100 yards of potholes

The genesis of this blogpost is attributed to my colleague Preethi Menon, who offers me a lift back home to Navi Mumbai from Andheri where we work. Every day, we have to go through a long stretch on Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link road (JVLR as it is popularly known). Last week, while the car was moving at snail’s pace, we were deliberating on why the traffic would move slowly till we could see L&T and then it would start to ease out. My opinion was that the road is narrower till L&T and is broad after that. She told that it is because of a 100 yards of potholes and suggested to me that I should consider writing an article on this.

The thought has lingered in my head ever since. I was wondering if “100 yards of potholes “could be of any significance. I am a marketing and communications professional so of course, first thought would go in that direction.

To the marketing person in me, it seems like every person passing the area stops and pays respect to a giant conglomerate called “L&T”. I wonder how many who pass that area might actually be shareholders of L&T. I am sure L&T has become a part of everyday conversations of the lives of the people passing that stretch. I am tempted to think that Powai is a talking point because of that stretch and talks about traffic near L&T only did good for the brand.

If I were to try personification with the “100 yards of potholes”, it is probably a philosopher telling fast moving Mumbai to slow down and take it easy. To introspect and then move ahead. In collaboration with the better stretch of road near Powai lake, it might be giving a message that after “100 yards of potholes” (troubles, hindrances, struggle et. al.), a smooth ride could be expected not only in Powai but also in life. There isn’t much I can talk on Philosophy so I stop here.

Now the business angle. While the cars slow down there, many vendors selling groundnuts are a common sight. If we are to take the number of cars that get stuck in peak hours, even if a small percentage of people manage to buy this offering, the “100 yards of potholes” are a means of livelihood. It is an instant shop, much like a drive through McDonalds.

“100 yards of potholes” also highlights the importance of maintenance of resources to avoid sluggish progress. It also enables us to think of what elected politicians and governments have done. As it is perennial in nature and does not cease to exist (whatever the season may be), it raises its ugly head to stand as a harbinger of false promises that the government and elected representatives made. If it has not been looked at or repaired for many years, its life is symbolic of how our elected representatives address problems.

“100 yards of potholes” is a boon for tyre manufacturers and suppliers of fuel. It seems to freelance for them and gets good commission as it contributes to augmenting the requirement of tyres and fuel.

In essence, the “100 yards of potholes” epitomizes everything from corruption to poverty, to opportunities and valuable lessons. Long live the “100 yards of potholes”: I wish I could say this but I don’t wish for this wish to come true.

Election campaigns

The elections in the state of Maharashtra are just a few hours away. I am sure you will see and hear about the campaigns in all possible media. Some make it attractive with the celebrity quotient, some bring in the political heavyweights from their own parties. but spare a thought for the independent candidates. In a few hours, we all will exercise our constitutional right... and as always we will be unsure if we have made the right choice or not. How will we decide? The representatives from the area never release a quarterly report of the progress as corporates do. Forget quarterly , an annual report would be a big relief. But that's for another day, as the situation gets tense, lets talk something humorous.

Let me take you some years back. I was all alone at home and thought of taking a siesta. Just then, I heard a knock on the door. As no one was in the house, I reluctantly pulled myself up and went to open the door. And as I did that, there stood a lady who was a complete stranger. Even stranger was the way she was standing. She just smiled,held a carrot in her left hand and pointed to it with the right. I asked her how I could be of help to her. She said," This election, when you exercise your vote, remember the carrot. I politely said "Yes ma'am". And once she left, I just couldn't stop myself from laughing.

There have been innumerable number of candidates who have visited my place as part of their election campaigning, canvassing for votes. As you know, they hibernate for five years post elections so I do not recall any of those faces. But this lady and the proverbial carrot for the voter rabbits will remain etched in my memory forever.

As you all go to vote, ensure that you have done your research on the candidates you have to choose from and not fall for the vague promises and proverbial carrots.

Wars!

