Venuraj's blog

I have enough money to last the rest of my life

2010-03-09T10:58:00.001+05:30

Do i have enough money?
I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless i buy something.
- Jackie Mason

Life, Philosophy & Balance sheet!

2010-03-09T10:52:00.003+05:30

Birth is our opening balance,
Death, our closing balance,
Prejudiced views are our liabilities,
Creative ideas and good deeds, assets.

Heart is our current asset,
Soul, our fixed asset,
Brian, a fixed deposit,
Thinking, our current account.

Goodwill and achievements are our capital;
Character and morals, our stock-in-trade,
Friends our general reserves,
Values and behaviour, our goodwill.

Patience is interest earned,
Love, our dividend,
Children, our bonus issues,
Education, a brand,
Knowledge is our investment.

Profit and loss is karma earned.
Before final assessment (death),
Balance your sheet!

- Anonymous

Signing of the first decade

2009-12-31T19:06:00.001+05:30

Signing of the current decade with a lot of things still incomplete... but feeling 100% complete.

Adios and Cheers for the new decade.

Insights from the One Minute Entrepreneur

2009-11-06T16:39:00.004+05:30

There are only four things to remember to be a successful entrepreneur
• Your sales have to exceed expenses
• Collect your bills
• Take care of your customers
• Take care of your people

At any given time, we are becoming the average of the five people with whom we are most closely associated.

Keep a notebook of the wisdom you read, hear and learn and distill that learning into one minute insights.

Try your best to make good, well-thought-out decision. Often the decisions you make when you are young are more important than those made later in life, because they have more years in front of them.

Be guided by values.

What is right is more important than who is right.

If you want a life of success and balance, your values will be the vehicles to get you there.

Once you decide you admire the content, the values, and the style of a writer, devour every one of that author’s books.

You can get everything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.

Everyone loves to buy, but they hate to be sold.

Lead with your ears! Ask questions, assess needs and develop relationships. If you’re really good at it, people will practically beat your door down to buy from you.

In reality, everyone sells their ideas every time they open their mouth. So why not get good at it.

If you can sell and sell well, nobody can every quarterback you out of a great future.

Success can only occur when opportunity and preparation meet.

The single biggest salesmanship lesson you must learn is that periodic rejection is very much a part of the success process.

Sales champions know that success is not determined by how much verbiage you can dish out. Its all about how much rejection you are willing and able to eat.

No matter how good you are, you’ll experience a lot of failure. The greatest sales professionals are those who experience a ‘no’ and immediately go on their next call with total confidence, giving as good a presentation as they ever have, unfazed by the previous rejection.

When you feel moments impacting your destiny seize the opportunity.

The humility as a result of failure is a good thing. It is with humility that we admit we don’t have all the answers. It is humility that gives us the desire for a higher degree of focus, and its with that intense focus that we learn and grow.
For every yes you get, you’ll probably have to endure eight to ten no’s.

Know your numbers and conversion rates. If you take care of your numbers, your numbers will take care of you.

If you measure it, you can manage it.

Know your numbers.

‘Content’ and ‘Delivery’ of presentation plus call count will determine sales success.

Your fears will subside as you master the basics of business.

Psyche yourself up before every meeting with client groups. Be your best every time.

Ambition is the fuel that can drive life-changing events.

Identify what you’re passionate about doing. Look to do more of it.

Don’t quit your day job until you’ve got some success under your belt.

If nobody will pay you to do what you love, you have a hobby, not a career.

It’s ok to fall in love with looks and personality but marry character.

Don’t throw away your dream.

Substitute strategic patience for crisis management.

We were doing all the right things… we just need to keep doing them, one day at a time.

If you focus only on managing costs, your business will never grow.

Watch your ego, especially when you succeed.

Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.

The secret to success is generating CASH, CASH, CASH.

Growing pains are a great problem to have.

Taking care of your customers is not optional – it’s imperative.

There are three secrets to creating raving fan customers; decide, discover and deliver.

Moment of truth is anytime a customer comes in contact with anybody in an organization in a way they get an impression.

Giving can be much more rewarding than receiving,

Servant leadership.

It is better to patiently implement a strategy than to recklessly push for growth.

To live a happy and fulfilled life, be generous with your wealth, time and talent.

Leave a legacy. Be intentional about making a positive difference with yours.

You can’t predict the good that can come from helping for forgiving someone.

Keep building one minute at a time… one block at a time.

Did you know 4.0

2009-09-29T22:23:00.006+05:30

Just one week ago, The Economist, in partnership with XPLANE released "Did You Know 4.0," the official update to the XPLANE's original "Shift Happens" video. This completely new version focuses on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology. It has quickly become one of the most popular videos on YouTube with over 250,000 views.

After Gen X, Y & Z it is back to future with Gen A (Alpha)

2009-09-21T12:31:00.005+05:30

Born between 1995 and 2009, Gen Z makes up for 18 per cent of the population of any city, reports an Australian website. This latest generation is made up of today’s babies, children and teenagers and they are the future.

They are responsible money-wise, have a strong work ethic and have grown up on the staple diet of every social networking site. In stark contrast to Generation Y, these youngsters know the importance of saving money and working hard and are even more computer savvy according to social researcher Mark McCrindle says.

“If Gen Ys were regarded as empowered and the ‘me now’ generation, were superficial and appeared to flit between jobs, we’re seeing the pendulum swing back with Gen Z to traditional values, a strong work ethic and financial conservatism,” he said. “They have been significantly impacted by the economic downturn when in one’s formative years they see parents downsize or lose their jobs... they realise you have to prepare for a rainy day,” he added.

McCrindle believes that this change in Gen Z is a result of being exposed to a more mature upbringing. “Traditional trades struggle to market themselves to Gen Z, because they fail to see reason in trying to reach out to the dot.com world. But that’s wrong thinking,” he said.

The next generational cycle begins on January 1, 2010 and is christened Generation (A) Alpha.

Source: Times of India

Interesting additional read: Ten commandments of Generation Z

Rediscovering the joy of playing through table tennis

2009-09-21T00:10:00.005+05:30

After college playing games have become a rarity. Always had it in my heart to want to play a game... basket ball, cricket, tennis whatever but never took the effort to find the time or the opportunity to fulfill the desire.

Ii now realise that there are two very simple but very critical factors if you are keen on a playing hobby... one, access to a place where you can play the game. For instance hoop for basketball, court for tennis. Secondly, someone who is equally inclined to play. Happy to report that i found both and have started playing table tennis for the last five weeks. So every Saturday evening it is a dose of wholesome physical fun.

Control bias

2009-08-17T11:45:00.002+05:30

Read an interesting article about risk and perception of control on Value Research site. Though this was written in the context of investing... i found the concept interesting and relevant in other areas of life's decisions as well. Read on.

The author Dhirendra Kumar of Value research came across this concept in an article by an American security expert named Bruce Schneier.

We are all overconfident. We have this natural assumption that if we are doing something ourselves, we'll do it better than anyone else. Psychologists call this 'Control Bias' and it applies to all sorts of areas of human behavior.

It also goes on to add that people tend to overrate the risks they face from rare, but dramatic events and underestimate the risks that they face from everyday events. We as humans tend to underestimate risks in situations where we are in control and tend to overestimate risks in situations when we are not in control. The most common example is the fear of flying versus the perception of risk while driving. There's clear evidence that flying in a commercial airliner is by far the safest mode of transport that there is. In contrast, Indian roads are quite unsafe. Yet, many sensible people have a deep fear of flying, but are quite unconcerned about taking huge risks while they are driving.

Worse, people take slippages in safety levels on the road unthinkingly. They chat on their phones while driving (it's not unusual to see two-wheeler riders type SMS messages while driving); they drive after having had a couple of drinks; they drive when they know their brakes or tyres are not good; they overtake while turning, so on and so forth — the list is endless. And yet, they are scared of flying. All these could be examples of ‘Control Bias’. When we are doing something ourselves, we have an illusion of control, which feeds a biased view of safety. We underestimate risk because we are in possession of all the facts and we feel that we can control the situation when in reality we can't. When flying, we really don't know what's happening so we do not have the illusion of control.

I find that this illusion of control is exactly what makes investors underestimate risk while investing. Many investors don't actually know enough to be dabbling in stocks. Yet they do so because they have a large amount of information which makes them believe that they know enough to be in control. Someone sells investors a story about a stock and that story appears to have enough information to give an adequate illusion of control. If the story is dished out by a brokers' employee and is dressed up as research, then it appears to be all the more believable."

In a different context this could also explain why a large number of employees who lack job satisfaction stick to their jobs rather than give wings to their passion. Hate as they might... their knowledge and sense of control dissuades them from trying anything new. The perceived risk of failure is a strong barrier for taking the plunge into trying something new.

Theory vs life

2009-08-16T00:29:00.006+05:30

Recently came across a scribbling that i had made on top of my management notebook from my first year of graduation (1993). Don't know where i had sourced it from... obviously i must have thought it interesting to make note even then...

A student of business with tact
absorbed many answers he lacked.
But acquiring a job he said with a sob
"How does one fit answer to fact?"

The value of a Balance sheet

2009-08-16T00:18:00.003+05:30

Though your balance sheet is a model of what balance sheets should be
Typed and ruled with great precision in a type that all can see
Though the grouping of the assets is commendable and clear
and the details which are given more than usually appear
Though investments have been valued at the sale price of the day
and the auditors certificate shows everything ok
One asset is omitted and its worth i want to know
The asset is the value of the men who run the show
- Unknown source -

Inspired Breathing

2009-08-15T15:02:00.005+05:30

Inhale, and God comes near you. Maintain the inhaled air and God will remain with you. Exhale, and you go near God. Maintain the exhaled air and you hand yourself up to the God.

- Krishnamacharya

The essential virtue of breathing is that it acts like a transmitter between your body and mind. Oxygenation is not only necessary to remain alive but also to provide an excellent connection with the inner self. The energy generated by the process of breathing, when it reaches the dimension of internal consciousness, facilitates mental vibrations harmonious to our whole being at all levels.

Breathing simply means to fill our inner selves with the positive energies of life; literally it means to be inspired. To exhale is to vacate our selves, to open up to the unknown, to feel that something has ended and to initiate a new journey.

- Brenda Barnaby

Way to a balanced life?

2009-08-10T12:30:00.002+05:30

I spend most of the time in the mind… lots of ideas… too little action… very indecisive… paralyzed progress... dreaming of achieving success… acting on avoiding failure… positive attitude... conservative approach... love brands... hate to spend... intelligent opinion... moderate success... passion to ideals... value practicality... keen to collaborate… afraid of trusting… ambition to excel… loathe to exceed… is this the way to a balanced life?

Michael Jackson (1958 to immortality...

2009-06-26T21:32:00.011+05:30

Story of a everyday kid who went on to achieve dreams of many lifetimes in just one third of this life...

There is a Google "Conspiracy sponsorship campaign" at all entrepreneurial/ startup events in India

2009-06-17T19:12:00.008+05:30

Attending the StartupCity organised by Silicon India further reinforced and vindicated an observation that i have made over the last one year... startup and entrepreneurial events' predominant preoccupation today can be summarised in one word... Google.

Aspiring entrepreneurs want to find the next google idea... VC's and PE's want to invest in the next google... sponsors want to partner with the next google... start-ups believe that they have the next google idea... speakers wax eloquence about the virtues of google. There is no entrepreneurship event where google is not talked about.

Google has never participated in any of these events... but it looks like there is what i would term a "conspiracy sponsorship campaign", with all the entrepreneurship associations, event managers, speakers, etc all secretly conspiring together like the grand masters of the priory of sion to ensure that Google gets virtual, omniscient branding presence.

The "whisper campaign" activity by Rolls Royce i used to think was a masterstroke. But at the end of the day "whisper campaign" is still paid for by RR. The Google conspiracy sponsorship campaign is subtlety in its purest form... and the best part is that it is not paid for.

Hey come on you can't tell me that i have made this up... don't ask me to really prove that Google is actually doing such a campaign. The company would deny it... after all which architect of a conspiracy would accept that there is a conspiracy.

Now... the next time you go to an entrepreneurship meet, you know who is going to get more branding mileage than the lead sponsor. Just keep it to yourself... don't tell anybody cause nobody will believe you :)

On a serious note... before Google, the startup inspiration stories were Yahoo and Microsoft. In the Indian context Infosys takes the crown. Who will be the next inspiration... only time will tell. But my gut says that it may not be anyone from the ones who do the rounds of the entrepreneur events.

Silicon India StartupCity is back... this weekend

2009-06-03T20:39:00.005+05:30

Life delivers a lot of firsts. But getting called to be a part of an event because i blog was not something that i ever expected. But like the saying going... there is always a first time...

Earlier i was contemplating whether i should go for the event... but after confirming that my blog should be featured among the blogger's who would be visiting the event my decision is made. That creates another problem... actually an embarrassment. For the last two months i have felt guilty that i have not spent time to put my thoughts up on the blog. Now after asking to be featured i feel like kicking myself for not spending time on the blog. But i console myself saying... i started blogging by saying.. i will blog when i feel like it... i won't if i can't... no pressure.

Coming to the event... i believe there are 800 start-ups (i guess in he technology space alone) in Bangalore and more than 100 of these have confirmed to showcase their products at the event. For more details let me just capture the mail that i have got from Silicon India.

Silicon India Start-up City 2009

Roll up your Sleeves.

Meet over 100 cool start ups of your city.

Learn new Technologies

Meet the Startups that will become tomorrow's industry leaders.

Watch live product demonstrations.

Get a peek into cutting edge technologies

Lay hands on the best-of-breed solutions

Meet young, energetic, passionate geeks

Experience the culture of innovation in small companies

Visionary Keynotes

In-depth Panel Discussions

This is undoubtedly the biggest event for startups.

This year the event is being held in Bangalore on June 6th (Saturday), 2009 at Nimhans Convention Center.

There are limited seats. You can register yourself for FREE at: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity_09/index.html

I am born in a new realm today and i am God

2009-02-27T12:06:00.003+05:30

I had thought that the age for Internet to surprise me was over. But boy was i wrong.

I got a mailer from Tata Indicom about they being the first Indian brand in the virtual world. Now, i had heard of Second life... that it was another social networking site. I followed the link to finally demystify what the hype was all about and really how different could it be from a fb, orkut, ryze or any of the other networking sites.

But i was blown by the concept of Second Life.... for starters it is social networking site... but defining it just as that is akin to comparing computers to a better electronic typewriter. Metaphysically speaking it is a parallel universe with many gods. And the gods are the people who are logging in and becoming members.

What is Second Life? Well Second Life claims to be a free online virtual world imagined and created by its Residents. From the moment you enter Second Life, you'll discover a fast-growing digital world filled with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity.

You know it set me thinking... I have always wondered who created us and how is it that we have all come to be... Now the thought that stuck me was we could very well be characters playing out in someone else's Second life. Eerie, claustrophobic and completely possible.

Second life calls me as the real person and the profile i create as the virtual avtar... i wonder 100 years from now what will be real and what is virtual. Will the created survive god... i really wonder.

