Building & Sustaining a Great Brand

Today I am going to write neither about a business person, nor about a good book. This blog is dedicated to my wife, Sweta, who exemplifies a great brand by herself. I have been looking for examples to write about a good & sustainable brand. I think she exemplifies very much what I have been searching for & I don't need to look further.

Without any doubt, I can say that she is 110% committed to her work. Then, I asked myself - lot of people are committed at their work,  then why only a handful are successful in their professional career? Is there something else? And the answer is - "How sensitive you are, to your customers? What is the depth to which you empathize with them?". In her case, she has been handling employee benefits for quite sometime & I always find her being concerned about their problems as if it's her own problem. She doesn't stop their, she takes that extra step (which goes beyond her responsibility) to ensure a happy employee at the end of the day. And believe me, it works & she is a classic example of that. All that is required is a great degree of patience, an eye for details & a strong sense of determination to make people happy around you.

Now let's talk about great & sustainable brand. Well, a great brand represents a product/service which is of very high quality, customers feel proud/delighted to be associated with it & the brand sustains its image throghout it's life. The last part is tricky, but that is the whole essence of a successful brand. As individuals, we all create a brand of ourselves. It's equally important to carry a great image all throughout life to achieve excellence. I am proud that Sweta has managed her brand image well thru her exceptionally good work & I expect her to work with same level of consistency for the rest of her life. Good luck to "Brand- Sweta" !!!

Sustainability - The Way Forward

I am always curious about knowing weather of various places of my interest. And believe me, first thing that I search in a news paper is the weather section. I seriously don't know what makes me so curious about weather, but I have observed the no of incidents of weather storms, earthquakes, snow-melting, very high temperatures have increased over past few years. I often hear about "Sustainability", but never felt curious enough to understand it's meaning till recently. I happened to be a silent & curious listener to one of the speech given by Peter Graf, Chief Sustainability Officer, SAP. And what I gathered was profound. It's like doing few basic things to bring our world back to good old green days. After that speech, I also felt bad that my contribution to build a beautiful world is so less(almost none). I always feel excited to see the beautiful snow-picked mountains of Himalaya, but I never have thought about preserving their beauty. I love to stand under a tree in summer, but I never thought of ways to plant more trees to ensure a cooler summer in future. Going forward, I hope to see myself as a person who contributes for a better tomorrow!!!

Co-CEO Model for Product Companies

I am not a specialist in the are of analysing which model works best for a company. Yet, based on my experience in Product Development Companies, I have few thoughts around co-CEO Model. Here it goes.

If you are passionate about products, then you can develop something exceptional, innovative & path breaking.

If you are passionate about relationship building & selling, then you can easily make your way thru customers.

Having said above 2 points, I believe A Product Development Company needs an optimized combination of above two qualities at the top. Usually, it's difficult for one person to be best at these two parameters. Infact these two characteristics often don't go hand-in-hand. Hence, why not 2 people at the top? One focusing on Development of Product & the other Evangelizing the Product with customers!!!

Argentina & Mesmerizing Messi!!!

I started this world cup by supporting Brazil. As matches went by, I slowly started moving away from Brazilian Magic. Particularly in the match against Portugal, I was highly disappointed to see them playing very ordinary game of football.

On the other hand Argentina continues to impress me. I am not a big follower of football, but when I saw Messi in their 1st match, I felt this guy is very different than others. His has got all the skills to become next Maradona. His speed, his intelligence, his dribbling, everything looks so extra ordinary. I feel Argentina are just playing amazing game of football & Messi makes it look even more special. Though he hasn't managed to score a single goal by far, yet his brilliance is easily visible on the field.

I am putting my money on Argentina. Let's see how far they go!!!

Low Cost Enterprise Software???

While reading "Simply Fly" by Captain Gopinath, there is one idea which flashed through my mind. When Airlines started in India, it was very much considered as a high-end service. Only the rich could afford it. For the middle class, it was a pure luxury. Captain Gopinath changed the complete landscape with introduction of a LCC called as "Air Deccan" & suddenly flying became a daily affair for the middle class.

