Monsieur Rodin

This is the second book written by Chetan Baghat (read IIT--> IIM (A). It starts with a train journey from Kanpur to Delhi. Here he meets a pretty lady. She agrees to tell him a story about 6 call center agents. Her only condition is that Chetan should convert that in his second book. With reluctance he says yes. The story, told in first person through the character of Shyam lists the happenings of that eventful night. With others, Priyanka, Esha, Radhika, Vroom and Military Uncle, Shyam faces enlightment in that night. Apart from dealing with commonplace problems like Break-Up's, Extra Marital affairs, Casting Couch and Employee lay-offs, the story deftly touches the borderlines of issues related with Outsourcing, Indian Youth and Globalization. Though the key of the book remains their "conversation with god." The ending is also very good. I dont know whether to call this book as Spiritual, Real or Unusal.The books leaves you with a question mark:What is the book abou...

The Instanbul park was mesmerized. Not only because Phillppe Massa registered his first ever Grand Prix victory, but for the sheer tussle between Fernando Alonso and Micheal Shumacher. It was Massa's Ferrari on the front grid with Alonso's Renault 3rd after Schumi. The race started with a bang, as Fischichella and Raikkonnen got banged in the side by couple of cars. The safety car was in in the 4th lap as Luitzi struck the car at the side of the road blocking the passage. The teams took a pit-stop. But it was strategy that failed Micheal to put before Alonso as after the first pit-stop Alonso took the lead and extended it till the second pit-stop. After the second pit-stop, Schumi was on Alonso's tail. The battle went for the last 15 laps. In the end, Alonso won with 2nd podium finish and Micheal coming 3rd. It was a very emotional moment for Massa. Not Alonso extends his leads to 108 points over Micheal's 96. The Italian GP is going to decide whether Shcumi is still in...

19th August 2006. The day when my tryst with Sequoia Consulting ended. Well, for now at least. I remember the day I joined Sequoia about a year ago. The year has been tumultous. I have gained a lot and learnt a lot. By far, this was the best company that I worked for. I would always wish to replicate that culture wherever I go to work. Many people are still wondering as to why did I quit. I always believe that every company has its "personality." There are some base-level values that are carried within. They run through the hierarchies and processes. For an individual to be successful in that organization, he needs to adapt to that personality. He needs to put his thinking pattern a little aside unless he gets a foothold. In a nutshell, he needs to be agile. May be I am at this moment not ready to work for Sequoia. I am still a little rigid on my thoughts. The agility, being there, is a little less. But I know that I will gain that in due course of time. For career hunters, I...

The Ganapati's are arriving. Precisely on the 26th August. A week before the same, the street- plays start taking prevalence on the streets of Pune. These are basically ideological realities that are potrayed in coherence to our day-to-day life. Recently a street dog, strayed in our lane. He actually was limped when someone fed him. Thenceforth, he has made our lane as his alma-mater and us as his folks. Folks with whom he can bark his way through. Observers say that he only barks and doesnt pounce or bite. The truth is, no one has been with him that long to ascertain that. Now you might be wondering what is the connection, right? Day before yesterday, a street play happened in our lane. And it was quite musical because the song was on the tunes of the bark that came from our august guest. The play was about individuals making misuse of their advanced degrees and how we should find confidenece in all that. Or the least that, I think was the theme. Half of the play was defeaned in...

Lost . A primitime television series, whose 2nd season is recently being aired in India. I cant believe I intially missed half of the 1st season. But Star World was generous to air the redux on Sunday nights. There are some things about the series that leaves me spellbound everytime I watch it. First are the characters. Right from Dr.Jack Sheperd to Sayid to John Locke the artists deliver a powerpacked performance. Second is the storyline. 44 survivors of the crashed flight Oceanic 815 have all got a history. All of them stranded on an island which is not normal. And how the story unfolds as they all start to habituate themselves to each other's whims and fancies. Third is the screenplay. Apart from being screened in the exotic Hawaiian island Oahu, it deftly reveals the history of characters in a manner that connects well to the running storyline. It also irks curiosity and keeps you pinned to your recliner. Lastly, it is the spirituality and its tussle with the reality. How fa...

