Apna Manus movie

Apna Manus: The Marathi drama is a morality tale and to some extent, a crime thriller. It is a deeper exploration of family relationships.

1. Nana Patekar - नाना पाटेकर, a wry and cynical investigator who cannot easily be fooled, gets the movie’s best lines. The role is a cakewalk for the thespian, and he does not expend more than the minimum required effort

2. Aaba, also Nana, is resentful of the fact that Bhakti works, and that his grandson has been sent away to boarding school.

3. Bhakti detests Aaba’s old-fashioned condescension and is hurt by his frequent barbs and attacks on her independence. 4. 4. Rahul, the best-etched character in the story, brings his lawyerly self into his home and refuses to take sides or stand up for what is right.

I am a #NanaPatekar fan. Hence chose to watch.

A thought-provoking film, more so these days considering the challenges we face, thanks to #COVID19 #lockdown et al.

https://g.co/kgs/6NLfhT

The Rich, Traffic Discipline, Empathy

Chandra is on his way to the office. 

It is a holiday, and Bangalore roads are relatively empty. A rare phenomenon. On a holy day of Dasera, wonder whether people are busy offering prayers at home, or enjoying a lazy, late morning routine to take full advantage of a holiday, on Tuesday. As many salaried would view, the weekend is just 3 days away. For the entrepreneur Chandra, it is a holy day, to offer prayers at work, all alone. And catch up on some important admin work. 

As he entered the narrow lane on which his office is situated, there were two cars coming in the opposite direction, towards the main road. 

The first stopped just a few meters away, and two women took their sweet time to get into the car. Wonder if the obesity causes the 'slow motion' or the poor roads. That car took its sweet time to go away. Of course, the gentleman at the wheel does not have the courtesy to thank Chandra for making him wait. Too much to expect?

Next was a taxi, all decked up the previous day, to celebrate Ayudha puja. He comes and stops right in the middle of the road, at the Oyo rooms. A couple of passengers got out of the cab. He was in no hurry to let Chandra pass. Chandra requested the cab driver to go to the side so that he can move on. 

He does not want to waste time on the road, but rather at the office? 

The cabbie makes no move. Chandra moved ahead, stopped in front of the cab and asked him to take the car into the Oyo, which has space to drop off the guests and parking for a couple of cars. Now the cabbie goes to the side, waving to Chandra, 'now you may go'!

As Chandra quietly moved on the cabbie says, 'it was a matter of a couple of minutes only'! 
Chandra retorts, you should think of others and park the car inside Oyo. 
The cabbie is at the end of his assignment, may be relieved, if not relaxed, gives a silly smile, and shrugs off. 

Chandra is mindful of the person right behind, on the scooter. Though he does not seem to mind the delay.

As Chandra and the scooter-wala right behind moves ahead, the latter gives an understanding smile to the cabbie, almost showing support to him. 

Chandra was reminded of an article he 'accidentally' found on the internet: https://www.wired.com/story/why-are-rich-people-so-mean/
Are they mean or is it primarily stereotyping, judgemental?

- Chandra is in a premium car, though a 7-year-old, well maintained.
- 'They are enjoying the holidays, not Chandra. Would they be as unhurried on a normal working day for them'. 
- Should Chandra have just waited?

How customer centric is your bank?

I have my personal account with India's #1 private sector bank. I still have my good, old account with my previous employer (then the #1 pvt sector bank, not anymore...), more for loyalty and sentimental reasons. The new account is where I have most of my key relations, including a loan. 

I just logged in to make an urgent transfer 
- It asked me to change my password. There was no option to do it later, as I was in a hurry. 
- Twice, it would not accept my current password, even though I have logged in. Maybe I entered it wrongly. 
- The third time I was lucky, I could change my password
- Then I had to log in again and make the transaction. 

Wonder how customer-centric is our bank? 
How customer-centric is your bank? 

Win or Win generation of sports heroes

"In 17 years of competition during which time he played in over 1000 events, Abhinav Bindra, India’s most decorated shooter, has 180 medals. That’s about one win for every five losses.

The realization that you will lose more than you will win is as important as the determination needed to do well in big competitions. That’s what the Indian contingent managed to do in Indonesia."

• It is about not failures, but getting up every time

• It is also not necessary one has to fail a few times for every win - a belief.

