Career and Life

Job has become very important part of our life now these days. Since most of us spend close to half of our time in a day at our workplace, it’s quite natural that whatever happens at the office does make a difference at your home also. The key lies in separating the two as much as possible.

Most of the time the work place expectations are not met as per our expectation. Either the work pressure is too much or it’s too less. Sometimes the work is very trivial and does not carry any challenge with it. The other times the work is massively complex and can give sleepless nights to most of us.

How about a condition where the work changes rapidly? It’s a mixture of absolute boredom and the other moment the things change rapidly and you have something really interesting to learn from the project. The moments when you decide “yes its time to call it a day” to the moment when you feel “Yes I have arrived”. These conditions are really difficult to succumb to and can really pull you back in a moment. It becomes really tough to come out of such conditions sometimes and things can go for a toss before even you react.

Sometimes it becomes really important to match the expectations of the people. These expectations may be very low keeping in mind the current scenario or can be very high keeping in mind the need of the hour.

Sustaining the interest of the individual in a particular job has become very critical now for an organization to retain the talent. It’s very important that organization if possible engage the individuals who are a cut above the rest into some of the most challenging assignments. Routine assignments cannot really allow an individual to continue for long in an organization. Motivation is one very important factor which can come from two sources either self or induced by a mentor. Unless and until we are motivated, its impossible to give a high performance.

Job satisfaction is extremely important for every individual. It’s the key sometimes if we want happiness in life. But its also important that we put that fine line between life and career and understand that career is part of life and not vice versa.

Kaun Banega Crorepati - 3 and King Khan

22nd of January will have its own importance in the television history. If not for television history, atleast in the life of Shahrukh Khan. SRK’s first episode of KBC was aired on this day.

Television is not new for SRK ,infact he started his career with it. Fauji was enormously popular TV series about the daily life of an Indian Army regiment. The character played by Shah Rukh Khan gained instant popularity . The success paved way for Shah Rukh's next series - Circus and his foray into filmdom.

SRK has emerged as one of the most successful actor/star of the Hindi film industry over the last two decades and his movies continue to be ring the cash registers on the box office.

When Amitabh did not show inclination towards hosting KBC again, STAR needed someone who has the aura on the silver screen which AB possesses. STAR approached SRK and the later took a very bold decision by hosting this all time popular game show KBC. First reason being that SRK has done so, very early in his career if we go by the speculations and secondly because he has taken the challenge to compere a show which was earlier compered by Big B himself.

As unfair as it can be to compare KING KHAN with BIG B, it is unavoidable. While BIG B received rave reviews for KBC, KING KHAN has off late been the target for all the critical analysis. From giving away his watches to his “Shahrukh mujhe gale laga lo “ hugs ,SRK is trying his best to be different , probably trying to be better.

While the younger (read it as current ) generation has gone ga-ga over these acts done by SRK , the same acts have been termed as over acting by others(read it as older generation).BIG B bought with him a lot of poise to the show with his own style , the way in which he carried himself , the language (purest form of Hindi) that he used and the way he treated the contestants with utmost respect , irrespective of their age.There was a sense of seriousness that prevailed and the contestants were always in awe of BIG B.

SRK has broken all the so called boundaries and limitations to reach out his audience. here is absolutely no doubt in saying that SRK has got with him a lot of energy in KBC. His enthusiasm ,his anxiety, his charm and above all his killing dimple smile has definitely floored a set of audience by their feet.But mind you , guys its only a set of audience. Also the overall outlook and the campaign of the show has changed with a pop song starting the KBC unlike the traditional music.

The main critics turn out to be those who had loads of expectations from SRK and may be who expected that SRK will be a replica of BIG B. We all agree that a change in our life at any front is initially disliked, whether it is for our good or bad .It takes a lot of time for people to get adjusted to the so called change.SRK is now facing a similar problem.

Its not exactly a problem per se. BIG B was and still is a superstar. From nani ji to mami ji to taya ji and chachaji BIG B had the widest range of audience. People loved him for more than one factor, for more than the screen presence he had.

Infact BIG B had recently given a statement of unfair comparision with SRK.Very true .What BIG B had to say was that SRK should be compared to him only when SRK reaches the age of 60 . Pretty true right !!!!!!!!!!!

Best line of KBC 3 which I like the mos t is this:

"JO LOG KOSHISH KARTE HAIN WAHEE AAGEY BAD SAKTE HAIN"

Back Again

Quite some time since my last post. To be precise about two months and to put in another way my last post came last year december when I was in London.

Off late my enthusiasm for writing something for the blog has come down to a large extent. The reason being the environment around me which can be best put in the words of KHV as a "dynamic world".

