One small Incident

I was very fond of English movies in my school days. I used to go to see movies without telling anybody at home because my parents were very strict and did not approve of my going to movies with friends. We were only allowed to see children's film. I used to save some money from the daily pocket expenses I used to get from my parents. Those days, ticket for Balcony used to cost only Rs 1 and 4 annas and for stall, it used to cost 12 annas . My daily food allowance was barely 1 anna which was not good enough for me to be able to save anything for extra curricular activities. I used to skip day meals in school at times to be able to save some money for going to movie. On an average, I could manage to see one movie in a month with my savings. I always used to go to see movie along with school friends and never alone. I was scared of going alone as I was not very much familiar with bus routes. I used to go to movie on the pretext of going to meet some friend. I always used to go to matinee show for which the timings used to be 2.30pm to 5pm. Considering the travelling time which used to be 1 Hr, I could manage to come home by 6.pm before dark and so my parents never doubted my intentions. One day, while I was returning from movie, I got in a bus which I thought will reach my destination. In a hurry, I did not check the bus number. The route of this bus was the usual one that I was familiar with. So I never doubted that I was in the wrong bus. After travelling some distance, the bus changed the route. After going through some distance, I sensed the trouble. I was very scared. I stopped the bus and immediately got down from it. I did not know what to do. I had no money to catch another bus. Tears were glistening in my eyes. I started running without knowing whether I am going in the right direction. It was getting dark and I was worried about the fact that my parents will come to know where I went. I was running and praying " Please, God, help me reach home". After running few yards, I realised that I had not gone too far from my usual route. I reached home 1 hour late that day. My parents were anxiously waiting for me at home. I narrated the whole incidence to them.I could not give them any excuse for late coming as I was traumatised for what happened to me. My parents were sympathetic and told me to inform them wherever I go.

My father

I still have short memories of my childhood days. I was very scared of going to school. I used to cry, throw my hands and feet while our servant Dwarka will carry me forcibly in his lap to the nearby primary school. After 4th standard, my teachers realized that I was good in study . I started getting first rank in the class from 5th standard onwards. Slowly, I was so much used to it that I was not ready to let go the first rank to anyone else come what may. Fortunately, I did not have anybody else in the class who could challenge me. I became very popular in school being top performer consecutively for 4 years. I used to study very hard to maintain the lead. Now, let me come to the main point. Just before my final examination in 8th standard, I asked my father to help me write an essay on Florence Nightingale. I had heard from others in my family that my father's command over English was simply outstanding. I memorised the essay dictated by my father word by word although I did not understand the meaning of some of the words used in essay. When the same essay came in examination, I wrote exactly what my father had dictated to me. Before the final results were announced, the teacher who examined my English paper called me up and said. “I have examined your English paper. The essay on Florence Nightingale which you wrote in the exam was simply extra ordinary. Don’t tell me that you have written it yourself. I know you can’t write like that. But I want to know who has helped you write this essay. He must be a great scholar. I will be fortunate to meet such a person. When I told him it was my father who helped me write this, he was overwhelmed with joy. Later on, he came home and met my father and thanked him profusely for brilliant composition of essay.

Indian News

T.V news Channels in India have reached the lowest depth in following the code of conduct in telecasting News. Their main objective is just to increase their TRP. They are not concerned with viewers interest. One such channel is just spreading rumours 24x7 and creating fears in the minds of viewers. This is most irresponsible behaviour towards the society. The authenticity of news has become a big question mark. Most of the News are centred around Cricket, Bollywood, Murder, Rape, Scandal, Fashion shows etc. Fortune tellers have mushroomed all over. They can be seen in almost all channels during morning time telling what is in store for us. This type of program encourages superstition among people. Our print media is no better than electronic media. Take out any newspaper. There is hardly any good news. It looks like nothing good is happening in this country. As regards foreign news, it is centred around US and Pakistan only. There is hardly any coverage. At times, I have to switch over to BBC, CNN to know what is happening around the world. The quality of our news has degenerated to such an extent that it is not worth watching news channels or reading newspaper anymore. Early morning at 7.00am, whenever I see the headline on the front page of Times of India, it invariably carries a bad news. By the time I finish reading paper, my mind is filled with all sorts of negativity. A new trend is emerging now a days. Most of news channels have started giving comedy shows in between news which I find highly offensive,filthy,derogatory. Is this the price we Indians have to pay for giving freedom to press and electronic media. Is there anything called self censorship.

