer physique. Such perfection of course is never attained without sustained hardwork and passion.

Though its sad that while he was alive the entire world especially the media badgered him with mindless allegations and were constantly on him. The moment he is no more … everyone is flocking to pretend they are his true fans.
It is sad to see the toll the celebrity takes on the genius of a person. MJ … Curt Kobain…. Elvis .. Lennon … all the good ones seem to go early ... while Madonna still lives!

No tribute is worthy of u MJ … u live on forever in our hearts!

India votes congress to power !

Coalition politics will doom India someday!

India is a country with a billion problems and a billion possible solutions. Hence even the simplest things are complicated to a great extent. In such conditions it is in the best interests of our country to have a definite government.

Economic recession, Terrorist attacks, acute shortage of infrastructure, frequent natural calamities, increasing energy demands and four neighbouring countries which are in a pretty bad state. …

In face of all these we need a decisive government which can take a firm stand and work in the best interests of the country without a compromise. With due respect to the intellect and stellar academic qualifications of our prime minister, I feel that the post of a ‘Prime’ minister is primarily a role of leadership. He should be able to guide the party and also the coalition in a direction. He also determines the government policies to a large extent. He not only needs to have a command over his cabinet, but also needs to command their respect! Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case.

Gandhian National Congress:

Indian National congress is a party full of typical Indians – constantly bickering among themselves, full of internal coteries and politics, extremely sycophantic ( Who can forget ‘Indira hi India, India hi Indira’ .. and the drama of every leader crying and begging a reluctant foreign lady, who is refusing; to become our prime minister ! ). However as days passed my hatred towards junior Mrs G turned gradually into admiration. She conducted herself quite gracefully, accepted India and its ways and has managed to silence all her critics.

I am still however quite sceptical of the capabilities of Rahul Gandhi. He has not demonstrated any maturity and comes across as a person too dumb and shy to become our premier. His surname can make him say ‘Prime ministership is my birth right and I shall have it!’ He gives out quite confused statements, and has failed to impress us by his intellect.

Left is no more left!

Left parties have shot themselves not only in their foot but all over! They had managed some 50 odd seats by chance in their previous elections. Instead of consolidating their hold, they have displayed horrible political sense. The fiasco over Tata motors put a permanent dent on the image of Bengal, and by opposing the nuclear deal vehemently; they have alienated the urban voters too. Though the communism has collapsed all over the world, they still cling to the ancient ideologies and threaten to push India back to pre- liberalisation era!

‘Haar’tiya Janata party:

This is one party which is an epitomy of brand confusion. In the beginning years the Hindu card had worked to an extent. But in this rapidly changing era how can they focus their agenda on hindutva still!

They should vehemently deny being a communal party and sue anyone who says that again. They should totally focus on development front. They should now also give a rest to the Sonia being a foreigner – We won’t buy it anymore!

Its tough for a person like Advani whose image is firmly in people’s minds as a Hindutva spearhead to become a prime ministerial candidate. It’s a pity however that India’s best administrator and orator is tainted with the paint of Godhra! I hope we will see him as a PM someday. However he too should totally shun the Hindutva agenda and project his developmental activities. To win in Rural areas – Now BJP really needs to do its homework here!!!

I hope congress speeds up the reforms and acts tough on terror, asserts India on international forums well, and provides a stable government for next 5 years. I swear I will vote the next time!

Andhra assembly elections:

There have been two biggest shocks. One is congress winning clear majority and PRP losing horribly. In the beginning of establishing his party Chiranjeevi claimed that he would win 160 + seats by himself and become the chief minister in NTR style. Alas, there were a million problems which led to his downfall:

1. NTR rode on a telugu pride when there was no regional party. He drove home the telugu sentiment due the congress chief ministers acting as puppets to the congress govt at the centre. This was totally missing in Chiranjeevi campaign.

2. There were many internal tussles within the party and the party cadre was not motivated enough.

3. There were no right candidates in PRP to stand for elections.

4. Times have changed and the voters have too, it’s not so easy to con them, and film stars can’t directly become the kings anymore.

Congress will again perpetrate corruption to a level never known before. YSR will write the remaining half of the state onto his son’s name. They will hunt down the remaining few rural cadre of TDP.

But they must now be repenting for burning all the files in the secretariat, as they might not have expected to come back to power and face this situation!

Now or Later ??

