Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Google Translate - best functionality
Recently, I was in Beijing and I witnessed something really amusing and impressive.
I went to a street hawker who was selling computer junk and I tried communicating with him. Well, apparently - China is a Mandarin speaking country with people having limited knowledge of English. So communicating with them is a big issue. Many many times, we just give up on communicating with a local in Beijing.
Now, our street vendor turned out to be an intelligent & indigenous guy. He knows that if he doesn't communicate effectively with us, he will lose business and will ultimately lower his earnings.
So, How does he solve the problem?
He is selling technology, so simple - he uses technology to abridge the communication barrier. and how does he manage it - By using Google Translate. ( for those who don't know about Google translate, its a google online application which can be used to convert one language into another - This amazing tool can be used to translate between 42 most widely used languages in the world )
His method of using the tool.
He connects to a wi-fi network in one of the buildings in Haidian area. ( Haidian is the IT capital of Beijing and it houses majority of IT companies in China. )
Then, he goes to Google Translate (translate.google.com) and writes his message for us in Mandarin. He translates it into English. After reading the message, I can type my message in English in another browser window, which can be translated into Mandarin.
This is how we communicated and it was very lucrative for him. Our gang must have done over RMB 500 of shopping from him.
My learning from this incident is that - no matter how complex the problem is, if you want a solution badly enough, you will get it !!!
Another point I want to make is that Google is such an amazing company. I don't see any revenue avenues for Google from Google Translate. However, they are still maintaining the product and are investing the dollars into it. The ideology & passion of the company to make internet is a better place is mind boggling. HATS OFF folks !!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
It happens only in Hong Kong
I have this amazing tale to tell about the sincerity and honesty of HK folks.
Couple of days back, I left behind my camera in the bus. It was a fancy Nikon camera with lot of great features.
Devastated, we tried several different things to get it back. We tried going to the bus depot, tried calling the HK tourist department, being desperate also thought of checking every bus in that route.
Nonetheless, we lodged an official complaint with the Bus Service in HK with no hope so ever and a deep sense of despair. They took down the details of the camera, phone number, name and other stuff.
Next day, we got a call from the Bus department and they gave me the holy news.
Some really nice citizen ( not getting the right word for it ) had deposited the camera to the bus driver and surprisingly the bus driver also deposited the camera to the Bus office. So they called me to the bus office the next day to collect the camera.
Next day, I went to the office and was courteously given the camera in one piece.
This kind of professionalism, sincerity & honesty was a pleasant surprise for me and now I realize why the oriental is more affluent & efficient than other economies.
Couple of days back, I left behind my camera in the bus. It was a fancy Nikon camera with lot of great features.
Devastated, we tried several different things to get it back. We tried going to the bus depot, tried calling the HK tourist department, being desperate also thought of checking every bus in that route.
Nonetheless, we lodged an official complaint with the Bus Service in HK with no hope so ever and a deep sense of despair. They took down the details of the camera, phone number, name and other stuff.
Next day, we got a call from the Bus department and they gave me the holy news.
Some really nice citizen ( not getting the right word for it ) had deposited the camera to the bus driver and surprisingly the bus driver also deposited the camera to the Bus office. So they called me to the bus office the next day to collect the camera.
Next day, I went to the office and was courteously given the camera in one piece.
This kind of professionalism, sincerity & honesty was a pleasant surprise for me and now I realize why the oriental is more affluent & efficient than other economies.
Friday, July 24, 2009
China – what’s different there ?
Since 2000, China is the buzzword for every multinational company’s CEO. Everyday you would read about major multinational senior executives making the trip to the Oriental. After all, how many 1.3 billion consumer markets exist in the world. China’s rapid economic expansion has been the epicenter of discussion among the leading economists across the world. Many considered this rise unattainable, however for the last decade; China has continuously maintained this growth rate. And the icing on the cake was the Beijing Olympics; all the critics and the skepticals were silenced by the robotic efficiency with which China organized the games. No doubt, the mammoth Beijing 2008 Olympics are considered the grandest Olympics ever.
Gradually, China has replaced Japan as the Asian economic superpower and many feel this ascent will only bring to a halt after China reaches the numero uno economy position in the world.
Like everyone else, I was baffled by this sudden political & economical rise of China. After all India & China were considered 3rd world countries quarter a century back. We Indians took comfort in the myth that China & India despite our growth potentials were not evolving not because of our internal policies but because of the flaws in the economic system of the world. However, the rapid development in China in last decade has left India way behind of China economically & politically.
I am fortunate enough to visit Beijing for a month in 2009 and am excited at the prospect of uncovering the dragon and its secrets behind the success. Unlike many Indians who visit China for business, I was there to learn Mandarin, and was given
ample opportunities to learn the language and interact with the locals.
Interacting with them, I realized why China is doing so great and why are we so left behind. If you would want to describe the key differentiator between the 2 economies and people mindset in one word, it is DISCIPLINE. Yes, it sounds so simple and unambiguous but there is much more to it than just that. .
Lets not categorize discipline as something like “When a person is disciplined, he or she possesses the trait of being well-behaved. In this context, the word discipline is related to the words conduct, behaviour and deportment”.
I would rather place discipline as a way of being, a way of existence.
Regularity is their forte – I haven’t seen my teachers, bus drivers, guides, Chinese acquaintances- anybody being late even once. They consider being late an offence, a dishonor and I am astonished by the seriousness by which they follow this rule.
Another amazing quality among them is their simplicity. Regardless of their position in the society, I found all of them being very humble, graceful and courteous.
This reflects in their work culture. They consider their work sacred and are proud of it. This makes them more efficient and productive.
And the most important of all their qualities is their nationalism. Man, I am really impressed by their patriotism and pride for their country and the Government. They are very patriotic because this is what they learn to be. Lets not get into the aspect behind this nationalism (misinformation or rather lack of it), but nonetheless it’s a mind boggling attribute.
I compare Indian population’s perception and thought process with this kind of pride and I feel disheartened.