I dream of an India...

2009-01-28T20:38:00.004+05:30

I dream of an India that is shining bright
Not to outshine... but to be the light

I dream of an India that is happy and proud
Not in the recognition by others... but in the comfort of its roots

I dream of an India that is courageous and bold
Not in domination over others... but by celebrating humanity as one

I dream of an India that is abundant and rich
Not by hoarding money... but by having a heart with the world to give

I dream of an India that is creative and supreme
Not in the glory of global awards and medals... but in the self-satisfaction of bettering oneself

I dream of an India that has one billion dreams
Not about waking up to a better future... but to create the future before we sleep

I dream of an India that India is the dream

P.S. I was recently watching the media hype and hoopla about the Oscar nominations for Slumdog Millionaire and about how the world was recognising India and all that. Now don't get me wrong... I am happy for A R Rehman and the movie itself. But the thing is AR Rehman was already a cherished jewel and that the Oscar nomination was a mere acknowledgment of the fact and not a desperately sought certification.

In that moment of frustration there was a spark of inspiration... about the kind of India that i would be proud of... not about craving for western/global recognition but in the self-assurance of its soul strength. "I dream of an India" is the outcome of that spark

Tansen - The story of a once in a life-time musician

2008-12-10T14:23:00.004+05:30

Almost exactly in the centre of India is a town called Gwalior. In this town is the tomb of Tansen, one of the greatest musicians that ever lived.Next to his beautifully carved stone tomb stands a little tamarind tree. It is believed that by eating a leaf of this tree and touching the tomb, a singer can improve his voice.

If this sounds like magic, the story of Tansen is equally magical. Even today, many famous musicians follow the style of music created by Tansen known as the "Gwalior Gharana".

About four hundred years ago, in a village near Gwalior, lived a wealthy poet, Mukand Mishra, and his wife. Their only sorrow was that they had no children. On the suggestion of a friend, Mishra went to Gwalior to seek the blessings of the famous saint and musician, Mohammad Ghaus. He tied a holy thread on Mishra's arm, saying, "May God bless you with a son." And so it came to pass. A child was born and named Tansen. As Tansen grew up his father engaged teachers to teach him to read and write. Tansen, however, was more interested in going to the nearby forest with his friends, where he would imitate bird and animal sounds.

Once a group of singers were passing through the forest. Tansen hid himself in some bushes and roared like a tiger. So life-like was the sound that the singers became frightened. When the boy showed himself, the leader of the group praised his tiger-like roar. Encouraged, Tansen made more animal and bird sounds.

The leader was greatly impressed by Tansen's performance. He was none other than the famous music teacher, Haridas.

Haridas offered to take Tansen as his disciple. "He has great musical talent," said Haridas to Tansen's father. Most reluctantly, Tansen's mother agreed to let her only child go away to Brindaban to study under Haridas. For almost ten years Tansen studied music from Haridas. Starting with the basic musical notes SA RE GA MA PA DHA NI SA, he learnt the basics of singing and playing the tanpura. He learnt about the different ragas of Indian music and how each raga creates a different mood. A raga can make you so happy that you want to dance, or it can make you so sad that it brings tears to your eyes.

Then one day there was a message from home that his father was very ill. When Tansen arrived home he found his father on his death-bed.

"I am happy that you have become a musician. Go and see Mohammad Ghaus," were his father's last words to him.

Tansen remained at home to look after his mother, but within a year she, too, died.

Now Tansen was free to keep his promise to his father to go to Mohammad Ghaus and be trained by him. But, in keeping with Indian tradition, he went to seek permission to learn under a new guru from his first guru, Haridas.

"You must obey your father's wishes, but you will always be welcome here. You are like a son to me," said Haridas. And he gave him his blessings.

Tansen studied under Mohammad Ghaus for three years, developing his musical talent.

During that time Mohammad Ghaus introduced Tansen to the ruler of Gwalior. They became good friends and Tansen would often visit the ruler's palace, where he would listen to other musicians.

During his visits to the palace, Tansen met Husani, one of the women who attended on the ruler. Like her name "the beautiful one", Husani was truly beautiful. Tansen fell in love with her and married her.

A few years later Mohammad Ghaus died, leaving his property and money to Tansen. Tansen settled in Mohammad Ghaus's house and his family was raised there. One day a messenger arrived from the court of Rewa, near Gwalior. The messenger opened the scroll and read: "King Ramchandra of Rewa would like you to be a musician at his court."

This was a great honour and the first step in Tansen's rise to fame.

King Ramchandra admired Tansen's singing and lavished many expensive gifts on him. Once he gave him a thousand gold coins.

Then one day the Emperor, Akbar, went on a visit to Rewa. King Ramchandra arranged for Tansen to entertain his royal guest.

The emperor was greatly impressed by Tansen's music and, soon after his return, sent a message to Ramchandra requesting him to send Tansen to his court.

King Ramchandra did not want to part with Tansen, but he could not afford to displease the powerful Akbar. After all, Akbar was the Emperor of India, and Ramchandra was only the king of a small state in Akbar's empire.

So, reluctantly, King Ramchandra sent Tansen as a royal gift from one court to another escorted by his own men.

Tansen received a royal welcome in the capital city of Agra. Akbar was so impressed by Tansen's music that he bestowed on him the highest honour of the land. Tansen was included among his navratna, nine jewels – the nine most outstanding talents of the royal court.

Besides performing in the court, Tansen would often sing alone for the Emperor. At night he sang ragas that would soothe and help Akbar fall asleep, and in the morning Tansen sang special ragas that would gently awaken the Emperor.

There are many stories told about the power of Tansen's music. It is said that when Tansen sang, birds and animals would gather to hear him.

Once, during a hunting expedition, Emperor Akbar spotted a white elephant which he wanted for himself. The elephant was captured and brought to the palace. The elephant, however, was fierce and wild and would not be tamed.

When Tansen heard of this, he went to the elephant, which was chained and struggling with the trainers.

He began to play the tanpura and sing. Gradually the elephant became calm, and soon the emperor was able to mount and ride it. Emperor Akbar bestowed honours and gifts on Tansen. Tansen was given a house very close to the royal palace.

One evening, Emperor Akbar decided to visit Tansen. When the Emperor arrived, Tansen was singing and playing the tanpura. The Emperor sat quietly in the verandah and listened to him.

So pleased was the Emperor with Tansen's music that after the performance he took off his diamond necklace and presented it to Tansen.

Some courtiers became very jealous of the Emperor's high regard for Tansen. They began plotting Tansen's downfall.

They stole the diamond necklace given by the Emperor and told him that Tansen had sold it for a large sum of money.

When summoned to the royal court and asked to produce the necklace, Tansen was unable to do so.

The Emperor flew into a rage. "You will be banished from the court till you can present yourself wearing the necklace," roared the Emperor.

Tansen was in disgrace. He had no one to turn to. At last he thought of King Ramchandra and set off for Rewa.

Ramchandra welcomed his former court musician. After hearing the whole story, the king said, "Don't worry. Just sing for me."

Tansen sang two beautiful ragas for the king.

"Your singing is now superb. You have brought me great joy," said Ramchandra. And as a token of appreciation, he presented his jewelled sandals to Tansen.

Tansen rushed back to Agra and placed the jewelled sandals in front of the Emperor. "Sire, please take the diamonds from these and forgive me."

The jewelled sandals were worth much more than the necklace. The Emperor immediately realized that he had misjudged Tansen and said, "Your music is much more valuable than diamonds to me. I should never have doubted you. You may return to the court as my royal musician."

Tansen's fame spread far and wide. People said Tansen was the greatest singer to have been born in a thousand years. Tansen's enemies once more grew jealous and began to plot his downfall. They suggested to the Emperor that he command Tansen to sing Deepak Raga for him.

Deepak Raga was one of the most difficult ragas to sing. Besides, so much heat would be caused by a perfect rendering of this raga that not only would lamps alight, but the singer's body too would burn to ashes.

When Akbar asked Tansen to sing Deepak Raga Tansen pleaded, "Sire, Deepak Raga can set the singer himself on fire. But the Emperor would not listen. "If you are the greatest singer in the land, you must accept this challenge," insisted Emperor Akbar.

Tansen knew that singing Deepak Raga was dangerous, but he also knew that if Megh raga, which brings the rain, could be sung at the same time, he would be saved from the fury of fire.

"But how can I sing both ragas at the same time," Tansen thought worriedly to himself, as he roamed in the garden of his house. Suddenly he had an idea. Maybe Rupa, a devoted disciple of Haridas, could sing with him.

With the permission of Haridas, Rupa agreed to sing. Rupa was already a very good musician. Tansen used the fifteen days preparation time, granted by Akbar, to train her. At the end of the two weeks, Rupa had perfected the singing of Megh Raga.

On the day of the performance, the court was packed with courtiers and royal guests. People had come from far and near to hear Tansen sing the most difficult of all ragas, Deepak Raga.

Unlit lamps were placed on the walls. Tansen was waiting with his tanpura in hand and, as soon as the Emperor entered and sat on the throne, the great musician began the alap - the first portion of a raga.

As Tansen sang on, the surrounding air got warmer and warmer.

The audience started perspiring. Leaves and flowers in the garden dried and fell to the ground. Water in the fountains began to boil. Birds flew away to escape. The lamps lit up and flames appeared in the air. People fled from the court in terror. As the Emperor got up and stood, listening with awe, a rose that he often held in his hand drooped and died.

Now Tansen's body was hot and feverish, but absorbed in Deepak Raga he continued to sing vigorously.

Seeing Tansen in this state, Rupa became anxious and was unable to start singing. Then slowly, although waveringly at first, she began singing Megh Raga.

As her voice grew stronger and soared, the sky became dark with clouds. Soon rain came pouring down. Many among the audience rushed out to be cooled by the rain. Soon everything returned to normal. People showered praises on Tansen's genius. Though the Emperor was very pleased, he was shocked that he had almost lost his greatest musician to the fire of the singer's own music.

Tansen's fame now spread like the flames of Deepak Raga.

For the singer himself, however, the internal fire lit by Deepak Raga did not cool easily. Tansen fell ill and it was two months before he could return to the court.

Tansen sang and taught in Emperor Akbar's court for many years. He was not only a musician, but also a poet. He wrote the words for his music and composed many new ragas.

When Tansen died Emperor Akbar was at his bedside. The Emperor was filled with great sorrow. He knew that India had lost her greatest musician and singer. But Tansen's music has lived on and been passed on from guru to disciple.

And every year in Gwalior, near Tansen's tomb, a music festival is held. Musicians come here from all over India to perform and pay homage to Tansen.

My journey from traditional marketing to digital...

2008-11-26T15:14:00.007+05:30

Having spent close to 12 years in the marketing and communications business i have always had a insightful understanding of the emerging developments, technology and trends of the various communication vehicles, be it advertising, direct marketing, activation, in-film, out-of-home, public relations, online, mobile, digital sigage etc.

However, simmering deep within, was a growing void in the professed confidence. The void was in the lack of my understanding of online trends, in its entirety. For me online just meant website, banner ad's, micro-sites, digital mailers etc.

When i first read that google was an emerging media agency, i laughed it off as some journalists quest to find a different angle. When i started reading about 'search' driving advertising revenues, again i was dismissive considering it a short-term trend. Considering that the online penetration in India is still very low, the aforementioned fads and journalistic creativity (i thought) were just not important enough. More so, looking around me i did not see other marketers spend any decent amount of time or money in the medium. I could not have been further from the truth.

I was an example of the proverbial, man with the knowlege blinkers refusing to acknowledge change. Actually, to be honest, more than a point of view the reason i was dismissive was one because it did not fit into the traditional means and approach of reaching the consumer and two, i simply did not understand what was happening. The language and terminology being used were completely konkani and adivasi (i am tired of using greek and latin), to me. Widget, SEO, SEM, Metatags, indexing... gosh, i have grown up understanding Brands, Creative, Artwork, Layout, TVC, Print etc. Reading about it was one thing, but suddenly there was this division called Neo, within Ogilvy where there were these guys talking completely new terminology. What were geeks doing inside an advertising agency. And the worst thing was, try as i might, i could not become a geek. Added to this, I have been hearing/reading about how every advertising agency was busy going digital by either acquiring digital agencies or setting up new digital divisons. For god's sake in my eight years of investing i have not invested in any technology stock, through thick and thin. I never ever thought that i would have to get into the deeper end of technology but here was the deeper end of technology getting into what i was doing. The confidence about me continuing to be on the top of the communication knowledge chain was shaking.

But again i was under estimating the power of change and transformation permeating into all our lives, subtly and not too subtly.

While all this was happening in the professional side, on the personal side i was beginning to flirt with a lot of things in the digital space. What had started with email and messenger, gradually began to creep into (connecting) birthday alarm, yahoo groups, plaxo... (social networking) ryze, Xing, facebook, sulekha, linkedin, big adda, orkut... (blogging) Rediff iland, blogger etc. i did not embrace all the above naturally. It has taken me more than five years. I get into one... say Ryze, then i chance upon xing (earlier openbc), which looked like it was better. Then i read that Linkedin was the best, so went there and created a profile. Though i hated the fact that i had to create so many virutal identities, the good thing was that i was comfortable with the medium. it came to me natrually. Even this blog, which i started very reluctantly, has added to my learning curve. From a tentative start about the kind of conent that i should post, have graduated to placing google ads, widgets, (please make note of the adivasi terms that i earlier hated), customising polls, enabling followers, etc. I feel a certain degree of control.

A couple of weeks ago, my reality altered and everthing fell into place beautifuly. I attended the digital masterclass on the nuances of online advertising, specifically SEO/SEM, organised by TiE. The class was informative, but at the end of it a blindspot opened up for me... that the best way to understand a technology was by the impact it has on the lives of the people it touches. I claim proficiency in communication not because of the structural understanding of the advertising mediums, but because of the consumer insights that i approached the solution from. So the minuite i put myself in the consumer shoes and looked at what the other consumers were doing, suddenly the picture was clear, i didn't feel outdated and everything was fine with the world.

The end of every journey marks the potential for the beginning of a new one... and i set-forth with confidence, thrill and a sense of adventure into the new digital vista that has opened up for

Confessions of an economic hitman

2008-11-20T15:43:00.004+05:30

Powerful, hard-hitting, plain-speak from John Perkins the author of "Confessions of an economic hitman." You will get a percursor to what is in the video from the legandary words of Adam smith, "There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by Debt."

John Perkins Interview from MrXfromPlanetX on Vimeo.

This is a video clip of the John Perkins Interview from Zeitgeist Addendum from zeitgeistmovie.com. People may wonder if what John Perkins has to say is true.

Got this link curtesy Meenakshi from her comments on one of my postings.

Fellowship for Media & Communication studies

2008-11-18T14:14:00.002+05:30

SAGE Publications has announced The Theshwar Singh Memorial Fellowship that will be awarded annually, one each to Media & Communication Studies and Business & Management.The duration of the fellowship will be one year and the fellows will be paid Rs.50,000 a month for 12 months with another 50,000 for travel.