Aquarians they say worry a lot about world and the ways of life .. or to say in better terms about philosophical things in life. Born in the middle of Aquarius i apparently worry a tad more than my fellow aquarians ! (Wondering how all this is connected ... read on ! )

We recently learnt in our Business strategy that a company should have a short and precise but absolutely clear mission or vision statement which will help all the employees decide whenever in a dilemma. I thought why not have one for life itself and stumbled upon the one below:
There are 3 kinds of people:

1. Those who live too much in the Future
2. Those who live too much in pesent
3. Rare few who balance both
   

Future guys:
They tend to overslog .. whether it be studies or whether it be in an organisation and are very driven by motives and long term goals and objectives . They end up ignoring the present i.e their families, friends, and miss out on opportunities to enjoy life. They assume that they are havign fun while working .. but at some point there comes a breaking point and they decide ... " I Can't take it anymore .. i should have taken it easier" . By then either they are past their prime ... or their lives to broken to be mended !

This reminds me of a story about a Soldier: The emperor granted a boon to a soldier who fought valiantly in a war. The boon was that the soldier can become the ruler of as much land he can cover on his horse. He bagan riding tirelessly in the greed to cover as much as he could. Suddenly one day he realised that he had crossed his nineties and that he had not even enjoyed a part of what he earned! This shows that sometimes being so driven by ambition .. we lose sight of the present !

Right here Right now guys:
Some people feel that they have come into this world to have fun and enjoy !! They have a philosophy of ' Kal kisne dekha hai ! ' They enjoy every moment of life without a care about the future. But after a certain time .. the present passes and we have to step ito the future. That's when the Grasshoppers realise that they should have worked like the ants!

I see an analogy of this in the Rip Van Winkle story. The guy dozes off for 20 years in the mountains after drinking a divine ale made by the dwarfs. He wakes up and tries to find his family and town. Alas .. everything had changed. His wife had passed away .. his kids and friends don't recognise him.

His sleeping can be taken as an analogy to the guy who does what he wants and enjoys his life. Because he lost contact with his world and "wakes up" only after everything is gone ! ( I wonder if its only me who sees this meaning in this old fable)

The Balancers:
Thought rare .. but i have seen few people who can balance the act of Present vs Future ! The observations is that they seemed more contented than the other 2 kinds. They lived in a sense of harmony with their own selves. I would like to believe that i am one of them.

However these can also tend to be phases in life rather than types of personalities. For eg: when you are young and reckless .. one can afford to be the first type ... or rather has to be !

We have to invest in the future ( if we are not the ones born with a silver / platinum spoon) and slog it off now . This is also reflected in Malcolm Gladwell's latest book on "The Outliers"
One needs to out in 10,000 hours of concentrated and continous efforts to become succesful !
And ... we can also be happy n satisfied .. if we make a concious choice of what we do !

Enough gyaan for a day ! Cheers - KK

Manage your online presence!

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Nothing is a secret these days! The word privacy has taken a new meaning all together. While we are still brooding over the dilemma of whether to give our mobile number for office purposes an entirely new problem has raised its hood. Its omnipresent, its dark and its scary!! Your Virtual life is CRITICAL to your real life!

My manager used to say “International exposure doesn’t necessarily mean going abroad and working there. Dealing with the clients based abroad and interacting with them over phone, teleconferencing, client visits also amounts to exposure “. While I was dealing with them on numerous occasions I had to take their number for communication. None of them were willing to give their mobile numbers. Their plain response was ‘Call me on my extension’.

I was surprised, as giving our mobile numbers was a Sine-qua-non in India! But they were willing to give their mobile numbers only when the issue was critical and they had to receive their calls while at home. A World of difference would you say!

The simple fact I want to emphasise wit this anecdote is how much we value our privacy!

Nowadays every one has their profiles created on Facebook or Orkut. (Though some are saying that Facebook is already outdated !) We all have websites, blogs, and some of us also live a ‘Second Life’ ;)

Though blogs were started with an intention to express one’s opinions and view without any apprehensions. People were hooked onto Orkut and other networking sites to find their old friends and keep in touch with distant ones. There was an air of casualness and it was more fun.

Google began commercialising it by scanning our mails and posting ‘relevant’ ads. Then other marketing companies started using networking sites for their Viral marketing campaigns. Every one started impinging on our personal spaces and everything is commercialised these days!

The most recent development is that Prospective employers and companies started monitoring their employees via Internet. They started tracking their blogs and accounts and what they say and what could their future plans be!!

