The Value of Freedom

My latest article for 21 Fools. Though it has been there for quite a while now, just realised that I never posted the link on my blog. So here it is - The Value of Freedom @21Fools

It about how a soldier realises the value of freedom from his old father, and why we must understand and appreciate the value of the freedom we have.

Hope you like it!

The Show That Stands

Steve Jobs was a phenomenon, much more than just another successful CEO. He is one among those visionaries who proved time and again that persistence on a chosen path can lead to reverential success.

Jobs was a visionary, I said, someone who actually changed the way people perceived something viz. Digital media! Years ago, there was another man- Dennis Ritchie who wrote some codes that laid the foundation for almost everything today including Jobs’ iPhone.

Ritchie is believed to be the father of C language and a co-creator of Unix (which later inspired many other things including Linux). We all knew about him as students. In fact some of us, like me, made it a point to buy the book he had authored on C language (it had a white cover page with a dull blue design on it, and much more boring content inside for an average newbie to programming) when we started learning the language in school. If parallels were to be drawn, there can be no dispute that Ritchie stood way too ahead of Jobs as the bigger visionary (who actually made deeper impact on the society and our life over the years).

Why would I draw such parallels? To those who haven’t seen it already on the news and social media, Jobs and Ritchie passed away around the same time. While one of them was given a heart wrenching farewell all over the globe, the other was simply overlooked. And it should not be a surprise that since we are discussing it here, it cannot have been the way that appears normal.

Yes, while Jobs was mourned all over the world, Ritchie largely drew no one’s attention on death. (Here I am reminded of an editorial that I read which said that it was surprising how Jobs was so popular in India when there was not a single direct Apple store and the i-products were so expensively priced that an average person was very unlikely to be in possession of one)

One of the images going viral on Facebook about this topic

Why did the world hail Jobs while many never remembered Ritchie beyond their school days (though we all still remember/use C or its direct descendent programming languages)? Ok, a quick quiz. Who was Dr.Martin Cooper? Who is Steven Sasson? What did Mathew Gray do in 1993 for the first time that changed internet forever? Any answer? Now match mobile phones, digital camera and search engines to the questions respectively. Do you see that we do not know who created some of the things that we have actually begun using as a part of us?

Remember the mega launches that Jobs held for all i-products? The gung ho over what could be the new Apple product, his routine jokes (‘there is one more thing...’), stage presence, drama over his role in Apple corporation etc. Remember the media appearances and books by Bill Gates at the peak of his success? Remember frequently seeing the face of Jimmy Wales on Wikipedia? The publicity stunts by Richard Branson? We do, of course we do! That could precisely be a major reason. 

If you are an exceptionally brilliant inventor your product will become famous. But if there is a story, a drama, a brand you build around yourself and most importantly continue to create news (good or bad, sometimes futile controversies) until your end, people will invariably remember you and your contributions. Because the more infrequent your face or name becomes the sooner you shall be forgotten! Not that we people are a thankless lot, but things evolve so fast that even five years mean a lot more than what they used to be. Five years back from today facebook was perhaps just a new idea, twitter was just about launched and there were no iPhones!

In such relative speed of time and technology changes, it should not be very surprising why Ritchie’s achievements and his adieu to the wonderful word he helped in shaping was lost in the smoke cloud created by the departure of this person who brought digital multimedia so close to the common man (which again was based on Ritchie’s codes to begin with)! 

After all, it’s your show alone that remains in people’s minds and hence only a showman for life shall get a tearful goodbye and boundless gratitude from people for all that he did for them in his life! This perhaps is what the management guys call 'Personal Branding'.

Happy Onam!

A new look for your old car

A quick thought about a new look for our cars.

I was traveling in an auto rickshaw through the rain stricken roads of Chennai when this thought occured to me. To those who do not know/ have not experienced the pathetic traffic conditions of this city, please have a look at one of my earlier post on the city.

Here the vehicles have very high rate of PDA and no moral policing applies for them, so you know they are an indisciplined lot. When my rick was bumped at the back by an oncoming car, I became desperate to find a solution for this recurrent problem.

I wondered how about having a very large car top carrier with edges fitted with rubber cushions or some other form of shock absorbers so that they protrude beyond the area of the car and thus ensure a safe distance between adjacent vehicles at all times?

Then, I thought why not put this to some good use? Since I am hearing everything solar around me these days, it didn't take a long time for the thought to take form. Cover the roof with solar panels that will power the car's air conditioners. Now from the energy saver's point of view, this has added advantage.

Sun ->Heat -> Solar power->AC
No sun/No heat ->No solar power ->No AC!

If it is hot, your AC will work. Otherwise, it will not! Smart right?

Now, will this not make my car very expensive? Hell yeah! And hence I say the government must make this compulsory as part of PUC certificate. Because of this, the number of cars on the road will reduce drastically and with that the traffic as well. People will prefer public transport, so less polution and congestion!

Most road problems addressed in one single shot; Howzzat?!
[Poppin' my collar with pride, and yeah... NO BRICKBATS PLEASE! My insurance has not been renewed yet! :-) ]

Five Reasons Why Anna's Campaign will be a SUPERHIT

Anna Hazare and his team has invigorated a long laid back population of the country beyond any question of doubt. But ever wondered what is it that has made it such a viral success?

