Anguish...

"I am angry, frustrated and depressed. I am angry at the manic dogs of war who have invaded Mumbai. I am frustrated by the impotence of my government in Mumbai and Delhi, tone-deaf to the anguish of my fellow citizens. And I am depressed at the damage being done to the idea of India. " MJ Akbar

Pursuit of Happiness

"Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist. " - Epicurus

A pamphlet announcing the opening of a new bar & restaurant near my home named Epicurus, triggered memories of my childhood when i used to naively think that Epicurus was an European restaurant chain because of the numerous outlets of the same name that i encountered. Only later in my life, i came to know that Epicurus, the ancient greek philosopher inspired his followers to seek to live without pain or fear and was certainly ahead of his time in his belief that the existence and behavior of everything in the world is based on the movement of invisible particles, which we now know to be atoms.

Few philosophers have come up with more suggestive and more relevant answers to the pursuit of happiness than Epicurus. He taught that the point of all one's actions was to attain pleasure (conceived of as tranquility) for oneself, and that this could be done by limiting one's desires and by banishing the fear of the gods and of death.

Epicurus' hedonism was widely denounced in the ancient world as undermining traditional morality. In the modern age, we think of Epicureanism as a life of eating and drinking to excess in order to best enjoy life. However, this was never the intention of Epicurus, who merely wanted people to understand that to experience modest pleasures will allow fear and pain to subside, in itself creating the greatest pleasure of all: a life of contentment through equilibrium.

The Age of Anxiety

Both professor and prophet depress,

For vision and longer view

Agree in predicting a day

Of convulsion and vast evil,

When the Cold Societies clash

Or the masses are set in motion

To overrun the earth,

And the great brain which began

With lucid dialectics

Ends in a horrid madness.

(W.H.Auden, The Age of Anxiety)

Peter Drucker in his book "The Age of Discontinuity" said that "corporations can't provide their workers with economic security if the companies' own future is highly insecure." The unending turmoil in the Global Financial Markets has sparked deep fears for jobs and wages, despite the bailout packages from US, China and other members of the G20.

The combination of increased uncertainities found in everyday life with the insecurities of the global economy is potent. The lack of control which many of us have our everyday lives means that we must all learn to ride the " juggernaut of modernity".

End of an era

" The passing of champions can be cathartic; it is part of the large, primitive theatrics that sports perform. "

Sports is an activity in which even the greatest winners, finally lose, if only because their bodies eventually give out on them and they can no longer do what they once did with what seemed such magnificent ease that set them apart from other mortals.

Although we are all aware that some athlete heros in team sports are primarily selfless, some largely selfish, it is very possible to have a hero who has it both ways, fulfilling his own hero's destiny while fighting unrelentingly for his team. Such a mythic man, is Anil Kumble.

Kumble's decision to retire has plunged the Indian Cricket fans into pathos. The moment carried an accumulation of memories and meanings that are involved in the drama of great athletes aging, failing and retiring.

There will be no way of estimating Kumble's value to the Indian Cricket team from a dignity and morale standpoint and Ganguly's value for getting under the opposition's skin. There are relatively very few athletes like Kumble and Ganguly whose glories and declines seem to acquire an emotional importance.

I shudder to think of the day when the "Great Man" bids farewell to Cricket. It will certainly be a day of national mourning.

Four Days in Hyderabad

A good meal begins with expectation, continues with gratification, and ends with satisfaction.

When it comes to food, Hyderabad is vibrant, innovative and open to gastronomic ideas. It is a city of appetite. A four day restaurant crawl across the city is just not enough to savor the Hyderabadi/Andhra cuisine. There will always be uneaten meals, restaurants unvisited and foods untried.