Two glaring instances:

1. A teenager was fired just for her remark that her work is boring. We tend to say casual things when on net. But imagine being fired because you scrapped your friend saying I am getting bored t my office. People talk to freedom of speech! Does it cover Facebook?? (The report)

2. My friend was a student form a prestigious engineering college in Delhi. His classmate was hired at a plush salary by a manufacturing major. The company HR apparently found his profile on Orkut and saw that he had joined GRE forums and was planning to go abroad for his PG. He was sent a regret letter within a week of his placement !

Go figure!!

One thing we can do is to be exceptionally careful about what we write/ post online. Another simple solution is to use the greatest advantage of internet – Anonymity!

Use different login names and create mail accounts completely unrelated to you. Are we getting closer to living a Second life – It’s time to keep Mr Anderson away from Mr NEO

Harsha Bhogle @ SPJIMR, Mumbai

This was one of the defining moments during the annual Biz fest: OJAS '09 @ SPJIMR.
The audi was packed and everyone waited anxiously to be listen to Harsha Bhogle. As he strode in it took few moments to register that its him, due to the drastic change in appearance - he looked leaner, and much younger :)

He took his seat on the stage and instantly struck a chord with the audience, who greeted him with a huge round of applause. What struck me were his manners and calm and composed answers and of course his razor sharp wit and humour.
Though some of the points he made were general, they were profound. The manner in which they were delivered, left us all with a happy feeling at the end of the talk.


• Real world vs virtual world: People are getting too attached to their virtual existence. They have presence over the web and are party to thousands of communities. But in real life their only companion is their laptop! When we go to work, we have to deal with real people and they have real problems which can’t be avoided. He quoted a person “Good coaches coach players, Great coaches coach people”.

• Don’t run behind salaries: Since most of the MBA students are early in their career, they should focus more on building their careers and look forward for roles which will help them in getting a great opportunity later.

• There will be sunshine soon: Everyone is worrying about the downturn and are worried day in and day out. It’s more psychological than actual. Though there are few sweeping changes occurring in the world, it’s a necessary change as it acts as a speed breaker and restore normalcy in the world. The salaries may be a little on the lower side, but once things pick up, it will prove that we are actually lucky to have this skill set in such times. It will also harden us going through a downturn early in the career.

• Don’t go looking for shortcuts: If there’s a shortcut and no one’s taking it, we should pause and think why.

• Work your backside off! : Harsha said that every successful person he met had worked very hard at some point of time. Nothing comes on a platter these days. We have to find our passions and go after them. It’s heartening to see some people mention entrepreneurship these days and not looking for a run of the mill jobs. But one thing’s for sure : Hard work is irreplaceable.

• Don’t look for coaches: We tend to look for solutions to our problems. We expect that someone will come and solve our problems. Sadly, that doesn’t happen in real life. We ought to fight our own battle. In Australian cricket there was a common practice that no one was allowed to go to their coach with a problem. They can go to him only when they also have a solution to the problem. We try to blame people / circumstances for our problems, but in the end WE have to look for the solutions.

• Luck by chance?: In response to a query he said that though luck is a part of life. It’s more to do with our efforts and planning. Some people are working while the world is sleeping, so when the opportunity arrives, the person is ready! It reflects a famous quote “It takes 20 years of perseverance to become an overnight success”!


The talk ended with a crisp vote of thanks by Prof Suranjan Das and was met with a resounding applause. He said "when I was in IIM A in 1991, I was jealous of a professor who addressed Harsha on the stage. It took 20 years for me to get on the same platform! “

Since my coming to SPJIMR I have heard a lot of executive, CEO’s and a lot of great people. But his talk was heart warming and left me with a good feeling.

In 2009 I had my Valentine ’s Day dinner with HARSHA BHOGLE. A night to remember ;)

- K K Kishore

Is Israel doing to Gaza what Hitler did to them ?

Few radical islamists fire ineffective rockets into Israeli cities and they retaliate by pounding their buildings with 1 ton bombs !! Now whom do we support and whom do we don't ?

Though i am an Indian citizen, i have been following the whole issue of Israel - Palestine. I have neutral views and have no incentive in being biased towards any community. If we look without pre knowledge at the two pics above, we can't distinguish which pic belongs to Israel and which to Gaza. Human suffering knows no boundaries, nor religion.

