Have I made it BIG???

Since the time I took reading as a hobby (not too long ago), amongst the first novels I read was the Godfather. The impressionable mind was exposed to a like that comes in at the start of the book reading ‘Behind every successful fortune, there is a crime’. Though this line was talking how the Italian Mafia was formed when a good man takes to the gun in times of depression, it had no real impact on how I see things around me.

In the years that followed, I read the success stories of people who made it big in business in India or the world over. Some were pure genius in terms of talent and ideas while some exploited the loopholes in the system and made it big. Either ways, the journey from Zero to Hero in every case was fascinating. Not surprising then that a Branson losing virginity, the yarn spinning out from the polyester prince Dhirubhai or the great story of Indian retail from Biyani were of great interest.

It was not until very recent when I read two articles that got me thinking about what are successful fortunes made up of? I read two articles in Forbes; one on business tips from College dropouts and on Kishore Biyani and his Big Future Group Sale!!! Most of the success stories had people who rose to success in a matter of a decade or two; very few like Dell or Biyani who have risen in sectors where technology or software was not the deciding factor. But somehow, most of them have always been on the wrong side of the law at some point for monopoly, tax evasion, financial irregularities or just simply using their money might to kill off competition.

Amongst college dropouts; some like Michael Dell were in my opinion brilliant in understanding market dynamics. Dell was an assembler of PCs in a market dominated by branded computers. I’m not completely sure if anyone in India with a market dominated by assemblers could have succeeded in the same way; but his Just-in-time inventory concept was definitely path breaking. But when the article spoke of Zuckerberg or Bill Gates- somehow I always seem to find that at some stage, they did violate laws to grow. Both I say are genius as computer programmers. But the very origination of facebook began with the hacking of personal data off the college server for images. Microsoft, with its entire GUI succeeded due to a water tight monopoly with Intel and bundling of IE.

Sir Richard Branson is one college dropout I admire as I see his success coming from simple joys of life. I mean you have people like you who hang around reading about the Beatles and listening to records; but it took a Branson to write a youth journal or get into the records sale business. But the rise of Virgin was its music via mail order own records label, something which did see Branson step on the wrong side of the law. It was a temptation too strong to make more money by smuggling records from countries where the tax was low and selling them in UK.

Though Dhirubhai Ambani built Reliance Industries from zilch, somehow from his day in Aden, he was flirting with the law by smelting coins for silver, trading inside information on government policies or evading tax by importing machinery as spares. In fact chopping down competition by delays in port clearance to an extent where the machinery rots in the hold was actually the dark side of the rise. Biyani built the retail empire which has made the National holidays of 15th August and 26th January the days sending cash registers into a fit, the fact that the group had to sell Pantaloons (the mother brand) to offset debt is a reflection of how the vendors under the retail giant were being squeezed.

On a day I sit back and ask myself, ‘Have it made it big?’(no whiskey endorsed here), all I say is not having to depend on anything against the law, being honest and not squeezing anyone with the weight of the brands I have worked with is possibly how much I have invested towards enriching my life in the Biggest possible way.

Getting Older

It struck me all of a sudden today when I was seeing my employee profile on my company portal, my age was now automatically reading 31. Gosh! Seems like yesterday when my friends made a whole hoolah as I crossed the 30 marker. Now the number on my employee profile signified me as someone well entrenched in those 30+ waters. Just a number it may be, but age is somewhat magical as an entity.

As a kid, I remember looking forward for my birthday to dawn. Call it a simple joy of life when we got to dress to school in clothes other than the school uniform, pick your friends to carry the bag of chocolates and run around the school giving sweets to all your friends in other classes. Those were the days when evenings meant a party at home, cutting the cake and playing party games. (Remember; bombing the cities, passing the parcel, tail the donkey etc…)

Somehow when in high school, age was now required to be higher than what I was. It also had its own landmarks- am I in my teens? Do I get my learner’s Driving License when I’m 16? 18 and am I now of legal age to enter a pub and have beer? What privileges are entitled to me now that I am officially an adult? That was possibly the last time when the number in the age column mattered so much.

The feeling of years being added to the age column never seemed to matter once I was done with my graduation. What was more evident was how we were changing once we got into our first jobs. Prosperity began to show up. Once upon a time student who ran around and were blessed with toned bodies started picking up flab as they sat in offices and enriched themselves with Vitamin M. Hairlines which stood the test of exam pressures were receding under work pressure (some due to X-rays and radiation). The first time we met a year after graduation- some of us were catching up with age far sooner that the mid 20’s we were in.

The number against age again caught up with me when I enrolled for my Post-Graduation. I was 26, the maximum batch was 23 and the other extreme was 21. As I got assigned the role of the father figure, being called Uncle/ Kaka just came down so easy to most of my classmates. But what the age disparity also created was me working under people who were younger to me. It mattered me not one bit- ideas are no one’s domain and age had nothing to do with the quality of ideas you can come up with.