We have adopted the good as well as more of the bad from the western society. If the Indian companies are run the way American companies are managed, then why not the Indian Public Administration. I feel that Indian Civil Service is completely flawed. Not a single developed country has the civil administration system the way India has. Indian Bureaucracy is in shambles and their efficiency or lack of it is universally acclaimed.
If we could trust our Government and not question it for every action it performs, maybe for a refreshing change, the Government would focus more on doing their work than answering our questions, and hence be more efficient.
There have been several learnings for me in this trip and am confident there will be more.
Keep checking out this space for more.
Gradually, China has replaced Japan as the Asian economic superpower and many feel this ascent will only bring to a halt after China reaches the numero uno economy position in the world.
Like everyone else, I was baffled by this sudden political & economical rise of China. After all India & China were considered 3rd world countries quarter a century back. We Indians took comfort in the myth that China & India despite our growth potentials were not evolving not because of our internal policies but because of the flaws in the economic system of the world. However, the rapid development in China in last decade has left India way behind of China economically & politically.
I am fortunate enough to visit Beijing for a month in 2009 and am excited at the prospect of uncovering the dragon and its secrets behind the success. Unlike many Indians who visit China for business, I was there to learn Mandarin, and was given
ample opportunities to learn the language and interact with the locals.
Interacting with them, I realized why China is doing so great and why are we so left behind. If you would want to describe the key differentiator between the 2 economies and people mindset in one word, it is DISCIPLINE. Yes, it sounds so simple and unambiguous but there is much more to it than just that. .
Lets not categorize discipline as something like “When a person is disciplined, he or she possesses the trait of being well-behaved. In this context, the word discipline is related to the words conduct, behaviour and deportment”.
I would rather place discipline as a way of being, a way of existence.
Regularity is their forte – I haven’t seen my teachers, bus drivers, guides, Chinese acquaintances- anybody being late even once. They consider being late an offence, a dishonor and I am astonished by the seriousness by which they follow this rule.
Another amazing quality among them is their simplicity. Regardless of their position in the society, I found all of them being very humble, graceful and courteous.
This reflects in their work culture. They consider their work sacred and are proud of it. This makes them more efficient and productive.
And the most important of all their qualities is their nationalism. Man, I am really impressed by their patriotism and pride for their country and the Government. They are very patriotic because this is what they learn to be. Lets not get into the aspect behind this nationalism (misinformation or rather lack of it), but nonetheless it’s a mind boggling attribute.
I compare Indian population’s perception and thought process with this kind of pride and I feel disheartened.
We have adopted the good as well as more of the bad from the western society. If the Indian companies are run the way American companies are managed, then why not the Indian Public Administration. I feel that Indian Civil Service is completely flawed. Not a single developed country has the civil administration system the way India has. Indian Bureaucracy is in shambles and their efficiency or lack of it is universally acclaimed.
If we could trust our Government and not question it for every action it performs, maybe for a refreshing change, the Government would focus more on doing their work than answering our questions, and hence be more efficient.
There have been several learnings for me in this trip and am confident there will be more.
Keep checking out this space for more.
China IT company Visit
Today, as part of the cultural & economy visibility program, BLCU ( Beijing Language & Cultural University ) planned a visit to a leading IT company in Beijing, China.
Pretty much formally attired ( a refreshing change from the shorts and tee culture which is quite prevalent here) , I boarded the bus with much anticipation and curiosity about working of the Chinese IT machinery.
After a 15 minute drive, we reached the company. They had a fancy conference room and the company President was part of the welcoming committee.
We felt honored to see the President taking out time from his busy schedule to greet us. We were quite impressed by their professionalism and were eagerly waiting to hear the President’s insights on IT and China. However, this is where the good part ended. After formal speeches from the company & our representative, we were driven through a mediocre PPT giving the overview of the company.
The PPT described the company locations, its core functions, technology partners, certifications and clients. The terms were so ambiguous and superficial that there was no lucidity in company operations and business model. At junctions, we felt the PPT was a forceful formality where they were trying to hide their core competencies and detailed business operation model. Nonetheless, once the presentation was over there was a Q&A session which the President himself addressed.
This seemed like a perfect opportunity for me unravel the mysteries behind the famed China IT business and I was all geared with my relevant questions.
This is where all our expectations crashed. The President apparently didn’t understand English and the translator seemed to be in a hallucination mode.
She translated our questions wrong and then later worse translated her President’s answers. One staunch example was when the President mentioned that management education in bachelors level is not very helpful and should be scrapped. What the translator end up saying is that MBA education is worthless and should be scrapped.
Imagine saying something like this is front on 30 wannabe MBAs.
Nonetheless, I am not sure who was at error. Was it the President or his translator? Ultimately, there was not much learning for us in the complete process. The president answered questions with the famed Chinese nationalism & pride, failing to address the key points while the translator failing to do her job miserably.
I understood that the company clocked revenues of RMB 220 M in 2008 and was suitably unimpressed. That’s like USD 30M.
The revenue of IT companies in every nook and corner of Bangalore. Particularly unimpressive because it employed over 1000 people and was one of the biggest IT companies in China. If you do the math, the company was billing (30M/1000) approx USD 30000 per employee per year. That’s peanuts compared to global IT standards.
After the Q&A session, we went for a floor walk across their office. The office was typical Chinese architecture- No frills, only functionality. One thing which was visibly impressive was the employee dedication. We must have crossed over 30-40 cubicles and not even once, an employee deviated from their work to look at us or at least beam us a smile.
The world talks about German straight faces. Guys – check out the Oriental. I was astonished & equally impressed by this dedication. Productivity levels in China are leagues ahead of India or Europe and this speaks volumes about China’s rapid economic rise in last few decades.
There was one important take away for me from this whole fiasco. China IT is way behind Indian IT and it will easily take another 15-20 years before they reach our levels.
Think of it, with 1000 able people the company couldn’t manage a decent English speaking translator.
But there seems to be an urgency among Chinese to learn English and with their perseverance & commitment, day is not far behind (15 -20 years) when they will be knocking Bangalore doors stealing clients and businesses.