• It is still about the process, the effort, the hard work, the support we give, the #coaching, the infrastructure, the journey.  Not really the destination. 

Hope our athletes stay with that focus and move from a win-win to win-win-win? Where all stakeholders, direct and indirect win.  

The original article on @EconomicTimes by @BoriaMajumbdar: The young stars of India’s Asian Games campaign represent a generation that knows the possibilities sports can offer

Dean Baquet (NYT) & Marty Baron (Washington Post) from The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Dean Baquet and Marty Baron, the Executive Editors of the New York Times and the Washington Post respectively, join David for the Axe Files on CNN to discuss the challenges of covering the Trump presidency, the unprecedented attacks on the free press, the power of journalism to change history, and the trajectory of their storied careers from reporters to editors.

- The fourth estate is one of the pillars of a vibrant democracy. It is also facing 'disruption', from both within and from outside. 

- One good development is reduced dependency on advertisers, and on subscribers. One headache less. But that shift has not happened in a market like India, worlds largest and also a vibrant democracy. 

- Free press is perhaps under threat across the globe, including in some of the best and biggest democracies?

- Fake news to deliberately telling lies are some of the recent developments, among the political leaders. The common man is definitely confused. 

Some of the political leaders we complaint about, they are merely metaphors. 

A question to ask is what is my role in this? Do I remain a mute spectator or do something about it, however small. For example, be a responsible citizen? We owe it to future generations. We got to strengthen some of our important institutions, judiciary, media, education, art, etc. 

We can't expect someone else to do our work. It is our future, the future of our country, our kids' future. 

We got to also ensure true, selfless, visionary, transformational leaders are in charge, in all areas of human endeavour. 

When will we see such conversations among our own senior media people?

Dean Baquet & Marty Baron from The Axe Files with David Axelrod in #Podcasts. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=1043593599#episodeGuid=gid%3A%2F%2Fart19-episode-locator%2FV0%2F0_zraz7WU0f1I5IUU-bzuWGAJrdXYh28s7zgKpSbgFM

Is aluminium cookware safe? Fear for health

Husband and wife are at the Prestige showroom to avail Independence day offers...

• Replacing old cookware with new... can be a feeling of independence?!
• After Abhishek & Aishwarya Bachchan, now Vidya Balan is the model in a heavily promoted Prestige campaign.  
• The old campaign, "Jo biwi se kare pyaar....  that is for screen only" (have heard this many times). 
• Is the love for the spouse conditional or what is alluded to spiritually, 'unconditional'?! Can two adults, with all ego, even if 'saat janam ka rishta', 'karmic consequences', blah, blah... have what Carl Rogers call, 'Unconditional Positive Regard' for each other?!

Why do we prefer to stick to our own preferences, not in an acceptance or still better, in an allowance mode? 

• #DYK one of the most common subjects on forwarded jokes is, spouse! 

Coming back to the cookware replacement at Prestige showroom... the husband picked aluminum stuff, while wife felt steel was better. They asked the salesman, who brilliantly stepped in as a referee and confirmed, "the health-conscious prefer steel". But it comes with 'the extra hassle of cooking, constant monitoring'. The husband got the KBC-like "lifeline"! He felt she was not cut out for mindfulness in cooking when she looks at all chores in the kitchen as bonded labour. 

What the husband missed was the fear of illness in wife's argument. But then can you ever have meaningful conversations from a space of 'argument'? 

Is mindfulness possible in our daily chores? Is it relevant, important? Does it help? 

Quickly googled to check on aluminum cookware: 

https://www.onlymyhealth.com/health-hazards-of-aluminium-cookware-1434793901

Paypal - No Pal to digitization, customer in the name of KYC

#Chandra has been trying to get complete his KYC with Paypal, to enable him to receive funds within India. He already has an international account and has received funds. 

- When you have an account and has been received money from overseas, why does it take so many painful steps to activate Indian version? All blame it on RBI to others....

Paypal has been asking for multiple documents. 

Now they are stuck like an old music player, where the song keeps playing the same line, when the record gets stuck? 

They keep asking him to submit the bank statement, which he has done three times now (a hat trick!!), but they continue to ask for same, again and again.