Friday 10/10 - Chutney's -Chiranjeevi Dosa, Babai Idli, Filter coffee; Angeethi - Roti, Biryani, Karela and Cashew Curry; Paradise - Veg. Biryani, Qubani ka Meetha; Irani Chai, Tie Biscuit at Blue Sea Cafe

Saturday 11/10 - Chutney's -Guntur Idli, MLA Pesarattu; Annapoorna Andhra Mess- Andhra Thali-Gonugura Chutney, Tomato Pappu, Bangaladumpa Veypudi, Aratikayala Kura

Sunday 12/10 - Upma at Home; Mutton Biryani, Sheer Korma at Cafe Bahar; Chai, Osmania Biscuit at Blue Sea; Rayalaseema Thali with Ragi Sangati at Rayalaseema Ruchulu

Monday 13/10 - Kamat, Secunderabad - Rava Idli, Masala Dosa, Filter coffee; Gujju Thali at Gujarati Bhojanalay; Falooda at Shadab; Andhra Thali at Abhiruchi, Chai, Samosa at Hilton Cafe

Clockwatchers

"I used to work in a bank. There was this button on the desk and I kept looking at it every day for a month, and finally I just pushed it... it was the alarm. They never tell you anything because they're afraid you'll take their stupid jobs." - A dialogue from the film, Clockwatchers(1998).

The experience of being underloaded, of too little responsibility and work is more stressful than being overloaded. If you are overloaded, atleast you feel needed and useful, even if you are overworked, overwhelmed and exhausted. We all have a choice between tolerating the routine ("being a clock watcher"), or standing up and making a change.

Most of us start our careers with lofty ambitions but do we eventually become what we despise the most? Do we all become clockwatchers and architects of our own petty domains and self-important delusions?

Doing a favour to Google

Blogs are the saviours for search engines, as without them the likes of Google would have very little fresh content to index, other than brand new sites which are few and far between.

As someone who belives in Google's credo of doing no evil, i wanted to contribute some content to the blog today.

I did not want to write about the financial crisis because a vast patch in the amazon forests have already disappaeared in analysing the debacle. I did not want to write about Saurav Ganguly's retirement as he will contradict anything he says or does the very next day. I did not want to write on when Sachin will cross Brian Lara's record, as at this rate it will be next year(if he is still around).I did not want to write on the anguish of allowing Ponting to make a century in the first test of the tour as visitors are gods for us and we have a history of redeeming visiting batsmen(remember the resurgence of Matt Hayden?). I did not want to write on the Telugu movie i saw yesterday, as you have to make fun of it to keep from getting angry, I mean really angry. I did not want to write on Lewis Hamilton's disastorous outing in the Japan GP, as he is again messing up his chances to win the championship. I did not want to write on Chinese manufacturing beacuse if they are not manufacturing kids' toys with lead paint or contaminating pet food, they are mixing toxins in toothpaste and milk.

Now that i have put in lot of indexable words in this post, i will stop the rant!

Are counter offers counter productive?

"The best way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it"- Oscar Wilde

The rationale and resolution of resigning takes a pounding for most people just as a revised compensation package is put on the table. The temptation to continue in a familiar work environment is very strong and many succumb to it.

The moment an employee resigns, if the management needs her/him, they will immediately flatter the employee with:

"We need you" (Until you serve your purpose and we find a replacement).
"You can't do this to us at this time." (You have to feel guilty about leaving)
"We never knew you were unhappy." (We don't care about a employee feedback system)
"We're sorry for the current state but you're too valuable, and we need you" (Of course they're sorry. You're about to leave on your terms, not theirs.)
"We were just about to give you a promotion/raise, and it was confidential until now".( You were'nt worth it till now. We were holding out the promotion till you want to leave, we have saved money till now)
"The big boss wants to meet with you before you make your final decision"(You were invisible to us till yesterday, but as we need to fill your vacany with an expense, the boss will try to save the expense)

The downtrends of accepting a counteroffer are that :

Instantly ruin all credibility with your new employer - he'll never give you another chance; the word will get around, and you'll come off looking like a gold-digger rather than a good employee;

Your present employer will no longer trust you; and you may wonder why you had to go to the point of resignation to get what they now think you're worth.

You can perhaps imagine a counter-offer so enormous that you'd be nuts to turn it down - but there will always be a catch.

Is it better to stay the chosen course?

Andalucian idle and the Malaga magic

I have learned that sales can be fun, except at the end of the year, the end of the half year, the end of the quarter, and sometimes the end of the month when you need to reach your quota. This is when your destiny is controlled by Gods, aka customers, who may or may not opt to buy your stuff at fire sale prices. Or, when management makes decisions that take success out of your hands, but places the blame securely in your lap. After the hullabaloo at the end of the year, you look forward to the annual company meetings which promise those free trips to lush tropical resorts, exclusive country clubs, and five-star restaurants. It is also the time that the bean counters enforce all standards of frugality and forces you to travel in cattle class and share rooms.

