What you require to run a business?

Met an inspiring businessman few days back…a businesswoman rather. We, at our company are so sucked up that we never miss a chance to go out for any futile reason. I and some of my colleagues were out of office after lunch (just to avoid drowsiness) and went to a coconut shop (I am working in Chennai). The shop owner is a middle aged woman. When she saw an exodus of people coming towards her shop, we could notice a welcome smile on her face. She handed over a coconut to each one of us. After finishing the last drop of water inside that green piece, we asked her for money. She said 12 Rs per coconut. Since we were 10 guys, we handed over 150 Rs to her. Since she was not having change so she gave us 50 Rs back and asked to give it next time when we visit her shop again. And then she allured us by her coconut’s qualities and size. And then she said that soon the coconut’s prize is going to slash down due to some reason. (We could understand her because one of my colleagues and that woman speak same language, that is, Tamil)

I was totally awestruck by her buiness acumen and this was enough to bind us to visit her again. An uneducated woman, who, I think, might not have seen school, knows so much about business. She could have simply given coconuts and bidden us good bye or shouted on us for not giving her change but she was different. She knew how to run a business. I could simply conclude that to run a business, you don’t require any extraordinary education. That is why some of the most successful businessmen of the world are not the ones with highest qualifications. They all share two common passions, one to improve their level and two, to serve the customers in the best ways.

Transformation

Every night before going to bed, I plan that I will get up early next morning and will start exercising but every morning, when clock alarms, I switch it off and continue my lovely sleep. There was a time, when I used to be a fit and muscular man, when I used to wear tight fit T-shirts and never used to hesitate in flaunting my good physique. Now, everything has been changed with time. After having stopped exercising for around 1 year, I can’t even imagine myself wearing those T-shirts. A small bulge has appeared at the end of my stomach and I really have to struggle a lot to wear my recent bought pants too, just forget about my older outfits. My waist has increased from 29 inches to 33 inches in 1 year and if this trend continues then I would soon resemble an elephant, if not then at least, Adnan Sami.

The credit goes to my sedative lifestyle. I barely do any kind of physical work nowadays. I wake up late every morning, keep sticking to my office chair all the day, eat minimum three times in a day and as night falls, again I start planning to get up early in the next morning and next morning, the loop continues. I think, many young lads working in IT industry must be entwined in this same loop. Oh God, please give us strenght to break this loop and reverse this ongoing transformation. Amen!

Sachin Tendulkar : A great comeback

The Bombay Bomber has done it again. Coming in the ground after more than six months and hitting a massive century can only be done by Sachin Tendulkar. He never had many critics but those who cropped up in the last few months and started saying that he is at the dusk of his career, must be hiding in their hankies. He has shut their mouths up with his 40th ton in one-day international cricket and this is how he has always replied to his critics.

He came to open the innings with Rahul Dravid, Indian skipper in a match against West Indies in ongoing DLF Cup tri-series in Kuala Lumpur and went not out after scoring 141 runs with 18 boundaries and 5 sixes. After dropped on just 5 runs by WI wicketkeeper, he didn’t look back and made the most out of second life. This was the second time when he returned not out after starting the inning and it was simply stunning for all the cricket lovers around the world.

Although India lost the match on the grounds of Duckworth/Lewis method but Sachin still managed to receive the Man of the Match title and why not? It was one of the greatest innings in One Day International Cricket and jury panel could not find anyone from the winning team (West Indies) appropriate for the title.

I, like millions of Sachin’s admirers, have always liked his presence in the team, not only because he is a great cricketer but because he is a consistent all-round performer, a reliable player and a true gentleman. Having made maximum number of centuries in ODIs and test cricket and holding many world records, he is still down to the earth. He is a man of few words, who, unlike others, never speaks outside of the field about his greatness; instead, his bat speaks about his genius and keenest knowledge of cricket. No one has ever reigned over cricket for such a long time and I wish he continues to entertain all of his fans. All the best Sachin!!

Blogging, the new marketing tool for advertisers

I hope all the bloggers out there would find this news interesting. You earn when you write and you write only when you have leisure time => you earn in your leisure time too. Isn't it great!!!

