The murky world of politics and the people who make it murkier...

The elections are over, results are out and we now know who is going to "rule" India for the next five years... forget the fact that in a democracy, people are the rulers. The results were really unexpected and truly, I can say money power has won over anything else. I had a personal experience of a guy canvassing for a particular party right inside the polling station with no one around to check him. Similarly, I have heard numerous stories of people being bribed for voting to a particular party (the same one referred above). I also want to mention an interesting piece whereby a sitting MP and cabinet minister was trailing till about 3 PM, but suddenly announced winner at 5.00 PM. 

 

All the incidents above might immediately start a chain of discussions how the world of politics is murky and how politicians, true to their names, are blood sucking insects. But at a deeper level, who is responsible for all this? Don’t the politicians and their families form part of the population index in India? Go ahead and blame a group of greedy and unscrupulous people. But looking back, how different are they from us? Yeah they bribed people into voting for a particular party, but who accepted the bribes and voted for that party? Yeah people were canvassing for a particular party inside the polling station, but what connection does this guy have with the lok sabha? Isn’t this guy part of the same population that deplores politicians? Yeah a union minister's election did look every bit orchestrated, but who was finally responsible for showing the figures? Wasn’t this guy also part of the same population that despite politicians? 

 

The blame can keep going up and above and still further up and reach god. But every level is made up of "people" and it is people who make up democracy. We all love to be part of a mature society, but society is made of people. If society has to mature, people have to and their thinking has to. As long as we have people who are prepared to compromise long term implications for short term benefits, be rest assured that we are not going to see a developed India by 2020. I just hope Mr.Abdul Kalam is no more by then - I don’t want a great thinker to see his dreams fall flat. 

 

And I know this is going way tooooooooo long, but I just can’t hold my frustration. Mumbai saw the worst terror attacks in recent times but the voting percentage there was in the 40's. I know I'm asking for too much, but can't a majority of Indians start thinking that we all have to live a honest life irrespective of the losses and rejoice the benefits from it. And I might start sounding like a philosopher now, but honestly, I don’t think we are going to have a mature society as long as we don’t collectively think greed should only be satisfied ethically. I honestly don’t see it happening in the near future. And as I type these words in, I can’t but reflect on all the ways I have contributed to corruption in this country. I hope things turn better for our next generation atleast. I promise I will work with anyone who wants to.

Support for Tamils????

Tamilnadu government decided to observe a one day bandh (strike as you may call it) to show solidarity of millions of Tamils affected by the war in srilanka. Well the situation as it stands today, the following were things I noted while I was riding my bike:

1. There were no buses plying in the city - though I remember the chief Secretary announcing through the press that buses and train would not be affected.
2. Most of the shops had downed their shutters - Whether it was for solidarity or fear or whatever is something I don't know.
3. Most of the private organizations were closed - forcing us to work on Saturdays - which is when we would have planned most of our personal work.
4. Regional channels broadcasting some random movies at odd times.

I do understand the humanitarian aspect of millions being affected - but is this the right way to show solidarity?? The things I have mentioned above definitely affect a million common lives in Tamil nadu.

But the real questions are:
What is the point in all this?
Who is going to notice the bandh in Tamil Nadu?
How the hell will this force a foreign government to act or to heed to requests raised from India - Tamil Nadu in particular?
Who is the gainer and who is the looser?
What happened to the supreme court ruling that bandhs are illegal?

All these are frustrating to note from an objective view point (I take the privilege of terming my view point as objective), and above all - harasses millions of Tamils in tamilnadu for the sake of the Tamils in Srilanka. How fair is this? The bigger joke would be when I read the news papers tomorrow - All our so called leaders would proclaim that the "Bandh was a grand success" - for whom and at what cost is something nobody would answer or even bother to ask for that matter.

A Landmark Lost...

Sometime back there was this big issue of the land leased out to woodlands drive in being taken back by the government for creating a botanical mark on par with the brindhavan of Bangalore. Removal of woodlands drive in was a very emotional moment for many - inducing myself. The awesome chief minister of Tamil nadu (the same guy who is hell bent on building sethu project!!!) had then said that this place would be used to create a botanical garden. So I consoled telling myself that at least this is going to better for our future generations. THIS IS THE PROGRESS OF THE PROJECT THUS FAR!!!!

Not only the greenery has been reduced, it looks like no one even cares. I don’t see anyone working there either - never saw anyone after the demolition of the building. If this is the arrogance with which the government michenery can work in the heart of the city, I just can’t imagine what kind of apathy would be shown for some remote village in India. Just imagine what will kind of commercial implications such space right in the heart (I mean it) of the city would have??