Palestine problem:

If the poverty levels are high, if people have no incentive to work, or engage in economically productive activities, if they have no food to eat, if they cant secure the lives of their families, if they are dominated and bullied by powerful countries ....


They are bound to retaliate in the means they can, they would risk their lives to inflict maximum damage to their enemies.... simply because they have nothing else to do . Because their lives are worth 100 gms of lead or one explosion. When they know that they are going to die anyway ... why will they not risk their lives . This is the prime reason which drives people to suicide squads!

Israel Problem:
The suffering Jews went through in holocaust, their identity crisis and not having a country of their own gives strong enough reason for people to keep fighting. David Ben Gurion had once said " Hang on to Jerusalem with the tip of your teeth ! ". The ideology still persists and will always.
When their cities are pounded with enemy rockets, when their very right to existence is denied, when unexpecting citizens waiting for a bus are blown away by a mindless fidayeen , they are bound to use all their military might to secure the lives of their citizens.

It is foolish on Palestine's part to deny the existence of Israel, and to hope tp drive out all the Jews from Palestine. 'They are here to stay ! '.

It is equally foolish on part of Israel to think that they can continue killing palestinians every time there are attacks on their cities. They would simply be re-doing what Adolf Hitler did to them in Holocaust - "Killing innocent people just because he had the power and might to do so"


Solution:

Most of the problems in the world have either religious or political motives. But the solution can be economic.

Israel should help a democratic government setup in Palestine. They should create employment opportunities for the young men and take their attention away from Jihad. They should be able to provide for their families. First signal Israel can send, is by helping food supplies reach Palestine and help reconstruct all the buildings they have blown up.

Go the Gandhi way - answer with peace and respond unilaterally to Hamas i.e with no pre-conditions.

It is said in Ramayana that " The greatness of Lord Rama is not in his strength or prowess in using arms, but in his restraint in not using them". It will take some sacrifice on some one's part, and SOME ONE must make it. For lasting peace. It is always better is the stronger one does it.

Hamas / Fatah / PLO whould respond to these moves with honest motives. This is one historic opportunity and they would be betraying future generations of peaceful life if they don't do so.
They should not use this chance to pile up arms but better their economy and pave way for eternal peace.

I will end with a Gandhian quote " An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind !".

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti hi !

ROOTS - about Indian Born Confused Desi's

When anyone asks me "where do you belong to ?" I just reply .. oh I’m from a lot of places .My dad having a transferable job .. we have to move lock, stock and barrel every 3 years!! Though the good part was that I got to see a major part of India including its major travel destinations … I got to meet different kinds of people .Though I had to leave my old friends behind .. I made new ones every now n then …
In my travels around the country .. I was one day wondering: where do I actually belong to ?

If around the country , there evolve xenophobic idiots like Raj Thackeray ...Then which is the one place I would run to .. and I was trying to remember the places I stayed at :

I went back to Agra where I learnt that the North Indians feel that
1 > Entire south India is made up of a single city : MADRAS .. and all the south Indians are madrasi’s ..
2> There is only one language in south and that too is called madrasi.. few enlightened ones knew the name of Tamil .
3> All south Indians wear only lungis and eat only idly sambar .
It was fine considering the fact the ppl down south thought that all north Indians are thugs n cheaters.
Then I went to Vizag for a period of 5 years … where I had some identity considering the fact that I was born there.. But since I hardly knew anything about the place, I felt like a stranger in that city too ..

For my engineering I went to BIT- Ranchi and I was scared by the Domicile policy of Jharkhand .. that anyone who is not from Jharkhand, including bihari’s are foreigners.
The fact that as soon I first landed in Ranchi there was a curfew and I had to reach my college with police protection had scared my parents back in Vizag … ;) . I had stayed in Ranchi for 4 years .. then I slowly realized that people there were the most friendly ones I met across India … and the situation in Jharkhand-Bihar is not as bad as people in rest of India feel and.. though it is quite bad actually .. my parents loved the climate of Ranchi and were happy to stay there for 3 yrs .. ;)
I was happy when after 2 months of training in Noida , my posting was given as Hyderabad .. "Back home !" .. I thought- after 4 years … But the real surprise came when the Telengana movement claimed that I was not supposed to stay in Hyderabad .. and that they were demanding for a new state and wanted all its resources to be available to them only – Hyderabad included.