Similarly, in today's world the enterprise software is seen as a very high cost product. Only the Large Enterprises could afford it. For medium to small size companies, it's still a pure luxury. Yes, there are quite a few vendors who sell small pieces of software, but again those pieces don't really integrate well with each other in long run. I am yet to see any company who is getting out into market with a mindset to make these enterprise software available at a very affordable price. I know there are these "Cloud Vendors" who sell software as a service, still I don't believe their pricing is something which is "easily affordable". Hence I see an opportunity to create a "Low Cost Enterprise Software" Business!!!

Simply Fly - A Dream Came True for Many Indians...

Recently I concluded reading "Simply Fly" by Capt. Gopinath. Well, I give it a 3 Star rating(out of 5), for the simple reason that I felt the story could have been written in a more concise & interesting way. Having said that, I must applaud for this great & amazing serial entrepreneur; From Farming to Motor cycle Dealership to Helicopter business to Air Deccan & now Deccan 360. Every time he found himself in an adverse situation in life, he turned that into a business opportunity. And more importantly, he was an eternal optimist. I don't know how many of us can ever imagine building a helicopter or airline business without a good finance backing. But he did that. His determination & passion drove him to follow his dream without making compromises during his journey to success. 

Yes, we all must remain thankful to this great-man who made the low cost flying possible in this country. I must say he deserves all the accolade as any other great statesman of this country.

"Continuous Challenge" - A Key factor to Transcend In Career

Though I didn't see any of the matches that Nadal played, but his brilliance is unquestionable. Amazing consistency! Since 2005, he has won 5 of the 6 French Open titles. Yet, I am still a big fan of Federer. He is a "Silent Killer". Every time, he is challenged, he comes back with his exuberance & proves why he is still the best. I always feel that Nadal's excellence brings the best in Federer. As Nadal gets better, so is Federer. If Nadal came out as an ordinary player in last few years, I am sure Federer would have hit the roof & "stopped growing". I think Sampras didn't have the opportunity to have a great opponent during his peak of the career. Hence, even though he had broken quite a few records, yet his achievements didn't really transcend beyond a point. Continuous Success breeds Complacency unless there is a way to Challenge it!!! I like the competition between Nadal & Federer because I know this will help Federer to avoid complacency & achieve more Grand Slams which will be difficult for anybody to break in near future :)

Now let's look at the corporate world. If you think you are best, there is nobody to compete with, then you sort of hit the roof. There is no fun. Your performance doesn't transcend to new heights from there even though you are a genius.

My advice - Let's build a culture where every individual within the organization feels that he is challenged every day in & out. That will be one way in which we can get the best out of every individual!!!

Good Start "Raina" - You are on Track!!!

Suresh Raina is leading relatively a young & inexperienced side for Zimbabwe Tri-series. There is hardly any big-star in the team. As we have already witnessed, India lost twice very badly to Zimbabwe. Well, I feel it's a good start for Raina as a captain. On one occasion, he forgot to tell umpire that he was taking a power play & yet he made his field settings assuming he had taken the power-play. Well, yes it's a mistake, no doubt, but...does it really warrant so much of ridicule by media (when they call him "anari"). Well I don't think so. Come on guys, he is just 23, his 1st assignment as a captain. Who doesn't make mistakes? (even God, I mean Tendulkar, does). This doesn't mean that media should turn so reactive. From my point of view, I still feel that there is lot of learning for him. Thanks to the fact that he is starting his captaincy on a loosing mode. This essentially means, he is getting aware of "himself". And I feel that is more than enough to be successful in long run. I have been watching this guy along with Virat & Rohit. I realize this guy has got the humility to make it big in life(unlike Rohit & Virat). I bet, he will prove himself to be a successful captain in future. Watch out for this explosive batsman-cum-fielder!!!

e-Commerce -->> m-Commerce --> ???

Yesterday I was reading "Simply Fly" (autobiography of Capt. Gopinath). In 2003, while trying to establish Air Deccan, he made it a point to bypass the "travel agent ticketing channel" & sell tickets thru Internet. His objective was to provide air tickets at affordable prices by cutting costs in all possible ways. I know this may be a very common-place idea today, but way back in 2003, it must be quite a noble idea (given the fact that not many of airlines in India were selling tickets thru Internet). And after that, this became a common phenomena. We saw Cleartrip, MakeMyTrip, Yatra & so many portals selling tickets online. This is E-Commerce at it's best.

