Monday, December 24, 2007

Taare Zameen Par

After a hiatus, I watched two movies that left me wistful.They are Happy Days and Taare Zameen Par. This post is meant for the second one.

The caption of the movie "Every Child is special" is captivating.Unfortunately few identify their speciality.Thats a different issue.I want to post about it once I identify my speciality :).The picture influenced me a lot as I observed MR(Mentally Retarded) children closely at PAWMENCAP.

TZP revolves around eight-year-old boy Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi (Darsheel Safari) . He is always interested in creative , artful things rather than boring things ;-) like language,math ( Yeah, I know that Math is interesting if it is taught by people like ShakuntalaDevi). Unfortunately his parents do not identify his problem. Every one thinks that he is dumb, duffer , idiot and what not. His father thinks that he is a incorrigible child and sends him off to a boarding school to straighten his behaviour. Poor man doesn't know the problem of the child let alone the solution.

Ishan is attached to his mom. He misses his home , his doting brother , his loving mom , his disciplinarian father.I think the song that is pictured at this situation left everyone
the theatre very tearful.The lyrics of the first few lines are :

"Main kabhi batlaata nahin
Par andhere se darta hoon main Maa!
Yu toh main dikhlaata nahin
Teri parwaah karta hoon main Maa!
Tujhe sab hain pataa hain na Maa!
Tijhe sab hain pataa..... meri Maa! "
--HatsOff to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Prasoon Joshi for making such a beautiful song.

Same story punishment,absent-mindedness and so on repeats with the boy even in the boarding school. One day a new art teacher starts taking classes.He also works withTulips school for MR children.Who is he? None other than Ram Shankar Nikumb ( Aamir Khan) . His style of instruction is quite different . It trickles imaginative thinking in the children. By that time Ishaan was totally frustrated and diffident . He refuses to do even the things he is good at.

Nikumb finds that the boy is dyslexic.That's why the boy always felt that the alphabets are dancing and was not able to read and write properly. He visits his home and is startled by seeing his contemplative drawings.He pleads his parents and the principal to keep encouraging the boy and starts working on him. He quotes examples of Einstein , Leonardo da Vinci who faced similar problems to build his self-confidence. He employs innovative methods to solve his tripleR(Reading,wRiting and ARithmetic) problem.Thanks to the efforts of his teacher , slowly the boy shows progress .

Nikumb organizes a drawing competition open for students and also teachers.The boy wins the first prize and Nikumb wins the second.The year book of the school contains these pictures on the front and the back covers respectively. The movie ends with the summer holidays :)

Every child faces such problems may not be similar or may be as intense as michell in BLACK movie.Lucky are those who find Nikumbs or Sahays(BLACK) .Here I would like to mention
a page in my memory book.Till IInd standard I was dull and recluse.I used to go to school along with a worker in my father's office.The teacher complained to him that it is waste of his energy in briging me to school as I am hopeless.I was used to be punished almost regularly ;-).It was actually affecting my self-confidence.I was shy and was becoming more and more shy.My mom was broken.She immediately went to school to resolve the issue.All the teachers flooded my mom with all possible complaints.My mother (as all mothers) is very much confident about her son.She addressed the concerns of each teacher one by one. A teacher complained that I dont
read when ever I was asked to do so. I used to drag the patience of the teacher by refusing to read.My mother asked me to do so.To the surprise of every one , I did it perfectly fine.Every teacher was awe struck. I did what I never did :-) This issue was taken to the notice of even the principal.From that day onwards I was famous in the school.

In reality it is rare to find teachers like Nikumb or Sahay who are so much dedicated. So parents must take that role like my mom or who else will help the poor child?

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Hope By Ms.SunitaTati

Talk by Ms.Sunita Tati , head (operations) Radio Mirchi is yet another feather in Koshish's (my company's CSR group) cap.Do you want to know what is meant by living life king size?No need to rush for your Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary ,just read on this post.

I feel privileged to attend the inspirational talk by Ms.Sunita.It is not just a talk but the narration of the fight of a winner against the most malignant enemy of human-being i.e., the cancer cell.

Sunita was born and brought-up in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh). She was passionate about movies right from her childhood.She used to bunk classes to catch Chiranjeevi's latest release.She developed a crush for Venkatesh after watching his movie "Swarna Kamalam".She used to go to school watching the movie posters on the walls and desired to become a film maker. She frequently dreamt of writing her autobiography which says on the last page that she made lot of movies and won an Oscar.But her family immigrated to America.This brought an imbalance to her life-style.No Chiranjeevi! No movie posters on the walls! Being a lover of the telugu language she experienced a huge culture shock.

Slowly she recovered from it and joined the rat race. She kept her dreams aside, accepting whatever came along her way. She did an MBA in marketing and joined Eastman Kodak. Her life was cool with a kewl job. Suddenly one day she realized that she has no reason to wake up. She questioned “Is that all enough? Am I following my dreams?" She decided to chase her dreams and enrolled herself into a film school. At the school, she befriended now successful directors like Nagesh Kukunoor and Shekhar Kammula.

After completing the course she came back to India. She got an opportunity to work with Suresh Productions (renowned Telugu movie production house). Initially she used to do any task assigned to her, however insignificant it may be. She knew that only those insignificant tasks can lead to her dream job of directing a movie. Her hard work blossomed and she made movies like Jayam Manadera, NeekuNenu NaakuNuvvu, Nuvvuleka Nenulenu etc., with Suresh productions. Not all of them were hits. She says it is important that a movie script should be acceptable to the target viewers. One of her movies had a scene in which the heroine slaps the hero; this was not well received by the audience. She took failures as stepping stones and kept moving ahead.

She was at the peak of her career. One day while taking bath she felt a lump under her arm. She consulted a doctor. The doctor (whom she calls ‘an angel’) suggested that it was not so serious but she had to wait in the hospital for one or two days. She obliged the doctor although she felt that it was ridiculous as the doctor herself told that there was nothing serious about it. Later, the doctor revealed to her utter dismay that she was suffering from Cancer. She was then in the third stage of cancer. The first question came to her mind was Why me? But she accepted the fate and decided to fight it. She never wanted to write in the last page of her autobiography that Sunita died of Cancer.She always wanted to write that Sunita made lots and lots of movies and won oscars.

She did her own research.Let me write a bit about What I understood of cancer from her talk and from the site of NCI.Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. The main categories of cancer include: Carcinoma ,Sarcoma,Leukemia(Sunita was affected by this category),Lymphoma and myeloma,Central nervous system cancers.All cancers begin in cells.These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.But sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division. When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not need them. The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor(the lump she observed).Not all tumors are cancerous.Unfortunately sunita's tumor was cancerous one.Cancer is diagnosed using biopsy.Once diagnosed the cancer stage can be known.William Stewart Halsted (father of American surgery) proposed the model of cancer progression.According to it tumors grow locally(at the primary source i.e., the part of the body in which the cancer started ;first two stages),then spread to the lymph nodes(third stage,sunita was diagnosed at this stage),then to the rest of the body(final stage,here chances of survival are almost nill).Coming to the treatment there are methods like surgery,Chemotherapy etc.,But they cannot guarantee success.What proved helpful is indomitable determination of the patient and selfless service of the patient's relations in addition to the above treatment methods.I know 4-5 cases where these two magical tools helped.Of course it's easier said than done.

Let me elaborate a little on Chemotherapy.Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with drugs ("anticancer drugs") that can destroy cancer cells (source:Wikipedia).Chemo kills , not just cancer cells but any cell even healthy cells that come in its way.Damage to healthy cells may cause side effects.These include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, decreased blood cell counts, hair loss, mouth sores,pain,lack of proper emotional reaction,infertility in the case of women etc.,Sunita says that she didn't have goosebumps since four years even after recovery.

She underwent the rigorous treatment.She lost her hair,eyebrows.At times she used to crawl to the bathroom.Still she continued working on her movie.Her schedule typically included chemo in the morning,film-making in the evening.I don't know how she managed.Hats off to her.Her work,well wishers around her,writings of Jiddu Krishnamurthy and Jasmine flowers were the inspirational elements for her during the bad period.She fought bravely.She made it.She won the war against her malicious enemy.

