Just finished reading a news item online about Anna Hazare attacking Rahul Gandhi for not meeting the Sarpanch "Head man" of his village despite being called to come with a purported prior appointment. For those of you who are unaware of the controversy, let me jot it down.
Anna Hazare, I am sure you must have heard of, if not - he is the anti-corruption crusader in the Gandhi mould. He lives in a village called Ralegan Siddhi which he has transformed into a model village. Anna is perceived by many in the Government to be anti - Congress. However, popular perception is that he is anti - government only because the government of the day is not serious about fighting corruption by enacting tough laws.
Rahul Gandhi is the scion of the Congress party and viewed by large numbers to be the Prime Minister in waiting whenever the Congress comes to power next. Rahul has been on a PR offensive, trying to portray an image of being connected to the common man and very much concerned with their welfare. It is to protect this image that the idea of inviting the village head man, from the village of the present arch rival of Congress - Anna Hazare, must have come.
There is no denying from the Congress that one of its MP's called and invited the village Sarpanch to come and meet Rahul. On the day of the appointment, the sarpanch and the team accompanying him were told that they could not meet Rahul since there was no appointment. Now no sane person can believe that Rahul did not know of the meeting. The fact that there was to be a meeting was widely covered in the media - print as well as TV. There was no way anybody could have missed it, least of them the media managers of Rahul.
This brings me to the core topic - how the mighty behave? Let us give Rahul the benefit of doubt that he did not know or it genuinely slipped his or his secretary's mind to make the appointment in the appointment diary. But even then, if a congress MP had made the appointment, a fact that could have been easily verified by Rahul's office and the people had travelled thousands of miles, couldn't Rahul who portrays himself as a man of the masses, have taken time our to meet the villagers? After all common courtesy demands this.
But then the real fact, as I guess, is something different. The Congress media managers and Rahul's managers must have developed cold feet at the last moment. This could be due to the thought that the meeting could provide extra mileage or perhaps fresh ammunition to the Anna team. But then this shows weakness on Rahul's part. If he is really serious about bringing change then he should not be scared, and should not be guided by the likes of Digvijay Singh. The sooner he develops his own mind, the better it will be for him and India.
This also brings me to the larger question - does being in a position of power or authority give us the liberty of being arrogant or being perceived us as being arrogant???? My belief is that when one is in power one must be extra cautious to appear as humble and approachable.
I will give another example of how those who are in Power think they know all and behave arbitrarily. We joined a PR alliance and we were told that we were partners from India. While we were not promised exclusivity, what we were told was that there would not be another partner from India, unless the market grew big enough for one partner not being able to service the market. We were also told that if such a situation were to arise we would be first consulted before beginning a dialogue with anyone. And we are only six months into the organisation.
A week back we suddenly got a mail from the Regional Chair saying that they are appointing a new Indian Partner and we were being given advance notice, so that it should not come as a surprise to us. Surprised by it: bloody hell, we were shocked.
Over the course of the last week we have had mails and telecons with the powers that be. They are making all the right noises, saying how they are sorry that this happened, it should not have happened, BUT the new member will be in anyways. Yes you read it right, there was no going back on the new member. Now you tell me: if this is not the height of abuse of power, then what is?? Were we treated as partners - NO, then how can this organisation claim to be a partnership. They now say that they "thought" India was a big market which could not be handled by one agency and that we should educate the partners about the Indian Market, but they will not reconsider their decision.
Moral of the story - be powerful yourself so that nobody can dare to abuse you, but be careful not be accused of abusing others.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Can the Queen and Princess Brides evoke interest beyond the trivial????
Today morning I woke up to see the beautiful photo of the new Queen of Bhutan "Jetsun Pema" staring at me from the front page of the newspaper. The beauty of the Queen took my breath away and I wanted to pinch myself - to see if I am really awake. The instant reaction was - is she really this beautiful and if she is then I am sure there are other such beautiful damsels in Bhutan. I had heard a lot about the pristine beauty of Bhutan, but had never imagined this side of the beauty. My immediate impulse was that I wanted to visit Bhutan to see allllllll its beauty :))).
Well that was that and I had forgotten all about it by the time I was an hour into my work. Then while going through the news section of rediff.com I cam upon an online Poll: Has the new Bhutani Queen's bridal upstaged Kate, Charlene? Out of curiosity I went through the photo of all three and found the Bhuatnese Queen to have really upstaged the other two. She looks stunning in her traditional attire and her beauty is more ethereal than the others.
This immediately took me back to my morning impulse of wanting to visit Bhutan. It also set me thinking that if I am stunned by the beauty of the Bhutanese Queen, then so would many others across the world who have seen the photos. If my impulse is to visit Bhutan to see the BBBBeauty :)))) of the country then so would be that of countless others. If this is the case then can the nation really use these Queens and Princesses as more than mere props and actually treasure them as national resources to further their respective countries' causes.
At the risk of sounding an MCP, all along the ages, which man is not bowled over by a woman's beauty? Be it Cleopatra, an Angelina Jolie, an Aishwarya Rai, Princess Kate or now Queen Jetsun Pema all have beauty beyond words. When wars in ancient times can be fought over queens and princesses, why can't the modern times have visitors clamouring to visit the country of these beautiful women? If such interest can result in increased Tourism then it would ultimately lead to more financial wealth and hopefully more prosperity.
I deliberately say "more financial wealth and hopefully more prosperity" because it is not necessary for Financial wealth to result in more national prosperity. Prosperity depends on a lot of factors e.g. equitable distribution of wealth and protection of environment. Bhutan in fact measures its prosperity not through GDP Gross Domestic Produce) but through GNH (Gross National Happiness) Index which shows the commitment of this tiny kingdom to the real prosperity of its people.
Coming back to the topic of this blog, I would dare say that all the modern Queens and Princesses are educated and distinguished individuals in their own rights. Using them only for ceremonial duties is a wastage of national treasures. If we really promote these beautiful women as the FFFFFFFFFFFFFFACE of the nation, I believe that we should be able to increase "brand awareness" of the nation.
Well that was that and I had forgotten all about it by the time I was an hour into my work. Then while going through the news section of rediff.com I cam upon an online Poll: Has the new Bhutani Queen's bridal upstaged Kate, Charlene? Out of curiosity I went through the photo of all three and found the Bhuatnese Queen to have really upstaged the other two. She looks stunning in her traditional attire and her beauty is more ethereal than the others.
This immediately took me back to my morning impulse of wanting to visit Bhutan. It also set me thinking that if I am stunned by the beauty of the Bhutanese Queen, then so would many others across the world who have seen the photos. If my impulse is to visit Bhutan to see the BBBBeauty :)))) of the country then so would be that of countless others. If this is the case then can the nation really use these Queens and Princesses as more than mere props and actually treasure them as national resources to further their respective countries' causes.
At the risk of sounding an MCP, all along the ages, which man is not bowled over by a woman's beauty? Be it Cleopatra, an Angelina Jolie, an Aishwarya Rai, Princess Kate or now Queen Jetsun Pema all have beauty beyond words. When wars in ancient times can be fought over queens and princesses, why can't the modern times have visitors clamouring to visit the country of these beautiful women? If such interest can result in increased Tourism then it would ultimately lead to more financial wealth and hopefully more prosperity.
I deliberately say "more financial wealth and hopefully more prosperity" because it is not necessary for Financial wealth to result in more national prosperity. Prosperity depends on a lot of factors e.g. equitable distribution of wealth and protection of environment. Bhutan in fact measures its prosperity not through GDP Gross Domestic Produce) but through GNH (Gross National Happiness) Index which shows the commitment of this tiny kingdom to the real prosperity of its people.
Coming back to the topic of this blog, I would dare say that all the modern Queens and Princesses are educated and distinguished individuals in their own rights. Using them only for ceremonial duties is a wastage of national treasures. If we really promote these beautiful women as the FFFFFFFFFFFFFFACE of the nation, I believe that we should be able to increase "brand awareness" of the nation.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Crisis Communication in Personal Life...
An incident yesterday forced me to think and write this, well not that I do not think and write otherwise, but you know what... think think ....
I was leaving to pick up my wife when I was accosted outside my office by one of the neighbours asking about another car standing outside. I replied, Why? what is the matter. He responded with another question - whose car is it? It was one of my colleagues and I said it is ours.
Hearing this the neighbour - an old senile man became aggressive and said that this car had caused an accident the previous day. This particular neighbour had an angst against us as he had cheated us some years back and ever since we had had no dealings with him and had made known his dishonesty. Not that there was much reaction because he and his family including extended family were known to be cheats.
Now that I have laid down the background, my reaction on hearing his accusation was extreme scepticism. I asked him who was involved in the accident and how did he know that this was the car? He said that it was his grandson and the Guard at the gate had noted the number of the vehicle and that is how he knew. I saw the guard who was till then with the neighbour leaving with a smile on his face.
I immediately reacted aggressively too saying how did he know who was at fault. Also what happened, this guy told me that the motorcycle his grandson was driving was badly damaged. I asked him where had the accident taken place, he replied at the society gate.
Now to describe the society gate, it is almost a blind entry with many rickshawwallas crowding the entrance and this is a spot where accidents can happen without anybody's fault.
So I said that if it had happened at the gate then it could be anybody's fault and to blame a bigger vehicle for the accident (in India it is the norm to blame the bigger vehicle in an accident).
The old man became even more aggressive and said that the motorcycle had been badly damaged and who will pay for it, etc. I again said how can he be sure whose fault it is? There was a slip of tongue on his part and he mentioned that his grandson was learning driving so he was coming at a slow speed, I immediately sensed something was amiss but by then my ante was up. I told the guy that since the boy was a learner, in all probability, the fault was his. The reply was that he daily takes the motorcycle to school. Yes in India it is perfectly normal for non driving license holder learners to be driving to school :)))) the parents are really rotten.
By then I was getting impatient to leave and I told the old man that it was not the car's fault, on hearing this he said he will complain to the police, I said as you wish and drove off. I reached the gate and asked the guard what had happened, he said nothing sir, the previous day the cars side-view mirror scraped the scooter which the kid was driving. Just then, the kid in question also drove by and the guard said that this was the kid involved in the "accident".
In the meanwhile the old man also reached the gate and started arguing with me. I again told him that it must have been the kids fault, and nothing had happened. By now the old man started shouting and I was mad too (I wanted to really knock this guy out!!!) so I replied angrily - do what you want, go to the police and drove on.
Now my mind had subconsciously registered facts which in my anger I had ignored. After driving for five minutes, I called my colleague and asked him if he had had an accident the previous day, he replied in the negative and asked me what happened. I narrated the entire incident and asked him to speak to the Guard. (I had stopped the car to make this call - should any of you feel that driving while making a call was what I was doing!!!).
By now I had cooled down and the subconscious became conscious. I realized that my colleague had a habit of informing me of even the minor scrapes that he got into, so it was not possible for him to have hidden a full blown accident. Second, I had passed his car on the way out and it was untouched, third the old man had said that his grandson was injured and the motorcycle had been damaged while the guard said it was a scooter.
My mind started analysing. I realised that I had handled a crisis badly. This was when I had only last week gone for taking a full blown Crisis Communication workshop across locations for a large corporate and had taught them how to handle a crisis!!!
What should have been my way of handling this crisis:
Firstly, I should have asked for all the facts of this so called accident
Then, I should have spoken to the Guard and verified the facts - if I had patiently done this, then I would have immediately spotted the gap wherein the old man said motorcycle and the guard said scooty; I should have then asked my colleague what had happened; Next I should have asked the old man to produce his injured kid - if the motorcycle had been as badly damaged as claimed, the kid would definitely have been injured. In my anger, the fact that the kid was driving his scooty normally while I was coming out only registered in my subconscious mind; after getting all the facts I should have calmly faced the Old man and shown him to be a liar.
In fact after half an hour of my calling the colleague, he called back saying that everything had been sorted out. He said that he made the kid face the old man and tell to his face that nothing as described by the old man had happened the previous day. The old man was proved to be a liar in front of everybody, including his grandson and son (not that it will do any good the son is already a cheat and if the trend continues the grandson will also end up being one - OUCH that is really NASTY - should I delete it - NAH I don't think so). The old man was trying to possibly extract some money out from some poor soul for the repair of a broken bike at his house!