My dreams of a better career inspired me to take part in the Indian graduates' annual event – CAT … after narrowly missing some big names I finally managed to sneak into SPJIMR which meant that I was now supposed to travel to BOMBAY ..oops MUMBAI .. (I hope shiv sainiks forgive me. ) Though it is a megapolis with a population rivaling that of a small nation , notwithstanding an exotic mix of people from all over the country … I am doomed to be an outsider yet again ! ...Thanks to a politician trying to revive his flailing career- Raj Thackarey n his MNS hooligans.

They reserved 80 % of the govt jobs for Marathas .. that’s fine becoz local people should reap benefits of their area’s abundance and opportunities ..
But his outrageous threats to kill the north Indians and call to drive out the outsiders, remind us of the Holocaust .. I hope history will not repeat itself atleast this time ..
The socialist sovereign democratic republic that India is .. Don’t we have the freedom or more rightly - Is it not our fundamental right to work or live freely anywhere within the territorial limits of my country ?
Till now we have heard of ABCD’s – Indian origin people born in the US ,who are confused about their loyalties , culture etc … now it’s the beginning of a new generation of Indian born confused desi’s ..
Mr Thackeray : Do we Indians , need a visa to live/work in MUMBAI now ???

LEADERSHIP ...

Leadership : what's it about ....

...

I sometime back read a quote that :

The world is run by top 2-3 % ..

and it is pulled down by the bottom 2-3 % ..

the rest contribute to global warming !!

Though i do not believe in that exaggerated nonsense .. its an interesting perspective to understand why the success and failure of an event depends so much on the leaders. I first time came to appreciate that while watching the movie Gladiator ( one of favorites of almost everyone i met)... and while reading the war stories .. it s quite evident .

Similarly .. even in the corporate scenario and even in the case of country's leadership . One book i read which is entirely about leadership is ART OF WAR - by Sun Tzu . a 1000 Yrs old booko but an interesting read.

I'm no Sun Tzu .. but here are what i feel are Telltale signs of a leader.. or how a leader should be .. I personally belive that though some people are born leaders .. one can always train himself to be one ..

1> The leader has to be assertive. It is not enough to issue clear orders .. you have to be assertive in doing them .. and for the first few times … if u can crosscheck if it’s been done well .. nothing like it .

2> The Leader should have something extra – it can be a quality , a talent or even something tangible which rest of the pack doesn’t have. Unless this is there it is difficult to invoke respect from rest of the pack . Or the leader must have the ability to do something which others do not have. EG: the US had the BOMB and more or less it was one of the reasons why post world war it emerged as an undisputed leader. To be admired or hated .. there has to be this extra thing.

3> People respect Authority – in one form or the other .. the leader should exert his authority.

4> He should lead by example . The leader should never back off from doing things which he expects others to do or follow . Eg : Its very easy for a brave general to inspire his soldiers to risk their life for the country than it is for a weakling who isssues orders from the security of a fortress. So be there.. right in the frontlines of battlefield and lead by example.

5> Compassion: If the people you are leading do not connect with you on a personal level , it is difficult to inspire them to give their best for you , sacrificing their personal space . Though it is not feasible some of the times .. it should be done whenever possible. The guy should never have a feeling that he is simply being –used.

6> It is easy to lead them if you happen to invoke the pride in themselves. If ppl feel they are doing something really useful / important then people can be made to work real hard.

The list is by no means comprehensive not exhaustive .. i'll keep updating them as and when i come across more situations.. ppl are free to add few as well ... in COMMENTS !!

This space is for the question i asked below .. im still trying to comprehend why .. till then ..

:)

“Why are we like that only? “- the story of india !

Why is it that :

While driving on the roads we see people who do not free the left lane .. we curse people who do not stop where required….people who do not give way to ambulances…. and yet do the same when we have a choice of not to ...

We see people jumping across the railway track .. just to save 2 mins … we see overloaded buses ..people again who want to save 10 mins by not waiting for next bus…

at cinema halls .. there is a war at the snacks counter … where a simple queue would do .. We prove that we live in land of Mahabharata!

We switch jobs like we are on a merry go around in a fair….
Exams like CAT and IIT JEE are like annual Olympics..Most eagerly waited for events.. and every one who is legally eligible .. at least fills up the form - like Engineering + MBA is our national profession ...

We speak the most in places where silence is respected .. and are shy where it matters the most ..
We complain that no one comes forward to change the country.. While we are busy making more money.. Looking for better jobs.. Or foreign work permits.