IMHO, Lesson for Indian IT companies– Create Intellectual Property in the next 15 years. Look at the long term picture and try moving up the value chain. Make yourself indispensable for your clients. Indian IT companies should become the process instead being part of the process. This is the only way Indian IT can differentiate itself from the rest and withstand the inevitable Chinese onslaught.
Pretty much formally attired ( a refreshing change from the shorts and tee culture which is quite prevalent here) , I boarded the bus with much anticipation and curiosity about working of the Chinese IT machinery.
After a 15 minute drive, we reached the company. They had a fancy conference room and the company President was part of the welcoming committee.
We felt honored to see the President taking out time from his busy schedule to greet us. We were quite impressed by their professionalism and were eagerly waiting to hear the President’s insights on IT and China. However, this is where the good part ended. After formal speeches from the company & our representative, we were driven through a mediocre PPT giving the overview of the company.
The PPT described the company locations, its core functions, technology partners, certifications and clients. The terms were so ambiguous and superficial that there was no lucidity in company operations and business model. At junctions, we felt the PPT was a forceful formality where they were trying to hide their core competencies and detailed business operation model. Nonetheless, once the presentation was over there was a Q&A session which the President himself addressed.
This seemed like a perfect opportunity for me unravel the mysteries behind the famed China IT business and I was all geared with my relevant questions.
This is where all our expectations crashed. The President apparently didn’t understand English and the translator seemed to be in a hallucination mode.
She translated our questions wrong and then later worse translated her President’s answers. One staunch example was when the President mentioned that management education in bachelors level is not very helpful and should be scrapped. What the translator end up saying is that MBA education is worthless and should be scrapped.
Imagine saying something like this is front on 30 wannabe MBAs.
Nonetheless, I am not sure who was at error. Was it the President or his translator? Ultimately, there was not much learning for us in the complete process. The president answered questions with the famed Chinese nationalism & pride, failing to address the key points while the translator failing to do her job miserably.
I understood that the company clocked revenues of RMB 220 M in 2008 and was suitably unimpressed. That’s like USD 30M.
The revenue of IT companies in every nook and corner of Bangalore. Particularly unimpressive because it employed over 1000 people and was one of the biggest IT companies in China. If you do the math, the company was billing (30M/1000) approx USD 30000 per employee per year. That’s peanuts compared to global IT standards.
After the Q&A session, we went for a floor walk across their office. The office was typical Chinese architecture- No frills, only functionality. One thing which was visibly impressive was the employee dedication. We must have crossed over 30-40 cubicles and not even once, an employee deviated from their work to look at us or at least beam us a smile.
The world talks about German straight faces. Guys – check out the Oriental. I was astonished & equally impressed by this dedication. Productivity levels in China are leagues ahead of India or Europe and this speaks volumes about China’s rapid economic rise in last few decades.
There was one important take away for me from this whole fiasco. China IT is way behind Indian IT and it will easily take another 15-20 years before they reach our levels.
Think of it, with 1000 able people the company couldn’t manage a decent English speaking translator.
But there seems to be an urgency among Chinese to learn English and with their perseverance & commitment, day is not far behind (15 -20 years) when they will be knocking Bangalore doors stealing clients and businesses.
IMHO, Lesson for Indian IT companies– Create Intellectual Property in the next 15 years. Look at the long term picture and try moving up the value chain. Make yourself indispensable for your clients. Indian IT companies should become the process instead being part of the process. This is the only way Indian IT can differentiate itself from the rest and withstand the inevitable Chinese onslaught.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Mr Black & Mr. White
THE BIGGEST problem with the Indian economy is the vibrant and pervasive black economy that exists in the system. If that black money is brought back into the system, it would improve the already booming economy much more in days to come. Just think of the cascading effects it will have on the system. For example, a person brings Rs 10 lakhs into the white economy or the legal economy. Next year, that Rs 10 lakhs would generate some returns, taxes would accrue, services would grow and the ’Laksmi’ would become legally ’chalayman’. It’s a old saying in Hindi: Lakshmi should always be moving.
Now what are the possible ways of bringing black money into white or wiping out black money? One way was as devised by our finance minister way back in 1997, when he introduced the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS). The scheme did convert lots of black money into white, but in a way, it encouraged the black money generation and was a major damper on all those honest citizens who paid their income tax all those years. They started to think that they were indeed fools to have paid income taxes correctly. This came down heavily on the salaried class who had no option but to pay taxes and have no means to conceal their income. Of course, there are some employers who pay in cash/black as well. One more lacunae with the scheme that it also allowed people to convert their silver and gold into white! This was a big mistake because as everyone knows, lots of people showed ficticious balances of gold and silver and ended up paying three to four per cent as penalty or charge of converting black into white.
If that VDIS 1997, was not a good scheme because of reasons mentioned above, then it is a good way to convert black into white money and that too without antagonising the honest salaried people? I have one suggestion here:
Cancel all currency notes having face value of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and issue fresh notes having better features that would be much more difficult to copy. Ask everyone to deposit these notes in banks. Give a time period for depositing the cash, say a week. Now the government would ask for proof of the money deposited and if given a reasonable answer, no action will be taken and if that money is found to be black in origin, the government would deduct 50 per cent as one time black tax. This way for the citizens, atleast they are able to salvage 50 per cent of the money, which would otherwise go down the drain and for the government, it would collect lots of revenue as tax and lots of money would come from black economy to white economy. After a week, the banks would stop taking the old currency notes, so people would have no option, but to surrender.
Honest people would not have any problem with such a scheme and black economy people would not have any option left. Maybe they would donate the money to Mandir/Dharamshala/Masjid/Church/Gurudwara etc and such money could be deposited into specified government accounts by paying say 75 per cent tax. Mandirs etc would be a beneficiary as they would get 25 per cent money as donation, government would be a beneficiary as they would have removed huge black money from the system.
One added advantage: This would also solve the huge counterfeit notes’ problems that is widely prevalent in India. Now the govt should reduce tax structure as well and should raise the income tax limits to say Rs 5,00,000 as tax free income and just 10 per cent tax on income upto Rs 15 lakhs and 20 per cent tax upto Rs 50 lakhs income. No one will have a strong reason to hide income as such. This would do wonders for the country as such.