The smarter among the salespeople have realized that there are many legitimate ways of funding your personal life - to admittedly a small degree - through your business life, like planning a vacation to coincide with your travel to the annual company meeting. This time around, five of us decided to make a visit to Spain. But due to some irrational exuberance, two of the group missed getting the Visa on time and rest of us made the visit. At the outset, there was no intention of making a quixotic tour, but it ended like one.

I expected Spain's Malaga to be a tacky town, brimming over with charter flight tourists on their way to the Costa del Sol, avoided by anyone with an allergy to resort towns. But I found none of the package tourists looking for bacon and egg breakfasts and instead a solid Spanish crowd eating croissant and drinking coffee as they stood at bars late each morning. It seems tourists give Andalucía’s charming city not a second glance before heading to the horribly crowded beaches of the Costa del Sol.

But it is gorgeous location to happily spend a week, a month, eating tapas and drinking wine, or shopping for bread, cheese and vegetables at the huge indoor market to picnic in a lush park, with friends and a two Euro bottle of sangria. It would take that long for anyone to learn to navigate the winding cobblestone laid old streets, which luckily all seem to lead, in the end, to the main plaza. And to be able to find the Picasso museum - testament to Malaga's famous son - whenever you like, rather than because chance leads you to it.

The Moors occupied Malaga until the mid fifteenth century and have left their mark on the city's historic centre and its 10th century fortress, La Alcazaba. After the Moors, the city became one of the biggest trading centres on the european peninsula. Now Malaga is a charming hybrid of old and new, a shopper's dream as well as an historian's. We submerged ourselves in the streets and the gorgeous markets, which are a food lover's fantasy, overflowing with olives, meats, cheeses and breads, tapas bars and vegetable vendors.

All through Andalusia and especially in sleepy villages like Mijas, we walked hours every day until we began to recognize corners, streets and plazas, knew where to get the best coffee and veg sandwiches, and had been ripped off by street side hawkers.

Our road journey took us inland to Ronda and Granada, where we stopped roadside in golden fields watching others eat delights like calamari and avocados, while we stuffed ourselves with bottle after bottle of mineral water and sandwiches. Ronda is layered with history, with monuments of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance periods, as well as the impressive neo-classical Plaza de Toros, which is one of the oldest bullrings in Spain. Ronda's bullring is said to be the birthplace of the school of bullfighting on foot (Matadors) rather than horseback (Picadors).
If Ronda and Granada mesmerized us with magnificent manmade structures, the caves of Nerja wore testimony to the fact that nature is the best architect of all. It was as if clothes of rock were folded and stuck to the ceiling. It was truly amazing to be in a place which has been formed over 225 million years. To be reminded of being a speck in the universe is always humbling and gratifying too.

In the land of Don Quixote, you cannot help but follow the legend. On the last day of the sojourn, on a whim, we decide to go the rock of Gibraltar. Till that quixotic moment, we had followed a meticulous plan and the trip was a breeze. We knew that it was in a different administrative territory and our visa did not allow us to enter. However we decided to take a chance and reach there. Things just got better when one of us even forgot to bring the passport along. We entered Gibraltar, without anyone checking our credentials and spent 4 hours exploring the rock and the town. It was heartening to see the city center market full of Indian businessmen and bore testimony to their acumen, ambition and drive. On our way out of Gibraltar, we were told that we cannot reenter Schengen as we had only a single entry visa. But, as the officials were embarrassed and flummoxed by their slip of letting us in, they let us go after we assured that they we were flying out of Spain the same evening.

There are days in your life which you want to package and relive, day after day, exactly the same way. The vacation in Spain merited it, though we were feeling the withdrawal symptoms of being away from work. We returned back utterly glad for the Andalucían idle and the Malaga magic.

The Chinese Spectacle

The Summer Olympics got off to a start with a breathtaking and spectacular opening ceremony choreographed by Chinese Director Zhang Yimou. Zhang is known for movies like Raise the Red Lantern, Story of Qiu Ju and the recent blockbuster Curse of the Golden Flower. The opening ceremony was full with deeply symbolic elements of the Chinese culture and history. It was a gigantic task to distill 5000 years of Chinese culture and present it in 50 minutes with such aplomb.

