A process is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. By definition a process should make working easier, replicable and take out potential misadventures or deviations. While this continues to be the objective, a prime need for the process is not to become a barrier. A process is […]
Goods and Services Tax – The biggest tax reform in India since independence! Conceptually, the best thing that could happen in a country laden with incredibly complicated tax structure. For a very long time I have been a strong proponent, till I saw chinks in the chain. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great philosophy. […]
On this World Social Media Day, let us look at what is considered as one of the most important metrics in the current social media world. Twitter Trends. What Twitter wants it to mean – A top 10 list of most important topics being discussed or talked about on Twitter related to India and in […]
This month, I had a distinct pleasure to speak at Bareilly, “New India: Opportunities and Challenges”, an event organized by Jagran Group and Future College. I was asked to talk about Digital India and Make In India. Perhaps the 2 initiatives that have governed the development of India over the last 2 years. Key focus of both these initiatives being to make it easy to begin, sustain and grow businesses in India.
While preparing and thinking about how to put it across to a Tier2 audience which may not otherwise be that savvy or care about development at the top level, here is a simplistic picture that I came up with. Digital India is about the following:
“We all know it, we all hate it and yet, we all do it!”
Well, I am talking about the (in)famous Indian Standard Time!
Have you ever wondered the genesis of Indian Standard time? Why are we always beginning meetings and things late?
Let’s start from the beginning!
We do take the usual 9 months to come out. We usually start our pre-school at 3 and our regular schooling at 5. It is not like we have a higher life expectancy than other countries. Yet, somewhere in-between, we have the Indian Standard Time.
In our country, schools start on time. Kids are never late in getting to school. Somewhere from where we get out of school to where we get to adult life, we start getting late for everything.
I have seen people blame colleges for it, saying how the entire concept of college is chilled, relaxed and okay with students being late. But, in my opinion, that’s not it. College classes do start in time. And the schedules do get managed.
In my view, it’s a social and cultural issue. And the thing about the cultural and social issue is that it is made by us. WE THE PEOPLE! We are not the ones who suffer from IST, we are the ones that proliferate it. It’s what most of us have gotten as inheritance, maybe even genetically transmitted.Continue Reading
Social media is about accentuating the finer points of a brand to a level that people talk about it, associate with it and use it as a reason to buy the brand. At the top level, these finer points can be classified into 3 parts: Product Experience (Functional) Brand Experience (Emotional) Marketing Spiel (Fun) What […]
Let me begin by congratulating Narendra Modi and the NDA government for successfully completing 3 years. I am extremely glad that things in India are much better in 3 years than the 3 months of the newly elected US government.
Even the staunchest opposition to Narendra Modi and the current government will agree that his ability to connect with the masses is strong and effective. The working of the government is a miracle at best and a very well run marketing machine at the worst. This is where closer analysis need to be done.
This government so far has much lesser serious scams, though a lot more newsable discussions.
Everything from intolerance to cow-slaughter to caste/religion and other aspects have kept this government on its feet and points to a less than effective control.Continue Reading
Today is reality day. 9th May. It has a very significant presence in my life. It’s the day when I decided on calling my new venture OMLogic. A company that has become a part of my life bigger than anything could ever be. OMLogic, the name, completes a decade of being, and its certainly time to reminisce. I still keep getting asked, mostly by people who find my decision disappointing and confusing, as to why I decided to move back to India. And I have given multiple different answers to them based on who was asking the question. Entrepreneurship bug, parents, Delhi life, kids are top amongst a list of 10 answers.
I have asked this question to myself numerous times and can say for sure none of them is true. So, why did I move back. Well, because I was bored. There, you have it!
Don’t get me wrong, I had a wonderful career. I was on fast path to leadership in IBM, salary more than most of my compatriots, house up on the hill and everything set right. But it all didn’t seem enough.
I guess I love the entropy, the chaos, the unknown, the change from the norm. One thing I can say about the move back to India is, 10 years, no regrets. Sure I would done some things differently (like choosing different partners to start the company with or ensuring I don’t take some of the ass-holes as customers which I did but overall…10 years, no regrets.Continue Reading
Today is World Health Day and the theme is “Depression: Let’s talk!”
It seems like everyone is suffering from depression these days (even the economy, the society, the morals and the ethics). But this blog is not to discuss any of these subjects.
I want to talk about the changing nature of the world and what I think are the larger aspects of this thing called depression.
What is depression? Under most circumstances it is the unwillingness (not the inability) to do something by the right side of the brain which the left side of the brain thinks is a must do. In that sense, usually it is a disease of the riches. It comes from a pressure of expectations (not of survival, rather societal pressures of failure in a very superficial manner.)
The reasons are manifold, but I prima facie want to boil it down to the inability of people to be able to talk things out. It’s the loneliness and the feeling of having no one around in a crowded world that kicks depression in.Continue Reading
Donald Trump’s Misdirection
“Have you ever heard of Harry Houdini? Well, he wasn’t like today’s magicians who are only interested in television ratings. He was an artist. He could make an elephant disappear in the middle of a theater filled with people, and do you know how he did that?
Misdirection.
What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.”
Today, I am reminded of this famous quote from the movie, Swordfish. Perhaps Travolta’s best work after Pulp Fiction.
Seems like Donald Trump got his training from Harry Houdini himself. The latest decision to quit Paris Climate Accord seems clearly like a misdirection.
The best part of it is, we all will still fall for it. Under pressure from all corners about variety of legal, illegal and unethical issues, Trump has done what any seasoned politician will do. Change the Subject!
For the last 24 hours, no one seems to care about Russia or hacking or any other issues that have clouded Trump’s presidency over the last 3 months.
What I found particularly fascinating is the role that social media plays in it. There was a time when I thought about the digital audience (the cool microbloggers on Twitter) as a discerning lot. Those who can separate the wheat from the chaff.Continue Reading