The moral of this is that what holds true in the corporate world can also be applied to our personal lives. As the crisis unfolds, an analysis of facts and presenting the true facts in a rational manner should also be applied and can help identify issues and bring in quicker resolution of problems.
But we are humans after all and let the emotions over rule the brain and create unnecessary complications. Life is too short - If nursing angst means the other person is still important for you, Remember: Nobody is as important as yourself and move on.
Wish I could really apply all the gyan for myself :))))). It is easier dispensing advise than following it!!!!!!!
I was leaving to pick up my wife when I was accosted outside my office by one of the neighbours asking about another car standing outside. I replied, Why? what is the matter. He responded with another question - whose car is it? It was one of my colleagues and I said it is ours.
Hearing this the neighbour - an old senile man became aggressive and said that this car had caused an accident the previous day. This particular neighbour had an angst against us as he had cheated us some years back and ever since we had had no dealings with him and had made known his dishonesty. Not that there was much reaction because he and his family including extended family were known to be cheats.
Now that I have laid down the background, my reaction on hearing his accusation was extreme scepticism. I asked him who was involved in the accident and how did he know that this was the car? He said that it was his grandson and the Guard at the gate had noted the number of the vehicle and that is how he knew. I saw the guard who was till then with the neighbour leaving with a smile on his face.
I immediately reacted aggressively too saying how did he know who was at fault. Also what happened, this guy told me that the motorcycle his grandson was driving was badly damaged. I asked him where had the accident taken place, he replied at the society gate.
Now to describe the society gate, it is almost a blind entry with many rickshawwallas crowding the entrance and this is a spot where accidents can happen without anybody's fault.
So I said that if it had happened at the gate then it could be anybody's fault and to blame a bigger vehicle for the accident (in India it is the norm to blame the bigger vehicle in an accident).
The old man became even more aggressive and said that the motorcycle had been badly damaged and who will pay for it, etc. I again said how can he be sure whose fault it is? There was a slip of tongue on his part and he mentioned that his grandson was learning driving so he was coming at a slow speed, I immediately sensed something was amiss but by then my ante was up. I told the guy that since the boy was a learner, in all probability, the fault was his. The reply was that he daily takes the motorcycle to school. Yes in India it is perfectly normal for non driving license holder learners to be driving to school :)))) the parents are really rotten.
By then I was getting impatient to leave and I told the old man that it was not the car's fault, on hearing this he said he will complain to the police, I said as you wish and drove off. I reached the gate and asked the guard what had happened, he said nothing sir, the previous day the cars side-view mirror scraped the scooter which the kid was driving. Just then, the kid in question also drove by and the guard said that this was the kid involved in the "accident".
In the meanwhile the old man also reached the gate and started arguing with me. I again told him that it must have been the kids fault, and nothing had happened. By now the old man started shouting and I was mad too (I wanted to really knock this guy out!!!) so I replied angrily - do what you want, go to the police and drove on.
Now my mind had subconsciously registered facts which in my anger I had ignored. After driving for five minutes, I called my colleague and asked him if he had had an accident the previous day, he replied in the negative and asked me what happened. I narrated the entire incident and asked him to speak to the Guard. (I had stopped the car to make this call - should any of you feel that driving while making a call was what I was doing!!!).
By now I had cooled down and the subconscious became conscious. I realized that my colleague had a habit of informing me of even the minor scrapes that he got into, so it was not possible for him to have hidden a full blown accident. Second, I had passed his car on the way out and it was untouched, third the old man had said that his grandson was injured and the motorcycle had been damaged while the guard said it was a scooter.
My mind started analysing. I realised that I had handled a crisis badly. This was when I had only last week gone for taking a full blown Crisis Communication workshop across locations for a large corporate and had taught them how to handle a crisis!!!
What should have been my way of handling this crisis:
Firstly, I should have asked for all the facts of this so called accident
Then, I should have spoken to the Guard and verified the facts - if I had patiently done this, then I would have immediately spotted the gap wherein the old man said motorcycle and the guard said scooty; I should have then asked my colleague what had happened; Next I should have asked the old man to produce his injured kid - if the motorcycle had been as badly damaged as claimed, the kid would definitely have been injured. In my anger, the fact that the kid was driving his scooty normally while I was coming out only registered in my subconscious mind; after getting all the facts I should have calmly faced the Old man and shown him to be a liar.
In fact after half an hour of my calling the colleague, he called back saying that everything had been sorted out. He said that he made the kid face the old man and tell to his face that nothing as described by the old man had happened the previous day. The old man was proved to be a liar in front of everybody, including his grandson and son (not that it will do any good the son is already a cheat and if the trend continues the grandson will also end up being one - OUCH that is really NASTY - should I delete it - NAH I don't think so). The old man was trying to possibly extract some money out from some poor soul for the repair of a broken bike at his house!
The moral of this is that what holds true in the corporate world can also be applied to our personal lives. As the crisis unfolds, an analysis of facts and presenting the true facts in a rational manner should also be applied and can help identify issues and bring in quicker resolution of problems.
But we are humans after all and let the emotions over rule the brain and create unnecessary complications. Life is too short - If nursing angst means the other person is still important for you, Remember: Nobody is as important as yourself and move on.
Wish I could really apply all the gyan for myself :))))). It is easier dispensing advise than following it!!!!!!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Falling Service Standards in India...
Even as I decided to write this piece, I am wanting to pull out my hair in exasperation. Unfortunately I cannot even risk doing so for the fear of losing whatever little remain :). Let me come to the points of frustration which has got all to do with the falling service standards and an unscrupulous market place.
I bought some recliners from one of the so called biggest and most reputed manufacturer "Recliner India" which claims to be equipping everybody from the PVR's of the world to the Richest. I fell for this and from Day one I have been battling one problem after the other, first the movement was fixed in such a way that the faux leather tore, this within 15 days. I complained and the resolution happened after 2 months of constantly pursuing them, during which time we did not use them for the fear of damaging them even more. Finally we got them and thought that at least now we could enjoy the seats.
But to our horror after using them for around three months, the foam collapsed. We had to pursue this for more than four months before we got a resolution. The standard response of the Manager out there was I am busy, we are busy, we are fulfilling huge orders, we have set up a new factory in hardware - so everybody is busy there, we will get it done in 2-3 days ---------.
I, who had shelled out close to 70K, was made to feel "that it was my fault for buying these products. I started cringing at the mere thought of calling these guys, but these guys were totally shameless. Finally I got these rectified, but the story does not end here.
About three months back the leatherite started peeling suddenly and again I called in horror. Horror - since I had never experienced this and this was despite the fact that our usage of the recliners was minimal - at the max 2 hours a day. I am still pursuing.
The response - you are lucky, most customers have had the peeling within 6 months - I guess I am lucky. It is a manufacturing defect in the leatherite but we do not guarantee the leatherite, so you have to pay. My question: Any guarantees on repairs. The response: What? You must be crazy asking for guarantees. Get it replaced Man, at your risk. My statement: I will take you to courts. The Response: many have tried. My reaction - OK, OK point taken , help me. Their response: That is better, we will do something. Can you optimise the cost. Sure we will try, how many days will it take - within a week. A week has gone by and I called today - we will send the sample of the fabric by the evening and it shall be done soon.
HOPE - a big thing and I am again forced to rely on this.
Now the second incidence - Sent a courier by BLazeflash (a so called big Courier Company) to Chandigarh on 23rd and it was supposed to be delivered on 24th. We tracked it online and on 24th it said out for delivery. Good, but WAIT. On 26th we get a call from the prospective client to whom we had sent a contract for signing saying they had not received the courier. WHAT - we screamed, went back online where the status again showed - Out for delivery. We told the client that it will be delivered by the evening. However today all hell broke loose, when the client called to say that the courier had still not reached and they would cancel the contract.
From the morning we have been frantically trying to chase Blazeflash. None of the numbers given respond, when one of them gets picked up, we are given another number to call. Finally at 1.00 p.m. we managed to get through to the Chandigarh branch for the phone to be picked up by a girl who bluntly and rudely told us that yes she had the courier packet number and we should call back in fifteen minutes to know about it. On being told that it has taken us three hours to get through, she very promptly told us that we did get through didn't we. So we could very well try after 15 minutes. I just hope that the science fiction stories could come true where we can be transported in time, because if this were possible I would have got out of the telephone instrument and smacked her bottom and taught her some manners. This Blazeflash is a company which has photos of its CMD with VVIP's on its website, I guess the customers are the poor suckers!!!
Now the third incidence - concerns the only piped gas supplier in Delhi, only so by monopolistic legislation barring anyone from supplying for a particular time frame. The company in question "Indraprastha Gas" - a listed entity. We have one connection on the First Floor and wanted another one on the Second Floor for which we made an application in Feb 2011.
The money was promptly debited from our account in March and still no connection.They have a beautiful (literally) call centre which takes your complaint gives you a reference no., which you keep referring to and they promptly assure you that within 72 hours somebody will call.Those 72 hours are still to finish. I wonder how many days are there in an hour :).
And the best of all is "Airtel". It is a recurring war with them on excess billing whenever bills come in - and we have 15+ Airtel connections at work... I firmly believe that only those customer service guys are employed who fail the most basic IQ as well as comprehension exams.
This brings me to the caption of this blog. Service Standards???
I sometimes wonder if there are any standards at all in India. Everybody takes the consumer for granted. I guess we all require an Anna Hazare or better still we all need to become Anna Hazare. Probably then we can expect India to change.
The other way to bring a change is that if we all start sharing our experiences with the maximum people so that all of us start boycotting, a la Gandhi style, or refraining from using the services of such kind of entities.
Internet is a powerful tool, we should all use it to bring about a change for the better. The way to go about is by exposing unscrupulous elements in our midst and possibly then things may change and we may get the services that we have paid for.
I bought some recliners from one of the so called biggest and most reputed manufacturer "Recliner India" which claims to be equipping everybody from the PVR's of the world to the Richest. I fell for this and from Day one I have been battling one problem after the other, first the movement was fixed in such a way that the faux leather tore, this within 15 days. I complained and the resolution happened after 2 months of constantly pursuing them, during which time we did not use them for the fear of damaging them even more. Finally we got them and thought that at least now we could enjoy the seats.
But to our horror after using them for around three months, the foam collapsed. We had to pursue this for more than four months before we got a resolution. The standard response of the Manager out there was I am busy, we are busy, we are fulfilling huge orders, we have set up a new factory in hardware - so everybody is busy there, we will get it done in 2-3 days ---------.
I, who had shelled out close to 70K, was made to feel "that it was my fault for buying these products. I started cringing at the mere thought of calling these guys, but these guys were totally shameless. Finally I got these rectified, but the story does not end here.
About three months back the leatherite started peeling suddenly and again I called in horror. Horror - since I had never experienced this and this was despite the fact that our usage of the recliners was minimal - at the max 2 hours a day. I am still pursuing.
The response - you are lucky, most customers have had the peeling within 6 months - I guess I am lucky. It is a manufacturing defect in the leatherite but we do not guarantee the leatherite, so you have to pay. My question: Any guarantees on repairs. The response: What? You must be crazy asking for guarantees. Get it replaced Man, at your risk. My statement: I will take you to courts. The Response: many have tried. My reaction - OK, OK point taken , help me. Their response: That is better, we will do something. Can you optimise the cost. Sure we will try, how many days will it take - within a week. A week has gone by and I called today - we will send the sample of the fabric by the evening and it shall be done soon.
HOPE - a big thing and I am again forced to rely on this.
Now the second incidence - Sent a courier by BLazeflash (a so called big Courier Company) to Chandigarh on 23rd and it was supposed to be delivered on 24th. We tracked it online and on 24th it said out for delivery. Good, but WAIT. On 26th we get a call from the prospective client to whom we had sent a contract for signing saying they had not received the courier. WHAT - we screamed, went back online where the status again showed - Out for delivery. We told the client that it will be delivered by the evening. However today all hell broke loose, when the client called to say that the courier had still not reached and they would cancel the contract.
From the morning we have been frantically trying to chase Blazeflash. None of the numbers given respond, when one of them gets picked up, we are given another number to call. Finally at 1.00 p.m. we managed to get through to the Chandigarh branch for the phone to be picked up by a girl who bluntly and rudely told us that yes she had the courier packet number and we should call back in fifteen minutes to know about it. On being told that it has taken us three hours to get through, she very promptly told us that we did get through didn't we. So we could very well try after 15 minutes. I just hope that the science fiction stories could come true where we can be transported in time, because if this were possible I would have got out of the telephone instrument and smacked her bottom and taught her some manners. This Blazeflash is a company which has photos of its CMD with VVIP's on its website, I guess the customers are the poor suckers!!!
