Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
My Experiences at Karachi
There is lot to learn from the response that I receive from the above set of people. It shows how prejudiced and uninformed we are about that country. It shows how, over the years, media and its selective truths has brainwashed us into false notions or opinions.
This is what I respond when people stare with awe at me.
'Pakistan is exactly like India. Fifteen minutes after getting out of airport, you will not even remember whether you are in India or Pakistan. The roads, building, cars, traffic, hotels, people...all look the same'
On the positive side, I have come to appreciate some of their qualities which stand out. Pakistanis are definitely more polite and courteous in greeting, talking, discussing, debating etc than most Indians (especially North Indians) are. Politeness is built into their language. I also found people flexible to change and more receptive to new ideas than most of our Indian clients. Over past one year, I have made some very good friends in Pakistan, a friendship of a lifetime.
In this visit, I had the opportunity to experience the month of Ramzaan. During this month, people fast (no food, no water) for 28-29 consecutive days. The fast is broken at 'Iftar' (around 7:30 PM). This marks a celebration time. All hotels and restaurants displaying huge buffets with up to 60-70 dishes. During Ramzaan, people can eat from 'Iftar' to 'Sehri' (till 5:45 AM, before sunrise). Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed the 'Iftar' dinner where we also won a domestic ticket in the lucky draw contest. The atmosphere at 'Iftar' is nothing short of an Indian wedding celebration. Families, friends, relatives come out together to break the fast.
I also discussed the concept of Ramzaan with one of senior members at client side and could not stop marveling at philosophy of it. It is meant to unite rich and poor by making both of them undergo the pain of spending the day without food and water. The idea is to make the rich feel the pain of staying hungry and hence inspire them to donate to the poor.
However, I believe that there are other economic benefits which were considered while conceptualizing Ramzaan . Firstly, it reduces the consumption of food in the country. In a country reeling under 15% inflation and shortage of staple food, a month of Ramzaan can fill some demand and supply gaps by reducing the demand. It is quiet similar t0 'one meal a day' concept promoted by government of India during emergency days. Secondly, month of Ramzaan gives a boost to economic activity as people come out at 'Iftar' to break their fast, shop and celebrate.
If not one month, we all can personally resolve for one week of fasting. Who know that apart from detoxing our bodies, it may solve India's inflation problem which is largely due to spurt in demand!
Rejuvenation
Hence, I have decided to cut down few initiatives at client's end and take the important one's till completion.
I also realized that my efficiency was going down because of 'all work and no play makes jack a dull boy' phenomena. So I joined aerobics classes last week. Aerobics and running is something I thoroughly enjoy. I will now consciously make an effort to stay regular at it. I have been feeling rejuvenated since then.
With better time management and improved efficiency, this blog will definitely see more activity in near term. Stay tuned.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Management Tip Form Harvard Business Review
To avoid these mistakes, understand the truth about those overvalued attributes. Take raw ambition: The most exceptional leaders don't exhibit strong ambition. They display modesty on the outside--while being fiercely competitive on the inside. And what about operational proficiency? Top leaders thrive in ill-defined, complex situations and see opportunity in confusion. By contrast, operationally proficient individuals rely on policies and procedures--and that can alienate others and stifle innovation.
This one definitely gave me a bit jolt. As an individual, I have always tried to put chaos in order before actioning. Now I am trying the other way round, and letting chaos prevail. It has surely been a very interesting week in terms of managing work, people and myself.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Bolo Clara Clara!
At Milagrow, we all go for a week’s vacation twice a year. The past week was the first one of this year. After a brief stay at Rishikesh, where we had gone for camping (but could not camp because of early rains), I headed to my home town of
Modernization being a relative term here means modernization in terms of better infrastructure and people looking for lifestyle which typically is considered up-market in the Indian context.
My first encounter happened when my parents came after my life for getting a hair cut, which I was not interested in because of sheer laziness and the fact that a pretty lady had complemented me on my hair style a week ago. To evade the pressure, I said that I would only go to stylish unisex saloon and not the usual hairdressers where most of the
‘Then why don’t you go to Clara?’ came the reply
‘What’s Clara?’ I asked with a baffled look
‘It’s a new saloon that has come up. Just a mile away from our house’, said my mom.
‘Oh! I sighed
With no options left to evade the impending haircut, I went to ‘Clara’ (I liked the name). As I parked my car outside ‘Clara’, I found a 300 sq feet shop with a façade made of some stylish glass. With some apprehension, I entered. It was a well lit fully air conditioned shop, with leather couches, full length mirrors and a decent infrastructure to qualify it as a ‘Modern Saloon’.
Upon asking for a haircut, I was told that I will have to get a hair wash first, and this would cost me Rs 50 extra. I obediently accepted. After the hair wash, I reclined on a comfortable leather couch and left it to the brown haired man with and his scissors. According to him, the entire staff had been trained at
My visit to ‘Clara’ sensitized me to the fact that the
Upon returning home, my mom told me that the owner of Clara had set up a canopy at the city’s only club to promote to make them known to the cities’ upper audience. It was an intelligent choice of marketing because the communities in smaller towns are very closely knit. Word of mouth and referrals are the best is the best form of marketing in smaller towns. Further, ‘Clara’ has incentivised referrals through a scheme that if you bring some one along for the first time, you get a 50% discount for yourself.
As far as the haircut is concerned, I think it was a decent one. It still needs to be seen what the pretty lady has to say about it.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Reversal of Fortunes
Similarly, SMS MyToday offers consumers a free messaging service that provides consumers daily updates in areas of their interest. In these updates, however, it smartly incorporates ads and consumers don't complain about it because the service is free. "On an average, SMS updates will contain 160 characters, of which 70 characters belong to an ad," says Abhijit Mukherjee, chief executive of Netcore Solutions mGinger even offers users money to allow marketers to flood their inbox with advertisements. "Our users get paid 25-30 paisa per SMS, which typically earns them close to Rs30 at the end of the month," says Debashis Mohanty, senior business development officer at mGinger.
Complete Article here
What's in the name?
Last year companies taking over other companies paid a little over 72% of the takeover consideration for the intangibles (more than half of that being for the names)