After getting recovered she introspected herself.She reviewed all her years of life.Before coming to movies she struggled to live.After coming to movies she was following her dream.Some where amidst her aspirations she feels that the 'I' is neglected.She lost 18 kgs in 2 months.She neglected taking it as a positive sign.But it was an indication of the enemy growing inside her.She says that Cancer is the last stage the soul resorts to, in its effort to make one listen to it.She dragged the soul to the last stage for which she suffered.She humbly requests everyone not to reflect that 'I'.She suggested an exercise,"As soon as you wake up from the bed,Go stand infront of the mirror and say to yourselves I LOVE YOU".

Her advice to everyone, "Love yourselves.Take care of your health.Your ambitions and aspirations will also be taken care by themselves."

She worked with TV9.She designed the famous show "9PM with Raviprakash".Now she is the head (operations) of Radiomirchi, SouthIndia .Being a strong believer of God she feels that she is God's gift to her dad.Her dad proudly agrees it.

My fundamental value is also the same although I dont practice "I LOVE YOU" exercise.I believe that happiness is panacea.It is I who must choose to be happy.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Where there is a will there is a way!

I was actively participating in Koshish (Corporate Social Responsibility initiative) of my company.To be frank I was not passionate about social service.I became a member just because I got some free time.As part of it I was associated with PAWMENCAP (Parents Association for the Welfare of Mentally Handicapped Persons).If interested to know more about the organization please visit my Y!geocities tentatively.We are planning to create separate domain for it.

My sister decided to donate some part of her salary for getting a job. I suggested her this organization. We visited it today. The person behind this organization Mr.MushtaqAli talked to us.The conversation with this man made me feel that, "I am doing nothing compared to the work these people are doing".I read their reports,ads etc., while preparing the website but I was not moved much.After talking to some of the MR (Mentally Retarded) students on the day of website inauguration I moved a little.But today after talking to this man I really felt for these people.

This organization contains 175 students and 36 teachers.It concentrates on MR people of different age groups.The teachers are trained by National institute for mentally handicapped (NIMH).Some of them have been struggling for these people for the past 17 years.They deserve standing ovation.

The problem is that an MR person cannot coordinate various parts of his body as normal people do.These people are not MAD.Madness is a kind of sickness but MR is a disability.They need patient and rigorous training (similar to the training given by prof.Sahay to Michell in the movie BLACK).That is why I appreciate the teachers.

In the past, parents used to feel shame of having such children.In remote places these people were locked in a room forever.Thanks to the organizations like PAWMENCAP, now parents realized that they can be trained and their behaviour can be modified.

The training methods are amazing.They put the person to various tests like asking them to clean themselves(brushing etc.,), fetching eggs from the shop so on.They cannot adapt themselves to a small change in their surrounding environment because their mind gets disturbed a lot when the environment changes.So they need lot of training on the minutest of the activities which might seem ridiculous to normal people.For ex:- Brushing teeth involves (1)Identifying brush (He/She should be able to identify whether he/she is using the right object for the job of brushing.) (2)Hold the brush. (3)Place it on teeth. (4)Move it to and fro ....By now you might have understood the way in which they need the training.This organization also conducts training to the parents and the siblings of these people as they play very important role in their life.Mr.Ali says that they can do only 50% rest depends on the parents and siblings as the person spends most of his time at home( a different environment for him/her from the school).

Thanks to God!PAWMENCAP is reaping the fruits of their efforts but with a great difficulty.They trained these people in candle making,notebook making,service-offering,house-hold activities like cooking (especially for girls etc.,Some of them are earning because of the skills they developed here.Mr.Ali narrated some of his experiences.He says that focus should be on service-offering jobs as making products involves marketing.Marketing is naturally followed by competition.In this competitive environment who would go for the candles prepared by this people?So they shifted their focus to service-oriented training like ironing,stamping/sorting (postoffice) etc.,

One of the experiences is as follows -->Two MR persons were trained for two years to stamp and sort out letters based on the place of destination.They were trained so well ,specially in different environments,that they can do the job with 0% error.Unfortunately the superintendent of the postoffice refused to admit them.On insisting him ,he put them to test.He was taken aback to their work.But he employed them for just Rs15/- a day.The PM from the head office saw these boys.He was surprised at their work.He reprimanded the superintendent and offered Rs75/- per day which is normal payscale.There are many such experiences.

Mr.Ali has got a vision for his work.He thought How Long?One thing is for sure these people can never be made normal.No medicine is invented till now.Who will take care of them after their parents?For that he thought of a corpus fund which is some 10 crores.The monthly interest proceeds of this fund will support this people, infact their new project called Saans a Respite Care Center for Mentally Challenged Persons.

They have been trying a lot.They almost lost the hopes.Then a door opened!Mr.Ali consulted a person who is expert in getting funds for such organisations.He coolly said 10 crores is not a big deal.You people got 18 years relentless effort which is invaluable.So let us build upon it.Get 32AC You are done. 32AC, it is a section under under which you will get 100% income tax exemption.Bases upon their worth they will certainly get it.If they approach a philantrophist ( a VC in business terms) , they can certainly get the fund.There is one such successful story in Jalgaon(Maharashtra)where the old-age home got the fund that it didnt even imagine.

This conversation changed my perspective.Never lose hope! Where there is a will there is a way.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

White Revolution

My father is into dairy industry.He rendered his services to Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Co-operative Federation (APDDCF) for nearly 30 years and he is now working with a different dairy.He worked/working on various aspects of dairy industry like organizing co-operatives of Milk Producers at village and district levels,providing essential inputs to enhance milk production, feed and fodder production, cross breeding programs, veterinary aid, development programs to provide effective management skills to the milk producers to help them manage their own Co-operatives,monitoring dairy infrastructure,quality and on-time delivery of milk.I always admire his job profile much because of the way co-operative unions talk about him and his dedicated work inspite of all red-tapism.He is a strong supporter of the dairy cooperative movement, and says that helping dairy farmers gives immense job satisfaction.

90% of the human resources in IT industry work effectively with tea and coffee breaks.Being a part of this industry I am thankful to my father and Dairy industry in general.

My direct experiences with my father's day-to-day professional activities,disgraceful resignation of Mr.Verghese Kurien,recent controversy on state government take the management of eight co-operative dairies in the State ignoring the liberal co-operatives law - Mutually Aided Co-operative Societies Act 1995 (Macs Act) stirred my interest to explore this beautiful Win/Win business model of co-operatives.

During 1960s India was one of the largest dairy importing, in the world.India's policy makers took stock of the situation and established NDDB (The National Dairy Development Board) with the mission of making dairying a means to a better future for millions of grassroots milk producers and also embarked upon Operation Flood, an initiative to create white flood of milk through out India.Here I should not forget to acknowledge Mr.Verghese Kurien (Milkman of India).He engineered the WhiteRevolution in India.The milk cooperatives under Operation Flood follow the Anand Pattern of co-operatives, which was pioneered by Dr Kurien when he was General Manager of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Limited, Anand.Subsequently many state dairy development projects had been undertaken.

The business model adopted in these programmes is co-operative system.In this model the business is owned, operated, and controlled by the dairy farmers who help themselves.The milk packets that we consume daily come from the udders of the animals(buffalows) owned by these farmers. Members finance the cooperative and share in profits it earns in proportion to the volume of milk they market through the cooperative.Nearly 2-3 crores of dairy farmers belong to around 1 Lakh dairy co-operatives.These co-operatives sell their product to one of the hundreds of co-operative unions which, in turn ,are supported by co-operative milk marketing federations.This is known as three-tier co-operative structure ((1)milk societies (2)milk unions (3)milk federations).Unlike in a company where one man has as many votes as the number of shares he holds,in a cooperative organisation one man has only one vote.But the new marketing scheme proposed by the NDDB appears to provide that the newly set up marketing companies (`subsidiary' companies that come under NDDB's marketing organisation registered under the Companies Act as permitted by the NDDB Act)will issue to the dairy cooperatives 49 per cent of their shares in return for the surrender of the sole marketing rights for their products in perpetuity. This creates a potentially dangerous risk to the cooperatives and constitutes a departure from fundamental 'cooperative principles'.This is one of the resons for the renouncement of Verghese Kurien.If implemented properly by-passing middlemen co-operative system is win/win situation for producer and consumer.The new model may also succeed if it gives importance to this point.