Now the third incidence - concerns the only piped gas supplier in Delhi, only so by monopolistic legislation barring anyone from supplying for a particular time frame. The company in question "Indraprastha Gas" - a listed entity. We have one connection on the First Floor and wanted another one on the Second Floor for which we made an application in Feb 2011.
The money was promptly debited from our account in March and still no connection.They have a beautiful (literally) call centre which takes your complaint gives you a reference no., which you keep referring to and they promptly assure you that within 72 hours somebody will call.Those 72 hours are still to finish. I wonder how many days are there in an hour :).
And the best of all is "Airtel". It is a recurring war with them on excess billing whenever bills come in - and we have 15+ Airtel connections at work... I firmly believe that only those customer service guys are employed who fail the most basic IQ as well as comprehension exams.
This brings me to the caption of this blog. Service Standards???
I sometimes wonder if there are any standards at all in India. Everybody takes the consumer for granted. I guess we all require an Anna Hazare or better still we all need to become Anna Hazare. Probably then we can expect India to change.
The other way to bring a change is that if we all start sharing our experiences with the maximum people so that all of us start boycotting, a la Gandhi style, or refraining from using the services of such kind of entities.
Internet is a powerful tool, we should all use it to bring about a change for the better. The way to go about is by exposing unscrupulous elements in our midst and possibly then things may change and we may get the services that we have paid for.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
I am SAD as well as GLAD
How can I be sad and glad at the same time. If you are wondering at this statement then please be assured that I am in my full senses and I actually mean it. I am SAD because today our democratic process is in serious danger of being eroded, I am GLAD because the Government of the day has finally seen the light of the day and agreed to release Anna Hazare and allow him to protest peacefully.
Our entire democratic process is in conducting free and fair elections, whether it is actually true or not I will ponder later, and electing representatives to represent us at various levels. We prided ourselves and the world supported us, the largest democracy, in our ability to elect representatives to Village Panchayats, Municipal Corporations, State Assemblies and above all the Lok Sabha in Parliament. These institutions were supreme and their diktats were followed by a majority of us without a whimper. Sometimes there were murmurs of dissent over unpopular legislations but by far all of us abide by the laws set by the State.
However the Anna Hazare Movement for fight against corruption has sadly bruised these very institutions of governance which we all believed in. The reasons are many, but primarily the fact that the politicians in their lust for riches are drunk in their belief of unrestrained power. When you see a Kapil Sibal or a Manish Tiwari smirking on the TV screens it strikes a raw nerve in every Indian. These buffoons have eroded whatever little credibility that the Congress party has retained over the years.
When they hurl abuses at the Civil Society, they are abusing all of us. They dare Anna Hazare and his team to win elections and then protest! Let me dare these so called elected representatives to fight the elections as independents and then see for themselves. I can bet that these people will lose even their security deposits. The election process and the mindsets of people is such that we Indians have come to believe in political parties and it is very difficult to win an election as an Independent candidate howsoever good he or she may be, unless backed by a party.
Let me come to the question of Free and Fair elections. Are our elections really free and fair. Can an ordinary citizen dream of fighting an election. We have all heard of how Rahul Gandhi is trying to attract educated people to come forward and fight elections, but in reality the truth is different.
I met an educated business man, who was offered a ticket to fight elections for MP (Member of Parliament) after being interviewed by Rahul Gandhi (as he claimed). After being screened and selected he was told that he would have to spend Rs.10 crores (more than US $ 2 million) on fighting the election, and with no guarantees of being elected.
I do not blame Rahul Gandhi for this because this is the true state of Indian Politics. What I blame Rahul Gandhi for is that his PR machinery is spreading false hopes amongst teeming educated Indian Masses, who think they can fight elections only on the basis of their education.
Also imagine somebody who has spent Rs.10 crores being elected. Has he spent Rs.10 crores to uplift the constituents of his constituency??? Or is he being charitable? I think everyone will agree with me that the answer is a firm NO. Then what will be his priorities? I am sure the uppermost thing on his mind will be to recover his money anyhow. And when anyhow comes in, it brings all things bad in the society, be it dishonesty or corruption. Otherwise how do you expect him to recover his money on a paltry salary of Rs.50,000 per month besides perks. The interest alone on his electoral expenses would be 16 times more than the salary.
This promotion of money culture by our political parties is the root cause of corruption by the political class. The votes in India are garnered by sheer money power. Money is spent on buying media advertising and now disgustedly media editorial space which was fiercely independent earlier. Poor voters are given wads of money. In the Southern part of the country this has become an art. In fact this technique should be patented :)). Our honorable Home Minister who waxes so eloquently and pleads innocence every time police atrocities are committed on innocent protesters, is himself accused of winning his election by fraudulent methods including cash for votes.
So can we really say that elections in India are fair??? I guess not. For a country which by all means is still growing up and whose 70% population lives in rural areas, 26% is still below poverty line the lure of easy money is hard to resist. Elections provide the poor with free liquor, free food, cash which can amount to a years wages, clothes and other freebies. If the poor voter is tempted then we can't really blame him, can we?
Then there are other forms of winning an election - muscle power where the voters are intimidated to vote for a particular candidate or face dire consequences. It is easy now to use muscle power as today the election results are available booth wise ( every booth comprises of around 1000 voters) making it easier for the politicians to identify the precise localities voting for or against him. We have faced this in Delhi also where the Congress party MLAs whenever they win do not want to do any development work in our locality. They point out the election statistics says that we vote against them so what is the use of any work in our area. When we have criminals and people with no education or distinction in civil life being elected, we should only expect the erosion of our democratic institutions.
This is what makes me SAD today. When I see all that our forefathers fought for being eroded, I feel SAD. When I see the Government being shamed I feel SAD, when I see the government being bought to its knees by ordinary citizens I feel SAD. We have all grown up to believe in them and today we see them as destroyers of the political fabric, this makes me feel SAD.I fear anarchy on the streets, I fear when the ordinary citizens will be forced to take law in their hands.
I am GLAD that the Civil Society representing the ordinary people have won an important victory in being allowed to go ahead with their peaceful protests. I am GLAD when I see the youth of India concerned about corruption. I am GLAD when I see the Glee being wiped off the faces of the politicians who have bought about this situation. I am GLAD that I am perhaps witnessing another defining moment in India's march towards prosperity for all its citizens. I am GLAD that India still has democracy. I am GLAD that we still recognise every Indians right to speech of freedom. I am GLAD to be born in India and not in Syria.
Above all I still think I can be proud to be an Indian. I say I think, because I will not be proud till the Sheila Dixit's of this world are not behind bars, till they do not hang their heads in shame for committing impropriety in office, till the politicians are made accountable, till all Indians can strive to live beyond the dream of earning bread and butter for themselves.
Our entire democratic process is in conducting free and fair elections, whether it is actually true or not I will ponder later, and electing representatives to represent us at various levels. We prided ourselves and the world supported us, the largest democracy, in our ability to elect representatives to Village Panchayats, Municipal Corporations, State Assemblies and above all the Lok Sabha in Parliament. These institutions were supreme and their diktats were followed by a majority of us without a whimper. Sometimes there were murmurs of dissent over unpopular legislations but by far all of us abide by the laws set by the State.
However the Anna Hazare Movement for fight against corruption has sadly bruised these very institutions of governance which we all believed in. The reasons are many, but primarily the fact that the politicians in their lust for riches are drunk in their belief of unrestrained power. When you see a Kapil Sibal or a Manish Tiwari smirking on the TV screens it strikes a raw nerve in every Indian. These buffoons have eroded whatever little credibility that the Congress party has retained over the years.
When they hurl abuses at the Civil Society, they are abusing all of us. They dare Anna Hazare and his team to win elections and then protest! Let me dare these so called elected representatives to fight the elections as independents and then see for themselves. I can bet that these people will lose even their security deposits. The election process and the mindsets of people is such that we Indians have come to believe in political parties and it is very difficult to win an election as an Independent candidate howsoever good he or she may be, unless backed by a party.
Let me come to the question of Free and Fair elections. Are our elections really free and fair. Can an ordinary citizen dream of fighting an election. We have all heard of how Rahul Gandhi is trying to attract educated people to come forward and fight elections, but in reality the truth is different.
I met an educated business man, who was offered a ticket to fight elections for MP (Member of Parliament) after being interviewed by Rahul Gandhi (as he claimed). After being screened and selected he was told that he would have to spend Rs.10 crores (more than US $ 2 million) on fighting the election, and with no guarantees of being elected.
I do not blame Rahul Gandhi for this because this is the true state of Indian Politics. What I blame Rahul Gandhi for is that his PR machinery is spreading false hopes amongst teeming educated Indian Masses, who think they can fight elections only on the basis of their education.
Also imagine somebody who has spent Rs.10 crores being elected. Has he spent Rs.10 crores to uplift the constituents of his constituency??? Or is he being charitable? I think everyone will agree with me that the answer is a firm NO. Then what will be his priorities? I am sure the uppermost thing on his mind will be to recover his money anyhow. And when anyhow comes in, it brings all things bad in the society, be it dishonesty or corruption. Otherwise how do you expect him to recover his money on a paltry salary of Rs.50,000 per month besides perks. The interest alone on his electoral expenses would be 16 times more than the salary.
This promotion of money culture by our political parties is the root cause of corruption by the political class. The votes in India are garnered by sheer money power. Money is spent on buying media advertising and now disgustedly media editorial space which was fiercely independent earlier. Poor voters are given wads of money. In the Southern part of the country this has become an art. In fact this technique should be patented :)). Our honorable Home Minister who waxes so eloquently and pleads innocence every time police atrocities are committed on innocent protesters, is himself accused of winning his election by fraudulent methods including cash for votes.
So can we really say that elections in India are fair??? I guess not. For a country which by all means is still growing up and whose 70% population lives in rural areas, 26% is still below poverty line the lure of easy money is hard to resist. Elections provide the poor with free liquor, free food, cash which can amount to a years wages, clothes and other freebies. If the poor voter is tempted then we can't really blame him, can we?
Then there are other forms of winning an election - muscle power where the voters are intimidated to vote for a particular candidate or face dire consequences. It is easy now to use muscle power as today the election results are available booth wise ( every booth comprises of around 1000 voters) making it easier for the politicians to identify the precise localities voting for or against him. We have faced this in Delhi also where the Congress party MLAs whenever they win do not want to do any development work in our locality. They point out the election statistics says that we vote against them so what is the use of any work in our area. When we have criminals and people with no education or distinction in civil life being elected, we should only expect the erosion of our democratic institutions.
This is what makes me SAD today. When I see all that our forefathers fought for being eroded, I feel SAD. When I see the Government being shamed I feel SAD, when I see the government being bought to its knees by ordinary citizens I feel SAD. We have all grown up to believe in them and today we see them as destroyers of the political fabric, this makes me feel SAD.I fear anarchy on the streets, I fear when the ordinary citizens will be forced to take law in their hands.
I am GLAD that the Civil Society representing the ordinary people have won an important victory in being allowed to go ahead with their peaceful protests. I am GLAD when I see the youth of India concerned about corruption. I am GLAD when I see the Glee being wiped off the faces of the politicians who have bought about this situation. I am GLAD that I am perhaps witnessing another defining moment in India's march towards prosperity for all its citizens. I am GLAD that India still has democracy. I am GLAD that we still recognise every Indians right to speech of freedom. I am GLAD to be born in India and not in Syria.
Above all I still think I can be proud to be an Indian. I say I think, because I will not be proud till the Sheila Dixit's of this world are not behind bars, till they do not hang their heads in shame for committing impropriety in office, till the politicians are made accountable, till all Indians can strive to live beyond the dream of earning bread and butter for themselves.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Downgrade of US - An opportunity for India???
The downgrade of US Sovereign rating from AAA to AA+ with further possibilities of downgrades marks a Titanic shift of equilibrium in the Global Economy. US long a symbol of stability and aspirations for other national economies is today paying for its own misdeeds. The American politicians have spent money assuming that there is an endless supply. Most of it has been spent on fighting costly Wars which have been misadventures. Be it Vietnam, Iran or Afghanistan each war that it has fought has been long drawn with no tangible results. Whatever has been achieved due to these have been too little for the kind of resources that have been spent by the US.