From October till January I was in London. Before I left for UK, my state of affairs was no good with whole lot of issues circling around me. In UK also problems did not leave me although I had my share of fun meeting people like Gurmeet and having some good time with Sreeni and Girish. Needless to mention the name of Vinay and Ranjana. Thanks to Ranjana I survived in London.

I came back to India in January hoping for the uncertainty to end but in vain. For a few weeks I was working on some research paper and now these days I spend a lot of my time in doing intra-day trading and observing markets only. Its pretty interesting stuff and makes you understand a lot of things. Have made some money but lost more.

Have some stuff on Calypso to work on but its something which I do not like to do. Let me not bore the readers more with it.

I will be back with some good posts on UK sightseeing and yearly round up within a couple of days, till then enjoy this commentary by Swapna on KBC 3

Stonehenge

The Producers

Last night I did something different from the routine and something which I always wanted to do rather see.

Last night we (Girish, Sreeni and Chandrika and myself) went to see a musical play here in London. The Producers, authored by Mel Brooks and directed by Susan Stroman is a comedy based on the dying career prospects of producer Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom his accountant. Both of them try to earn quick money by the way of making a theaterical flop called as "Springtime for Hitler". Unfortunately the flop turns the otherway round and becomes the most popular hit. Bialystock and Bloom decide to capitalize on a flop and then manipulate the accounting books to earn quick money.

The Oscar-winning film originally starred Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the title roles, while the multi-award winning Broadway production starred Nathan Lane and Matthew
Broderick.

More than the story of the theatrical play, the characters, sets, music and lights excited me. It was just a perfect display of all the elements of the play. I have never watched a theatre before hence this was my first experience with it. It was just awesome.

Some of the notable features of the play and theatre were:

1. The display in theatre (Drury Lane, the price of the ticket £ 28, the interiors and the architecture, the lights and background sounds.

2. The full form of CPA

3. The director of Springtime and his associates stereotype gays.

4. The entry of the Hitler in the last part of the play.

5. The character of Loooooo, who was the secretary/receptionist of the Bialystock and Bloom.

6. The dialogue by Bloom "This is a dilemma", when the police catches Bialystock and the accounting books and leaves the place with million dollars.

7. The names of the accounting books: Show to IFRS, Never Show to IFRS

8. Newspaper headlines when the show becomes a hit rather than a flop

9. The depiction of Hitlers Nazi logo in the mirror.

Trip to Cambridge

Last weekend was really fast and it was over well before I could realize it. The best part of the weekend was the trip to Cambridge.

Situated in east of England, Cambridge is an English university town and the administrative center of Cambridge shire county. From London it is close to 60 miles and it takes about an hour to reach the destination. Cambridge is situated near Silicon Fen, which is considered to be the heart of the high technology center. Cambridge is best known for its University, Cavendish Laboratory, King's college chapel, Cambridge University Library and Punting.

We started from London Liverpool Street on Sunday at about 8:50 AM to take the National Rail operated by ONE Network to Cambridge. Nonetheless after seeing the speeding National Rail trains in the Ilford station one of my wishes was to take this kind of train. The train started at the appointed time of 8:58 AM sharp cruising slowly and steadily towards its destination. The train was running at an average speed of 76 kms per hour and touching the peak speed of close to 120 KM per hour between certain stations.

The journey to Cambridge from London is absolutely amazing. If you are a nature lover, this is the journey one must take. Even in winter, Britain experiences rain that sometimes makes the geography of the land very beautiful. Right from the time one comes out of London; the greenery can be experienced all around which is absent in the main city. The train to Cambridge calls at Tottenham Hale, Waltham Cross, Chestnut, Broxbourne, Harlow Town, Bishops Stratford, Audley End and Cambridge town. The journey between Chestnut and Broxbourne is especially very good since the entire landscape is surrounded with plain grasslands. The surface is absolutely flat which makes the landscape extremely beautiful. Getting to see flat surfaces in India is actually a rarity. A few snaps were taken in train as well, will upload them soon on the blog.

We reached Cambridge at around 10:30 AM. The weather was good. Bright and a little sunny where the sun was trying to protrude out of the dark clouds. The temperature should be around 10-11 and not less than that. Thereafter from the station itself we took the hop on and hop off bus, which is really a good thing in Britain. This type of bus allows you to get down and see the place and then again get into the bus at a later point in time. A number of buses run throughout the day, which allows easy movement from one place to the other. As expected the bus was pretty much empty except for a few people.