A blog post after almost two months... and a very depressing one at that! Before you close this window as you are likely to do with my other blog posts, I amn't going to write about nuclear bombs and bloodshed.
In school, history teachers taught us all from the Mughal invasion of India by Babar in 1526 to the Britishers coming in and ruling through the 17th and 18th century. The ways of invasion and the style of ruling has changed over the years. The British ruled in the era of Industrialization and the wars fought then were all about sophisticated weapons.
The 21st century is the Age of Information, and as I notice, the next wars will be the ones fought on the web. I have been fortunate to lead web communications for my company, Financial Technologies (India) Ltd,(http://www.ftindia.com/ ) and in the three months since taking up this role, I have realized that today's wars are fought on the web. Blogs, Social networks, Bookmarking, Folksonomies,.... companies resort to all these things to compete.
And if studies are to be believed, the average time spent on the web per week is on the rise and there isnt a better way to capture mindshare than enhance your web presence. So, if Google has captured the mindshare for search, the Bings and the wolframalpha's are trying their best to outclass it. The number of social networking and bookmarking sites are also testimony to the fact that companies seek to be all over the web so the demand for such sites will be there and new ones would keep coming even if you have Linkedin and Facebook and bookmarking majors like Digg and Delicious.
Companies have also come up with innovative ways to have more eyeballs and mindshare on their online presence such as community initiatives. Under the tutelage of my Director - Communications, Mr. Miten Mehta, I have been learning the importance of the same and our community initiatives at Financial Technologies (http://www.ftindia.com/community/) and I am amazed at the interest that it has garnered in the financial community. Barely an year old, but there are companies vying to feature there. I have had people from start-ups, authors, established brokerage houses and banks etc. calling me just to feature in various sections of our community initiatives.
The bottomline is, if my experience in the last three months understanding and learning the web is anything to go by, the web is the future.So all you professionals out there, if you don't know a thing or two about SEO, Offpage optimization,Affiliate programs and so on, its time you put your act together and enhance your web presence else you would be lagging behind in the rat race before even realizing it!
So gear up your arsenel and prepare yourself to fight the virtual wars... for the ones who take a headstart are likely to prevail!

It happens only in India

With due respect to the constitution and the law of the land, the "Kasab trial" has made our system a laughing stock. I was shocked to see the news yesterday with the line "Not guilty" flashing on my T.V screen. Kasab has claimed "Not guilty" of his act.

I would call this RIDICULOUS if I had to put it kindly. If you need evidence, you have it all, on T.V, on camera, eyewitnesses and after all this, if you give someone an opportunity to plead innocence, there is something seriously wrong.

I think this would happen only in India.

Another instance which led me to believe the title was when Aishwarya Rai had to marry a tree as she is a Manglik. If there is any country in the world where the World's most beautiful women would have had to undergo such a plight, it is India.

This happens only in India.

Show the middle finger.... With Pride!

On 30th April 2009, you could have flaunted your middle finger ... without any apprehensions( This post is applicable only for India... or rather Mumbai). You could show that middle finger with a sense of having done a duty, having fulfilled a constitutional obligation. The virgin voters flaunted their middle fingers with a sense of accomplishment.

But, to all those who din't vote, I guess they need to be shown the middle finger, for they ought to have realized that its once in 5 years that they get an opportunity to do something for the country and they let go of it, just to enjoy a long weekend.

Having said that, please spare the ones who aren't in the country owing to their professional commitments. Let me finish by congratulating celebrities like Priety Zinta and SRK who flew to India just to vote. I hope, the people who chose to celebrate the long weekend over the elections should be ashamed to call themselves SRK fans, if they are.

Bullet Proof???

Dear Readers,
If you find this article appealing enough, I request you all to direct yourselves to
http://t-errorism.blogspot.com/ and leave your suggestions and comments. Let's unite to wipe out Terrorism. Please note that the article below is the one I have contributed to the above mentioned blog.