True the world is a lot safer, but the wheeling dealings that go on to retain the so called sphere of American Influence has strained its relations with more than 50% of the mankind. The people of US have also long lived beyond their means. Their spending has been driven by plastic money and easy recourse to funding. The confidence to spend recklessly came from every nation queuing to park their funds in US Treasuries. So much so that China, with whom US at best shares uneasy relationship, having approximately US $1.5 trillion in US treasury holding is its largest creditor.
However the global meltdown of 2008 exposed the cracks in the US Financial Armour and the cracks have only widened. The US leaders appear clueless and they have tried to adopt the only way they know, unbridled spending.
The Global economy for the last quarter of a century has been built around US consumerism. Be it India or China, the growth has come riding the US economy and any negative effect is going to have repercussions through out.
However this also presents India with a huge chance to become a truly global leader economically. The Indian economy is still largely driven by domestic consumption unlike China which has become the manufacturing hub and therefore is hugely dependent on Exports. The exports from India today comprise largely of Services especially IT. These are bound to suffer, but if India can get its act together then this may be the chance that we were waiting for. If we can, in India, reduce corruption and increase equitable distribution of growth, carry out judicial reforms and create an atmosphere of policy stability and practice fiscal prudence, we can become the next big destination for parking of sovereign funds in the next decade or so.
Whatever the end result but one thing is sure: the end of days of US hegemony are in sight. Nobody, least of all me, would want US economy to falter, but this is only possible if there are great sacrifices from the Americans - people as well as their leaders.
In the meanwhile back in India we require only sacrifices from our Politicians, since Indians have always been sacrificing, to reclaim the ancient glory of India. We as a race are tolerant and peace loving, we have a multi cultural, multi religion society. If India were to rise to the Top, it will be beneficial to the entire world which is so fiercely divided on religious and ethnical lines.
True the world is a lot safer, but the wheeling dealings that go on to retain the so called sphere of American Influence has strained its relations with more than 50% of the mankind. The people of US have also long lived beyond their means. Their spending has been driven by plastic money and easy recourse to funding. The confidence to spend recklessly came from every nation queuing to park their funds in US Treasuries. So much so that China, with whom US at best shares uneasy relationship, having approximately US $1.5 trillion in US treasury holding is its largest creditor.
However the global meltdown of 2008 exposed the cracks in the US Financial Armour and the cracks have only widened. The US leaders appear clueless and they have tried to adopt the only way they know, unbridled spending.
The Global economy for the last quarter of a century has been built around US consumerism. Be it India or China, the growth has come riding the US economy and any negative effect is going to have repercussions through out.
However this also presents India with a huge chance to become a truly global leader economically. The Indian economy is still largely driven by domestic consumption unlike China which has become the manufacturing hub and therefore is hugely dependent on Exports. The exports from India today comprise largely of Services especially IT. These are bound to suffer, but if India can get its act together then this may be the chance that we were waiting for. If we can, in India, reduce corruption and increase equitable distribution of growth, carry out judicial reforms and create an atmosphere of policy stability and practice fiscal prudence, we can become the next big destination for parking of sovereign funds in the next decade or so.
Whatever the end result but one thing is sure: the end of days of US hegemony are in sight. Nobody, least of all me, would want US economy to falter, but this is only possible if there are great sacrifices from the Americans - people as well as their leaders.
In the meanwhile back in India we require only sacrifices from our Politicians, since Indians have always been sacrificing, to reclaim the ancient glory of India. We as a race are tolerant and peace loving, we have a multi cultural, multi religion society. If India were to rise to the Top, it will be beneficial to the entire world which is so fiercely divided on religious and ethnical lines.
Slut Walk...
What a name? The image that it conjures up is of skimpily/half dressed/ undressed females with suggestive and provocative body language, walking.
But no such visual presented itself on the walk organised on Sunday the 31st of July 2011, at Janpath, Delhi. There were more males than females and media turnout outnumbered the rallyists.
The Slut walk first originated in Canada over a Police Officer's remark on women not being appropriately dressed and hence being targets of molestation. The Slut walk has since been held in various cities around the world to protest against the "sexual biases" and to promote the "rights" of women. The moot point to consider here is whether the walk has served its purpose or is making any difference to the society at large?
The effort on part of female advocacy groups is laudable so far as it goes to highlight the harassment and atrocities against women. But when it comes to these groups demanding and saying that they are free to be dressed as they think is appropriate then it is a different matter altogether. We are all social animals and have to behave as per societal norms. If we are going against these norms we are risking ourselves.
I am not advocating that all societal norms are good and that no change is required but at the same time not all societal norms are bad. We all have to learn to respect the traditions of the society. When these women objected to the police officers remarks they were ignoring the fact that he was merely mentioning the fact that probably a majority of people across the globe believe in.
I am not for a moment justifying harassment, molestation and other atrocities on women, in fact I am firmly against it whatever the temptation or provocation may be. But yes if you dress inappropriately you are providing provocation.
I will give you a small example: imagine an office where the women employees come dressed in skimpy dresses with plunging necklines that leave nothing to imagination. Would that be considered appropriate? On the other hand a similar dress or a skimpier dress would not probably get a second glance if you were on a beach, where a majority will be dressed similarly.
If you are providing temptation then you have to bear in mind the risks. Not all can withstand temptation and a few amongst thousands will be tempted to taste the temptation.
But let us come to India where the latest walk was organised. I want to ask the organisers and the media which covered it whether they have they bothered to go and ask the mothers if they are willing to see there daughters dressed skimpily? And when I say dressed skimpily, I mean not only outside the home but at home as well. I am sure that the overwhelming response is going to be NO. Then why are we turning a serious issue of women's rights and atrocities against women, into a frivolous one - not giving a damn about the societal norms.
The law keepers including the police can only help us if we help ourselves. Is it fair to cry when a person is injured crossing the road through heavy fast moving traffic without waiting for the traffic to halt? How fair is it to cry when you domestic help robs you and they have not been verified by the police? There are hundreds of such examples when self help/caution could have avoided problems.
I will take another example here, around a month back I was returning at 1.00 a.m. in the night and just a little before our house I saw a Police Gypsy and some police men standing, I slowed and saw that there were two young girls roaming around with one boy in the middle of the night on streets and the Police was telling them to go back to their homes. Now tell me how safe is it for anybody globally roaming around in the middle of the night when nobody else can be seen? If something were to happen then everybody including the media would cry foul. And these so called proponents of women freedom would go hoarse shouting.
I am simply saying that while it is the duty of the law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order, we owe it to ourselves also to be cautious. I see no offence when the police officer in Canada made the statement about avoiding being dressed as sluts to remain safe. He was only advising that we should be concerned about our own safety and not leave everything to the police. Using the word slut might be offensive but doubting the intentions is really stretching things too far.
I also want to ask the so called celebrities like Nafisa Ali, who come to endorse such causes, by lending the glam or celebrity quotient, that have they really bothered to think the cause through. By supporting the Slut Walk called "Besharmi Morcha", what is she trying to achieve? Is she telling our ladies to shed their clothes or what? Is she trying to promote promiscuity in the society in the name of Besharmi Morcha or what? How many times has Nafisa Ali herself been dressed this way?
The argument that the organisers were giving is that it is not the dressing alone which leads to sexual harassment, so why pinpoint dressing. What the police officer was saying that dressing is one of the ingredients that can lead to such acts and we should try and remove this. True, dressing conservatively alone will not put an end to such acts, but it has the potential to reduce the incidence of such acts.
Most men would love girls to be skimpily clad, who wouldn't mind seeing young good looking girls in all their glory :)))). But on a serious note let not these newsmaking walks, deflect us from the real agenda of prevention of all kind of atrocities against women.
But no such visual presented itself on the walk organised on Sunday the 31st of July 2011, at Janpath, Delhi. There were more males than females and media turnout outnumbered the rallyists.
The Slut walk first originated in Canada over a Police Officer's remark on women not being appropriately dressed and hence being targets of molestation. The Slut walk has since been held in various cities around the world to protest against the "sexual biases" and to promote the "rights" of women. The moot point to consider here is whether the walk has served its purpose or is making any difference to the society at large?
The effort on part of female advocacy groups is laudable so far as it goes to highlight the harassment and atrocities against women. But when it comes to these groups demanding and saying that they are free to be dressed as they think is appropriate then it is a different matter altogether. We are all social animals and have to behave as per societal norms. If we are going against these norms we are risking ourselves.
I am not advocating that all societal norms are good and that no change is required but at the same time not all societal norms are bad. We all have to learn to respect the traditions of the society. When these women objected to the police officers remarks they were ignoring the fact that he was merely mentioning the fact that probably a majority of people across the globe believe in.
I am not for a moment justifying harassment, molestation and other atrocities on women, in fact I am firmly against it whatever the temptation or provocation may be. But yes if you dress inappropriately you are providing provocation.
I will give you a small example: imagine an office where the women employees come dressed in skimpy dresses with plunging necklines that leave nothing to imagination. Would that be considered appropriate? On the other hand a similar dress or a skimpier dress would not probably get a second glance if you were on a beach, where a majority will be dressed similarly.
If you are providing temptation then you have to bear in mind the risks. Not all can withstand temptation and a few amongst thousands will be tempted to taste the temptation.
But let us come to India where the latest walk was organised. I want to ask the organisers and the media which covered it whether they have they bothered to go and ask the mothers if they are willing to see there daughters dressed skimpily? And when I say dressed skimpily, I mean not only outside the home but at home as well. I am sure that the overwhelming response is going to be NO. Then why are we turning a serious issue of women's rights and atrocities against women, into a frivolous one - not giving a damn about the societal norms.
The law keepers including the police can only help us if we help ourselves. Is it fair to cry when a person is injured crossing the road through heavy fast moving traffic without waiting for the traffic to halt? How fair is it to cry when you domestic help robs you and they have not been verified by the police? There are hundreds of such examples when self help/caution could have avoided problems.
I will take another example here, around a month back I was returning at 1.00 a.m. in the night and just a little before our house I saw a Police Gypsy and some police men standing, I slowed and saw that there were two young girls roaming around with one boy in the middle of the night on streets and the Police was telling them to go back to their homes. Now tell me how safe is it for anybody globally roaming around in the middle of the night when nobody else can be seen? If something were to happen then everybody including the media would cry foul. And these so called proponents of women freedom would go hoarse shouting.
I am simply saying that while it is the duty of the law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order, we owe it to ourselves also to be cautious. I see no offence when the police officer in Canada made the statement about avoiding being dressed as sluts to remain safe. He was only advising that we should be concerned about our own safety and not leave everything to the police. Using the word slut might be offensive but doubting the intentions is really stretching things too far.
I also want to ask the so called celebrities like Nafisa Ali, who come to endorse such causes, by lending the glam or celebrity quotient, that have they really bothered to think the cause through. By supporting the Slut Walk called "Besharmi Morcha", what is she trying to achieve? Is she telling our ladies to shed their clothes or what? Is she trying to promote promiscuity in the society in the name of Besharmi Morcha or what? How many times has Nafisa Ali herself been dressed this way?
The argument that the organisers were giving is that it is not the dressing alone which leads to sexual harassment, so why pinpoint dressing. What the police officer was saying that dressing is one of the ingredients that can lead to such acts and we should try and remove this. True, dressing conservatively alone will not put an end to such acts, but it has the potential to reduce the incidence of such acts.
Most men would love girls to be skimpily clad, who wouldn't mind seeing young good looking girls in all their glory :)))). But on a serious note let not these newsmaking walks, deflect us from the real agenda of prevention of all kind of atrocities against women.
I hang my head in shame when I see Sheila Dixit giving Thumbs UP after charges of Corruption by CAG:
I am very proud to be an Indian.
I was in Switzerland recently and was waxing eloquent about India. To the horror of one of my friends in Switzerland (an Italian settled there), I remarked that there is not much difference between Geneva and Delhi. I argued that the total Swiss population is 12 million while Delhi's is over 20 million. I told him that if we remove 8 million people from Delhi, we would see a Delhi that is much better than not only Geneva but a whole lot of Europe.