Well - I want to keep going on and on and on for the temper I have now - but let me just stop here and add just one thing - this kind of arrogance towards the people is possible only in the largest democracy of the world.

Now the Fever has caught me...

No I'm not talking about the summer heat here.. I'm talking about the election fever. I, as a honest citizen (or supposedly one) do not want to miss my vote. But who do I vote for?? Name one candidate opting for re-election whose assets have nto increased manifold without anybody else knowing how. Is that hard?? Ok name one candidate who has a solid ideology - ok this is asking for too much.

The problem is, everytime I think of whom to vote for, I seem to have no option but to lower my expectations. There are these simple things I would love to see in my country:
1. Solid infrastucture
2. Solid plan for poverty erradication - if people want to get out of poverty - they must have a way out.
3. A conductive environment for innovation
4. No bloody red-tapism and buerocracy.
5. A vast majority of the population who are literates
6. Absolutely no corruption
7. Overall sense of security in the society

Maybe these things are not so small. But lets face it, I'm sure everyone in this country wants these things right? Who is the right person to give all these things. Definitely not Congress or UPA. They have already proven to be disasters in all of the above. The first things I decided when I started reading the news about elections is that, if the same group of people come back to power, then it is doomsday for the country. But what are the options I have?? Advani?? What crediability does he have. Communists?? I better be dead than red. So, on the face of it, I do not have much options.

In this scenario, there is only one thing I can ask each of you to do. Please do vote. Let us make a difference this time guys.

Dumbo Dumpster

This is another common sight in chennai!!! This dumpster decided to dump the sceptic tank wastage on the pavement!!! Chennai might not have a comprehensive waste management system, but that does not mean people can choose to dump thing where they want to. And this comming from one of the contracted companies who should have been trained regularly on waste management - is definitely a joke. I cannot stress more that chennai needs a more sophesticated society. The one that existed during Thiruvalluvar days. And what makes a mature society is mature people. This guys is not. If someone is watching - please note the name of the company that handles this truck and the registration numer.

Is this a curse from hell?? I don’t think so…

One of my previous posts considered traffic jams because of some immortal, elite group of people visited Chennai. Please take a look at the picture below. This was taken right down the Cathepara Bridge towards Saidapet. This traffic Jam is not due to some supernatural descendent from hell. This hell is because of decedents of Chennai. All because people decided to criss cross roads without any regard to what will happen subsequently. If everyone – or even 75% of people decide to follow things like lane discipline, waiting on signals etc – we would not have had this situation on that day. In fact, it can be quite confidently argued that most of such traffic in Chennai is because of such gross disregard to simple rules.

It doubles when it is spread…

I’m definitely not referring to knowledge here. I'm talking about a private player who does not really care about his own city mates. This truck is carrying a load of sand, butwithout any protective gear around it to prevent it from spreading. Hey - this could disturb the visibility of other road users - and think what might happen if one motarist fails to watch this poperly!!! Well - there cannot be one policeman for each such incident. But my plea to all my fellow chennia ites would be to consider this not as a burdern but responsibility - we are maturing guys - let us show it to everyone.

Don’t think twice – don’t care….

This was a pathetic picture taken from just outside my house. Some damn genius decided to dump construction material right on the entrance that leads to our small little colony. Did he/she ever think it would be difficult for more than 30 families inside the colony to navigate? Quite understandably, NOT!!! Well, I really cannot understand where such indiscriminate disregard to some 30 families comes from? Could it from the fact the he is part of the “Sarkari Babu” network. Or could be because he is paying some overgrown good for nothing pigs more popularly called “rowdies” – maybe I’m dramatizing things, but this is what contractors popularly use right. Well – all this can change only when the more popular red tapism and government employee raj ends in India.

Pay for a premium, but don’t expect anything here…

There is so much money can buy. But in Chennai, not a decent public transport. The so called “deluxe bus” was launched with so much fanfare that for a second, I thought Chennai has grown up. But not for long. Please see the pictures below. This is what you get for paying more for those duplex buses that ply around the city. Well, people make a better society no doubt, but definitely infrastructure has to be better for people to realize that it is worth the effort to make thing better. This seems to lack in Chennai – even at a time India and China are supposed to bring the world out of recession.

Waste Dumping, on the way….

Chennai is notorious for using walls and transforms as urinals and roads as dumping grounds. This has been noted by many bloggers, journalists and even (maybe) corporation officials. But, nothing seems to stop us from just throwing waste around. Throwing waste around is bad, but using the roads as dumping yard is worse still. Please take a look at the picture below.

