Kolkotta

Yesterday, the news channels were prominently reporting CM Mamta Banerjee walking on Kolkotta roads to protest against the fuel price hike!


But late in the night, the cricket fans were on roads, celebrating KKR's win  !!


Which is real Kolkotta ?


'City of Joys' !

Front End Sales Commitment

While in Gulf, I avoided the European brands in favour of Japanese car brands - going by the local sentiment, service back up, A/c quality (real/perceived? ) and better re-sale value ( a definte clincher!)

Now back in India, I have been looking at VW models in India. My family had rejected Polo outright, being 'too small' ( I find even Alto & all other small cars very cute. Also, easy to manouvre around)!
So, Vento was an option.

I was pleasantly surprised to find both Polo & Vento parked in our residential complex! A nice counter, three young & smart sales-agents. I approached them, with a lot of expectation. I was worried if I would be 'pushed' to book one immediately, being a fence-sitter !

"Fortunately", nothing happened. Two sales agents pretended to be busy with an elderly prospect 'window-shopping', the third agent just ignored me. I was amused... They came all the way "to the customer", and then "stay away" from customer !!! I went around, looked at it closely, gave them an opportunity to get a prospective cusotmer.... and returned home!

I was wondering how would VW or the dealer ensure these event-initiatives are genuinely an effort to tap cusotmer at his residence ( office) !!! What would it take to get the front-end staff genuinely interested, apart from target & incentive ?!

PS : VW would have spend big bucks to associate their name with #IPL.
http://www.zigwheels.com/news-features/recent-launches/ipl-edition-of-the-vw-vento-to-coincide-with-season-4/7760/1

IPL Leadership Insights

One of the things I have been doing these days.... watching IPL 5

I am no fan of this format - but the love for the game & the amount leadership activities that go in to the sport keeps me glued.

The format has players from different cities/regions playing for different city-teams. As such my loyalty lies with Amchi Mumbai's own team.

Some Leadership thoughts -

• I thought it was a great move by Sachin to opt out of captaincy & just enjoy cricket. That what his millions of fans like him to do. Also, it is quite obvious though he is a legend, he is no great manager, or captain. A cricket captain is more a manager, than a leader, though it involves leadership skills. 
• But the choice of Harbhajan as captain, was not very convincing. He surely is past his prime, as a player. He is no strategist, like Saurav, to make up for the deficiency as a player. In previous matches, he was struggling for wickets...!
• In that context, it was a great move to open bowling yesterday, VS Deccan Chargers. Bhajji gave the impression of 'leading from the front' (cliched, sorry!). Even though in the initial overs a low-ranked team like DC will anyways be tentative ( it would have been a different story if Viru was batting ). Neverthless, it helped him to some extend and the team, a lot.
• The overall body language of the players was a lot positive. It showed in their fielding too, stopping some tough ones and holding on literally to few caches - the smile was back on their faces!
• Perhaps that positive frame of mind saw them through the match. They did not panic, fortunately.
• But Sachin and Rohit should have played a more responsible innings, as the team needed their techniques on a juicy wicket. 
• Sadly, they rank very low on Fairplay table too. No excuse here. The team captain needs to take responsibility and ensure same. But to expect from a mercurial Bhajji would be too much. Here Sachin should play the mentor-role, support Bhajji.
• The team won yesterday, but missed an opportunity to improve average, which could be very crucial in days to come. 
• Mumbai Indians are yet to come together as a powerful unit, though it has some great talent. Don't seem to be champion material yet

A friend from Gulf is travelling to India next week. Among other things, he plans to watch a game in Mumbai. 

Time for Mum Indians to raise their level of game, thru improved strategising & skillful execution. Miles to go before the finals...!

PS : Rajasthn Royal's loss by one run was termed as 'a miraculous win for Delhi'. No miracle here, a little luck, 'yes'!!  It was better captaincy, focus & managerial skills. Rahane, support staff also equally responsible, apart from coach-captain, Rahul Dravid. 

IPL Cricket's own tamasha

ToI carried an interview with Dada Ganguly... he mentioned, 'IPL may be entertaintment for others; for me it is just cricket'


Agree with Saurav. For many others, including fans, IPL is just simple, competetive cricket. The new format is exciting... But all the artificial gloss makes it very un-gentlemanly

Let us be fair to the game & uphold the values of the same