Well...that is my take on this..

I read somewhere that some economist of Indian origin employed by some European establishment has come down heavily on Dr. Singh’s government’s performance. I was a little surprised that this piece of article has come now. Where were these economists all these years? Anyway, I am a little happy that it is being noticed now. Dr. Singh would be, I have no doubt, a gentleman, an economist and academician par excellence and may be a good human being also. However, he seems to be a little more than this – either an astute politician with a very narrow mindset, who has preferred to compromise national interest for personal ones, tangible or intangible or he is an utter fool incapable of realizing that he has been used all the while as the public face of a puppet govt., whose ministers seems to have higher commitments towards their madam than the mask. Willy-nilly he compromised on the basic expectations from its roles and responsibilities entrusted to him as a constitutional authority.
In the process, he also seems to have forgotten his strongest, supposedly, personnel attribute, i.e. the economics. Nobody expected India to fare so poorly in the wake of the global recession and none ever dreamt that Indian response would be so reactive and abrupt. Talks of fiscal discipline, economic reforms, governance responsibilities etc seem to be forbidden in the corridors of present power house.
Foreign policy has been non-existent. Others like Taliban, US, Iran, even Iraq decide our policy. No surprise that India is again a hyphenated nation, with Pakistan. This perhaps is the most significant achievement of this cabinet.
Export of India's most effective bond – the IPL – by confidently accepting inability to provide security to players and spectators during the election time is the latest achievement of the internal security ministry. By the way, this ministry has already achieved something which none of the earlier govt. could achieve in the history of independent India, creation of a state within state of India. Today nobody dares to traverse the Indian heartlands without fear. Naxalism has spread to numerous states, while the team in Dr. Singh’s leadership was busy in finding how various steps taken by respective state govt.’s were at fault. This is perhaps the biggest achievement of this team.
Let’s talk infrastructure development. There is a dedicated minister for ports – he worked overtime to get this sea route opened with the acknowledged support of 20%-30% of population. As a result, the project has progressed within the conceptualization phase. It was a tragedy that he could not do any other work.
And, no body bothered to remind the rail ministry that they were not financial restructuring ministry. And, the minister was a little too busy travelling places to show his intellect.
The elections are going on and this person, with all respects wherever due, does not deserve to win. His team members deserve even less. We do not know whether Indian electorate would be able to understand that and show his proper place. He chooses not to discuss his performance in the last five years. He chooses to respond political challenges with personal accusations. However, one thing would happen for sure. His name would be mentioned in the history of Indian democracy as the one who led India to the past, as the ironical one who succeeded a visionary like ABV, who would be remembered for launching highways’ project, with vision to link rivers across the country and having the fearlessness of going nuclear against most of the globe. This PM would be the topics of various debates - his political intellect vis-à-vis his political honesty, a case study on how such a great academician could be so subservient to people with accidental political lineage but without an iota of intellect.

Turncoats

It's months since I have written anything on this blog. But this is something I could not resist writing on.

I remember the slogan of one of the teams in IT-BHU – Try beating us? Better join us. And, Indian politics is the best perpetrator of this slogan. It is often told - Politics throws up strange bed-fellows. Again, nothing exemplifies it better than politics in India and Indian parliamentary elections. What led to my realizing this now? Well…let me explain.
What is Shekhar Suman’s claim to fame? Political satire shows on various channels, especially copy cat act of Lallu. Right? What is he doing now? Contesting elections from Patna and that too on Congress ticket, i.e. from UPA, where Lallu is an integral part. So Shekharji is on the same side as Lallu is. However, he is not alone. In fact there is a more interesting example.
So, what is the claim to fame of Mr. Prakash Jha? Films Mrityudand and Gangajal right? And, was that about? Women empowerment in Bihar and somebody called Sadhu Yadav in Mrityudand, right. And, I hope no explanation would be required to understand to whom that Sadhu Yadav refers to. Anyway, this time Mr. Jha too is trying his luck in the elections and again from Bihar on LJP ticket, close partner of Mr. Lallu. So, here is another political convert. I wonder what could be so charming about Lallu that people turn head over heals. And, people like Mr. Jha turn from foe to friend. Or, there is more to this?
Shekhar Suman and Prakash Jha are perfect examples of what they say in hindi “thali ka baingan” (Brinjal in a plate) ya “bina pendi ka lota” (baseless tumblers). And, the irony is there would a few thousand electorate who would vote for them, either in their name or in their caste’s name and ensure that this breed of people/continue to grow.

