Its indeed a Sunday afternoon, and I am in front of my mirror,
She look into my eyes and says there are some unspoken thoughts
I ask her why some thoughts are unspoken , she replies they are meant to be unspoken
I ask her how can I share this thoughts, she has you need to have guts,
I ask her I am not afraid of my thoughts, the mirror says you be afraid if your feeling will be hurt
I Ask Mirror, why people have expectations, she says life is based on an Inspiration,
I ask her what’s that inspiration, she says that’s what is your expectation
I ask her what my expectation, she says love is your inspiration
I ask her why people are afraid of love, she says for it’s a treasure trove
I ask the mirror do you love anybody, she says smiles like a rose poppy
I ask her are you tired of my stupid questions, she says that its me who is answering the questions,
I ask the mirror who are you, she say I am you………….

Well the movie 2012 is creating a lot of hype . But some 4 months back me and some of my friends made 2012 as our d-day. How some super normal friend of our introduced us to something called mayan calender . Which was a instant hit for party mongers like us. For every reason to booze we told each other that world will come to an end in 2012 so lets party. Mayan calender become an excuse for delaying SIP's, splurging money on parties, shopping blah blah. I even started bugging my married friends that stop worrying about home loans, just enjoy the moment, become parents asap, live the complete life before 2012. Anyways that was a fad and it went by .

With the movie 2012, I see a lot of people getting scared that 12/12/12 world will come to an end. But if see it like this 12/12/2012 so the next date will be 12/12/2112 so that's again 12/12/12, so the whole damn thing about 12/12/12 is simply super normal idiotic.

Okay, now the twist whats the previous date 12/12/12 its 12/12/1912. I checked in the wiki to see what happened in 1912 if anything weird.

Now the only weird thing that happened in 1912 was that Titanic sank. But that's not my take. More than that I saw that on 1st January 1912, The Republic of China was established.


Since I love contributing to speculation I am adding my speculation to the 2012 bandwagon. I think in 2012 China will make a move which will change the dynamics of world, what that will be I live that to the individual pool of imagination.

Thanks for bearing this weird blog.

Cheers
Sri

Cost cutting

I think the basic premises, why companies go for cost-cutting is because they think its an instant relief to their cash management. I believe a lot of you will agree that such tactics (not strategic) are myopic.

Cutting cost should replace by prioritizing cost. We have to create a three tier cost structure , where cost should be clubbed under three tiers

Golden Cost: Long-term and short term investments that are immediately affecting my cash-inflow from a strategic point of view. This cost should be least altered as any apathy toward them will take the fleet down E.g. Salary/incentives of Sales folks,


Silver Cost: These investments are those cost which have medium to long-term impact on the business cash-flow. E.g. Leasing a new office for a 90 people. We have to speak to the operations, HR, Technology team if its possible to facilitate at least 50% of this new head counts to work form home , this will help reduce the cash-out flow on 45 seats.

Iron(ing) Cost: These are real cost that is not directly matched to top line. E.g. 45K USD Print advertisement by Grocery retail chain for weekend offer in a national daily is difficult to ascertain how many readers got converted into footfalls.
Rather a below the line event involving 20K USD around the housing communities around the retail chain, can help us track actual contribution of ad-spend to top line.


The basic thumb rule should be: Will a cut on this cost affect my cash-flow adversely in the next 3-15 Months time frame.

consumer and customer.

Well this is no dumbo-jumbo market research stuff, but a simple question to everybody , who is a consumer. When I say consumer, it slightly different from customer. The latter is more prized for an organization, but a consumer is more generic . For everybody consumes beyond economic interactions.
I like to reiterate , that consumption here is not simply buying and consuming. It can be consuming anything , like I consume my frustration that procrastination is my biggest weakness, I consume the pathetic behaviour of people in my professional life, at time people consume my stupid behaviour for I may be speaking from a position of strength, so he/she consumes my idiotic banter. Some of you may be doing it right now, while reading this mystic note.