He tried calling them. They have a painful IVR process too:
- Dial them on their toll-free no (there is no 'free' lunch!)
- First, it (IVR) informs the caller the call may be recorded
- Then every time it say 'high call volume...' and be prepared for 'extended waiting time' (with such customer service, you will naturally receive more calls :))
- They repeat the number you are calling from to confirm if PayPal account is linked to that no.
- Once you press 1 and confirm, it will ask for last 4 digits of the bank account/credit card no. (why again? additional security is the excuse)
- Naturally, you don't always remember last four digits of bank account or credit. They oblige to wait for one minute (only) and you can actually hear the clock tick... also reminders in between to 'tap any key to confirm the last four digits'.
- You retrieve the data and key in the number, under additional stress now?!
- The call is forwarded... and then there is a loooooooooong silence.  
End of the story

Digitization ki aisi ki thaisi... 

PS: He has been following up with the payment app with his bank, the best bank in India & one of best globally. It took five months to activate the bank's own digital platform. 

Between Paypal and our banks, India's digital money strategy is a non-starter. In the name of KYC, they move further away from the client, knowing lesser!!

Chandra loves tapioca, Big basket customer service

Chandra still loves tapioca... one of the things that still connects him to his roots, Kerala.........ah!


His wife ordered from bigbasket when it was shown available, that too 'Fresho' brand. 

When delivered & checked, it was not of good quality. 

Quality tapioca is always a gamble. 

Chandra immediately called BigBasket call center, and informed, Fresho tapioca was not good, yet again. Asked call center executive to send back the delivery boy, who was at the apartment gate. 

The executive politely said the delivery boy cannot be sent back to pick up the stuff. Instead, the executive accepted the complaint, asked to dispose off stuff, refund being arranged (SMS received) and will take care in future! That was cool!

The prompt acceptance of the customer version, no lack of trust or inquiry. Just simple acceptance almost made Chandra feel guilty. The bigger challenge for Chandra was to dispose off :( 

It was almost like Zappos.com like customer service, Tony Hsieh fame!

Pesticide-free, organic store: Why this makes it interesting? Chandra had a different experience with another fruit-vegetable premium (not 'thela' types) store. 
Last Thursday he asked the store-head for a recommendation of best mangoes. He was pointed to cardboard boxes (thankfully no plastic) dasheri mangoes. One of the staff helped Chandra to select the best box! 
By Saturday, four mangoes had got rotten, almost indicating the use of chemicals! (And they sell non-chemical/organic stuff only, their USP! Only vegetarian). 
Chandra took the mangoes to the store on Saturday afternoon. The store head was not there, someone else was officiating! (delegation at corporate or these small stores, are never effective).  

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown...

He asked for the bill. Chandra retorted, 'you expect me to save your bills?' (like we do for GST, Income tax purposes, he wanted to add, but did not!). The expression on his face was, 'I don't trust you'!.... 
he just messed up a 6-year-old relationship. 

Customer may not be always right. But it pays to trust the client. 

Gyan: 

Big Basket may not need SRK or Ratna Patakh, both superstars. They need policies, customer orientation, and empowered, committed employees. Bliss for customer, success for the brands. 

Karma of Customer Service - Lessons from Ola Drivers

I booked last evening for an Ola-ride for this morning, for a 9 AM pick up. I was a bit tensed as I did not want to be late for the event this morning in the city.

CRN1713687180

Anand kumar

The car allotment confirmation came at 850 AM, but the vehicle was a bit away. It was 915 AM by the time he arrived. I stepped out waiting for the cab to arrive... 
And the cab arrived, clean, a very polite and courteous driver and with the air conditioner on... Often cabs arrive with their aircons not switched on, and I find many drivers prefer it that way, perhaps to save diesel. Unless it is unbearably hot and/or dusty, I am reluctant to add to my carbon footprint too... would rather suffer....

This morning was different. 

CRN1716112615 :

A S NAVEEN KUMAR

It was a long day... but a good day. I booked for the return 'journey' home (Bangalore to Whitefield is a journey). While it showed 7 minutes wait, after booking it became over 20 minutes. (Ola can fix this)

It was peak evening. I chose to wait patiently. He came in. Again, very courteous, polite and exceptional driving. No wonder his rating was 5/5. 

I am delighted to note two wonderful experiences today, 5/5 on both occasions. Ola should have a 5+ for such exceptional ride experience. 