The Jet Story

Well Mr. Goyal lived up to the image he is carrying in the minds of many employees, especially ones who are with the organization since the beginning. I have seen this image, his aura amongst these people. On personal level, as an individual, I would buy his story only with a spoon of salt.
It is impossible to believe that such a major decision would have been taken without his knowledge, as he claimed during the press conference; And, he has all the reason to do a rethink on the ways his business is being run. May be he would like to review the decision making process or the effectiveness of his so-called trusted management team. In my view, he should review a few more issues.

• What is his role in running the business? And, who all are there in other roles?
• What is the capability of the management team? Is it agile enough to meet growing challenges of the business environment? Does his team have all characteristics of an effective and capable team? Is it really professional?
• Where is the corporate strategy of this company? If it is there, how come it was caught unaware and landed in this messy situation? I’m sure the company did not take this decision based on just a few days’ developments.
• Is he aware of his organization structure? How does it look like in terms of nos.? Is it a pyramid or an inverted pyramid? What is his cost-wise organization structure? Does it compare with any other organization anywhere?
• If the decision was just to go about retrenching trainees and probationers, how come his organization has more than 15% employees are in that grade? Doesn’t it indicate that his firm, particularly his strategy dept., was either oblivious of the emerging business environment? What could be the case, incompetency or complacency or just laxity?
• He may like to review some of the statistics published in news papers:

1. App. 2000 employees, i.e. app. 17% of workforce, are paid more than Rs. 1 lac monthly. I assume, most of them would be pilots, engineers and experienced cabin crew members. If not, he may like to find out who they are?
2. More than 200 employees, i.e. app. 2% of the workforce, are paid more than Rs. 10 Lacs monthly or more than US$ 22000 per month. What level would they be working at? He may wish to look at this no. too.
3. He may like to look at the increase in the salary cost over the years and seek some justification in its variance.
4. Recruitment of fresh foreign pilots is still going on?
   Adverse business conditions, be it fuel price or infrastructure or anything else, would always be there. Challenges in different forms remain there in every business. A professional management is supposed to do precisely this function.

He was correct that he is no stranger to issues and he has handled all such issues decisively. I am sure Mr. Goyal knows what to do and how, in this scenario. And, also that he could do it in the best way.
His is, no doubt, a “rags to riches” story. It is to be seen if his too would end up as one who could not manage the growth and become example of why promoter should be different from manager case-study. One may argue that he is so but it needs to be adhered in strict sense. And, this lesson is required to be learnt by many in years to come.
Jet Airways has been the face of emerging and vibrant India. All wishes to it to keep flying high.

Cheers! The worst is yet to come..:)

It was like “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” or in more contemporary terms, it was Indian version of “A case of exploding Mangoes”.

I had known it the day Mamtadi got involved in it. It was just a matter of time. Unfortunately, it happened a little too late and at a little too high cost to Tatas. A little surprising for them to get into this mess. They have been around, doing business for almost a century now. They should have known it earlier than me. (Shall write more on her and Bengal in some subsequent note)

It is a good luck for us that our democracy is strong and guided that we have got leaders like Mamtas, Mayas, Lallooes, Mulayams, Karunanidhis, Devigowdas, Choutalas etc to choose from. And, there had been even bigger leaders like Jagannath Mishra, Bindeshwari Dubey, Devilal, etc in the past, who serve the icons of this breed.  

I am sure in a weak democracy and poorly designed systems, these people would have been filtered out before reaching up to this level and would not have been able to influence India’s course. Unfortunately, some visionary had identified their origin “People get the leader they deserve”. However, he was not able to identify or did not choose to spell the vicious cycle that goes behind this, especially for this breed of leaders. “Lead people to the place where only you can lead”. Bihar can be the greatest example. Fifteen years of un-interrupted rule and a loss only to the person, who played the same game more aptly. Now, these old-timers are annoyed that they have been denied their share in the annual flood lottery festival, especially when the prize is “n” times larger this year.