Is Anna the superstar of this campaign, or is its success irrelevant of the protagonist?

I gave it a thought, and this is what I found!

Reason # 1
The issue in question touches every individual in the country at the core of his/her day to day problems. You thought corruption? No... I meant MONEY!

I was amazed by the different ways the campaign was being presented- 'Prices will go down', 'Alcohol gets cheaper!', 'No tax for next five years', 'Low fuel price' etc.

For our aam admi who is used to working hard through the day as cheap labor and complaining about his woes all through the evening over bottles of local liquor, the prospect of getting rid of his financial troubles is more appealing than anything (perhaps not alcohol!) and if there is a movement for that he will be there... at any 'cost'!

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Reason # 2
The immediate target of the attack is The Government and the wider target are politicians across party lines. Everyone hates politicians... because they are meant to be hated! (Politicians and political parties are probably the most consistent villains in India's history- even Amrish Puri and Gabbar Amjad Khan did comedy roles at times! )

And the timing could not have come more worse for this valiant 'Tughlaqi' government that nailed its own ministers and officials recently on corruption charges and exposed their own world-class scams.

(Psst... Is the affected DMK party supporting Anna Hazare's campaign to bring down the government? :P)

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Reason # 3
An old man threatening a pachydermal institution (you can call it an empire) to fast unto death in Delhi... sounds very familiar eh?

Yes, his Nehru cap (note the irony! It is named after one of Sonia Gandhi's closest relatives) and Kurta apart, many people consider Anna Hazare as reincarnation of Mahatma Gandhi and needless to say, our parliamentarians as their British counterparts a few decades ago.

And in a style that our dear old Viru Sahastrabuddhe said, ' ... and this is World War... three!', Anna goes out to tell the people that this is second freedom struggle. Why would I not want to be a part of it; something that I missed out in its first part and then ended up reading about in big fat textbooks all through my school days?

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Reason # 4
The success of the Middle East uprising has set a lucrative precedent for people to come out and protest. A bunch of agitated guys with the help of facebook can bring down an entire government... Wow! And there's more... You get noticed and quoted in some of the biggest names in media!

And who knows, 'you' .. yeah you the reader of my blog, could also be India's Wael Ghonim and appear in Time magazine's list of influential people!

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Reason # 5
There is some kind of domino effect here.

-First a group of inspired people initiate the 'crusade'.

-Seeing them, a bigger crowd of people from across the country hop into the wagon (thanks to social media)

-A lot of sensation and buzz is created around the campaign, so the media hops in.

-Media is there and so much of action against the government, the opposition parties hop in.

-So many people, so much of agitation and unrest- time for some international policing and there you have the USA on board! (today they send wishes, tomorrow they send the military- even if that means some more debt!)

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Now you know that Anna's campaign is indeed set to become a blockbuster... chartbuster.... golden jubilee.. blah blah... (I'm lost for words.. i really am!) but we must remember that these are not 'watch now - forget later' scenes from movies!

They have consequences, they have repercussions... So we must think broadly, decide wisely and act intelligently.





It is not about Anna, it is about India!

Chintu's letter to Obama mama ji

[Dedicated to all the Chintus in our society who have nurtured the great American dream since their childhood, and are now at a crossroads.]

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‘Hari sona’ gaon

15 August 2011

Supremely revered Obama-mama ji!

Myself Chintu from India. You won’t know me, but I know you and all the previous Presidents of the USA very well. How is aunty ji? Last week in her interview to the Fox News she sounded like she was having a cold and throat infection. Ask her to take some tablet, and more importantly good amount of rest. Convey my regards to Malia and Sasha. Hope they are doing well in studies.

Mama ji though I was born in India I was raised completely American. No I haven’t travelled to the US without even an Indian passport in my name. When I was a child, my mother got American tinned baby food for me and milk powder that American kids (as the advertisements claimed) were being fed. When I went to school, my parents always spoke about Bittu bhaiya because he went to study in the US. They told me right from my infanthood that America was my destination. They drilled into me the great American dream even before I had learnt to construct my own small dreams!

But you know mama ji, it was far too wonderful to shun; at least when compared to the life back in my gaon. I learnt to grow with it. In schooldays, I had my room covered with everything American- the stars and stripes, statue of liberty, White house, the bald eagle and the liberty bell etc. I have watched more American movies than Bollywood ones! I knew everything about Tom Cruise and Leonardo Di Caprio, and felt it unnecessary to follow their Indian counterparts. I grew up listening to Bob Dylan and Micheal Jackson much more than Kishore Kumar or Kumar Sanu. I have sat up countless late nights and sometimes up to the next morning watching episodes of Friends, Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother even when I did not understand most of the humour in them. When many of my friends fantasized girlfriends like Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif, I was dreaming and talking about Lindsay Lohans and Megan Foxes.