Is our finance minister listening? Only thing is that it should be done suddenly. All the best.
Now what are the possible ways of bringing black money into white or wiping out black money? One way was as devised by our finance minister way back in 1997, when he introduced the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS). The scheme did convert lots of black money into white, but in a way, it encouraged the black money generation and was a major damper on all those honest citizens who paid their income tax all those years. They started to think that they were indeed fools to have paid income taxes correctly. This came down heavily on the salaried class who had no option but to pay taxes and have no means to conceal their income. Of course, there are some employers who pay in cash/black as well. One more lacunae with the scheme that it also allowed people to convert their silver and gold into white! This was a big mistake because as everyone knows, lots of people showed ficticious balances of gold and silver and ended up paying three to four per cent as penalty or charge of converting black into white.
If that VDIS 1997, was not a good scheme because of reasons mentioned above, then it is a good way to convert black into white money and that too without antagonising the honest salaried people? I have one suggestion here:
Cancel all currency notes having face value of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and issue fresh notes having better features that would be much more difficult to copy. Ask everyone to deposit these notes in banks. Give a time period for depositing the cash, say a week. Now the government would ask for proof of the money deposited and if given a reasonable answer, no action will be taken and if that money is found to be black in origin, the government would deduct 50 per cent as one time black tax. This way for the citizens, atleast they are able to salvage 50 per cent of the money, which would otherwise go down the drain and for the government, it would collect lots of revenue as tax and lots of money would come from black economy to white economy. After a week, the banks would stop taking the old currency notes, so people would have no option, but to surrender.
Honest people would not have any problem with such a scheme and black economy people would not have any option left. Maybe they would donate the money to Mandir/Dharamshala/Masjid/Church/Gurudwara etc and such money could be deposited into specified government accounts by paying say 75 per cent tax. Mandirs etc would be a beneficiary as they would get 25 per cent money as donation, government would be a beneficiary as they would have removed huge black money from the system.
One added advantage: This would also solve the huge counterfeit notes’ problems that is widely prevalent in India. Now the govt should reduce tax structure as well and should raise the income tax limits to say Rs 5,00,000 as tax free income and just 10 per cent tax on income upto Rs 15 lakhs and 20 per cent tax upto Rs 50 lakhs income. No one will have a strong reason to hide income as such. This would do wonders for the country as such.
Is our finance minister listening? Only thing is that it should be done suddenly. All the best.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
India’s sports Ambassador
Who should be India’s global sports Ambassador?
Many would say – Hey this is an easy one !! Sachin Tendulkar of-course
Some might also say Major Dhyanchand. P.T. Usha will also be a consideration.
Before you also start rattling “ Kapil Dev”, “Sunil Gavaskar” …., please go back and check the text again. I mentioned “GLOBAL” sports Ambassador.
A global ambassador should be someone with whom the world audience can relate to. How many can relate with a cricketer or Hockey Player? Maybe 1.5 billion people across the world. That’s hardly an 20% of the world’s population. That’s not Global.
You would be surprised to know that the Indian sportsperson who has exposure in most number of countries is someone many of us haven’t heard of.
Well, so you know its not Sania Mirza – the whole country knows her. If not for her game, then for her controversies.
Can it be Saina Nehwal? Naah – its too early for her rise so high in the world popularity charts. Besides, who plays Badminton in North America !!!
Still guessing , let me spoil the surprise…
It is Jeev Milkha Singh.
Can you faintly remember him? Oh am I talking about the Flying Sikh. Nops, you missed it by a generation. That’s his Dad, Milkha Singh. I am talking Milkha’s son – Jeev Milkha Singh.
But, are you aware which sport does he play. There comes the shocker – he plays Golf!!
Jeev is India’s numero uno Golf player and is ranked 29th in the world.
He has done spectacularly well last year winning 4 tourneys and achieving top 5 positions in another 5. He made a lot of money as well. USD 3.5 Million to be precise.
So what’s the big deal? Dhoni made close to USD 20M in 2008. But how many countries actively follow Cricket. Actually, you can count them on your fingers.
On the contrary, Golf is actively watched and followed by over 85 countries across the globe and this list spans all the 6 continents. Jeev’s tremendous performance in 2008 has made him a brand name across all popular golf playing countries and looking at his form in 2009, this popularity is all set to grow multifold.
Some of his successes in 2008-09
Jeev won Bank Austria GolfOpen in 2008
Jeev won Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup, Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in 2008
Jeev won Barclays Singapore Open in 2008
Jeev signs off 4th at WGC-CA for best major finish in 2009
He won the Bharat Padma Shri Award in 2007.
What I would suggest to you is. If you have a handicapped trivia about this rising star, go to Google and find out most about him. After all you don’t want to get embarrassed in front of your American client when he knows more about Jeev than you !!!
Many would say – Hey this is an easy one !! Sachin Tendulkar of-course
Some might also say Major Dhyanchand. P.T. Usha will also be a consideration.
Before you also start rattling “ Kapil Dev”, “Sunil Gavaskar” …., please go back and check the text again. I mentioned “GLOBAL” sports Ambassador.
A global ambassador should be someone with whom the world audience can relate to. How many can relate with a cricketer or Hockey Player? Maybe 1.5 billion people across the world. That’s hardly an 20% of the world’s population. That’s not Global.
You would be surprised to know that the Indian sportsperson who has exposure in most number of countries is someone many of us haven’t heard of.
Well, so you know its not Sania Mirza – the whole country knows her. If not for her game, then for her controversies.
Can it be Saina Nehwal? Naah – its too early for her rise so high in the world popularity charts. Besides, who plays Badminton in North America !!!
Still guessing , let me spoil the surprise…
It is Jeev Milkha Singh.
Can you faintly remember him? Oh am I talking about the Flying Sikh. Nops, you missed it by a generation. That’s his Dad, Milkha Singh. I am talking Milkha’s son – Jeev Milkha Singh.