Its confusing .. Are we most amicable race or are we most selfish … are we the most tolerant people or are we most riot mongering … are we easily satisfied … or are we most aggressive .. At times we want the short cuts for everything.. At times we are most hardworking among the nationalities…If anyone tries to sum up us Indians in one mentality … or one attitude .. that would lead to a miserable failure…

Why are we like that only?

Will there be a recession ?

How the future could possibly be ?

wrt US , INDIA , CHINA ...

There are talks of recession going around... there is speculation of what wonders will India and china achieve … the American universities are sending their groups to conduct studies on India… the British prime is visiting India to improve ties with it, the Chinese premier breaks protocol to display warmth to Dr.Manmohan Singh during his china visit…. The rising rupee is hurting the IT firms and the small exporters alike…the stock market is volatile and people are wary about putting their life’s earnings into it…

Among all this hoopla.. I think there will be a drastic changes in the world economies in the coming few years :

The recession and the sub-prime crisis will hit the American badly and the dollar will freewheel downwards leading to the countries pulling out their dollar reserves to buy other stable currencies like the euro… which will further wreck havoc with dollar’s exchange rate. The Americans will take huge debts from china and Japan to plug their deficits in the budget. Still The US will remain one of he strongest economies and few correct policies by the federal bank and the new president in office might stop the free fall.. as a strong dollar benefits not only the US but also the world on the whole.

The Chinese will continue to grow at the present amazing pace.. so will India for the present at least.. the world will see the rise of euro as the stable currency ..

How will this affect the Indian economy … to take a bird’s eye view … the IT companies which have their business modeled on the cost cutting and off shoring will take a major hit …due to the rising rupee and the falling dollar. But still it would be cheaper to get stuff done in India… so the overall worth might decrease.. Yet India will still get business till South America and china come up as competition.

On the other front the world will see the rise and consolidation of the Indian companies on the international arena . after Corus and Novelis and a spate of other acquisitions by Indian companies .., the Jaguar and land rover are being eyed by the Tata's themselves..the international competition will force the Indian industries to become better and enhance their quality.The Indian pharma and automobile companies will get stronger both in India and also abroad.

Even other areas like the exporters will take a hit in their business due to the changed scenario…the falling dollar will hurt the economy for few years till the situation is stabilized again … it will not be entirely fun to watch it happening but the end result might be !

The writing is on the wall: Indian companies will have to become better to face the competition, India has to move up on the value chain rather than jt providing the most cost effective solutions like in IT and BPO’s and other arena’s….we have to make a few sacrifices and build up the infrastructure else it will be difficult to sustain the rate of current growth.

___________________ INDIA and the development indices ____________________

India will still feature at the bottom of the most of the human development indices : the reason being the denominator is still HUGE .. i.e our population … how much ever we might increase our GDP and net output … the per capita will still languish … we must come up with a parameter which will be a better indicator of the scenario.. like we could build an index which shows our current situation as compared to 20 year back or 40 years back .. whether we have made progress on few fronts or have we stayed put.

Another index might be based on the rate of ‘rate of growth ‘ .. that is are we growing at same pace or faster or have we any hurdles…and one other parameter could be exploitation of potential… are we utilizing our resources well.. or is there any scope of improvement further … or that how scenario will change if we have better infrastructure compared to the one we have now …

we need able administrators.. we need infrastructure..we need better education for the young .. we need reforms ...we need SEZ's ... we need to ease the setting of business and we need a stronger foreign policy.. we need to shed the fear of international competition.. and ...we need to just keep the faith .. and keep running !

We sure do have a long way to go before we accomplish the dream of APJ !

A promise is a Promise ... TATA NANO!

The Tata’s deliver .. yet again .

some are saying that the whole idea is as innovative as the Ford’s T-line itself.
Ratan Tata unveiled the Nano! With these memorable words “The production costs have spiraled up ,in past few years , but a promise is a promise “ !
That’s what I call leadership.Despite the opposition he is said to have received from all quarters .. the tata’s have pushed on and have kept their promise. Many people have said that producing a lakh rupee car ..( 2500 $ !! ) is impossible and they are the ones who are queing up to congratulate now. Ratan Tata traveled into the realms where the angels feared to tread.


Though its revolutionary , we should wait for the initial euphoria to die down and see how the markets accept the car and how the automobile dynamics are altered by this.
I expect it to be an instant hit among the developing nations esp the south asian tiger economies and of course BRIC countries. Since the design is cute and the emissions conform to the world standards it could garner strength among the developed countries too .. including the eastern Europe … This could start a clamor among the automobile companies to deliver a competitively priced car. This can also alter radically the dynamics of the second hand car segment .. as a similar priced car is available now.