Now watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkcAL9wB160

What I am trying to convey here - we are moving to the new era of M-Commerce. I am sure, very soon we will order/pay our dinner, grocery, medicines thru mobile devices. We will see companies trying to focus a lot on Mobile Based Solutions. There will be flurry of mobile based portals available soon. Today's world works on laptop/desktop, tomorrow's world will probably be working on i-Pad, i-Phone & other mobile devices. Let's watch out!!!

Salute to the Real Heros - IX812 Crash

On last Saturday, I woke up to the horrifying news that IX-812, Air India Express plane, had crash landed in Mangalore. Almost the whole day I was glued to television in hope to see more survivors. It was gruesome to see the evacuation & charred bodies all around. It's even difficult to imagine the in-flight situation at that point of time. I also read news about people twitting within the air-plane about their arrival. Even the survivors talk about a near perfect landing & suddenly things became worse within no time. What I felt - life is so uncertain & it can change its course in no time. 

I dedicate this blog to those who lost their lives in the crash & the local villagers who worked relentlessly to save some precious lives. I must say the local villagers worked in a very unselfish way & their unquestionable courage was highly commendable. I wish, at the end of it, we see some of them getting rewarded for the bravery they showed on that very unfortunate morning.

Work Culture

After working 8 years in IT Industry, I have my own doubts about this widely misused (according to me) phrase - "Work Culture". Go around, ask your friends(particularly who are in Services Companies) - many of them would say that "Product Companies have the best work culture". I am not sure if we all are on same accord when it comes to describing work culture. Many of us believe, having less work, having no deadline, having no customer to face, means a GREAT work culture. Well, I have spent most of my career in Product Companies. And I personally feel, the model is not really a sustainable one. I have seen individuals/ teams sustaining over a period of 2-3 years without having much to work on. I don't know if this is an usual problem of large organization, but i strongly feel, it's a problem of plenty - it's like when you earn in crores, you don't bother if the laundry guy takes you for a ride for many months. How does it matter to you anyway!!! You get to realize the problem only when you are about to get bankrupt!!!

Blistering Heat & Gurgaon

Winter is like Heaven in Gurgaon. I know it's a wishful thinking on my part, still I am hopeful to see snowfall sometime in future. Summer is exactly opposite. The Blistering heat along with the hot air makes life hell. To spice it up, you have heavy power cut. Unless you are in a posh apartment with 100% backup, you will have to have sleepless nights. There are days when we are the victim of late night power cuts. Just imagine, you are in a top floor, the power goes off around midnight. And all that you are left with, is a fan!!! That throws hot air on you. Lovely!!! What the hell, it looks like as if I am in the middle of a desert. This time around, I am almost running out of patience. I hope I get out of this desert zone at the earliest!!!

Summing Up - IPL2010

In IPL2010 Final, Dhoni proved his mettle as a captain. Starting from team selection, batting strategy, field placement, bowling strategy; everything seemed to be quite perfect for the situation. He chose to go with 3 spinners & that was an excellent move given the slow pitch in DY Patil stadium. MI could have picked Jaysurya; at least from a spin bowling perspective.

When CSK started batting, they were anyway in the back foot. And MI allowed them to put a big score, thanks to Fernando & Zaheer for missing those costly catches of Suresh Raina. That was quite a turning point of the match. Secondly, MI started really slow. They could have taken few chances in the initial overs. Here, Jaysurya could have come handy (given his experience in playing under such pressure situations). I am still OK with Harbhajan given the opportunity to come early. Had he exploded, I am sure people would have liked the strategy. That was anyway not a turning point. What I failed to understand - Position at which Keiren Pollard sent in. This man could have made a difference, had he been sent before Duminy.

To sum it up, it was not MI's day. Not to blame anybody, they played excellent cricket all throughout. Excellent leadership of Sachin has given the MI side new heroes like Rayadu, Tiwary & Pollard. He deserves all accolades, and more importantly he proved his critics wrong - "Sachin is a good captain as well".

Can Mumbai Indians do it?

