IndianMaze

It was a great statement conveyed with amazing simplicity. "The best way to clean a staircase is to start at the top" were the words conveyed in chaste Haryanavi by on of the industrialists I respect. Yes, indeed he was referring to the management styles. He was talking over a drink well past midnight about the challenges he faced in his experience with many a professionals in the past. I am reminded of the story in another context of another successful entrepreneur. He is disappointed that he is to deal with trivial issues of the organisation whereas he has hired a number of capable senior professionals. The answer was apparant in no time, when a call came in to check if a message can be sent to a business associate. The entrepreneur was furious - why do you have to call me on this small issue? I have hired you to manage this on your own and why even you have to deal with it as this could be dealt by a junior person and so on for next few minutes. I empathised with the ...

I was dumbfounded today. I could never believe that I did not see it for weeks despite the fact that it was in front of me many times a day virtually every working day and then like electricity flowing through an inactive bulb - pop..... The story started about 6 months ago. On an interaction, we discussed an embarassing issue but in  a perfect harmonius manner that necessitated a change in behaviour. Then I just forgot about it. I continued meeting this individual, a colleague, everyday for work and would meet him sometimes half a dozen times in a day oblivious to the discussion held earlier. Today, we were in a discussion and all of a sudden I realised that the discussion we had many months ago has had a dramatic result and I could not see it change from the previous scenario. I was blind despite seeing things. It was a true awakening for me. How many more changes are there that I am seeing but not processing.... I learnt about the difference between hearing and list...

It was interesting that in a media interaction today, I was asked to wish the viewers a new year. All of a sudden it dawned that how quickly this year has passed by. Its been almost 10 months since I wrote a piece on the blog. The key question in my mind immediately after the interview was - why wait for the new year? Hence a new look and a new post. The reminder to me of the age old Indian saying  - जब जागो तब सवेरा - morning is when you wake up. Today is my new year and I am going to celebrate it with the same set of rituals. Resolutions - start any day - everyday. That's my note to myself. What is your note to yourself for this new year! All the best

It was a noble effort by my banker to invite youngsters for financial awareness programme for the wards of their clients. A renowned financial expert was the star attraction. In an interaction after the programme, I was talking to a participant and asked about the efficacy of the programme and compared to the objectives set by the bank. - need for saving - no additional learning - types of investment - marginal gain in knowledge - how each type of investment grows in future - went over my head - "X" bank takes care of investments - OK, what's the big deal The table turned, when I asked that what were the biggest learnings from a day's programme and the response was stunning: - we need to plan - we need to draw our future - have high interdependence amongst experts - all my peers are struggling with same problems but not sound them off - its easier than I thought! A skill enhancement programme worked as a behavioral transformation programme. Consumer...

Interesting case narrated by a friend. Jaguar sales were very low in this part of the country with petrol version (circa 5 a year). With diesel version launch it is 5 a month. Car costs Rs 50L plus. Any insights! India continues to amaze me every day.

It was a pleasant surprise experience after moving to Mumbai when on a couple of occassions public transport (regular black/yellow or silver/blue taxi and auto rickshaws) returned me the precise amounts due to the nearest rupee. I had tweeted about the same experience and the overwhelming response to me was that it was an odd experience and I must have been extremely lucky to have met such people. I was warned that I should not get carried away with this experience. Bottomline - lack of trust between commuters and public transport. Now in the last 3 months or so, I have used public transport almost about 100 times and nearly 95+ times I have been returned the change nearest to the rupee. The repeated experience that I have in the last 3 months is completely contrary to what others have told me. The sample size is not small enough for me to classify this as a coincidence. I think this is a case of either a blind spot or a fixated mind. Going through this, I recall many instanc...

I have recently moved from NCR to Mumbai. I have spent a sizeable time living in Greater Mumbai for over 7 years earlier leaving the city about 12 years back. In these 12 years, India has undergone a lot of changes and so have her cities. I see that Mumbai has changed but at the same time retained some of her key characteristics. Public transport remains the backbone of the city and is not only easily available but has the customer convenience at its heart. Its a fact that Mumbai is the only city where a customer just hails an auto/taxi and just sits without asking about the readiness of driver to go to a particular destination. They will charge as per the tariff card and give you the balance in coins. Impressive. Bravo Mumbai. Equally what has not changed is the cleanliness levels of Mumbai and that is a disappointment. The city's professionalism stays but the difference viz other cities has narrowed down and unless Mumbai does something about it will have the danger of losi...