How do we ensure such great service at the customer touch points, by all our customer-facing representatives, at all levels? 

Six pack abs : When a coach was ‘coached’

Short, dark and handsome… has some resemblance, somewhere, to the great Charlie Chaplin or Kamal Haasan? Was his moustache or his height or his mannerisms…? He was definitely muscular:

• “Why don’t you learn this. It is good for health”.

• Then he pointed at my sign of prosperity and indicated ‘not acceptable’ in a subtle way!

• Then he said, ‘You will be muscular like me’, pointing to his own six-pack ab.

He had just climbed two coconut trees, dropped few coconuts and was in the process of removing the husk.

The Master had manifested even before the student was ready! While fitness and wellness was always part of my ToDo list, not a six-pack ab.

On the budget day, India’s Finance Minister was presenting the country’s annual budget, around same time. It included a new proposal for Medicare for the poor. This man had a better solution for fitness : six-pack ab, nothing less!

For more than 30 minutes, he has been climbing coconut trees, pulling down coconuts, both tender and not-so-tender. He would climb without any support, machine or old-fashioned coir, just a big knife. He climbed like a proficient artist. He was a master at it. He showed me how rough his forehand was. He has been at it for a long time.

He would have seen my silent admiration for the way he went about his work, as I went around collecting coconuts & checking damage to the newly painted compound wall. He was unaware of the xbanker in me looking at these facts!

He was all ‘left brain’ 🧠 while dropping the coconuts from the heights, but artistic while peeling them. That is when he expressed my waist-line was not up to his expectations. He was mindful of not only the health of coconuts and coconut trees 🌴 , but also the consumers.

I asked him if he had an insurance policy l. He proudly said, ‘yes, for my daughter…’ (life insurance). I meant medical insurance, I clarified. ‘No’, he said.

When would he receive the benefit of the budget proposals, or will the BFSI once again mount a cross-sell for their own benefit, not for the most needy? He had fallen from a coconut tree sometime back and was on bed. He had to bear the expenses himself.

I walked away with more questions to ponder… climbing a coconut tree was surely not one of them, nor removing the husk, anytime soon!

Act now to stem the rise of disorder :ET Edits

Must read, act. 

https://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-editorials/act-now-to-stem-the-rise-of-disorder/

Our generation will be judged by the holistic leadership we demonstrate at all levels and manage the chaos. 

We owe it to the country, state, world, ourselves and our future generations. Political leadership is one part of it. We all are leaders, just as we are all followers. 
Let us not allow this to slip further. 

'Act Like a Leader, Think Like a leader'

#Legacy #Leadership 

Death of customer service in India

Death of customer service in India:

Behaviour by brain - 'In recent times, the focus on customer care as a core business strategy seems to have lost its importance'

Chandra has several recent, but unresolved customer-services (CRs) issues with 

1. #Uber - two drivers cancelled a prior-appointment for an important meeting. Multiple reminders, incl tweets, have not been responded to. No closure even after 10 days! 
2. #3M car care - they just decided to save water, get environment-friendly with retrospective effect, thus unilaterally nullifying annual maintenance contract (AMC)
3. #Airtel 4G wifi - connectivity is an issue for over 2 years now - not dependable, when most needed
4. #HDFC Bank - multiple issues, for they don't see multiple products as one relationship. So much so, he decided to downgrade from 'Imperia' to 'cattle-class'!
5. #HDFCLife - poor returns, over and above wrong #CrossSell by the bank RM himself :(
6. #JetAirways - a packet of sweet disappeared from his checked in baggage. 
7. #CrownePlaza, Chennai - he lost his power-bank
8. #DTDC - the Diwali gift he had sent to his mother is still missing. DTDC is not responding

Chandra conducts training/visiting faculty engagements for young leaders and BSchools students (aspiring leaders!). He seems to be attracting a lot of case-studies :((

20 yrs or 30 yrs back, when many of us were in the corporate world, at lower/middle level leadership roles, the customer was still important. Customer complaint was not measured scientifically like it is today. But then it was not mere a process management, but managing relationships. What caused this?

- Is it our obsession with top-line and bottom-line, come what may?

- Is it our myopic view of quarterly, monthly or even weekly targets vs achievement?

- Is it the expanding market where it is a deliberate strategy to acquire customers, vs retention?

Would these sustain in the long run? 