Well, I never had so much of respect & confidence on Sachin's captaincy as I have today. He is carrying the brand of "Mumbai Indians" so well. Finally they have made it to IPL2010 Finals. I am just keeping my fingers crossed for the final. I hope they will make it big. I am just concerned about the ongoing form & confidence of Chennai Super King. Suddenly they have risen from ass to get into Semis and now there in finals as well. Last two games, they showed their supremacy both from batting & bowling perspective. And one crucial thing to observe here, they never crumbled under pressure. Remember Dhoni, who pulled it off so well in that all crucial match where it was a must win for them to enter semis. And I think that gave them a real big lift in terms of confidence. In the Semi final, I guess they were a little nervous while batting. When they came to field, Bollinger got the cheers back with his charismatic over where he got 2 golden wickets. And that was beginning of the end for Deccan Chargers. After that they could never recoup from the doom.

Let's see who is the real hero in the Big IPL2010 final on 25th - Dhoni or Tendulkar? I put my money on Tendulkar ofcourse :). I pray Sachin gets fit for the final. All that MI needs from him is - his godly presence in the field. And that will do the trick :) Good luck guys, go and kick the CSK out!!!

IPL - I am tired of the overdose

60 matches in total, 14 matches (at least) per each side - isn't it a bit too much!!! Well I started watching the matches with a lot of excitement, but slowly over a period of time, I lost interest. In true sense it was a overdose of cricket. Now it makes me question the sustainability of this format of the game. Unless Lalit Modi moves beyond money & starts thinking about it as a sport, it will be difficult to attract the continuous attention of people. If the overdose continues this way, I am sure IPL5/IPL6 would not be attracting as many eye balls as it does today. Look around, talk to people, you will see this happening already.

With 10 teams from IPL4, it will be a good idea to have 2 groups (5 teams each), 2 teams from each qualifying for semifinals, then closing the end-to-end IPL within 20 days. I am sure that will bring more excitement & fun!!!

MTV Roadies 7

MTV Roadies 7 - It's a must watch for me every Sunday. What I like the most about this show is - adventurous & creative tasks. Especially, this year's African Safari was more fun to watch. I appreciate the minds who are behind conceptualizing & designing those creative tasks. Hats off to them. More importantly hats off to some of the roadies - Zaid, Mohit, Amrit who were amazingly great in most of their performances.

But what let me down this year is - the idiotic moves ("twists" as they say) which made sure that the crown finally went to one of the least deserving roadies. I don't think - this show deserves to be called "competitive" any more. There is elimination at end of every round. Which means, the least deserving will get kicked in the due process gradually. Then at the end who-so-ever remains, should be the winner. That's straight & simple. What's the whole fun of brining those people back who had lost previously & kicked out? It's a pure insult to those who have performed continuously to reach the final stage. And that's what exactly happened. Finally it was won by somebody who probably deserved it least. Hard luck to the top-performers.

I like to see competitive games. But when, it looses it's competitiveness, I tend to detest it!!!

IPL3 - Mumbai Indians cruising...

Mumbai Indians (MI) were no where in picture in last two IPLs. This time they seem to have all energy & enthusiasm to make it to Top-4. Compared to CSK & others, MI batting line up is pretty modest. Apart from Sachin & Jaysurya on top, rest are not-so-famous batsmen. Yet, they are continuously proving their mettle. And remember, Jaysurya so far has been completely out of form. Tiwary, Dhawan & Rayadu have played key roles in steering MI's victory along with Sachin. Sachin on the other hand, has been playing out-of-the-world & exceptional game of cricket. He just hit his first six yesterday against CSK(in his 5th match). Yet he has been the MOM thrice in 5 games where they have won 4. He has changed his approach from an attacking cricketeer to an intelligent cricketeer. He is using the pace of bowlers. He is reading the mind of bowlers so well. And all these tactics helping him to pace his innings well & keep his Strike Rate close to 150 in each game without taking big risks. Really amazing cricketer he is!!!

I think, if they continue the tempo, Sachin continues to play the sheet-anchor role & Jaysurya comes back to his form, then they might end up winning IPL-3. Good luck to Sachin & his team MI.