In 1991 changes in the Milk and Milk Products Order (MMPO) liberalized the dairy industry.Many private sector dairy plants were set up.Now , big conglomerates are into the dairy industry.Thus the dairy industry shined brighter and brighter starting from deficits.States have developed popular dairy brands such as Amul (from Gujarat), Vijaya (from Andhra Pradesh), Verka (from Punjab), Saras (from Rajasthan), Nandini (from Karnataka), Milma (from Kerala) and Gokul (from Maharashtra).

Still trade-balance (Exports - Imports) of our dairy industry is not upto the mark when compared to our competitors like China.The root-causal analysis of this problem uncovers that the yields/animal is one-fifth to that compared to our foreign competitors who are ready to foray into our market under WTO regulations.Most of the farmers being illiterate or semi-literate fail to handle their animals properly .This result in poor-health of these animals and unhygeinic conditions.Thus Indian milk is becoming unsuitable for exports.

Technology is getting pervasive these days.I just questioned my self ???
(1)Can we find solution to these problems?
(2)Can we help milk co-operatives become more efficient and productive in cost-effective manner? for ex:-The demand and supply dynamics of dairy industry is highly adhoc.The production of milk varies seasonally and daily for obvious biological reasons.At the same time the demand for milk also vary from day to day and from season to season.Can we develop a decision-making support system that helps in co-ordinating the amount of milk supplied and the volume of the milk demanded?
(3)Can we reduce the delay incurred in milk transport thus reducing spoilage?
(4)Can we increase the transparency , accountability in the entire process (milk societies --> milk unions --> milk federations)?
(5)Can we increase the trust in the co-operative process?Can we improve sales and distribution process?
(6)Can we produce an ease-to-use system in local languages for illiterate farmers who can adopt to it with little education?I am not talking converting illiterate farmers to 100% literate.At least they should be taught how-to-use and how-to-read information on screen.

With these and many questions in mind I searched for whats going on?Being a die-hard fan of InformationTechnology I searched with a lot of hope.Yes! IT rocks.Many people are trying to solve problems at grass-root level.Who says that India is not Shining?I am very much inspired by Sristi.I hope that I will also contribute to grass-root level problems soon.These people are trying to solve the exact problems under discussion through Internet-based information and communication technology (ICT).

I hope that one day AndhraPradesh will become the butter capital of the world!

Sunday, April 29, 2007

The economy's next two decades

If you want to do something for yourself read this!

WHAT DO the next two decades hold for India? `Feel good' seems to be the current answer. However, why should recent success translate into permanently higher rates of growth of output in the future? Are there structural reasons to believe that India is indeed on a permanently higher growth path?There is a good underlying reasons for expecting India's output to grow at close to 7 per cent a year, which implies a per capita output growth of about 5.5 per cent a year. At this rate, the income of the average Indian would increase eight-fold over a 40-year period compared with the four-fold increase that current growth rates would deliver.

This optimistic forecast is based on three key features of the Indian economy: productivity, demographics, and institutions.

(1)Productivity
A key aspect of India's recent performance has been the high contribution of productivity — about 60 per cent — to overall growth, a performance that has only been surpassed by China. Recent productivity performance can be expected to continue in the future, and even accelerate, because of the improved prospects for reforms. There is a greater sense than in the past that reforms are delivering tangible results, with the telecommunications revolution being perhaps the best example of benefits flowing to a large cross-section of the population.

(2)Demographics
Over the next 20 years, India's dependency rate will decline sharply as its labour force grows faster than population. Declining dependency can be expected to raise domestic savings rates by up to 12-15 percentage points. Provided the opportunities for the private sector continue to expand, increased savings can finance more rapid capital accumulation, contributing to an acceleration in output.

(3)Quality of Institutions (India's underrated strength)
Experience around the world increasingly points to the importance of institutions that affect the rule of law and protection of property rights and opportunities for participation as a key determinant of long-run development.But India is far from reaping the benefits of its institutional quality. India's per capita income should be about 4-5 times what it currently is. In other words, India, having done the really hard work of building good economic and political institutions failed until the 1980s, to take advantage of it. Contrast this, for example, with China which has grown extremely rapidly in the last quarter century, but which faces the inordinate challenge of large-scale institutional transformation.

But will India's institutions hold up in the future? Three encouraging trends can be discerned. First and foremost, there has been a sharp rise in transparency: public institutions have been exposed to the glare of public scrutiny thanks to the explosion in the quantity and quality of the media. From Godhra to Tehelka, it seems that not much can elude the prying eyes of the press or television. While the accountability of public officials and institutions may not have increased commensurate with the increase in transparency, the disconnect between the two can only narrow in the long run.

Second, a vibrantly assertive civil society, becoming one of the new and key meta-institutions, has been one of the positive developments in the last few decades. Indian civil society has taken on at least two roles: a direct one, in delivering development outcomes and indirect one by striving to hold public institutions accountable.

Third, policy liberalisation will progressively erode the license-quota-permit raj as a source of corruption and patronage that has had such a corrosive effect on public institutions.

What then are the downside risks to this optimistic outlook? One disturbing trend in the last two decades of rapid growth has been the growing disparity in economic performance between states. States that were rich in 1980 have grown faster than States that were poor, accentuating existing inequalities. Peninsular India has been growing more rapidly than the hinterland BIMARU states.

While the disparity between States is a cause for concern it is also the consequence of a very powerful positive dynamic in India: namely, the competition among States to improve institutions and policies — a kind of "race to the top" — as a means of attracting increased amounts of foreign and domestic capital. For these reasons, it is possible that the divergence is self-limiting — States left behind will be under pressure to follow the demonstration effect of the more successful states.

Perhaps a more worrying disparity is between skill levels, with new technologies creating large wedges between a small proportion of highly-skilled (typically urban) people and a vast majority of less-skilled (typically rural). Certain metropolises are already witnessing the phenomenon of islands of dollar-salaried populations embarrassingly embedded in a sea of ordinariness or even poverty. Managing this disparity will be one of the major challenges for India in the years ahead. Success in this effort will depend to a large extent on what we(the authors mentioned below) referred to earlier as the joker in the pack — the progress that India will make in improving basic education.

The Nobel winner, Amartya Sen, has drawn attention to the disappointing post-Independence performance of the Indian state in delivering education, reflected in very slow improvements in literacy rates. While the supply of educational services by the state was inadequate, Prof. Sen raised the puzzle as to why there was not greater demand for education and hence greater pressure on the state to meet this demand. One answer to this puzzle is that the private returns to literacy and basic education must have been low.

This state of affairs may be changing now. There is evidence that the increasing opportunities that are spurring economic growth — related to the IT-explosion — contribute to raising these returns, leading to a greater demand for educational services — public and private — and hence in educational outcomes. Anecdotal evidence for this comes from the mushrooming of English-language schools in backward States such as Bihar and the agricultural hinterland of Punjab. To be sure, increased demand will relate in the first instance to the acquisition of specific skills (such as fluency in English and computer proficiency). Over time, however, this demand could percolate down the hierarchy of skill, improving basic educational outcomes. But this is more hope than firm prediction, and on realizing this hope will hinge how fast and broad-based will be India's future economic growth.

So what lessons do we learn for the future from studying India's recent economic history? It seems more clear now that economic development results from the interaction of growth triggers with the right fundamentals that allow the triggers to be exploited. In the conventional view of the Indian development process, there was a long and dark period — the period of controls and import substitution — followed by the burst of sunlight and reforms since 1991. The boom in the IT-sector first awakened observers to the fact that the dark age was not all dark, that important cumulative elements (the fundamentals) were being built up that yielded rewards with a lag, and that these fundamentals were as important as the triggers that sparked the IT boom. In this case, the fundamentals were the pools of skilled human capital built through the technology, management, and research institutes — a sort of import substitution effort in skilled human capital development — that were integral to the Nehruvian vision.

