A Wednesday and beyond....

Awesome!" shrieked the young lady in front of me as she munched her popcorn. It was the final scene of the film, A Wednesday, and aam admi turned potential bomber, Naseeruddin Shah was at his histrionic best. If the state simply stands by when we are struck by terror attacks, what do you expect the common man to do? What choice do you leave us but to take up arms and eliminate the terrorist?

How easy it is to sit in an airconditioned multiplex, sip a Pepsi and dream of bombing terrorists. In this real world of RDX bombers and hi-tech terrorists who operate in terrifying anonymity, don't you think that we are siiting at outs like duds and warming ourselves. And yet, can the public be faulted for endorsing the philosophy of an "eye for an eye" ? The Indian state looks increasingly like an ageing clown when dealing with agile mass murderers who are massacring the aam aadmi regularly.

Take the aftermath of the Delhi serial blasts. A week on, the narrative of the blast investigation has become a caricature, a comedy, if it were not so tragic. Minutes before the blasts, news channels receive identical emails, mails in which every second sentence is embellished with the words, "Inshallah!", so that no one is left in any doubt that an Islamic organization is responsible for the attack. Soon after the blast, an unflappable, well-groomed home minister steps out and warns that the attacks are the handiwork of "evil", "anti-national" forces, just in case anyone suggests that decent human beings could take innocent lives. Yes people, this is what is happening in this very country where we reside and this movie, a Wednesday shows teh reality. so, do watch it.

Written by: Rashi Singh

Sweetness

On Sunday night, we had been to a Gujarati and Rajasthani Special Dinner Buffet at a restaurant. Needless to say, I ate till I was fit to burst and enjoyed every mouthful.

What strikes me as unbelievable, even to myself, is that being such an avid food lover, and a person who is always looking to taste new things, I had never had a complete Gujarati meal, ever. Dhokla, yes, Gujarati snacks, oh yes of course. But a Gujarati meal? Never. So this was something new to me, and I loved the taste, especially the sweetness in all the dishes.

I have heard people say disapprovingly about Gujarati food - "Oh, but everything is sweet!" Well, everything is not sweet, as in completely sugary, but the dishes do have a distinctly sweet element in them. I can understand if people do not like it, but I, personally, quite enjoyed it.

Actually I have heard people complain about sweetness in food quite a bit. A Delhi friend of mine, working in Pune for a while, complained to me that the chicken preparations in Pune are sweet. I have heard people shake their heads disapprovingly about Bengali food and say that they add sugar to everything. I don't know about the chicken of Pune, but I have eaten Bengali food a number of times in my friend's place, and I have enjoyed it every time.

Ah well, I guess what is normal for me is sweet for this person! And then I observed the food that my mom makes. Yes, that slight element of sweetness - is it there, is it not there... that mild. But it makes so much difference. A good friend of mine, let us call her K, was my hostelmate when I was doing my post-grad in Tamilnadu. She married a man who worked in Bangalore, and came to live here. In one of her conversations, she told me, "Shruthi, you people add jaggery to everything!"
This conversation was old now, for me.

"Yeah", I said wearily, "just a little."
"But it is definitely sweet. I don't like it, really. There is no point going out to restaurants in Bangalore, I'd rather cook at home!" Then I decided to be more gracious. "Oh, perhaps adjusting to no sweetness in your food is easier than adjusting to sweetness in your food, who knows?" I said.

Written by: Tina Singh

Mayawati joins Forbes list of most powerful women

Can you imagine BSP’s chief Mayawati enters Forbes‘ list of most powerful women in the world. She ranks 59th most powerful women and joins Sonia Gandhi, who is ranked 21st in the list. Mayawati shares this limelight with other powerful women from India including Indira Nooyi, the Indian-origin chief of Global Soft Drink Major Pepsico currently at 3rd position and Indian Biotechnological firm Chief Kiran Mazumdar, who holds 99th position. What a wonder!!! now we alll should have realised by now that the lady has guts and is a lady of wits.

The list has been topped by German chancellor Angela Merkel. “Although she remains firmly at the head of the country’s ruling party, a rising star, known by the single name Mayawati, is challenging Gandhi’s position as the country’s most powerful woman.” The magazine said that Mayawati has aligned herself with the nationalist Hindu BJP party and joined its members had vociferously opposed Gandhi’s party’s historic agreement with the US on nuclear cooperation. The magazine described Mayawati as the one “in the running to be prime minister, from her perch as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.”