In Search of a Great Leader

How often do you see people getting inspired by their leaders? How often do you see people praising their leaders for their qualities? Well, in current setup of the IT Industry, it's a difficult proposition. You got to be lucky enough to get such people. If there are 100 managers, you would get to see only 2-3 really amazing leaders among them. Coffee Table Manager Gossips are more common these days. Well, the subordinates must not be blamed completely. I think it's the managers (who fail to become good leaders) are to be blamed equally.

Let's assume, more or less everybody is fair in this world. If a manager does good work, everybody likes him. He would still have some enemies. But at some corner of their heart, they carry some respect for whatever he is. It's more of jealousy that drives them to talk nasty about him. However, this population is often very less. In a team, if 90% of the people don't agree to the actions of a manager, then the manager needs to rethink. Well, 20% of the team can be wrong, but not 90%.

I want to see more leaders who can really inspire the average individuals to achieve impossible things. I feel, in our industry, leadership development has not yet matured. People get promoted to leadership positions just to fill in a vacancy or satisfy a business need or retain the talent, often untrained ones. I want to see a change in this space. I want the organizations to give a little more serious thought about leadership development programs. Otherwise, we all will be in a down-ward spiral.

I feel very strongly: "Inspiring leaders are like doctors, if you are ill they treat you, if you are healthy they make sure you stay healthy..." The goal of a great leader should be: "make the team win, not just individuals..."

Adding Value or Time to Act!!!

Is there a way to measure the contribution of every employee towards the revenue of a company? I know it's a very ideal thing & not really easy to achieve. At the same time, I feel if it can be done, it will be the best motivator for every employee. Imagine, at the end of every month, you get a report stating - "Company earned $1000 this month & your contribution is $10". I know, it's not as simple as I put here. If a company is relatively small, such things can be feasible. When companies grow, it really is a challenge to do such calculation. Moreover, in product companies, where the fruit is often realized few years after the actual work put in, it is in fact just next to impossible.

The reason why I am feeling the importance of this is as follows. Large companies add lots of fat over a period of time without realizing that those fats are actually making it difficult to move ahead. In large companies, you often find lot of teams who actually add very limited value to organization, yet they exist for ages. I am sure, if we can have a quantitaive measurement of employee's contribution, it will be easy to recognize the fat over a period of time & take necessary actions on time to keep the company lean & agile!!!

One piece of advice - Wherever you may be working, ask yourself this simple question - "How is your work adding value to the organization?". If you are not satisfied with the answer, it's probably !!!Time to ACT!!!

Sachin's dominance continues!!!

"Sachin Tendulkar" - It's a 2 letter word which is synonymous to "Celebration" in my life. I am quite thankful to God that, I get the opportunity to see him playing since he has joined Indian Cricket Team till date (a 20+ years of  continuous celebration). It's a privilege, that the new born babies will miss during their prime time. I am least hopeful that we are going to see another Sachin in next couple of decades or so.

24th February, 2010 will probably remain as one of the best days of my life. It's not something which you get to see very often. Thanks to cricketnirvana.com, I got to see a glimpse of his last shot which took him to 200. I felt quite ecstatic when Ravi Shastri said proudly "1st man in planet to reach 200 in the history of one-day cricket". For past 20 years, whenever Sachin comes to middle, I somehow forget other things in life & at least make an effort to know "how he fared in the game". So much so, during meetings/classes, I keep sending SMS hoping to see a * against his name. I know the end is nearing & nearing very fast. Irrespective of that, I am quite amazed by the determination of this genius. Who knows, that elusive Test - 300 may be somewhere round the corner!!!

Security & Success - Oxymorons!!!

"Job Security" - I know everybody loves to have a secured job, so that they can enjoy their life. I actually believe that the job security is probably one of the worst enemies a person can have, it's a huddle to become successful in life. I feel security brings complacence, makes a person defocused from the actual goal. Security brings lethargy & more importantly, it affects the quality of your work. After all, an average output won't take the job away from you, isn't it??? Then why toil so hard???