I was left wondering how the Olympic rings were created out of thin air?

After all the controversy that the Olympic torch attracted, I was curious on how the cauldron will be lit. Chinese gymnastics legend Li Ning was hoisted by steel cables from the floor to just below the stadium's rim, where he ran a lap around the crest of the Bird's Nest, then lit the Olympic cauldron.

This was remarkable enough, but fell short of astonishing sight in the Barcelona Olympics where Paralympic games archer Antonio Rebollo lit the Olympic flame by shooting an arrow over the cauldron. The fact that Antonio is blind elevated the spectacle to a whole new level, which is arduous to match.

Childhood Dreams

Have you really achieved your childhood dreams or are you among the vast majority of people who just swim through life and take it as it comes? Is fulfillment of dreams essential to give a meaning to life or do you have a nihilist approach to life?

Last week saw the passing away of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. Randy gave his phenomenal ‘Last Lecture’ at CMU after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The lecture he gave-‘Really achieving Childhood Dreams’ combines humour, intelligence and inspiration. It is about overcoming obstacles, enabling dreams of others and seizing every moment. If you have not heard the lecture, do watch it on YouTube at http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&feature=related

‘We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand’ – Randy Pausch

Life's Paradoxes

Respect for the individual vs. Criticism
Being disciplined vs. Being innovative
Taking risks vs. Avoiding mistakes
Being an extrovert vs. Being an introvert
Knowing the details vs. Delegating responsibility
Fast decision process vs. Correct decisions
Centralized efficiencies vs. Decentralized responsiveness

Which side are you on?

The Glengarry Glen Ross Times

For salespersons, during a fiscal year end, the situations are straight out of the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, especially when the external environment is as volatile as it is currently. As the market goes cold and opportunities turn from a feast to a famine, the stakes are high and create a cauldron of anxiety, tension, and desperation. As the tagline of the movie goes " The hardest thing in life is sell "

The Long Tail

The internet has ushered in an era of unprecented choice, iTunes and Amazon offer nearly forty times as much as selection as a bricks and mortar superstore. As per the Pareto law, a market with a high freedom of choice will create a certain degree of inequality by favoring the upper 20% of the items ("hits" or "head") against the other 80% ("non-hits" or "long tail"). The group of persons that buy the hard-to-find or "non-hit" items is the customer demographic called the Long Tail, which was coined by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine article.

Successful Internet businesses have leveraged the Long Tail as part of their businesses and examples include eBay, Yahoo, Amazon, Netflix and Google.

In the social networking space, the Long Tail is being exploited by platforms such as Ning where more than 220,000 niche sites are hosted. Will the one-size-fits-all model of Facebook and MySpace will eventually give way to a multitude of narrowly focused sites ?

Reverse Globalization

As oil prices soar higher, the higher cost of transportation is obliterating the East Asian wage advantage. Cheaper transportation has played its part in globalization as businesses could transport raw materials to newly created manufacturing plants in the developing world, and then once again to market in the industrial nations. Globalization is thus dependent on cheap energy and cheap transportation.

Media in the US, recently reported that DESA , a company that makes heaters to keep football players warm, is moving all its production back to Kentucky after years of having them made in China. While it once cost $3,000 to ship a container from a city like Shanghai to New York, it now costs $8,000, prompting some businesses to look closer for manufacturing needs.

What happens if energy rates rise so high that the cost of shipping raw materials and processed goods in a global market exceeds savings from cheap labor abroad? Will it stop the march of Globalization?

The magic of Guus Hiddink

He is affectionately called 'Aussie Guus', 'Tsar Hiddink' and 'The Goose', has been led off football fields after astounding victories to chants of 'Guus for President', Guus Hiddink also become the first-ever foreigner to be given honorary South Korean citizenship.

Guus Hiddink is known for Five championships wins, a European Cup and Champions' League
semi-final with PSV Eindhoven, leading South Korea to a 4th place finish in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, taking the Netherlands into the same position in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, leading Australia to the second round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup—their first appearance in the tournament for 32 years. And now, his team Russia comprehensively outplayed the amazing Dutch team in Basel to reach the Semi Finals of the Euro 2008. Hiddink's legend is assured with all these achievements.