But, are you aware which sport does he play. There comes the shocker – he plays Golf!!
Jeev is India’s numero uno Golf player and is ranked 29th in the world.
He has done spectacularly well last year winning 4 tourneys and achieving top 5 positions in another 5. He made a lot of money as well. USD 3.5 Million to be precise.
So what’s the big deal? Dhoni made close to USD 20M in 2008. But how many countries actively follow Cricket. Actually, you can count them on your fingers.
On the contrary, Golf is actively watched and followed by over 85 countries across the globe and this list spans all the 6 continents. Jeev’s tremendous performance in 2008 has made him a brand name across all popular golf playing countries and looking at his form in 2009, this popularity is all set to grow multifold.
Some of his successes in 2008-09
Jeev won Bank Austria GolfOpen in 2008
Jeev won Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup, Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in 2008
Jeev won Barclays Singapore Open in 2008
Jeev signs off 4th at WGC-CA for best major finish in 2009
He won the Bharat Padma Shri Award in 2007.
What I would suggest to you is. If you have a handicapped trivia about this rising star, go to Google and find out most about him. After all you don’t want to get embarrassed in front of your American client when he knows more about Jeev than you !!!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Chief Review Officer ( CRO )
I got a review from a good friend who said that my writing style is very non-bloggy.
Its a style which is not followed by general bloggers. Though, he has his heart in the right place but he has one majorly annoying habit. Getting a positive feedback from him would be easier than building Rome !!! What he unrealizingly ends up doing everytime is giving just one piece of constructive advice, which is " I like it " as I metioned, if you get one !!! otherwise you will always end up getting a monotonous demoralizing " I dont like it " syllable from him.
I with couple of my frens ( he being one )are working on this new idea these days and there are major debates about each and every decision we have to make. Some of these debates are about stuff so trivial that I am too embarassed to even mention them here. So everytime we need to take a call, our C.R.O gives his expert review which is always " I dont like it ".
I felt like sharing something which is so-called "Bloggy", so this was the entry.
If you have a friend/manager/colleague who has this habit , don't take it anymore, Go ahead and nickname him the CRO of ur life!!!
Its a style which is not followed by general bloggers. Though, he has his heart in the right place but he has one majorly annoying habit. Getting a positive feedback from him would be easier than building Rome !!! What he unrealizingly ends up doing everytime is giving just one piece of constructive advice, which is " I like it " as I metioned, if you get one !!! otherwise you will always end up getting a monotonous demoralizing " I dont like it " syllable from him.
I with couple of my frens ( he being one )are working on this new idea these days and there are major debates about each and every decision we have to make. Some of these debates are about stuff so trivial that I am too embarassed to even mention them here. So everytime we need to take a call, our C.R.O gives his expert review which is always " I dont like it ".
I felt like sharing something which is so-called "Bloggy", so this was the entry.
If you have a friend/manager/colleague who has this habit , don't take it anymore, Go ahead and nickname him the CRO of ur life!!!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A chinese proverb for the flat world
I have recently finished reading "The World is Flat". This book is written by "Thomas Friedman". The book talks about the benefits of economy boom in countries like India, China, Vietnam & Mexico. It elaborately discusses the impact of the flat world and how it has changed the economic equation of the world. Fantastic Read - would happy to suggest it to anyone who is half serious reader.
There is one quote in the book which goes something like this -
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
The moral:
It doesn’t matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running.
What an amazing quote - it inspires you to the core.
There is one quote in the book which goes something like this -
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
The moral:
It doesn’t matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running.
What an amazing quote - it inspires you to the core.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
This Holi - Save Water
Experts say that World War 3 is going to be about Water. The world population is growing at 1.2% every year. We added 66 million people to earth in 2008 stretching earth’s already limited and dwindling resources.
I know that I might be considered a grouch for suggesting this, but this year why don’t we change the rules. Let’s play Holi with dry colors in 2009 and eventually making it a tradition. Holi was originally the festival of colors and water has been added artificially to it. If we can avoid this water wastage, I think we should go for it.
Let’s enjoy the festival but at the same time help the world conserve water.
I know that I might be considered a grouch for suggesting this, but this year why don’t we change the rules. Let’s play Holi with dry colors in 2009 and eventually making it a tradition. Holi was originally the festival of colors and water has been added artificially to it. If we can avoid this water wastage, I think we should go for it.
Let’s enjoy the festival but at the same time help the world conserve water.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Indian Hypocrism story
In all my interactions with Indians who have travelled abroad - particularly to countries like UK, Australia, US and the Gulf - they have one common story to tell.
They talk about the racial discrimation they face during their stay.
I have travelled to the US and have experienced that racism exists in the west.
However, when Indians talk about racism, they are being the biggest hypocrites in the universe.
What right do we have to complain about racial discrimation when we practice it more efficiently than anyone else.
When Indians can't accept their own people from other regions to migrate to their regions, how can we expect Americans to accept us ( we the people from different nationalities + religion + colour).
Indian politicians have used the race card to gain popularism and sensationalism for years and everytime I see the public falling for this piece of dirty politics, I realize the shortcoming of this countrymen and their mentalities and notions.
Whether it is Raj Thackeray & his anti-Bihari policies or ULFA & its anti-UP/Bihar practices or the ever-famous North India vs South India duel, I have witnessed all and trust me, its not a pretty sight.
I agree India with its multi-cultural diversity, these kind of problems do come up, and I am proud of India for staying an united country for 60 years now inspite of these problems. We could easily have gone the Yugoslavia, the Zimbawe or the Fiji way
What I don't like is that we don't acknowledge this problem and we are more than ready to play the blame game against other countries.
I hereby invite all to be Indians and not Tamils or Rajasthanis or Bengalis. You ll find India to have become a much better country to live in.
They talk about the racial discrimation they face during their stay.
I have travelled to the US and have experienced that racism exists in the west.
However, when Indians talk about racism, they are being the biggest hypocrites in the universe.
What right do we have to complain about racial discrimation when we practice it more efficiently than anyone else.
