The Great Indian Fasting Spectacle!

I wish RK Laxman was in his heyday right now.. The 2G/3G scam combined with the Anna Hazare/Baba Ramdev drama would have been excellent fodder for him! I'm sure he'd have come up with something like this, albeit with the ubiquitous common man overlooking the scene...

It is an apt portrayal of times where fasting has become some sort of a business.. an activity to achieve a self-satisfying objective.. a tool for whipping up mass hysteria and emotionally blackmailing a government which is already infested by the white ants of ‘Breaking News’ hungry 24/7 media.

I understand that corruption is indeed the bane of our society and it does seem to have reached a point beyond reasonable tolerance limits. However, it is a cultural issue and can’t be cured overnight by staged dramas in the garb of fasting. This is akin to saying that a dish made wrongly can be set right by just putting some tadka. Issues like this require extensive public debate and a considered, rational approach. Not the emotionally-charged, quick-fixing that fasts like these can at best yield. Fasts blind the public to one approach without logical reasoning or awareness. How many of us who supported Anna Hazare actually bothered to know what exactly is the lokpal bill? How many amongst the few aware souls pondered upon alternative ways to combat corruption?

We owe our nation a stable and sustainable solution to corruption – one that has been arrived at by a thoughtful and aware public, not a fancy and ambitious plan with so many loopholes that falls flat in the implementation phase!

Having said that, fasts have been a useful political tool from the time of Mahatma Gandhi and should not be overlooked in a hurry! They have their own place in determining the direction of public policy. Going by past experience, they have been turning points for mass-movements that shape history. However, they should not be used as short-cuts to subvert a long-drawn movement. It should be borne in mind that they should not become weapons of lobbying or enforcing one’s point of view. They should just be used to mobilize the people and synergize their energies towards a common public goal of a corruption-free, civic and equitable society.

The Whole Shebang - All you can think of in 4 amazing days!

When you begin to write about a holiday that included beaches, mountains, waterfalls, temples, ashrams, backwaters, forests and best of friends, you are left wondering where to start!

Starting in a rather nondescript bus from Bangalore on a Thursday night, we had no premonition of what lay ahead- With three happy-go-lucky guys on board, we understandably threw planning and preparation out of the window.

The first day started with a religious twist as we visited the famous Sri Krishna temple in Udupi. We followed that up with a trip to St. Mary's island; it's the prettiest island one can ever imagine - rocks, pristine blue waters and coconut groves dotting its shores. A leisurely trip to the nearby town of Manipal ended the day for us, but the highlights of the day were the island and the awesome udupi food at Hotel Woodlands which we visited twice the same day!

We were all set to go to Murudeshwar the following morning, but were told by our cab driver that a 3 hour detour to Shingeri via the famous ghat section of Agumbe would be worth our while. And he was spot on! The hairpin bends and cooler climes of Agumbe followed by the spiritual experience at the Shingeri Ashram did provide a very different dimension to the trip. The evening in Murudeshwar was another spell-binding experience. The glorious sunset on the shores of the Arabian Sea was ethereal to say the least! We walked along the beach to the mouth of the backwaters and waded through crystal clear aqua pura, soaking in the sights and the sounds of nature.

Gokarna was the next surprise package. It is a quaint, small town containing a famous temple and a market selling memorabilia. Gokarna has 5 beaches - each one unique in its appeal. The first is the generally frequented 'Gokarna Main Beach' and is like any other beautiful beach in India with women clad in sarees and half-naked men frolicking in the water. The second one, Kudle, is a drastically different world- foreigners outnumber Indians by a ratio of 1 to 10 and it is extremely shallow and clear with rocks strewn along the stretch. The third is the fabled Om Beach - this is a family beach by the day and gets converted into a lively goa-esque firang beach dotted with shacks by the night. Its got a very happy and spirited feel to it- quite literally! The next beach, Half Moon Beach, is a small, quiet private beach with coupl es basking in the beauty of what lies beyond them and between. The last one is Paradise Beach, that lives up to its name with its natural splendor and colorful shacks. The path between the beaches is both tedious and beautiful - imagine scaling the majestic western ghats with the imposing hill slope on one side and the rock-splashing sea on the other!



We blended with the environs and donned various hats through the day. We were symbols of piety in the temple, excited adventurers along the trekking paths and happy holidayers on the beaches. Reminiscing on the day's act ivities while gazing at the stars on th e beach at night, we realized that this is the kind of trip we always year yearned for!



The next day, we bid adieu to Gokarna and headed to Yana, a mysterious setting of huge monolithic rocks in the middle of dense jungles. We almost felt like paleolithic men exploring the numerous caves and crevices at Yana.



Our last spot was Jog Falls- India's highest waterfall. We had to climb down a million stairs and cross several precarious rocks to reach the foot of the falls but the effort was well worth it. The spray of water was so intense that we could just see a wall of water in front of our eyes with little rainbows being formed on the droplets. The rocks near the base were covered with moss and it was almost impossible to scale them; nevertheless we slipped and slithered our way to the water, enjoying every bit of it!