" दुनिया मे जीने के दो हि तरिके होते है. ऎक जो होरा है उसे होने दो, बर्दाश्त कर्ते जाओ और दुस्रा उसे खुद बदल्ने कि जिममेदारी लो." The are translated as " There are only two ways of living life in this world. One, just watch and bear whatever is happening around you. The second, is to decide to do something about it." These are the lines with which the film " Rang De Basanti " marked the beginning of an end of the epic saga that it potrayed for over 2.5 hours. I watched it over and over again. And every time I do it gives me a new message. It tells me that a revolution should always begin silently. It should catch the audience by surprise. More often that not a revolt is brought by the young blood. The film teaches you never to overlook anybody you think is screwed. You never know, they might end up waking your conscience. It tells you that when you listen to your heart, you become fearless. That is the power of faith. Kudos to the team and the actors who...

Here we continue our discussion. Ironically, it comes on the same day when I complete exact one year in my current organization.16th August. I remember, being punctual on the first day. I guess a little over punctual. The excitement was tremendous. My first job as a Manager. From that day I have not lost my professionalism. But sure my passion has a taken a downslide. Reasons are immaterial, but when it happens, it doesnt seem the right place for you to continue. I passionately work in this organization. It's problems were my problems. I carried them home with me and thought about it all the time. But recently they have not cropped up. They have left me and so have the challenges. The work seems monotonous because somewhere I am not able to identify myself with the work that I am doing. In a nutshell, I am just doing my job. But then it stagnates growth as it makes life devoid of challenges, hurdles. The very thing that tests you. It might seem like a rut at first, but believe me, ...

I was once asked in an interview, what is the difference between a job and career? I replied, that what you want do passionately, becomes your career and that what you do professionally becomes your job. A job happens only in the office, while work happens anywhere. But there is thin line between working passionately and professionally. Most of the managers/leaders will exploit you by mixing and matching either one of them. Its not necssary to have passion in the work you do. But its effective. Then the time line starts to recede and there is no difference between your work-place, your work-station and your home. These people more often are termed as workaholics. Money can be one factor, but more often than not, its not the catalyst for a person to incite that passion. Everyone has his/her own reasons, some might be emotionally connected, some might like the kind of work, some are built that way. There are multiple reasons for a person to be a workaholic. I once asked a friend, who is ...

No No, this is not something I have come up with. This is Chapter 3 from "The World is Flat" that I am currently reading. After discussing the 10 flatteners of the world, Tom describes in this chapter how they converged and helped levelling the playing field. He calls it the " Triple Convergence" , we will see how the same works: 1) Convergence 1--> It takes in to stride the fall of berlin wall along with Netsacape browsers, Work flow softwares, Out sourcing, Offshoring, Supplychaining, Insourcing, Informing and Steroids that converged by the fall of year 2000. This convergence in turn led to a global playing field for nultiple forms of collaboration. 2) Convergence 2--> This takes in to consideration and 1st convergence and how it was utilised for enhancing productivity by a new cadre of managers, innovators, business consultants, business schools, CEO's, IT Specialists. How they got comfortable with and developed sorts of horizontal collaboration and val...

Irony has got a a definitive way of popping at the least-expected mode. The World is not yet flat. Well, these are no my views. Apparently Pankaj Ghemawat, a professor of Harvard Business School expresses the same in his article " Global Strategy: What's Different ". He spurns of the idea of a flat world and dimishing borders as "apocalyptic" and justifies it. He gives us two contradicting examples. One is that of a Wal-Mart and its cross-border expansion problems and other is that of Yum! Brands with its high-intensity proliferation in the Chinese markets. I am not sure what is the point he want's to stress on. The article goes on to stress that Wal-mart didnt match the pace of revnue growth because it couldn match the cultures of the retail giant with the same on the local market in a Non-US lke territories. The reason did sufice them to exit from Germany and a stunted growth in the other areas. Then he talks about Yum! Brands (Parents of Pizza Hut & ...