When Indians can't accept their own people from other regions to migrate to their regions, how can we expect Americans to accept us ( we the people from different nationalities + religion + colour).
Indian politicians have used the race card to gain popularism and sensationalism for years and everytime I see the public falling for this piece of dirty politics, I realize the shortcoming of this countrymen and their mentalities and notions.
Whether it is Raj Thackeray & his anti-Bihari policies or ULFA & its anti-UP/Bihar practices or the ever-famous North India vs South India duel, I have witnessed all and trust me, its not a pretty sight.
I agree India with its multi-cultural diversity, these kind of problems do come up, and I am proud of India for staying an united country for 60 years now inspite of these problems. We could easily have gone the Yugoslavia, the Zimbawe or the Fiji way
What I don't like is that we don't acknowledge this problem and we are more than ready to play the blame game against other countries.
I hereby invite all to be Indians and not Tamils or Rajasthanis or Bengalis. You ll find India to have become a much better country to live in.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Rebirth of the brand "Public Sector"
I have watched the Anil Kapoor starrer " Nayak " many many times.
The concept was unique and I loved the movie.
One distinct scene in the movie I remember very well is the part where the bride's father is adamant on his daughter's groom to be a public servant ( employed in a public sector division/ government job ). During those days, I was astonished & amused by narrow mindedness by the old aged & "minded" father. But, in India we have a "postulate" - Always listen to your elders, they are never wrong"
I guess the postulate holds true today -
Today, Indian private sector is reeling under extreme pressure. They are closing shops, laying off workers and trying to somehow navigate through this economic slowdown of slowdowns. What it has done is created financial & mental instability of mind of these employees. Today, again the public sector is back to being the cream job creator in the country.
So, these days, maybe a BEL would be a better idea than Sasken, or India Post a better bet than DHL or SAIL a safer haven than TATA Steel.
What the public sector in India needs to do is utlize this opportunity to bring home the public sector brand on the minds of prospector employees. After all, Public Sector like all other companies needs to hire and retain the right talent to prosper and grow.
The concept was unique and I loved the movie.
One distinct scene in the movie I remember very well is the part where the bride's father is adamant on his daughter's groom to be a public servant ( employed in a public sector division/ government job ). During those days, I was astonished & amused by narrow mindedness by the old aged & "minded" father. But, in India we have a "postulate" - Always listen to your elders, they are never wrong"
I guess the postulate holds true today -
Today, Indian private sector is reeling under extreme pressure. They are closing shops, laying off workers and trying to somehow navigate through this economic slowdown of slowdowns. What it has done is created financial & mental instability of mind of these employees. Today, again the public sector is back to being the cream job creator in the country.
So, these days, maybe a BEL would be a better idea than Sasken, or India Post a better bet than DHL or SAIL a safer haven than TATA Steel.
What the public sector in India needs to do is utlize this opportunity to bring home the public sector brand on the minds of prospector employees. After all, Public Sector like all other companies needs to hire and retain the right talent to prosper and grow.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Linkedin - Have you joined the bandwagon
LinkedIn was officially found in 2003.
At that time, I was in college and power of internet had start hitting me.
We had reached a phase where software development converted from Anti-Internet to Pro-Internet ( software were getting customized for the internet, instead of software companies expecting the internet to get customized to their products )
The time was ripe for a business networking product to be launched in the web space.
Like all famous start-ups, LinkedIn was started by 5 partners in humble surrounding (read a one Bedroom apartment). ( sometimes, I feel my start-up hasn't done so great for the fact that we started in an office instead of a Garage/storage room :-)
In a month's time, Linkedin had 4500 registered users and by end of year, it had 82000 users listed with it. By that time Sequoia chipped in USD 4.3 Million in the venture.( the same VC firm which funded Google, Apple, Oracle, Atari, Yahoo, Paypal and many more )
Linkedin registered its first 1 million users in mid 2004. Today, Linkedin has over 33 Millions registered users and it gets a monstrous 7 Million hits everyday.
Enough about LinkedIn History.
The bottom line is, LinkedIn is doing to business networking what MySpace & FaceBook did to social networking. It has become the ultimate channel for recruiters to get right talents. (I hire all my freelancers through linkedin).
If you want to lookup a person, and cant find him on Orkut, facebook and Myspace, you are sure to find him on Linkedin.
Today, if you are not in linkedin, you are not on web !!
So what are you waiting for? if you still are reading this blog - goto www.linkedin.com and register your profile. Trust me you will not repent it !!!
And if you want to add me - Search (Amit Agarwal DivideByZero)
See you at Linkedin
At that time, I was in college and power of internet had start hitting me.
We had reached a phase where software development converted from Anti-Internet to Pro-Internet ( software were getting customized for the internet, instead of software companies expecting the internet to get customized to their products )
The time was ripe for a business networking product to be launched in the web space.
Like all famous start-ups, LinkedIn was started by 5 partners in humble surrounding (read a one Bedroom apartment). ( sometimes, I feel my start-up hasn't done so great for the fact that we started in an office instead of a Garage/storage room :-)
In a month's time, Linkedin had 4500 registered users and by end of year, it had 82000 users listed with it. By that time Sequoia chipped in USD 4.3 Million in the venture.( the same VC firm which funded Google, Apple, Oracle, Atari, Yahoo, Paypal and many more )
Linkedin registered its first 1 million users in mid 2004. Today, Linkedin has over 33 Millions registered users and it gets a monstrous 7 Million hits everyday.
Enough about LinkedIn History.
The bottom line is, LinkedIn is doing to business networking what MySpace & FaceBook did to social networking. It has become the ultimate channel for recruiters to get right talents. (I hire all my freelancers through linkedin).
If you want to lookup a person, and cant find him on Orkut, facebook and Myspace, you are sure to find him on Linkedin.
Today, if you are not in linkedin, you are not on web !!
So what are you waiting for? if you still are reading this blog - goto www.linkedin.com and register your profile. Trust me you will not repent it !!!