Anyways the truth is we all consume food, service, behaviour , etc. Now my next question is when I consume, I will have a reaction lets I have an argument with my brother, I consume his gyan , but replies back with utter disgust that I do not agree with his point of view. Now that’s natural between two brother they rarely agree to agree.

Any ways the only observation is that I consumed my brothers idea and gave him a feedback straightaway. The reason is faith; my brother has faith in me that I will give any honest relationship.

Now if we draw the same brotherly relationship to that between a Brand and consumer, we will realize that if the brand is not keeping its promise the customer on self-driven mode will transfer to a Consumer.

That’s not the end of the story; the brand will never realize when its costumer became consumer, because the consumer never shared his consumption experience with the brand. The reason they didn’t share a brotherly relationship, where the customer can blatantly vent its anger on the brand.

The brand responsibility is that it should make sure how it wins the faith of the consumer, so that when the brand goes wrong the consumer should blatantly say that S/he is not happy with the brand. Now I would not like elaborate how brands should engage with customers. But rather put it simply how they can help customers vent their frustration if the customer is not happy.

Lets say Tea Mint X is my favourite brand. Now the brand manager changes the flavour of the tea from Mint X to Mint & Pepper. I do not like the taste. The tea company used to have an email on the box for feedback, now they should have SMS number for quick feedback or twitter account for instant feedback. The customer should be allowed to share his frustration quickly, so that before he migrates to consumer, his feedback is quickly heeded and he remains customer.

The summary is make customer feedback instant and easy.

Look forward to your feedback.

Cheers
Sri

Blue Sky and me

I ask the blue sky is it worth, it says everything is worth ,
I ask the blue sky why are you blue, it says because I am you,
I ask on some days you are red, you are white, the sky says because some days I am tired, I am bright,
The sky asks me know why are people so busy, I said that’s the new hobby,
The sky says I am a dumb puzzle, I replied that’s my daily Juggle
The sky says it time to say bye, I said we will meet tomorrow with a Hi

Hi all,

Its been long that I wrote something. Well in the last 9 months, I have made some changes to my life. Like always,, I love taking jumping around new areas. So I jumped from Hyderabad to London, and now scratching my head to start a new career. The market is competitive , but I am getting calls and will get a job soon (hope). SPARE A PRAYER FOR ME .

Its close to one month in the UK, I landed here on 4th of September and got the chill wind on the same night. Its really cold, especially for somebody like me who come from eastern India .

Well first thing first, London is beautiful. The people are polite, patient, smart* and cool. Indians are like street lamps you will see one every 6 paces. That helps a lot, when you see your people around. Thanks to my people , I get mast, Indian food everyday.

I thought the UK will be without problems . But here also the news channel are full of Masala news, politics is at centre stage as expected . But people love football and thoughts refreshing to see, something beyond cricket and that too at club level.

Lets explore and see whats new things I explore. Catch you latter. Bye

Cheers
The London Eye from Indian Shores

Help

Indeed we are living in dangerous times. If we look into the past our Grandfathers fought against an enemy called colonialism, our fathers fought a more social war called Youth-unrest and we today are facing something called fundamentalism.

After a lot of self introspection, I came up with this idea how do we stop this menace which today is promoting the third confrontation between India and Pakistan and maybe the second flashpoint of nuclear warfare.

All of us know the aftermath of a nuclear clash, till today Hiroshima Nagasaki are gruelling this horrendous act of jingoism.

However, I have thought of the following steps which can help stop the spread of this new virus of religious xenophobia.

