Bhopal Gas Tragedy !!… a new article on our blog http://ping.fm/jWtEz

Business is not financial science, it’s about training and hence trading !!!!

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

A small town with picturesque settings…a land of joy, a land of beauty & a land full of happy lives. Then one day tragedy strikes, a disaster where thousands perish, the beauty & the lives all disappear into the abyss of greed, deceit and power!!! A tragedy forever embedded in the sands of time as the disastrous Bhopal Gas Tragedy that not only took the lives of thousands but also took the belief of thousands from the Indian judicial system for good. How I wish this was a script of a Bollywood blockbuster, but to my grief and that of the entire nation’s this isn’t. At least if it would have been a movie script, after all the carnage and the loss we would have got a fitting retribution when the evil meets its disastrous and deserving end.

Our entire lives we learn, teach or preach the importance of responsibility but it is bizarre that the while so many people lost their lives due to negligence by a few, we are unable to bring to justice those few who were responsible. In a country boasting to be the largest democracy of the world and a government proudly tagged as “for the people, of the people and by the people”, the people are neglected by choice or by chance. What occurred in Bhopal on the fatefull December night of 1984 is merely a prelude to what the city has faced till date. If after 16 years after the incident, our comfortable living rooms do not comfort us while we follow the trial of justice for the Bhopal victims on news channels, imagine the life of a survivor who didn’t even have the chance to see it coming but has endured it till date to know that his torture and misery has been negotiated for a paltry reimbursement.

The idea is not to raise fingers or take sides because in a nation where innumerable factions thriving on controversies we would become an inconsequential addition to the bandwagon. In case of what happened in Bhopal, the who’s, the why’s and the how’s are quite evident to us but they have been for the last 16 years being immaculately shielded by the if’s and the but’s. By nature, past history and by experience the powers deciding the fates of those who suffered have understood that they are dealing with a mass of people who will shout, protest and will soon compromise with the rest. The truth is that, we are tied down by our personal quests to find time to fight such battles and tend to leave it saying life moves on.

As said, life does move on and the Bhopal of today is the best example of  that saying. A city struck with a disaster of biblical proportions has slowly but steadily gotten back into its groove and made itself noticed to the entire nation. From scenic landscapes to formidable infrastructure, Bhopal has carved itself a spot in the India’s books of culture tradition and innovation. The city boasts not only about being a platform for traditional arts and culture but also about the numerous prestigious educational institutes it sports. This justifies its will to grow but does it justify its will to let go?

No true Indian how occupied or busy he is, can ever let go of what happened in Bhopal in the winters of 1984 and all that the city and its people demand, is closure. My grandmother always said that “an innocent person’s curse has to be feared the most” and for once I hope she is right, because where the justice has failed, lets hope that the curses prevail!!!

Keep it Tight to Keep it Right

Back in the olden days, well not that old, but more of those days when I was doing my undergrad in management studies, I had some major grievances against the management culture inculcated in colleges. To start with, there is Mr. Philip Kotler who decided to write a freaking bible on marketing management and his disciple, our professor, wanted us to join the “Kotler Cult” by knowing that book by heart!! Well in my defense, how is it supposed to be fun when there are no pictures in it? And like these, there were many minor and solvable issues, but the mother issue was something else. You know how excited people get about class presentations, well I hated it!! Not because you had to stand in front of the entire class and present to them like a salesmen selling the most boring product on planet earth but because you had to all the above wearing tight, uncomfortable formals with a tie ever ready to choke you!!!

Its no shame to admit that I was more of an informal person and a rebel without a cause at that. Means, when 90% of the class wore immaculate formals and had the clean shaven “I can sell the world” look, I was addicted to t-shirts with slogans like “allergic to morons” and my look was more on the lines of “I sold the world and made a huge loss but I don’t care”. Not to add that my popularity ratings were at a all time low then and looking back I did spend a lot of time standing with my head bowed outside the dean’s cabin. But then as an exception and a compulsion, we all used to wear formals for our class presentation, guest lectures or industrial visits, in short any activity where we were supposedly marketing ourselves to the outside world. The tight formals combined with the insane heat made me realize that instead of global warming the world should be concerned about the formal warming!