Hence I strongly feel the need of a new working model for the IT Industry. In IT services, people work like log to deliver "something" before the "deadline". In IT product companies, people enjoy a relatively flexible deadline, since they need to produce something "innovative".  Well, there is nothing wrong with either of these two mindsets as long as they are aware of the value provided to the customer. But, I get overwhelmed, when I see the extremes of these two approaches. What is even worse, at times, the management has no clue on what value they are adding to their customers thru the product/service. In my 8 years of work experience, I have seen many such cases. Come-on guys, isn't it very fundamental? Aren't we supposed to ask ourselves - why should the customer pay for this??? Most of the time, people don’t think about this since they feel it’s a “management level question”. Ahh, that hurts. But if you see their perspective, they are quite right. They are doing what they are asked to do.  It may or mayn’t be adding value. But, their salary is coming anyway.

If the management asks you – "unless the customer is benefited from your product/service, you guys will be fired in next 6 months..." Ahh, then it will be fun. Everybody will just focus on one thing. That’s creating a service/product which benefits the customer!!!. Their productivity will be at a crazy high level. I am sure the overall quality will be fantastic, people would give their best & you will have a company which is automatically customer focused - no need to spend on a special CRM program!!!

Bottom line is: Take job security away, And you will have a flurry of top-performers!!!

2nd Test - IND Vs SA - 3rd Day - ~Teatime

We have been discussing - when India should declare? Here is the status as of now:

Day 3 - Session 2
    * India RR 4.20
    * Last 10 ovs 44/0 RR 4.40
    * Min overs remaining 43.1

South Africa 296
India 525/6 (124.5 ov)

India lead by 229 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.Dhoni at 74 & Laxman at 86.

Points to be considered:
1. How the pitch is going to behave in next 2 days? If it is getting more batting friendly (which looks to me at this moment), then at least 1.5 days will be required to bowl SA out. This means, they will get to play ~140 overs. At an average of 3.5, they will score ~450.

2. How comfortable are we to bat in 4th innings? Well, we all know India's track record in 4th innings. Even a 100 run chase might look like a humongous task for them. So India will try it's best to avoid batting in 4th innings.

3. How important is it for India to win this match? Well, definitely they would like to level the series by winning & retain the no 1 position in ICC ranking.

Given all above circumstances, I feel India will look to achieve a lead of 400 before putting SA in!!!

Let's see.....

Sachin - 100 100s...No Big Deal

Do you know - How many times Sachin has scored 90+, but missed century? It's 18 in One Dayers & 7 in Test Matches. Well, currently his century count stands at 45 in One Dayers & 46 in Test Matches. Awesome cricketer, awesome figures!!! Hats off to Sachin. I wish him to score atleast 50 centuries in each version of the game. I know it's greed from my side, but I can't help it. He is a great cricketer & he deserves this.

My prediction is - Sachin will score 50 centuries in One Dayers & will retire immediately after 2011 world cup. At the same time, I feel, he will continue to play test cricket till 2013. And if that happens, I am sure he will score 55+ test centuries. I pity Ricky Ponting; so near, & yet so far :)

Interesting to figure out that - Ricky Ponting's presence will prolong Sachin's test career. And the best part is: he will be under pressure to perform every time for 2 key reasons. 1. Ricky is just there, it's a matter of time. 2. India doesn't get to play too many test matches. Recently you saw him scoring 2 centuries in as many matches against Bangladesh. The very next match, he scored yet another century against SA. I will not be very surprised if he does it again in the 2nd match against SA.

Keep watching Sachin, He is the Best!!!

Chai Time...

I was having a cup of tea with couple of my colleagues, when we saw an accident. 3 cars, crashing back-to-back, and the scene was quite horrifying. Thankfully, everybody escaped unhurt. What struck me at that point of time - "It could have been more devastating. People could have lost their lives. And anybody could have been a victim there - you, me, our friends". Oh boy, when you see such freaky things, you get a different kind of feeling. You feel thankful to God that no matter what the worries of life are, you are still alive. For a moment you forget your personal burdens, your professional desperation, & you wake up to a very refreshing thought - you are lucky to be here on this earth!!!

And hence, the bottom line is: Enjoy & more specifically Enjoy the very moment, the very today. Trash those worries, better keep them for tomorrow which is anyway uncertain :)

(Un)Reality Shows ???