Nevertheless, the Nehruvian economic legacy went beyond the technical institutions: it consisted of the meta-institutions of democracy, rule of law, free press, and technocratic bureaucracy that recent research shows are crucial to economic development. To be sure, these meta-institutions have been buffeted and weakened by the vicissitudes of vested interests, time, and politics. Since the 1980s, the shackles on the private sector have been slowly removed, and the appropriate triggers are now in place. The house that Nehru and others painstakingly built before and immediately after Independence, wobbles and all, is now well poised to seize the newly-created opportunities.

Source : Excerpts from The Hindu
Source Writers : Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian

The economy's last two decades

Growth of percapita GDP between 1980 and 2000 doubled compared with the period 1960-80 -- an increase that seems to have been the result of a survey in productivity.

Why? ( two views )

(1) Exceptional nature of the fiscal policy stance in 1980s which temporarily ignited growth but received its deserved come-uppance in the crisis of 1991.

(2) Role of liberalisation (it includes easing access to foreign technology, foreign capital goods, and foreign exchange, lowering tax rates, easing licensing etc.,).
The congress' traditionally hostile attitude to the private sector was the constraint on economic growth, the slight lifting of which around 1980 stimulated the animal spirits of the business and industrial class.
Because of foreign competition the reforms in the 1980s were not pro-competition but pro-business i.e., they served to boost the profits of the existing businesses with out facilitating the entry of new participants.
for ex:- Allowing a single foreign firm, suzuki to enter the domestic car market under exisiting conditions of limited external liberalization is very different from opening the domestic car market to all foreign producers, which is the normal liberalization strategy , and the approach adopted in 1990s.

Source : The Hindu
Source Writers : Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian

Union Finance Ministry

The Union Finance Ministry of India comprises of four departments:

* Department of Economic Affairs
* Department of Expenditure
* Department of Revenue
* Department of Disinvestments


I posted this because I didnt know about this before :)

Europe's New Experiment

The expansion of EU under the leadership of France and Germany is a positive movement.It marks the symbollic end of the cold war and can eventually lead to the creation of a powerful new Europe i.e., a strong voice of global peace and counterweight to the sole superpower and a friend of developing world.

Source : The Hindu

Representation of Peoples' Act

THE CRIMINALISATION OF politics and the politicisation of crime is a theme that has been endlessly debated in India, yet no effective practical solution is in sight.The Representation of the People Act, 1951, Section 8 provides for disqualification of persons on conviction for specified offences like capturing booths,terrorise voters etc., — and not on the basis of arrest or the registration and processing of a criminal case.These provisions can be misused by a high-handed political leader or party in government to get suppliant police officers to foist criminal cases on political adversaries.But amendments have to be brought to "Representation of Peoples' Act" although it has some negative sides.

Source : The Hindu

Privatisation of Water

Converting water to a commercial good to be sold for profit invites disaster.Most of all for poor people whose already pathetic access to water will shrink swiftly.

Source : The Hindu

FDI

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is defined as "investment made to acquire lasting interest in enterprises operating outside of the economy of the investor."The FDI relationship, consists of a parent enterprise and a foreign affiliate which together form a transnational corporation (TNC). In order to qualify as FDI the investment must afford the parent enterprise control over its foreign affiliate. The UN defines control in this case as owning 10% or more of the ordinary shares or voting power of an incorporated firm or its equivalent for an unincorporated firm.

Types of FDI:
(1)Greenfield investment
(2)Mergers and Acquisitions
(3)Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment
(4)Vertical Foreign Direct Investment

Types of FDI based on the motives of the investing firm:
(1)Resource Seeking
(2)Market Seeking
(3)Efficiency Seeking


FDI inflows, mostly in the form of acquisitions, can cause concerns in host countries

Even the most advanced economies wear blinkers as far as FDI is concerned. At another level, issues of security can never be wished away in countries such as India.

For countries such as India, FDI is considered a superior form of investment to, say, portfolio flows, although it is the latter type, coming under the broad category of foreign institutional investors (FII), that has underpinned the stock markets' phenomenal rise. It is also well known that the country's external account is critically dependent on these capital flows to bridge the widening current account deficit.

FII flows are, however, less stable than FDI. Besides, FDI is supposed to bring in technology and better management practices and generate employment in the recipient country.

These assumptions may prove wrong in many cases.It is naïve to think that FDI's come in only to set up large, greenfield ventures. A greater proportion of total FDI flows is in the form of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). In a globalising world, this is only to be expected. But M&As often involve change in ownership, result in hostile takeovers and more generally strain existing regulations in many countries. Besides, technology has made it possible for funds to flow instantaneously across national borders.The reality is that there are sectoral caps in India for FDI.These may not have economic logic.

Case Studies::
On March 9(2006), DP World, an entity owned by the UAE Government and engaged in the management of ports worldwide, decided to sell its stakes in six American ports rather than face growing political opposition within the U.S. The company had acquired the rights to manage those ports following its earlier takeover of P & O, a major British shipping and port management company.

As long as P&O was managing those ports nobody raised any concerns over security or for that matter over anything else. Even the Dubai company's takeover of P&O had hardly created any ripples. But substitute British ownership and management with Arab control and you have a huge problem. The U.S. Congress was poised to legislate against the deal and although the U.S. President had argued in favour of DP World, the company decided to divest rather than confront the politicians.

The DP World episode has other messages too. Thanks largely to M&As, ownership of companies is constantly changing. Governments have very little say on deals that take place in some other country but impact their national interests. A large majority of cross-border M&As involving American companies originate from western democracies and are seldom subject to a similar degree of scrutiny. There has been of course a glaring display of double standards.

Apart from the obvious one of U.S. politicians opposing a deal simply because the new owner is from the Arab world (even if from a friendly country) there is the other matter of being selective: it is well known that the U.S. cannot do without the huge investments other countries including cash rich Arab countries are making everyday.

Lakshmi Mittal's bid for Arcelor, Europe's biggest steel maker, has met with opposition, not entirely for economic reasons. Top political leaders of France and Luxembourg are mobilising opposition to the deal citing economic patriotism. The real reason is the supposed "lack of a cultural fit" between the takeover target and the would-be acquirer.

Last summer, a Chinese oil company CNOOC was thwarted in its bid to buy Unocal, an American petroleum company that had put itself on the auction block. Despite the better terms offered by the Chinese company, Unocal was pressured by American politicians and others to accept an inferior bid from the local Chevron. Here again, a fear of letting strategic energy assets get into foreign, more specifically Chinese, hands had weighed with the politicians.

Right now in India, security concerns have been raised over the sale of a 10 per cent equity stake in the telecom joint venture Hutchison-Essar by the holding company Hutchison-Telecom International. The buyer, an Egyptian company Orascom, has a large presence in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Security issues ought to dominate FDI policies especially if sensitive sectors such as telecom are involved. However, policies once framed must be made transparent.



Source : The Hindu ,Wikipedia
Source Writer :: C. R. L. NARASIMHAN

Energy Sources : Alternatives

Even the maximising of biomass,wind power and oceanic energy, which are the only known significant renewable energy sources, will meet only a small percentage of the world's energy needs. Reducing energy consumption a break through in nuclear waste disposal methods are the only possible solutions for the energy crisis.

Vakiba wrote useful series of posts on energy .
Source : The Hindu

Farmers' Suicides

One of the many reasons is Farmers are commiting suicide because they are unable to carry the burden of debt.The corrupt local revenue inspectors are adding to their agony.

Source : The Hindu

Journey to the end of the Earth

Six hundred and fifty million years ago, a giant amalgamated southern supercontinent — Gondwana — did indeed exist, centred roughly around present-day Antarctica. Things were quite different then: humans hadn't arrived on the global scene, and the climate was much warmer, hosting a huge variety of flora and fauna. For 500 million years Gondwana thrived, but around the time when the dinosaurs were wiped out and the age of the mammals got under way, the landmass was forced to separate into countries, shaping the globe much as we know it today.