We have to neutralize the "idea of jihadism", in the past also we did the same.
We should divert all our resources and funds at pumping Pakistan and Afghanistan with a mass of volunteers whose only agenda will be to educate the illiterates, the unemployed to open their eyes. that will help us take away our global youth from venomous sermons of the terrorist leaders .
We have to have incentivise this whole programme of "Youth of change" encourage youth from liberal and educated Muslim nations to take up this assignment in these two countries.
Pakistan army is today infiltrated, influenced by jehadi ideas. First, we have to weaken there operational efficiency by putting accountability on there defense spent. The irony is Pakistan is the only country in subcontinent which doesn’t have an external enemy but itself. It tries to deflect its state failure on India.
All the Pakistani army’s operational commanders should be sent on UN deputations so that they understand what human apathy is. Beneath every general is a man born without any biases. Once they understand apathy they will stop war mongering.
I may be in the small minority , but India should open up more with Pakistan and let economics drive our regional dynamics. Every jehadi has family, if Indian medicine can reach his home, a Indian company is opening to a Pakistani worker we will bury this hypothetical hatred created by a small group of confused people..
We should improve our intelligence set-up and military set up to avoid attacks like recent Mumbai horror.
Finally Military option should always be used as defensive action.
I pray to the lord that let peace be there. We have so much poverty, unemployment that hatred has no place in our heart.
Let us all give peace a chance.
Cheers for a new beginning. Be the change.
Sridy

Arrange Vs Love Marriage

Marriage is one of the important transitional phases in the life of a man and women. But the whole set up of marriage has distinct classification Love and arrange marriage. For an evolving society like India, Love marriages are still a taboo. So if you have love marriage it is looked from pessimistic perception from a certain section of the society. But my objective of writing this piece e is not to put forward what the society thinks, but rather analyze what are the chances of success for an arrange marriage and love marriage. I am a bachelor, so the view is based on my observing post married life of a couple from both the camps. I won’t bore you much with my Guru Gyan , but the bottom line Love marriage is an informed choice where we know the partner for some time so the failure or success depends solely on the individual and their ability to gel with rest of family members from both sides. Whereas in an arrange marriage it’s the coming together of two families, so the relationship is cemented on a wider platform called family. But there is a catch in arrange marriage since we don dot know our partner, it will be a case of trying and adjust to choice which is not our own. At the end of the day, it is the couple who decide whether they want to have a successful marriage life. God bless all newly wed couples.

Experience: Which has no match?
As a student and as young professional, one thing that I have always treasured is the golden word of wisdom from elders, which we can call as “Experience”. When they share their experience it has two connotations, things we should do and things we shouldn’t do to be “successful in life”.

But what I have observed and from personal observations, I can say that people most of the time remember The don’ts suggested by our seniors .We remember things that should be avoided in life, so that life is smooth sailing.

However, the bottom line is we should always appreciate and share our and others experiences. It is a great way to learn and re-learn things.

Bye for now.
See you next week.

Change

Change this is the only thing in our life which keeps on adding a new variation to our life. Everybody have a different approach to life, and for that reason to change . Some want “change” to be constant part of there life’s . People like me ,who get bored with everything ,that not evolving or not throwing up challenges. There are people who love to hate change, because change brings certain disequilibrium in your life. If you had a bad experience with change, then you are likely to resist changes in future provided your mindset is that of “change is evil”.

Anyways the bottom line is we cannot avoid change.W e should accept change as an opportunity to explore and if the experience of the change does not show good, let's take it in our stride. Just like on some days when your mom add a little bit more salt in your curry and you still love it.

To Maa &Baba…………With Love.

I would like to wish you all a “Happy Independence Day”. India turned 60 today, which is also the most likely age of people retiring from active public life. But as a nation we are just leaping into the new phase youthful exuberance, which is going to accelerate us into the next big league of developed nations .There are three factor pushing this growth the 300 Million strong India middle class, our educated workforce and the youth population of our country which some suggest 50% falls in age bracket 17-35 years.

Fortunately, I belong to the social strata that satisfy all the three above criteria. But this blog is not about me .It is about the people who brought me to this world, made what I am, that’s my parents. This blog is dedicated to all those parents who put there blood and sweat so that there child can have education and be a sensible individual. But the irony is as we move up the value chain; we are slowly getting disconnected from our parents. The demand of job made us to leave home in search of opportunities and once we have settled in the corporate world it becomes difficult to go back to your native place to visit your parents.

