Success is a participative and collective process...

The Corn Story

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning CORN. Each year he entered his CORN in the state fair where it won honor and prizes. Once a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked. "Why sir, "said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn." The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbors’ corn also improves. So it is in the other dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbors and colleagues to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well.

Success does not happen in isolation. It is very often a participative and collective process.

Courtesey: emaill circulated by my friend.

Mumbaitale 'RAJ'karan

For the past 1 month we have been reading a lot pertaining to the ongoing war between few leaders in Mumbai and the North Indian people/politicians. And the cause is to protect the rights of marathi manoon.
Different people interpreting the whole problem in different ways. The political parties/media are trying to get mileage out of it. Myself being a marathi who is presently staying outside Maharashtra, was also curious and was following up the same since the beginning. I am not very sure how it started exactly, but the comments by Raj gave a good publicity to the whole episode and it all started in a big way. It became a national issue and Raj also became national Hero inbetween.:-)
It won't be easy to say who started it all. We can't blame a single person here. Also it is not so easy to easily justify if whatever Raj did was right or wrong. I won't be writing anything on that as enough has been discussed so far. It's just few points which I felt should be discussed and everybody should be aware of. If one thinks carefully, there are many unspoken things which one must ponder upon. Forget the political angle, but one really needs to think about the core issue. I am also a Marathi, I have stayed in Mumbai and I have closely seen/faced few things. As we say Mumbai is a metro city in true sense. It has always accepted people from all over the country. There is a saying in Hindi that 'Yaha koi Bukha nahee raheta' (Everybody survives in Mumbai). Yes, for decades people from all part of the country, from all races, poor and rich all have come to Mumbai and got sucked into it's lifeline. Mumbai changed fortunes of many. So the so called migrants coming to Mumbai is not new. Then why this sudden outburst. The outburst is also not new. Almost 40 years ago, when Balasaheb Thakarey formed 'Shivsena', the same agitation against the South Indians/North Indians had happened. And it has continued at regular intervals. And yes he benefitted from it to certain extent. His party ruled Maharashtra for a shroter stint.

Mumbai

Why so many people come to Mumbai. Because it is the financial/economical hub, used to be the industrial hub till mid nineties. Film Industry, stock market, IT Industry, Underworld head qurters all were housed here. The growth/development of the city started much earlier compared to other cities in India. Take the examples of Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad it's just past 15 years since the development began. Moreover Mumbai had so called open culture. 'Atithi Devo bhav', everybody is treated like a guest here. Hindi/English were the primary languages spoken here and not Marathi. What else anybody would have expected. So in 60s/70s the industry was also pretty much concentrated here. And the result was but obvious. The jobs were getting created, it needed huge manpower. Jobs were not available so easily in other states.

Till that time all was fine. But eventually what started happening was all the jobs were getting captured by the outsiders. Yes, all low scale/high scale jobs were going to outsider. And the local people were almost thrown out of their jobs which were inherited from their forefathers. All low scale jobs such as labourers, cab drivers, riksha drivers, mill workers, Fisherman, Sabjeewala, middle management, top management, literally all the jobs. These lower or lower middle class people form the masses of society. And when the so called 'bhoomiputra' become jobless/unemployed, that's when the problem starts. I strongly beleive this is what has started happening recently. Say there are some 300 odd jobs available in Railway recruitement and almost 275 go to outsiders, who will not feel bad. Obviously there will be some sort of resentment among the people. On top of it there is this arrogance showed by these outsiders, then there comes the show of strength and the issue become complecated.