Human civilisations have been around for a paltry 12,000 years — barely a few seconds on the geological clock. In that short amount of time, we've managed to create quite a ruckus, etching our dominance over Nature with our villages, towns, cities, megacities. The rapid increase of human populations has left us battling with other species for limited resources, and the unmitigated burning of fossil fuels has now created a blanket of carbon dioxide around the world, which is slowly but surely increasing the average global temperature.

These facts provoke us to think Will the Antarctic ice sheet melt entirely?Will the Gulf stream ocean current be disrupted? and finally Will it be the end of the world as we know it?

Antarctica is a crucial element in this debate, because of her simple eco-system and lack of bio-diversity.Little changes in the environment can have big repercussions.

Source : The Hindu

Capital Account Convertibility

Capital Account Convertibility or CAC is a fiscal policy that centers around the ability to conduct transactions of local financial assets into foreign financial assets freely and at pre-set, fixed market rates.Then local merchants can easily conduct transnational business without needing foreign currency exhanges to handle small transactions.

Full Rupee Convertibility can be divided into two (1)Full currency convertibility (2)A fully open capital account.

Currency Convertibility refers to the absence of any restriction on the holding of foreign currencies by residents and of the national currency by foreigners, and on free conversion between currencies.It does not preclude restrictions on the type and quantity of non-currency assets that residents can hold abroad or foreigners can hold in the country.
An Open Capital Account on the other hand is the absence of restrictions on non-currency asset holding is the absence of restrictions on non-currency asset holding and can exist with out free conversion of the currency.

The issue of India going in for full convertibility is discouraged by Professor Joseph Stiglitz.The economy is booming and needs to be properly managed. Or else, the economy runs the risk of getting overheated. However, many problems are yet to be overcome. For instance, the over dependence on fossil fuels. The service sector is driving the economy.

Source : The Hindu

Jeans for prayers

A new line of jeans,AlQuds,designed by a small company in northern Italy , caters to Muslims' seeking to stay comfortable while they pray.

Source : The Hindu

Freedom Of Thought

On March 28, 2007 Brown won the copyright infringement case filed against him by The Holy Bloood,Holy Grail authors for taking some of their ideas , reasearching them,playing with them and turning them into a novel.Those ideas include Jesus did not die on the cross, but had a child with Mary Magdalene.Like so many expats, they moved to France, and their descendants became Merovingian kings in the Dark Ages. The heirs of Jesus survive to this day, feared by the Vatican and protected by an enigmatic institution, the Priory of Sion.

If he weren't won , free thought may be stifled in the name of protecting ideas.

My related post

Source : The Hindu

Nuclear power and the mirage of energy security

There is a perception that the deal with the US will throw open access to nuclear technologies hitherto denied to India.It might well do that.But that alone is no reason to believe India can quickly add substantial nuclear power capacity and achieve energy security.

Source : The Hindu

On Hegemony & India

India needs to be a super-empowerer of the less powerful, both countries and peoples and not a super-power in the shade of bigger one.

Source : The Hindu

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Howard Roark , Architect

My philosophy,in essence,is the concept of man as a heroic being,with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life,with productive achievement as his noblest activity,and reason as his only absolute. --Ayn Rand.

The Fountainhead by AynRand is a wonderful piece of work that instigates the reader to introspect himself.I was bedazzled after reading the book.Howard Roark is an ideal person.Having the total idealogies of Roark in a single person is uncommon.Personally I admire Roark more than anyone else although he is a fictional being.According to him right is right every where.I learnt a big lesson from him, DOING ANYTHING IN THE RIGHT WAY IS THE EASIEST WAY.

Periodically I recite the speech given by Howard Roark in the court trial after exploding Corlandt homes.Excerpts from the speech.

"Your Honor,I shall call no witnesses.This will be my testimony and my summation."

"
Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire.He was considered an evildoer who had dealt with a demonmankind dreaded.But thereafter men had fire to keep them warm,to cook their food,to light their caves.Centuries later,the first man invented the wheel.He was considered a transgressor who ventured into forbidden territory.But thereafter, men could travel past any horizon.Thus mankinds glory began with the one who paid for his courage.Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision.They fought,they suffered and they paid.But they won.
No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his fellow beings.His truth was his only motive.
Man cannot survive except through his mind.He comes on earth unarmed.His brain is his only weapon.But the mind is an attribute of an individual.There is no such thing as a collective brain.We can divide a meal among many men.We cannot digest it in a collective stomach.
Nothing is given to man on earth.Everything he needs has to be produced.And here man faces his basic alternative: he can survive in only one of two ways - by the independent work of his own mind(creator) or as a parasite(second-hander) fed by the minds of others.
The creator's concern is the conquest of the nature.The parasite's concern is the conquest of men.
The basic need of the creator is independence.The reasoning mind cannot work under anyform of compulsion.To a creator all relations with men are secondary.
The basic need of the second hander is to secure his ties with men in order to be fed.He preaches altruism which demands that man live for others and place others above self.
No man can live for another.One cannot give that which has not been created.Creation comes before distribution.Men have been taught that it is a virtue to stand together.But the creator is a man who stands alone.What man is and makes of himself;not what he has or hasn't done for others.There is no substitute for personal dignity.Every creative job is ahieved under the guidance of a single individual thought.

Now you know why I dynamited Corlandt."


The video of the above speech is here

Monday, April 23, 2007

Humorous Cross-Cultural Advertising Gaffes!

(1)When Kentucky Fried Chicken entered the Chinese market,to their horror they discovered that their slogan "finger lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off"

(2)Chinese translation also proved difficult for Coke, which took two tries to get it right.They first tried "Ke-Kou-ke-la" because when pronounced it sounded roughly like Coca-Cola.It wasn't until after thousands of signs had been printed that they discovered that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect.Second time around things worked out much better.After researching 40,000 Chinese characters,Coke came up with "ko-kou-ko-le" which translates roughly to the much more appropriate "happiness in the mouth".

(3)Things were not much easier for Coke's arch-rival Pepsi.When they entered the Chinese market a few years ago, the translation of their slogan "Pepsi Brings you Back to Life" was a little more literal than intended.In Chinese,the slogan meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave".

(4)But it's not just in Asian markets that soft drinks makers have problems. In Italy, a campaign for "Schweppes Tonic Water" translated the name into the much less thirst quenching "Schweppes Toilet Water"

(5)The American slogan for Salem cigarettes,"Salem - Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem,you feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."

(6)Things weren't any better for Ford when they intorduced the Pinto in Brazil.After watching sales go nowhere, the company learned that "Pinto" is Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals." Ford pried the nameplates off all of the cars and substituted them with "Corcel," which means horse.

(7)Sometimes it's one word of a slogan that changes the whole meaning.When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However the company mistakenly thought the Spanish word "embrazar" meant embarrass.Instead the ads said "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

(8)Coors put its slogan,"Turn It Loose," into Spanish,where it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."

(9)The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico.It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are you lactating?"

(10)Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux"

(11)Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron,into Germany only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure.

(12)An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit instead of "I Saw the Pope"(el Papa),the shirts read "I Saw the Potato"(la papa)

(13)When Braniff translated a slogan touting its upholstery,"Fly in Leather," it came out in Spanish as "Fly Naked."

(14)General Motors had a perplexing problem when they introduced the Chevy Nova in South America.Despite their best efforts,they weren't selling many cars.They finally realized that in Spanish,"nova" means "it won't go".Sales improved dramatically after the car was renamed "Caribe."

Source :- Training Sessions

Friday, April 20, 2007

Systems Thinking!

Problems! Problems! How to solve them?Most of the time we adopt short cut by focusing on its symptom.This wont give the long-lasting results.What we need to do is "Address Fundamental Causes".SystemsThinking is a tool to do that.It helps us to focus on solution rather than the problem.It instructs on viewing the problem holistically.Then there will be less scope to miss essential elements of the problem.
It is increasingly being used to tackle a wide variety of subjects in fields such as computing, engineering, epidemiology, information science, health, manufacture, management, and the environment.