Now that's called sure women power and its truely indicated in this blog and this should set out as a good example and inspiration to all the women of our country.

Written by: Tina Singh

Gen X choose functionality over looks

India will soon become a Nation of mobile users. The steadily increasing mobile using population expands due to the ever increasing usage by the youth. A recently completed IDC study confirms that mobile users perceive they derive one of the following sets of benefits from using mobile phones – safety and security, productivity and convenience, or style and status. Gen X is anxious to find out what their mobiles do for them and what handset models are popular.

Nowadays students of Class 7th and 8th own a mobile phone. A cousin of mine has recently purchased a Nokia 6085. This flip phone has a FM Radio that he really likes. He also likes the look of the handset. To him, it is just a way of keeping in touch with his friends.

Another cousin has a Nokia 6030 handset that supports 10 Indian languages and is an unpretentious handset that has easy-to-use functions. He has opted for BSNL as his service provider because he claims, “Government service is the best.” His mobile is useful to keep in touch with his friends.

Over the weekend, I noticed a bunch of teenagers hanging out in a Mall in the middle of the afternoon, these bunch of students who were clearly bunking classes agreed in unison that the looks of the mobile is important but as long as they sustain on a shoe string pocket money paid by their parents, they would rather opt for simple handsets.

In a study recently conducted it was found that males, more than females, rate style and status as important mobile phone benefits while females regard safety and security as more valuable. A friend who is a BA student at a leading city college would like to a Nokia N series, “because it looks so cool. But I have to wait till I start earning,” he rues.

While convenience stands on top of the benefits of the mobile for these youngsters, they are also style and status conscious, pocket permitting!!

Written by: Neha Gupta

Traffic jam at Toll Plazas

Delays at toll plazas are irritating because they are preventable with better management. Despite there being separate lanes for cars, buses and other heavy vehicles, the system doesn’t work as people don’t follow rules. Rules are followed only if someone enforces them…and no one enforces rules at toll plazas, unlike at traffic signals. Most major traffic signals in Mumbai are manned by cops, and now several important junctions have cameras as well.

Another type of indiscipline seen at toll is ignoring of the “monthly pass” lane. Breaking of this rule is of great inconvenience to pass holders. At least half the vehicles entering these “pass only” lanes do not have passes…and neither do they have the loose change!

And god forbid if the driver in the car in front starts to argue with the toll collector over the amount to be paid. You can add another 5-10 minutes to the waiting time. It’s amazing how people can argue when the rates for the toll are clearly written on a notice board! This is not a rare occurrence by the way…I would say it’s quite normal to have some argument or the other going on.

What is really bugging is when people make double lines and try to nudge through. This results in more delays and often heated arguments between drivers. People behave like they have come to a toll naka for the first time!

At times the delay is caused by the police and RTO officials themselves. They stop vehicles (mostly trucks) just in and around the toll plaza, to collect bribes. These trucks are parked haphazardly and add to the traffic woes.

No wonder tempers run high at toll nakas. Recently at the Vashi toll plaza a 25 year old artist traveling in a taxi with his friends was fatally attacked by the occupants of a Ford Ikon because he protested against the Ikon parking parallel to their taxi at the toll naka. This means that we better keep our mouths shut if someone acts tough…who knows if there are goons traveling in the other car!

Delhi too has had its share of problems. There was the fiasco immediately after the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway was opened and the commuters had to wait for an hour or so just to pay the toll tax. Apparently the situation has improved now, although I could not find confirmation of this.

I don’t understand why rules cannot be enforced when toll nakas are usually over staffed. There is often an extra person standing outside the cashier’s window, either to help with the cash (!) or open the gate if the electronic gate fails!


Once people know they will be fined they will be more careful about getting into the wrong lane. The extra money can be put into building better infrastructure…hi-tech cameras for example.They could also have better quality people manning these toll plazas, people who are interested in regulating the traffic and keeping order. Once I asked a guy why they allowed the drivers to get away with such nonsense. The answer I got was: aisa hi hai (it’s like that only!)

Cameras are essential. They will keep drivers in check. And the cameras should also help in beefing up the anti-terror network. It is a shame that despite Mumbai being on the terror list, there are no cameras to capture images of vehicles at entry and exit points of the city.