It is no surprise that wherever these leaders are strong, the region/state is doing wonders. Riding on self-servicing social causes, this breed is making case-studies in economic performance under their respective rules. But that is obvious for leaders with such great capabilities. Somebody should look at their credentials, educational, social, police history sheet, past life. There would not be any surprise. What is their fault if they do not understand economics when they were forced to move out of their educational life? They were sincere enough to complete respective courses even after 5-6 years of study but, alas, they were forced to vacate hostels, forced to appear in exams and forcefully awarded marks to pass and leave colleges. Some simply got bored that nobody cared for their education after a few more years and, hence, decided to move-on from college life. Not surprisingly, they are literate, they are farsighted, etc etc. They have all quality of great leadership. In fact, looking at them, National Literacy Mission should revise their curriculum. They may be breeding a nation of leaders.

In fact this breed has given a new classification of present generation of leaders. Today’s leaders either belong to this class or they do not belong to this class. There are common traits though. Traits, which are the basic characteristics of any leader such as

• ·         Ability to convince some people of anything under the sun
  
• ·         A few court cases (mostly named as politically motivated) with a few trips to jail/lock-ups
  
• ·         A family history (of leaders or of history-sheeters or of both)
  
• ·         Ability to charm the media, print/electronic/anything, especially anchors, who are mostly of opposite sex (Somebody should examine, who charms whom)
  

So, my dear friends don’t be surprised. Tata at Singur is just one case, whicn happens to be the most recent one. Remember stories of Charwaha Vidyalaya (Schools where you can take your cows and buffaloes and goats and sheep. They learn. You sleep and somebody gets legal ownership of the land), or the great Fodder tales (where buffaloes travelled 800Kms overnight on scooters to get quality fodder) or Taj corridor (Whie you see Taj Mahal somebody gets land around it) or Greater NOIDA airport or Meham (do you still remember this word). Anyway, all these leaders are alive & kicking. Many such stories would be made in time to come. Just don’t take pain now. Enjoy. Remember - Picture abhi baki hai mere dost….

परती परिकथा .....

Now they are covering it. Now they are realizing the magnitude of the problem. Perhaps, even not yet.
How stupid it is to say that just 5people have died due to this tragedy. Analyze this, 2.5 million people surrounded by water from all around for last 7 days and only 55 fatalities? More than this would be the no. of people who would have been dying every day in this region due to natural causes. What happened to them? Perhaps they have stopped dying seeing realizing that it might be more painful to die in these conditions. Or, they would die sooner? These journalists! I wonder if the dumbest of the population join this profession or the most casual ones? Not to say that many great brains too are there in this industry.
I am trying to visualize the situation of these people. One morning, they wake to find surrounded by water or, might be they were woken up during the night itself by increasing water level. And, they assume they are facing another of regular annual flash flood from the nearby stream. They take normal precautions, go to usual high grounds. And, to their surprise, they realize water level is increasing and current is rather too fast than any of instances they remember or have ever heard from any of their elders. And, this is when there is no rain. They reach their tipping point. And, suddenly, they come to know that they are amidst the main course of a river. The river they have always dreaded. The river, which has become part of the regional folklores due to great devastations it had caused in the past. Now what do they do?
Just yesterday I finished reading a classic having this region as the background, Parti Parikatha by Phanishwar Nath Renu. A must read for anybody having genuine interest in literature. The novel ends with implementation of Multi-purpose project at Kosi River. Part of the project was to divert the main course of river to the river to a channel, which the river had abandoned many years, may be centuries ago. I have no idea if that actually was the case. Unfortunately, Renu did not write any follow-up otherwise it would have come out that the project did not get completed in the form it was envisaged. The actual dam, which was supposed to come upstream, somewhere in Nepal, was never built. Only a barrage was built to control the flow of river into the plains. And see, the barrage is still intact. Now the river has breached its banks and enforcements a few kilometers upstream. And, the river has changed its course from there. Notably, 85% of the water is flowing through this breach. I am not sure what corrective action can be taken now and how successful that would be. Perhaps, we’ll have to live with the changed course of this river. Geography and maps would change now. For a few decades or centuries, that is to be observed.
I have no idea whether the change of course actually happened then and it is reversal of that or it is the actual inaction of the story. But, then, the population was prepared for the change of course. Now, they are not.
By the Kosi is a very interesting river. It has the distinction of having Mt. Everest and Mt. Kanchenjuga in its catchment area. It carries the largest volume of debris during its course of flow, from the Himalayas to the Ganges. It creates the largest of alluvial cones by any river. And, much more.