But TODAY, that seems history. Today I am no longer proud to be an Indian. Today I am ashamed! I cringe at the fact that if some of my overseas friends were to ask me about corruption in India, I would have no answer!
The sight of Sheila Dixit showing Thumbs Up with the backing of the Congress party despite severe indictment by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG), the top watch dog over government expenses, is the most disgusting sight in my life span.
This shows the utter lack of moral values amongst our Political class. The Congress Party, of which every Indian was proud during the Independence Fight, has been reduced today to a party of thugs and thieves. This Government is the most corrupt and shameless ever to govern the country and I sincerely hope the last to do so. What a Bunch of jokers: Kapil Sibal, Digvijay Singh, Chidambram...
My God, if proof was ever needed, just read the Home Minister's statement on Home Grown Terrorists. Now this Government, if it has its way, wants to Brand every Indian who does not support Congress ideology of loot and plunder as terrorists. All this just to try and score brownie points over BJP.
Digvijay Singh is at best a mentally sick man. About Kapil Sibal, the lesser said the better. If they had their way, they would crush every right that we have. They would very willingly impose an Emergency like Indira Gandhi did. These people swear an Oath saying that India is their country and their motherland. I do not know what one calls a person who sells his mother? But that is what these leaders deserve to be called!!!
BJP is no saint either: Look at the mess that they have created in Karnataka. Nitin Gadakari, I don't know where RSS found him!!! RSS a great organisation, unfortunately now governed by octarians who have become senile, otherwise how can one explain their decision to impose Gadakari onto BJP as its president. DMK, AIADMK, RJD, RLD, BSP, SP and the others: Look at the political hue of the country. What choices do we have, except to be ashamed.
My friends, we need to introspect and come out and speak our minds on various forums. If we do not do so today, then there might not be a tomorrow for our future generations.
I am not very enamoured by Anna Hazare, but today I feel the need where all Indians needs to step out of their houses and join the movement. If only to send a strong message to the clowns ruling us that the Indian people have had enough, and if they do not mend their ways then they will be served the same fate that is facing Mubaraq in Egypt.
I just hope that I am alive to see the day when each and every corrupt politician is hung by the neck unto death.
I was in Switzerland recently and was waxing eloquent about India. To the horror of one of my friends in Switzerland (an Italian settled there), I remarked that there is not much difference between Geneva and Delhi. I argued that the total Swiss population is 12 million while Delhi's is over 20 million. I told him that if we remove 8 million people from Delhi, we would see a Delhi that is much better than not only Geneva but a whole lot of Europe.
But TODAY, that seems history. Today I am no longer proud to be an Indian. Today I am ashamed! I cringe at the fact that if some of my overseas friends were to ask me about corruption in India, I would have no answer!
The sight of Sheila Dixit showing Thumbs Up with the backing of the Congress party despite severe indictment by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG), the top watch dog over government expenses, is the most disgusting sight in my life span.
This shows the utter lack of moral values amongst our Political class. The Congress Party, of which every Indian was proud during the Independence Fight, has been reduced today to a party of thugs and thieves. This Government is the most corrupt and shameless ever to govern the country and I sincerely hope the last to do so. What a Bunch of jokers: Kapil Sibal, Digvijay Singh, Chidambram...
My God, if proof was ever needed, just read the Home Minister's statement on Home Grown Terrorists. Now this Government, if it has its way, wants to Brand every Indian who does not support Congress ideology of loot and plunder as terrorists. All this just to try and score brownie points over BJP.
Digvijay Singh is at best a mentally sick man. About Kapil Sibal, the lesser said the better. If they had their way, they would crush every right that we have. They would very willingly impose an Emergency like Indira Gandhi did. These people swear an Oath saying that India is their country and their motherland. I do not know what one calls a person who sells his mother? But that is what these leaders deserve to be called!!!
BJP is no saint either: Look at the mess that they have created in Karnataka. Nitin Gadakari, I don't know where RSS found him!!! RSS a great organisation, unfortunately now governed by octarians who have become senile, otherwise how can one explain their decision to impose Gadakari onto BJP as its president. DMK, AIADMK, RJD, RLD, BSP, SP and the others: Look at the political hue of the country. What choices do we have, except to be ashamed.
My friends, we need to introspect and come out and speak our minds on various forums. If we do not do so today, then there might not be a tomorrow for our future generations.
I am not very enamoured by Anna Hazare, but today I feel the need where all Indians needs to step out of their houses and join the movement. If only to send a strong message to the clowns ruling us that the Indian people have had enough, and if they do not mend their ways then they will be served the same fate that is facing Mubaraq in Egypt.
I just hope that I am alive to see the day when each and every corrupt politician is hung by the neck unto death.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Are the Elite Schools of India destroying our traditions?
A couple of days back I went to this event which was the grand finale of a 3 month long writing competition on Indian heritage. After a long time, being at this event gave me a chance to observe school students - 100's of them from over 20 schools from Delhi / NCR with their teachers at close quarters, for over four hours.
To encourage kids to interact with each other, since all were from different schools, it was decided that the students would form a group of five from different schools and one teacher would accompany each group. I decided to accompany this group and observe.
My learnings began as soon as the groups were being formed. I noticed one pretty lady teacher accompanied by two students who were keeping to themselves and did not become part of any group. I decided to keep track. Tasks were assigned to each group and this particular group of 2 students and one teacher did not get any assignment. They went to the event co-coordinator and asked for a task and were told to team up with existing groups. But they did not!
In the museum this group of 2 children and the teacher kept roaming about themselves with no tasks at hand. The tasks were given as a learning to the children, so that they could take back some knowledge. But this particular group had an air of "superiority" about them as if they knew it all!!! I couldn't resist and asked the teacher to which school did they belong. I already had a suspicion that they must be from one of the most elitist schools of the region.The response confirmed my suspicions as they were from a school which is at the top rung of the elitist institutions in the area.
I could only think of one thing: why do parents send their children to such schools? Frankly here the kids were not at fault, but the teacher herself had an attitude problem and did not encourage the students to mingle with others. My learnings did not stop there.
After brief introduction, the award ceremony began. But before that, I noted another interesting thing: Barring a couple of teachers from the not so well known schools, who spoke on the dais in Hindi, everybody spoke in English. The Chief Guest, a venerable old lady, though not very conversant in English also spoke in the same language.
One of the schools, which is not ranked amongst the "elite" won the 1st prize for their well-researched piece on Indian heritage. When they were called to the stage to collect their award and get a photo clicked with the Chief Guest, they bent and touched the Chief Guest's feet one by one. This was touching, as this was the true heritage of India where youngsters are taught to touch there elders feet as a mark of respect. I waited with baited breath to see if the students from teams of other schools would follow suit, but again no surprises, none did. And most of the awards went to students from the so called best schools of Delhi!
This bought me to the heading of my blog - Are the elite schools of India destroying our Traditions and Heritage?? If I look a the above observations, then the answer is obviously YES. My next question comes from my this answer - then why as Parents do we vie with each other and spend huge amounts as fees to send our children to these schools??
Is our Generation, with schools going kids, simply oblivious to this fact or is it simply that they do not care? In my interaction with Parents during school admission time over the years I am yet to come across one single set of Parents who can answer the reason why they want to send their children to a particular school except for the ELITIST TAG.
If this is the state of mind of this generation, then how can we as a nation trust them to protect our heritage, culture and traditions.
The education system is not helping either. I will give another example, a few years back I had gone to my cousins' just before Deepawali and I learnt that two of my nephews were not buying crackers on Diwali since they had given a pledge to their school not to do so, ostensibly to help in preventing noise and air pollution. Lighting Diyas was also being frowned upon! When questioned further they said they will light candles and celebrate Christmas. Interestingly, all schools today teach students carols to sing around Christmas and very few talk about our own Aartis or Bhajans!!!
This left me stunned and angry. What kind of a society were we trying to create - one where the children forget their own festivals and celebrate others? While I do not have any issues about learning about other cultures, but at the cost of your own - that is an unpalatable thing!
This brings me back to the question of what are we doing to preserve our traditions and heritage? It is time that we as a society woke up from our slumber and blind aping of the west, to take notice that our kids - our future is almost non-conversant with our own traditions and heritage.
The education system should also make teaching our Heritage and Culture as compulsory, in order to preserve and restore our heritage. India since the ancient ages was the land of great learning and spirituality and we need to rekindle this amongst our youth, throughout the nooks and corners of our country.
We as parents need to ask ourselves what is it that we are teaching our children? We as parents need to ask the schools what is it that they are teaching our children? It is time that we as parents dismantled this stereo-type approach to getting our kids into elitist schools. It is time that we as a society shunned the so-called best schools where value systems take a back seat.
Only if we rise up will we be able to force the system to change. And change it must for the better because only then can we rest assured that we will leave behind a better world for our children - because that is what we all ultimately desire to do.
To encourage kids to interact with each other, since all were from different schools, it was decided that the students would form a group of five from different schools and one teacher would accompany each group. I decided to accompany this group and observe.
My learnings began as soon as the groups were being formed. I noticed one pretty lady teacher accompanied by two students who were keeping to themselves and did not become part of any group. I decided to keep track. Tasks were assigned to each group and this particular group of 2 students and one teacher did not get any assignment. They went to the event co-coordinator and asked for a task and were told to team up with existing groups. But they did not!
In the museum this group of 2 children and the teacher kept roaming about themselves with no tasks at hand. The tasks were given as a learning to the children, so that they could take back some knowledge. But this particular group had an air of "superiority" about them as if they knew it all!!! I couldn't resist and asked the teacher to which school did they belong. I already had a suspicion that they must be from one of the most elitist schools of the region.The response confirmed my suspicions as they were from a school which is at the top rung of the elitist institutions in the area.
I could only think of one thing: why do parents send their children to such schools? Frankly here the kids were not at fault, but the teacher herself had an attitude problem and did not encourage the students to mingle with others. My learnings did not stop there.
After brief introduction, the award ceremony began. But before that, I noted another interesting thing: Barring a couple of teachers from the not so well known schools, who spoke on the dais in Hindi, everybody spoke in English. The Chief Guest, a venerable old lady, though not very conversant in English also spoke in the same language.
One of the schools, which is not ranked amongst the "elite" won the 1st prize for their well-researched piece on Indian heritage. When they were called to the stage to collect their award and get a photo clicked with the Chief Guest, they bent and touched the Chief Guest's feet one by one. This was touching, as this was the true heritage of India where youngsters are taught to touch there elders feet as a mark of respect. I waited with baited breath to see if the students from teams of other schools would follow suit, but again no surprises, none did. And most of the awards went to students from the so called best schools of Delhi!
This bought me to the heading of my blog - Are the elite schools of India destroying our Traditions and Heritage?? If I look a the above observations, then the answer is obviously YES. My next question comes from my this answer - then why as Parents do we vie with each other and spend huge amounts as fees to send our children to these schools??
Is our Generation, with schools going kids, simply oblivious to this fact or is it simply that they do not care? In my interaction with Parents during school admission time over the years I am yet to come across one single set of Parents who can answer the reason why they want to send their children to a particular school except for the ELITIST TAG.
If this is the state of mind of this generation, then how can we as a nation trust them to protect our heritage, culture and traditions.
The education system is not helping either. I will give another example, a few years back I had gone to my cousins' just before Deepawali and I learnt that two of my nephews were not buying crackers on Diwali since they had given a pledge to their school not to do so, ostensibly to help in preventing noise and air pollution. Lighting Diyas was also being frowned upon! When questioned further they said they will light candles and celebrate Christmas. Interestingly, all schools today teach students carols to sing around Christmas and very few talk about our own Aartis or Bhajans!!!
This left me stunned and angry. What kind of a society were we trying to create - one where the children forget their own festivals and celebrate others? While I do not have any issues about learning about other cultures, but at the cost of your own - that is an unpalatable thing!
This brings me back to the question of what are we doing to preserve our traditions and heritage? It is time that we as a society woke up from our slumber and blind aping of the west, to take notice that our kids - our future is almost non-conversant with our own traditions and heritage.
The education system should also make teaching our Heritage and Culture as compulsory, in order to preserve and restore our heritage. India since the ancient ages was the land of great learning and spirituality and we need to rekindle this amongst our youth, throughout the nooks and corners of our country.
We as parents need to ask ourselves what is it that we are teaching our children? We as parents need to ask the schools what is it that they are teaching our children? It is time that we as parents dismantled this stereo-type approach to getting our kids into elitist schools. It is time that we as a society shunned the so-called best schools where value systems take a back seat.