The fellowship are open to nationals from Saarc countries, including those currently resident overseas. Candidates must be below 40 years of age on April 1 of the year in which they apply. The principal brief is that the scholar is to author a book on their choosen subject of research after the completion of fellowship.

Applicants are invited to submit their CV, a research proposal and 5000 word sample of their writing. The last date for receipt of applications is 30 November 2008. Additional information may be obtained from www.sagepub.in/fellowship/index.asp.

I have a wish to apply, but i am not sure if i have the necessary bandwidth. Anyways it is commendable that the publications has come out with such an initiative.

Polished gems from Narayana Murthy

2008-11-14T16:33:00.004+05:30

Excerpted from an interview with Vallabh Bhanshali at the ENAM 2020 conference

It doesn’t matter how bright a person is. How smart a person is. If they don’t understand the risk emanating from what they are doing, if they are not suitably regulated and if greed overtakes them it is inevitable that one sees disasters because in the end systems are much more powerful than individuals.

In the end it is always about ethics and all about personal values. That is why it is very important for every society to create checks and balances. That is why it is very important for every society not to create incentives for people to become greedier. That is why it is very important for all of us in the corporate world to create incentives for long-term performance rather than short-term performance. When you create systems that focus on short-term performance, when you create a system that reveres money rather than decency, honesty and respect, when you make it a fashion for youngsters to revel in the power of their wealth, it is inevitable.

For example, a month ago, I was on a flight from Frankfurt. I saw two young men in their late or mid-20s who were travelling by the first class, and I was slightly surprised. I had gone to attend a board meeting and it was a huge bank, and they pay. That is fine. But these were 25 or 26-year old people and they were travelling first class. What does it mean? It means we have created a value system that says you are a success if you travel by first class, you are a success if you own a flashy car, you are a success if you own a big house, etc. That is why, in fact, I suggested at Davos a few years ago that we need to create a system where we can rank world corporate leaders based on their respectability.

Today, we have the most powerful leaders, the best managed companies, companies by market capitalisation and all of that. But we have to move towards a regime which will rank corporate leaders based on their respectability and everybody must say that I want to become the most respected leader in the world.

Again I am a believer in the adage – performance leads to recognition, recognition leads to respect and respect leads to power. We are at this stage when we are focusing on performance and we have received some recognition. There is no doubt at all and we have also received some respect because we have insulated ourselves from what happened during the Asian financial crisis, currency crisis. We have insulated a little bit from what has happened in the global financial crisis now. The country is growing well, but I don’t know if we have reached a stage when what we do in India impacts what happens in the US.

There are two fundamental characteristics of Infosys. One; we are an engineering company. Two; we are a company founded by middleclass people. I will link the two. Being an engineering company, we discuss and debate, collect data, analyse, argue and then come to some conclusion. As we are middleclass people that founded the company – we don’t go by flats, we don’t go buy fashion and we don’t want to look good in a party just because we have spent a billion dollars to acquire a company.

When you combine these two powerful attributes, you end up being conservative. There is no doubt at all. Infosys is conservative, but there is a method in this conservative behaviour. We have clearly laid out rules for operation. We said our people will have to collect money because at the end of the day the real happiness is cash in the bank. We say profit is an opinion – the real happiness is cash in the bank. We created incentives for our sales and customer facing people which would ensure that they collect money.

Secondly, we hired pretty smart sales people in the industry and that’s why you will notice that we have anywhere from 500-600 basis point of higher operating margin than any of our competitors because we tell them that if the customer thinks that USD 100 is the price – your smartness is to sell it for USD 105 and give the customer USD 110 worth of value. Don’t cheat him, but sell it at USD 105 and provide value of USD 110. That is what we have focused on a lot.

Thirdly, there is tremendous cost consciousness in the company. We are not judged by how opulent our rooms are – we are not judged by whether we travel in this class or that class. So right from the beginning we focused on that. When you focus on middleclass values, when you focus on analytics – it is easy to have a lot of cash in the bank.

I have always said that a good leader simplifies business. It doesn’t matter what business he or she runs. So, I would suggest that we use simple business rules, not complex or compound ones. The good thing about simple business rules is that it is easy to understand, easy to practice, easy to communicate, and you cannot cheat anybody with simple business rules. And you can enthuse every one of your colleagues with simple business rules because there is transparency, there is fairness, and there is accountability.

As far as the youth of this country is concerned, I would say that for the first time in the last 300 years, this country has received recognition in the global markets, and received certain respect. This is the time for us to work hard, this is the time for us to work smart and consolidate on the gains. Indians are generally not known to have the killer instinct or not known to run the last mile. Yesterday was a wonderful exception when the Indian cricketers beat the Australians. But that is a rare one.

We have to make it a habit. We have to make it a habit of what Dhoni and others did yesterday. That is make sure that all the good things that they have achieved in the last 10 years becomes a habit. To do that, you need continued discipline, hard work, smartness, integrity and putting the interest of the country above your own personal interest. There are lots of things that are not good that we read in the papers every day. I don’t want to comment on them, we have all seen this morning’s paper.

But let those shameful incidents not be the beacons for our youngsters. So, that is what I would say.

I think people up there are much smarter than I am, and much more capable than I am in coming out with an estimate. So, I don’t want to hazard a guess because at the end of the day we have experts. We have a Finance Minister who is a fantastic person, we have an RBI Governor who is another highly knowledgeable person, we have lots of economists and we have people like you. You people should come out and give wisdom to rest of us who are in the trenches. You people have a 50,000 feet view of our economy.

For some people there is no good time like the bad times...

2008-11-14T10:42:00.006+05:30

There are some people who make it their business to predict doom. In market parlance they are called bears. Some names that come to my mind are Dr. Marc Faber (economist), Daniel Stelter (BCG's Bear-in-residence) and Shankar Sharma, closer home. I am sure there are many more...

Going by the passion with which they predict doom, calling them bears would be an understatement. Don't beleive me, then you should visit Dr. Marc Fabers website. By the way it is called www.gloomboomdoom.com. Please note the inconspicuous boom sandwiched between the overwhelming gloom and doom. If that were not enough the home page displays the paintings titled "The Dance of Death", if you please. No prizes for guessing where i got the visual for this post from.

Keeping my personal emotions aside, if i wear my branding hat, i think that being identified as the harginger of negative news is a sound personal branding strategy. In the good times the individual is a contrarian and therefore stands out. In the bad times the individual is touted as the wise man who saw it coming while nobody was willing to listen.

Mind you it is not an easy path to tread. There is a thin line between a genius and the bad guy. And it takes a lot of character, intelligence, hard-work and genuine beleif in the predictions, to really pull it off.

The passion of Santa Claus!!!

2008-11-13T12:36:00.002+05:30

People need me…they depend on me. We're doing something important here. And knowing that gives me the energy to carry the sack, lead the pack, and keep coming back.
-- Santa Claus

Should you reduce your ad spends in an economic slowdown?

2008-11-13T11:35:00.004+05:30

Text book response is a big NO. The theory goes onto say that it would be foolish to cut down on spends. Brand building should continue irrespective. In fact, the latest issue of one of the brand magazines carries a quote from Sam Balsara - "Advertisers know that the last thing they shold do in a slowdown is to cut advertising costs because the damage can get irreparable. And they also know that even after spending huge sums to recover, it is difficult to regain lost ground." If you are a marketer you are most probably saying "give me a break... after all what else can we expect you to say".

Somehow i have never agreed with this whole theory. The statement looks like a general boilerplate developed by a PR agency for the benefit of all communication pundits. It would be too much to expect the ad pros to be honest and advocate rationalisation. Having been a communications industry insider for more than a decade the proof of the pudding is how do the agencies react in a slowdown. Do they really invest in their people, training, growth, learnings etc. etc. in a slowdown. NOT BY A VERY LONG SHOT.

So if that is how the industry reacts internally in a slowdown, how can the recommendation be any different to their clients in a slowdown. Sam Balsara in the same interview where he gave the above quote goes on to add... "I am conservative in nature but that would not stop me from making the right investments, if they fit in with our strategic plan, and the amount to be investmed is reasonable."

Understandably, nobody wants to shoot oneself in the feet by encouraging clients to cut down. But definitely there is merit in advocating rationalisation or innovative ways of enhancing the value of advertising dollars.

P.S. Again, please don't consider the above as a generalisation. Ad spend decisons should be evaluated on a case to case basis. For instance, i would definitely recommend brands at a start-up phase to sustain if not press the accelerator on brand-building spends, especially during an economic slow-down. Advantages are many. History is replete with examples of unheard of brands emerging as leaders, following a slowdown.

Would be interested to know what Brand and communication professionals think.

How do you deal with others mistakes?

2008-11-10T17:27:00.000+05:30

The way we choose to respond when others make mistakes can cause them to feel ashamed or can allow them to remember our kindness and share our stories with future generations.
-- Michelle Sedas

Global digital signage industry to climb to $6 billion in 2008

2008-10-29T13:43:00.002+05:30

Despite severe economic headwinds and declining traditional advertising spending, the U.S. digital out-of-home media industry is on pace to grow 11.2 percent to $2.43 billion in 2008, according to research released today by PQ Media, a provider of media econometrics. While the industry’s growth this year will decelerate from 24.5 percent in 2007, PQ Media forecasts digital OOH spending in the U.S. to grow at a compound annual rate of 12.9 percent from 2007 to 2012.

In its first foray into the global digital OOH market, PQ Media found that spending worldwide will grow 12.8 percent to $6.11 billion in 2008, slowing from 22.6 percent last year, but is forecast to expand 14.5 percent from 2007 to 2012. The U.S. accounts for nearly 40 percent of global digital OOH spending, but its share will decline over the next several years, according to Global Digital Out-of-Home Media Forecast 2008-2012. Key international growth markets include Russia, India, China, Brazil and Australia, among others, which will benefit from major trends such as emerging market potential for operators, greater brand acceptance, advanced technology and new measurement systems.

The digital OOH media sector, first defined, structured and sized by PQ Media in 2007, enables advertisers to engage target consumers in captive locations during their daily routines through video advertising networks, digital billboards and ambient ad platforms. The media platforms are further categorized by various venues and locations, including theaters, retail, offices, entertainment, transit, universities, roadside and on various objects.

U.S. spending on video ad networks, the largest segment, is on track to expand 8.1 percent in 2008 and will decelerate in 2009 before returning to double-digit growth in 2010, according to the report. Digital billboards remain the fastest-growing segment, albeit slower in 2008, posting growth of 28.2 percent and remaining in the 20 percent range through 2012. Ambient ad platforms will grow 6.8 percent in 2008. This growth compares with expected low single-digit growth or outright declines in most ad-based media in 2008 and 2009, including newspapers, radio, broadcast TV and magazines. U.S. digital OOH spending grew 23.1 percent on a compound annual basis from 2002-2007, exceeding 20 percent growth each year of the period, PQ Media found.

TRENDS FORECAST:

The current economic crisis and resulting advertising pullback have accelerated the seminal transition already taking place across the media landscape. This will likely be the first recession in which advertisers not only spend less, but also spend differently. Marketers for time immemorial have been searching for ways to influence consumers at critical points of decision. As a new integrated media solution emerges, digital out-of-home media will be a key component of the new model.

Following an initial gold rush period, an inevitable shakeout is taking place, as digital OOH, particularly the video ad network segment, enters a phase much like the Internet in the late 1990s. The economic headwinds have accelerated the shakeout period, with consolidation and the credit crisis clearing the way for stronger companies to surface and lead the industry into the future.

This medium is too powerful not to breakout at some point in the next couple years because the secular trends driving its growth are not going away — changing consumer behaviors and demographics and advanced technology and measurement

The industry’s direction is still evolving, but the adoption of standard measurements and business practices will go a long way toward placing digital out-of-home in the regular media mix.

While there is no doubt the industry is in a critical state of transition, its ability to help brands reach target audiences in captive moments for extended periods of time will likely make it a critical part of the future marketing landscape.

Among the key trends going forward are the emergence of venue-based media solutions, which combine multiple digital OOH options and other marketing strategies, such as event marketing and sampling, to provide brand marketers with a range of out-of-home venues, platforms, demographics and psychographics to build brand affinity.

Advertisers will continue to boost spending in digital OOH as consumers spend more time outside the home and reduce traditional media usage.

The most active digital OOH brand categories in 2007 were CPG and electronics, followed by media and entertainment, food and drink and retail. Overall, 66 percent of digital OOH ad spend was national versus local, with video ad networks featuring more national advertising and digital billboards generating more local.

Signs of Advertisement slump

2008-10-29T13:36:00.002+05:30

Media-buying and advertising agencies are a worried lot. The last quarter was bad for them with overall advertising, across all media, dipping by 10-20 per cent. Some of them fear that if the global situation doesn't improve, there could be a renegotiation of prices and 10-15 per cent reduction in TV advertisement tariff. Below the line activities may still hold on considering that the December normally accounts for the maximum sales

Some trends that reflect the signs of slump:
* Upfront, there is no reduction in advertising rates, but client-to-client renegotiations are happening. Advertisers are bargaining very hard
* Brand building advertising is being badly-affected and if the market doesn't stabilise, the prospects will worsen.
* Scheme-based advertising, on the other hand, is doing well because of the festive season. If advertisers are not able to dispose their inventories by Diwali, they might extend the schemes till December
* FMCG, DTH and Telecom, etc., haven't seen any decrease in budgets. But realty and the BFSI sectors have cut their budgets by 30-40 per cent. Durables have also cut by 10-15 per cent.

Why are TV Advertisements so loud?

2008-10-23T11:51:00.003+05:30

Most of you must have witnessed a sudden burst in sound once the ad's come on. I have often been at the receiving end, mostly from my wife admonishing me, for supposedly listening to the TV with a loud volume. I try to explain that the ads are the culprits, but to little effect.

If it has happened to you as well, listen up... here is why it happens. Those television spots really do sound much louder than the programs they interrupt. Here's why:

Spots are noisy because they can be
"The peak levels of commercials don't exceed the peak levels of programming," says Spencer Critchley, a communications consultant in California. "But the experience is similar to having a flash-bulb go off every now and then versus a spotlight shining in your eyes all the time." In other words, an entire commercial can be broadcast at the same level as an extra-loud (but fleeting) explosion on AXN.

Advertisers like it noisy
Commercials crank every sound level to maximum volume in a bid to get your attention. In commercials, everything is equally loud - the voices, the music, the sound effects.

Contrast counts
If you're watching a tender moment unfold on Desperate Housewives just before a raucous ad for Thums Up, the ad will be startling - making an already loud commercial seem even louder. Fortunately, high-tech relief is on the way. In Japan, some televisions now come with built-in technology that automatically balances sound levels.

Not sure if the noise levels of ad's will be actually be managed. But one thing is for sure, if that technology comes to India, you can be rest assured that the ad for the new technology will definitely vie for your attention with a huge burst in decibel and i will have to race to the mute on my remote before the noise reaches my wife's ears.

Strive for perfection

2008-10-12T17:45:00.004+05:30

I love working on brands because as you engage in helping a brand evolve i have found that i have evolved. One thought that has been an inspiration for me is the words of Sir Henry Royce.

"Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it."

The beauty of the above thought is not only in its inspirational value, but being associated with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in India for over two year i have experienced the manifestation of the inspiration in the way the brand stands today.

http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/hi-band/swf/index.html

Venture into the unknown

2008-10-12T17:41:00.004+05:30

"There is nothing in this world that's worth doing that isn't going to scare you. The moment you make the commitment to go for your dreams, you've begun to venture into the unknown."

- Barbara Sher, Wishcraft

After all this is over...

2008-10-10T17:12:00.004+05:30

After all this is over, when i look back at life... i want to have had the realisation of my gift and feel fulfilled for having spent it spontaneously to its fullest measure.

It is not about traveling the road less traveled it is about following the calling of the heart.

Today i heard a radio program which set me reflecting... It says that every generation is preoccupied with the pursuit of a certain holy grail. The people who are perceived to have the access to goal become the role models. The pursuit before independence was freedom... the role models then were the patriotic leaders.
Our generations preoccupation seems to the pursuit of wealth. Just look at our role models today and you will know.

The pursuers seek any path that will lead to the goal. For instance, today at schools courses that are perceived to enable a person to make money quickly becomes the course of choice. Pursuit of knowledge for knowledge has clearly lost its relevance. However, history has also shown us that when a large number of people think that they have the access to the secret, the whole game changes... there is a revolution out of which emerges a new holy grail.

Makes me wonder with the recent crisis in the financial position of the world, if there is a subtle revolution underway. Will we give up our pursuit for wealth for a different purpose. I have my own theories on this... but i guess time will give a wiser answer.

Probably the words from Conan the Cimmerian would be apt to quote... "In any age, most men live passive, desperate lives, responding timorously to opportunity as well as misfortune. But a rare few men seize command of their lives and by so doing, achieve a mastery over circumstances that enables them to transcend their age..."

I pray for the wisdom to pursue the latter.

Humans are still infants

2008-09-17T09:14:00.002+05:30

A lot of people like to think of humans as a highly evolved species. In fact, humanity has just emerged from its infancy on this planet. In their book New World New Mind, Robert Ornstein and Paul Ehrlich place this into astonishing perspective in one mind-boggling paragraph:

Suppose Earth’s history were charted on a single year’s calendar, with midnight January 1 representing the origin of the Earth and midnight December 31 the present. Then each day of Earth’s “year” would represent 12 million years of actual history. On that scale, the first form of life, a simple bacterium, would arise sometime in February. More complex life-forms, however, come much later; the first fishes appear around November 20. The dinosaurs arrive around December 10 and disappear on Christmas Day. The first of our ancestors recognizable as human would not show up until the afternoon of December 31. Homo sapiens-our species-would emerge at around 11:45 P.M. All that has happened in recorded history would occur in the final minute of the year.

Sure is a different perspective... what do you think?

Do you beleive in tithing?

2008-08-27T13:20:00.003+05:30

Keeping aside logic (intutively), tithing seems a very powerful concept. I learnt tithing when i learnt pranic healing and arhatic yoga, subsequently. I have captured the concept of tithing and the scientific way in which it needs to be followed. It is a long read... but do read and let me know what you think.

Atma Namaste!

What is tithing? According to our beloved MCKS, ancient teachings from many traditions teach us about tithing. Tithing may be used to soften the effect of our negative karma. Very simply stated, tithing is a simple technology that can be used to help increase our good karma and to offset to a certain degree our negative karma. The principle of tithing is very simple. By giving a small portion or approximately 10% of your income after taxes for spiritual and charitable purposes, it is possible to reap measurable and very positive karmic benefits in your life.

In the Bible, in the Koran and in the Mahabharata, it says that what a person reaps is what he has sown. Our beloved MCKS teaches us, that our tithing should be scientific. We must always remember, we cannot harvest what we have not planted. In other words, it is necessary for us to give in order to receive.

Tithing is systematic. Would you like to learn more about this important technology? How can you benefit from tithing? First you must think very carefully about what you want to have in your life. What is missing that you would like to have in your life? Next you must examine the many, many options for giving to worthy humanitarian or charitable causes. Do not give indiscriminately. You must think, you must analyze, you need to give specifically so that the area of your life you wish to improve will benefit. You must identify the type of energy you need to bring into your life. You must think about what kinds of benefits you wish to manifest into your life.

Once you have clearly and precisely identified your goals, then you study the various kinds of tithing you can do, in order to materialize your dreams and your goals. Your tithing must be in alignment with your goals. Would you like to have a few examples of how to tithe?

You must think about exactly how you want to change your life. Then you give to an organization that will help others to receive the benefits you wish to receive. For example, if you never wish to be hungry, you give to an organization that feeds hungry people. You must remember that if you want to be fed you must give food.

What if you want to have work? If you always want to be employed, then you give to an organization that provides livelihood programs or projects for people who want or need to be employed. Or you may give to an organization that helps to get people get back on track; that helps unemployed people to become reemployed. You must remember that if you want to be employed then you have to help create employment for other people.

What if you always want to have shelter? If you want to have a home, then you give to a place that provides shelter for other people. If you want to reap the harvest of good health, what do you do? You give to an organization that provides medical services to people, or to an organization that heals people, who are in need of maintaining or restoring their state of good health.

If you want to be cared for in your life then you must give to an organization that cares for other people. What if you want to advance spiritually? If you want to develop at a more accelerated rate… spiritual? Then you may give scholarships or workshops to people who want to learn about spiritual subjects. What if you are focused on assuring your children of having a bright future? Then you analyze what you want your children to have. Then you look at where you may give to improve the lives of children. You give to a place that will improve the lives of other children so that your children may reap the harvest of this good karma. What if you wish to increase the intelligence of your children? For example, if you want your children to be super smart. Then you teach or share the priceless technique of our beloved Guruji Master Choa Kok Sui's Superbrain Yoga. When you teach this wonderful technique to other children, and you give money for scholarships to other children, in order to enable them to become super smart. Then your children will become smarter and more intelligent. You will harvest what you have planted. You will receive what you are giving.

When people are unemployed, give to an organization that will train them for a new livelihood. When you give within your community, you are creating good karma for your projects in the community. Are there other factors? Is there another way to become more successful? Yes! All you have to do is remember the priceless teachings of Master Choa Kok Sui. It is necessary to decree after tithing. What does this mean? After you give something, the giving doesn't end just like that. You must decree that the good karma generated by tithing will come back many, many times. Would you like to know how to decree properly? Okay, are you ready?

Please repeat the words of Master Choa Kok Sui's decree. Please say:

I hereby will and decree that the good karma generated by this tithing, will come back to me and my family many, many times. I decree that this tithing will come back to me spiritually, mentally, financially, in the form of good health and that it will be also used to partially neutralize my negative karma. I accept these great, great blessings, fully, completely and permanently, now, now, now! In full faith, we thank you!

What is the effect of decreeing when you tithe? The effect of decreeing is to open the channel from God, to manifest abundance and prosperity and the good karma generated bountifully into your life. Your tithing must be very specific. Tithing is scientific. You have to remember, what you give is what you will receive.

How should you decide where to tithe? What are the best qualifications to look for in choosing a charity or humanitarian project to which you should give? Consider these requirements for charities where you should give:

1. The charity should be a properly registered charity within your country or your community. Note that usually, properly registered charities are non-profit organizations and are tax exempt within the specific country or global region where it is registered.
2. The charity should have low overhead expenses. With the majority of the money collected going toward the target.
3. The charity should be transparent. You should be able to receive a complete financial report as to where the money is going, as to where your hard earned money is being spent.
4. The charity should provide a receipt to you, if you have not donated online, by credit card or by check. In other words, cash donations should receive a receipt.
5. You should be able to receive a copy of the charter or the bylaws of the organization through requesting to their office this information. In other words, you should be able to verify that all money collected has been directed toward the goals of the organization.

To whom should you give?

You may give to shelters for women who are battered, destitute and have no place to go.
You may give to projects that sustain elderly people who have no family, who have no place to go.
You may give money for medical assistance or to healing centers that are registered charities.
You may give scholarships to support students in their studies.
You may give to the organizations of Master Choa Kok Sui, for example:
You may give to the Endowment Fund for World Peace and Global Healing which is a 501c3 tax exempt organization in the USA.
Or you may give to the MCKS Arhatic Yoga Ashram at Mulshi in India.
You many give to MCKS Food for the Hungry in India or in the Philippines.
Or you may give to Caring Heart in the Philippines.
Or you may give to the MCKS Charitable Foundation in the Philippines.
Or you can give to it's sister organization in India, the MCKS Charitable Trust.

What else can you do? You may take Master Choa Kok Sui's Kriyashakti Course and learn how to generate good karma through further improving your knowledge of how to give scientifically.

Remember, tithing is scientific. Begin tithing TODAY! What you do not plant, you cannot harvest.

These are a part of the priceless teachings on tithing from our most beloved guruji, precious satguru Master Choa Kok Sui.

Atma Namaste

Charlotte Anderson, Pranic Healing Foundation
http://www.pranichealing.org/

Kashmir to Kanyakumari - Food for thought!!!

2008-08-22T19:44:00.003+05:30

My purpose

2008-08-18T07:07:00.002+05:30

To be the most accomplished being, ever!!!

Intuition

2008-08-18T07:01:00.002+05:30

There are a lot of instances in my life where i have felt the invisible hand of a higher power guide me through what i felt as my intuition. What is intuition? I felt the lines of James Redfield does some justice in explaining...

Intuition is our inner sense of perception. With external cues we are hearing, seeing, touching, or being guided by something outside ourselves (or so it seems). With internal cues, we have to pay attention to our inner senses. Our inner senses usually give us very accurate feedback if we learn to really listen. For example, if you are feeling a sense of heaviness or foreboding, you might need to slow down in order to delay a decision or to gain more time or information. So many times we push through our feelings and deny or dismiss cues, and wind up making decisions that are counterproductive. A good rule of thumb is not to make important decisions when you’re angry, hurried, frustrated, tired, or in any other negative state of mind. If you are interviewing for jobs, and an office environment immediately makes you feel out of sorts, fearful, or apathetic, this is probably a sign of future dissatisfaction. - James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy)

Choose the paths that have a heart

2008-08-18T06:51:00.004+05:30

As i was grappling for guidance about how to make a choice, the soulful lines of Carlos Castaneda flashed before me "…for me there is only the traveling on the paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length… looking, looking, breathlessly." (Carlos Castaneda - The Teachings of Don Juan).

The waves from within are now at peace.

Making a choice

2008-08-08T18:12:00.003+05:30

This is a follow up to my earlier writing on following your heart. It is close to eight months since i quit my job because of the lack of motivation to continue. Since then much water has passed down the Mahim creek. As i sit on a gloomy rainy day in the fifth floor of my Bandra East residence, my mind is cluttered with thoughts that would surpass the water that must have passed down the creek. The thoughts are about why it is so tough to make a choice, while it should have been as simple as this or that.

Landmark education says that you have made a choice if you have considered all the consequences and choose inspite of the consequences and not because of it. I have a simple choice to make - should i start my own business or should i continue to work. I know i would do well at whatever i choose. I know the merits and disadvantages of both the choices but yet i continue to stand at the crossroads, paralysed.

I feel like Neo in Matrix. Morphius, Trinity and the Oracle know the choice that Neo must make... of being "the one". But is makes no difference until Neo begins to believe from within.

I am happy that eight months ago i decided to arrive at the cross road in the quest to tread the road less travelled. But alas, since then, i continue to wait, frustrated, to commit to the road ahead... to believe from within... to make a choice!!!

Bring forth your best "I"

2008-07-19T13:30:00.001+05:30

At every moment you choose yourself, but do you choose your self?
Body and soul contain a thousand possibilities out of which you may build many "I's."
But in only one of them is there congruence between the elector and the elected, only one which you will never find until you have excluded all those superficial feelings and possibilities of being and doing with which you toy out of curiosity or wonder or fear and which hinder you from casting anchor in the experience in the mystery of life and the consciousness of the talent entrusted in you and the wonder of you which is truly your "I."
- Dag Hammarskjold

Taming inflation... Kya idea sir jee!!!

2008-07-19T12:46:00.000+05:30

Like the ad line of a telecom company says... an idea can change life... this one is worth a try!!!

A man eats two eggs each morning for breakfast. When he goes to the Kirana store he pays Rs. 12 a dozen. Since a dozen eggs won't last a week he normally buys two dozens at a time. One day while buying eggs he notices that the price has risen to Rs. 16. The next time he buys groceries, eggs are Rs. 22 a dozen.

When asked to explain the price of eggs the store owner says, 'The price has gone up and I have to raise my price accordingly'. This store buys 100 dozen eggs a day. He checked around for a better price and all the distributors have raised their prices. The distributors have begun to buy from the huge egg farms. The small egg farms have been driven out of business. The huge egg farms sell 100,000 dozen eggs a day to distributors. With no competition, they can set the price as they see fit. The distributors then have to raise their prices to the grocery stores. And on and on and on..

As the man kept buying eggs the price kept going up. He saw the big egg trucks delivering 100 dozen eggs each day. Nothing changed there. He checked out the huge egg farms and found they were selling 100,000 dozen eggs to the distributors daily. Nothing had changed but the price of eggs.

Then week before Diwali the price of eggs shot up to Rs. 40 a dozen. Again he asked the grocery owner why and was told, 'Cakes and baking for the holiday'. The huge egg farmers know there will be a lot of baking going on and more eggs will be used. Hence, the price of eggs goes up. Expect the same thing at Christmas and other times when family cooking, baking, etc. happen.

This pattern continues until the price of eggs is Rs. 60 a dozen. The man says, ' There must be something we can do about the price of eggs'.

He starts talking to all the people in his town and they decide to stop buying eggs. This didn't work because everyone needed eggs.

Finally, the man suggested only buying what you need. He ate 2 eggs a day. On the way home from work he would stop at the grocery and buy two eggs. Everyone in town started buying 2 or 3 eggs a day.

The grocery store owner began complaining that he had too many eggs in his cooler. He told the distributor that he didn't need any eggs.
Maybe wouldn't need any all week.

The distributor had eggs piling up at his warehouse. He told the huge egg farms that he didn't have any room for eggs would not need any for at least two weeks.

At the egg farm, the chickens just kept on laying eggs. To relieve the pressure, the huge egg farm told the distributor that they could buy the eggs at a lower price.

The distributor said, ' I don't have the room for the %$&^*&% eggs even if they were free'. The distributor told the grocery store owner that he would lower the price of the eggs if the store would start buying
again.

The grocery store owner said, 'I don't have room for more eggs. The customers are only buying 2 or 3 eggs at a time. Now if you were to drop the price of eggs back down to the original price, the customers
would start buying by the dozen again'.

The distributors sent that proposal to the huge egg farmers but the egg farmers liked the price they were getting for their eggs but, those chickens just kept on laying. Finally, the egg farmers lowered the
price of their eggs. But only a few paisa.

The customers still bought 2 or 3 eggs at a time. They said, 'when the price of eggs gets down to where it was before, we will start buying by the dozen.'