Hiddink has made a habit of turning underdogs to dark horses, and for those who had overseen, a reminder was served in performance of the Russians. Could Russia go on to weave a fairytale finish that would not only lift the spirits of a whole nation, but also add yet another glittering star to the manager’s illustrious career?

Pitch Invasion

There is a memorable scene in "Jerry McGuire" where Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) tests Jerry's (Tom Cruise) resolve through a very long telephone conversation, which culminates in the famous "Show Me the Money!" telephone yelling match between Rod and Jerry. Among other things, this scene effectively depicts how sport became so full of money.

Barbara Smit's book " Pitch Invasion"(also published as Sneaker Wars) is the amazing story of how the rivalry between two brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler turned sport into an industry. Adi and Rudi Dassler started a shoe business in a small German town in 1920s, which was an instant success, but soon rivalries began to pull the two brothers apart, and by the end of the Second World War it was outright warfare. Forced to split the company between them, Adi and Rudi not only split their family and their hometown, but went on to divide retailers, sportsmen and countries for the next five decades with their rival brands: Adidas and Puma.

Today, Adidas and Puma are two of the biggest global brands, paying stars, clubs and competitions to wear their label, dominating everywhere from football pitches to magazine pages. Pitch Invasion charts the story of how Addidas and Puma revolutionized the world of sport - exploiting advertising, influencing fashions and following the money at every turn.

"Pitch Invasion" also has interesting tales of some of the greatest controversies and sportsmen :

The Black Salute - At the 1968 Olympic games at Mexico, Tommie Smith (winner of 200m) and John Calros, made a stand for the rights of black Americans by standing on the podium in black socks, with black scarves draped around their necks. As the American Anthem was sounded, they dropped their heads and each raised their fists which were covered in a back glove. This gesture shocked the established and Smith was banned from atheletics. Apart from his political commitment, Smith also kept his sponspors in mind,as he had laid down a single Puma spike carefully on the podium.
The Pele pact - As part of a peace agreement between Adidas and Puma, they agreed to stay away from a bidding war for Pele's sponsorship. Due to this pact, at the begining of 1974 World Cup, one of the greatest players was without a contract. But, Puma could not resist in the end and Pele gave his name to several Puma products. This event further escalated the rivalry between Adidas and Puma.
There are also interesting tidbits about Addias and the Ali Shuffle, Boris Becker's unfortunate contribution to the decline of Puma, about how FIFA and IOC courted sponsors and the wheelings and dealings in the world of sports.

A very interesting book, which not only captures the raise of money power in sports but also details events like the Second World War, Olympic movement and the Soccer World Cups through the years.

Dhoni and the art of leadership

The first edition of IPL was a rousing success with a fitting finale. The best performing team won, though initially, no one thought much of Shane Warne's team. In the final, the teams were led by two contrasting captains: one a colorful character who is a bundle of energy on the field and the other, calm but nevertheless a charismatic person. Though Dhoni ended on the losing side, he motivated his side well, used the talent to potential and above all, played very well himself.

Dhoni's raise in the Indian cricket establishment has been meteoric. For a player who debuted in December 2005 to reach an icon status by 2008 is no mean achievement when you have the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly still around.

As described by Rosabeth Moss Kanter in her book, Confidence, Team sports are a great source of metaphors for leadership, because they are good microcosm for examining patterns of winning and loosing and seeing the elements of exceptional leadership and teamwork. The qualities that most distinguish ideal leaders are their exceptional capacity to articulate a plan and lay out a way of achieving it. Effective leaders have an unswerving support for and pressure on those who can solve problems.

If you observed Dhoni's captiancy, it is evident that his leadership style is to build the confidence of everyone else. Dhoni's confidence in the ability of his teammates to come through in difficult situations often pays off. It is evident that his endeavor is to create a positive emotional climate to inspire and motivate people.

Irfan Pathan’s anecdote about Mahendra Singh Dhoni shortly after India had won the tri-series tournament in Australia gives some insight into Dhoni's leadership style. “During my last over,’’ Pathan told the ESPN commentators, “Dhoni walked up to me, patted me on the back and said with a smile, “You’re not such a bad bowler to give away three boundaries now!’’