Only if we rise up will we be able to force the system to change. And change it must for the better because only then can we rest assured that we will leave behind a better world for our children - because that is what we all ultimately desire to do.
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Learnings from Mumbai, if any?
The blasts in Mumbai shocked everybody but frankly speaking: were they surprising? Sadly, the answer would be, not really. The answer stems from the fact that we see a general apathy to security all around. Disasters like this are waiting to happen around each corner of the country and all we can do is to hope to God that they do not happen.
Post the blasts, we have the same soundbytes from the politicians, the security agencies and the media. Everyone is playing "passing the buck". The people tend to blame the Government, the government in turn tries to make all the right noises and the security forces as usual, who are nowhere in the picture till the blasts occur, become omnipresent. Only everything will go back to their stupor once the heat on these blasts cool downs. This is the same cycle that is repeated with sickening similarity.
So what is one to do as a citizen? Are we not abdicating our duties by just blaming the government and the security agencies. True, it is their duty but then again we also know that if they have failed in the past, they may fail again in the future in performing this duty. So why can't we step in and contribute whatever we can to prevent these kind of tragedies.
Look at Zhaveri Bazaar in Mumbai which has been the target of terror attacks not once, not twice but thrice. This is the place where on any given day, millions of dollars worth of trading is conducted. If a physical body search was to be conducted of people in the area, you would find billions worth of diamonds. The affluence of the traders here is boundless. With such riches and so much at stake why can't the traders association voluntarily do something to tighten the security? Can't the traders spend a couple of million a year on security? This could be in the form of introducing restricted entry, high definition surveillance cameras, parking only for authorised vehicles, identity cards, more guards with strict surveillance and monitoring, etc. True this might not prevent future incidents, but still these security measures will act as major deterrents.
Let us think about ourselves as individuals and how we can contribute. Why cant we be more observant and vigilant of our surroundings? To give a small example, I have two parks in front of my house and whenever I see someone sitting in them, who is not familiar I make it a point to question them. Some of the other residents in the colony object to this, but at the cost of being unpopular, I still persist and this is a deterrent to any outsider. This is a simple duty that all of us owe to ourselves and our near and dear ones. Still we shirk away from this. Why?
Strong Communities and good societies are built when we not only do our own duties for our own selves, but take on extra duties for the benefit of others.
See what a courageous woman did in Gujarat. She spilt the beans on her husband who was making bombs and in the process not only helped the police nab him and his accomplices with their armaments but also prevented what could have been major tragedies had the bombs been used for terror activities. When this woman can go beyond her duties as a wife to perform her duties as a responsible member of the society, then why can't we all be inspired to do so.
The learning from these blasts is that we as Indians need to be more socially responsive especially in light of the failure of the Government machinery to tackle the menace of terror.
Post the blasts, we have the same soundbytes from the politicians, the security agencies and the media. Everyone is playing "passing the buck". The people tend to blame the Government, the government in turn tries to make all the right noises and the security forces as usual, who are nowhere in the picture till the blasts occur, become omnipresent. Only everything will go back to their stupor once the heat on these blasts cool downs. This is the same cycle that is repeated with sickening similarity.
So what is one to do as a citizen? Are we not abdicating our duties by just blaming the government and the security agencies. True, it is their duty but then again we also know that if they have failed in the past, they may fail again in the future in performing this duty. So why can't we step in and contribute whatever we can to prevent these kind of tragedies.
Look at Zhaveri Bazaar in Mumbai which has been the target of terror attacks not once, not twice but thrice. This is the place where on any given day, millions of dollars worth of trading is conducted. If a physical body search was to be conducted of people in the area, you would find billions worth of diamonds. The affluence of the traders here is boundless. With such riches and so much at stake why can't the traders association voluntarily do something to tighten the security? Can't the traders spend a couple of million a year on security? This could be in the form of introducing restricted entry, high definition surveillance cameras, parking only for authorised vehicles, identity cards, more guards with strict surveillance and monitoring, etc. True this might not prevent future incidents, but still these security measures will act as major deterrents.
Let us think about ourselves as individuals and how we can contribute. Why cant we be more observant and vigilant of our surroundings? To give a small example, I have two parks in front of my house and whenever I see someone sitting in them, who is not familiar I make it a point to question them. Some of the other residents in the colony object to this, but at the cost of being unpopular, I still persist and this is a deterrent to any outsider. This is a simple duty that all of us owe to ourselves and our near and dear ones. Still we shirk away from this. Why?
Strong Communities and good societies are built when we not only do our own duties for our own selves, but take on extra duties for the benefit of others.
See what a courageous woman did in Gujarat. She spilt the beans on her husband who was making bombs and in the process not only helped the police nab him and his accomplices with their armaments but also prevented what could have been major tragedies had the bombs been used for terror activities. When this woman can go beyond her duties as a wife to perform her duties as a responsible member of the society, then why can't we all be inspired to do so.
The learning from these blasts is that we as Indians need to be more socially responsive especially in light of the failure of the Government machinery to tackle the menace of terror.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Are CSR Campaigns being misused for Publicity Gains
Recently a coupon site snapdeal.com was in news for running a CSR campaign in a village and the village being renamed as snapdeal.com. I heard some of my colleagues in office discussing how this was a major PR coup and that the client must be so happy with its communication people.
This set me thinking as to what is the real purpose of CSR? Is CSR undertaken by corporates purely as a publicity gimmick, or is there more to it? Should we as PR professionals encourage the practice of undertaking CSR campaigns purely from a PR perspective.
When I posed this question to my colleagues stating that I was uncomfortable with a CSR initiative just to derive PR mileage, the response was enlightening. They said that by this initiative, snapdeal had installed 20 odd handpumps in the village where the villagers had to trek miles to get water, in the process providing them with water, which was a necessity that was required. If they in return derive some mileage, then what is the harm? It was also pointed out that when most of the stories that are carried in the media in India centre around crime, at least these types of stories can motivate others to make some positive contribution to the society. I must admit they have a valid reasoning in the sense that something is better than nothing, But I am still uncomfortable with this idea.
I still remember the time when we were handling this leading footwear brand and the Marketing Director approached us saying that there is a request from the Government of India to contribute shoes to the children who were being given the National Bravery awards and can we help generate media coverage over this saying how the company was socially conscious. We were aghast and shaken to the core and needless to say we dissuaded the client from the publicity aspect of it.
In India giving is a tradition and it is said that "when one gives, the left hand should not know what the right hand has given". This has also been followed by big Business Houses like Tatas, Birlas, Singhanias, etc. for decades. Having been bought up with such ethos and values, creating pure publicity blitzkrieg around CSR activities, makes me cringe.
What the PR agencies and others preach to justify their actions is that media exposure of Philanthropic acts only galvanizes others to contribute. However my take is, that one should set out to undertake charity and CSR programmes for the reason of giving back to the society which has helped them gain wealth in the first instance, and if there is media or other exposure of such acts then it is good, if there is none then it is better.
I do not have any problem with CSR programmes where the primary motive is to benefit the society and the secondary motive is to derive mileage. But when the primary motive becomes to derive mileage and the rest becomes secondary then there is a serious ethical issue.
In Snapdeal's case, this company is a start-up, still looking for funding, most probably still not profitable and this company undertakes a so called CSR initiative spending a paltry $5000 and tom toms it to the world. This is pure bull and I have objections to this kind of act being publicized by the media. I can already hear our clients asking us to devise such low cost CSR initiatives (so called) to gain maximum media mileage. What perfect nonsense???
This set me thinking as to what is the real purpose of CSR? Is CSR undertaken by corporates purely as a publicity gimmick, or is there more to it? Should we as PR professionals encourage the practice of undertaking CSR campaigns purely from a PR perspective.
When I posed this question to my colleagues stating that I was uncomfortable with a CSR initiative just to derive PR mileage, the response was enlightening. They said that by this initiative, snapdeal had installed 20 odd handpumps in the village where the villagers had to trek miles to get water, in the process providing them with water, which was a necessity that was required. If they in return derive some mileage, then what is the harm? It was also pointed out that when most of the stories that are carried in the media in India centre around crime, at least these types of stories can motivate others to make some positive contribution to the society. I must admit they have a valid reasoning in the sense that something is better than nothing, But I am still uncomfortable with this idea.
I still remember the time when we were handling this leading footwear brand and the Marketing Director approached us saying that there is a request from the Government of India to contribute shoes to the children who were being given the National Bravery awards and can we help generate media coverage over this saying how the company was socially conscious. We were aghast and shaken to the core and needless to say we dissuaded the client from the publicity aspect of it.
In India giving is a tradition and it is said that "when one gives, the left hand should not know what the right hand has given". This has also been followed by big Business Houses like Tatas, Birlas, Singhanias, etc. for decades. Having been bought up with such ethos and values, creating pure publicity blitzkrieg around CSR activities, makes me cringe.
What the PR agencies and others preach to justify their actions is that media exposure of Philanthropic acts only galvanizes others to contribute. However my take is, that one should set out to undertake charity and CSR programmes for the reason of giving back to the society which has helped them gain wealth in the first instance, and if there is media or other exposure of such acts then it is good, if there is none then it is better.
I do not have any problem with CSR programmes where the primary motive is to benefit the society and the secondary motive is to derive mileage. But when the primary motive becomes to derive mileage and the rest becomes secondary then there is a serious ethical issue.
In Snapdeal's case, this company is a start-up, still looking for funding, most probably still not profitable and this company undertakes a so called CSR initiative spending a paltry $5000 and tom toms it to the world. This is pure bull and I have objections to this kind of act being publicized by the media. I can already hear our clients asking us to devise such low cost CSR initiatives (so called) to gain maximum media mileage. What perfect nonsense???
Monday, June 27, 2011
The so called PR success of the Civil Society Campaign for a strong Anti - Corruption Lokpal bill is turning into a major PR failure:
I know, I know, I will be vilified, railed against and called a Government stooge by anybody who reads the header for this blog. But I request patience and a thorough reading of the complete blog before branding (with hot iron :) me.
When the campaign for the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill was launched with the Gandhi Crusader (though many still doubt the Gandhi credentials) Anna Hazare sitting on a fast to death, the people lapped it up, being fed up with daily exposes of corruption scams, one bigger than the other (Commonwealth Games scam of US $ 20 billion, 2G Telecom Scandal of US $ 50 billion etc.). The media too got into the act and their was frenzied reporting across TV channels, Newspapers, Magazines, social media: you name a place and you had massive coverage!!!
This came as a bolt from the blue for the government that already reeling under attack for the various scams. Talks on the net and in the media turned the "civil society movement" into a mass movement and evoked images of a popular revolt like in Egypt, which was still fresh in everybody's memory (did I say everybody ....... here I err as everybody did and I will explain later how). All of this sent the government bending backwards to accommodate the Civil Society. Soon announcements were made that a joint drafting committee, comprising members from the Civil Society and the Government, was being set up to discuss and suggest a bill in a time based manner.
There were cheers all around and it was hailed as a great PR victory and perhaps one day would have served as a case study across Business Schools. So far so good.
But here is where the script started taking a turn. The Civil Society Leaders were not prepared for such a cave in and the question of whom to appoint on the Lokpal Draft Committee became a contentious issue. When the nominations were made the choice of father - son Bhushan duo drew incredulous howls from even the most ardent followers of the movement. The Government was quick to seize the opportunity and while it started engaging in meetings of the draft committee, it also started a slanderous campaign against the civil society members of the draft committee. The result was that the focus of the medial and the civil society shifted from the core issue of the Lokpal bill draft and onto the civil society members trying to counter the slanderous campaigns.
The PR managers of the Government, having tasted blood, fired their next volley. The government representatives of the draft committee started engaging in an abusive mud-slinging match with the Civil Society Leaders. Here the movement committed its next and perhaps the biggest mistake. They engaged in a "tit for tat" mud slinging match with the Government.
This battle for media bites became so shrill that everything else was drowned in its cacophony. This is what the Government wanted, and the end result today is that the Government says it will not bow down to pressure from the Civil Society movement and the Civil Society is threatening another fast unto death. Will the Civil Society succeed? It is a big question and only time will provide us with an answer, but on the face of it, it looks like the battle has been lost by the Civil Society.