This I say is one area where the number against the column ‘age’ and ‘experience’ usually have no relation. As a matter of fact, when I started working in the Ad world, I worked with people who were younger to me, less years in terms of overall experience, but definitely qualified to be my senior colleagues by virtue of domain experience.

Today, I stand at a very strange cross road in life- this is the age where I’m witness to a lot of my friends and acquaints move up in to the next stage of life… starting families. In recent times through social networks, I see more and more people around me are tying the knot or are today announcing the birth of their kids. Not to mention I have got together with the most loving person I have met in my life and made year number 30 a milestone.

I don’t know how many more landmarks are in the waiting for me, but one thing is for sure- as we are growing older, it’s better to enjoy every year to the full, treat is just as a number and make it special so that it is a year you will remember for all your life.

Hey DABBA!!!

"Sirf daal chawal sabzee ka nahi, Paneer mushroom gobi ka nahi, Aare Methi Mutter malai ka nahi, Balke itni saari mamta aur dher saare pyar se bhara… hey Dabba!!!"

This song from ‘Stanley ka Dabba’, was one good time I was having seeing all the food going around and filling up containers to be taken by kids to school. Apart from the fact that the visuals did build an appetite, the movie and the song- both captured the spirit of relations that a dabba can build.

I never really carried a dabba to school or college or work till 2008 as my school was a few buildings away, college was a walk and later got adapted to canteen food. From KG to PG, the only place I remember carrying a dabba on a regular basis was to my coaching classes in 12th. It was a big event then. We used to be in the class from 7 am to almost 1:30 pm and breakfast had to be a feast. In fact, the thing was so big that one of our classmates who stayed in the same building made it a point to carry a dabba and join in the feast. Bottom line, carrying a dabba and having cold food; both are seemingly impossible for me.

The flash point for me was when I completed my PG and started work again- only to avoid a relapse of Hepatitis (aka Jaundice), I started carrying a Dabba. But soon I realized that having lunch together was much of an office social behavior. It was one place where the office boy to the CEO could share one table and food as well. A place for informal chats, discussion, jokes and leg-pulling- lunch rooms served it all.

‘Har dabba yeh kehta hai: ke isse kaun aur kahan se lata hai…’- Yes this is a fact. You really can learn a hell lot from the food and the type of dabba about a person than a market research will yield.

The family man has a dabba service from a dabbawala and has simple meal. The ones who carry food are either a working couple or just stays too far for a dabba service. Bachelors who carry food are the maa ka laadla’s- you can expect fancy food every day. So paneer and pratha is staple diet. Of course chicken, Chinese rice or biryani is served from the left over of last evening- no wonder they have the spices all well absorbed and hence tastier. The ones who help themselves to the canteen or nearby eateries are usually the ones on a outdoors job.

Gujratis in this regard are a unique case. A gujju bhai; no matter from which part of Mumbai, will have a 3 course meal, no compromise. Now if he was from Charni Road, Ghatkopar or any Western Suburb he will have a Farsan, main course and a sweet at the end. If it was a up market Gujju from Walkeshwar you can expect a soup, some fancy snack/ fast food and to finish off a sweet.

Contents of a dabba are also a reflection of an individual’s background. How do I make this statement- well recently I was sharing a table with 4 other friends and the containers before us gave up the story. One had a regular tiffin service since his wife also worked. One had a premium tiffin service as he stayed alone and this was one meal he enjoyed. Another had sabudana khichadi thanks to a fast enforced by his wife. The next one had a pulao from his newlywed wife (his expression gave away a lot about the end result) and last was me- left over chicken and paratha. Finally, after loads of debate if it was right day or not, all had the chicken and the rest was shunted off.

So finally, my mind goes back to that real old Doordarshan filler (saw it as a kid) of a School master trying to discipline students making noise in the recess- we are at times hammered with the idea that we are unified in diversity; a living example is the lunch room and ; the Dabba…

System Files Corrupted

We all rise in unison the moment we wish to file a testimony to claim; India- the largest democracy in the world. A machinery of where a secret ballot helps a billion choose a few amongst themselves by making a choice and entrusting them a responsibility to run the country for a period of five years.

We also the ones who feel at times that this machinery has gone corrupt and the system is now full of people who cut corners, lack ethics and act irresponsible. Well the words of a Lincoln resounded in my mind recently when I saw how the ‘for people’ were being manipulated ‘by the people’- it was a case of witnessing how a system was being corrupted before my eyes.

I recently went in to a local Municipal school and file my registration for Aadhar (Unique Identification Number) - the single largest human database with names, addresses, education, government document registrations, biometric information and photograph. This is a system that will overshadow the Social Security code from the US when completed with all data accessible with one number for every one for this billion strong country.