Government needs to sit back and think seriously, rather than detaining few people. There should be a concious effort to protect the rights of the locals. You can't make the locals jobless at the cost of outsiders. The industry should not be concentrated at one region. The decentralization of industry has just started happening, but still no sincere efforts have been made by the policy makers. The north states(Rajastan, UP, Bihar, MP) and the north indian states still lack the basic infrastructure and the industries. All the growth still concentrated to few states down south. Wake up government, wake up.
Local people, are we putting in enough hardwork? When someoutsider comes and snatches your job literally. Have you ever though why it has happened? Because he is willing to do all the hardwork. It's question of his survival. Whereas we have become complacent. We don't want to do the low end jobs. We directly want to become managers. "Wakayachee tayareech nahee ajibaat'. Obviously how will you survive in the competition.
Politicains please learn!Coming back to the above episode, the political parties are just taking mileage out of it. They are just trying to play with the emotions and sentiments of the people. I am not defending or justifying what 'Raj' did. But based on whatever little I have learnt, he is enjoying a huge support. Many people may not have openly supported him, but yes he has huge support of masses.
So it will be wrong if you detain Raj or extend the GAG order. This is not at all solving the root problem. If it is 'Bal Thakarey' or 'Raj' Thakarey', tomorrow there will be somebody else. Also Raj never told people to attack the cabbies, Samosawalas, it was all the people who vented their anger.
All the politicians are playing enough with the emotions with people. In fact I strongly believe that they provoke the innocent people, who are otherwise living in harmony. What's the need for 'Amarsingh' and 'Mulayam SIngh' yadav to come down to Mumbai and perform the Shakti pradarshan. We all very well know there leaders have been literally thrown out of the power by Su. Shri Mayawati. Amar Singh and Mulayam are job less in UP and trying to Shakti pradarshan in Mumbai. What's the need for out Honorable Lalu Prasad to challenge 'Raj' Thakaray about the CHAAT Pooja. They need to focus more on their state and not poke nose in other states. Can they do the same in Tamilnadu, West Bengal?
Why are people trying to give a rigional angle to whole issue without solving the root cause. Also are the Gujrati's, South Indians, Bengali's not staying in Mumbai peacefully. Have their leaders ever tried to do any sort of shakti pradarshan in Mumbai. Did anyone ever heard of any issues between Gujrati/marwadi/sindhi and the marathis. Forget mumbai, The gujrati's/marwari's are everywhere in India. They have peacefully setteled in other parts of the world and they have become part and parcle of the scociety where they have setteled. Why the UP/Bihari can't do the same. Why they try to create another UP and Bihar wherever they go? There was even a bigger mess which happened I believe in Orissa. One Bihari comes and then 100 come along with him. No issues with that. But if you are in Maharashtra or anywhere, then respect the local culture. You can not try to force your culture on others. recently I read that the north Indian corporators were demanding 'Hindi' to be made as official language in Mumbai corporation. First of all why is that so? Will you make Marathi as the official language in UP and Bihar corporations. Some Delhi senior office named 'Melhotra' himself has talked about the attitude problem of these UP and Bihari people. Raj has been refrained from making provokative statments. How about Amarsingh, Lalu Prasad, Au Azami???
Politicians, you are all elected leaders of house. Don't yu think it's your responsibility to behave sensibly.?

Learning knowledge management from Ramayan and Mahabharat

Epics of India, Ramayan and Mahabharata, war ends not with celebration of victory but with transmission of knowledge . In the Ramayan, Ravan lies mortally wounded on the battlefield and the monkeys are celebrating their victory, when Ram turns to his brother , Lakshman, and says, “While Ravan was a brute, he was also a great scholar. Go to him quickly and request him to share whatever knowledge he can.”
The obedient Lakshman rushes to Ravan’s side and whispers in his ears, “Demonking , all your life you have taken not given. Now the noble Ram gives you an opportunity to mend your ways. Share your vast wisdom. Do not let it die with you. For that you will be surely be blessed.”
Ravan responds by simply turning away. An angry Lakshman goes back to Ram and says: “He is as arrogant as he always was, too proud to share anything.” Ram looks at his brother and asks him softly, “Where did you stand while asking him for knowledge?” “Next to his head so that I hear what he had to say clearly.” Ram smiles, places his bow on the ground and walks to where Ravan lies. Lakshman watches in astonishment as his brother kneels at Ravan’s feet. With palms joined, with extreme humility, Ram says, “Lord of Lanka, you abducted my wife, a terrible crime for which I have been forced to punish you. Now, you are no more my enemy. I see you now as you are known across the world, as the wise son of Rishi Vishrava. I bow to you and request you to share your wisdom with me. Please do that for if you die without doing so, all your wisdom will be lost forever to the world.” To Lakshman’s surprise, Ravan opens his eyes and raises his arms to salute Ram, “If only I had more time as your teacher than as your enemy. Standing at my feet as a student should, unlike your rude younger brother, you are a worthy recipient of my knowledge. I have very little time so I cannot share much but let me tell you one important lesson I have learnt in my life. Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things which are actually good for always fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination . That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Ram. My last words. I give it to you.” With these words, Ravan dies.