Returning back to Bangalore the following morning, we brought the curtains down on the most comprehensive vacation we ever had- A Whole Shebang indeed!

A Developement Blueprint for India

Since Amartya Sen has advanced the capability theory in welfare economics, we have come to appreciate the importance of functional capabilities as a parameter of development of an economy and the society at large. This lends governments across the world to focus on capability enhancement, which is the driver for development. India currently boasts of being an emerging economic superpower. But how much of this has translated into real development? According to the Human Development Report 2009, India stands at a poor 135th rank in decreasing order of development. Is something amiss? Are we progressing as fast as we should and in the right direction? These are some of the questions that haunt us as we step into the second decade of the new millennium.

A vast majority of our population is still languishing at the bottom of the pyramid. According to Prof. CK Prahlad (Author: Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid), a rhombus-shaped demographical spread should be what our developmental efforts must be targeted at, rather than the wide-based pyramid that exists currently. Understandably then, we must target fast-paced socio-economic development through capability addition at the bottom of the pyramid. In simple words, empowerment and enablement of the poor should be the focus of our agenda and should consume the king’s share of our resources. Development of capabilities would encompass wide-ranging social objectives like rural education, promotion of rural entrepreneurship through microfinance and other measures, impetus to rural infrastructure development, inland water redistribution (connecting rivers), etc. This will automatically silence many social devils like naxalism which threaten to decimate our country in the near future.

Further, the HDR 2009 states that large gains to human development can be achieved by lowering barriers to human movement and improving the treatment of movers. This should be another focus area for application of our resources. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are prime examples of how development has been sought to have kept out of bounds of immigrants. This has to end and a lot of our resources also have to be diverted towards eradication of this social demon too.

I’m sure that by this two-point agenda, the orientation of our developmental efforts will be in synergy with the paradigm of holistic development and inclusive growth.

NGOs.. Why Are They Called So!

I always thought that NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) was a pretty stupid name for organizations that commit themselves to social work. I mean.. every damn private organization is non-governmental.. A company like Infosys is non-governmental.. A college like Loyola is non-governmental.. So what's the big deal about naming these social organizations only as Non Governmental Organizations?

Till it dawned upon me very recently that they are actually doing the work that the Government oughta be doing.. that's why they are agents of public welfare who are trying to make an impact where the government has failed. Isn't it the government's responsibility to safeguard the interest of the society we live in? Isn't it the government's job to ensure that they take care of the needs of not only the majority, but also the marginalized?

I was recently lamenting to a friend that all the poor and disabled beggars on the streets who cannot earn a living for themselves because of physical or mental disability must be given food and shelter by the government at designated centres in every state. It seemed reasonable to me that these people who had no-one were the responsibility of the society at large. And instead of throwing our change at them and expecting them to live off it, we would prefer if the government could provide for them from the taxes that we pay. To this, my friend retorted- why should the government bother? If some NGO wants to do this, they can.

So has the government become only a representative of people who constitute a sizable vote bank? Does it mean that just because these people on the streets do not really contribute to the vote kitty, the government can wash hands off the responsibility of their well being?

Makes me think that in a country of rapidly increasing population and even more rapidly increasing number of NGOs, there should be some fundamental changes in the mechanism of governance. There should be some means of the public having more say in governance than by just voting. There should be a way that the marginalized communities be represented in the government. Because the government is not only for the farmers and the industrialists, but also for the orphans, the AIDS-infected, the widows, the handicapped and the elderly. Just because they are the leftovers of the society doesn't mean that they are not a part of the society at all!

I know that this article raises more questions and gives less answers, but as a naive student of business administration, I feel that there needs to be a grassroots change in the structure of governance.. A change that makes these marginalized people meaningful stakeholders who have a say.. A change which is perhaps so fundamental that we may have to relook at the one vote per head policy! A change which disturbs the dynamics of power.. Now what exactly is this change, can be debated by more able people like scholars of political science, social science and economics, but I sense that something is surely wrong if the society has to device non-governmental and community driven measures to help the marginalized gain access to public money.

Customer Service that Builds Your Brand

With all the raves about customer service around, do companies really care if the customer service they provide is going to translate into Brand Equity? Maybe we should give a thought to that.

I was reading the blog of a lady called Brenda, who put her iPhone in a purse along with a sauce sachet.. You guessed the rest! The iPhone was floating in a ketchup pool by the time she got home. Needless to say, the apple of her eye, her iPhone stopped working. Absolutely aghast at the prospect of losing it forever, she goes to one of Apple's customer service guys whom they call a "Genius Bar Person" (trust Apple to make a job title sound cool).. The guy informs her that the pin inside the jack hole of her iPhone had been permanently damaged and it is not repairable. Adds on to say that the warranty obviously doesn't cover damages arising out of such misuse.. And then when she's having her "Oh Nooooo" moment, he informs her that since its the first time Brenda's walked into an Apple customer service, he'll make an exception for her and replace the iPhone at NO EXTRA COST!