I was excited for sure, as I had read about it in Forbes a few months ago and knew the scale this project was going to be. I also had seen the form, the degree of details it was collating and was impressed for sure. For once, I was convinced that India has planned something really well and was driving things into a new dimension. I mean how often you come across a government procedure where you are given an appointment in prior.

The D-day arrived and we reached the assigned venue- a municipal school and as we entered the cookie began to crumble. The scene resembled any government office with a big herd of people flocking around a table, loud noises and flaring tempers. But as I spent more time to comprehend the issues, I realized it was the people around who had caused the commotion out of their own doings. For once, it was the inefficiency of people rather than that of government machinery which was causing trouble to people themselves.

A notice clearly read- ‘Forms available on Thursday 10:30 to 11:30’; and on a Friday, a lady was negotiating with the concerned people to give her one form. When refused, she came out with an expression saying- the government agencies are just to harass. On a token given to one person was a family of 20. Kids of all ages to crippled and aged; this family had them all. This group was celebrating the event as if it was a holiday. Every photograph was being cheered. Paperwork was shabby and objection to it were being taken with zero seriousness.

I was amazed at the way the staff doing the job was working. The charge was led by a bunch of 5 people in their twenties who possibly carried the pride of being a part of a massive operation. It was disappointing to see the work being done in a small class room with 2 fans which made circulation a joke. They were not served tea or water- let alone a break. Fighting off the heat and arrogance of people, they were most calm and dedicated to their work.

When I came back home, I was a little more than upset with all I saw. A well oiled system challenged the decades of public opinion and attitude for a government system. It was then it dawned on to me, governments and the system are people at the end of the day.

We say the system is corrupt- people cut corners and behave irresponsible. That is more a reflection of us and all who cut corners and have given rise to the ‘inefficient’ systems we are living with.

Unreality TV

Cable TV came into India in 1991 and caught the frenzy of the Indian masses. Till that point, the four Indian metros had a choice of two channels while most of India had only one- all state owned. The programming was more of a monarchy run from Mandi House and content was what the head at Doordarshan wanted to show rather than what people wanted to see. I remember the days went from bad to worse in case of a state mourning- a day full of shehnai, veena and sitars echoing a sad tone.

This has changed over the last 20 years and now I am not even sure of all the channels I get on TV. Being a part of media, I do track developments, but with the kind of choices available, it is impossible to know every small change or addition. But in all this, I do have one point that I am upset about. The biggest attraction that came to me as a transition point between the Doordarshan and Satellite TV has got diluted- music channels.

Okay, I agree that music is my weakness. No wonder MTV was like a major attraction in my early impressionable years.(Well a part of the reason for writing this is I hate what comes on it over a weekend) Yes it was a certain amount of cultural change in terms of attitude, clothing and vocabulary that were coming into our lives from a five minute video on MTV. No amount of blurring or smart edits kept us away from realizing where there was possibly a passionate moment or nudity in a video.(at times the blurring made it more obvious that it was something forbidden that was happening here)

One of the changes in the Music Channels that I certainly am not comfortable with is their shift away from music into a domain of reality shows. I would say that I was comfortable when Channel V came up with shows like super singer; it was an organic shift; a music channel hunts talents and put them up on a stage, cuts an album. Viva made it big, Asma did not. But this was a much better platform than Sa Re Ga Ma at that time- the latter has become a popular breeding ground for talent now.

MTV made it big with Roadies. Raghuram always says he is what he is because of a troubled childhood (he said that on stage in my college but it might be just sarcasm) - well his brain child definitely attracts people I believe certainly have been through some trauma. The success opened the flood gates and out came a whole avalanche of shows that had only one motive- be different, even if it meant weird or fake or staged. A channel called ‘Real’ was launched. A GEC like Colors launched with a reality show. 24 hours surveillance camera’s made Big Boss and mega hit.

What pains me is the fact that if this is entertainment as demanded by audiences today, we have become sadists. I want to see a certain person undergo an agony, some embarrassment or witness a catfight and feel good about it. Firstly I am completely aware that it is staged- don’t believe me… well how else does someone who faced pranks in “Axe ur Ex” feature on “Dare2 Date” within three months? Most of the participants are on these show for cheap fame- I mean why else would a guy go the full monty before a packed auditorium on a reality show as a task??? (does anyone recall a case against Channel V where 2 girls striped on a street???)

What is very much disturbing is the way these unreal incidents are portrayed. Take revenge on your Ex- pure sadist behavior to feel good. Plotting against people to eliminate them, playing the honey trap, acting the seductress and tons of beeps on being voted out- no wonder Dolly Bindra was once most Googled by Indians. (Until Poonam Pandey came in)

I know this debate is going be endless, more so; not have any kind of resolution. But if the generation before me felt that MTV was the cause of social changes and rebellions on the rise in Gen X; I really am not sure how the Unreality of TV today will play its role in shaping Gen Y.