Slowly the price of eggs started dropping. The distributors had to slash their prices to make room for the eggs coming from the egg farmers.

The egg farmers cut their prices because the distributors wouldn't buy at a higher price than they were selling eggs for. Anyway, they had full warehouses and wouldn't need eggs for quite a while.

And those chickens kept on laying.

Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell.

The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the stores could afford to sell them at the lower price.

And the customers starting buying by the dozen again.

Now, transpose this analogy to the gasoline industry.

What if everyone only bought Rs 200.00 worth of Petrol each time they pulled to the pump? The dealer's tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tanks.. The tank farms wouldn't have room for the petrol coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers coming from the oil fiends.

Just Rs 200.00 each time you buy gas.. Don't fill up the tank of your car. You may have to stop for gas twice a week, but the price should come down.

Think about it.

Also, don't buy anything else at the fuel station; don't give them any more of your hard earned money than what you spend on gas, until the prices come down...'

...just think of this concept for a while........ act on it... pass this concept around.... who knows the idea could really change life.

Song of an Indian soldier

2008-07-08T15:28:00.000+05:30

Why do I still serve India?
By An anonymous soldier

This poem has been composed by a fourth generation, 24-year old career officer in the Indian Armed Forces, spurred by the report of the Sixth Pay Commission and an insensitive article written by a 'respectable' denizen of the country in a national daily on the armed forces and the pertinence of the Sixth Pay Commission therein. This free-flowing verse has not been edited; it's to ensure that the originality of the angst is maintained.. After all, when you are in pain, the language of expression is the last thing in your mind

"How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.

Now you make me look like a fool,
When at Seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made "men out of boys"
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…

In those days, I would see my 'civilian' friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called "College Days"
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came, I'd be ready to do or die.

At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.

I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition,
that when the time came to give me my due,
You'd just say," What is so great that you do?"

Long back you promised a well to do life;
And when I'm away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you'll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know...
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?

You still know I'll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that's just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at Twenty Four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made, Seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?

Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you'll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?

I heard you tell the world "India is shining"
I told my men, that's a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it's the souls of your own men you betray.

Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you'll have something else to say?

I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…
Oh India…. Why do I still serve you?

Celebrity or a mere curiosity

2008-03-18T15:11:00.002+05:30

"It's exciting, at first. You think at first that you're different, that you have something special to offer, and that can even be true. Then you remember you're the same person you've always been; the only change is that suddenly your picture is everywhere and columns are being written about who you are and what you've said and where you're going next and people are stopping to look at you. An you're a celebrity. More accurately, you're a curiosity. And you say to yourself, I don't deserve all this attention!"

It isn't you that matters to people when they turn you into a celebrity. It's something else. It's what you stand for, to them."

Excerpts from "The Bridge Across Forever".

Following your heart

2008-01-04T15:57:00.000+05:30

It is precisely 21 days since i said my goodbyes at Ogilvy PR. There have been many instances during this period when the question about my choice to quit has come up. Each time my inner voice has shouted 'no regrets'.

Many time in my life i have read and heard about 'following your heart'. In fact i advice anybody who has sought my opinion, to do the same. I decided to take up the advice for myself and my experience is that it is much easier said than done.

The writings on the wall have been there for sometime. I just was not enjoying the work. But the security of the salary is a very addictive drug. The more serious the affliction the deeper the monday morning blues. The society, contemporaries and the environment egg you on and compels you to increase the dosage till a point where it seems suicidal to try and opt out.

There is nothing wrong with working... really. My work places have made me who i am. I have met some of the most amazing human beings at my place of employment. I was placed well in the hierachy and with ample scope to catapult higher. Ofcourse i was looking for more of the salary drug... but that apart i liked the agency, team and the clients that i was working with. The hard work that i had put in were starting to pay off with the frequency of success increasing.

If ever i heard a voice of dissent from within i would look at how well things were progressing and that it would be stupid to give it all up. Would look for positive strokes around me and the voice within would be quelled.

Little did i know that what you preach will one day come to haunt you. When i closed my eyes and listen to my heart... the message was clear to the point of shouting ' i did not enjoy what i was doing'. When i probed deeper i could not put my finger on what about work that i did not like. This was tougher for me to come to terms with, especially, because i had absolutely no clarity to the logical next question... what is it that i like to do. I have taken a path that many say are dangerous, which for me was the natural thing to do under the circumstances. I have decided to stop doing what i didn't want to do. I have decided on a break for two months, catch up on all that i have been missing in my personal life, stop and smell the flowers if you please, and make choices as they come.

At the time of this blog... the answers are still not clear. The emotions that i experience is that of peace, excitement and confidence. I have decided against labouring for answers and to let the flow of events happening around me lead me. I hope that the faith in my own abilites and the support, love and understanding of my loved ones will lead me down the proverbial 'road less travelled' and i emerge out the better for choosing to follow my heart.

I am an entrepreneur as per Ted Turner

2007-12-18T11:26:00.000+05:30

My son is now an "entrepreneur." That's what you're called when you don't have a job.
- Ted Turner

Brand message though powerful visuals

2007-11-19T11:03:00.000+05:30

Pictures they say are worth a thousand words. These pictures I feel are worth much more and yet words can hardly do justice to the emotions they elicit.

Award winning campaign for the Indian Association for Promotion of Adoption and Child Welfare by Ogilvy & Mather, India.

Elevent Five Year Plan could unlock value of Indian Stamps

2007-11-03T11:08:00.000+05:30

It is time to hit the attics to search for the old stamp book which was fueled by your schoolboy/girl passion for collecting rare postage stamps, since it could become a very lucrative windfall. The government is considering the setting up a trading platform exclusively for philatelic items that could then make stamps an investment option like paintings and antiques.

Philately, for the ininitiated, is the study of revenue and postage stamps. This includes the design, production and uses of stamps after they are authorized for issue, usually by government authorities, the most common one being postal authorities.

Although many equate it with stamp collecting, Philately is not just about stamp collecting. The subject is enormous and can be as detailed or as general as you, the student or collector (or both), likes to make it. Strictly, a philatelist is someone who has an interest or a liking for stamps (and related material), so you don't even have to be a collector to be a philatelist - but it helps! And it isn't just about stamps or even postage stamps. For instance, philatelists will study extremely rare stamps without expecting to own copies of them, whether because of cost, or because the sole survivors are in museums. Conversely, a stamp collector may choose to acquire and arrange the little pictures without being much troubled about their origin or usage. In practice, a basic knowledge of philately will save the collector from spending a great deal of money on a stamp that is really almost worthless.

“Philatelic investment is popular in the West. Currently, the proposal is under consideration of the government as part of the modernisation of our postal system. It has been incorporated in the draft Eleventh Plan, which would be ratified by the National Development Council on December 9, 2007... as per an official report.

A mechanism for online trading of philatelic items in India would be devised after the policy is approved. This platform would give millions of stamp collectors in India the chance to unlock value of their collections. India, however, would not be the first to offer an online option as there are already some international stamp auction sites that operate as a stamp exchange for a 0.5-4% commission.

Typically, the stamp seller puts stamps for sale on the platform and invites bids. And while a majority of stamps are sold and bought at rarely attractive rates, it’s the potential of suddenly fining a rare specimen within reach that drives the business.

The discovery of Ramanujam

2007-11-01T21:20:00.000+05:30

Late in his life, the renowned British mathematician G H Hardy was asked what he considered his biggest contribution to the field. Hard had certainly done enough in his own right to be able to give an answer that would reflect credit directly on himself, but his response belied this. ‘The discovery of Ramanujam,” he said immediately, a reference to the Madras-based clerk for whom he secured a Cambridge scholarship in 1913 and with whom he collaborated during the years of the Great War. “My association with Ramanujan was the single romantic incident in my life,” Hard wrote on another occasion.

While we look at the heritage of India, i think there is still some distance in giving due to some of the genuine talents that our country has produced. Giving them acknowledgement and recognition will create role-models for the youngsters to emulate. It really speaks poorly of a country's sensibilities, when it takes a foreigner to write a book to bring one of India's pride to people's memories (G H Hardy has written a book titled "An Indian Clerk"). And a one with just a passing reference at that. I guess he needed some excuse for reference to India. Since today anything with India on it seems to fly off the shelves.

I want to be free...

2007-10-15T12:01:00.000+05:30

I want to break free... i want to fly.
I want to be alive... even when i dive.

Global head honchos visiting India for the first time, need a lesson in 'messaging'

2007-10-12T15:38:00.000+05:30

One response that seems to have become a boilerplate with the global officials visiting India is "this reflects the growing importance of India in our company's scheme of things".

BIG DEAL!!! STOP DOING US A FAVOUR!!! WE ARE NOT IMPRESSED!!!

Why is it that the global head honchos visiting India seem to think that they saying India is becoming important in their company's scheme of things would leave us impressed. They seem to think by shifting their annual board meeting to India, for the first time... if you please, is supposed to leave us starry eyed about their benevolence. Can't they be more original. The statement not only is trait but also demonstrates a lack of connect with the 'India' emotions.
Seriously, any global CEO who is really committed to India should do much better than a flying two-and-a-half day visit which is also jam-packed to include a fleeting glance of the Taj Mahal. Now it gets really interesting if it is the CEO's second or third visit because then you will find them hugging shoulders with some NGO espousing paranoia about HIV, diabetes or some other cause.

Distinguished gentlemen and ladies, please open your eyes. We already know about the growing contribution we are making to the world. We already know about the maladies that afflict us. We are also very much aware and thankful for the global attention and contribution to the resurgence of India.

But, really the point is if you want to communicate a message about your commitment to India... then spend more time with us. I mean... 'with us'. And when we touch your hearts... you can say something more original on what you really found in India.

PR & Communciations for banks & financial institutions

2007-10-12T14:34:00.000+05:30

Recently, was a speaker at a seminar on "PR & Communications for banks & financial institutions" organised jointly by ABCI, IBA and PRCI in Bangalore. Great to see the growing interest in communications go up for this segment. It is timely, since i feel PR is increasingly becoming one of the strategic imperatives that the Indian banks and financial institutions will have to master to counter the dominating influence of foreign giants.

Ayrton Senna - Just a quote or a vision beyond?

2007-10-12T13:37:00.000+05:30

I don't know too much about him... but i am aware of his legend. I like what he has said below, using racing as a metaphor for life.

"The harder i push, the more i find within myself. I am always looking for the next step, a different world to go into, areas where i have not been before. It's lonely driving a Grand Prix car, but very absorbing. I have experienced new sensations and i want more. That is my excitement, my motivation."

People who know his story, i am sure, will find a deeper relevance to his words. I wonder, if he continues to push hard... travelling different worlds... if he is still lonely... and driving in a much bigger grand prix....

In 2005, Italian singer Cesare Cremonini released a song entitled, "Marmellata #25", and in the chorus he has part of a line that reads in Italian "Ahh! Da quando Senna non corre più... non è più domenica!", which translates to: "Oh! Since Senna doesn't race anymore...it's not Sunday anymore!"

Announcing Barcamp Mumbai 2 (BCM2) at SOM, IIT Bombay on Sunday, October 14, 2007.

2007-10-11T10:03:00.000+05:30

The idea of a Barcamp is to turn the idea of a ‘conference’ on its head by removing all possible rules out of the way of a intense discussion. These are meeting places of people with great business ideas and ones with sound technical caliber where they ideate, discuss and brainstorm on all the topics of common interest ranging from wildlife photography and venture funding to blogging and Flex programming.

Due to their widespread appeal and quality of discussion, Barcamps are increasingly being seen as hubs of technical entrepreneurship all across the world.

BCM2 is fast becoming a rage across the ecosystem with leading corporates like SUN and Nokia sponsoring the event.

The team of BCM2 has experience of organizing second, third and fourth Barcamps of Bangalore (4th Barcamp - July 28-29, 2007 - the largest in the world with 600 participants!) and the first Barcamp of Mumbai (July 2006) and multiple Barcamps in Pune.

Barcamps are free events - there is no entry/registration fee and you can register by simply editing the event wiki. http://barcamp.org/BarCampMumbai2

Due to capacity constraint we might have to give preference to people who have registered, so it might be wise to register at the earliest.

Also visit the BCM2 blog at http://barcampmumbai.blogspot.com/

Standard Chartered Responds. A recent example of a company responding to a negative article in media.

2007-10-08T13:19:00.000+05:30

Funny how the emotions are different depending on the hat i wear. Wearing the consumer hat, i cheer Vir Sanghvi since i have had a similar frustration with Citibank, who i rate as very arrogant. But when i wear the hat of a brand steward my approach changes towards thinking strategies for safeguarding the interest of my clients brand. Chalk one more for what they don't prepare you for in B-Schools.

STANDARD CHARTERED RESPONDS

We, at Standard Chartered Bank, have gone through Vir Sanghvi’s column in ‘Lounge’ (’Why small is not beautiful for our (my) banks’, 15 September). We are concerned that our service was not up to his expectations. I would like to address the problems highlighted in the column.

We value the high expectations of our customers as far as relationship management is concerned, and strive to put a face behind every conversation. However, with the advent of technology, it is a very fine balance. Some prefer mechanical accuracy while others prefer the human warmth. We try to balance the two.

Sanghvi wrote about the experience of his partner. We received her request for the Credit Card statement and dispatched the same. However, this could not get delivered. We intimated her through an SMS and subsequently faxed it across to her. About his own card number ending with 5909, we had blocked it on 30 June, 2006 post discussions with Mukesh Ravath at his office, as a precautionary measure. Subsequently, we sent him a replacement card, ending 5119, for future transactions. Seeing transactions on Sanghvi’s replaced card on 20 and 21 May 2007 from suspect sources, we got in touch with him to understand if they were genuine. On his confirmation that the transaction were not incurred by him, we suspended the card.

We value Sanghvi as a customer and look forward to the opportunity to be of service to him in the future.

SAI NARAIN CDK
Head, Service & Strategic Initiatives, Standard Chartered Bank

(To see the original article by Vir Sanghvi and how readers responded, log on to http://www.livemint.com/bankwoes.htm)

Top tax-collection growth cities in India

2007-10-07T19:03:00.000+05:30

The Indian government is expected to exceed its tax collection target for the first time this year and the net direct tax collections may exceed Rs. 300,000 crore. Largely driven by the amazing yields from smaller centres.

I thought of capturing the top 10 fastest tax collections cities to reflect the changing business dynamics in the country. Details below captures the city, actual collections in Rs. crores for 2006-07 and the numbers in the bracket indicate growth per cent over previous year.

1. Jaipur - 4,379 (103.83)
2. Hyderabad - 10,132 (52.88)
3. Ahmedabad - 9,109 (48.28)
4. Delhi - 38,388 (46.76)
5. Mumbai - 76,096 (44.52)
6. Pune - 8,970 (39.36)
7. Chennai - 14, 818 (38.280)
8. Bangalore - 20,650 (37.10)
9. Patna - 1,951 (35.56)
10. Nagpur - 1,554 (34.68)

What was surprising for me to note was the quantum of difference between collections in Mumbai and Delhi, the top two collections centres. Also, wondering at the cause for growth in Jaipur. Probably, increasing number of foreign tourists and the preference by international luxury brands for an exclusive launch experience have something to do with it.

