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.