Employed.. Need Work

In the movie 'Pearl Harbor', there is this scene where Ben Affleck justifies the reason for flying one of the jets which one of his Sr.s referred to as a flying coffin through a single line - 'Not anxious to die, Sir. Just anxious to matter.' which brings me to the power of youth and fresh blood infused into companies each year.

Its amazing the sheer number of people who i have come across, in all the companies that i worked for so far - this one feeling that unites most of them, especially when it is ones first job. The sheer frustration of not having to do anything productive within a company. Most companies recruit freshers - engineers or MBAs with no immediate plans of keeping them occupied. The sheer burning desire to set the world on fire is at its peak at the beginning of ones career, but more than 90% of the freshers are never given any kind of reasonable direction to work and learn. Instead they are just suppressed saying, hey guys - 'this is your honeymoon period so dont bother about work'. Like all things in nature that humans come across, these freshers get used to the idea of not doing anything productive but just whiling away their time. After a while this becomes more of a habit than anything else.

I think all companies need to give a perspective to all these newbies at work as to what is expected of them - in terms of showing them the means to learn, improve themselves and actually set them of path of continuous learning.

Dilli Dilwalon ki

Dilli – enchanting and horrifying are two words that i would say, best describe the capital of the country. Its ironical that such antonyms are used to describe the same thing. It is certainly a breathing and living creature with such extremities that it sums up the nation, that is India. Widely believed to be the legendary capital of the pandavas, then known as Indraprastha, it has been the seat of power for hundreds and thousands of years.

My first fascination of Delhi started with the stories that my parents narrated about, from their 6 year stay in Delhi. For a lower middle class South Indian family which moved from an unheard of tiny village Karkala (udupi district) in Karnataka to the national capital in the 70’s, it was a giant giant leap of faith, courage and fear. From the tropical humid climate of Dakshina Kannada

with moderate temperatures all through the year and thunderous downpour from time to time, they were thrown into a cauldron which went from boiling hot in summer to down-right shivering cold in winter. My mom used to narrate with an ever present sense of wonder that Connaught Place alone contained more people at any point of time than all the people in the neighbouring ten villages around Udupi. The undeniable love for food of the Delhi-ites, from the lip smacking paranthas with tons of butter, the hot jalebis, the golgappas with their inimitable taste and the hundreds of paneer and chicken items that were dished out, made Dilli a wonderland of food. The beautiful women with spotless complexion and sharp features shopping all the while with glee, the sardars who looked like they could bring down an elephant, the loud, obnoxious, care-free chatter in the neighbourhood. The festivities celebrated with gay abandon throughout the year, the colourful holi, the loud diwali, the Ram Leela celebrations, the republic day parade and innumerable such festivals made it a truly amazing riot of festivities were the most enchanting memories that my parents brought forth in front of my eyes time and again.

This image was further enhanced by ‘Delhi 6’ – a masterpiece of a movie, romanticising the concept of old Delhi like no other. Shot in the narrow by lanes and shallow rooftops of Chandni Chowk, it had incredible cinematography to make one want to live right in the middle of this bustling city. The lyrics from the title song of ‘Delhi 6’ summed up the attitude that encompasses Delhi.

Yeh dilli hai mere yaar
Bas ishq mohabbat pyaar

And yet, 30 years after my parent moved out Delhi, when i first moved to NCR last year to join HP as a 25 year old MBA grad, it was with a great sense of fear and anticipation. Coming from the cool climes of Bangalore, the first gust of hot wind that hit my face when the airplane door opened at the IGI airport at Delhi in the month of July, made me even more sceptical about this place. My first taxi ride from the airport to the guest house in Gurgaon was full of fear of being looted, kidnapped and killed. Today i have once again moved back to NCR’s Ghaziabad which is even more notorious for such activities. So, what has really changed this city in these 30 years? Is it the sheer pace of growth? Or is it the farmers around NCR who become overnight crorepatis with property prices skyrocketing? Or has anything changed at all? I think only a Delhi-ite whose lived in this city through these changes can answer this question...