Where did the Civil Society Movement err??? Let us do a dispassionate analysis. They launched a brilliant Campaign and succeeded in getting the sound bites required, but the campaign was fundamentally flawed and ignored the basic tenets of PR. When you begin a PR campaign the first thing that you do is: the timing - this is very important; then you identify the target groups - here the Government and the people of India; Once the TG is established you identify the pressure points of the TG; then you identify the influencers who have the capacity to act on these pressure points.
This is where the PR managers of the Civil Society erred. The first and the basic error was the timing - there is still more than two years to go for a General Election. While they correctly identified their Target Group, they failed to properly identify the pressure points and the influencers. The other flaw was that it looks like more spur of the moment activity rather than a well thought out process.
When I say they were correct in identifying their TG it means they correctly identified the Government and the people. While their first PR moves had the Government on the ropes - the reason was that they and the Government alike thought that the bites were covering everybody - and this was a mass movement. While the Civil Society believed and still continues to believe that this is a mass movement, the government quickly realised that this was not. The facts in India are that 70% of the population lives in Rural Areas and they are the ones who come out and vote in large numbers. While the urban population, that has all the visibility, largely engages in monologues and when it comes to action like voting, abstains.
This realisation of the Government has turned into a self belief. Another thing cementing this belief is that the elections are still a long way off and with the voters' tendency to have short memories, the government and its mandarins are safe into thinking that when the elections come this will be another non-issue. The Civil society has made its biggest error in not taking the movement to the villages, all the voice that one hears and all the leaders are urban. Is there one Rural Leader amongst the Civil Society Members who can be identified?
The leaders of the movement, should have avoided the mud-slinging match with the government and then this would not have backfired. The belief that media coverage is the end to the means is a basic mistake. They must realise that media coverage is just a tool, though a very potent one, but still a tool. Where is the connect with the "AAM AADMI" - the common man. Even if the connect is there, they have hardly managed to show it. How many rural demonstrations in favour of the bill have happened? How many people from the villages have participated? How many of them have understood what the bill stands for?
For the rural population struggling to eke out a living where it can get food for two times, Government schemes like NREGS make more sense and they see the government in that light.The promise of UID and the expectations that it will give them more money earmarked for them, makes more sense. For them media coverage and us shouting from the cocoons of our air-conditioned offices onto social media, does not make sense.
It is here that the Civil Society lost its plot. They haven't yet realised that to make the Lokpal Bill a reality, in the way they want it, they have to influence the biggest constituency of the Government - the rural population. Had the timing been 2013 -14, the pressure would have added up. But now the government is secure in its belief that its biggest pressure points - the rural population and the elections are not being affected.
This may yet end up as a case study in Business Schools, but not as a successful PR campaign for the Civil Society, but as a failed PR campaign that began with a lot of promise.
When the campaign for the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill was launched with the Gandhi Crusader (though many still doubt the Gandhi credentials) Anna Hazare sitting on a fast to death, the people lapped it up, being fed up with daily exposes of corruption scams, one bigger than the other (Commonwealth Games scam of US $ 20 billion, 2G Telecom Scandal of US $ 50 billion etc.). The media too got into the act and their was frenzied reporting across TV channels, Newspapers, Magazines, social media: you name a place and you had massive coverage!!!
This came as a bolt from the blue for the government that already reeling under attack for the various scams. Talks on the net and in the media turned the "civil society movement" into a mass movement and evoked images of a popular revolt like in Egypt, which was still fresh in everybody's memory (did I say everybody ....... here I err as everybody did and I will explain later how). All of this sent the government bending backwards to accommodate the Civil Society. Soon announcements were made that a joint drafting committee, comprising members from the Civil Society and the Government, was being set up to discuss and suggest a bill in a time based manner.
There were cheers all around and it was hailed as a great PR victory and perhaps one day would have served as a case study across Business Schools. So far so good.
But here is where the script started taking a turn. The Civil Society Leaders were not prepared for such a cave in and the question of whom to appoint on the Lokpal Draft Committee became a contentious issue. When the nominations were made the choice of father - son Bhushan duo drew incredulous howls from even the most ardent followers of the movement. The Government was quick to seize the opportunity and while it started engaging in meetings of the draft committee, it also started a slanderous campaign against the civil society members of the draft committee. The result was that the focus of the medial and the civil society shifted from the core issue of the Lokpal bill draft and onto the civil society members trying to counter the slanderous campaigns.
The PR managers of the Government, having tasted blood, fired their next volley. The government representatives of the draft committee started engaging in an abusive mud-slinging match with the Civil Society Leaders. Here the movement committed its next and perhaps the biggest mistake. They engaged in a "tit for tat" mud slinging match with the Government.
This battle for media bites became so shrill that everything else was drowned in its cacophony. This is what the Government wanted, and the end result today is that the Government says it will not bow down to pressure from the Civil Society movement and the Civil Society is threatening another fast unto death. Will the Civil Society succeed? It is a big question and only time will provide us with an answer, but on the face of it, it looks like the battle has been lost by the Civil Society.
Where did the Civil Society Movement err??? Let us do a dispassionate analysis. They launched a brilliant Campaign and succeeded in getting the sound bites required, but the campaign was fundamentally flawed and ignored the basic tenets of PR. When you begin a PR campaign the first thing that you do is: the timing - this is very important; then you identify the target groups - here the Government and the people of India; Once the TG is established you identify the pressure points of the TG; then you identify the influencers who have the capacity to act on these pressure points.
This is where the PR managers of the Civil Society erred. The first and the basic error was the timing - there is still more than two years to go for a General Election. While they correctly identified their Target Group, they failed to properly identify the pressure points and the influencers. The other flaw was that it looks like more spur of the moment activity rather than a well thought out process.
When I say they were correct in identifying their TG it means they correctly identified the Government and the people. While their first PR moves had the Government on the ropes - the reason was that they and the Government alike thought that the bites were covering everybody - and this was a mass movement. While the Civil Society believed and still continues to believe that this is a mass movement, the government quickly realised that this was not. The facts in India are that 70% of the population lives in Rural Areas and they are the ones who come out and vote in large numbers. While the urban population, that has all the visibility, largely engages in monologues and when it comes to action like voting, abstains.
This realisation of the Government has turned into a self belief. Another thing cementing this belief is that the elections are still a long way off and with the voters' tendency to have short memories, the government and its mandarins are safe into thinking that when the elections come this will be another non-issue. The Civil society has made its biggest error in not taking the movement to the villages, all the voice that one hears and all the leaders are urban. Is there one Rural Leader amongst the Civil Society Members who can be identified?
The leaders of the movement, should have avoided the mud-slinging match with the government and then this would not have backfired. The belief that media coverage is the end to the means is a basic mistake. They must realise that media coverage is just a tool, though a very potent one, but still a tool. Where is the connect with the "AAM AADMI" - the common man. Even if the connect is there, they have hardly managed to show it. How many rural demonstrations in favour of the bill have happened? How many people from the villages have participated? How many of them have understood what the bill stands for?
For the rural population struggling to eke out a living where it can get food for two times, Government schemes like NREGS make more sense and they see the government in that light.The promise of UID and the expectations that it will give them more money earmarked for them, makes more sense. For them media coverage and us shouting from the cocoons of our air-conditioned offices onto social media, does not make sense.
It is here that the Civil Society lost its plot. They haven't yet realised that to make the Lokpal Bill a reality, in the way they want it, they have to influence the biggest constituency of the Government - the rural population. Had the timing been 2013 -14, the pressure would have added up. But now the government is secure in its belief that its biggest pressure points - the rural population and the elections are not being affected.
This may yet end up as a case study in Business Schools, but not as a successful PR campaign for the Civil Society, but as a failed PR campaign that began with a lot of promise.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Stocks fall like Nine Pins:
The recent action on the Indian stock markets, where stocks like GTL lost 70% market capitalsation in a single day again, showed investors the peril of over leveraging by promoters.
Over leveraging here involves the promoter share holding being pledged to financers as security against loans availed from them. The problem is fundamental here, in the sense that unscrupulous promoters by this mechanism are able to pledge their shareholding and are able to use the money as they want for their personal use and not necessarily for the use of the company.
The mechanism is simple - say a promoter starts a venture with Rs.500 million divided into 50 million shares of Rs.10 each. In three years time, he builds a so called sustainable business around which he creates a hype and drives the share price to Rs.500 per share by listing the company and holding say 70% of the shares. His valuation is now worth Rs.17,500 million which is 35 times his initial investment. Considering that a financer is going to charge a margin of 50%, his worth becomes 8,750 million and even if he pledges 10%, he takes home Rs.875 million. This will cover his initial investment of Rs.500 million plus the costs involved in driving the price to Rs.500 per share. The beauty is that when he pledges another say 10% and takes home another Rs.875 million, he is suddenly not concerned about what the company is doing. Even if the company now goes down, he has still made a cool Rs.875 million on an investment of Rs.500 million in three years.
I am not for a moment saying that all promoters are like that, but separating the scrupulous from the unscrupulous is very difficult in India, given the lack of regulations governing the promoter shareholding.
Unless SEBI wakes up to the reality and brings tough norms to regulate how the funds from pledged promoter shareholding can be used, many a unscrupulous and scrupulous promoters may be tempted to adopt the above mechanism and loot the Investors for their own personal benefit.
Over leveraging here involves the promoter share holding being pledged to financers as security against loans availed from them. The problem is fundamental here, in the sense that unscrupulous promoters by this mechanism are able to pledge their shareholding and are able to use the money as they want for their personal use and not necessarily for the use of the company.
The mechanism is simple - say a promoter starts a venture with Rs.500 million divided into 50 million shares of Rs.10 each. In three years time, he builds a so called sustainable business around which he creates a hype and drives the share price to Rs.500 per share by listing the company and holding say 70% of the shares. His valuation is now worth Rs.17,500 million which is 35 times his initial investment. Considering that a financer is going to charge a margin of 50%, his worth becomes 8,750 million and even if he pledges 10%, he takes home Rs.875 million. This will cover his initial investment of Rs.500 million plus the costs involved in driving the price to Rs.500 per share. The beauty is that when he pledges another say 10% and takes home another Rs.875 million, he is suddenly not concerned about what the company is doing. Even if the company now goes down, he has still made a cool Rs.875 million on an investment of Rs.500 million in three years.
I am not for a moment saying that all promoters are like that, but separating the scrupulous from the unscrupulous is very difficult in India, given the lack of regulations governing the promoter shareholding.
Unless SEBI wakes up to the reality and brings tough norms to regulate how the funds from pledged promoter shareholding can be used, many a unscrupulous and scrupulous promoters may be tempted to adopt the above mechanism and loot the Investors for their own personal benefit.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Perils of a slowing Indian Economy - greatly exaggerated:
Every day the headlines and articles in leading Business papers and magazines scream at you pointing out the perils of a government in limbo - a slowing economy. Today's Economic Times headlines reads - Scared and Stifled, Babus delay decision making. Another headline says - "D Street (Dalal Street where India's oldest stock exchange BSE Is located) Mavens see Sensex sinking to 15k by December" marking a 16% fall. On the other hand you have data which says that Advance Tax collections are robust, salaries set to increase by 11-13%, PE investments on the upswing. These are contradicting news and can be very confusing to someone who wishes to analyse the investment potential of India.
True, the recent corruption scandals which are plaguing the government and the fight between the Civil Society and the government over a tough anti corruption Lokpal bill have created a sort of a Logjam. The government is busy staving off one scandal after the other and trying to protect its own turf and in the process all the decision making has taken a backseat. But this cannot continue forever. The lack of decision making at best can only be temporary. There are powerful reasons for this. Today no political party can afford to let slip on the economic growth: if they do so, they can expect to be routed at the polls. The fruits of growth have started permeating the life of the common Indian. Though the fruits are not distributed evenly, they are there for everyone to see. People who have not tasted the fruits aspire to taste them and those who have tasted them will not let go. In short, the momentum for growth has been built to such an extent that it is almost irreversible.
The businesses which finance the political system unofficially, also will not sit idle if they foresee the reversing of the economic liberalisation process.
These two factors have to be considered sooner than later by the government because if they lose the support of the people and their financers then the game will be truly up for it. This gives us real hope that in the next couple of months, the government will put its house in order by acceding to the genuine demands of the civil society by taking concrete steps to weed out corruption from the fabric of Indian society. The policy and decision making should resume and the indecisiveness plaguing the system should be a thing of the past.