But the problem is people’s apathy towards their parents. I heard somebody saying that parents are a burden and should be sent to old-age home. This is completely an in-human approach; we all know how people are treated in these homes and moreover people who nourished us for 20 years and made us what we are today, can’t we make there last stage more comfortable.

I am very proud that my parents are staying with me know and I believe I am lucky to have them around me, it’s such a joyous moment .My only request is if your parents are not keeping well or are lonely ,please keep them near you.

We should never forget that one day we will also grow old, treat your parents as you expect your children to treat you.

“Let’s liberate our parents from the pains of old age”.

The Art of Bargaining

From a very young age we tend to develop the habit of shopping, boys may be vegetable and groceries and Girls buying bangles or cosmetics ,the commonalty is not only shopping but the process of bargaining we do with seller. Over our growing period, this habit of bargaining gets imbibed into us a natural skill. That’s the reason also in the retails chains today 85% of SKU’S (Stock keeping units) are subject to discount, because love buy for less, which is not bad.

When we move into our professional life’s this skill help us a lot, while making negotiation for better package or while sourcing resources for our projects or convincing clients that our proposal is the best. Indians are doing well whether it’s marketing or finance domain, because this skill has refined from our formative years.

Some people may suggest that this mentality of barging is a “Middle-Class syndrome” my only suggestion to such hypocrites is that if you don’t have the skills don’t crib.

So I encourage all parents across the socio-economic strata to encourage there kids to go and do shopping at least for the necessities like groceries, vegetable , etc and one line instruction get it at the lowest price without compromising the quality .

The Prez: Our Economic Envoy.

India is truly a democratic country when it comes to sharing the power-pie. The latest round of political dangal for the 12Th President of India has now reached its crescendo. Any politician who is above the age of 60 is being projected as the next president.

I am writing this article not to take pot shots at our political Kichidi. I have a very precise objective.To put it in simple words move the “Rubber stamp” status of the President to the Position of International Negotiator of Socio-Economic Agenda.

He will be having two precise responsibilities. First, he should continue to host social –political dignitaries and improve India’s PR among the International community.
Second, let our president become the spearhead of attracting Foreign Investment in India. It will be five-member Economic Expediency Group (EEG). Led by The Prez, with one representative from Ministry of Finance, External Affairs, Law Ministry and the new Ministry of Corporate affirm. Covert the President Body Guard into PREZ: Board of Investment Hunters. Their primary focus should be to prepare a single document that suggests “How to Invest in India”.  It should be our agenda that we attract industry which attracts a lot of sister industries e,g automobile will attract a lot of ancillary units. The bottom line should be the timeframe of implementing this project. We should also put into place performance criteria for the Prez. It can be very simple, after each tenure, an achievement schedule should be made which will summarize how projects were won during his tenure and what was the inflow of fund and how much wealth (economic and human) was generated by this inflow in India.

Therefore our president should be somebody who is having experience in “Modern day Business Paradigm”. If he is a greenhorn in business, he should be ready to re-learn the new game of ‘The Prez: For the business”. It is no point having people at this high position, who are good at political pipe dreams and are at the fag end of there personal and political career. If we look at President Dr Abdul Kalam, a tenure where he has made all the right moves. Now its time that we formalize this high sounding position works for our economic benefit.
If Sonia Gandhi wants to make a statement to the world by forwarding a woman to be the next president, I welcome her gesture, but let the President be ready to attend a fast-track 1-month Business Acumen Class at the IBS, Hyderabad.


I know that it’s a dream what I am trying to propose. But dreams are meant to inspire us.

Observatio

Observation a very simple word, but can have a lot of impact on our lives.I f we simply observe our life both in terms of our profession and our personal lives. We can find out whether we are in control of lives or not. Most of the people have this inbuilt fear that if they do such introspection only the darker side of life turns up. What I believe is, if we observe our life impartially we can identify elements which are influencing our life and once we identify these elements, we also get the solutions with.T he way to a content life is weeding out these elements from our daily routine. Our fate is in our hands not with anybody else.