But today in the corporate world, the formals speak the tone of business without actually saying anything. The tucked in shirts and the checkered ties with their “samosa knots” are truly what add the super powers of business to a man, making him “The Businessman”. And “even a rebel still without a cause” like me has to admit that the formals add italics and make the statement “I mean business” bold and noticeable. More of with the choices of formal dressing and with the advent of media, formals have transcended in to a subtle level of coolness, though not for everyone! Also many offices have informal weekends these days where you can unleash your casual side but then its necessary to be mellow as Mondays do follow weekends and you don’t want to be touted as Rodney The Clown! But the bottom line remains, “to mean business, look like you mean business”.

While all of the above is true, being a part of the hippy generation and a avid fan clothes that don’t stick to my body like snake skin I stuck to a line of work that lets me be. I can quote a lot of situations where formals really don’t help (rains, heat, a quick strip etc) but they are equal number of areas where they set a tone and are necessary for the perfect look and feel of being corporate. But that’s me so don’t let the formal warming hold you back. We live in a age where the look makes the first impression and if management is your poison then formals is the perfect catalyst. After all even a non corporate and a casual person like me believes that “keep it tight to keep it right” and as my god, Mr Bachchan had once said “Tumhara tailor ka bill do humko, humko tumahara suit pehane ka style bahut pasand aya….Maloom!”

Attention… Details ahead!!

Growing up for most of us with an average human intelligence we had to face subjects of two kinds, one that is beyond our understanding and the second would be the one beyond our liking. In my case, the disastrous mathematics filled the spot of the former whereas a subject called craft & drawing occupied the later spot. In fact I was so bad at it that my father had instructed me to write the name of the object I was drawing beneath the picture so that the teachers don’t misunderstand it as doodling (happened more than once!!). With such intrinsic artistic abilities, it would be unnecessary to say what a torrid time I had drawing & erasing & redrawing my chemistry and biology journals. And when I would be barely make a decent drawing of a funnel, my efficient teacher would point out that I need to detail out the tip or the mouth of the funnel a bit more so that it’s not mistaken for a pot. I always wondered if my dad and my chemistry teacher were siblings sepereated in a Kumbh Mela!!!

Petrified with the lack of M. F. Hussain’s panache and skill in me, I decided to opt for commerce instead of science, post my 10^thstandard. But where drawing died, detailing remained and I am glad about that because to a big extent detailing has always helped me in studies particular in the management courses and work afterwards. The funda is simple, a little detailing and attention to mundane stuff make your work look extraordinary,more focused and gives you the stamp of wanting to going that extra mile for an extra mark. The party in front be it professors or clients feel that you have the urge to know more and it exhibits the sincerity towards the given work. This funda first struck to me during my thesis on “packaging of consumable items”, where the examiner was more impressed by the preserved silver foil of a dairy milk chocolate pasted on the first page of my thesis, than the cut copy pasted text that followed it. To be precise it took him back his golden days of his childhood and an “a+” from him took me to the golden days of my adulthood. The point is, most above you or those instructing you are looking for the bits they know exist but are rarely given importance. A sale pitch presentation for a talcum powder with jasmine essence can be on simple slides or with sides having a floral bordering. The text is the same in both but the latter gets more attention as the client feels that you have given importance to the smallest detail of the product.

Due to our ability to misconstrue or to read between the lines, it would be important to clarify that detailing only works when the content is solid. Let us not assume that floral slides with an average sales plan and negligible market forecasts will ensure you a happy client! The point if you gone the whole way what is an extra mile for that extra advantage. Detailing is a vast area and one statutory warning would be, if you want to do it, do it right. Because an average job without detailing might still pass off as a decent job but if the details are inaccurate you might as well climb on the crucifix yourself!! Usually visual detailing is much more easier in comparison content detailing as the latter needs heavy & focussed research to find those bits will add ingenuity to your work.