Economic Slowdown

We are passing through one of the worst economic downturn of this century. The recession started in U.S about a year back and is slowly engulfing all other countries of the world including India. Probably, 2009 will witness the maximum impact of this slowdown in our life. It is a passing phase and one has to keep cool to withstand the hardships and difficulties that will come in our way. Thousands of employees are likely to lose jobs in this year. Those employess who have taken housing loans, car loans etc will be worst hit. What is most important is that in adverse circumstances like this, one should not lose hope and faith. There are instances of people committing suicides out of frustration and dispair. I have read in newspaper today that somebody in Los Angeles,US killed himself and his whole family including wife, 5 kids just because he lost his job. This is a very disturbing trend . Firstly, let me tell you that committing suicide is as heinous a crime as murdering somebody else. We have no right to take our own life leave aside the lives of others. Committing suicide is an act of cowardice and must be condemned. One should have the courage and conviction to be able to face the worst crisis and come out winners. I had once thought of committing suicide when I was 21 years old. When I look back, I think of myself as a stupid guy to have even thought of this for whatever reasons. Everything is not lost when there is a major setback in life.There is still hope. The reason we take extreme step is that we lose faith in our own ability, we lose faith in God. My own experience is that whenever I have been in vulnerable position, I prayed to Him with all my heart and soul and I have seen miracles happening. My advice to you is, have patience and don't lose hope come what may.

Branding

In today’s highly competitive market, a good Brand is what differentiates a product from others in the eyes of customers. Customer has more confidence in the quality of a Branded item than an unbranded one. For instance, most customers will look for Colgate brand of toothpaste when they go to shopping mall. It does not mean that Colgate is the best quality of toothpaste available in the market. There are other brands which are as good as Colgate but customers do not perceive the value in other Brands. Brand is created through marketing campaign, packaging, advertisements etc. Branding is done in job market also. A potential candidate from a good Business School carries a Brand just like a commodity. He is not necessarily a better candidate than a candidate from other institutions but companies in India perceive him to be better suited than others. They don’t mind giving him a fat salary and perks. These companies compete with each other in giving highest salary ever and even take pride in publicizing it in newapapers and electronic media. The suitability of the candidate is not looked at at all. This is a classic case of Branding. My experience is that most of MBA’s from premier B-Schools like IIMs are arrogant, highly ambitious, Self centered, Egoistic. They don’t stick to the company for more than 6 months with the result they hardly contribute anything to the growth of the company . They are only interested in more and more salary and position and keep on hopping from one company to another carrying the tag of MBA from IIM. They are a pampered lot. They may have high level of IQ but they fail miserably in other areas. Bill Gate of Microsoft is a school dropout but he is heading the most prestigious organization in the world. You don’t need to be an MBA to be a visionary and leader. There are several live examples that can be given to corroborate this statement. If you study the salary structure of corporate companies, you will find that 20% employees get 80% of total salary disbursed in the company. This is highly biased and skewed in favour of employees at middle level and top level management who are invariably MBAs.The difference in fixed salary between an ordinary employee and the CEO is more than 100 times which is unrealistic . Weightage should be given to the contribution of the employee towards the long term and short term objective of the company rather than the qualification. If the KRA of each employee is defined in such a way that it is aligned with corporate goals, it will be possible to measure the contribution of each employee towards the corporate objective. Total package given to employees should include fixed salary and performance based incentive in the ratio of 30:70. I am happy to note that infosys is following this practice wherein everybody from juniormost employee to CEO are getting same fixed salary as has been disclosed by Narayan Murthy in one of the T.V. interviews. Every employee of Infosys is given ESOPs which creates the sense of ownership among employees and increases loyalty towards the company. We should emulate the Japanese companies wherein all Japanese with MBAs from Harward university are made to slog for 2 years under the juniormost employee of the company so that they become down to earth and understand the ground reality of Local Japanese condition rather than copying blindly Western concepts and Theories.