Will Brenda ever vouch for any other company other than Apple in the future? Will she miss telling her husband about this? Will she forget to tell each of her friends about her story the next time she meets them? Will she miss buying many more apple products for herself, her husband and her 4 kids? Will she skip a chance to blog about this? Answer to all these questions is a resounding NO.

Lessons to be learnt-
1) Make customer service sound personalized and ensure that the customer knows that this is being done "specially for him/her".
2) Never give away anything on a platter or else it fails to make an impact. Give the customer his "Oh No" moment. Make it sound that its virtually an impossible request. Don't make him expect it out of you. Give it out when he least expects.
3) Customers think its a pain-in-the-a*s process to get something repaired or to get some issue sorted out. Make it a pleasurable and memorable experience for them. Make it sound cool and fun- like with apple's "Genius Bar Person" tag :)

Letting It Go!

A lasting memory from the movie titanic is the scene in which the captain of the ship just surrenders to the inevitable and waits for the water to engulf him.

Makes me think.. makes me wonder if giving up is as inglorious as it is made out to be. In our world, heroism is a concept that stresses on being a never-say-die warrior. A man who fights tooth and nail and doesn't accept defeat even at the moment of death.

My question is- is man trying to assert his supermacy on the supreme? Isn't it just as glorious to accept at an appropriate stage that there’s something that you have to eventually bow your head to? This lends an interesting paradigm to heroism, love, careers and life as such.

Err… wait.. Did I say love? Purely intentional sir.. I have seen two kinds of love- the crazy love and the controlled love. I’ve seen people rant- if love isn’t crazy, it ain’t love! I believe in the contrary. I don’t believe that true love begets madness. I don’t believe in the “get her at all costs” syndrome. Its coz I believe that this popular attitude turns love into a conquest.. a maniacal pursuit.. a path that focuses on the prize, not the journey. Love is a beautiful journey.. one that should be enjoyed and relished.. the focus should be on giving as much of happiness and smiles to your partner as you possibly can.. Its not a mechanical quest that concentrates on the person, not the persona.. the target, not the trip. And then love reduces to just two outcomes- win or lose. But if you are controlled and are prepared to let it go, you know that love will always be a win, no matter what the outcome. Coz love, like nature, has its own queer way of finding its path and you disrespect it by defining the path by yourself.

So, my friends.. my way of life is- live it to your fullest and don’t decide destinations, but decide directions. Do your best, but always remember that not all things are worth winning. Sometimes, the charm is in letting it go..

The Redundancy of the Past

A not-so-famous dialogue exchange from sholay:
Veeru (to Thakur): Hum do log dus logon ko sambhal sakte hain
Veeru (to Jai): Dus kuch zyada toh nahi bol diya Jai?
Jai: Ab bol diya hai toh sambhal lenge!

Pardon me for not reproducing the exact words, but this innocuous dialogue from sholay has been my favourite ever since i saw the movie. Though plain and simple, something about it struck the right chord. Jai knows that Veeru might be over-committing, but then he confidently seconds him as if it was his own opinion.

Over the years, the deep insights that I have derived from this seemingly insipid sentance has become engrained in me as an important part of my attitude towards life.

Have you ever wondered why life seems to suddenly come to a halt? Why everything seems dull and boring? Why we don't seem to want or do anything? More often than not, these are the times when our mind travels back in the past and conducts a mental post-mortem of the life we've spent. Life is made interesting by only two possibilities: One, the joy of experiencing the present and two, the drive to experience an anticipated happiness in the future. But the times when we foray into our past are ridden with self-doubt, grief, regret, self-critique and more questions than answers. I'm not saying that such times do not highlight the happy times spent in the past, but these are usually few and far between.

It is in this context that the significance of that dialogue can be appriciated. I believe that instead of dwelling with questions like "Did I do the right thing?", "Why did I do that?", "Why does this always happen to me?" etc, we must take the past in a matter-of-fact way. It is something that cannot be changed. Something that is as indelibly a part of your life as you are. There is no point in pondering about all these questions and missing the joy of relishing the present or preparing for the future. I think the right attitude is: "Ab jo ho gaya so ho gaya.. Let me live by it rather than question its very premise". That is the exact attitude that is beautifuly captured in that dialogue.

Also, another thing, albeit minor, that emerges out of it is that you need to stand, no matter what, by what your partner has committed to the outer world. A partner's words are your words. And if you have any reservations about it, you better not wash your linen in public by objecting to his commitment in front of anyone.

Another takeaway is about confidence in your decisions. Life is hardly ever about taking the right decision. It is mostly about swiftly deciding what seems right and sticking by it with confidence. Seldom does the key to great decision making lie in the decision itself- it is in the implementation thereoff.

Sometimes, life does teach you a lot in little doses right? Like in that one line of a 4 hour movie!