Yet, there are few problems with the car as it obviously lacks the power (623 CC engine ) ….hence it might not be a hit with the young crowds .. and the leg room problem and also the lack of AC and push back seats and other things put together will obviously dissuade the upper middle class from buying it … hence it might not draw away the customers from the small car segment too… rather it will create a new segment all together of people who would not have bought a car otherwise. Yet it can derive its profits from the sales volumes.. which can be radically higher .. not only in India but other countries too.

And I think they should target the rural segments too instead of only urban segments .. an aggressive marketing in the rural areas could notch up the sales in India .


Another problem I had was that of the incessant traffic on the Indian roads.. already the roads of the Indian metropolis are choking with jams round the clock. The addition of such cars will make the condition only worse as it opened the flood gates to the people who would otherwise use the public transport. Of exactly how the markets would behave towards this recent development – only time will tell!

Nevertheless its worth a thundering applause!!

Racism … what’s this all about !

What has been puzzling me since the times I have read about the theory of evolution is that how did various the races come into existence … whether the evolution happened independently on various continents thus giving different physical and psychological traits to the people... Or whether homo sapiens were evolved from same.. The ones we call Adam and Eve and due to the various geographical and climatic factors have evolved differently.. As we can see.. As we go closer to the equator the height decreases and the skin color darkens … and various other changes …

But the reason I am discussing this is to analyze the various reasons which are causing tensions and strife among the different races … for e.g.: the recent furore in Malaysia where the govt is being alleged to being racial and mistreating the Indians there.. or case of the Tamils being ill treated in sri lanka .. tensions between Serbs and Croats .. the tensions between the northerners and southerners in Belgium which is threatening to split the country.. and the Muslims and the Russians in Chechnya … or the ever green one between the fair skinned westerners and the African American and the Asians… in Europe , and the US .

Naturally when any one of foreign descent settles down in a country there are reasons they might be ill treated or some cases even threatened of life …
In some cases because of the colonialism and the slave trade .. resulted in the transport of the Asians and the Africans across the continents which lead to a sizable minority population in the western country, and also in some of the south Asian countries like Fiji and Malaysia….in such cases the people deserve treatment equal to that of the locals .

But im puzzled by the behavior of the people who emigrate from their native countries to western countries in hope of better living style and money... they struggle to get there and some times even use unfair means and methods to achieve that end .. and finally try hard to settle down …

Searching for a better life is agreeable, but how can the minority population dictate the majority when they have , by their own choice , migrated to the country .. the locals have never invited them ! When the minority travels to settle down in foreign nations they should be ready to adopt the customs and lifestyles of the people native to that place .
In case they are unable to do so, they should find means to live in their own country where they would given the first preference....

I’m not justifying the racist attitude.. but I’m just saying that people- if u r not comfortable in foreign countries .. Why are you desperate to live there leaving behind your friends and relations back home ? In case you prefer the better lifestyle over all that , you should be ready to adapt to the conditions there - unquestionably .. becoz after all “u gotta be a roman if u wanna live in rome !”


If we try to list the reasons people fight over …
Religion
Races
Creed
Nationality
Caste (that’s an additional reasons to fight if u stay in India)
Gender (sometimes)

it all boils down to two things

Its all about money honey!

And Domination … power they say is the most powerful aphrodisiac.. who does not love to rule over others .. Citing any of the above reasons as an alibi !

With the human population increasing at an exponential rate … and the resources decreasing at a faster rate if not equal …The fights are bound to get bitter as the resources get scarce … some optimistic stasticians claim that the populations will stabilize around 2025 or 2050 ….i hope that is true, if there has to be any chance of humanity surviving this Millenium !

Mukesh ambani - we all are Proud of U !

Well whole world stand upright and take a bow!! The richest man on the earth is an Indian!!!! A citizen of the so called developing 3rd world country …… Dhirubhai forged an empire which made an indian family the richest one to be so in the world.These 2 sons have surely made their dad proud . Dhirubai .. i salute you for having created so much wealth for urself and for the investors and stock holders! fwe more like u in india and soon we wont be flocking to the DevelopED countries !