I think every blogger should make efforts to capitalize on this ground.

'93 Mumbai blasts: Verdict

It is one of the longest trials in Indian judicial history. Thirteen years, yes, thirteen years after a series of bomb blasts rocked the Mumbai city on 12th Mar 1993; a special TADA court has delivered its first batch of verdict on 12th Sep 2006 since judge has conveyed that he would give the verdict in batches. Court has convicted four Tiger Memon’s family’s members, who were charged with conspiracy, plotting the blasts, abetting etc. The fate of these convicts will be decided on Thursday, 14th Sep 2006. Tiger Memon, who is purported as one of the masterminds behind these blasts and a close ally of Dawood Ibrahim, is absconding along with Dawood since after the blasts.

The sentence for the guilty could be between five years in prison and a life term, which is nothing in front of the agony and the trauma faced by the victims of those blasts. Thousands of lives changed within few hours on that Friday, Mar 12, 1993, which is now termed as Black Friday. Hundreds of innocent people died and thousands got severely injured who are still trying to recuperate from that trauma; who still skip their heartbeats for a while when they hear that a bomb timed off in Mumbai. Mumbai, being the financial capital of India, is still a tempting target for terrorists and Mumbai-ites are no longer unknown and unfamiliar with these dreadful acts. Many times after Mar 12th, 1993, this city has bore the same kind of violence and terror attacks, which have caused unprecedented loss of lives and property. Innocent people are victimized every time and the perpetrators, if they are caught, are sentenced to five years or to a life term. Is this punishment sufficient for such heinous act? I don’t think so. Even the severest punishment is not enough. Already, the verdict has got delayed by years and now, such meager sentence will only hurt the sentiments of the victims of those blasts, who have been waiting for this day. What was the fault of a 12 year old kid who lost his mother, the lone earner of the family. What was the fault of a man who lost his eyes and still trying to get out of that trauma. If you ask these persons and many more like them, they would only suggest the severest of punishments to all of those who were involved. Court should think about all those victims. Having waited for 13 years, some of them have already lost the hopes of getting justice and some of them have already become cynical about this whole process. Now, it's court's turn to show with its stern judgment that justice can only be delayed but never be denied.

Steve Jobs: the iCon - Really?

I recently finished reading iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business. I must say that it is definitely a captivating book. As the life of Steve Jobs unfolds in the book, you would definitely like to know more and more about him. There is no doubt that he has been among the greatest innovators of this century. He revolutionized three different industries- Computer, Movies and Music. No one, before him, ever thought of making a personal computer (which is now iMac), neither anyone ever thought of making a full animation film with computer graphics (Toy Story - First 3D animation movie) and same was with iPod. Following his instincts and passion, he founded three companies Apple, NeXT and Pixar. Although, he got defeats and humiliations on the way but finally he has managed to make a distinct space.

But the book also covers the negative sides of Steve Jobs, how he never stepped back from taking credits of other’s work, how he bent things in his favor by his cunning business acumen, how he cheated people to win the corporate races, how he disowned his own daughter (later he took her in his life) and so on.

After finishing the book, I pondered over his life and personally felt that he was not an evangelist as he was purported by himself. But he was surely a charismatic leader who enticed people to fall in his passion and innovated some of the most beautiful things in this world. He misused people, mishandled them, betrayed some of his best pals and business partners but still gave this world some extraordinary things. He rejected the salary offer from Apple when rejoined it as an interim-CEO and worked almost for free because he has always loved to be the owner of a company, not a salaried manager. So, when offered with Apple’s shares and a private jet, he promptly accepted the gift contradicting his own so-called ascetism.

Considering the flow of his life and his activities, people may think that he has been a stubborn, selfish, discourteous and cunning person but despite all these negatives, he could still manage to make a remarkable presence in the history of business. For me, he is an astute businessman who listens to his gut and never steps back from grabbing an opportunity. After all, businesses are run like this only.