Anyways, I have been contemplating a market visit to the top 20 cities in India sometime next year... hope to probe for more insights then.

More women join the workforce

2007-10-07T18:51:00.000+05:30

According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the number of women employed in the organised sector (public and private) has risen from 495,000 in 2001 to 502,000 in 2005. And this number is expected to double in the next three years, says experts. The total women workforce in the unorganised sector is around 80 million and their numbers are expected to grow at the rate of 8-10 per cent.

On the flip side, the number of people employed in the organised sector, both public and private has come down by over 1.3 million between 2001 and 2005. Of the total 30 million organised sector workforce, around 22 million includes employees int he public sector, and since the hiring of people in the public sector has started tapering off, the impact on the net employment is huge. Another reason cited for the decline is the gap in CTC. In the organised sector, there is a massive difference (almost 35 per cent) between the CTC and take-home salary figures of employees. This salary confiscation, i believe, is amongst the highest in the world.

A BT trend article quotes that with the changing lifestyles, people want major part of their salaries in their hand. Consequently, a large number of people are making a jump into the unorganised sector, where the take-home salaries are far closer to the CTC figures.

Hmmm... lots of food for thought for people in the private sector.

Piyush Pandey quote uncut

2007-10-03T12:37:00.000+05:30

Simple speak from Piyush that i found insightful, captured below. Gathered these from his interview with M Magazine. Pranav the editor of the magazine has done a superb job of delving into the mind of Piyush.

Quotes:

"If you have one kilo of icing and no cake, no one is going to give a damn."

"Whey you're asked to do something that's bigger than anything you've done in the past, it's an opportunity to take that next step - not a medal for the last one."

"My take on Creative India is a country where we repeat our own creative heritage; use our past to excite our present and ignite our future; an India where we cheer for the little musician in the streets of Rajasthan or for the old inlay-work artists in the vicinity of Agra."

"Every accolade is an acknowledgement of what you did yesterday. Awards are just about what you have reached, not about where you can go. The day you start resting on the glory of the past is the day you need to start planning your retirement."

But the best Piyush speak for me was at a Financial Technologies (FT) client meeting, where i was present. In conversation with Jignesh Shah the MD of FT he drew anology to cricket while profiling his evolving role at Ogilvy today. He said that his role was not to hit the sixers but to create a high quality batting pitch in which his creative team could regularly score sixers. Professing that the future of creativity was in the minds of the fresh young minds.

New-age marketing wisdom from Unilever

2007-09-29T12:45:00.000+05:30

New communication strategies are driven by changes the company has noticed among consumers. While older viewers do not seem to mind ads, younger people do not want commercial messages interrupting their entertainment. Thus Unilever is attempting to integrate their brand messages with enjoyable content. Their appraoch is penetrating the culture not just interrupting.

For example, unilever paid ABC for Kimmel to announce the user-generated component of "The World's Dirtiest Film" on his show last week. And Unilever has been changing its approach to television commercials, running them less frequently but in more expensive slots. The new Axe campaign includes partnerships with Facebook and CollegeHumor.com, which is showcasing the project on a website, www.collegehumor.com/worldsdirtiestfilm. Face book will send out news feeds abbout the campaign to its male users who are 18 to 24 years old.

The company will award iMacs and Sony camcorders to several people, and a grand prize winner will get a trip to Los Angeles. Submissions will b e judged on humour, creativity and relevance to Axe's dirty campaign; videos cannont include nudity. Unilever hopes that Axe fans will chat about the campaign online.

Before you wonder what this is all about... Unilever is trying to persuade more young men to use Axe in the shower. In June, the company redesigned the gel's packaging to look like a video game joystick and now it is creating what the company calls "The World's Dirtiest Film." The movie will be shown November 14 on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on ABC ad will include professional skits, film from the college campus events and videos submitted by the public, all centred on the theme of getting dirty. After the college studetns roll around in fod, they will stroll to a shower station, where they will be filmed lathering up under night-club-style neon lighting.

Marketers are not always able to perdict, of course, whether their content will gain traction.

Unilever has had dome recent success with clips like the Dove "Evolution" video, in which an ordinary woman is elaborately restyled into a billboard model. The message - that our perception of beauty is - was provocative enough that the video was widely circulated online and shown free on television. Can you beleive it... the ad on youtube has had 45.9 lakh views since October 6, 2006. Pheww... Proud to say that Ogilvy has partnered the client on this one.

That's the holy grail... to create that kind of content that would be compelling enought every time for viewers to initiate seeing it."

Marketers today will need to innovate through 360 convergence thinking into one single idea contradicting the earlier thinking of one central idea diverging out through multiple media.

Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture

2007-09-29T00:31:00.000+05:30

Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-science professor, was about to give a lecture Tuesday afternoon, but before he said a word, he received a standing ovation from 400 students and colleagues.

He motioned to them to sit down. "Make me earn it," he said.

Randy, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. If you are expecting a depressing video... you will be disappointed. Click on...

You just watched a clip that is creating a buzz around the world, this very second, even as you read the blog. If you haven't heard of this yet then you will very soon. The kind of ripples this video is creating around the world is phenomenol. This lecture was delivered just a week ago. If we were not living in the digital world... this story would have probably not travelled much beyond the 400 people in the lecture hall... leave alone across the globe in a corner of Mahim, Mumbai. Inspiration travelling at the speed of viral... I can bet my last penny that this is far from his last lecture.

Read two links on the story as it developed. I read it first in HT Mint, which carries stories from WSJ.
Link 1: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119024238402033039.html
Link 2: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119084081673940375.html?mod=fpa_mostpop

Incredible India @ New York

2007-09-28T13:50:00.001+05:30

Currently, Brand India is fluttering its flags proudly in New York. The event is organised jointly by India’s Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) coinciding with the September session of UN General Assembly. It is a four day celebration starting September 23, 2007, that showcases India’s art, culture and religious diversity to the people of United States.

A matter of personal significance in this context is Ogilvy PR India winning the first ever WPP global award for Pr work done. Sir Martin Sorrel gave the award to my boss Meenakshi and my colleauge Diwakar yesterday in New York. Good show team Mumbai.

Coming back, the Incredible India event further reinforces my beleif that as a country we have become better at packaging ourselves. Past themes that i can recall... India Poised, India Shining, India the Opportunity Economy, India Everywhere, India - Fastest Growing Free Market Democracy. My personal beleif is that these campaigns are well received outside the country than within. Read on for some interesting quotes about what India means to people who are attending the Incredible India events at New York.

"Firms that chose not to invest in India would stay away at their own peril." Arun Sarin, CEO, Vodafone

"India will be on the right side of history for the next 200years." WPP's CEO Martin Sorell (Wow next 200 years... how does he know. He must be right coz he is my boss, ultimately)

"India stands for diversity, democracy, demography and development". They reason: Any country that has managed diversity as well as India, stayed a democracy, has more young people than old, and is growing fast should be a good place for businesses and people alike from all parts of the world." Organisers of IncredibleIndia@60

"The problem with such marketing is that it puts a lot of pressure on infrastructure. At some point, perception has to match reality." Amitabh Kant, Joint secretary of Tourism

"It isn't always possible while marketing a country. Reality is not in your control" Nandan Nilekani

"While campaigns such as IncredibleIndia@60 work well outside the country, they rerely strike a chord within. Greater India does not want to buy into brand India." Vir Sanghvi

(i guess i can say i said so :-)

More on the current Incredible India details visit the blog http://www.indiaat60.in/blog/

Longest non-stop rise recorded in Sensex

2007-09-28T13:47:00.000+05:30

The Sensex has recorded its longest-ever, non-stop climb of 1,645 points to 17,0150.56 in just eight trading sessions between September 17 and September 27. No wonder then Mukesh Ambani has climed into the elite list of $50 billion plus networth individuals. There are only three others in that list... two of them, Bill Gates & Warren Buffet, don't need no introduction. Very distinguished company.

What of the loyal investors. The common Reliance shareholder benefits as well... thought i am yet to hear of a dollar millionaire from Reliance investing. Or is it a case of i am not hearing right?

Marketing by any other definition?

2007-09-28T13:18:00.000+05:30

The Chartered Institute of Marketing's new defintion of marketing swaps brevity for verbosity; not every one is convinced. I had a problem accepting the prevailing one... you can imagine what i think of the new.

What is marketing? Not what it used to be, accroding to the CIM, which has unveiled a new definition to replace one that has served for more than 30 years.

Marketing, it seems, needs a little more explaining that in the past. The CIM wants to replace the current definition, created in 1976, with the lengthier version it unveiled last week. The pevailing CIM definition is: "The Managment process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.

The new one is: "The strategic business function that creates value by stimulating, facilitating and fulfilling customer demand. It does this by building brands, nurturing innovation, developing relationships, creating good customer service and communicating benefits. By operating customer-centrically, marketing brings positive returns on investment, satisfies sharehoders and stake-holders from business and the community, and contributes to positive behavioural change and a sustainable business future."

Sorry but if Marketing does all that... then what do all the other people in the company have left to do.

The definition that has stuck with me... that guides me... Marketing is about understanding the consumers need. In brand parlance it is about finding the consumer insight. That for me is the soul... baaki sab bakwaas. I still remember Mohan Kurvilla, my Marketing Prof... asking us what was marketing and not one of us hit the bulls eye. Even to this day when i have a block on strategy... i go back to the drawing board on what is the consumer need. Has worked always.

Giant ads set for world's busiest runways

2007-09-27T11:35:00.000+05:30

LONDON - Advertisers aiming to reach high-flyers with no alternative distraction will soon have a new method: adverts the size of three football pitches seen by plane passengers coming in to land.

UK-based Ad-Air launched its new service in London on Tuesday, offering brands the chance to place huge adverts near the runways of some of the world's busiest runways. Ad-Air, backed by 5 million pounds ($10 million) of private equity finance, said it had spent five years securing sites around the world's busiest airports including London Heathrow, Paris, Geneva, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Abu Dhabi.

The first advert will appear in Dubai next month. Reports are that the adverts could develop to produce a moving image that starts each time a plane comes into sight. The adverts, which are low to the ground and 20,000 square meters in size, will be illuminated where local legislation allows.

Lot of such great idea initiatives take off with great fan fare... need to wait and see it will sustain and last.

YouTube - The next generation ad model

2007-09-26T12:25:00.000+05:30

The sign of things to come...

YouTube is keenly focusing its attention on wooing big-brand advertisers. The first phase has already seen YouTube expand beyond user-generated content (UGC) into professionally-produced video. It has forged long-term partnerships with content providers including Universal Pictures, NBC and EMI

The crucial second phase of the strategy has just come to fruition with the launch of YouTube’s long-awaited ad model. It has opted for flash-based animated ads that appear as 80%-transparent overlays over the bottom of video clips on the site. I tried searching reference of these on the YouTube site but could not find it.

Viewers can click on the overlay to watch a TV-style ad, click through to a third-party site, or close the ad. YouTube is currently testing the initiative in the US with the backing of BMW and Twentieth Century Fox ahead of plans to extend it to the UK and other European territories next year.

Some YouTube facts:
- Acquired by Google for £1.65bn last October
- Google reportedly spends as much as $6m a month to keep YouTube running
- It is estimated that 100m TV-style clips are viewed daily on the site
- An additional 65,000 videos uploaded every 24 hours

By Google & Against Google

2007-09-25T11:11:00.000+05:30

Two recent stories around Google has caught my interest. One by Google the other against Google.

Firstly, Google is calling for an international standard of privacy in Internet communications. They argue the Internet is a global phenomenon and that it has become a vital tool for commerce and personal data that is regularly sent all around the world in massive quantities. Most countries do not have adequate security precautions in place. Keep a watch on the developments.

The second one is about how a PR proxy apparently funded by Microsoft Corp. is working covertly to gather opposition to Google's deal for DoubleClick. In recent months, public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller pitched media outlets and Internet companies on what it said were the dangers of the deal, which would bolster Google's already strong presence in online advertising. In the recent pitches reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Burson cites the deal as part of a larger discussion of "fair and free competition" in Internet search and privacy rights of consumers.

It doesn't stop there. The pitches cited a number of groups and an individual who had signed on to the effort. What the pitches didn't disclose was that Burson was working for Microsoft, Google's largest rival. Josh Gottheimer, an executive vice president at Burson, said the firm was hired by Microsoft to set up i-comp.org as a "discussion forum" for issues of privacy and competition. It is alleged that the Burson representative wrote that he represents a "wider industry initiative" but didn't disclose the Microsoft connection. With the connection now in the open obviously both Microsoft and Burson would be dashing for covers and planning damage control.

This episode reiterates a few learning's for me. For one the need for transparency in the Internet economy. These covert initiatives had a huge chance of being undetected in the traditional economy. Even if detected the impact on reputation and credibility could have restricted. However, now there is no controlling the global news spread of the 'mud on the face'. Google gets a thumbs up. The i-comp.org forum takes a credibility slide. Microsoft suffers an integrity dent. Brusons brilliant efforts come under the scanner.

This also raises for me a question on the role of PR and to what extent should we stretch towards creating an influence for our clients. Unlike most PR incidents, Bursons role has been intricately linked and raises a question on its own reputation. The question to introspect really is do PR agencies have a choice on their role when an influential client like Microsoft demands... well you know the answer.

Brand Dhoni... the dawn of a new leader

2007-09-25T10:09:00.000+05:30

India winning the T20 World Cup was a heady affair. I love Indian cricket but for me watching Indian cricket has always been part passion and part hoping for a miracle that would ensure that we don't lose. Especially when we played against one of the bigger teams. Rather than enjoy the game i would be so afraid that we would lose... probably reflecting the prevailing mentality of a generation of 'transition children'.

In the current T20 world cup when India had to win games against England and South Africa to qualify for the semi finals, which would then bring us aginst the indomitable Australians... you can well imagine that my passion was planning a hybernation and receding hope for miracle would capture my emotions. But something changed. There was a small consiousness within me which said that "what is the point of being a top notch team, if we are afraid of losing against the big boys". With that voice there was a succeeding calm and there was no more being afraid of watching a losing game. And coincidentally, since then India have gone on to play an exotic brand of cricket... agressive and passionate in large measures. Over the streach of a week we have transformed from world beaters to the world champs!!!

I feel at the heart of this transformation in my attitude brings to fore the communication prowess of Dhoni. I feel Dhoni has demonstrated an inclusive approach in his communication which makes me feel part of the cricket teams thinking process. All the past captains have been defensive at best and reclusive at worst in their dealing with the media. I have also met Dravid once and i admire him a lot. However, there is an invisible wall around him which excludes you from his world. Dhoni on the other hand is so approachable and connects in an uncomplicatedly simple manner. Dhoni's pre-match toss and post match comments are so simplistic that it gives an instant window into what happens into the world of players on the game field.