Cambridge town reminds me of Manipal where I did my PGDM in TAPMI. Close to 22000 students study in the town of Cambridge in various colleges within the university. The University houses close to 31 colleges, which offer courses ranging from Arts to Science and Mathematics.

Our first destination in our journey was the Microsoft research center, which has been funded by Bill Gates for an estimated cost of close to £ 50 m. Next to the Microsoft R&D center is the Cavendish Laboratory. The Cavendish Laboratory has a major role in the Atomic Structure world. Most of the discoveries in the Atomic structure world have come from the Cavendish Laboratory. Some of the notable ones are Rutherford’s Alpha Scattering experiment, JJ Thomson discovery of electron, Niel Bohr’s calculation of radius of the atom, Bragg’s X Ray diffraction law. Cavendish Laboratory belongs to the Physics Department of the University of Cambridge. Its actually part of the Trinity College, which is one of the most well known colleges in the world. It was a dream come true for me when I looked at the place. Almost for 5 years we read continuously about Atomic Structure and all these people. Today I saw the place where they did all these experiments also.

Next destination was the American Cemetary, which consisted of a memorial for American soldiers who died in the Second World War. The area surrounding the cemetery is an awesome sight and was perhaps the true countryside feeling. Lush greenery spread all over with dried maple leaves on the ground. It was just an amazing sight and delight to the eyes. Probably only a poet can describe the nature better.

As we were coming back into the Cambridge City center we saw the express highway to London and Stansted. The cars were speeding at close to 100 mph. The next stop for us was punting on the river cam, which also provides the name to the town. It was afternoon by then we started seeing the colleges in the town like Kings College, St John’s College, Queens College and Trinity College. All of them stand tall with their historic buildings. All these colleges placed a very important role in the development of science and mathematics. Infact Trinity College boasts of close to 31 Nobel laureates including our very own Amartya Sen.

Next destination for us the Kings College backs. Kings college backs is akin to the backwaters of Kerala and reminds me of the holiday we spent there. In the Kings College backs only we had our very own Indian dish Lemon Rice prepared by Lakshmi. It was a good preparation and filled up the stomach very well.

Thereafter we just moved in the Cambridge high street and did a little bit of shopping and saw a roadside play also. I am not really sure what it is called as but on the first look it was really good and a different kind of an experience. Then we walked all along the high street seeing some T-Shirt shops and a very old church spotted by Uma Rani.

Our lunch was at a familiar space – Pizza Hut. It was quenching as well as filling for everyone. We moved on crossing the football ground to catch our bus which dropped us at the station.

We took the fast train to Kings Cross,which was a nonstop one and took just about 45 minutes to travel from Cambridge till London Kings Cross. The journey comes to an end.

Naveen Giles and myself in London

Last weekend was one of the greatest moments for me. On Saturday, I met Mr. Naveen Giles who is one of ace quizzers in the quizzing circuit and winner of some of the big names like CNBC Challenge and Brand Equity Quiz 2006.

What is exciting is the way I met him. We were introduced to each other via a common friend in his house at Liverpool street in London. Soon we were walking towards a restaurant to have dinner. While we were talking, both of us being avid quizzers ended up discussing about quizzes and other related stuff like blogging. After sometime he asked me as to what do I quiz on. Pat came the reply from my side saying that I am into punchlines and logos. Immedietely he responded saying that he is the defending champion of Brand Equity quiz. I was shocked for a moment. Shell-shocked.

I could not believe myself that I am talking with the winner of the brand equity quiz. Nation's biggest quizzing extravaganza. Winning brand equity quiz is every quizzer's ultimate aim.

Thereafter we had a long talk and he described his experience of quizzing and style of Derek o Brian which has got a mixed feedback amongst the quizzing fraternity. Both the quizzes, the Challenge on CNBC and the brand equity quiz are hosted by Derek O Brian. We also watched the recording of CNBC Challenge which was as exciting as the quiz in reality.

For people who are not from the quizzing bracket it would be tough to appreciate this news. But for me it was a delight. I always wanted to see a quizzing hero. I finally met him in London.

Zune - Microsoft's Latest Innovation

Zune is the latest or rather the first digital music player to be launched by Microsoft. Ofcourse Zune is also the latest one in the market amongst the music players available. Zune was launched on 14th Nov 2006 in Atlanta with a free TI concert.

The key feature of Zune is its large LCD display screen, which is close to 40 % bigger than a video ipod. This large screen makes sure that one even figures out the expressions of the people in the movie, which is not normally the case in iPod. Some of the reviews make it equivalent to a HDTV.