Introspection

Finally I was relieved from my previous company in time. Although those guys created a lot of problems for me but in the end everything went fine and all is well if end is well. Now in my new company I have been sitting idle for around 20 days. It’s not that I am on bench, in fact, I am in a new project which is in its starting phase so apart from some meetings we don’t do anything nowadays. Life is pretty easy right now. But I have got bored of doing nothing for so many days. And I am not liking it anymore.

I think I lack one quality severely - PATIENCE. Everyone says the same thing - be patient. Right now I am impatient about going to my homeJ. I am waiting impatiently for the weekend so that I can fly and reach there to meet my loved ones, those who matter most in my life.

Anyway, weekend won’t come early by my wish. It will come when almighty Time wishes. And I have always found it difficult to align myself with time. I consider myself a mixture of right qualities in wrong proportions. Once this proportion is corrected I know I will be the happiest man. Till then I have to manage with my so-called difficulties.

Important lesson

Somebody has said it rightly – Life always teaches you the lessons that you never want to learn. I have always been a short tempered person since my childhood. If something was not going my way, I would force it to move my way and that is what I have been doing since starting. I would fight, shout or use my diplomatic ways to achieve what I wanted. But never would I sit and talk to amend the situation in my favor. Never would I solve anything peacefully because I always wanted to finish off the things fast and if it was not happening peacefully then I would take the other way to do it.

So, somebody up there thought of giving me a challenge. He created situations in such a tactical way where I have to bear my anger and still talk nicely. I have been pleading to my Project Manager to relieve me for last more than 3 weeks and he has been consistently denying my plea. It seems like he is testing my limits. And once in a while, I lose control and say something that makes the matter worse. And the challenge becomes tougher. I never thought that I would end up with a stubborn Manager who would test my all limits, so I never solved any problem peacefully. If I had done that, I would have been handling this one with ease.

In any case, I have to solve it peacefully this time and this is what the motive behind this challenge is. Now I really feel sorry for all who suffered because of me and because of my rough behavior.

Boring life

Life is becoming boring day by day. Nowadays I don’t do anything, which I enjoy doing. My daily routine has become robotlike. Get up at 8 or 9 in the morning, skip my breakfast generally; rush for the office, sit there idle for whole day or do some trivial job, which any moron can do; come back by 7 or 8 in the evening and then again do some trivial things before going to bed. I never expected that I would get bored out of this job life so early. So many things cross my mind everyday. And I see myself fit in all the other jobs except the one I am doing. May be, I am overreacting or may be I am expecting more from my life but I am not enjoying it. Sometimes, it feels like a call from the blue to think over my life and what I want from it.

Time is like sand in your fist. You can’t control its flow after a limit and this is what is happening with me. Time is running out of my hand and I am not able to take a decision for my life. Anyway, this write up is like a kind of introspection. After a long time, I talked to myself and I am feeling better now. Thanks to Google!

India: Soaring hydrocarbons prices

In India, petroleum products are getting costlier day by day. The government yesterday hiked petrol prices by Rupees 4 per liter and diesel by Rupees 2 per liter. Kerosene and cooking gas (LPG) have been spared from any increase in price. So, petrol will cost more than 50 Rupees per liter and diesel more than Rupees 35 per liter from now on. Since the global oil prices had been shooting up and crossing $70 per barrel, Indian government had to take this decision. The state owned petroleum companies, which own more than 90% of the nation’s retail outlets, have been recording heavy losses due to the subsidized rates at which they were selling petrol and diesel.

Last time, oil prices were revised in September 2005. This kind of continuous and abrupt hike in petrol and diesel will only hamper India’s growth. I think it’s the time when India needs to be resolute on solving soaring fuel problem. Currently, India depends on imports for more than 70% of its oil requirements. If it reduces its oil dependence on others and fulfills the major part of its demand on its own then it will be able to keep the growth track intact, and fiscal deficit and inflation under control. One option is to ponder over exploring its crust to find gasoline resources. India is so vast and diversified in its natural resources that it can surely find more underground resources under its territories.