Let us see the following case studies -->
(1)Transform Education :: This case study addresses the problem of information explosion.I am also a victim of this problem.Daily my inbox is inundated by thousands of mails,Google Search does a fantastic job in giving the required information but what I get is information islands this list goes on and on.
Coming to our case study the authors suggests that "As the amount of information increases exponentially, our educational system can no longer focus primarily on memorizing a core body of knowledge. There is no way any single individual can master all of the information available. Rather, our schools must help children become skillful manipulators, synthesizers and creators of knowledge.And since we are now entering an era of global communication and collaboration, we need professionals who can work on teams to solve complex problems. Society no longer relies primarily on factory workers, but on life long learners who can think critically, solve problems and work collaboratively. These are the skills of tomorrow's "knowledge workers" (Drucker, 1994). Since, industrial age schools were not designed with this goal in mind, we need entirely new concepts in learning and teaching—rather than more efficient industrial age schools." The traditional solutions say that examination system is to be changed,teachers are to be changed blah! blah! but focusing on information dissemination all these chestnuts look like side-effects of the actual problem.To get to the bottom of this problem please refer this

(2)Vanilla Ice Cream :: This is the case study discussed in systems thinking training session in my company.A customer writes to General Motors saying that he is in the habit of having icecream as dessert after dinner each night.Whenever he buys a vanilla ,the car just wont start.For any other flavour choclate,strawberry etc., the problem never occured.GM sent an engineer to look at this problem.The engineer observed the problem and was puzzled to know that the car hates vanilla!Being a system thinker he didn't let go any information like average speed of the drive,distance,duration of the drive,time of the day,weather,type of fuel,time spent in the parlour that is relevant to the problem in some manner.
Voila! he got the clue.The problem is vapour lock! not the vanilla!
When ever the man ordered vanilla , he is out of the parlour sooner than when he ordered any other flavour.This is because vanilla being a popular flavour it is placed handily for quick customer response.So in the case of other flavours the engine got sufficient time to cool down whereas vanilla is not allowing it to cool down for the vapour lock to dissipate.

Let us start applying system thinking to the small problems around us,then slowly to somewhat bigger ones and then suddenly we will be applying it to hot problems of this world .Ofcourse we will certainly find the correct,long-lasting solution.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Intellectual Property Rights

Definitions ::

In law, intellectual property (IP) is an umbrella term for various legal entitlements which attach to certain names, written and recorded media, and inventions.

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights regulating the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. At its most general, it is literally "the right to copy" an original creation. In most cases, these rights are of limited duration. The symbol for copyright is ©.

Ownership Of Copyright ::

The first author of the work is designated as the owner of the copyright.In case of employment,until unless the contract of employment spells contrary, the copyright vests with the employer.

Protection Of Copyright ::

Copyright protection begins when the work of is created and fixed in a tangible form whether registered or not.Thus to claim protection, you do not need registration.However , registering is safe so as to leave no room for doubt that one is the creator of a work.

It is desirable to display a notice that says © XYZ ,India,2007 for the purpose of criminal prosecution against an infringer.The duration of protection is statutorily determined in all countries.In India it is life of the author + 60 years.

Infringement Of Copyright ::

Infringement means unauthorised use of a copyrighted work standing in the name of another person.Thuse even loading a copy of the work in computer's RAM,having a pirated software,violating licences will amount to infringement.

Source: Wikipedia,My company's magazine

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Gulliver's Travels

We used to have Gulliver's Travels as non-detailed section in VI standard English curriculum.At that time I read it with out much analysis,imagining myself embarked upon an odyssey.Now,I got hold of Gulliver's travels a little more detailed version from a book exhibition.The motivation was an RC which I encountered during my CAT preparation.I dont know the source ,but it analysed Gulliver's Travels beautifully.

Gulliver’s Travels is about an Englishman Lemuel Gulliver, trained as a surgeon who sets out to the series of voyages when his business fails. Gulliver narrates the amazing worlds he visits.

Lilliput --> Soon afer marriage Gulliver makes a voyage to south seas.A violent storm strikes the ship.Gulliver swims to a shore and sleeps soundly.When he wakes up he finds himself bound by several slender ropes.Gulliver is shocked to find tiny creatures moving around his body.Gulliver is fed and taken to their capital city,Mildendo.Gulliver is called as man-mountain.Educated men teaches him their language.He is granted freedom on certain conditions.He prevents an invasion from an enemy kingdom Blefuscu.The enemity arose oon a silly matter of how to crack the eggs?Some of the courtiers plans a conspiracy to kill him.He escapes to Blefuscu where he fixes a boat he finds and sails back to his home.

In this episode gulliver is like a superman.The reader naturally feels proud of himself , the normal human being.

Brobdingnag --> After returning home Gulliver spends two months with his family.But his desire to travel didnt allow him to stay any longer.A great storm hits the ship and lands Gulliver in the land of gaints.A farmer discovers.He treats him like a doll,earns money by exhibiting him in various towns.Only the farmers daughter Glumdalclitch is kind to him.Eventually he sells Gulliver to the queen.Glumdalclitch is appointer as his care-taker.He faces several adventures which sound ridiculous to read.Many times ordinary flaws of Brobdingnagians costed dearly to Gulliver.Once he is carried by monkey,he had to fight with wasps,mosquitoes which are far far stronger than him.Brobdingnagians, even the king knows nothing about politics.He felt happy for being atleast more knowledgeable than them.He accompanied the king and the queen to distant frontiers.Here his appartment( a box provided for Gulliver) is taken by an eagle and dropped into the sea.Luckily he finds a ship sailing to England and returns home.

This episode describes man as the weakest creature on the earth.Here Gulliver had to fight for his life for silly reasons.

Laputa --> Gulliver sets sail again.This time he is attacked by pirates and ends up in Laputa.It's a floating land and land below is known as Balnibarbi.None of them appeared curious about anything except for mathematics and music.They naver enjoyed a minutes peace and always talked about sun's health.He visits Glubbdubdrib, island of sorcerers or magicians where he meets the spirits of Alexander the Great,Julius Caesar and Brutus.Then he sails to Luggnagg where he is struck with incredible delight to see Struldbrugs or immortals.But he is shocked to know that Struldbrugs are the most cursed.Besided the usual problems with extreme age they have an additional foulness that cannot be described.His desire for never-ending life was greatly lessened.Finally he bids farewell to the king and returns England through Japan.

In this episode Gulliver finds that there are creatures who dare to explore the realms of understanding that a human being never did.He personifies a perfect man who is a bundle of desires.Seeing Struldbrugs ,with out thinking of consequences he wanted to be one.Later he was awed.

Houyhnhnms --> Some how Gulliver was not well blend in his community.So he again sets out as the captain ofa ship.His men plot against him and set him on shore in an unknown land.This land is ruled by Houyhnhnms, rational-thinking horses.They are served by Yahoos, brutish humanlike creatures.Initially Gulliver was thought to be a Yahoo! But his rational thinking got him special status.Gulliver also admired Houyhnhnms a lot.But some of the Houyhnhnms worried that this man can educate Yahoos! to revolt.So he was forced to leave them.He finds a Portuguese ship and returns England.But he finds all the human beings as Yahoos! because of their narrow mindedness, and many more short comings.He develops a special respect for horses because of Houyhnhnms.

Paradoxically , Gulliver concludes his narrative claiming that the lands he has visited belong to England, as her colonies, even though he questions the whole idea of colonialism.

This final episode depicts man more of a Yahoo! than a Houyhnhnm.The conclusion portrays man's thirst for power.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Crossing the Chasm

The book "Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado by Geoffrey A. Moore" focuses on marketing and selling high-tech products to mainstream customers.

According to Moore the landscape of technology adoption life cycle is as follows ::


Source
From the book's preface -->
"Our (high-tech) marketing ventures, despite normally promising starts, drift off course in puzzling ways, eventually causing unexpected and unnerving gaps in sales revenues, and sooner or later leading management to undertake some desperate remedy... The point of greatest peril in the development of a high-tech market lies in making the transition from an early market dominated by a few visionary customers to a mainstream market dominated by a large block of customers who are predominantly pragmatists in orientation. The gap between these two markets, heretofore ignored, is in fact so significant as to warrant being called a chasm, and crossing this chasm must be the primary focus of any long-term high-tech marketing plan. A successful crossing is how high-tech fortunes are made; failure in the attempt is how they are lost."