Social Network and Happiness

Whenever a person is let free of their basic chores of survival, more often than not, they start thinking of individual goals of their own life. Some crave for fame, money; some see satisfaction in places that cannot be equated to a monetary amount. A very recent set of incidents took me down the thinking alley searching if there was an exit or was it blind.

Over a couple of drinks, my friends got into a discussion seemingly headed nowhere. The reason was primarily due to disconnect in understanding what need was the key in their pursuit of happiness. My getting involved contributed little to get to any consensus, but sure did entangle me in a web of thoughts. Also it got me back to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs- the gospel truth that every marketing man starts life with.

Amongst the two, one guy was up in arms about the opportunities lost along the way by him and his father in an effort to live a life well within the norms and expectations of people. Like most others, his father had missed out on rising higher in a high rated PSU in India due to reservations. He had suffered similar instances in getting good education. His idea of being happy in life was rising to a level where his name is attached to something so mammoth that the achievement makes him immortal.

Contrary to him was the other friend involved in the discussion. This one had let go of more lucrative opportunities in his career since his happiness was time with family. Working for an airline company, he was known in the office to come in at 9 am and leave at 5:30pm, ensure he used his 32 annual leaves and free tickets to spend time with his family. His thought came from a very simple source- I want my family hold me in high regards for giving them the small joys of life everyday.

While both my friends were not in appreciation of each other’s needs, one thing was for sure- with physiological, safety and belongingness to a family was in place, they were both aiming for raising their self esteem. While one wanted his self esteem raised on a larger stage, one was happier playing his act on the settings in his own home and family surroundings.

Just as I was about to close the case, another instance added a new twist. Driving my grand mom back from her friends place, she told me of a certain lady now immobile due to age. Even though the household was full of people, she called the group on phone occasionally candidly reminding that she was still around.

What were all these people seeking? What do people on facebook seek? The answer was the same- the need to raise Self Esteem. Whatever your Social Network; family, friends, professional circles, internet or anything bigger- it is that applause, appreciation, just a causal visit of number of ‘Likes’ that we all crave for, strive for- and derive happiness from.

Dress me up

It was just a few weeks ago, I decided to have my occasion based clothes shopping expedition. Not that I’m Jewish or sorts, but the whole ordeal of buying clothes sometimes seems like a daunting task. The prime cause being I’m a little fussy when it comes to colours, patterns or styles. Not that I want to be a brat, but well- let’s just say I won’t be giving a mannequin a run for it buck. Besides, the places I work won’t allow me a Red T-shirt on any day.

Now walking into a store to buy clothes is not as easy as it may seem. Unless you are damn sure of what you want, you are entering a world of ciaos. You want to buy everything- just about everything looks appealing; except for the shirts with monster designs. Brands, styles, fittings are all seemingly similar, but still are to be taken as different. Add to it the confusion the sales guys contribute with half knowledge. I mean there was one sales guy who was debating if gabardine was a type of cloth or trouser style.

I shall confess that I have an army of blue shirts. That’s natural. It’s as logical as to why every girl has played with pink dolls. Also that’s one colour that goes well with trousers Navy, Black, Grey, Khakis or Brown. So I was determined to look beyond with something that would still make me feel good and knew it will take some kind of serious hunting.

One of the ironies in shopping for clothes is that whatever you find to your taste never fits you. Ask for a fresh piece in something and there never is one. Trial pieces never match up to the packed ones. So when I ultimately landed with a shirt with some fine non-blue pin stripes and not in my size, the salesman promptly said, “I’ll check it up in the back”.

Now why does this happen- 4 shirts of size 38 and not one in 44 on the rack? I mean do they have something called as the ‘Reserve store’, with stock in the back. Sadly the back yielded nothing and the hunt continued and I finally picked 3 shirts to add to the wardrobe. The selection was simple, I only ensure it made me look confident to face myself in the mirror.

The next mission was trousers; which got in a new element called matching. I really don’t like this at times. I mean I seriously feel this is going to disappear someday, life comes a full circle and becomes simple- we all shall wear a common uniform across the world. I’m not joking- They do so in Star Trek or Wall-E; so that’s definitely the future. Unlike shirts (unless u buying Arrow for its marking on the cuffs), trousers also have a brand name that shows up on the hips and plays an important role.

Every combination I tried with various brands got only one response- “Sir, this one is you”. I mean you don’t even tip the sales guys, but they seem to have been trained to say stuff. I gave up after 4 combinations and just stuck to basics of Navy blue in a brand I’m comfortable carrying off and walked away.

All those two hours in a shop ensured was I can stay at peace for the next 4 months; or until something else comes up that requires me in new clothes.