Coming to the user interface, its one of the sleekest in its class. With only one large center button, which can move in four different directions together with pressing straight down, anyone who knows how to use a web browser would find using Zune very easy. The menus have a sleek animation from one screen to the other that gives the Zune a really cool feeling.

One of the most striking features of Zune is its Wi-Fi functionality, which is one of the most unique features of a digital music player till date. Users can detect if there is any other Zune player in the vicinity till 50 m so that sharing of song files, albums and photos can be done. To prevent piracy and protection of copyrights, the transferred file can only be played three times, thereafter the file gets deleted.

With a matte finish, Zune spots a slippery look but actually is not. Outer shell of Zune is scratch free which makes it really good for tough usage. The scratching of screens was one of the major problems in iPod.

The sound quality of the device is 100 % connected to the headphones under usage and not really on the player itself. Better the headphones better will be the sound quality. This is really drawback for the player since iPod boasts of a superior sound quality because of the player and not really because of the headphones.

Similar to iTunes for iPod, Zune comes with Zune marketplace. It has been launched with over 2 million songs and offers 2 options for the enthusiasts: 99 cents for a single download or unlimited downloads for just 14.99. Zune will play and even share songs from other sources. The ability of Zune to fetch and album art for ripped and illegal music is nothing short of fantastic. Infact songs, which are purchased from iTunes music store, have something called, as DRM codes which does not allow them to be played on any player other than iPod.

One of the major disadvantages of Zune, which can make this product a miss in the market, is its inability to act as a memory stick or a removable hard drive. This is one of the major drawbacks keeping in mind the existing products in market all of which support the removable hard drive feature. This makes Zune useful only for listening to music and not for transferring word documents, excel files and zip files. iPod is very widely used as a storage device since it can store up to 60 GB of data.

Regarding appearance, Zune comes in three different colours – black, brown and white. Brown is catching up a lot and has maximum demand and bookings all across Wal-Mart and Amazon.com. But one thing is sure looks wise, its difficult to mistake Zune for some other player.

Finally Zune with all these features turns out to be a value for money at just $ 250. Its one the premier players available in the market, and will hit the competition with a bang with its wifi feature and large display. Zune is more like a range for Microsoft with products like Zunephone and Zunegamer in the pipeline.

Try it. You will love it.

Life

Life shows its colour in all forms. Sometimes the colours reflect the brighter side, other times it reflects a gloomy side of life. Never one side of the life remains constant forever. It keeps on changing which makes the people to think negative and positive about life.

People say that change takes place because we cannot control everything happening around us. It’s really tough to ensure that everything around us remains in our control or moves according to our wills and wishes. But then sometimes things turn out to be so unfortunate that they breakdown the people who are in circumference of it.

Life definitely is not a Sunday. No day remains static in life. No day even repeats in life. Now these days the work environment is so dynamic that one never knows which trouble is he going to face next moment. Sometimes over a period of time these small troubles start causing what is called as Frustration.

Frustration is a feeling wherein one starts feeling bad about everything around him. It’s a condition, which forces a person to go into a state of disliking. Frustration leads to a whole lot of problems, which starts, from hating the people around you and ends at hating yourself.

Why do we need to think so much about our life? Can the life be left to itself?

Happy Birthday Big B

As we approach October 11, 2006, Amitabh Bachchan turns 65. At the outset let me wish the Star of the Millenium and my idol for more than one reason a Many Many Happy Returns of the day.

Already amongst all the TV channels and media the buzz has started and people have started wishing the Big B via every possible mode. The fans are wishing Big B via sms, mms, emails and internet. Some websites are running a dedicated column for his birthday because the section is attracting considerable number of hits.

Amitabh Bachchan, the name itself speaks volumes. Its a hysteria.Its a charisma. Its a cult. That is Amitabh for you. A true mega star which Indian Film industry has ever produced. I got addicted to Amitabh and became his ardent fan when the movie HUM came in the year 1991. His dialogues. His delivery and the way he used to shake his head in the movie while getting angry was just terrific. Although the movie was not a big hit but then it touched the masses and presented Amitabh in a different role altogther. A role of maturity.

But soon thereafter, the worst times for Amitabh started when the ABCL corp. a first of a kind entertainment company went into severe trouble. At one point in time, Amitabh had debts exceeding 99 lakhs on his company's name which literally made his life miserable. But true to his strength and belief, he rose like phoenix from the ashes and a few years back he was one of the highest tax payers in the country.

Life has been a roller coaster ride for AB. But the way he has been able to manage it is really commendable. It was never ever thought that AB would come back in the Indian Cinema and would dominate the scene inspite of the presence of King Khan. Today AB is the highest paid actor in the country. He has worked with every Ace director and has enacted marvellous roles in each one of his movies. In 2005 he gave five hits which is next to impossible for any star. Right from Bunty aur Babli to Black his performance has been absolutely flawless and outstanding.