"Supply Chain"-My favorite word. Love this word for its different meanings associated with different things/people at different times. Let me just take you on a ride of this magnificent word and its implications Supply Chain in its original form involves a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier to the customer. Supply Chain for a Manufacturer would include things like Raw Materials-->Inventory Stocking--> Production Line--> Packaging--> Shipping --> Customer Delivery --> Post Sale Maintenance. This will be associated with data coming from the Sales, Finance,Inventory, Design. A well defined synergy amongst these factors will help an on-time delivery at the customers end to create value. Supply Chain for an IT Services povider will probaby include Functional Analysis--> Technical Analyis--> Design--> Development--> Testi...

Dude! Finally finished the chapter. As much as I am mesmerized by the content, I still feel that Tom has gone a little overboard giving credit to certain American companies for flatteneing the world. Anyway's the gist of the matter is that World has flattened and the last 3 factors also contribute to the same: 8) In-Sourcing :- No. Its not anti-outsourcing. In-Sourcing typically refers to a process og the vendor going down deep into the client's infrastructure and streamlining the process to create horizontal value. The depth of the realtions cant be quantamized, but it comes to a point where you cant make out who's working for whom. Here we take example o UPS. Well, to tell you, I love UPS's tag-line - "Your commerce, Synchronized." Tom says, they have been living up to it. Not only are the synchronizing the globa supply chains round the word, they have embedded themselves in client's internal structure also. Then it gives them a chance run the buisness a...

After the first four flattener's here comes next three in line. 5) OutSourcing :- As the dot com bubble went bust, many fibre-optic companies when into bankruptcy. Investors and Venture capitalists who had invested in these companies started to put their thinking caps on. And then they met with a second-buyer of those huge data pipelines-India. As India started venturing into the communications protocol, a new trend started to emerge in US. As the economy had tanked and costs had to be cut, the companies started asking " Hey who are those guys that will get this work done at a cheaper rate?" And thus started Outsourcing. It helped flatten the world in a profuse sense as it cut down costs and helped achieve greater efficiency of work by integrating a cross-spectrum of individuals. 6) Offshoring :- Now the basic difference between OutSourcing and Offshoring is that the former is involved in moving only the backroom work while the later is involved in moving all the oper...

नमस्कर मनदलि; अयुशात पहिल्यन्दा चुका न करता मराथि लिहिन्यचया हा अनुभव अविस्मार्निये आहे. त्तुम्चि ऒश ( अर्थतात--> Operating System) सपोर्त करएल कि नहि ते मला महित नहि. पअन माझ अत विचर मझे मरथि सुध्रारन्याचा आहे. मला थोदिशि मदद करा. मि अप्ला रुनि राहिन. ध्यन्यवाद. आप्ला विन्म्र अद्वैत जोशि

A recent survey of the Maharshtra State goverment reveals that Begging has manifested in an Industry. In Mubai it self there are about 50,000 beggars accounting to a revnenue of 180 crore. Rates are fixed for where one wants to beg and a fixed percentage is set for authorities so that everyone can get a share of the beggars loot. The Bombay Beggary Prevention Act (read para-5) terms begging as illegal. But the handicapped beggars are left untouched by the anti-begging squad.Clearly, handicapped beggars are better earners as they command more sympathy. Now this actually has given a twist to the industry. A foray of mafia gangs have stepped in paying for the amputation of bosy parts of the street-side beggars. A recent inquiry in beggar amputations has revealed some shocking realties. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has launched a probe for doctors willing to ampute beggar's body parts for $200 (10,000 INR)