Make in India or any variant thereof, including the focus on Services, will have no impact unless we bring back the customer centricity, at its holistic level. 

It is about #leadership. Moving from selfish to at least partly selfless? #I2We2He

Our Leadership has to move to #ServantLeadership #CustomerDelight as primary focus

Glad Biju Dominic wrote about this and Mint carried the article on November 23, 2017 (when I was away on a spiritual retreat, in bliss, and no expectation of customer service - I was 'serving' some 'customers', or guests at the Ashram) 

Ramu is Missing, since Diwali - Cruel Sapiens

PC @Pixabay

Ramu and Brownie were two dogs in our locality. They were neither street dogs, nor fully at home. They moved around freely, seemed to be well-fed. They enjoyed the freedom.

Often, when I took our dog (not so lucky with such unlimited freedom) out in the evenings, both Ramu & Brownie would come over and hang around. Then I started giving them biscuits. Occasionally I surprised them with the branded-treats! Ramu would enjoy the biscuits more than Brownie, who had an air of detachment for biscuits & treats!!

Ramu & Brownie had a very loving presence when we were out. 

Since Diwali, Ramu is missing. I have been looking around for several days. No sign of Ramu. Brownie has been around, but occasionally. At times Brownie would be found barking his heart out in the dead of the night. He was restless. 

Yesterday met a familiar face from the neighborhood and I asked him about Ramu. 

He said, 'Ramu looked very agitated during Diwali. This Diwali-season people burst more crackers in our locality. Ramu would run helter-skelter. He seemed to be under severe stress. A couple of days after Diwali, when most crackers were burst, Ramu looked very agitated. And just disappeared...
Ramu is very old. He has never gone away like this. We have no idea where he is and how he is...'

Ramu is missing, or is in danger... :(

There was a tinge of sorrow in the young man's eyes. A sense of helplessness just like these animals feel when we burst crackers indiscriminately... 

Why are we 'Sapiens' are cruel?  (Currently reading Sapiens by Yuval Harari)

This year we have seen unusual levels of bursting crackers in Bangalore. We continue to burst crackers even till today! It is getting worse by the day... 

For many of us, life may be a celebration! Hence some of us burst crackers. That may not be the case for many others. 
- Children and senior citizens, who can not handle the pollution, esp those who are sensitive to breathing-related problems
- Animals, birds and environment.

Whatever the excuse, should we stop bursting crackers and reserve some pollution for the next year?

Spare a thought for Ramu and all the birds & animals. They need all our loving care... 

For, 
'every being, knowingly or unknowingly, is on a spiritual pilgrimage'. 

And that includes Ramu...

Honey Bee Terminator Sapiens

'If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change 
- #Buddha 

(Courtesy #NarayanRamachandran @livemint) 



We grow colorful flower-plants, all around...

It is like enticing the honey bees and then killling them in large numbers. 

Can we get more cruel? Why do we get pleasure in killing these bees, who are so very critical to the environment?! 

When you start a day with low energy, expect more unpleasant surprises during the day. 

Chandra does not look at the morning news - on tv or on the smart-phone. To keep away the negativity. 
But when the balcony is full of dead honey bees, it can be very depressing. Moreso when a not-so-friendly neighbor, in an apartment 'above', choose to be a terminator. 

The sight of hundreds of honey-bees lie dead on the floor, in the garden of the apartment complex... was most painful...  

All Chandra could do to overcome the sorrow was to try to ignore! 

DYK our great grandchildren may face acute food shortage because we are being so destructive... honey bees to the environment? And that may be the legacy of our generation! 

Why we need bees - TED Talks

https://www.ted.com/playlists/341/why_we_need_bees

India's leading travel aggregator not on GST?!

- I was unable to add my GST details on my profile section.
- Hence dropped a line to the website. 
- A representative at the call center kept calling last evening when I was in the flight, had just landed
- He tried to tell me 'they did not have GST', etc. Poor connectivity,
I asked him to reply to email.


Being Customer Centric...

1. Why do employees call & hassle for issues raised on email? Why not just respond to the email?

2. The rep should have known I was traveling, having booked my travel & stay through his portal (else provide the info to them, let them be a bit more customer-centric)

3. the rep said 'we don't have GST'
But the mail says, 'we have escalated'!!!

This is poor customer service. 