Written by: Digvijay

Employee blogging

Writing a blog, which is almost every day now, can be challenging and great fun at the same time. There are days when I have several ideas and no time to capture them all, and then other days when I can't think of anything to write.

But we are in the business of the consulting, research, Web and blogs, and so I have to work at it. I am discovering that so do some of my colleagues. I learned a few weeks ago that our colleagues have been great in writing - completely unrelated to their area of interest and work too. I love to write and express myself self through writing.

I must admit I was delighted when I went through our company's blog page today and realised that we finally have the blogs running full flegedly. We have other employees who blog but are more shy about sharing - they're writing about dating and all which I understand may not fit in the workplace. But overall, I encourage everyone to blog, both to express themselves but also to learn the pros and cons of the media so we can help our customers better understand the radical changes that are happening in publishing right now.

Written by: Tina Singh

Wearing Technology- Fashion merges with Technology

Shirts that light up with LED ads. Textiles with embedded temperature sensors. Athletic gear that changes color to show the intensity of an athlete's workout. Technology is not just for your desktop anymore; it has the potential to infiltrate your closet.

Wearable technology is being used in sports and medical care to improve performance and help people lose weight. Fashion designers are incorporating tech elements into fabrics to give clothes a modern edge, and gamers are using wearable tech to enhance their gameplay. It's a cultural and technological time when the ubiquitous nature of tech means that people interested in the fusion between portable circuits and fashion can now wear what's "smart" and what computes. And with social networking technologies taking off in certain circles—generating a true look at me syndrome—wearable technology follows that fashion, along a means of self-expression, and picks up where computers, portable or otherwise, leave off.

Activities by researchers and clothing designers with wearable technologies show an active interest in the field. There is a growing trend in the use of technologies in the fashion world, it includse the uses words that evoke change and embedded intelligence.

Written by: Neha Gupta

Reality shows have a new high

REALITY SHOWS like Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Star Voice of India are truly enigmatic. They have a magnetic effect on the audience and become hot topics of conversation doing rounds at dinner tables, college canteens and lunch hours. They focus on discovering and nurturing the hidden talent form various corners of India and transform the deserving candidates into professionals. These reality shows seem to be a publicity gimmick cashing upon the celebrities participating in them. Does this mean that the respective channels hosting these so-called celebrity reality shows are deceiving the audience just to boost their TRP ratings and generate publicity for the characters participating in them?

Celebrity reality shows are the latest craze in the world of entertainment. They are also a great means of generating revenue and are helping various channels to raise their TRP ratings.

I don’t think there is anything real about the celebrity reality shows. They are nothing more than a revenue generating trick for the various television channels. All these people performing in them are celebrities and they are definitely doing this for money. There cannot be a comparison between reality talent hunt shows like Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Star Voice of India and celebrity reality shows as those platforms are meant for discovering new talent which is genuine but the latter is fake.

Celebrity reality shows enable the audiences to relate with the stars in a rather realistic manner. It is on the sets of these shows that they get to see a non-glamourised version of the stars. People start believing in what is shown to them. They are happy to see the drama queens and kings of popular Indian soaps, desi pop stars and models without make-up and striving to win a competition. But what stands out is the fact that how real is all the back-stage drama depicted on-screen? Where do these shows stand in front of reality talent hunt shows and what makes the audience fall for them?

The other day, I was visiting a friend. I could hear her mother conversing over the phone, drooling over Rakhi Sawant and Kahmira Shah’s performances in Nach Baliye. She even cancelled a dinner visit on account of missing her favorite celebrity reality show in the night.

I feel that celebrity reality shows should not be given the same weightage as talent hunt shows but they are not a medium to fool people. I agree that celebrities are participating in these shows from all walks of life but then they also have to face tough competition from each other. They are also human at the end. I can only say that these shows are not entirely made-up but also have some shades of reality.

Celebrity reality shows are not only a mode of entertainment but are also backed with controversies and target the emotions of the audience. If you see your favorite star dancing with a broken foot or back-pain, you are compelled to vote. Moreover, these shows depict stars appealing for votes as if the competition means the world to them. Certain stars in the past have done whatever they could to win these competitions.