Whatever subsequent events will reveal, it is clear that Dhoni's leadership style is based on grounded optimism- positive expectations based on specific facts that justify the optimism. But, as Ayaz Memon mentioned in his column, the unorthodox and the unexpected are still the essential constituents of Dhoni’s cricketing persona. Who would have tossed the ball to Joginder Singh to bowl the last over in the Twenty20 World Cup?

Prosumers and their impact

Futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler coined the word “prosumer” to describe people who consume what they themselves produce. Prosuming takes forms as varied as helping in a fund raiser or writing a shareware program. One tribe of prosumers who have exploded in the last four or five years have been in the web world of social media. The likes of MySpace, Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Orkut are all products of the prosumer economy. Social Networks offer people new ways to meet and exchange information, forge alliances and relationships, exchange pictures and music, make friends, share ideas and activities. All of us contribute to this economy by checking upon each other on social networks and expressing our views on blogs

Will prosumers run the world? They might not. But, as shown by the tremendous impact of Linux, (which originated from the unpaid work of Torvalds and a large network of prosumer programmers) on the business world, they are going to shape the emerging economy.

What about the profit potential of the Social Sites? Facebook has been valued at $15 Billion courtesy the Microsoft stake, Google bought Youtube for $1.65 Billion, NewsCorp bought MySpace for $588 Million. Then, you have tech entrepreneurs like Marc Andreeson, backing new sites like Ning. In spite of the Venture funds racing to fund them, the business plans of most of these sites are hazy. Even biggies like MySpace and Facebook are struggling to figure out their revenue streams apart from online ads.

Will the Social Networks bubble bust like the .Com bust? Yes, it might, but the impact of social media on individuals, society and business will only grow!

Black Swans in your life

Just had a "Black Swan" event in my job, which has a big impact on what I do.

What's a Black Swan? Let me explain..

Nassim Nicholas Taleb author of bestselling "Fooled by Randomness" writes on problems of luck, uncertainty, probability and knowledge. He also wrote on the phenomenon of "The Black Swan" which is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: its unpredictability, its massive impact and after the event has happened, our desire to make it appear less random and more predictable than it was. Taleb argues that a small number of Black Swans explain everything in our world and that their effect is ever increasing. While the effect of Black Swans is growing, the ones we try to predict have increasingly become inconsequential. Taleb concentrates on our blindness with respect to randomness, particularly the large deviations. As per him, a handful of cumulative shocks make our lives what they are. Still we concentrate on the minute and miss the large events.

As examples of the Black Swan phenomenon, Taleb refers to the astonishing success of Google and the tragic 9/11 event. We do not acknowledge the phenomenon of the Black Swan as we are unable to estimate risk. We take the shorter route to simplify, narrate and categorize events rather than opening ourselves to the 'impossible'.
Hence large events continue to surprise us and shape our world, like one has just done to mine.

On Turning a year older

Birthdays are a handy guideposts to stop, reminisce and look ahead. As you turn older, you are plagued with a question: am i too old for this and that? Fact is, it’s probably not too late for anything, really. But it certainly feels that way, sometimes.
A long time ago, i decided that for my birthday I'm going to ask for things I know I can't have so that I won't be disappointed when I actually don't get them. Here is this year's list:
1. My company's stock hitting $100
2. Free moving traffic in Bangalore
3. Corruption free government
4. High Tolerence levels for all Indians, especially drivers in bangalore
5. My Boss agreeing to whatever i say or do!

Today's Google doodle made me realize that i share my birthday with Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969) who was a German architect. Along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, he is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of "modern" architecture. Gropius designed his famous door handles, now considered an icon of 20th century design and often listed as one of the most influential designs ever.

“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”

Dance of Democracy

It is election time in Karnataka and the code of conduct has ensured that the usual hullabo is missing. Candidates have been forced to do more of door to door campaigns, SMS and email campaigns and Ads in Newspapers. This time too, the unpredicability of the democratic process will manifest in the results. All of us have to keep in mind that bad governments are elected by good citizens who do not vote. Not that we have much of a choice.