Satyam Scandal

Ever since Ramalinga Raju disclosed irregularities in financial statements of Satyam Computers, the share price of I.T. giant has plummeted to lowest ever Rs 26 in BSE. Raju has been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and criminal Breach of Trust and is now remanded to Judicial Custody till January 23. Investigating agencies have reported that Raju has siphoned off thousands of crores of rupees from Satyam’s Accounts to two of his own companies Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties both founded and Promoted by Raju Family. It seems Raju is not alone in this fraud. All those including Satyam’s Board of Directors, Auditors, Chartered Accountants, Bankers,Ministers who are beneficiary in the fraud of this magnitude are likely to be involved. What is most worrying is that Satyam’s profit has been inflated consistently since last couple of years and it has not been detected by Auditing firm PWC. Raju and his family and all others who are involved in this crime are more deadly than hard core terrorists. Terrorists can kill few people but people like Raju destroy lives of several thousand employees and shareholders who die a slow painful death. Both India and Pakistan are epicenter of terrorism. While Pakistan is harbouring terrorists who kill people with guns, India is harbouring terrorists who kill people with economic offence. An independent, impartial enquiry should be conducted in Satyam's case and those found guilty should be given most severe punishment which will act as deterrent to those who are going to commit economic offence in future. Satyam's is not an isolated case but a tip of the iceberg. Many more scandals are waiting to erupt from underneath the vibrant and growing Indian economy. Just watch out.

Slumdog Millionaire

Amitabh Bachhan wrote in his Blog that Films like "Slumdog Millionaire" is bagging awards in western world because this film is depicting poverty in India. He did not spare even Satyajit Ray who was the master film maker of realistic meaningful cinema saying that Ray's popularity was on account of the fact that he showed India's poverty and hunger in his films. I don't agree with his view point. These types of allegations are often made by those who are somehow connected to commercial Hindi cinemas. I have seen most of films made by Mr Ray. His films like Charulata, Jalsaghar, Aranyer Din Ratri,Pratidwandi, Kapurush Mahapurush etc have different storylines and yet masterpieces. Former French President came to India personally and handed over the Prize to Ray for his film "Jalsaghar" which was adjudged as the best foreign Film in cannes film festival in France. Mind you, Ray used to make films with shoe string budget yet he produced classics. Ray has been given lifetime achievement oscar award for his contribution towards Indian Cinema. According to me only good films get accolades and awards at international level. Bollywood should improve standards of it's films rather than blaming western world for not appreciating films made by it. In terms of producing maximum number of films, Bollywood is rated as number one in the world but in terms of quality cinema, it lags far behind others. Bollywood films have improved technically over the last couple of years, but technical excellence is not enough to make a film outstanding, other departments of film making like script writing, Dialogues, Background Music, storyline, Screenplay,editing,Photography,Acting etc need to be synchronised and interwoven through good direction . My assessment of Bollywood films is only one out of 100 films released can be rated as really good. Neither Commercial success of the film at the box office nor any of the Filmfare awards in our country can qualify a film to be a good film. Taare Jamin Par of Aamir Khan was not even considered for nominations of oscar Awards leave aside winning it, although this film is far far superior to average Hindi films. Hindi filmgoers should see quality cinema to be able to differentiate between outstanding films and average and below average Hindi films churned out by Bollywood.