Chandra love Monday mornings!

Chandra love Monday mornings!

Got up early, as always. There was nothing in the calendar, early in the morning. So did meditation, etc leisurely. 

Son had come over last evening. Saw him off early morning, before Bangalore traffic reaches its notorious peak-hour levels. (Peak hour is only an excuse. Other wise traffic is pretty much a bad experience, 24X7, 365 days) Son had an extra baggage, through the new gadget bought last evening!

Took dog out late, after shower & breakfast. By then multiple school buses have come and gone. Their parents have started rushing off for work too. At 930 AM, slightly warm, dog enjoyed a leisurely stroll too. (Wonder if it was a good idea to have one local, community schools where all kids go to, have to commute minimum and as such lesser vehicles on road! We got to do something for our kids education, to restore childhood...)

Chandra used to have another Monday morning ritual - to wash his car. Not any more since one of the car cleaning boys in the apartment takes care! (though Chandra is not happy with the quality!)

Monday need not be madness?! 

A stand up comedian with a bunch of B School alumni

Being Alumnus is about giving - not getting not networking. At least just being there! Being available. That is not difficult for me 

Evening.... 

A light drizzle... we took out the university umbrella ☔️, rarely used! 

Chandra went back to a campus in his forties. He had taken a semi-sabbatical during the same time and pursued some other certifications and short-term assignments.  

Ever since he has started telling everyone, who would care listen to him, gyaan:
'There are 3 things you should do when you hit the forties.  

1. Take a sabbatical and do something very different
2. Go back to campus and learn something that interests you, deep within. Not for ROI or to enhance your career prospects ('career is the worst maya')
3. It is very unlikely you go back or remain in the same job, industry or place. Follow your dream, live your #LifePurpose

Quickly it was bright & sunny. And clean, after the light showers! What would Bangalore do without this natural jaadu-pocha by Nature, with frequent rains?

Skipped Onam celebrations in the apartment to meet old & some new friends. It was less about the celebration, more about the Onam Sadya he missed!

Uber driver was not moving, on the app. He said, he stepped out for his late lunch and was now waiting for rains to stop, to get back into his car. Liked his 'authenticity' & confidence! He had no qualms about being late, Uber rating et al. He was courteous with me, though responded aggressively to drivers who were even mildly challenging him on the road. On a Saturday evening, going into the city, he got enough opportunities to tap into the 'angry young man' within. Chandra rated him 5/5. 'Wonder if I am at times too lenient when it comes to these taxi ratings. I want them all to get their incentives unless there is a violation or threat'! (The comedian said something similar later...!)

Late Evening.... 

The venue was right inside the stadium. Good place for the campus group! Always playful, in a world, chasing madness. 

Made some new friends, all connected by the common badge and some dream to make a difference. That is common among the middle-aged going back to campus. To re-discover ourselves. 

Introductions were made, with a new twist. There was a new twist to the program too. 

A Stand-up comedian.... 


His assistant came in first, like a proverbial bakra! He struggled to tackle a bunch of professionals, with his jokes and 'presence'! He will learn and get better, surely...

Then the main guy came. He started off asking an 'intelligent' question. 
Now stand-up comedians can be serious and ask intelligent questions too! Let's spare them from stereotyping :) 

Quickly he found what could work for the audience. That is a gift for anyone who takes the stage. Quickly identify what would work with the audience, and make the connect. 

Not sure if it was an intelligent analysis and decision, or just played safe! For the next 20 minutes or so the jokes were all on married men! Everyone in the audience was married (deliberately avoiding the adjective, 'happily'.... as I don't know!)

What transpired is beyong this blog post. Not what you think, but trade-mark, et al. It is his bread and butter afterall. 

Suffice to say some of us would get back and fire from the comedian's shoulders. What we could not handle as part of 'Crucial Conversations' with spouses, the comedian's shoulder would be a convenient artillery :)

Marriages are made in Heaven... Period!

Does (our) democracy encourage criminal politicians? Knowledge@Wharton Podcast

Does (our) democracy encourage criminal politicians?
- A couple of books are coming out on our political leadership! By Indians in US universities. Thankfully their interests are beyond cricket, movies and 'politics'!!