A different world

Just now I have switched channel to watch a movie. I has already started. I don't know its name. I don't care. It would be better than the tirade they are showing on all news channels. I am not surprised though, I am ashamed. How can somebody ignore the plight of such a huge population. Even animals care. We, humans, don't. We are commercial animal. We care for things, which pay. Hence, we show only those news, which, we think, will sell. After all who would be interested in watching plights of people of Bihar. They do not belong to this world. Through out the day, I was following all, so called, news sites and other general information sites. No update. Perhaps they don't care. That's journalism for us. The new age journalism, covering news, which sell. Commercial news. I'm convinced that these people are dumb, of the highest order. If you treat a part of population like this, what can you expect them to treat you in turn. 2 Million people, drowning, many doomed to die. Die slowly. Die seeing others die before them. And, they are not on our radar. What are all these innovation in connectivity for if we can't connect to our own people? Or, perhaps, we don't want to connect to them. The sense of commercialization is too strong to care for we, the people.
Anyways, it has happened that river Kosi, the age old sorrow of Bihar, has changed its course. It has changes its course by almost 92Kms. Within a few couple of days. I hope many of us would understand the gravity of this. The river is now flowing through a channel, though which it used to flow at least 120 years ago. Flooding, rather severe flooding, is not new to this part of the world. But a river, that too Kosi, changing its course back to where it was more than a century ago, is something, which is not just flood. I am trying to visualize how one would have reacted after realizing this. I am sure many of the suffering people would not have seen this river in their life time, rather may not be in generations. After all, how many people of Purnia would travel to Saharsa and see this river. This happened and that is how we have reacted.
I am sure that after a few days, all these phony news channels would line-up there to show heart-breaking stories of suffering, challenging each other supremacy in covering in depth. Showing some obscene graphics and comparing this with some out of the world examples.
Anyway, my condolences to all who are suffering. I don't know how can I be of any help to them. Long back we tried to help one those kids, Prakash, who was left without parents. He stayed with us for a a couple of years. We arranged for his education and he used to help our mother, who was suffering from strange disease, in taking care of household. He went to visit some of his relatives and did not come back. There was another guy too. He had lost his mother. He stayed with us for a almost a year before his father turned up and took him back, promising that he would take his complete care. Both these kids left so deep impression on us, especially on my mother, that we decided no to drain us emotionally any more. These guys told us about the horror of flood and plight of life after the flood in that area. We would never be able to comprehend. And, these news channels would ensure that we never would.
We hope these guys would be doing well. I am hoping that one of these knowledge channels, NGT or Discovery or History, would show the significance and extant of the tragedy in this year's flood. I wonder if these flood would ever be controlled. Or, Kosi would remain the angry old lady, firm on destroying everybody where she was not treated well in her youth.

Growing old....

I am 32 years old. And, I am growing old. Old, not just that my age is increasing everyday but I have started missing those good old days, our times,....
I recently met a few of my classmates, from my school and from my colleges, in last few days. I was seeing them at least after a decade. In fact, I met my school friend after 15 years. And, as expected, we were recollecting our good old days. Nothing different. Perhaps every such meeting will have these moments. But there was a big difference. We were discussing those days as we were discussing a different era...a different civilization. It was difficult to connect to those days. Days without cable TV channels, days without mobile phones and internet, days with at least 3 hours everyday in cricket field, days with cycling to school and back without ever hearing a horn. We discussed those long hours at STD booth, once in a week, for those who were regulars, trying to speak to our parents for few minutes, or about the cricket tournament we used to organize and participated in colleges and yes, a few old-filmy style crushes...that, indeed, was a different era..or a different civilization. And, all these used to happen just a few years ago...12-15 years ago.
I am growing old. I am repeating lines, often repeated by old men and women when we were young. And, seems I would grow quiet old in next few decades...