Since times immemorial, India has constantly been attacked for innumerable reasons and it has invariably managed to produce heroes who rise to the occasion and lay down their lives. What drives them is the sheer love for their motherland and fellow countrymen. November 26th, we all know, was no different. Mumbai was under seige by the terrorist and the Police Force, Army, Navy, and the NSG rose to the occasion. Do we respect these martyrs? Is their valor an inspiration to us to do something for the country or just a topic of discussion for a day or two? As we are starting to come to terms with the trauma, will we remeber these martyrs or will our memory conveniently erase it to occupy absolutely irrational issues?
When three collegues of mine, namely Ashish Dave, Sandeep Chagger and Raksha Bhagat came forward with this idea of starting a blog (and a community down the line) to act against terrorism and asked me to join in, I felt really proud of them. Further, I feel really obliged to be asked to contribute to this blog. There is so much to talk, so many issues to raise, so much to do. The best way to go about it is to start the easy and the most necessary ones.
Back to that fateful day, Mumbai Police lost three of its best officers. Do you think two young terrorists were too much for them to handle... and we are talking about the likes of encounter specialists here? No, definitely not. Do you think our Police is incompetant to handle 10 terrorists? I don't think there are many who will answer this question in the affirmative. Then why did we have to pay such a heavy price to counter this attack? Reports suggest that bullet proof jackets could not stop the bullets from piercing the chest of these brave hearts nor were the helmets good enough to save the best brains in our poilce force. I thought we could have given them a better chance against these cowardly terrorists who needed human shield to fight the NSG.
I was deeply saddened by the lack of ammunition for our Police force who will happily take the bullets down their chest so as to ensure every Mumbaikars' safety. The reports I read the next day on this issue was even more startling. The police force had ordered bullet proof jackets way back in 1992 and still use the same ones. The same material was reordered in 2002 but have we taken into consideration the fact that the arsenal of terrorists is getting more sophisticated by the day. The answer is a big NO... we weren't bothered because we did not know perhaps... the politicians must have known but did not care. This very fact raises serious questions over our respect for valor, bravery and patriotism of these martyr. What every human being in our country including our politicians (you got to put them in the same class because of their appearance) tends to forget is that the more we take these sacrifices for granted, the more we are compromising on our safety. The bullets shot by these terrorists is moving towards you and me, we are saved just because the Karkares,Salaskars and Unnikrishnans are happily standing as a human shield in front of us.
The sad part : they are ensuring that our lives are bullet proof but we cant give them good quality bullet proof jackets.Its time we atleast do this. Lets give them a level playing field against a terrorist with AK-47s and grenades. I dont have much faith in our politicians and I am not too sure if our Policemen will get new jackets before the next 'n' attacks. I am even more sure of the fact that any Indian reading the post will echo the same sentiment. So, as we take our first steps towards a revolution to rectify (t)ERRORISM, we can begin by contributing, in our own humble way, to collect a decent sum of money to facilitate our Policemen with the best available bullet proof jackets. Let's not sacrifice any of our brave men (already very less in number) to these cowards from across the border.
If we, the stakeholders of this blog, unite as a community, we can definitely make the lives of our bravehearts BULLETPROOF... so I urge all readers to drop in a comment, just to let us know that you believe in this initiative ( if you truly do) and help us assess the strength of true Indians in bringing about a revolution!!!

A class apart!!!

In all walks of life, there are people and there are PEOPLE... but some simply stand out; they ... are a class apart. I am not necessarily talking about celebrities here. In my department in office , a good friend of mine named Ashish Dave stands out from the rest of us in terms of the way he dresses and carries himself, we all acknowledge it and call him "CLASS"... but let me tell you he puts in a lot of effort to keep the reputation in tact. Then, there are PEOPLE as I mentioned. They will stand out among a million others and their charm lies in the fact that they can do it effortlessly. This article of mine is about a guy who I truly believe is A CLASS APART.Now, I am not going to give away the name so easily. Let's have a build up to it. Just imagine yourself in a situation( say a discussion) with some poeple whose expertise about the topic of the discussion is unparelled. Are you sure you can stand your ground? Are you sure you can still impress and emerge a winner? I can bet my house on the fact that 95% of the people who read this article will not give an affirmative answer to both the above questions. Now, the person I am going to write about can claim this... actually he doesn't need to; for almost every Indian Cricket lover will vouch for this.
Saturday nights are normally TV time for me and I watch the Idiot box till late in the night. I am sure the TV feels happy because there is someone in the room to whom the adjective in the earlier sentence suits aptly. So, while surfing the channels,I happened to get a glimpse of IBN Lokmat. It is a Marathi news channel. I know no one will believe me when I say that I was watching a News channel at 12.30 in the night but the interview that was going on caught my attention. I have always admired this perosn's word power and usage of words-flawless, simple and elegant just like a diamond ring. The way in which he speaks is as smooth as a baby's bum ( please excuse the Sidhuism). But then, all this is in English, I never knew that he spoke Marathi. Frankly speaking, I know Marathi and can understand the language well but if you speak too fast and use very complicated words, it will become a bit tough for me to grasp. Nevertheless, the power of this genius' style and flow of the interview held my attention for the entire hour ( you should appreciate this considering the comment on my attention span in my previous post). I understood each and every word he spoke( hats off to me....). This time though, I was impressed by the man's outlook to life, the simplicity , the poise, the calm and a charm that is unique to him. I loved the way each question was answered- clear thought, good rationale and extremely humble mannerisms. The man I am talking about is none other than Mr. Harsha Bhogle... he truly is a class apart !!!!
The man with no experience in International cricket does stand his own in front of the modern day legends like Sunil Gavaskar , Wasim Akram etc. and all that with absolutely no effort whatsoever. I am not easily impressed by anyone nor do I want to be anyones fan but I truly respect and admire Harsha Bhogle far more than the cricketers themselves.
I am happy with the number of people who have read my blog and am in particular not interested in knowing who were the people who visited and read the posts. However, this article makes me think a bit differently.
I would simply love it if Mr. Harsha Bhogle were to read this article ever and comment on it for then my blog will also be what my title for the post suggests " A CLASS APART".