I may not know all the states in India (especially after they added a few more) or their Chief Ministers, but I can definitely name each and every state in the US and their capitals, and in many cases their governors as well. I have subscribed to the New York Times and I never fail to catch up with all the NBA action live late in the night (in India) even if that means going late to class next day or not doing my homework. I adore Kobe and will pledge anything I have to meet him in person. When we had to buy a car and we did not have the money for anything but Maruti 800, I was very depressed. At last I forced my father to take a bank loan (at high rate of interest) so that we could afford the latest Ford in the market. Now I drive it on the highways assuming I am driving down the countryside in the US, with loud American music blaring out of my stereo.

You know my list of most important things to do in the US have recently gone beyond 75 and are expected to touch a century very soon? I can’t wait to get there in a year or two!

But recently I read in the newspaper- whether it was in the Wall Street Journal or NY Times I don’t remember now, that the US is slipping into a double depression and that you are neck (or perhaps, head-) deep in debt. The people around me tell that the US and the great American dream will soon turn into a big fat myth from the past! Tears swell up in my eyes and I can feel the knot in my stomach, at the mere thought of such a thing. Do you know what it means for me mama ji?

It means that my twenty odd years in this world have been utterly futile! My one and only dream in life is shattered, and I will end up being a ludicrous loser in front of my friends and relatives. It could mean that I will remain unemployed forever, or take up farming in my gaon. I will never be able to visit those places I grew up dreaming about. It will be a very rude awakening from a pleasant dream that I have been living all these years!

Mama ji, I fall at your feet. Do not deprive me of my future. Save America! Don’t let it slip off. Shield it with all your might, for you know now that it is not just the American citizens who are Americans- there are a lot many of us across the globe whose dreams, aspirations, hopes and ambitions are pinned to the United States of America. So please bacha lo mama ji!

Pranams to aunty ji, and love to the kids.

Always indebted to you,

Chintu

An Incomplete Attitude Shift

There would be no businessman in today's world who does not appreciate the role of social media in customer engagement, be it for promotion or feedback. If there is someone like that, all that I've got to say to him is 'The world is watching and talking about you even if you to close your eyes and ears!'

Of late I have seen a lot of cases in India where frustrated customers who are not redressed for their concerns approach the wider world to announce the dissatisfaction. Like I read somewhere, gone are the days when your discontent customer complained to his ten close friends. Today he voices it out to thousands and thousands of people on twitter or facebook! And worse still, even if you address the complaint the scar remains in the virtual world for years to come, available to anyone by just keying in your product’s name! If someone out there still questions the power of social media in brand building and developing a loyal clientele, I ‘m afraid you need to open your eyes!

But that is just one side. This attitude of free expression and uncommitted (yet valuable) opinions has evolved with the cyber world and open sourcing. The concept of such synergistic development through sharing has been further promoted extensively by social media network. Reluctant users in India who preferred to stand by the side and observe have at last begun diving into it, and the virtual world created by these networks is precariously threatening the real world which we are so familiar with. Common conversations seem to be dominated by terms like ‘online’, ‘facebook’, ‘wall’, ‘comment’, ‘friend request’, ‘tweet’, ‘post’, ‘network’, ‘follow’ etc. Like every other thing in the past that has been welcomed with apprehension, I am sure social media is also here to stay and it would be only wise to put your thinking hats and ensure that you don’t lose out to competition in making use of this new tool.

Looking at it from the customer’s side, social media networks are very powerful tools to grab the attention of those customer care agents who have been evasive for perhaps months together! I have myself had experiences in this respect. I contacted HDFC Bank and British Airways through twitter for complaints that were being ignored for months and I got immediate response, at least in terms of a reply which indicates that someone has gone through my case and I have a record for it now. The other instance that happened with me is regarding Vodafone. After having spent an entire day in the hassle of listening to IVRS and talking to countless customer care agents with their standard scripts I was annoyed to the extent that I wrote an open letter detailing the issue on my blog and sent the link to the Vodafone customer care ID and twitter account. You won’t believe me, what could not be done in one entire day of telephonic conversations was resolved in half an hour after I got a call from one of their senior executives who read my post! Now that’s the power of social media.

But the attitude shift remains incomplete. If social media is to evolve as the complete marketing and branding space, we must feed all kinds of reviews to the world. As of now it has become the place for companies to promote and customers to complaint. The wider meaning of customer engagement must germinate through these social media platforms. People on their part, must come up with all forms of review. Express your opinions and reviews- bad as well as GOOD! Make the most out of the ‘Like’ and ‘promote’ options if you liked something. It is only then that we realise the true power of social media. Otherwise it would end up as just another vestige once some other new marketing tool is introduced and companies shift their focus to that.

Companies and brands on their part must exploit the opportunities presented by social media to the maximum. They can interact with their existing and prospective customers on a one to one basis through these mediums, and what better way to make each one of them feel important? A customer who feels respected and taken care of, is definitely a success story for your brand loyalty building exercise. She is a promoter of your products through her channel of social networks, and in this new age there is nothing more dependable than network marketing!

Borrowing Victor Hugo’s words- ‘No one can stop an idea whose time has come’ there is no doubt that social media engagement is that new idea for businesses to thrive, and both brands as well as customers have a role to play in shaping it. The process has begun, but still incomplete and awaiting participation...