I believe it is next to impossible to produce a star who is as good as Amitabh Bachchan. Even Hollywood has accepted by awarding him the Star of the Millenium.

I have read both the books written on him. One by jaya bachchan by name "TO B OR NOT TO B Amitabh Bachchan" and the other one "AB - A legend" by Pradip Sarkar gifted to me by one of my clos friend's. They describe very vividly, everything about this great gentleman.

I wish Amitabh Bachchan a very best of luck in all his future endeavors and wish him a great year ahead.

Outing

Its been long since I blogged. I was busy for a few days in the last two weeks and on other occasions, was lazy enough not to capture anything on this blog.

Anyhow after a long time, I am at home for Dussehra or Vijayadasami (whatever you call it). Perhaps this time its the best in terms of enjoyment. First of all, three days holidays courtesy IT companies. Three continuous holidays definitely sets your mood for the entire week and for the festival also. Finally, today’s family outing which was like icing on the cake. It was just too good. How the 7 hours passed away we did not even come to know about it.

Today we visited a place by name Vargal near Medchal about 50-60 KM from Hyderabad. The drive to Vargal was really good one. I enjoyed every moment of it as I drove the car from Home till a village close to Vargal. Pothholes free highway and no traffic made the drive a smooth one. Lush greenery, calm and cloudy weather added vividness to the trip ensuring that no tiredness sets in. We reached Vargal by 2:00 PM and stayed there till 3:30. Enjoyed a little bit of rock climbing and photography was as usual at its best with the Sony Cybershot. The weather really supported us as it did not rain even an inch. Although it was quite humid, it was manageable overall. Vargal is abode to Saraswathi Devi one of the alankarams of durga. One can have a scenic view of the green fields from the top of the rocks situated around the temple.

The next stop for us was the Ratnalayam temple situated close to Shamirpet lake which turned out to be our last destination before closing for the day. Ratnalayam temple is one of the very few temples constructed on the lines of Tirupati Balaji. Although it’s not a natural origin of the god nevertheless the sanctity of the place ensures a spiritual atmosphere all around the temple. The temple is pretty big and is surrounded by park with seating all around inside the park. We had evening snacks kind of stuff there and from there packed our bags to leave for Shamirpet lake.

Shamirpet lake is a place which has become famous because of word of the mouth publicity. AP tourism does not really project it as a tourist spot since it’s on a very rocky terrain and not ample facilities are available to reach till the spot. There were some Durga idol immersions going on and we did have a photo shoot out there albeit not very great.
We came back home very tired at about 8:30.

It was one of those most awaited picnic for our family. Nice one and much better than the ones we had in the past.

AIRBUS Crisis - Delay in A380

AIRBUS A380 is considered to be the most ambitious project in the aircraft manufacturing space. The project A380 is a very well known Harvard Business Case Study and is one of the best examples of Project Finance. A380 from AIRBUS is answer to the Boeing's growing dominance in the aircraft manufacturing space. I read the case study of A380 in TAPMI. It was a very interesting one although the calculations involved were not that easy to replicate in the exam. But unfortunately AIRBUS is in deep trouble because of the considerable delay it is facing in the commercial launch of its superjumbo A380.

Recently when the superjumbo A380 took its first maiden test flight, the historical event also coincided with the replacement of the head of its delayed Airbus A380 program. Frenchman Charles Champion, once touted as a potential chief executive, is the third official to lose his post after delays in assembling the world's largest airliner forced the resignation of the company's chief executive and the co-head of parent EADS during a corporate crisis in July.

Champion paid the price for failing to inform the Airbus board on time of the superjumbo's mounting technical difficulties, and for allowing severe production bottlenecks to continue unchecked for months, rather than fix them immediately. Mario Heinen, a 50-year-old executive from Luxembourg, who until now has been in charge of the European planemaker’s chief cash engine, its single-aisle range of A320-family jets, has replaced Champion.

Heinen's first task will be to ensure that there is no further slippage in deliveries, with Airbus already facing penalty payments to airlines over previous delays. Airbus said it is on schedule to deliver the first finished A380 to Singapore Airlines Ltd. by the end of 2006 after two sets of delays totaling a year. Airbus has admitted that it will deliver only nine next year, instead of the promised 25, up to nine fewer in 2008 and five fewer in 2009.