Roads

The title looks a bit unusual; especially if the person writing the post is someone as ignorant about worldly matters as me. After about 15 articles, I have realized that none of the posts have anything worth a thought. If anyone has read all these posts( I know I am being optimistic); please make it a point to let me know if any of my posts was thought-provoking. I would like to confess that ,if that was the case, it was purely unintentional.

So, let me make inroads into ROADS!! For all those who do not know me, my attention span is not more than 10 minutes. I can't remember any instance in my life where I have concentrated for more than 15 minutes at a stretch. Conversely, if I find a thing interesting enough to pay attention to ( thats as rare as Hailey's comet) , then I tend to remember that for the rest of my life. One such rare occurence happened in school when my geography teacher was teaching something about Indian states. She said," The ratio of the roads to the total area of the state of Kerala is 11 times better than that of Madhya Pradesh(MP)" and she related that to the literacy levels. I found the observation pretty interesting and it has stayed in my head ever since. I will come back to this later.

Now that I have completed my education(don't mistake it for knowledge), my day is all about going to office , coming back and sleeping. The distance from my house to office by road is about 40 kms, I am sure its less than that. However, if I take a bus, it would take me around an hour and a half to reach home. I happened to talk to my friend in the US once and he said he travels more than what I do, in terms of .However, the time he takes is a mere one- fourth of what I do. As a result, he has time to relax, and has enough energy left to spend the night with his girlfriend... ( one skype I mean... don't get any ideas). What about the people in Mumbai like me? I am zapped of all energy and enthusiasm by the time i reach home... so are the many Mumbaikars like me. Imagine a scenario if we could have had freeways here, I could reach home atleast an hour early and pursue some interesting hobby but that not being the case leads to frustration, and in general not much left in you by the time you reach home. This frustration , I am sure , creeps into the life of people who face a similar plight day in and day out... and definitely sows the seeds for some unhappiness. Did you ever believe " Good Raods could lead to a peaceful life?". If not, what's your take on it now.

Let me go back to the example given by my geography teacher. The literacy rate in kerala is almost 100% , MP is nowhere close. The fact that there are developed roads plays an important role in the development of these states... and ensures an educated next generation.

Recently, I read an article in the Mumbai Mirror ( A popular daily newspaper in Mumbai) ; that a pregnant lady lost her child because the Auto she was in ran into a pothole. I believe its high time, the authorities and the govt understands the plight and does a good job of the roads for " Good Roads mark the Road to our progress as a nation." This thought could be as stupid as the previous posts you have been subjected to; so please feel free to vent out the frustration for making you read such a long article in the form of comments... and let me assure you one thing; I won't go the MNC way and scan your comments before displaying them.

3000 papers cost a Tree

I am sure everyone who finds time to visit my blog will surely have a lot of time to kill ... so I am sure the people who read this are the ones who check their mails everyday. With such great knowledge of my Target audience and their surfing patterns on the net(its a delibrate effort to sound pompous and I amn't apologetic about it), let me write a small observation which made me put my brains to work.
If you have observed, our janta usually has a signature line attached to each mail. Some that I came across are:

• Don't give up because hard work pays
• Not by merits, but by mercy
• I like crying in the rains coz on one can see my tears

and so many more... but the important things is that none of them were impressive enough to make me think of signatures .
Last week, I got a mail from the Chief Marketing Officer of one of the group companies of Financial Technologies( the company which has bought my brains....loll!!). His signature line goes as: " 3000 papers cost a tree so don't take printouts unnecessarily."
I was really impressed by the line cause most lines I have seen are motivating stuff, religious beliefs or something the user finds interesting . But this was the first time that I saw some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) message as a signature. We all can take a cue out of his book and come up with signatures as informative and action initiating ... and what better than a message to save the environment and take steps towards the already threatening problem of global warming .
I would like all readers of mine also to act like this top-level executive and write signature lines jo aam aadmi ke liye informative ho and usme kuch achcha karne ka junoon paida kar sake...
If you want to suggest signature lines of such calibre, feel free to drop in such comments here . We can surely use this platform and the highly underrated web medium to take up issues of such significance to the environment and mankind in general.