And if you want to add me - Search (Amit Agarwal DivideByZero)
See you at Linkedin
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The Indian Fiscal Deficit Story
The Congress is back to its election propaganda with its so called " Common Minimum Programme"
This programme "ensures" that "AAM AADMI" has employment, daily meal and access to education.
So what did the UPA do?
It waived off Rs 60000 crore loans to the farmers. They got many applauds and importantly " dedicated vote banks" for doing that.
What it has done is created a LEGACY. Now, no matter which party is in power, they don't have a choice, due to the populist nature of Indian politics, every Government would need to continue this policy. THE RESULT - USD 12 Billion fiscal pressure on the Government
A hypothetical situation is the SC/ST Reservation system in India. It started in 1950, and there is no way , its going to end anytime soon.
I am not surprised by this LOAN waiver scheme by the UPA. I am used to illogical political judgements from Congress. What hurts me the most is that- Manmohan Singh approving it. He is the same guy who liberated our economy in 1991 - ( the reason why we are a superpower today ). Such an irrational decison from such a rational person is shocking.
What is UPA doing under CMP is reducing the price of Petrol& Diesel.
What is Government is doing is " They are adsorping losses by selling petroleum products cheaper and to compensate these losses they borrow money from the world ". This is done by using a financial instrument called OIL BONDS. Oil bond is nothing but “postponing the pain & Problem for another other day.
Total withstanding OIL Bond commitment on the Government is around Rs 5.5 Lac Crores or
USD 120 Billion. Does anybody have any clue, how are we going to pay for this.
And to maintain their populism, further reduce the price of petrol & diesel.
Who will eventually have to bear the burden of this irrationality - THE COMMON MAN !!!
and we talk about CMP - Hilarious
What does all this eventually boil down to ?
They increase India's Fiscal deficit - Now what is Fiscal Deficit
This programme "ensures" that "AAM AADMI" has employment, daily meal and access to education.
So what did the UPA do?
It waived off Rs 60000 crore loans to the farmers. They got many applauds and importantly " dedicated vote banks" for doing that.
What it has done is created a LEGACY. Now, no matter which party is in power, they don't have a choice, due to the populist nature of Indian politics, every Government would need to continue this policy. THE RESULT - USD 12 Billion fiscal pressure on the Government
A hypothetical situation is the SC/ST Reservation system in India. It started in 1950, and there is no way , its going to end anytime soon.
I am not surprised by this LOAN waiver scheme by the UPA. I am used to illogical political judgements from Congress. What hurts me the most is that- Manmohan Singh approving it. He is the same guy who liberated our economy in 1991 - ( the reason why we are a superpower today ). Such an irrational decison from such a rational person is shocking.
What is UPA doing under CMP is reducing the price of Petrol& Diesel.
What is Government is doing is " They are adsorping losses by selling petroleum products cheaper and to compensate these losses they borrow money from the world ". This is done by using a financial instrument called OIL BONDS. Oil bond is nothing but “postponing the pain & Problem for another other day.
Total withstanding OIL Bond commitment on the Government is around Rs 5.5 Lac Crores or
USD 120 Billion. Does anybody have any clue, how are we going to pay for this.
And to maintain their populism, further reduce the price of petrol & diesel.
Who will eventually have to bear the burden of this irrationality - THE COMMON MAN !!!
and we talk about CMP - Hilarious
What does all this eventually boil down to ?
They increase India's Fiscal deficit - Now what is Fiscal Deficit
- Fiscal deficit is essentially the difference between what the government spends and what it earns. It is expressed as a percentage of GDP.
India's fiscal deficit in 2007 was 3.17% of GDP. ( thats a staggering - 1.40 LAC crores ) India's fiscal deficit continues to be one of the highest in the world.
S&P - the most respected rating agency in the world recently revised India's status from STABLE to NEGATIVE. The reason - because of our fiscal deficit.
This rating is a key parameters for funding institutions like WORLD BANK, International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), use this rating to decide on funding a country or a project. SO the implications of S&P ratings are quite clear.
We all applauded the Government for reducing the price of fuel last month. But ask yourself, is it correct and rational. Wouldn't you rather pay a buck or two etc instead of enjoying this cosmetic luxury.
Take a call now. Fiscal deficit is going higher & higher, and there will be stage like 1991 when India is bankrupt again.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Do you waste food ?
Every time, I see this picture, my body goes into a shiver. I appreciate my life more. I appreciate the abundant food I get everyday and I ensure that I don’t take this abundance for granted.
But, every time I go to a party or to a restaurant and see people throwing food , wasting food, my blood boils. I wish I could have given my piece of mind to that person. But my rationality or my lack of it , stops me from doing it.
Everyday, world over, 18000 children die of hunger. I respect Obama, he seems to be the solution to America’s woes. But what is outrageous is that his presidential ceremony cost USD 170 Million. That’s simple unbelievable, that much money could have ensured that for 2362 days, not a single child would have died because of hunger.
I am sure this figure is staggering and baffles you as well. But, REMEMBER the food you waste also has a same story to tell. We all need to realize the implications of this wastage.
What we need is a national.. actually an international level public awareness campaign to create a social consciousness against wasting food.
Just because it’s available abundantly to some, they don’t respect it and this notion has to change ASAP.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
pachaas rupaiye do aur vote le lo
Yes, in India many look forward to elections
WHY, because they can get one kilo of free rice + 50 rupees + and if you are lucky ( one umbrella as well )
Who gives these "election perks"? The currupt politicians ofcourse.
But the next question is " where do they get the money to give such rewards"
The answer is " Indian Tax payers and the Indians treasury "
So who has the power to stop them? The Election Commission .
But why is nothing happening ?
kyuki , Yes hai India meri Jaan !!
Yes, we love Rahman, but should we love the film?
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ..
Yes, it's in news these days. 8 oscars , 7 BAFTA awards, 4 Golden Globe.
Mass Euphoria in India when the movie won 7 BAFTA and the whole India was glued to the screen and went exuberant when we won 8 OSCARS.
But , do you think we should be proud of slumdog millionaire.