Many believe that in macro concepts, attention to detail should be minimum, I respectfully disagree, I believe, in macro concepts, the smallest detail will garner maximum attention…try it and you shall not dissappoint.

When you’re in a pit, the first thing to do is to stop digging. Learn the techniques of Financial Management at Leeds Met India, Bhopal

The Choice, The Choosing & The Chosen… a new article on our blog http://bit.ly/bszOHi

The Choice, The Choosing & The Chosen

Choice

• Noun- 1 an act of choosing. 2 the right or ability to choose. 3 a range from which to choose. 4 something chosen.
• Adjective- 1 of very good quality. 2 (of language) rude and abusive.

(As per the online oxford dictionary)

Now that the definitions are out of the way, one clarification… “the choice” I intend to talk about, is the one in the noun form, and if the verb form of it (chosen) isn’t proper usually the feedback is form of the adjective no.2 (check the definition above)! The idea here is not to analyze the category of choices, because according to me, choices are in the category of tenses i.e. past tense- the time thought of taking them, present tense- the time you were taking them and the future tense- the time you will have to face after taking them. I am sure many would disagree and rate them on the level of their importance, but my point here is, if they ain’t important then they are as good as choices of whether or not to wash your hands after using the restroom.

Now the choices that we usually come across as kids, students, adults or as senior citizens are those that demand intelligence, experience and expertise. While kids usually get away due to the under age factor, adults due to intelligence and expertise they posses and senior citizens partially because of a weak heart and grey or no hair which provides them consistent sympathy votes. It’s the students, and by students I mean undergrads, grads, post grads and the just completed studies & in a job, who usually find themselves in heat of choices. It is this kind of individuals who are usually judged for the choices they make invariably ignoring the circumstances in which the tough choices had to be made. Choices of career, choices of life and choices at work are usually the choices that can transform the “us generation” to the “was generation” due to immense pressure and expectations on us. I find it remarkable that when a choice is wrong or assumed to be wrong, people around us are ever-ready to point out what we lacked and how little faith they had in us right from the beginning, I mean, if you know it that we will blow it, then why didn’t you open your trap in the past tense?

Usually more often than not we tend to use our limited mind and limited experiences when it comes to taking tough choices and expect good results like everyone else. Well there ain’t nothing wrong with that but it’s just that more often than not, taking choices are much better if taken with adequate research of the pros and cons and if possible a case study of someone who has attempted the same choice before. While pros and cons help you decide, the case study is for you to know the situation that can befall you in case things go haywire and if it does you always have a case study to hold up as a witness to the fact that you are not the only one sailing in that wretched boat. As usual, institutions & individuals will always train, advice and warn you based on their experiences (get used to the “I have seen life” quote). If the choice isn’t great one what usually matters is how you react after the choice is made, either you admit you took it and stick to it or you chicken out and blame the circumstances for taking it. Personally I prefer the “stick to your guns” philosophy because either ways you will be getting an earful & better to get it with some pride!

Well if any of us thought that I had something new to share or something solution, I am sure by now they might have gotten disgusted cheated & logged off. The idea was to elaborate how bad choices can get for many of us and there is least we can do except taking them. And after taking them all we can do is wish and wish that, “Yehi hai right choice …ahan???”

Losing is sometimes an option!

It was once said that a game should be played with a sportsman spirit. The use of past tense in the previous line is just to indicate that we no longer believe in that thought. One of the biggest news hitting our TV screens these days is Team India’s loss at the T20 world cup. Being an avid cricket fan, even I felt the pinch seeing the dismal performance of our team and yet I do believe that at the end it’s just a game. But then I am also sure that not many would share my belief, especially people like my neighbor who thinks the whole team including the coach driver has taken money. And his suggestion was that the whole team should be fired, and I believe if uncle wasn’t a charted accountant he would have definitely applied to become a member of BCCI.