For the first time, the A380 took to the sky with company employees for the test lasting seven to 15 hours. The A380, the world's largest passenger jet, took to the sky with 474 Airbus employees on board for the first of four test sorties known as "Early Long Flights" lasting seven to 15 hours on Monday. The plane, powered by four huge Rolls Royce engines, returned to its Toulouse base Monday evening after a fully crewed flight in which the Airbus staff was served drinks and meals. Capable of carrying 555 people in standard three-class layout, or over 800 in all economy, the A380 is billed as the industry's answer to airport congestion and rising air traffic.

Laloo to teach @ IIM Ahmedabad

Laloo Prasad Yadav one of the favorite in the Gustakhi Maaf series and also the one whom Shekhar Suman imitated very well is now having the last laugh. After making Bihar, the worst state of the country, he has just done the opposite for the Railways. Doing the impossible. Turning them profitable.

The story starts something like this. The son of a poor farmer from Phulwaria in Bihar’s district Gopalgunj is today being wooed and courted by schools of management and administration. On September 18, the Railway Minister is scheduled to lecture students at India’s top B school, IIM, Ahmedabad on the nuances of the railways ‘turnaround’. The turnaround story, in fact, has already been introduced as a case study as part of the institute’s curriculum. Very few case studies can really become part of the IIM A curriculum which is the best in the world according to all standards.

The Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Mussourie — training ground of India’s steely frame, the bureaucracy — is also reported to be wooing Lalu Prasad to come and deliver a lecture. He’s scheduled to speak at a Harvard University seminar in New Delhi next month. The HEC International Business School, Paris, wants to do a case study; GE boss Jeffrey Immelt has already done his salaams.

Laloo as usual believes that he will be able to make a mark even in this activity and he has full confidence on his abilities. What is making all the top B Schools and people like Jeffery Immelt doing salaaams to the man whom most of the country hates. To get the answer, one needs to go back to 2001 when an expert group headed by Rakesh Mohan ( former advisor to the finance minister at the time, Yashwant Sinha) declared: “Indian Railways is today on the verge of a financial crisis.” The report predicted that if the railways didn’t change track it was doomed to ‘fatal bankruptcy’. The same year, the railways defaulted on paying a dividend of Rs 1,823 crore; its fund balances were a mere Rs 359 crore and its operating ratio — that is, expenses divided by traffic earnings — stood at a whopping 98 per cent.

Fast forward to 2005-06: Fund balances had reached Rs 12,141 crore, operating ratio was down to 83.7 per cent and internal generation was a healthy Rs 13,612 crore — all this without hiking either passenger or freight rates.

The irony is obvious: A man who failed to make any discernible progress in Bihar in the seven years that he was chief minister (15 if you add Rabri Devi’s proxy tenure) has managed to achieve remarkable success in such a short while at Rail Bhawan.

Sudhir Kumar, his articulate officer on special duty, a Delhi School of Economics graduate who is often credited for the turnaround, has his own take: “It is the minister’s passion and integrity that is leading this change,” he says.

NR Naryana Murthy Steps down

Infosys co-founder, Narayan Murthy, who believes in leading by example, has quit the position of chairman, taking retirement at the age of 60, on 20 August 2006. He held the helms of Infosys for the last 25 years. This decision looks like is on the lines of Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, who declared that he would quit the office in 2008.

Nandan Nilekani will call the shots at Infosys as CEO and managing director, while Murthy will serve as non-executive chairman of the board and chief mentor. The Infosys board recently voted to let Murthy continue as the non-executive chairman and chief mentor, and has inducted him as an additional director on the board after his retirement. Somebody with only knowledge as his capital and somebody who holds on to values that are middle-class is able to do not only well but outstandingly well.Narayana Murthy served as CEO of Infosys for twenty years, and was succeeded by co-founder Nandan Nilekani in March 2002.

This news was no surprise for most of the Infoscions and the industry as well. Moreover Narayan Murthy stepped down from the post on Sunday and not a working day. This was to ensure that the work does not get hampered in anyways. At the juncture when Infosys is setting global standards every day and is amongst the world's most sought after companies, Narayan Murthy's decision of stepping down creates yet another first for the IT industry. Infosys was the first company to come out with the title of Chief Mentor and the foremost company in India to come out with the ESOPs. When a company is at the peak of success, its promoters wish to be at the helm of affairs. On the contrary Murthy took a step in the opposite direction and paved the way for younger talent to grow. This is perhaps the best way to create multilevel leadership within an organization which is the biggest problem of IT industry now.

Hats off this gentlemen who put India on the World's IT Map and did all this very humbly.

CORPORATE - Politics Personified

My blog features very few movies. One of the first movies to get featured here was Rang De Basanti which I felt was class apart when compared to the other movies releasing every day.