The Mediocrity Trap

Are all people created equally?? Are we equally innately good? Are we equally creative?

The fact of life is that people are not created equally nor are they equally good or creative. Society prods us to fall in the trap of mediocrity by teaching that everyone is equal and
to stifle those few who do have higher or lower potential (intelligence/drive/contextual consciousness) so as to fit them into the equality (mediocrity) mould.

With a whole universe to learn from if one has an attitude of humility (and encouragement and inspiration from another), succumbing to the peer pressure of ignorant, arrogant self-gratification is the ultimate waste of spirit.

Cricket Circus

The new circus in town, the Indian Premier League, got to a great start. The NZ wicketkeeper's pyrotechnics ensured that Shah Ruk Khan's team won in a convincing fashion. The jury on whether IPL will sustain its interest is still not out. But, i am convinced that this is good for the fringe players who stand to earn from either the IPL or the ICL leagues. You need look at players like Ambati Rayadu, Stuart Binny, Satish, and Sodhi to know that they are making the best of the IPL's rival league. Essentially what both the IPL and ICL have done is to give employment to a lot of Cricketers, Ex Cricketers and Adminstrators. Whether IPL morphs to an establishment as big as the English Premier League is the big question. I would love that to happen!
My moment of the IPL so far: Ricky Ponting running to Ishant Sharma to encourage and advice the fast bowler..what a moment!

We need "Topless" meetings

Let me explain before you get ideas-- some companies are making it mandatory employees to leave their laptops at their desks when they attend meetings. An employee with the SFO design firm, Adaptive Path, Dan Saffer, coined the term “Topless Meetings” as in “Laptop-less Meetings” Meetings will be more productive without mobile and smart phones too. It's time that people stay connected to each other than to their devices.

Brand Equity Quiz Bangalore 2008

Questions from the Brand Equity Quiz Bangalore, Prelim Round (Compiled by a Friend)

1.To commemorate whose memory is 15th September celebrated as Engineer’s Day across India?
2.Whose 50th Annual Christmas message, delivered on 25th December 2007, was broadcast on You-Tube, apart from television and radio?
3.The US Food and Drug Administration label for this food, describes it as “frozen foods made from a mixture of dairy products, containing at least 10% milkfat”. Whatitis?
4.Which US business school have most number of CEOs graduated from?IIM-A,Harvard,Stanford,Wharton
5.Who did Lee Iacocca describe as the “greatest genius ever in the automotive industry”?
Henry Ford,Alfred P Sloan Jr,Porsche,Himself
6.Which television channel has a vision of being “Fun, Frank, Fearless and valuing Freedom in all its forms”?
7.In the Mahabharata, who went to the Kauravas to negotiate for atleast “five villages” for the Pandavas, after thirteen years of exile?
8.James Braid Taylor was the last European governor of which Indian Institution?
9.The sale of pistachios is highest during which of the following festivals? Holi,Diwali,Pongal
Navratri
10.Crossword clue: You would be playing in which of the earliest 3-d computer games even if you were in a very bad mood?
11.Where would you watch Krisworld?
12.Parkinson’s Law as commonly stated is: __________ expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
13.What are the operatives of Charles Townsend Agency better known as?
14.Which Indian king introduced coins with the “Nanak Shahi” inscription on them?
Dileep Singh,Ranjith Singh,Babar,Aurangazeb
15.Symbian develops the Symbian OS for use on ________ ________
16.What did David Ogilvy describe as “the only really dishonest kind of advertising that's left. It's totally dishonest.” Tobacco Advertising,Alcohol Advertising,Direct Response,Political Advertising
17.In 2007, of the 10 richest Britons named by Fortune, the top two were of non-British Origin. The richest was Lakshmi Mittal. Who came second?
18.Mrignayani is the state government marketing organization for hand crafted goods, for which state: Manipur,Madhya Pradesh,Karnataka,Maharashtra
19.Which is the stock market index most quoted across print, television and the Internet?
20.POSDCORB - Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting & Budgeting – is the school of management, first developed by: Philip Kotler, Henri Fayol,Michael Porter,Taylor
21.In 2004, cosmetic surgery became very popular in Italy, thanks to _________ ___________’s facelift.
22.In March this year, who became the owner of the Royal Bengal Tigers team?
23 .This Greek physician was the first to use a powder, containing a compound later identified and used to make modern day aspirin, to treat pains, headaches. What is his name?
24.This term derives from the haircut adopted by the crew of Yale rowing team in the 1920s. Whatitis?
25.Yeh hai __________ meri jaan!