Latest fad in the TV world is undoubtedly "Reality Shows" - be it Swayambar or Big-Boss or Dance Shows or MTV Roadies or Singing Competitions. Initially I was quite excited about this concept. Now after seeing so many of them over the last few years, I am utterly bored & dissapointed. Predictability & Dramatization have been two primary reasons. When I heard about "Rakhi's Swayambar", I was sure about the ultimate outcome. When I see the "war of words" between the judges in any of the reality shows, it puts me down since I know these guys are camouflaging. Even at times the scoring is artificially modified to bring more public attention. Watch "Amul Music Ka Maha Mukabla", you will get to understand what I am talking about. Ahhh, that's so much of stupidity. There is nothing wrong with the whole thing, apart from the fact that these are not truly reality shows. I am afraid these shows would loose the charm once the public also start realizing the fake/unreal part of these shows. Such shows force me to coin a new phrase - "Reality Quotient". And I calculate this as following:

Reality Quotient = Real/[Real + Drama] * 100

I am sure you would agree that most of these reality shows have a reality quotient which is far less from being 100%. At the same time, I do strongly believe that, Dramatizing is not necessarily the only way to make a reality show interesting. I am confident that the directors have more innovative ways to make these shows interesting, yet at the same time keeping them "truly real".......

Salary - A Hygiene Factor!!!

I still remember the day when I received my 1st salary. It was sometime way back in 1st week of July, 2002. I was quite excited. With a bunch of new friends, we decided to go out & party that evening. It was quite a different feeling. I spent that money on many things like gifts, apparels, movies etc etc. I didn't complain on not having more. As time went on, I saw people in other companies getting more. That instigated in me to think "I wish I get a little more". And that gave rise to the creation of a new entity in my life called as Greediness. And it went on growing without my notice. My needs started growing. I moved from bike to small car. I am sure it will change to a big car in future. I changed my mobile phones from basic ones to more stylish ones & the list went on increasing :) Every time there is a salary rise, I suddenly see a new need in my life & within months I start cribbing about my salary not being enough. And, BTW, I am not the only person in this situation. I guess 99% of those who are reading this blog would agree to me. I asked myself - "Money buys happiness, but that happiness is very short-lived, why so???". Recently I went for a training on Leadership and I learned a very good thing- "Salary is more of a Hygiene factor, if not a motivation factor". And that's so true, Believe me!!!

BTW, by writing this gyan, it doesn't mean that I have transformed to a lesser greedy person, I still remain the same. Hence I need a salary hike this time :)                                            

Dilli Ki Sardi.....

It's 2PM, on a sunday afternoon, and can you imagine! temperature outside is just 9 Degree Centigrade!!! And yes, it's no hill station, it's no Europe, it's our own Dilli :) Literally hogging whatever sunlight we get at times. This is my 3rd winter in Delhi, and so far I have enjoyed it a lot. This time, it feels like being in a Hill Station for quite long!!! And you know how boring it becomes to be in a hill station for longggg (unless you have variety of things to see/do).

Anyways, waiting to get a glimpse of sun, may be tomorrow or day-after :)

Gloomy 09 to Gleamy 10 & Decade Ahead....

Not sure how will 2010 turn out to be. But one thing for sure, it will be better than 2009. I am sure recession will be talked as a thing of past. I am confident, we will have a relatively stable stock market. Hopefully the food inflation will be brought down. The job market will shine unlike last year.

I wish, more than an eventful year, we will have a great decade ahead. This will be the decade to see how India fairs compared to China. It should be a decade of more action than planning if at all we wish to surpass China in terms of GDP growth. We might see revolution in Education Industry. Hopefully, we will see Institutions which are comparable to Wharton, Havard in terms of quality of education. As some analysts say, 30% plus growth will be a thing of past for Indian IT industry. Yet they will still remain in the 20% plus growth zone. Infrastructure will continue to shine as more companies will continue to come to India to setup their offices, more people moving to urban for a better lifestyle.Last but not the least, it will also be a decade of Green Revolution. I am sure we will see more of CopenHagen summits, more sustainability efforts at corporate levels, more awareness efforts by Government & NGOs.

Let's gear up for an exciting decade ahead!!! Wish you all a Happy Decade Ahead!!!