The 18 year old Vikrant Khanvilkar , the youngest of the 7/11 mishap died succumbed to death today. He had suffered head injuries. Now the death toll has risen to 201. 201 innocent people lost their lives because some of the follies made by our freedom fighters 58 years ago and some which are still continuing in the face of Ayodhya and Gujrat. Meanwhile we are at the economy spot, there is a new boost to the health care industry in India. With the rising healthcare costs in the US a growing number is US employers are sending their ailing employees offshore for healthcare treatment. This actually is cutting down costs on the same. Way to go for the hospital-ity industry. :-) Guys! I have been searching for film " Omkara" 's lyrics all ovre the place. May be my serach-criteria's are not right. :(. Just help me out of you, I really need those lyrics.

Emotions play a vital role in anybody's life. Every minute we are experiencing a turmoil of emotions which churn us in. They say to find the ultimate truth, we should get rid of these emotions. But is it possible. I mean, yes it is possible, but is it do-able. Get rid of love, get rid of desire, get rid of ambition. Yes you have to get rid of certain emotions like hatred, jealousy, lust because what they create is only negative energy around you. But you know what, a hundred times more a crime has been committed in name of love than in the name of hate. There is a thin line between love and hate. And believe me you, its like walking a razor's edge. Introspect and you will get the answer. We tend to hate them the most whom we love the most. Why such things happen? How can one suddenly stop loving someone? Its just a pure emotion that just cant be vandalised. The biggest weakness of an human being is letting go. But what we tend to forget is that we all have to let go one day. Of...

I did mention in one of my last posts that I am currently reading Thomas Friedman's " The World is Flat." Well, today lets take a bird-eye's view on the first forces that have helped flatenning the world. Shall we ? 1) When the Berlin Wall went down and the Windows, up: - The Berlin wall went down in 1989 and than started a chain of events. The utter act of defiance from the people of Germany was not that of impulse. Freedom was what they wanted. But not only from the chains of discrimination, but of thought also. The downfall fall of Berlin wall took down the iron curtain with it. This opened the people's mind to imagine that a world in itself can become a single market place. Free trade started setting in. In admisdt of this, precisely a week later after wall's event, Microsoft shipped it's first operating system:Windows 3.0. This helped any tom-dick-harry harness the power of computers and gradually helped penetration of the computers in household...

Every writer at some time ceases to write. Not because he is at loss of thoughts, but he is at loss of words. Every emotion can't be scripted. Though the Vedas have tried a lot to script some out-of-the=body experiences, it requires a great deal of spirituality. That day I was reading Upanishads (concise version), and I was "literally" at loss of words. The way the ancient hrushis have enumerated the very sense of life is just amazing. Soham-Asmi; I am that fire, I am that soul. They tell you that the soul is eternal while the body is temporal. Moksh is achieved when we learn what we have come to learn on this earth. It just warms your heart. I remember reading Brian Weiss's " Many Lives. Many Masters." His book revovles around his psychiatric patient. He cubs here fear by regression therapy, where-in she recalls her past lives. The book tells us about 7 masters who possess the knowledge of the ultimate truth. The patient (sorry I dont remeber her name) act...

Lets write today of something I am professionally involved in. Recruitment. I love this field. Though this isnt orginally that I started my career with, but its seamlessly connected with Sales & Marketing ( Prima Facie of my career). Recruitment industry in India is on a boom. You people must have heard of the term " Demand-Supply gap" of talent pool in India. Lets discuss this for a while. Shall we? There is a law of economics that coins the demand-supply aspect as follows, " When the demand equals the supply its commodity, when the demand surpasses the supply its speciality and when the demand is less than the supply, its liablity." Our recruitment scene follows this law, but there is a slight modification over here. In India, talen is realtivelygreat. Giving the statistics, Indian universities are expected to produce 400,000 engineers, about 100,000 managers and about 2.5 million graduates. Wow! And given the current scene, just 4 sectors-IT/ITES, Telecom, ...