You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2008.
Yearbook filling, senti-songs like “Ye dosti hum nahi chodenge” being spammed on the internal messenger.. you realise you have only a month of college life left..
You realise it when you see the sun setting, each evening different from the other.. You realise it when you take in a deep breathe once class is done.. Feeling the wind blow gently, caressing you, whispering gently… All is quiet and you feel your heart beating lightly..
IIM K PGP10, will miss you so … your quirkiness, each one of you so special, so different.. the diversity in talent is amazing and humbling.. the lessons learnt from you, immeasurable..
” Kuch aisa karke dikha, khudh khush ho jaaye Khuda…Aashaen khile dil ki, ummeeden hasen dil ki, abh mushkil nahi kuch bhi, nahi kuch bhi…”
1 lakh. The five figure “one”der. Can come up with any number of metaphors, phrases to describe this creature from Tata Motor’s stable!
The whole car is about a single word - innovation, right from using aerospace adhesives instead of welding to its distribution strategy. A little about the distribution strategy from Mr Ratan Tata:
“So we looked at a new kind of distributed manufacturing, creating a low-cost, low break-even point manufacturing unit that we design and give to entrepreneurs who might like to establish a manufacturing facility. We looked at different ways of servicing the product, at the customer’s location, and through a concept adopted from the insurance industry, wherein self-employed people are trained and certified by us.”
Sounds like franchising in part to me - the “entrepreneur” bit hints at that don’t you think? It is one of the fastest way to scale up, which makes sense for a product riding on thin margins.
The competitor-responses to the Nano have been pretty “Me-too” with GM, Toyota talking about bringing out their own versions of the same. Guess they didn’t expect the Tata’s to deliver on their promise eh? Of late, the car industry has seen quite a bit of crossing-over from other automobile category-users. What with the Mahindra’s Scorpio positioning itself as a car (SUV–>Car), the Nano positioning itself as a safer alternative to a bike(Car<–Bikes).
Besides the “common Indian”, the Nano could appeal to a very different set of consumers. Considering it is the 1st and currently the only one of its kind, why can’t it evolve into a fashion symbol of its own? True, the elite would rather have something exclusive, but wouldn’t the Nano qualify as a collector’s piece? Who thinks about usage - its all about attitude! The Nano symbolizes the uber cool-Chak De! attitude. Think politicians. Sounds totally er.. wacko, but well, couldn’t this be a new symbol of a young politician who wants to straddle all classes of Indian society? Move over Laalten (hurricane lamp) come Nano. Ridiculous, but well aren’t political gimmicks just that? 
Let’s wait and watch 
What’s with the buzz around “One” ? The One (Neo, Matrix Trilogy), One Laptop per Child, One ring to command them all (LOTR), One lakh car. Sure there would be more. Wonder what the next One would be about.
As a part of Strategic Marketing, we played the acclaimed “Beer Game”which demonstrates the Bull-whip effect on supply chain. A simple, charming exercise that underscored the importance of information flow in supply chain management.
What is Bull-whip effect? Typically refers to the increasing levels of inventory or back-logs that surface up and down the supply chain from consumer to factory, both of which would naturally increase costs. The aim of any organization would be to keep the delta between forecasted-actual demand as small as possible through faster,accurate information flow through the system.
What was fun was the tension that built up through the chain of Retailer–>Wholesale–>Distributor–>Factory. The demand had fluctuated only twice and very slightly (by 2 points) through the exercise, but the anticipated demand roughly doubled at each step (From 1–>2–>4–>8 ) with the “let’s save for the impending rainy day” attitude. Now you know why it’s called the Bull-whip! With relatively stable demand, the huge inventory at the factory side implied no work for factory employees for days on end. This would’ve resulted in labor issues, strikes etc. Amazing!
Was just thinking about Dalal Street’s Bulls n Bears. The state of mind, that drives up stock prices is the same -one of anticipation- price/demand upward movement. Though this one’s by greed and the other by fear. And moolah is ploughed by playing on these two emotions. Hah!
Here’s one poem I’ve always loved…especially those lines which have been colored below…
“How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Just discovered a song that would go along with it today.. that would play in the backdrop of my mind when I read this .. “Intezaar Aitbaar Tumse Pyaar” from Khosla ka Ghosla. Sowmya Roah sings it with quiet dignity - so very like the tone of the poem!
Community Animators- WWA Meenangadi
Was witness to a phenomenon early December’07.
As a part of a Microfinance project, had the opportunity of interacting with an NGO, WWA (Women’s Welfare Association) headquartered at Thomatuchal, a remote Taluka of Kerala’s Wayanad district. The distance covered from Kunnamangalam, (IIM Kozhikode) to the said place is some 105 km, hopping on 4 buses across unpronounceable towns/villages (in Kerala they are pretty much amalgamated) these being - Chundal, Meppaty, Vaduvanchal, Thomatuchal. Phew! Helped that I is from Malu-land 
As a part of an activity based costing exercise, had to document the main activities conducted and the time taken for these.Mr Antony Kunnath, the Program Coordinator-WWA, graciously accompanied me to a Community Animator (CA) Meeting at Meenangadi (another small town nearby). The CA’s are the individuals (mainly women) who do the back-breaking work of “forming-norming-storming-performing” the Self Help Groups for that Taluka.