Here the author gave a nice framework for marketing a high-tech product.We can cross the chasm if we are abe to give right solution to a right problem at the right time.You can appreciate this if you see the following famous picture.I would call it irony of software development.

A Software Development Life Cycle involves
(1)Requirements(+feasibility+time-to-Deliver+Complexity) Analysis -->(2)Design-->(3)Development-->(4)Testing(at every phase+test the compatibility with Requirements)-->(5)Marketing (deployment)-->(6)Maintenance

Marketing depends on his ascendants as well as descendants in the above cycle.I feel that (1)Requirements Analysis determines marketing a lot.My stint as an IT professional made me realise that 99% of the projects fail due to lack proper requirement analysis.I remember a game we played in a softskills training program.Hundred people are asked to sit in a haphazard manner.
The instructor mumbles 2-3 sentences to some one in this maze.He/She should pass on the message to his/her neighbour.Then the neighbour to his/her.Like this the chain reaction continues.But surprisingly it produced such a rippling effect that if the instructor says something about "Rama killed Ravana" the outcome was about "Arjuna killed Karna".Thank God atleast the outcome is also a fact in this case.But many a times it will be wierd.

I guess that this is what happening in the very first stage of SDLC.Why is this happening?May be weak soft-skills.But this discussion is more relevant to what effect does it produce?Marketing failures.According to Philip Kotler "Human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes".So when we are not clear about needs and wants how can we market the product.Once we cross this chasm we can adopt Moore's framework for business leverage.

Comments Welcome!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Typography

A written word can be dressed up basically in two kinds of fonts.
(1)Serif Fonts :Each of these words has structural details at the end of every stroke.
(2)Sans Serif Fonts :The edges of these words are smooth and contains no details.

While reading printed matter in news paper,magazines and books we prefer serif fonts.That is because the eye doesn't read individual words but scan over blocks of text.But it hates the shape that serif fonts form on a computer screen.So various sans serif fonts for electronic text came into existence, like Helvetica (owned by Linotype),Arial (owned by M$),Georgia etc.,

Vist this for 20 best license-free official-fonts.

Negative Calorie Foods

I never knew that even eating food can help in weight loss! How?
Source : TOI

For ex : A piece of cake consisiting of 400 calories may only require 150 cals to digest, resulting in a net gain of 250 cals, which is added to our body fat.On the other hand an apple or orange containing 50 cals may require approximately 150 cals to digest resulting in a net loss of 100 cals from our body fat.The more you eat the more you lose weight!

List of Negative Cal Foods -->
Fruits:: ----- Vegetables::
Apples ----- Beetroot
Lemon ------ Broccoci
Mango -------Cabbage
Lime -------Carrot
Orange ------ Cauliflower
Pappaya ----- Cuccumber
Peach ---------Garlic
Pineapple ----- Greenbeans
Raspberry ----- Lettuce
Strawberry ---- Radishes
Tangerine ------Spinach
Watermelon ----Tomato

So inorder to have long-term weight loss, consume negative cal foods uncooked as part of a balanced low cal diet with exercise.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Indian IT Professional’s Role

Dr Deepak B Phatak ,Subrao Nilekani Chair Professor,Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology,IIT Bombay gave the following talk in IIIT,Hyderabad on Tuesday, 9 September 2003.

The talk is highly inspiring.I noted down key points from the talk.While cleaning my cupboard I got those papers.I am posting them here for the benefit of myself and readers.

What is Information Technology?
Technology that permits Capture, Validation, Storage, Retrieval, Analysis, Dissemination and Archival of Information.IT reduces friction to flow of information, improves transparency and increases accountability.MODERN INFO. TECH. Can Access Information at Any time and at Any Place.

Components Of IT Deployment->
(1)Hardware
(2)System Software
(3)Application Software
(4)Network
(5)Bandwidth
(6)Infrastructure
(7)People and Processes

(Application) Software Crisis-->
Changes in Functionality is a Perpetual Requirement.So Design for Change, Integration.

Some Important Technologies -->
(1)Distributed Objects
ex:J2EE Architecture, JDBC, …
(2)Messaging Middleware
(3)Internet Technologies
ex:HTML, XML, Browsers
(4)Data Bases, Mining, …
(5)Network Traffic Management
ex:Routing, Security (IDS), …
(6)Embedded Systems
ex:Smart Cards, Net Appliances, …

Indian IT Penetration -->
Technology Penetration in a Society is Measured in Terms of the Extent of its Deployment
First 500 Million IT Users came from the Developed World
Next 500 Million IT Users Should be From Asia/Africa (India 100M)

Building Affordable Solutions-->
(1)Use Thin Client / Thick Server
Server Centric Computing
(2)Use Internet Technologies
Browser Based Front-ends
(3)Use Open Source Technologies
Contribute, Build and Deploy

Some Thoughts on OSS-->
(1)The IPR Spectrum:

Free Open Semi-Open Protected
Software Source APIs Products
(Stallman) (Windows,Oracle etc.,)

(2)Developers Do Not Generally Develop Applications on OSS
Fear of Unacceptability
Lack of Trained Staff
(3)Users Not Enthusiastic
Fear of Non-Support
Performance Issues

(4)KReSIT(Kanwal Rekhi School Of IT (1998)) AT IIT BOMBAY is trying to build affordable solutions.
Check this

The IT Professional Pyramid-->


Characteristics of IT Professional -->
(1)Knowledge And Skills
(2)Personality With An Inquisitive Mind
(3)Value System
(4)Vision

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS -->
(1)Last Text Book You Read?
Not Prescribed In The Syllabus
(2)Last Research Journal You Read?
Not Connected With Your Field
(3)Last Book You Purchased?
(4)Last Time You Did Any Unforced Writing?

Personality-->
ARE YOU
(1)Curious About Everything ?
(2)Disbeliever in Knowledge Compartmentalization?
(3)Willing to Work Hard & Not Give up?
(4)Willing to Make Mistakes & Learn?
(5)Polite But Forthright?

VALUE SYSTEM -->
DO YOU BELIEVE IN
(1)Professional Achievement Being More Important Than Material Wealth
Commitment to a Cause
(2)A Disciplined And Rigorous Approach
(3)The Traditional Indian Debts
(4)Having Principles In Life

VISION -->
In Ten Years From Now
(1)What Would You Be?
(2)What Will Happen To Your Institution, Town & State ?
(3)Where Will Your Nation Be?
(4)What will Happen to Human Society?
(5)What Do You Propose To Do About All These?

If you wish to make a Difference -->
(1)Make Learning a Regular Habit
Not just Reading, but Thinking!
(2)Treat Ethics as Important
Even if you see several dishonest people succeeding, Sustained Societal Prosperity is NOT possible without Trust.
(3)Learn and Develop Leadership
Leaders are not only borne, but they can be Created
(4)Learn Negotiating Skills
(5)Respect Deadlines
(6)Learn Time Management
(7)Believe and build Teamwork
(8)Lot of Give and Take
(9)Be Trustworthy
What you say Must be Solid
What you Commit must be dependable
(10)Keep Larger Picture in Mind
Believe in Yourself
But do face Hard Realities

THE “INDIAN” IT Professional -->
(1)Believes That He or She Can Make it BIG Here In India
Using Domain Knowledge, IT, Very Hard Focused Work and Perseverance
Tremendous Confidence In Oneself
(2)Pride in Indian Achievements, Together with Genuine Respect for Knowledge & Progress Elsewhere.Read this
(3)Is a Die-Hard Optimist

Concluding Remarks-->
Struggle Comes out of Hunger
Hard Work Comes out of Struggle
Success Comes out of Hard Work
--Poet Srirangam Srinivasa


AN UNSOLICITED ADVICE -->

Get Out of “Colonial Mindset”,
The World Is Yours to Make a Mark on.