Do you think we should be proud of depiction of India in this movie -
The movie only showcases the following points about India and Indians
1. Adrocities against poor
2. Police Bullying
3. Communal riots
4. Thiefs and robbers
5. Crime
Do you think India is all about all this. Aren't we the same country who has never attacked an another country ever. Aren't we the same country where we have the self governance in the form of village panchayats? Aren't we the country whose leadership exhibits an epitome in communcal harmony ( We had a Muslim President, a Sikh PM, an Italian Head of ruling party )
We are celebrating Slumdog's success, we should be ashamed ourselves.
Instead of celebrating or also PROTESTING ( We are very good at it ), we should benchmark Slumdog to buckle up and improve the living standards of Indian slums.
Slumdog has no doubted helped India as well -
Indian film technicians have received tremendous exposure. Russell Pookutty was not known by anyone. Today he is a household name.
A R Rahman has received the well deserved acknowledgement of his brilliance
Talent of Indian actors have been showcased to the world
Does the US or the British rue on the fact that they dont win any awards in Filmfare 2009? In the same way why do we strive so much to win an OSCAR. After all, Oscars are American awards. They are not global awards.
We as Indians need to be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments and shouldn't look for Westerm world acknowledgements of our success
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Vote India Vote
Jaaago Re ...
Everytime I think about Voting, this bright young guy's face comes to my mind who is offering chai to everyone. He is commanding everyone to wake up because they are not voting. Though this is a TV advertisment, it creates this feeling of disgust in all our minds who dont have thier voting cards ready
or those who have their voting cards ready but don't have the INCLINATION or TIME to go and vote.
Remember, you have complained about the Government , the public officials, the system for last 4 years. Now, its your time to go and change that.
And , NO ONE is STOPPING YOU
Goto www.jaagore.com and register to create your voting card
There were over 670 million people who are eligible to vote in 2004 Lok Sabha elections, 388 million of them voted. Thats a disgraceful 57% votes. and I am confident whoever is reading this blog belongs to the 43% of India who didn't vote.
This is not the end of it.
Of the 388 Million who voted, 297 million were not even primary level educated. Only
91 Million educated Indian voted in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. of which majority were primary or secondary educated.
DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF YOU AND YOUR COUNTRY SHOULD BE DECIDED BY THESE 297 MILLION? I am not trying to disrespect them, infact I am trying to glorify these 297M responsible citizens of India.
But you need to understand that when majority of them vote, they only consider their perspective. That might be electricity, fertilizers and irrigation. Its our responsibility to consider Foreign Policy, Economic Policy, Education Policy as a benchmark to chose our leaders.
COME ON GUYS, miss one movie and utlize that time to VOTE and create a difference
Email Marketing - Why do you need to do it?
Email marketing is an extremely cost-effective marketing tool and when used properly, can catapult your sales to new levels. Whether your business is found solely online or is a mom-and-pop store whose greatest technology is the thirty-year-old cash register, your business can definitely benefit from email marketing. In this age of high technology, you can use email almost as an automated marketing staff member. Email can be used to turn those with no interest in your product into prospects, prospects into customers, and then follow-up with customers x number of days after a purchase, helping them become a repeat customer. Imagine if this process could be automated…that would free your mind to think of so many new ideas, rather than dealing with the tedious task of emailing prospects and old customers daily.
In order to effectively discuss email marketing, it must first be defined. Email marketing as it will be discussed in this article is defined mainly as sending out newsletters or e-zines to your subscriber list. For our purposes, this subscriber list is assumed to be an “opt-in” list, meaning that they must somehow request (via a sign up form on your website, in person, or by making a purchase, etc.) to be placed on your email list. The benefit of using opt-in lists is that these are people who actually want to receive your newsletter, which will include information about your product and industry.
The key to turning your first-time customers into repeat customers is by building relationships. Even though email is faceless, it can still greatly assist you in building a solid relationship with your customer base. Tough competition will attempt to draw your customer base away by undercutting your costs and doing whatever possible to switch your customers over. The best way to prevent your customers from jumping ship is to build a relationship with them over time. What better way to do this than to provide useful information right to their email inbox? Providing helpful hints or coupons in an email message is a great way for recipients to want to continue receiving your email, and coupons will motivate action on the part of the consumer, providing you a way to instantly obtain feedback on your campaign. The better providers of email list management software offer open and click-through tracking, giving your marketing department instant feedback on the e-mail’s effectiveness.
Email marketing gives your brand an edge in a tough market. Daily, weekly, or even monthly emails will keep your brand in your target consumer’s mind. As more and more of the population begins to use email, email marketing will become a standard in the marketing industry. Finding another marketing method that comes close to all the benefits that email marketing offers is nearly impossible
To India - my clean land
How many times have you dumped some wastage on the road from a moving vehicle.
I am sure we all have, but we hate to agree to it.
I will go ahead and agree that I have done it pretty often. I try to be courteous enough to ensure that my junk doesnt hit another person ( or an animal ). and I am proud of my "thoughtfullness"
Recently, I was reading an article about Singapore and their commitment to cleanliness. The amusing aspect is that this article has been written by a hotel security guard in SG. He writes that Singaporeans consider littering to be a worse crime than stealing and burgalary. He mentions that in his last 3 years of service, he has not witnessed even a single littering incident by a local.
However, he has horrid tales to tell about Indians who visit his hotel.
He have seen Indians leaving behind plastic glasses, tissue papers, mineral water bottles on the parkway, on the reception lobby, at the parking lot.
He was amused to see an Indian spit Pan Masala in his swimming pool lobby.
What is more amusing is the fact that this guy is uneducated while the Indian is an multinational executive ( the article explicitly mentioned that ). After reading that article, I was disgusted with myself for my own littering actions. Since that day, I am trying to stay clean ( literally ), but I request you to do the same.
Don't you think educated people like us should learn a bitter lesson from this.
Today Singapore is considered the cleanest city in the world. Who gets the credit? Is it the government or the police. None of them, its the local citizens.
Be exemplary citizens and take an oath to do the same.
After all, I would love to see Bangalore to be as sparkling clean as Singapore. WOuldn't you ?
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