The dedication of these folks is out of this world! The number of hours put in meeting, training and listening to 20(people)*8(groups in a rare case 15 groups!!)=160 people, following up on their activities, attending central level, taluka level meetings is overwhelming. And for all that effort they get paid in 3 digits/month.
Like hell they cared!
Looking at them swapping stories, sharing tips on effective loan recovery over a cup of tea and snacks prepared at the meeting venue, I wondered. This was Deming’ intrinsic motivation at its best - the kick you get out of making another person’s life better, that too when you “have better things to do” - woo-hoo! These women typically undertake this role as a part time job. Ok, a favorite hobby. They revel in the status it confers on them in their small village/town - I’d like to call them the “Lakshmi Ammas” (Yes yes, shot @ HUL, but well ). Good news, considering the gender has been persecuted as quite the reverse in the Great Indian Dowry Story.
One wishes one were a part of this small but revolutionary movement. One wishes one was born among them, to do such sweet work. One wonders whether some, if not all, have reached the last and final tier of Maslow’s pyramid- that of self actualization. Ironically, they do this to reach our “levels”of course.
So where do you get that elusive state of “fulfillment”? It can be found anywhere - the best way, they say, would be to listen to someone’s grievances, earnestly, without design. Unburdening another person’s heart is the best gift you can give him/her- the gift of your time, a precious resource these days. Having experienced the joy of doing so, can’t help but share it with you!
Don Quixote - that name which conjures up an image of a disheveled knight “charging at the windmills”. Think again. Behind that comic veneer lies a parable - one of passion, belief, love.
What gives a person a reason to live? What is life when one goes through its motions? Isn’t it love that powers us human beings? Isn’t it this emotion that drives the life-blood in the veins of life? The love of an idea, thought - anything. It takes “foolishness” or “madness” to pursue a seemingly lost cause. Well, who cares as long as you believe?
While Shaw would say that it is the unreasonable minds of few that germinate the power-ideas, how many have had the courage to acknowledge this madness that time? Rare indeed.
Switch to 2007 - the Age of the Indian Entrepreneur. Being different, “mad” seems to be “in”. Talk of start-ups buzz around me all the time. “I do not wish to work for another person..” but half of them end up doing just that. The power of your dream diminishes exponentially with the number of people you share it with. Keep it low. Keep it your cherished secret. Those very people you glibly gabbed it to would torture you with your failed dreams later on. The path of madness is one of unreasoned action, where your whole being lives, breathes that dream-not hollow talk.
What happens when reality hits you hard in all-cruelty? Cynicism sets in. Innocence is lost. One wonders what happened to that dream, that which you held onto with the slenderest rope of hope - hoping, wishing till the last minute, powering your prayers, thoughts in your waking moments into them. The “fullness” you experienced at one point of time is like heady opium - you wish for it more and more - not realizing that the moment has passed, that it’s time to move on - not believing it possible to be so. One feels foolish when one sees reason, is ashamed one ever attempted to think otherwise. Anger burns whatever beauty remained. An empty shell remains.
Where does one go from there? Well, isn’t that the triumph of humankind - to pick up the shattered bits and move on? One mutters soothing phrases from the good philosophical books. One is determined to not feel bitter, look forward, gaze to an uncertain future, look for new reasons to live.
“Make a heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-loss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss”
The saga of madness.Sigh.
My 1st face-to-face encounter with an avid blogger? Sometime in 2005, when my colleague at Wipro surreptitiously shared her blog with me- considering all that hype-hoopla of the IBM-IIPM controversy that time. My opinion on the medium then -
“Blogging? A waste of time! Blogging? Revealing your innermost thoughts and releasing your pent up emotions in public domain. Blogging? Dangerous medium-could get ya fired!Blogging and me? Naah!”
Well let’s say B-school transforms your opinions about “stuff”. Helps that everyone must have AND express opinions on everything and anything. Part of being clever, erudite. Besides the aforementioned pejorative pointers, one discovers the other side of the medium - Business blogging, arranging thoughts bla bla bla..Got me thinking - “Hey, not a bad idea after all!” Besides, what-a-way to start spanking New Year!
Many begin their Blogo-land adventures in the sunrise of their B-school journey. Mine would be at sunset - Mohatarma would be graduating in Spring’08 from the “haloed” portals of IIM Kozhikode. So is this yet another B-school blog?”Postmortem analysis-aa”? Nopses. This shall be just-another-blog-in-a-million-drops-of-blogocean filled with the random observations, thoughts of a dreamy Piscean!
So here goes post 1! <trumpet trumpet>