Written by: Digvijay

Significance of Teachers day

From scribbles to sentences, from mumbles to meaning, it is their words that weave together a life that could have been otherwise. They scold, they mould, they give and guide.They live for knowledge, and yearn for good.

In India 5th September is celebrated as Teachers' day, a mark of tribute to the contribution made by teachers to the society. 5th September is the birthday of a great teacher Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, who was a staunch believer of education, and was the well-known diplomat, scholar, president of India and above all a teacher.

Teachers mold the lives that they influence because the lessons learnt from teachers remain with their students throughout life. We should always respect our teachers. Teachers need encouragement and support from the community to feel that their devotion to students is appreciated.

Teacher's day is now one of the occasions that is looked forward by the teachers and students alike as on this occasion its not only when teachers are praised but also around various schools students dress up as a representation of their teachers and take various lectures that are assigned to the teachers they represent. As the day passes the students perform the regular activities that are performed by the teacher's. On this day students realize what it means to be a teacher and what it means to control the future of several students in their classes and also teachers are reminded what it felt like when they were the students.

In our success they find happiness, and in our failings, they still see the seeds of a better tomorrow. A second parent, or someone more, who paves the way for us to Be, what we were meant to Be. They make us think, believe in us, and makes us believe in ourselves.

This Teachers’ Day, let’s celebrate the essence of their presence in all of our lives.

Written by: Tina Singh

What a good hiring practice is?

When your company is growing in its initial years, it’s critical to have a good recruitment process to ensure you are hiring the best talent. In small companies there is no room for mediocrity at any level. Each and every employee has to perform well, be participative and present their views as and when required.

Its an old proverb “A players hire A players, B players hire B players” is so true in real sense, as by mistake we can hire the wrong people and hiring B players can be fatal to a startup, as witnessed.

The most common hiring mistakes I have seen people make are:
- hiring people like them
- hiring in a hurry to get someone into the job
- hiring for the sake of getting someone, when a new project comes in
- hiring someone and then realising that the person was not worth paying so much
- hiring someone who is just okay
- the candidate should not be hired just because he/she is referred by an important employee in the company
- the cabdidate should not be hired just because he/she is a nice person, possessing the skills to perform well is utmost important
- hiring without listening to other people’s(colleagues)input

But never mind, as everyone makes some or the other hiring mistakes and if you have realized that you have made mistakes of such sort in the past or are still living with them, do not panic. Its never too late. The most important thing to do is to recognize it quickly and get rid with the mistake on but there’s a process that can help reduce the number of mistakes which I’ve witnessed here in. Most of the points are obvious everyone knows about them, but often do not follow.

The steps are:

- Write a job description. Be clear about the attributes that we are seeking in the ideal candidate and make sure the interviewers have a copy of this job description and have read it even before interviewing

- The interview team should be amongst the cross section of people who will work with and around the new employee

- Set up the interviews, make sure the candidate knows who they are meeting and what for. He/she should be made clear about the profile for which he has come

- Follow up with each interviewer as soon as the interview is over, so that we can to get their independent, fresh reactions

The bottom line in a startup is to hire people who are really smart. IQ and attitude matter more than any other aspect in a young company. If your employee is smart and motivated they’ll learn what needs to be done, especially if you are in a new market where you are having to figure it out as you go along. If I have to choose between IQ and experience while hiring, I will definately hire IQ every time.

Written by: Digvijay

Downturn in a start-up

Today when I sit down and ponder upon the situation right away, a lot of thoughts flash through my mind. In this particular blog I'll be talking about my experiences in the past 6 months and my take on how to manage cash through a downturn in your company.

Here are the ten ideas I have thought over and finally penned them down - leaving out the colorful story around them:

1. Build a detailed model of cash flow so you can test every decision against it and it should be so strong so that minor ups and downs might not effect the company.

2. Push out accounts payable as long as you can. This takes a tough accountant or controller.

3. Structure the deals properly keeping all the pricing factor in mind.

4. Don’t destroy your market but do some aggressive deals and atleast maintain a buzz in the market place and carve out a niche for yourself.

5. Spend in sales and maketing to keep the company growing. Maintain a neat website of your company as its the 1st impression people get. Remember it is the face of your company.

6. Manage performance of your employees aggressively. If someone isn’t performing, motivate them, enhance their skills, sit with them and hear them out. Let them work their own way and only replace them if you absolutely have to.