This picture shows that using the roads as dumping ground is not only considered a highway to paradise, but also happens so systematically that people are going to say the system is defeated if dumping waste on the roads (the fringes though) is strict a no no.

From my experience with certain other countries (very limited though), I can confidently say that people make the system they want to be in and not the other way round. With such sightings around Chennai, I’m sure we have a long way to go to be recognized as a mature society, leave out being called a “developed” place. Anyway, my promise to not do such things is only reinforced wit such sightings. And I sincerely hope many more people join the brigade.

Companies Should Think Bullish In Times of Recession

“Recession”, the dreaded demon has almost succeeded in killing the economies of many developed and growing countries. History says that the current recession might be equivalent to the “Great World Depression in 1929”, a collapse in world economy caused by the First World War. Well, just because there is a recession does not mean that companies must think bearish. How can you improve a dying economy by cutting costs??

Everyday I read the paper or visit a news site, all I can read is “Company ZYZ cuts down 1500 jobs, ZYE cuts 1467 jobs etc….”. Even globally renowned companies like Hewlett and Packard, IBM, and Sony have succumbed to the tactic of downsizing people. The worst thing is Indian companies are following suit.

Now, since we have already stepped into recession, the only way companies can beat economic slowdown is by thinking positively,i.e by being bullish. But unfortunately, they consider downsizing as the sole option, which is negative and infact counter-productive. Let me say why?

SAY NO TO DOWNSIZING
1)Companies that downsize not only throw out employees in redundant posts, but sometimes even those who are in vital posts or in production. In doing so, they only gain a temporary reprieve, but they lose permanently in terms of experience, hands-on knowledge, and skill set.
2)By sending out employees who have contributed significantly, the company sends an indirect message to the other employees that they might be next. The last thing they need during troubled periods is a team of employees working in constant fear. The end result is a fall in production and thereby further loss in revenue.
3)Many companies do not realize that downsizing can be detrimental in the longer run. Good and talented employees may fear to join such MNCs due to their notorious record.
4)Suppose there is a mini boom, the company has to spend more amount of money to recruit resources and train them again. Good and talented employees are in a way, the proverbial goose that lays a golden egg per day. So why kill the goose?



Instead of following negative methods, companies can resort to positive measures which may be painful in the short run, but may bring prosperity in the future.

1) If really required, Announce a 10% pay cut across employees at middle and lower levels, and 15-20% at management levels. This paycut must only be for a stipulated period.
2) Announce that employees would be rewarded significantly if they provide ideas, suggestions to enhance profits. Bring transparency in such rewarding system. Let employees know that good performances will be rewarded.
3) Conduct a thorough performance appraisal for employees at all levels. Identify the people who are performing poorly. Warn them to perform properly or sack them immediately. Bad employees are a big NO NO.
4) DO NOT cut any employee-beneficial measures such as Cab facilities, food allowances etc. Most employees adjudge a company by these measures more than salary. Cutting down these measures would only cause employees to doubt the company.
5) Analyze the talent pool for resources who can do multiple roles, and then delegate the appropriate responsibilities to these people. This not only reduces the cost factor, but increases productivity and also helps an employee to develop his/her skill set.
6) Address the members of the management to THINK CREATIVELY and come out with various innovations to increase revenue, tap new markets, implement good marketing strategies etc. Make the MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTABLE.
7) Thinking futuristically. Companies should try to spend a amount of their revenue genuinely in measures that reap long-term gains such as training employees on new market trends, technologies etc.
8) The last and the most difficult thing to do. Keep your employees happy. Organize fun events on a small scale. Reward employees who ensured that the success of a crucial project despite obstacles. Ensure a good management-employee rapport. A good rapport with an employee means good business.
9) Avoid providing exorbitant salaries to CEO/COO? or other managers.
10) Avoid wasteful expenditure by all means.


Some people may say that the measures that I have listed above are either already used or not doable. All I wish to say is that you cannot beat recession by just cost-cutting. True cost-cutting involves the cutting of wasteful expenditures, followed by increased investment in revenue generating methods. You cannot save a sinking ship by throwing cargo off the board, but rather by plugging the hole via which water is gushing. Similarly, you cannot save a company by downsizing, but rather by inventing methods that allow the company to find new clients, increase revenue and form a nice in the market.

As they say, “Necessity is the mother of all inventions/innovations.” This recession is the perfect time for companies to innovate. The Management of every company should think positively and implement innovative measures to beat the trend.