“Dilli, dilli, dilli... dilllliiiii.... Mera kaat kaleja dilli... meri jaan bhi leja dilli...” – the song from the movie ‘No one killed Jessica’ is a testament to the dark side of Delhi. A Delhi that even the most hard core Delhiites dread. Women getting raped, people being robbed at gunpoint, firearms going off at the slightest of insignificant triggers, tempers flaying all the time, gaalis flying left right and center – i dread to live in this city.

Not all is lost though. A vast majority of this city consists of beautiful souls, people who care, people who empathise but ones who are innately selfish like the rest of the country. But, it is the minority who have such a strong hold on the psyche of the majority which is driving this majority to be defensive, self-centered and helpless.

A comment was made by the home minister some time back that it’s the immigrants in the city of Delhi who are driving up the crime rate. Even though that might be partially true, it is the very essence of a cosmopolitan culture. Every city and country in this world is a melting pot of people moving cities. It certainly doesn’t justify the crime rates. The lack of prosecutions, people

with political or bureaucratic connections almost always getting away with the crime, corrupt police are large enough holes for pretty much all criminals to get away from the net of law.

There was this ‘kala bandar’ in the news a few years back which had terrorised

the capital. Some called it a hoax – a human playing a prank, others called it a holy spirit and the news channels were all ga ga over it. There are a lot of kala bandars hidden within this city and in the middle of us who we safely ignore until we are at the receiving end. In the movie ‘Delhi 6', there is a mentally unstable man who goes around showing the mirror to everybody and nobody ever bothers to decipher what he is saying. Well... it’s about time that the city looks at itself in the mirror and does some serious cleaning up... otherwise it won’t be long before the city literally goes to the dogs.... or shall i say to the monkeys...

How far is too far?

What’s Marico up to?

This is one company with a few successful brands created over the years. Mostly, being pioneers in entering the market with a common product with extreme mass appeal. If you look the way a product, coconut hair oil was introduced in a market (country) where almost everyone is used to applying hair on their head. It tapped a very important segment of the market where a packaged hair oil product provided convenience and the promise of purity. But, today in order to tap the opportunity seen in brand extension, innumerable products have been created. Right from parachute advansed, parachute aftershower, parachute gel, parachute HOT oil. Why would somebody want something touching their skin and becoming hot? Its a horrible thought !!!


There is a famous example of things goin wrong as far as brand extensions go. Miller Beer. They had very successful core brand in Miller. They launched a brand extension called 'Miller Lite' in the 80's. Then, came a whole lot of extensions. There was still Miller High Life (hanging on by a thread) and Miller Lite, but also Miller Lite Ice, Miller High Life Lite, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Genuine Draft Lite, Miller Reserve, Miller Reserve Lite, Miller Reserve Amber Ale and the very short-lived Miller Clear. The trouble was not so much that there were too many Miller brands (although that was indeed a problem) but that they were variations of each other, rather than a variation of one core brand. The problem of identity was their biggest problem. Whereas drinkers could go into a bar and say to the bartender, ‘I’ll have a Budweiser,’ causing little confusion, if they said, ‘I’ll have a Miller,’ the bartender would inevitably ask, ‘Which Miller?’





The other brand that they own - Saffola. The first ones to identify an opportunity in this segment for healthy oils. Today, again they resort to extending this brand to introduce cholestrol management and diabetes management products. Worst of all there was a product which was launched targetting the instant foods category !!!

‘Leverage is good, too much leverage is bad,’ says brand guru Tom Peters.

Has Marico lost confidence in its ability to create new brands??? Or is it guided (rather misguided) by the concept of play safe just to make short term gains. At least there are no visible attempts to come up with a new brand to expand its product portfolio.
Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s a product’s or campaign ability to bring in the moolah consistently over a period of time that determines the success or failure of a brand.

I will try and put my views in this blog about some of the biggest brands that are in India today and are part of our everyday life. These brands had and continue to fascinate me from my childhood. Their evolution, their successes, their failures give an amazing insight into the way Indian companies have dealt with the economy opening up, competition from foreign co.s and their bid to globalize their products today, fearlessly.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the above article are in no way malignant towards one company. But, just a critique from whatever little understanding I have about marketing.