7. Squeeze into your office space. Put off the idea of taking a bigger and a more expensive office space on rent as long as you possibly can.

8. Maintain a good credit value in the market space and use it before you need it. By the time you need it you won’t be able to get it, so get it while you can.

9. Likewise if you need to raise venture capital do it well before you need it, and don’t get greedy on valuation. A successful company makes all its employees comfortable and make sure that there is perfect rotaion of money, don’t risk long term success for valuation or your percentage.

10. If you have to, take the company through a cut in employee welfare and other office expenses. A CEO should cut down his expenses first, cut all bonuses and luxuries, cut all incentives and when you have no choice make your employees realise the critical situation of the company and demand their co-operation to pull the company through. Believers will stick with you, and they are the ones you want.


Written by: Neha Gupta

You may be hooked to Big Boss

You know the best thing about these reality shows? They want us to be judgmental. They go out of their way to grab our attention, want us to have an opinion about them, however good or bad. Reality shows even encourage us to vote for their favorite candidate on-screen. Even if briefly, it puts the viewer in a powerful spot and it maintains the enthusiasm, so that the viewer is hooked on to it for long. The ones out to seek attention aren't doing it for charity either. The reality shows promise that they would share the money recieved through voting in charity, but unfortunately they end up filling their own pockets and make their own money, an attractive amount too. And so whether you enjoy it, feel apathetic or plain disgusted, reality TV, for the time being is here to stay.

Welcome to yet another show and its star-anchor. This time it is Shilpa Shetty. After what Big Brother did for her career, she has every reason to promote the cause, as the glamorous hostess of the second season of Big boss.

For me, it's a truly assorted bunch of celebrities and controversial newsmakers. The outcome could either be TRP-boosting brilliance or boredom to the point-of-no-return. For one, these folks appear to have nothing in common -- dramatically diverse personalities hailing from different walks of life and circumstances; sooner or later intolerance is bound to slip in. That's what Big Boss, the desi version of UK's Big Brother, is counting on anyway.

A house is as interesting or boring as its inmates. And, going by the member profiles of Bigg Boss’s house - this one seems quite interesting. Thankfully, the idea of Bigg Boss - putting together a group of unrelated contestants from different backgrounds and personality profiles for a certain number of days indulging in games of one-upmanship, as it appeals to one of the basic human curiosities that sustain.

Secondly, unlike most first season episodes, Bigg Boss’ second season comes with some newer twists and a much more enthiusiastic bunch of inmates. For starters, this is perhaps the first Indian reality show to have a politician on board in Sanjay Nirupam, a former jail bird Monica Bedi, a rustic restaurateur Ashutosh Kaushik, a much maligned abusive celebrity husband Raja Chowdhury and a defamed celeb son Rahul Mahajan going beyond the convenient cast of models and actors.

Reality shows seem to be the new age entertainment recipe. They might be selling controversies or cashing upon people’s emotions, but at the end of the day they are popular shows with an ever-growing TRP rating.

Written by: Rohit Mishra

Who am I ?

I've been noodling around with the ongoing question of what I want to be when I grow up. It's a question I think persists for us all. There are those rare few who know exactly what they want to do, who they are meant to be, from the beginning. And then there are some who search and try on different skins until they find the one that fits and they settle in and say "ahhhh now I am happy and contented". But for most of us, we constantly reevaluate and continue to search for our path, our purpose, our best self and life.

I'm in one of those moods. I'm asking myself those existential questions - what am I meant to do? Who am I meant to be? How can I add value? Earlier I wished, I could win a lottery or a prize money and didn't have to work my entire life and just spend aimlessly and unboundly. Then life would be so fantastic, this is how I enter the fantasy world and think of all the good things which can happen to me. I would shop around, travel and try all great things with that money.

I've been surprised with some of my answers this time around. I'm having the bizarre and a feeling that if I won the lottery I'd keep working, may be to gain some relevant experience. I could indulge my passion for learning without having to worry about the outcome. But if I won the lottery I could hire a driver to take me to work, and a morning personal assistant to get me up and help me out the door. Sounds great hmmm!!!

Do you grapple with these or similar questions? Are you satisfied with the answers? Have you figured out what you want to be when you grow up or, better yet, do you feel like a grown up yet? If till date you haven't started thinking about it, do it from now and take a plunge......

Written by: Neha Gupta