Another movie which I saw while in Chennai on one of the weekends was CORPORATE. As the title suggests the movie tries to portray the corporate world which is non IT in nature and shows two rival groups trying to counter for each other's share in the market.

Madhur Bhandarkar has done a great job, must say that. The movie was well made which each part of the movie representing the problems which the people face at the top. There were two groups in the movie by name Marwa and Sehgals. The competition between them exists in every field with one trying to outcast the other with an acquisition or new product launch.

The movie portrays many problems which probably the corporate India faces today. The resignations of senior people in the company, unethical means which end up closing the company, corruption and the most important one the effect of politics on the functioning of a business house.

One of the incidents which I liked in the second half of the movie was the episode of pesticide in cold drinks. This episode happened in reality a few days ago when people in some western states literally break tons of cold drink bottles on the roads. In the movie the FDA people determine that the drink which the company is planning to launch contains pesticides and hence informs the manufacturers to close the shop. But the launch of cold drink was connected with the IPO of the company, the company officials bribe the FDA officials and get the clearance for it. But soon the rival company who has a close link to the CM informs about the pesticides story and the CM orders to close down the shop. The manufacturers lose pride, prestige and positioning in the market. Their FIIs start leaving the company. The share prices come down heavily and it becomes an acquisition target. Soon the FII who had invested in India goes and meets the FM and tells him that he is going to leave the country on account of bad reputation to his partnership and loss of shareholder value. FM now targets the CM and asks him to get the FDA clearance threatening him that not doing so can lead his party to lose the elections. Manufacturers get the FDA clearance, both the Sehgals and Marwas club hand together. CM wins the elections and FII stay in the country. On top of it the pesticide ladden drink also sells briskly in the market. Sehgals gain their position in the market and Everything comes back to normal.

The story described above is somewhat the reality today. Most of the issues in our country and either in the hands of most corrupt individuals or they just die the natural death. For example the OBC quota bill. There was so much hue and cry over it but finally the Govt passed it and now its going to be implemented in phases. Today when I was watching the news, I heard Ram Bilas Paaswan asking for more reservations for the SC/STs in the country. The case of pesticides came in front of Govt many times but nothing happened. Most of the time the problems and issues get entangled in the politics of our country without getting resolved. Yesterday while I was watching the news I could still see some new case of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy which happened close to 22 years back. In the above story Politicians have the entire say. They control the entire functioning of the business. If its in their interest, they would go to any extent and get the wrong thing done.

God knows, in which world we are actually living ?????

Management Challenges - Compensation and Benefits

The idea of putting my thoughts on this topic came as a result of my completion of 1 year in this corporate world. I read first about Comp and Ben (as it is called in short) in the third trimester of my PGDM in the HRM subject. That was the time when I had absolutely no understanding of how it works and hence my appreciation of this topic was very minimal. Only now after a year, I am able to appreciate the importance of this subject.

This is the wage hike season for almost every sector. Normally the increase in the cost for the company due to wage inflation comes into picture only in the 2nd quarter but provision for such a hike is made in the first quarter results itself. For all the IT companies wherein there is no CAPEX, wage hikes is the major component which hits the bottom line most. One of the major question which arises here is how to balance this inflation in the interest of both the company and its associates.

For an IT organization, the biggest challenge lies in two areas. First aspect is retaining the customer and ensuring the profitability in terms of the billing rates. The second and probably more important aspect is the attrition rate. Attrition is a word which came into lot of prominence only after IT companies came into existence. This word got into fame when the people started hopping from one company to other in search of better salaries. Most of the times this is where the organization loses the most.

In the past 1 year I have seen many organization's attrition statistics and talked with a number of people who were leaving some very good organizations and joining smaller organization. One of the major things which I have seen is that the attrition at the junior management level which is something like the team lead, project lead, consultants, module leads, junior project manager is pretty high for most of the companies. Look at the attrition level at the Project Manager and above level like the kinds of AVP, VP and SVP and we are in for a change. In this category the attrition level is considerably low because of the simple fact that the incentives at this level are considerably more than the incentives at the level of PL, TLs or MLs.

Generally AVPs, VPs etc grow with the organization and reach this level only because they have been working in the organization right from a developer stage. Hence they enjoy significant benefits over their subordinates. Here is where the major gap comes into picture.

At the end of the day for any IT company, the real work or should I use the term software development ends at the level of PL only. Only in extreme cases that the PM participates in the software development and related tasks. So its a very general feeling among the people till the level of PL that they only do the entire set of tasks for the company and that their increments should be the best. But most of the time it does not happen.