I end by saying, “An average company finds a difficulty in every opportunity while the great companies find an opportunity in each difficulty”, which category do you belong to?

Who rules in Democracy?

All the while, the notion was people rule in democracy. But the recent happenings at Chennai make me think otherwise. I guess the president/prime minister was visiting Chennai, and almost the whole of Chennai (the whole of mount road atleast) came to a standstill. Please see the picture taken below from Nandanam signal. The picture is not very representative, but the traffic jam ran for almost a kilometer. Well, please consider that the convoy was going to use the other side of the road!!

But bigger joke is the picture below. This (sorry for the clarity – was taken in a hurry) was taken from Porur just outside the trade center – where the “honorable” people were to visit. The biggest joke here is, you can see policemen mending the pedestrian lines in a hurry - at 9.00 AM in the morning when people were supposed to go to work. I’m sure the president or prime minister are not going to walk across the road!!! So why the hell these people do not realize that they are supposed to work for the “people” and not the authorities? Hmm… I guess drawing pedestrians on the road is part of the beatification of Chennai project.

The picture below is another candidate for the funniest moments of life award. I could notice policemen standing at a distance of about 10 feet on the whole route. None of these people carried any weapons, not even lathis. So, obviously, these people are not going to control and law and order problem. The best they are going to do is salute most religiously when the convoy passes by. So, do we need so many policemen to do that? What is going to happen to the general public then?? Should the common man always suffer in times of a damn politician wanting to take a leak??

All these questions now result in another question to me. WHO RULES I DEMOCRACY? Maybe the politicians!!

Roads or Bridges… Bane of Chennai

I had a marked in one of my previous posts that roads are constructed on top of existing roads and this is creating problems (Of Roads and Constructions…). Please see another example below. This photograph was taken from just outside my office at Guindy Industrial estate. Hmm… looks like most of my posts are around guindy itself. But looking at it form another perspective, if guindy alone can be so interesting to raise so many posts, extrapolating the whole scenario to Chennai only make me feel that not many people really give a damn to the society.

The "Real" Curse of The Black Pearl...

No... This is not about the now famous trilogy of Pirates of the Caribbean. Neither am I referring to any soccer. The black pearl here is... our own COOUM. I'm sure no one has forgotten the perils of the monsoons yet. One of my friends (Dhanasekar) got some interesting pictures he clicked near his home. I'm sure people of this locality are not going to forget this monsoons any time soon.

It rained and it poured... and when it poured.. I guess our cooum puked. We all know cooum contains more rubbish than water. So what happens if it is in spate for some reason and it decides to enter our chennai streets? This is what happens...

Mind you... this is cooum water, full of silt - in other words disease. What will happen to these people who navigate through hip high cooum waters? Well, their hard earned money is going to some doctor for sure. And what about people who want to go to work, my friend couldn’t for two days and I can’t talk about others. I honestly feel Hyderabad is much better in waste water management. I have never seen water stagnation for more than 2 hrs there despite heavier rains. Just to give you the gravity of the situation, Please see the photographs below to see how the same road looks without water...

Waster water management should be relatively easier than what catches the eye here. I just hope someday people wake up to it. It’s so frustrating when the administration announces a sum of 2000 rupees for flood affected areas. Hey, can't we just make our drainage system better. It's not about the money anymore. I want to live in a developed India. And a developed India definitely should not have these problems. Rs.2000 is no substitute for proactive policies and steps from both the administration and people alike.

Monster on Wheels...

The title is maybe misleading. This is not a monster on wheels… this is a monster on trails. And I'm not talking about one of the army tanks that parade through during republic day or Independence Day. These are trucks that are supposed to aid in construction activities. I really don’t know what this machine is.

Chennai roads are not made to even stand monsoons. So, its anybody's guess what will happen to these roads in case such monsters travel through. This is what happens... This machine is literally pealing the roads apart.

And we just go back to the "authorities" and say they are not doing a good job. Well... can the authorities follow every damn activity that is happening. If all departments had that kid of manpower, then trust me, India would never face a job crisis and we don’t ever need FDI's to run the country. The only thing that can then happen is, everyone must rise up and do what they can to protect the system they are part of. And the best way to protect it... would be to follow it. If this bloody contractor follow the system - then the roads would be saved (atleast till the next monsoons), if the contractor who laid the roads follow the system - then we would have more navigable roads, if the person responsible for such operations follows the rules, then the contractors would have their jobs cut. And it just goes on and on and on.