It’s like in our heads we don’t think loosing is an option no matter however skilled and formidable our opponent is.  The same is also our approach in our daily lives and at work, to always have an upper hand. Be it a seat in the train, a friendly debate or a corporate deal, we always want be one step ahead of the game. But we rarely sit back to think that at time winning might be more expensive that losing? Adults tend to defy logic when it comes to situations where competition is unnecessary, they egg their kids to finish their food fast with such fervor that the kid feels he will achieve a Nobel Prize if he can somehow increase his swallowing power. Parents expect their kids to top the exams but they forget that the 1 is not the only number; it is followed by 2, 3 and so on. The kids grow with this thought and soon work, studies & even life becomes a needless competition. Not commenting of about life but when it comes to work and studies it is necessary to distinguish the difference between competing and competition. “Give your best and let the fate handle the rest” is what we need to realize.

Surprisingly the emerging generation or so to say my generation (here is where I change sides) seems to be freeing itself of such notions and in our bid to be liberated we do bring a certain amount of illogical and impractical thoughts on the table yet it’s refreshing in its own right. For example, in addition to cricket being our game of choice, we add formula one racing to the list and cheer for the teams which are completely non -Indian which gives us very little scope of tasting defeat. But on a serious note, in life its necessary to some times ease on the aggression to see our option clearly. If we want to win we might lose it all but if we compete we give ourselves a fair chance to lead. its always been preferred to make profit and cut losses but at times immediate losses might be future profit. After all its never over till the last ball is bowled and when that ball comes we don’t want to be resting in pavilion due to exhaustion.

They say change is inevitable and change is good…well we are the change! And it is important to realize that we still want to win and we shall, but in case we lose, it’s not the end of the world for us, after all if the past has taught is that, failure is a stepping stone to success, then our new breed of rebellious minds should believe that, “ Losing is sometimes an option”…

Admissions Open: Enter at your own risk!!!

A few days back, while spending some quality times at my native place I came across a situation which I could only categories as an “Educational discrimination”. One of my cousins’s secured supposedly out of the world grades in his board exams and was felicitated to the extent that I thought that he was the next C.V.Raman in making. Meanwhile his poor brother who had not done so well in his boards was being treated as a social outcast. Acting like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, I tried to protest against this discrimination but my aunt’s one question kind of put my rebellion to an end. And the classic question was, “With such low marks, how will he get admitted in any good college?” Asked completely in a Rakhee Gulzar’s “Mere Karan-Arjun ayenge” style, Aunt Lalita Pawar did have a point.

Like my aunt, many other parents believe that the benchmark of a good future lies in the report cards and the piece of paper called mark sheets. But what they ignore is the fact that we are living in the year 2010 and the “har galti ki sazaa maut” can’t be the attitude towards kids. Globalization has effectively made life simpler for the so called back benchers by bringing new opportunities and thus increasing the range of the educational courses being offered in the sub continent. Today there are careers other than doctors, engineers and farmers though it’s the first two that work best when it comes to impressing the opposite party in cases of arranged marriage. But if I were to belive that by saying all this I would convince those heart-broken parents, I know I am mistaken. The purpose here is to convince the kids that scoring fewer marks in any exams isn’t equivalent to failure and unless you inspire to be a scientist and work in NASA, life is a much bigger test where mark-sheets are simple scraps of papers.

Today educational institutions both Indian and the overseas based have introduced entrance exams that judge your capabilities in various levels of skills needed in that field. Try to choose your career based on the area of your interest and not in the area of what your grades indicate to be the best options for you because tests can lie but your heart wont. Colleges around the nation today know that a student needs to have the drive and the ambitions to learn and to master and hence they include group discussion and personal interviews to know their applicants better. Its necessary for these students to understand that the only qualities needed while pursuing their dream especially when they are considered to two step behind the starting line is will power and ambition to face what lies ahead.

So while being chided by your parents for being useless, use the internet to find courses that suit your interest and if you don have one find the course that fits the bill to pursue you dream of a chilled out future. After all, our dear Uncle Einstein, a brilliant scientist, a recipient of the Nobel Prize and the inventor of the shock-laga hairstyle has himself said, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in schoo