For any IT company, people in the range of 1.5-5 years of experience are the most important assets. These people also constitute the set which is in very high demand in the current market and can command any amount outside their home company. Its very easy to gather people fresh from the engineering colleges and give them a paltry sum, sign a bond and retain them. But when it comes to people in the 155 group (Exp range from 1.5-5) retaining them is the key for the growth and stability of the project and thereby the company. Any amount of discrepancy in their C&B (compensation and benefit) can literally give a hit to the project. Also it could bring down their motivation levels and this would end up in cribbing about the company. Its more like a chain reaction, because if leader starts cribbing about the company, it will be followed by other team members and soon it will affect the way work happens within the organization. Freshers even if they leave the organization it does not make a difference because they can always be supplemented by if not better the same quality. People at the level of PMs, AVPs and VPs generally do not make a quick shift because of the benefits they derive, their adaptability to the workplace, the power they possess and the most important one that they are more or less stable in their career now. But what about the people in the 155 group???? Any answers.

To be continued.

Phishing Mail

Yesterday I got a mail from Bank of America Secrity service stating that I need to login for some security changes. A very good example of Phishing. Have a look at the snapshots. There is literally no difference between the two screenshots literally. One can find the difference only in the address bar wherein phishing site has some unknown address and the original site has address of Bank of America. The link sent in the mail takes you to the phishing site but once you click on any link on the phishing site it takes you to the Bank of America official website.

Phishing Snapshot

Original Snapshot of Website

I am Back

Long time since I blogged. The days have been really tight in terms of the work. Lot of things also happened in the last 2 months since I stopped blogging completely. My last post was on Jun 09 about the FIFA World cup. It was more of a formality to capture the most happening tournament.

On the professional front also lot of things happened which kept me busy all these months. For about 2.5 weeks from 24th June till 11 July I was in London for the requirements gathering and system study phase of our new project. Keeping in mind the new engagement and the client a whole lot of things were covered in two weeks time. Trip to London was a welcome change for me. I went via Dubai in Emirates. Emirates must say is truly an international airline whether its the comfort they offer within the flight or the aircrafts they possess. Everything is out of the world. The journey to London takes somewhere close to 12 hours and the time difference is 4.5 hours in summer and 5.5 hours in winter. The difference comes because of the concept of day light saving. Daylight Saving Time (DST) as it is popularly called as allows to save energy since less artificial light would be required in the evening and makes the country more efficient in addition to the pleasant effect of lighter evenings.

In London, I visited a lot of places namely Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Tower bridge, Madam Tussauds, Greenwich (where there is a 0 degree meridian and GMT is set here only), Hyde Park, Canary Wharf, London Eye, Bank of England, Oxford Street and host of others. Madam Tussauds was perhaps the best attraction of my London visit. It was a quick trip and we entered just in time into the wax museum. I stayed in the company guest house at Deptford Bridge and my work location was in Liverpool street. Canary Wharf is the only area in London where one can find a few sky scrappers. Otherwise entire London has only old and historical building.

After I came back from onsite, it has been terribly busy for me in terms of the amount of workload. Last but one week I had clocked close to 100 hours in the office in a rush to complete the deliverable on time. This is my first weekend I am at home after close to 2 months time. We also had an internal audit for one of our projects and it was a nightmare and complete fiasco for the team.

Some updates from blog front. My Quiz blog (http://www.brandtags.blogspot.com/) has crossed more than 9000 hits in less than a year and in the month of July the blog is clocking somewhere 900 hits. My personal blog is clocking somewhere close to 6000 hits at the moment. Unfortunately, the quizzing activity has come to a halt and I have been receiving a lot of mails to start it again. This week will also see rebirth of the quiz site.

Recently in wake of the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, Government decided to put a ban on the blogs and most of the blogs were blocked in this exercise. For close to a week, no one was able to access the blogs. Then there was a long debate over this issue and finally it was decided to lift the ban over the blogs. Must say terrorism can impact anything in this world.

When Italy won the world cup, I was in the flight traveling from Dubai to Hyderabad. More than the passengers who were least bothered about the world cup final, the head of the cabin crew was excited when Italy won. It was a well deserved victory for them together with the very infamous incident between Materrazi and Zidane which became the topic of the email forwards very soon.

Time management has become a very big problem now these days and working nights in the office is a usual affair. This sometimes is taking a toll on the health as it happened to me when I came back from Chennai last monday. Anyhow I am getting adjusted to this now and now the posts on the blog will be pretty frequent.

LONDON Trip Snaps

Ash Arun Y and AB

Big Ben