As a practitioner of communication and PR this insight has been a revelation. Nothing succeeds like success and as Dhoni gets hailed as the youth icon and new generation leader to learn from, i hope that people don't miss the learning... "great leaders keep their communication simple". I for one need to impibe more of it in my communication.

By the way the picture of myself with Dhoni, above, was taken at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (Mumbai), before the Indian team left to West Indies for a disastorous showing at the world cup. :)

India Poised Campaign

2007-09-14T12:32:00.000+05:30

Brilliant articulation of India's cultural context in its 60th year of independence. Amitabh's baritone is well utilised in this narration. The script architect deserves 100% marks on this.

Originally the content was planned as a radio script. When Amitabh read the script he suggested to do a video, since the message was inspirational and would have a wider reach. God bless him. Guess he is not just commercially minded... or is he?

Anyways enjoy madi!

English:

Hindi:

Good read the books you have read

2007-09-09T01:32:00.000+05:30

Social networking sites are a dime a dozen and there are so many websites. After a point of time you get tired and stop being active on any one. But when i got an invite from Ashwin last week for a website in which you can maintain track of all your good reads, i was in love with the concept.

Good read is a place where you can create a list of books you have read, mark your rating and capture your comments, for starters. From then it has the option of sharing with your friends build a community, check up on your friends reading and what they thought about it. Ohhh just brilliant. I have started putting together the books that i have read. Still have not donned on my critics hat :), which i hope to do shortly. Do drop in.

When the music stops...

2007-08-28T03:32:00.000+05:30

"When the music stops, in terms of liquidity, things will be complicated. But as long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance. We're still dancing."

- Citigroup CEO Charles Prince

Love for Comics...

2007-08-23T09:59:00.000+05:30

Even today i can easily get lose myself in a pile of comics. I think it is the continued love for reading that arose the desire to create.

Once, years ago, i was very close to make career shift into animation start-up. When i met the team behind the show, the guys were dreaming of creating the world's next big blockbuster animation without really having had the experience of doing it before. After some soul searching and reality check i choose not to join the team. In hindsight it was a sensible choice for me, since the set-up has wound up after making huge losses. Losses apart i admire those guys because they knew the risk and decided to plunge into it anyway, since it gave them a shot at their dreams.

One of the perils of following our dream jobs is that we often start wearing blinkers to flaws, because we don't want to hear bad things about our baby. We start to hope that the bad things would just go away if we wish hard and take too much time to see reason. Probably, as an outsider i had a better perspective of where things were headed since i was not yet attached, as they were. Few years later when i ventured out on my own, i had those blinkers on, which i realise very clearly now. Though i did not have any financial disaster then, i hope to remember the lesson for the future.

Meanwhile, the desire to create comic strips recurs everything i read some related articles, like i did in today's HT Mint. I tell myself it is nice to have desires and move on to work with the hope that i will do it someday :)

What do you want to become when you grow up?

2007-08-21T19:16:00.000+05:30

This was a hounding question during my schoold days, becasue i frankly did not know what i wanted to become. Early part of my education choice were determined more by what i did not want to become rather than a focussed life's pursuit.

Studies till 1oth standard took care of themselves. No such luck with pre-university. Anyways commerce and arts were out of the question, since at that time it was meant for girls and dimbulb guys who did not hope to become anything in life. I was the eldest sibling at home and the apple of my parents ambitions, to keep the situation status quo at home, i could not plan for a life of mediocrity. So science it was and i had a choice between Biology and Electronics. Doctor i did not want to be, because i would go limp at the sight of blood. So after a lot of thought, it was a no brainer to join electronics.

During the two years of pre-university my world was filled with resistor and capacitors soldered with enthusiasm, that i now realise, could diffuse the world's most potent nuclear reactor. It really was forced dreams of being an electronic genius that lacked vision, passion and soul satisfaction. Back then my values did not allow me to dream beyond hard work, good marks and a well paying job.

Career guidance those days were about how so and so had done a good course (IAS, CA, ICWA, Computers, Engineering, Journalism etc. etc.) was earning more than 25,000/- per month. Those were the words of wisdom from seemingly enlightened minds for confused impressionable minds to follow.

I wonder how things are for the kids of today?

Why should I work?

2007-04-09T17:24:00.000+05:30

Ramblings of a reluctant work soldier

It’s all right to say do a work that you love. But what do you do if you don’t like to work at all?

I want to wake-up fresh and early. Feel the freshness of a lung full of air and share a cup of chai over ghappa ghosti… about life, love, togetherness or anything that catches our fancy. Take a break and play a game of sport… basketball, tennis, which also keeps you in shape and gets the adrenalin flowing. All this done at an unhurried pace.

Life would be meaningless if I did not have a purpose, some work that I am uniquely capable of. But the way I see it, it just needs to be one aspect of life not the sole aspect. Have a six-hour pace of work, where the contribution is significant, unique and transformational. Life is joy ride, meant to be enjoyed experiencing new feelings and challenges.

From the beginning of civilisation man’s evolution is referenced to work place revolutions… agri revolution, industrial revolution, technology & digital revolution. I feel the true big idea of human evolution is when we break shackles and move beyond work place revolution. Human beings should have a choice to not have to work and yet make a respectable living. The whole pursuit of human earlier life is spent in striving to make oneself competent to take up a vocation and the latter part driven by a manic illusion of striving to succeed. The world it seems is obsessesed with a delusion that work is the purpose of life.

I don’t want to sacrifice my life to work. I want to get have my own business that will take care of my expenses and allow me to create huge wealth.

I feel imprisoned in this job. There are a lot of things that are working. Clients have stabilised, not facing fire anymore.

I am afraid of failing.

Security of a full-time job and wealth creation potential of an entrepreneur.

Prestige is just fossilized inspiration. If you do anything well enough, you'll make it prestigious. Plenty of things we now consider prestigious were anything but at first. Jazz comes to mind—though almost any established art form would do. So just do what you like, and let prestige take care of itself.

The reason the young care so much about prestige is that the people they want to impress are not very discerning.

Constraints give your life shape
Finding my niche.

I don’t have the solution. But I am happy because I have at least started asking the questions.

Celebrities are a product of the mass media

2006-09-01T15:35:00.000+05:30

Celebrity is a child of the mass media, which enabled individuals to be known to millions. Once upon a time, celebrities were people famous for their jobs, achievements or birthright. That meant politicians, athletes, movie stars, artists, royalty and the like. Of course, these sorts of people continue to be celebrities, but now virtually everyone who has had sustained media exposure counts as celebrities because they have been featured in the mass media and are likely to be recognised by million of people.

Celebrity is not longer about status; it’s about familiarity. It’s morally neutral, which means it’s not about whether someone “deserves” to be a celebrity and it’s not about whether a person’s celebrity is based on good deeds or bad. It’s purely about face and/or name recognition and the acid test of being able to draw a crowd. The bigger the celebrity, the bigger the crowd.

With myriad media channels pouring out content 24/7, reality shows proliferating, and new one-to-many media such as blogging and podcasting, Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame is easier than ever to achieve.

While there will doubtless be plenty of public appetite for fade reality and fake celebrity in 2006, it’s authenticity that will give the edge and depth of appeal. In the long run, it makes unapologetically real personalities such as Kate Moss and Angelina Jolie more enduring that such ret-a-smile brand endorsers as Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Excerpts from 10 trends for 2006, A JWT Trend letter, December 2005

Tomorrow will be my last day

2006-03-16T12:11:00.000+05:30

Sometimes, I feel like writing a blog when there is so much to say and not a word to express them. Today is one such day.

Though i submitted my papers a month ago, it has just started sinking in that tomorrow will be my last day in office. The feelings are bitter-sweet. Sweet because i found 'the' one who i want to spend my lifetimes with. Bitter because i have to let go of a work place that has given me so much.

Horizon is bright, memories are sweet... as i take fresh rein of the new chocies i have made to move on in this earth's drama called life. Only this time, as i move ahead, i am 'whole & complete', by the strenght of the companion who has embraced me to travel along.

Dreamers by day are dangerous

2005-10-23T04:38:00.000+05:30

Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds,
wake up to find that all was vanity;

But the dreamers by day are dangerous men
that they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible.

- Lawrence of Arabia

Destiny

2005-10-23T04:34:00.000+05:30

No one discovers their destiny. Youre destiny will discover you - it will find you, provided you have done the preparation and inner work requiree to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. Know yourself and, i promise you, your destiny will find you.

Robin Sharma
Discover your destiny

Love we have not given

2005-10-23T04:27:00.000+05:30

Every year I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the powers we have not used, the selfish prudence that will risk nothing, and which, shirking pain, missed happiness as well. No one ever yet was poorer in the long run having once in a lifetime 'let out all the length of the reins.

Robin Sharma
Discover your destiny

Selfless Service

2005-10-23T04:26:00.000+05:30

Selfless service is the rent i pay for living on this wonderful planet.
- The monk who sold his Ferrai

Duty or Joy

2005-10-23T04:23:00.000+05:30

I slept and dreamt life was Joy,
and then i awoke and realised life was Duty.

And then I went to work -
and lo and behold, I discovered that Duty can be Joy.

- Rabindranath Tagore

Silence

2005-10-22T16:17:00.000+05:30

"There is something greater and purer than what the mouth utters. Silence illuminates our souls, whispers to our hearts, and brings them together.

Silence seperates us from ourselves, makes us sail the firmament of spirit, and brings us closer to heaven".

Khalil Gibran

Love is

2005-10-15T19:21:00.000+05:30

Love is, after having reached her home, we decide to walk half way to my place so that we can spend five more minutes together....

The monk who sold his ferrari

2005-10-15T17:23:00.000+05:30

Met Robin Sharma at a book signing at the Granth Book store in Goregaun.

Honestly, i have read his book earlier and wasn't very much impressed. After having read Celestine Prophecy, Alchemist, Autobiography of a Yogi and going through the life altering roller-coaster ride at the Landmark education and getting initiated into spirituality through Pranic healing - i thought his book was very basic. I felt he had put together a lot of quotes and woven a story around it. So that had not really impressed me much :).

Dispite the lack of my adulation, I still came away being happy having gone to the book signing and having met him. He came across as someone who was down to earth. Said he was just another ordinary man with the same fears as any of us, definitely "guru" by no means. I was specailly impressed with him for the attention he gave me when he was signing the three books that i had brought. Had a very plesant conversation, he thanked me for having come and that is all that it took for me to get to like him. It feels like we are too different travellers in this journey of life, with the same vulnerabilities, whose lives happened to cross.

Just now i checked out his website, quite a pleasant one. By the way i picked up 2 copies of the Monk... and one copy of the "Destiny..". Monk i have read and seen, now let me see where my "Destiny... leads me...

Love is a sweetness in the mouth

2005-10-03T17:34:00.002+05:30

I was meant to be here in Mumbai and further it is no coincidence that i joined the company here, because it is here that i was destined to meet a beautiful soul. A soul mate to travel the journey in this life as we have done numerous ones before.

The heavens literally opened-up to bring us together. Soft to the touch, easy to the night we walked matching steps, drenched in each other alighting a flame for continuing a new journey.

Ahh!!! Love is a sweetness in the mouth!

The gentlemen win the gentleman's game

2005-09-13T17:09:00.000+05:30

Last night was another first... first time i ever rooted for England. Guys who earned the respect of the cricketing world by sheer sportsmanship and their competetiveness. For once the never say die aussies were dismissed by a sweet whisper... Truly some of these englishmen, kevin peterson, freddi, vaughan..., idols of today and making of the legends in the time to come.

As the celebrations showed how sport can boost a nation's self-confidence and sense of well-being, Daily Mail sports columnist Paul Hayward cheered the English cricketing superstars: "Life in England became a little better, a bit more civilised at a time when sport's ethical foundations seem to be crumbling under the weight of cash."

Rain in Mumbai!

2005-08-01T11:20:00.000+05:30

I am sitting in office when half of mumbai is marooned. Trying to get whatever information possible about the situation and passing it on to colleauges. I feel Mumbai is paralysed not because of lack of grit and determination but because of the confusion and lack of clarity on happening's around them.

Media, like the city administration, is not prepared to cover the calamity... putting together bits and pieces of hear-say. Really cheesed off with some of the TV news channels that are adding fuel to people's frustrations at a time when sensibilities run thin tempers run high. Sure the channels are claiming to represent people's voice, but what seems to be projected on screen is a very biased voice of the people.

That there has been a break-down in city's administration is a fact evident for any dim-wit. But the manner in which the media is harping on the issue seems towards aggrevating guilt in the administration rather than motivating it to raise to the occassion. I guess unlike most other news that is covered, the people covering the news are themselves affected and in someways their own anger and frustrations creep in, probably even unintentionally.

Having said that, the resilience of this city is something that needs to be experienced to be believed. Any other city in this country would have had a pandimonium on its hands, within the first hour of the rainfall, looking at the quantum of disruption. Not Mumbai.

The true spirit of Mumbai was best captured by what one of the citizen said in response to "Mumbai should adopt the model of Shanghai for its development and disaster management". He said, "We don't want Mumbai to become Shanghai; we don't need a model for mumbai, we need a model mumbai".

Once Mumbai wakes up to an idea, i feel, the transformation will not be long in the coming. The rains have dealt the wake-up call and now its time for the city to stand up to the calling...

Beauty tips

2005-07-29T11:04:00.000+05:30

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness... For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people... For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry... For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day... For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone... People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anybody... Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm...

Courtesy Hital's page on Ryze!

Star's sighting!!!!

2005-07-23T12:46:00.000+05:30

In Mumbai, sighting stars on the firmament in itself would warrant a blog (ha ha), but thats not what i am referring to. This is not even another of my trekking chronicles, which reminds me i haven't gone on one in a while hmmm. Coming back, the sighting was the first of its kind (for me), which i happened to chance upon when i inadvertently agreed to go for the premier of the movie Sarkar.

Realised this first when we landed at IMAX, vadala there were cameras and lights everywhere. My friend were accorded a red carpet welcome with Amitabh, Abhishek Bachan, Ram Gopal verma at the entrance welcoming each of the guests. I am a fan of Amitabh of the 80s 'the angry young man'. Somehow, even in flesh i just cannot draw parallels between the two. For me they are two, individually different and great identities. Abhishek on the other hand, has a strong carisma and presence about himself that is yet to be reflected in any of the movies (at least the ones in which i have seen him).

After having met these to eveyone else were an anti-climax. Gosh! these are the two of the biggest stars in Indian cinema today. With all my ambitions of becoming great, however, i don't have any illusions being anything beyond just another face in the crowd. This point struck home very powerfully when the even otherwise seemingly great individuals - stars in their own right - loooked very ordinary, vulnerable and so very accesbile that night. Caught in a dilema between going unnoticed vs not wanting to get mobbed...

Moving to the others, got to see from close quarters; Rekha, Mallika Sherawat, Anil Kapoor, Kamal Sandhu and her co-host on Zoom, Shaad ali, Kay Kay, Chunkey Pandey, Arjun Rampal, Bobby deol (would you beleive it in the toilet) , Priyanka chopra and numerous others who i have left out because i forgot or don't know their names. But, the cheery on top of the icing on the cake was ASH - much against my expectaions was truly like a dream, in flesh and blood. Sigh! :) . Ohh how i can go on and on...