Other option is choose some alternative fuel. I really admire the way Brazil has solved its fuel problem, the way it has successfully reduced its oil dependence from 85% in 1978 to 10% in 2002 through the development of alternative fuels. 20% of Brazilian cars run on alternative fuel only i.e. ethanol and around 50% of the cars run on mix-fuel that is petrol and ethanol. In late 70s, Brazilian Government forced carmakers to modify the engines so that cars can run on ethanol because they foresaw the fuel crisis in the coming years. And now they are the pioneers in alternative fuel. India should also move on the footsteps of Brazil and start pouring money in alternative fuel research so that it can reduce its oil dependence and can become an economically stable nation in long run.

Life in software industry

Life in software industry in India is pretty fluctuating. Sometimes, you get too much work that you could ever handle and sometimes you crave for any kind of work for long times. Sometimes, managers really bestow you with the most interesting work and sometimes they simply ignore your interests & capabilities and give you the most pathetic work. And this is the reason of sky-high attrition rate in this industry in India. Managers are the real damagers of a developer’s mental and physical health. Those days are not far away when all the developers will go insane and attack the managers’ community to fight for their rights. I am sure Wachowski brothers (who made Matrix Trilogy) will definitely think about this idea. All I want to tell them that don’t forget to pay me the royalties.

India: People like to be called as backward

Finally, the strike of the medicos against Indian Government’s decision of providing 27% reservation to Other Backward Castes (OBC) in all Government colleges was called off yesterday. Why? Because Supreme Court of India ordered for it and if medicos hadn’t done it, it would have been considered as the contempt of the Court. Although the Supreme Court has also ordered a kind of probe in this matter and has asked Government the basis of this reservation but I don’t know when the decision will come because in India, it is very usual to hang a simple case for several years and this time, it’s a serious issue and moreover Government and its political pawns are involved. I hope Supreme Court takes some speedy steps. But does this mean that the stir is over? NO. The protest will still continue, as the doctors have said. They have shifted the baton to non-medical students and hunger strike is still there at some of the prominent non-medical institutes of India. I wish them luck. But if, in case, this reservation is implemented in its present form then I think India will be the only country in the world where people would like to be called as backward.

Fun in the bar!!

Yesterday had a great time with Rajput, Bandan and Saroj. Saroj and I share, at least, one thing in common and that is our date of birth. So, it was a kind of birthday treat from both of us. So, we started with stepping on the sands near the beach, then counted few beautiful babes, then ate some real spicy stuff, then walked for sometime to kill the time and talked about rubbish things, then waited for a long time outside one restaurant to get our bellies tight and finally ended up sitting in a bar-cum-restaurant. And the real fun started then, when the bartender filled our glasses with beer. Rajput is specifically peculiar to alcohol and even 10 ml of beer is enough to charge him. Then he will laugh and blabber like a mad man. Seriously speaking, if you want fun at the minimum expense, handover a beer bottle to Rajput or share some glasses of whisky with him and then enjoy rest of the night. He will do the craziest things you could ever imagine. So, if you are in Chennai right now, drop in to 42/6, 5th Trust Cross Street with a bottle of whisky and get ready to laugh till your stomach pains.

The best surprise!!

Yesterday was a great day for me. For the last two three days, I could feel that my colleagues had been cooking something but could not have a hint about what was going on. I was really feeling strange and ousted of the group for no practical reason. And then came a surprise on the way yesterday evening, they started pulling me up to my so-called office canteen and I started getting the hint. A meager reflection of candle lights on the canteen’s door made me confident about what was going on. It was my BIRTHDAY cake with lit candles. And they succeeded to have connived to a foolproof plan to utterly surprise me. It was one of my best birthday celebrations and I really felt special and touched. I thank to Rajput, Bandan, Muthu, Jayakrishnan and Jinesh and everyone involved for making it so special and appreciate this gesture from my heart. Thank you guys :-).

MOCKERY OF SECULARISM - 2

Recently, I came to know that Arjun Singh (HRD Minister, India) does not even know the actual percentage of OBC people in India but he wants at least 27% reservation for them. When asked this question, he shamelessly replied, “I don’t know the actual number but I think it is quite big and I leave it to people to decide”.