Do you see it?

I am someone who falls between the category of an atheist and a believer in the concept of God. There is a belief in the existence of this power/energy which is existent in all of us. Mankind has evolved over the years and advanced in technological prowess over the last two centuries at an incredible pace. But, our knowledge about our existence is limited. There are limited answers to the origin of life and the universe. Then, there is the spiritual side, which deals with the basic need for our existence as animals, on this planet.

We have a few answers to these questions by researchers who have reserched over many years, and many for a life time to draw scientific conclusions. The big bang is supposed to be the mother of all that is existence today. But, wat existed before the big bang. Well, we don’t have the answers to those questions as yet. In fact, the big bang theory has been questioned. Then, coming to question of our evolution. Out of the millions of years of existence of earth, we are the only intelligent creatures to have ruled the earth as per our knowledge. Or, is it? Is there a possibility, that there was a life form more intelligent than us, in existence a few million years before us. The concept of time and space are amazing among themselves.

Why is that only man has evolved as fast as he has, to become the dominant creature on this planet? Or, is it a case of surreal existence, something like what The Matrix Trilogy presents? We were meant to be food for carnivores for a very long time as per historians. Then, we turned preadators in some parts of the world.

We have this unique concept of Gods in my native, Udupi, Karnataka. People worship the elements called the "Pancha Bhoota" or the five elements in nature. Probably, the closest it gets to my understanding of God or nature.

We are the most intelligent creatures on earth. Some set of scientists must have figured out a lot of things which we havent been informed of, fearing anarchy cos the finding might be too complicated to understand.

I hope one day i develop the understanding of some kinda connection between the real and the unreal world.

Sports and me

Parents pressurise us to study in school to get into a good college in PU(10+2), as is the norm in Karnataka. Slog it out in PU, to get into a good engineering college. Slog it out in engineering to get a good job. Get frustrated with the job, and start preparing for the CAT. Slog it out for CAT/SNAP/XAT/etc., to get into a good B-school.

Sounds familiar. Well, yes. For most of the middle class indian boys/girls, this is the way we are brought up. The parents are not wrong in a way to bring us up this way.For the generation to which our parents belong to, they have struggled throughout life. There have been times in my parents lives at least when they made a living out of the barest minimum. And have a strong belief that it is studies that matter and nothing else does.

This attitude, which is right in its own way is probably a reason why we are poor sporting country. Arts are encouraged to a certain level in certain families. But, the most common thought is to restrict the kids to playing gully cricket or lukka-chuppi, come back home do your homework and sleep.

"As a country we lack the fitness culture." This is the oft heard terminology. But, is that true?


Yes, i believe we lack the fitness culture. But, has it been like this always? Probably not. We are nation who had our own sports. Akhadas ,which still exist in some part of the country, were in a way, the gymnasiums of the past. Games like Kabaddi, hockey, etc., came into existence in India. But, the British India suffered from repression and hunger. To fight back, the mentality has always been to work hard enough to feed your stomach well.


When i look at my fitness levels today, playing games like badminton. I feel vastly inadequate. At school, there were only two games played, volleyball and basketball. With a idiotic P.T., who didnt care a damn about anything else, but to have the best volleyball team at the school level in Karnataka. The yearly sports meet and the qualifiers for the same were nothing short of a joke. And today, there are schools increasingly, especially in cities, without even a proper playground. At the school level is where, sportsmen are born. But, our educational system, seems to strangle the Micheal Johnsons, the Maradonas and the Dhanraj Pillays at this level.


But, luckily enough, today, there are enough parents today belonging to the upper middle class, forming a substantial number who encourage their kids to excel in sports. There is thought that, their children should get the opportunities that they never got. This is a good start. But, we need a series of inspirational sporting achievements, in olympic sports to change the mindset of the majority.

Looking back today, the only thing on my mind is i should have improved my fitness vastly long back. But, today is a good day to start, is the thought that goes into my mind everyday and Ms.Laziness takes me in her stride and convinces me to take the first step tomorrow.

But, today, i promise to get up first thing in the morning tomorrow and go for a jog.

Unless, Ms.Laziness seduces me all over again...