By the way, the movie was good to.

Venu

Marketers Scan Blogs

2005-06-25T14:25:00.000+05:30

By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 23, 2005

Many marketers suspect there are probably some valuable insights contained in the Web logs produced by the estimated 12 million online diarists. But in the cacophony of trivia, vitriol and bombast that fills the blogosphere, useful nuggets have been hard to find.

Now, a growing number of marketers are using new technology to analyze blogs and other "consumer-generated media" -- a category that includes chat groups, message boards and electronic forums -- to hear what is being said online about new products, old ad campaigns and aging brands. Purveyors of the new methodology and their clients say blog-watching can be cheaper, faster and less biased than such staples of consumer research as focus groups and surveys.

Blog watching helped advertising giant WPP Group PLC craft a new promotion aimed at teenagers for its Chicago-based client U.S. Cellular Corp., says Bethany Harris, senior vice president of WPP's G Whiz Entertainment unit. Using technology from Umbria Communications, a Boulder, Colo., company that aims to identify demographic groups online based on their speech patterns and discussion topics, G Whiz concluded that teens were "really anxious" about exceeding their cellular minutes, often because parents make them pay if they talk too much. The teens also resented being "ambushed" by incoming calls that pushed their minutes up. Ms. Harris says that led U.S. Cellular to offer unlimited "call me" minutes.

Marketers say bloggers' unsolicited opinions and offhand comments are a source of invaluable insights that are hard to get elsewhere. "We look at the blogosphere as a focus group with 15 million people going on 24/7 that you can tap into without going behind a one-way mirror," says Rick Murray, executive vice president of Edelman, a Chicago public-relations firm.

Walter Carl, a professor at Boston's Northeastern University who has studied "word-of-mouth" communication and marketing, says blog-watching services "are very useful for quickly getting the lay of the land" in trends and consumer reactions. Still, he says, it isn't clear how closely online comments mimic the 80% of "word-of-mouth" that still occurs face-to-face.

Not everything bloggers have to say about brands correlates to the real world. Last summer, Umbria, working for a fast-food client, was monitoring Burger King Corp.'s Angus Burger and found it got some bad reviews from bloggers. Some were deriding Burger King's tongue-in-cheek TV ads that called the burger a diet food. Bloggers notwithstanding, the Angus Burger has become a hit.

Blog-monitoring services typically charge big companies $30,000 to $100,000 a year. They say their technology goes beyond basic tools, such as keyword searches or counting links from one Web site to another, both features available at no charge from online services such as Technorati.com and Yahoo's Buzz Index.

Intelliseek, a Cincinnati firm started by veterans of Procter & Gamble Co., has a free Web site, BlogPulse, where users can enter up to three keywords and see how they compare. Before the latest "Star Wars" release, mentions of Natalie Portman briefly topped those of Paris Hilton, indicating the movie's pre-release marketing was making an impression.

Intelliseek and most other blog-watching services combine technology with some human analysis. They say their full services provide more insight than a simple keyword count. Some companies have developed text-analysis techniques as the result of funding or contracts from the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence services that monitor newspapers and other media. The technologies make use of software technologies known as "natural-language processing" and "unstructured-data mining" to understand even ungrammatical writing.

Bernice Cramer, vice president of market intelligence for Polaroid Corp., a unit of Petters Group Worldwide, says she uses Intelliseek's service. "If you look for it manually, you'll spend months searching through a lot of junk," she says. Polaroid recently found that consumers online frequently discuss photo longevity and archiving, making that an important issue in product development.

Sometimes blog watchers spot trends before they emerge in mainstream media: Pete Blackshaw, Intelliseek vice president, says blog mentions last summer of the Swift Boat Veterans ads against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry indicated their claims were a big issue three weeks before the Kerry campaign finally addressed them.

Mr. Blackshaw says companies used to dismiss vocal complaints from one or two consumers as an aberration. But now, they have to pay attention because now those complainers may have blogs. "Those folks have influence with others via the Internet," he says. PR firms are hiring Intelliseek to monitor their clients, he adds, because once-obscure consumer issues are surfacing at awkward moments, such as CEO interviews with "reporters who go to Google and type in a brand and [then] ask tough questions."

Umbria, with clients including Sprint Corp. and Electronic Arts Inc., says its natural-language analysis can determine blogger demographics based on language, subject matter and acronyms. OMG ("oh my God!") or POS ("parent over shoulder") are expressions defining Generation Y girls, or those ages 10 to 25; FUBAR ("fouled up beyond all recognition") is often used by male baby boomers.

Such analysis can be important. Umbria says Laker guard Kobe Bryant has lost his cachet with most bloggers, but he is still the No. 2 National Basketball Association personality, behind LeBron James, among the boys of Generation Y, important buyers of videogames, sneakers and basketball jerseys.

David Rabjohns, president of blog watcher MotiveQuest, calls the field "online anthropology" and says he regards his firm as "almost a mouthpiece for the consumer." The Evanston., Ill., firm's clients include Motorola Inc. and Citigroup Inc.

For a Japanese auto maker, Mr. Rabjohns says MotiveQuest studied online postings about minivans. Soccer moms said their young children love minivans, which they regard as "a playhouse on wheels," but teens regard them as lame and want SUVs. MotiveQuest recommended developing a loyalty program to persuade minivan owners to buy the company's SUVs, rather than trying to get them to buy another minivan.

Get to the door... Its dominos!

2005-06-25T12:18:00.000+05:30

There are so many contests around but used to wonder why it is so tough to win any of them. So it was quite a high when something happened unexpectedly.

It started with getting home last night and finding no food to eat. End of the month no money to spend (leave alone to splurge) but hungry as a wolf left one option... dig out that Ticket restaurant coupons (saved for such a rainy day - pun intended) and head out for treat. But the mumbai monsoons weren't looking anywhere close to letting up. So after sifting through the horde of home delivery menu's finally decided between my friend and me that we go for Pizza. Dominos pizza's on the menu looked more tempting than the Pizza hut ones (hey what do you expect, Mallika arora was not yet selling Pizza hut when they they printed the menu). Anyway the cheeze between two thin crusts were quite tempting... all my calorie crunching dreams thrown out of the windows into the mumbai monsoons...

Finally ordered veg extravaganza since it had jalpenos that I love and a very spicy chicken pizza with the above mentioned layer of cheese between the layers topped up with chinna sticks (was in an experimental mood so what the heck)... order placed, address given and the wait began.

Meanwhile put the tv on... started working on the net (one of the rare days when I had carried work home, so that I don't have to work on Sunday) before I knew time had flown and when my friend reminded about the pizza not arriving the first logical response was to get angry... home delivery never happens on time, service standards in India blah blah yada yada blah. That's when I checked my watch it was already 35 mins and still no signs... that's when the sudden realisation about their half an hour promise.... gosh I have never been so happy about a delay in service (ofcourse other than when I remet this wonderful girl after a gap of 3 years in a Coffee shop in Bangalore and the waiter didn't come to take our order for almost half an hour).

But when there was no signs for the next five minutes then I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to come. Finally the bell did ring and lo and behold two medium size pizza's given free with the compliments of Dominos.

You know its really not about the money that I saved but thrill of winning, unexpectedly. I must tell you the pizzas have never tasted better... must have been the added, sweet taste of winning.

Silp of the tougne

2005-06-20T12:27:00.000+05:30

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!

Life path reading

2005-06-18T16:33:00.000+05:30

Came across a life path reading based on my birth - day, time and location... reproducing excerpts, which i thought relevant.

Clever, social, and communicative (hey i never said i was modest) your general approach to life is light hearted. You can be somewhat hard to pin down because you have a wonderful natural curiosity about life. You prefer to know at least a little bit about everything. The restless nature of Gemini is quite conducive to your preference for a wide variety of experiences and mental pursuits. Geminis often won't take a particular subject into great depth, but for you, just having a taste of the smorgasbord that life offers is enough to satisfy.

Hmmm... now i have an explanation for getting quickly bored with things that i take up.

Interesting sign of the times

2005-06-15T10:49:00.000+05:30

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't .'"

Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

India inc. Waking up to blogsphere

2005-06-07T15:33:00.000+05:30

Is India Inc missing the bus by ignoring blogs?

While the jury may still be out on that, Carat Media Services, the advertising and marketing shop, is chewing over the gains and losses of focusing on and ignoring blogs.

According to group CEO, Charles Jenarius, Carat's interactive and digital media arm ISOBAR, will soon be launched in India. ISOBAR is active in the blog landscape in the US, the UK and some Asian markets. “ISOBAR may not take the plunge into blog business immediately, but it goes without saying that blogging is a significant territory and we are keeping close tabs on it,” Jenarius adds.

To give naysayers their due, indeed, with only around 2-5 mn Internet users, Indian blogsphere is quite small, especially if one compares it with the US, where around 10 mn blogs are already in existence and 40,000 new ones pop up every day.

Yet marketers feel that Indian bloggers are gradually assuming a role which might impact businesses.Says John Goodman, CEO, O&M: “India is a typical market where informed opinion, specially that of the peer group, is taken very seriously. Blogs, thus, will emerge as a platform for generating collective opinion on businesses.” His argument finds resonance in Jenarius' observation that “Indian bloggers may be small in numbers, but they are well-informed and highly opinionated consumers. Hence, their views will have to be taken seriously.”

Search the Net for Indian blogs and you'll be bogged down by the results. While a majority of bloggers are independent groups and people mainly delving into topics like politics, travel, mundane life activities, issues like globalisation, economy and corporate practices are also generating a lot of heat. mouthshut.com, apparently the country's only organised business blog, has 500,000 registered users and it gets more than 70,000 visitors every day.

Says CEO Faisal Farooqui: “Over 67,000 products have been reviewed on our platform by common people. And the numbers are only increasing by the day.”

Experts warn that some product categories will have to wake up and smell the coffee much before others do. “High value, high investment categories, like automobiles, where word-of-mouth plays a definitive role in final purchases, will have to pull up their socks, sooner than later,” says Jenarius.

It's not without any reason that GM and Microsoft run one of the biggest blog services for their clients, consumers and other stakeholders in the US. Are their Indian counterparts listening?

As noted from ET. June 7, 2005

Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-25T14:20:00.000+05:30

Return of the Sith, for me, is a rebeginning rather than culmination of the Star Wars journey that i started 20 years ago. The final prequel was a well crafted master piece.

While the Star Wars instilled the desire in me to be a Hero (when i was all of 10 years old); after all who can remain unaffected by the rousing welcome received by Luke Skywalker and swashbuckler Han Solo after the destruction of the death star. The background victory score is as fresh today as it were then. The revenge of the Sith recreated the magic, the passion, the involvment to the extent of blurring of differences between self and the onscreen character. Which is quite something if you consider i seem to have grown into a highly logical, rational individual given to very rare display of emotions.

I became a Star Wars fan quite unexpectedly. In 1985 when my parents decided to return from algeria to India for good, we had a stop-over at London. Of the assortment of movie vhs tapes that was picked Star Wars inadvertently entered my life. Since then adventure, sci-fi, hi-tech have held my fancy.

The reason i like Revenge of the sith, though a very dark movie, is due to the depths and myriad dimensions of human emotions that it explores; destructive abilities of talent unmanaged, perseverance of the dark side, perils of having talent minus the self beleif, the trial and triumphs of standing for something much larger than what you hope to be, how circumstances can all but wipe out even an entity as powerful as the Jedi, the cyclical nature of domination by good and evil and the struggle thereafter etc etc etc. Well this movie brings everything else "Star Wars" so well together and so complete that i feel a part of the now provarbial 'force'.

May the force be with you!

Money wisdom

2005-05-18T02:11:00.000+05:30

Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man.
- Kahlil Gibran

Addendum

2005-05-15T02:28:00.000+05:30

An addendum to what i wrote on March 7, this gem came from our CEO. Ironically during a blasting session with the functional heads... about the lack of time spent on strategising - "Destiny will not be realised by a many who does not spend time creating it".

Keep walking...

2005-05-15T02:18:00.000+05:30

Now here is one brand that evokes passion, magic, commitment... Johnnie Walker!!! Ever wondered what the "Keep walking" campaign is all about, then read on... Definitely a branding aspirants delight.

WHY KEEP WALKING™?
In 1820, in Kilmarnock, Scotland, a boy named John Walker dreamed of blending the perfect whisky. Today the spirit that carries his name is the world's most popular whisky. Keep Walking™ is the symbol of progress, reflecting the fact that often Johnnie Walker® has been consumed when reflecting on pivotal moments within our lives, moments of our own real personal progress.

The Striding Man was introduced to create a brand logo that would epitomize his family's belief that through commitment and perseverance, any dream can be achieved, any obstacle overcome.

So if you're looking for inspiration, you've come to the right place. Take a look their advertising; interact with our downloads or send them your very own personal journey. Who knows what it might lead to!

Android commercial (posted newly)

Rugby commercial

Must visit: http://www.johnniewalker.com

Ludwig Van Beethoven

2005-05-05T08:57:00.000+05:30

Saw a docu on Ludwig van Beethoven, the first thoughts went back to the challenge by F. Scott that i wrote about yesterday - "If you show me a hero, I'll write you a tragedy". Beethoven's life had more than a fair share of what any individual should have. But what really had me amazed was the raw brilliance of his creativity that shone through... etching his name for posterity. One of the quotes in the docu went "Talent is what a man possesses, Genuis is what possesses a man" signifying his greatness.

Consider this... when NASA rockets take off its to the back-ground score of Beethoven, when the Berlin wall crumbled it was to the score of Beethoven... everlasting odes. Such an irony when you learn that in one of his concerts (i think the ninth symphony) the whole multitude of audience were in rapture over his performance, but someone from his group had to turn him around for him to realise that the audience was clapping... because he had gone deaf during the later part of his life. His love for an unamed women during his later years is considered the greatest unsolved romances of all times. His music was inspired by the revolution... but the revoluion caused by his music inspires millions even today.

I guess try as i might i may not be able to do justice to his greatness... so done the next best thing... collated some links that pays better ode to thus legendary musician...

http://www.madaboutbeethoven.com/
http://www.lucare.com/immortal/
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven.html
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~simonj/lvb/lvb.html
http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/beethoven.html
http://www.unheardbeethoven.org/
http://www.classicalarchives.com/beethovn.html

Every hero becomes a bore at last...

2005-05-04T01:07:00.000+05:30

It may be a mistake to consider somebody a hero. "The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else," said Umberto Eco. If you show me a hero, I'll write you a tragedy, challenged F. Scott Fitzgerald. On a mundane note, "Every hero become a bore at last," as Ralph Waldo Emerson said.

Partly reproduced from an article on the ensuing Reliance - Anil Ambani drama!

How Michael Jordan succeeded

2005-05-03T00:06:00.001+05:30

Quote from an individual who became one of the most prolific brand name in sports history...

I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.
I've almost lost 300 games.
Twenty-six times i've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.
I've failed over and over and over again in my life.
And that is why i succeed.
- Michael Jordan