In Our Move Towards Becoming a Developed Nation, To Provide An Honorable And Comfortable Life To Indians, and to Live as Equals
Create IPR Through Focused R&D and help in Wealth Generation.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

IceBreaker

I joined Toastmasters club of my company.The club is very active.We are actually working along the lines of Toastmasters International.We are also the members of Toastmasters International.Many other corporates take guidance from us.

Initially I tried my hand with impromptus( on the fly topics).Then I gave my first speech.Toastmasters club call it IceBreaker.Here you got to speak about your self.So next 50 lines(just 50 because I am supposed to speak only for 8 minutes) is about myself.If intersted go on know me.

Hi every one,

I am shadab.I am working with ....

I was born in Nellore,AP.I did my kindergarten in Nellore itself.Our servant used to take me to school daily on his bicycle.Some of the times I used to direct the cycle's handle.May be thats the reason why I learnt bicycle faster than my peers.But I was crazy about jeeps (my dad used to have one).One day I started the jeep on my own .The sound blasted the blood pressure levels of my parents.In the next moment I found myself in my mother's hands.

We shifted to Ongole.I did my entire schoooling there.I made good friends who are in touch even now.I participated in elocution,essay writing ,quiz competitions and also won prizes .During my V standard an English teacher(he used to teach social) visited our school.It is the first time we saw live white skin.As usual every one was excited as if some Mother Teresa or President of India visited our school.My teacher introduced me as one of the good students of the class.(Not boasting my teacher considered so).I used to hate geography, particulary reading about the minerals found in Europe sucks.So I asked him whether their students study about India/sub-continent.Arrogantly he said very little/possibly 4-5 pages.Innocently I told "Mam this is unfair we are wasting a whole year/200 pages on their country ".

In my upper primary school I became ardent fan of cricket.In the spirit of tendulkar ,Once my shot hit the forehead of my classmate .Till he got right I suffered lot more than him.After that in the spirit of rahul dravid I never tried to hit the ball hard even when it is needed.Its the 1995 world cup.India lost badly to Srilanka in the semifinals.After that I too lost my interest badly in cricket.

Because of the competition from private schools the missionaries also started grinding (chakki-peeso) business.So I had to fight with my head-mistress to participate in extra-curricular activities.One fine day,my friend and I got selected for Gemini Quiz (Telugu channel).I prepared for it like hell.Till then I was more of like reading what is necessary but I started reading all interesting things.Our effort was not futile we stood 2nd in coastal region.With this my head mistress realized and slightly changed her attitude.

After school I started preparation for IIT-JEE.I forgot every thing even speaking.I never went to a college(nominally I joined a local college).So I was not able to make many friends.I was infatuated by IIT.I prepared like hell.I am very very much thankful to my parents.They supported me when I was alone with out any help trying to find moment of Inertia of a rotating ball hit by a cue.I was not able to make it.Irony is I prepared as if I am preparing for an Msc(physics) entrance test not JEE.I forgot that there is a subject called CHEMISTRY.But I had a good CHEMISTRY with IIIT Hyderabad.

I cherish my life@IIIT the most.I met many kind of people.Some are extremely intelligent some are extremely geekish some are extremely proactive.Nice professors who are there to help you personally as well as subject-wise.Initially I struggled a lot to catch up with the pace of IIIT.I made lot of good friends.Since I was at hostel for the first time I realized the value of friendship.

I got crazy about Robots during my 3rd year.I studied a lot about them.Now I feel it is all due to Terminator-3 :-).My FinalYearProject was also multi agent simulated robosocer.We got selected in the international 3D robosoccer challenge from India.
My professor wanted me to work on the subject further but I realised that there are many practical problems around me which doesn't need robots but a normal human brain like mine infact like all of us.

I was very much confused in my final year thinking what next?So I attended the campus placements because that is the option left after all the options are over.I was very much reluctant with the process because of our placement officer.So just tried to get out of it taking whatever comes first.Unfortunately I faced some bitter experiences as my process of getting out of the process delayed due to my getting rejected in the written test itself.My reluctance was also a reason.However,luckily I made it to ....(my company)

I enjoyed my InitialLearningProgram, particularly weekend trips.Again I got a good bunch of friends.I was also awarded 5000/- cash prize for my performance in software engineering.

After ILP I worked in ports domain.There I learnt a lot working with the clients although some times I had a clash with one.The hierarchy is that there are two teams (a)client side (b)my company's side.I came under client side and my company's side partially.My module was stable because of the hard work of my seniors.But it is highly sensitive some silly change in some other module may affect mine.So I got some thing to do. I used to finish the work early ,ask for more from my immediate superior (client side) .He was happy with me.Most of the times I used to have no work.So I used to read a lot Movies to Philosophy.But the Teamlead(client side) had an objection that I read on internet.Once or twice I told him nothing is pending on my side and I am ready to take more work.I did a good job(I consider so).I made a report of the work done and used to show him.Still he is not happy.Some how he wants to pull my leg.

Once I was onsite in Mundra port of Gujarat.He got a chance.It so happened that ....
Clients used to get Coke racks from the hotel.We were alighting the bus then he called me and told "Hey get those racks to the workplace".I was very much angry.I dont know his intention but I felt bad because of my past experiences.But what can I do? Client is the Boss.At the same time I cannot hurt my self-esteem.So I immediately took some books in the hands of my friend beside me into mine and told him "Sorry I am not free."

Thank God now I changed the project.Now I am working on an integration problem.A one stand-by point for all Bio-informaticians,scientists.Very good team above all the best boss.

What Next?I dont know
But surely the best that suits me.Till now God has been very much fair with me.I wanted some thing but he gave the best that suits me.

But,I want to have a consultancy firm of my own or atleast work for a consulting firm because problems motivate me.I feel that they are the very source of human existence.

Thanks a lot for listening to me with patience...

My tryst with Kurus

Kurus are Kauravas and Pandavas.I bought the book The Mahabharatha A Child's View by Samhita Arni from the book exhibition held at my company.Surprisingly I always find many children books in book exhibition organised by my company's library.May be these books are considered as stress busters.

The book starts with santanu the ancestor of Kurus.The writer is good at all the famous epics.The reason for her to write a child view on Mahabharatha is because it is so evil.

The family tree of kurus is like this:-
Santanu+Ganga-->Bhishma
Santanu+Satyavathi-->Chitragada,Vichitraveerya
Parashara+Satyavathi-->Vyasa-->Dhritarashtra,Pandu,Vidura
Dhritarashtra+Gandhari-->100 Kauravas
Pandu+Kunthi-->Yudhishtira,Bhima,Arjuna ; Pandu+Madri-->Nakula,Sahadeva
Arjuna+Subhadra-->Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu+Uttara-->Parikshit (the last kuru)

Other Associates :-
Sura -->Vasudeva,Surya(Sun)
Vasudeva+Devaki-->Balarama,Krishna,Subhadra
Surya+Kunthi-->Karna
Draupada-->Shikhandin,Dhrishtadyumna,Draupadi

The attrractive aspect of Mahabharatha is it's elements are very much interlinked for ex:- Concept of Astras,Death of Karna,Bhishma...

It is an embodiment of human feelings.Like

(1)Thirst for Power ,Egoism--> The reason for the great war.

(2)Jealousy --> Arjuna ,Ekalavya's story.

(3)Sacrifice --> Ekalavya giving Guru Dakshina,Karna's great deeds.

(4)Wisdom --> Lord Krishna mentoring Arjuna,Bhishma.

(5)Friendship -->Karna,Duryodhana.

(6)Above all, Stupidity --> Einstein said "There are two infinite things.One is Universe the other is man's stupidity.I am not sure about the former."
Dharmaraja continues playing the game anf finally brings problems to pandavas and Draupadi.Dhritarashtra allows his son to carry on all stupid deeds like a big stupid.
Above all Although every one knows that war only results in disturbance and imbalance it occured just because of sheer stupidity.

Did man overcome his stupidity after reading Mahabharata?
A big NO.If so, there wouldn't have been Gujarat riots,Mumbai train blasts,Hyderabad twin blasts, world wars,9/11 's ,mayhem in Iraq ....an endless list.

and many more...