Who would have dreamed as recently as 2 years back that the richest man would be an Indian .. even to the most fantastically optimistic people it would have seemed improbable .. with Carlos slim helu and Ambani now among the richest 3 … the developing countries have arrived on the international arena of business.. well for those who argue that it is driven by stock market .... so are Bill gates and Walmart guys !

It is a different fact that if MS share price drops by 1 $ wealth of bill will drop by 2 billion $ .. but thats an accepted way of how stock markets work .I have never been able to digest the fact that so much money seems to have been generated without nothing actually have been produced . (it should ideally be a zero sum game in the lonnng run , but then the share prices will never drop to their face value ... atleast in most of cases ;) .. )eg : so is real estate .. nothing is produced still prices keep rocking .That's the game of suply and demand !

With the acquisitions made by the Tatas and the Birlas not to forget the great Mittal of arcelor –mittal … the Indian businessman surely means business now– in his own way !

To those doomsayers who question about whether you can say that India is rising, shining et al – my answer is that -for a so bizarrely diverse and immensely populated India ,it will take an infinitely long time before you can say that every Indian is reaping the benefits and securities of a zooming economy. The closest we can get to that state is in slow but sustained steps .

But is the BSE sensex is a true indicator of the development of the country - ?

In a way it is. It shows that Indian countries are doing well and are expanding their businesses and are giving good returns to the investors. Thus all the foreign investors are pulling their money out of other markets and pushing them to India ,which is so promising. The sensex being based on only 30 listed shares might not in totality depict the correct economic picture but it surely gives a feel good factor which mite in turn drive our economy by attracting investment ! so keep up the good job sensex and congrats for being the 20th index to cross the magical 20K figure .



We have come a great distance. But the woods are still too dark and deep
And we have a billion promises to keep!
We have miles to go and we should certainly never sleep!

The Metamorphosis a review – by Franz Kafka.

My interpretation of kafka's The Metamorphosis !

"Some books are like an axe which cut the frozen exterior of human emotions, such are the books of Kafka" – this was the first description I read about Franz Kafka. Naturally I became curious and bought a copy of his book The Metamorphosis. The word metamorphosis actually means “a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft”, and thus in short explains the entire story of the book.

The opening line of the book is like the climax and this kind of story writing is said to be Aristotelian. It begins with what sounds like the climax and then winds down actually. Such other example was the love story – by Erich Segal, in which in the beginning he describes the death of the heroine, the fact that in spite of this the book is gripping enough is another matter.

Gregor samsa, who is the protagonist wakes one morning to find that he has been transformed into a vermin, and is neither able to get up from his bed nor able to reply back to his parents when they ask him about when he would be going for work. Gregor is as a traveling salesman and works at odd hours and spends most of his time traveling and changing trains, which has taken a toll on his health.
Initially he thinks that the transformation is only an illusion and that it will be gone when he wakes up. But unfortunately it is real and when he steps out of his room ends up terrifying his parents and his manager. His parents and his sister though are terrified, feed him and clean his room. Gradually they fall into financial difficulties as Gregor was the sole bread winner. They rent their apartments and take up jobs. All this takes a toll on their patience and even Gregor’s sister becomes impatient, and one day she breaks up and says that it would be good for them if they get rid of him or if he left them of his free will. Gregor overhears this and slowly starves himself to death.

There have been many interpretation of this story, and it is rated as one the most influential and intriguing stories of this century.

My take on the story is:

There is a possibility that Gregor is still a human and that he became a vermin is only his illusion.
Probably his incessant traveling has taken a toll on his mental and physical strength.
The story depicts how Gregor’s father admitted defeat after his failed business and how he still is capable of earning which he does after Gregor’s transformation.
It shows how the family grows weary and irritable with Gregor even though they loved him, his sister who took care of him with the belief that he will be alright soon, feels exhausted at all the never ending troubles. The way she cries out saying if he was Gregor he would have left them of their own.

It’s also a reflection of the shame and guilt of a person who was supposed to be the bread winner and how it affects the family and how he becomes a burden on them.
But he does not answer the question of what someone in Gregor’s position should do. It’s fault of neither but all are suffering, and whether death is the only solution for such a problem.
The story ends sadly but with a relief to the family. It could be the story of some one who is the sole bread winner of the family, but meets with an accident and is incapable of earning anymore.

It could be the story about how a young man takes up all the responsibilities of the family, but is shattered mentally and physically while his father though still capable of sharing the burden shuns the responsibilities.