26.Identify:

27.What is this logo called?

28.First cover of which magazine?

29.The corporate headquarters of what, in Europe?

Best Advert for Starbucks

My weekend read was "How Starbucks Saved My Life" by Michael Gates Gill. Gill is the son of renowned New Yorker writer Brendan Gill and he was a creative director at J. Walter Thompson Advertising where he was employed for over 25 years. At age 53, he was downsized from work and after that an affair ended his 20 year marriage. He was later diagnosed with brain tumor which further complicated things for him.

Gill had hobnobbed with Queen Elizabeth, Hemmingway,T. S. Eliot and Jackie Onassis, took up a job at Starbucks as a barista-in-training to come out of his looming poverty and negativity. The book details Gill's job and his interactions with his Afro American colleagues at the Starbucks outlet. How he overcomes his prejudices about race, work and human relationships forms the story.
The flashbacks are a little distracting to the flow, but nevertheless are essential to depict two different worlds that Gill was part of.
On the whole it is a sweet memoir, written by a very gracious employee of Starbucks. It is best endorsement that Starbucks could have ever thought of and every Corporate would like their employees to write such books. In the bargain, Gill would have also made a tidy sum from both his publisher and Starbucks.

Sales!

Could not post any entries in the last couple of days as i was running after numbers..Thats my job as a Sales Guy. Come to think of it, sales is a job which rewards only the positive results and not the efforts. Nobody appreciates your efforts unless they translate into orders. It is a binary game: either your win the order or not! You are a hero if you get the order and a bum if you lose. No in betweens!

Dialogue!

"You don't write to say something, you write because you have something to say" - I don't remember from which movie this dialogue is from :)

Business Cycles

Recession is a part and parcle of business cycles and unavoidable. What the Governments and businesses should be worried about, is the length of recession. How long will this phase continue and what's the solution?
BusinessWorld outlined the following three solutions in its issue dated March 24th for saving the US economy, which has inturn has its effects on the Global Economy:
1. The Federal Reserve floods the Financial System with Liquidity
2. The Federal Govt bails out homeowners
3. The Federal Govt bails out lenders
If the India's UPA Govt. was in charge of US too, they would have used all the above three options as it is an election year. Without battling an eyelid, the Govt in India has written off loans to Farmers worth USD 15 Billion. Maybe the US needs to outsource running its economy also to India.

George Monbiot, a columnist with the Guardian has an interesting take on recession. Read his article, "Bring on the Recession" at http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2000/06/09/about-george-monbiot/

Loosing Hair? Someone is very happy

My well-wishers are prodding me to do something about my receding hairline, though I agree with www.baldrus.com that God created a few perfect heads and on the rest he put hair.
Did you notice the number of advertisements for treating hair loss? I just counted them in today’s newspaper and was surprised to see 6 ads which promised to grow your hair back.

People are paying thousands to hair loss specialists when they might be suffering from genetic male pattern balding for which there is no cure other than expensive hair transplants or painful hair weaving procedures. Most of these specialists suggest treatment such as laser therapy, Minoxidil, 'special' shampoos & nutritional supplements – How safe are these treatments and what is their efficacy?

The Other Steve

Does anyone remember or know Steve Wozniak?

Steve Wozniak was the cofounder of Apple along with the other Steve we all know. I just completed reading his autobiography iWoz. Wozniak states that he “solely” designed and engineered the Apple I and Apple II from the ground up. But, he credits Jobs for all the sales and marketing of those products. Wozniak was not actively involved in Apple after its IPO success but amply reaped the benefits of co founding the company. What comes across in the book is that Wozniak believed early on that excellence in product design will make people drool over the idea of owing the product. Here is what he has to say about Steve Jobs: “He is really great at looking at new technologies and choosing the right ones, the ones that will succeed”.

One question: When everyone is talking about open platforms and collaboration, Apple still controls both sides of the equation- hardware and software (eg: iPod+iTunes). Is it the perfect way to do things?