"In India, the world’s largest democracy, 34% of parliamentary members are involved in criminal cases. Does democracy fuel crooked politicians?"
- And the numbers are only going up!!! In spite of 2003 Supreme Court ruling 
- do we want these modern 'Robinhood', taking care of their self-interests or their little 'vote bank'?
- we are a young democracy, but with a rich heritage
- black money, weak judiciary & institutions are the main problems.

The buck stops with us, every Indian, who vote for these leaders. As educated Indians, we got to strengthen these pillars of democracy & institutions

Check out the podcast : https://itunes.apple.com/in/podcast/does-democracy-encourage-criminal-politicians/id120724941?i=1000386321018&mt=2

Shared office - An Entrepreneur's Struggles

Chandra left for the office, 'on time'. "What's the big deal?", you may ask...

Today is Saturday and "on-time" for Chandra is to be able to do stuff in the morning in an unhurried way 

- Few moments in prayer, when it is quite and peaceful, just before Sunrise

- Take the dog out, with no hurry to get back 

- Flip through newspaper headlines (ET: Ola founder complaining about capital dumping, World travel & tourism body 'advising' us how to handle the new SC order on alcohol outlets to SRK's team winning in IPL... no good news!)

- Not rush through morning 'rituals', though nothing ritualistic about it!

- Break the fast (even if not healthy and/or delicious by own preference and obsession)

- Drive slowly... he drove so 'slowly', he almost banged another car parked on the left, the "blind spot". The car belonged to his apartment complex!!

- Grateful for '50% less ads' in FM 95 and also better music. RJ Naved's prank call was on a young lady who had just taken up her 'dream job'. The prank was initiated by her own boyfriend! Kaisa 'boyfriend' hai yeh :)

- He drove in no hurry. The traffic was smooth. At 9 AM on a Saturday morning, 'light traffic on Bangalore roads' is a news!

- Being a Saturday, he does not need to get the Universe to conspire for a parking space. The parking is outside, in the open. To park inside, there was additional cost. As an entrepreneur, he was cost-conscious. It was always head vs heart when it came to it. He wanted his car to be in basement parking. But reluctant to spend. Are all entrepreneurs so stingy?!

- When he parked the car, the new security came out and took a circumambulation of his car. 'where is the sticker?' he asked. Chandra pointed to it. He nodded in approval and went away. These boys have a good knack of picking up the nuances of their jobs, "security", pretty quickly!

- Once inside, the place was about to get a major week-end clean-up. It was all mess, in the common area, just before the mega-clean up. 

Chandra always wondered why do we have to make it messier or messiest, before making it spick & span?! Why can't it be a continuous process? Many people do this at home too?!

- Naturally, the place was smelly! AC was not on. The office boy, the boss on a weekend, when others are away, said, "No AC on weekend and holidays"!

- Chandra was struggling to control. While the shared office makes a big pitch to come in and work 24X7, 365 days, how can one spend time there without basic ventilation and acceptable room temperature! Chandra would not take a no for an answer. Without losing cool, in an assertive way, he dropped a line to the real boss there. 

- As he was about to settle down, the AC went on, with a big noise. Even the AC unit was objecting to be called for service on a Saturday morning...

Chandra switched on the computer. The first mail was from the shared-office accounts team. 

- It was from someone, who had the name of a Philipino dictator

- It said, "Urgent action required. Your services may be terminated"

- Chandra could not write back to the dictator, equally dictatorial in his language, 'sirji, payment ho gaya hai! last month's and next month's. No dues. Check your records....etc'

- But the smart dictator has sent an automated mail, with no option to reply or write back. Quite unprofessional for an international shared office, Chandra felt. 

He had come to office to do a lot off pending stuff. He needed all the concentration and focus. He is off to a bad start. But has no option to fight it out and get cracking! 

Reader, how has been your Saturday morning? 

M&M-Ford pact to focus on joint tech - ET

Coming close on the heels of Tata-VW/Skoda, India's automobile sector is in interesting space.

M&M with Ford seem to be better, for both TML (PV) and Skoda have not lived up to potential in the Indian market.

Skoda Service: I was pleasantly surprised to see a big shift in the quality of service when I was at Skoda dealer early this week. Skoda suffered on after sales, whereas TML product quality. M&M has shown more tuned to the market and customer, though Ford is making strides in Indian market.

Big opportunities to collaborate and deliver safety, quality and delight to car owners in India.