Today’s headlines say that Government’s decision was final for providing 27% reservation for OBC in Government institutes. Government has given notices to doctors, who have been on strike, to vacate the hostels at AIIMS and other medical institutes. Government has expelled these doctors because of their agitation against the reservation, whereas, doctors have said that they will never get back unless Government changes its decision.

What a pathetic Government it is, where they don’t listen to the requests of the people, where they don’t know why they are doing something. They take decisions if their own interests are getting fulfilled. It is like an oligarchy where the selected few take their decisions without peoples’ consent. And still they say it is democracy. Actually it is Government’s hypocrisy.

I sincerely appreciate the courage and determination of the people who are fighting against these caste-biased policies of Government and I wish them good luck.

MOCKERY OF SECULARISM IN INDIA

It’s been a long time since I wrote my last blog but all this time, despite being busy I have been thinking about what to write. It’s true that I did not get the time that I need to write something creditable but I am never sure whether, what I write, is creditable or not. So, no worries about it :-).

Nowadays, the most happening thing in India is the agitation and protest shown by people against the Government's determination to provide 27% reservation to OBC (Other Backward Castes) in the elite institutes (IITs, AIIMS, IIMs and other engineering, medical and management colleges) of the country. Already there is reservation for SC (Schedule Castes) and ST (Schedule Tribes), which is around 25%, in all the central institutes so after this stunt, total reservation in these institutes will be around 50% of the total seats and that is really disgusting and detestable for a growing country like India.

Actually, Congress is hiding its inability and impotence by providing the reservation to OBC. In the last around 60 years of independence, they have been winning and forming Government for more than 30 years. And in this long span of 30 years Congress could not do anything significant for backward classes, they could not provide better primary and secondary education to backward people so that they can compete and get in the institutes of high repute on the basis of merit, they could not provide better infrastructure and environment that can make a student from backward class feel confident and competent. Now suddenly (at the time of election in some of the states), the most detestable HRD Minister Arjun Singh came with a sick idea that we should provide reservation to OBC because they have been neglected for years. They say that we are simply trying to negate the imbalance but in reality they are trying to create the imbalance. They have shown that to get the votes, they can go up to any level whether it’s a question of country’s future and development.

Today morning I read in newspaper that honorary PM Manmohan Singh with his allies has confirmed 27% of reservation for OBC. I never knew that Manmohan Singh is only a dummy PM and he has no powers and no brains to run the government. They say that they would increase the number of seats for so-called general classes and they will lay down a plan to implement it as if it’s a matter of few weeks or months. For so many years, every intellectual including President Kalam has been saying that we should create more institutes like IITs and IIMs to provide a better growth path to our country but Congress did not hear it but now suddenly it looks like a great idea to them. Why?

Sam Pitroda, chairman of National Knowledge Commission (NKC), who has come from a backward family in Orrisa cited that there is no need of reservation as opportunities are there in India. Two of the prominent members of NKC have resigned citing Center’s inaction over OBC quota. All the industry leaders feel the same way but our politicians are committed to spoil the future of our dear nation to fulfill their politically motivated intentions.

Students from all around the country are protesting and fasting but Arjun Singh says it’s simply a hype they have created. Nobody from Government has gone to appease them except one or two bootlickers. They have been there on road in scorching heat for more than 7 weeks and only asking for a just answer. And what they have got from Government is confirmation of reservation. I truly respect and support all those people who are protesting against this mockery of secularism played by our Government and I wish them success.

Some of the intellectuals (including PMO officers) are even saying that Arjun Singh has done it because of his personal jealousy with Manmohan Singh because Sonia Gandhi (Congress President) chose latter over him as the Prime Minister so it’s his time to avenge.

Now, I have something to ask everyone. What we were thinking when we voted for these sick people? Pt Nehru wrote in one of his letters to chief ministers (which is available on web nowadays) that he opposes any kind of reservation because that will make our country a second or a third-rate country. Then why Arjun Singh wants to make India a third-rate country? Is it not clear, what are his intentions behind it? Is he not simply fulfilling his own politically motivated interests at the stake of our nation’s future? Is it not disheartening to know that such morally corrupt, inapt and unjust politicians like Arjun Singh decide our country’s future? Do they deserve our support in any way?