True, the recent corruption scandals which are plaguing the government and the fight between the Civil Society and the government over a tough anti corruption Lokpal bill have created a sort of a Logjam. The government is busy staving off one scandal after the other and trying to protect its own turf and in the process all the decision making has taken a backseat. But this cannot continue forever. The lack of decision making at best can only be temporary. There are powerful reasons for this. Today no political party can afford to let slip on the economic growth: if they do so, they can expect to be routed at the polls. The fruits of growth have started permeating the life of the common Indian. Though the fruits are not distributed evenly, they are there for everyone to see. People who have not tasted the fruits aspire to taste them and those who have tasted them will not let go. In short, the momentum for growth has been built to such an extent that it is almost irreversible.
The businesses which finance the political system unofficially, also will not sit idle if they foresee the reversing of the economic liberalisation process.
These two factors have to be considered sooner than later by the government because if they lose the support of the people and their financers then the game will be truly up for it. This gives us real hope that in the next couple of months, the government will put its house in order by acceding to the genuine demands of the civil society by taking concrete steps to weed out corruption from the fabric of Indian society. The policy and decision making should resume and the indecisiveness plaguing the system should be a thing of the past.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Maruti Strike and increasing Workers Unrest...
The core issue in the strike that is on at Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car manufacturer, is the difference in wages given to the permanent workers vis-a-vis the temporary or casual workers. Employing temporary workers is an industry wide phenomenon and not restricted to Maruti Suzuki or the Auto Sector alone. In theory employing temporary workers helps you manage the peak and lean manufacturing cycles by optimising fixed costs on Wages.
However, the problem arises when the Corporates use this tool to maximise profits by employing these casual workers year around and do not give them pay parity or benefits which a permanent worker would have been entitled to.
This allows Worker Unions and trouble mongers to exploit the underlying resentment amongst the casual workers and create problems leading to strikes. If we see logically, then a temporary worker should get more wages than a permanent worker, since he is only employed for a part of the year and there is no guarantee of prolonged employment. This is the case in the Service sector and in daily life as well. However the manufacturing sector does not adhere to this logical thinking.
With rising inflation leading to increasing cost of living, combined with aspirations of the teeming workforce, the practices employed by the manufacturing sector regarding casual labour, unless changed, will lead to more such agitations. Unless the industry moves towards ending this exploitation in pursuit of unrealistic profits, the strike at Maruti may not be the last.
It is high time that the Industry chambers and leaders voluntarily adopted a code regarding the temporary workers or else, a time may come in the near future when the Government may have to step in with laws governing the employment of these workers.
If the policy makers are forced to step in, then at best, it will be a retrograde step. The industry then, should not cry foul and cast aspersions on the government that it is impeding the freedom of businesses. The solution lies in bringing parity in the working conditions, including wages, of the temporary and permanent workers. The sooner the industry does it the better it will be for all.
However, the problem arises when the Corporates use this tool to maximise profits by employing these casual workers year around and do not give them pay parity or benefits which a permanent worker would have been entitled to.
This allows Worker Unions and trouble mongers to exploit the underlying resentment amongst the casual workers and create problems leading to strikes. If we see logically, then a temporary worker should get more wages than a permanent worker, since he is only employed for a part of the year and there is no guarantee of prolonged employment. This is the case in the Service sector and in daily life as well. However the manufacturing sector does not adhere to this logical thinking.
With rising inflation leading to increasing cost of living, combined with aspirations of the teeming workforce, the practices employed by the manufacturing sector regarding casual labour, unless changed, will lead to more such agitations. Unless the industry moves towards ending this exploitation in pursuit of unrealistic profits, the strike at Maruti may not be the last.
It is high time that the Industry chambers and leaders voluntarily adopted a code regarding the temporary workers or else, a time may come in the near future when the Government may have to step in with laws governing the employment of these workers.
If the policy makers are forced to step in, then at best, it will be a retrograde step. The industry then, should not cry foul and cast aspersions on the government that it is impeding the freedom of businesses. The solution lies in bringing parity in the working conditions, including wages, of the temporary and permanent workers. The sooner the industry does it the better it will be for all.
Brand endorsements and stars...
I saw a picture of Aishwarya Rai who many claim is the most beautiful woman in the world. Now how would they know and what are the parameters for such a claim, only God knows. However this piece is not to debate if she is the most beautiful woman or not. The picture, taken at a race horse in Chantilly, France, showed an obese Aishwarya Rai trying to appear demure in front of the camera. Posing in a skirt with a jacket on top, the dress could not hide her fat frame.
The question is that do stars, who have millions of dollars worth of brand endorsements and advertising riding on their so called beauty, have the right to let loose their their restraints and defy the established norms of beauty?
It is based on these very norms that the endorsements were granted in the first place. The stars also have a lot to lose in terms of disappointed fans who could eventually become disillusioned and move onto the next big star. However this is a personal thing and if the stars want to risk it, it is perfectly fine. But what is not agreeable and is infact appalling is their utter disregard for the brands who trusted them. The Brands have a lot more at stake riding on these stars. Things like Brand Value which has been painstakingly built over a long time should not be allowed to be put at stake at the whims of the stars.
I am sure there are clauses in the Brand endorsement deals guiding the conduct of stars, what I am not sure is whether these agreements cover the weightier issues. If not, then it is high time the marketers put in such clauses. And if there are, then these should be strictly enforced. The stars should be shown the door and endorsements should be cancelled. This would send out the right message to these and other stars looking at lucrative endorsement deals, that brand images are not to be trifled with.
The question is that do stars, who have millions of dollars worth of brand endorsements and advertising riding on their so called beauty, have the right to let loose their their restraints and defy the established norms of beauty?
It is based on these very norms that the endorsements were granted in the first place. The stars also have a lot to lose in terms of disappointed fans who could eventually become disillusioned and move onto the next big star. However this is a personal thing and if the stars want to risk it, it is perfectly fine. But what is not agreeable and is infact appalling is their utter disregard for the brands who trusted them. The Brands have a lot more at stake riding on these stars. Things like Brand Value which has been painstakingly built over a long time should not be allowed to be put at stake at the whims of the stars.
I am sure there are clauses in the Brand endorsement deals guiding the conduct of stars, what I am not sure is whether these agreements cover the weightier issues. If not, then it is high time the marketers put in such clauses. And if there are, then these should be strictly enforced. The stars should be shown the door and endorsements should be cancelled. This would send out the right message to these and other stars looking at lucrative endorsement deals, that brand images are not to be trifled with.
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Anna Hazare Phenomenon
Every where I go these days on topic or name that crops up in every discussion is "Anna Hazare". The name has become a phenomenon at least in the urban mindspaces. But is this phenomenon rally one or will it fizzle out, Only time will tell us. Some of the things going against the phenomenon are the quality of people associated with the phenomenon. While Civil Right activists try to defend the Bhushan duo, they have to really think hard as to why they have been forced into the position of defenders. They have probably forgotten the cardinal principle "those living in glass houses should not throw stones at others". Mass movement leaders have to remember that when they aspire to reach the greatest heights and lead people they should have the cleanest records or skeletons will tumble out.
I happened to pass the place where Anna Hazare was fasting and in front of our car a big car stopped and two ladies with diamond dangling got off to join the crowds at the Jantar Mantar. I was left wondering if the women had ever bothered asking their husbands whether they were honest tax payers and if the diamonds that they were wearing bought from honest money.
Can most of us, including myself, actually say with complete honesty that we are completely above board and have never indulged in corruption. Therein lies the fundamental problem with the Anna Hazare phenomenon. While the cause for which the agitation was started is indeed noble, but those supporting the cause are they noble???
I happened to pass the place where Anna Hazare was fasting and in front of our car a big car stopped and two ladies with diamond dangling got off to join the crowds at the Jantar Mantar. I was left wondering if the women had ever bothered asking their husbands whether they were honest tax payers and if the diamonds that they were wearing bought from honest money.
Can most of us, including myself, actually say with complete honesty that we are completely above board and have never indulged in corruption. Therein lies the fundamental problem with the Anna Hazare phenomenon. While the cause for which the agitation was started is indeed noble, but those supporting the cause are they noble???
Monday, March 28, 2011
Can BJP really capitalise on the corruption charges against the UPA Government??
For the last six months the entire country has been gripped by the saga of one corruption scandal after the other hitting the UPA government.
But, excuse me, what did I just write: "the entire country"? Really, is it the entire country or just the so called intelligentsia. Is the ordinary citizen living in the villages or in the slums of any big city really bothered about these multi billion scams? Therein lies the real dilemma for the main opposition party - the BJP.
For the common man living in villages and rural India, corruption is a way of life. From getting a identity card, to filing a complaint, to getting rations, to getting the wages under NREGA, everywhere palms have to be greased before anything can be accomplished. For him/her the government machinery signifies corruption. The so called "Aam Aadmi" is too busy trying to eke out a respectable living where he can get proper food for the family, a shelter over his head and clothes to cover himself and his dear ones - in short "ROTI, KAPDA aur MAKAN".
BJP which was the least expected to lose the 2004 elections under Vajpayee, lost the plot because of this very disconnect with the aspirations of the common man. It is not that the Vajpayee government was a failure, in fact it had many path-breaking accomplishments to its credit - the creation of Road infrastructure through NHAI was one of them. Today we have more and more parts of the country becoming connected to one another which hopefully should lead to more prosperity for urban India. Unprecedented price rise was never a phenomenon of the Vajpayee led BJP government.
However the BJP was never able to reach out to the masses of the country with its accomplishments. Today also, when the entire media is talking about how the UPA government has been in limbo and how BJP has been scoring brownie points again and again, one is not very sure if BJP has learnt its lessons.
True we have one of the most lame duck PM's in the history of the country leading one of the most corrupt set of politicians, but has the BJP been able to send a message to the masses that it can provide them with a better alternative?
The BJP was and still is perceived to be a party of the classes. Sadly, the BJP leadership which should be conversant with this fact, has been ignoring this. The reason is not clear. Unless the BJP puts its act together and starts connecting to the masses it would be very hard for them to gain any advantage.
In fact there are so many issues which affect the masses directly and can be addressed by BJP - like price rise, unemployment, poor irrigation facilities, lack of education etc. that not to connect with the masses will be suicidal and can actually lead to annihilation of the Party.
But, excuse me, what did I just write: "the entire country"? Really, is it the entire country or just the so called intelligentsia. Is the ordinary citizen living in the villages or in the slums of any big city really bothered about these multi billion scams? Therein lies the real dilemma for the main opposition party - the BJP.
For the common man living in villages and rural India, corruption is a way of life. From getting a identity card, to filing a complaint, to getting rations, to getting the wages under NREGA, everywhere palms have to be greased before anything can be accomplished. For him/her the government machinery signifies corruption. The so called "Aam Aadmi" is too busy trying to eke out a respectable living where he can get proper food for the family, a shelter over his head and clothes to cover himself and his dear ones - in short "ROTI, KAPDA aur MAKAN".
BJP which was the least expected to lose the 2004 elections under Vajpayee, lost the plot because of this very disconnect with the aspirations of the common man. It is not that the Vajpayee government was a failure, in fact it had many path-breaking accomplishments to its credit - the creation of Road infrastructure through NHAI was one of them. Today we have more and more parts of the country becoming connected to one another which hopefully should lead to more prosperity for urban India. Unprecedented price rise was never a phenomenon of the Vajpayee led BJP government.
However the BJP was never able to reach out to the masses of the country with its accomplishments. Today also, when the entire media is talking about how the UPA government has been in limbo and how BJP has been scoring brownie points again and again, one is not very sure if BJP has learnt its lessons.
True we have one of the most lame duck PM's in the history of the country leading one of the most corrupt set of politicians, but has the BJP been able to send a message to the masses that it can provide them with a better alternative?
The BJP was and still is perceived to be a party of the classes. Sadly, the BJP leadership which should be conversant with this fact, has been ignoring this. The reason is not clear. Unless the BJP puts its act together and starts connecting to the masses it would be very hard for them to gain any advantage.
In fact there are so many issues which affect the masses directly and can be addressed by BJP - like price rise, unemployment, poor irrigation facilities, lack of education etc. that not to connect with the masses will be suicidal and can actually lead to annihilation of the Party.
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