There’s similar knowledge transmission after the Mahabharat war is over and the Kauravas are all dead. As the victorious Pandavas are about to assume control of Hastinapur, Krishna advises them to talk to Bhisma, their grand uncle, who lies mortally wounded on the battlefield. As a result of a blessing, death would elude him for some time. “Make him talk until his last breath. Ask him questions. He has a lot to tell,” says Krishna. Sure enough, when prompted , the dying Bhisma spends hours discussing various topics: history, geography, politics, economics , management, war, ethics, morality, sex, astronomy , metaphysics and spirituality . Bhisma’s discourse is captured in the Shanti Parva (discussions of peace) and Anushasan Parva (discussions on discipline) that makes up a quarter of the Mahabharata. After listening to their grandsire, the Pandavas have a better understanding of the world, and this makes them better kings.

Long has this knowledge drain been recognised. Over the past decade, a whole new business process known as knowledge management has evolved that seeks to harness, store, transmit this knowledge . Every CEO agrees that it is a valuable business process, that investment in it is critical. Policies have been made, people have been hired and systems have been deployed.
Unfortunately, for all the initial enthusiasm, implementation has been lacking. Unlike retrieving cash, retrieving knowledge from employees, both current and future, is not easy. Often because they are like Sahadeva. Sahadeva was the youngest Pandava and, in the South Indian Mahabharata, he is described as an expert in many predictive sciences such as astrology , palmistry and face reading. But he is cursed: if he ever gave any information voluntarily , his head will split into a thousand pieces. That is why he is silent throughout the epic.
He knows every fortune and misfortune that his family will go through, but he can never use his knowledge to forewarn anyone. When Yudhishtira finally learns of his brother’s prowess he is furious. “Why did you not tell me all that you knew?” All he gets in response is Sahadeva’s silence. Most employees in an organisation are Sahadevas. Sahadevas are of two types: either they are unwilling to share their knowledge or they don’t have the means to do so. The former category knows that knowledge is power and will not give it away under any
circumstances. The latter category is willing to share knowledge but either no one asks them for it or there is no system where they can make it available for others.

Knowledge Management is leadership driven. Only a Ram, not a Laskhman can do it. He must first believe in it. He must respect the fact that everyone in his organisation, even those who he does not particularly like, are repositories of great wisdom – not only knowledge of things that work but also knowledge of things that do not work. He must make conscious efforts to capture as much of it as possible. The simplest method is talking to people, while they are on the job and especially when they are leaving the organisation . An exit interviews must never be a ritual. Neither must it be an exercise to just get the venom out nor an exercise to expose the underbelly that has prompted the resignation. It must be a concerted effort to gather what was the knowledge acquired between joining and leaving the organisation. Interviews work if the organisation is mall. As the organisation grows in size one needs a more formal system, at
the very least a simple archival system managed by a clerk or secretary but on a larger scale, a sophisticated knowledge repository , a kind of electronic cupboard where at least the final version of presentations, documents and spreadsheets of key business events can be stored.
This sounds very logical but most organisations do not do this. The effort involved is huge and the rewards are neither immediate nor tangible. A brand manager joining a reputed FMCG company, for example, once discovered that they did not have the brand deck (plans, tools, research, messages) of the past five years of a key product . What the organisation did have is the financial numbers – but not a clear history of marketing messages it had put out before the consumer. Previous brand managers had handed over all documents to someone and it was kept somewhere. But no one knew who that someone was and what that somewhere was. In the absence of a simple archiving system, the new brand manager had to collate all brand related background information from scratch so that he could define the future brand positioning. A fully avoidable waste of energy and resources. Every organisation has a very powerful Finance Department that works round the clock to keep an eye on money flowing in and out of the organisation . Internal and external auditors, controllers and accountants keep a hawk’s
eye on every bill and purchase order. But not even a fraction of that energy is used by companies to manage their knowledge. This indicates that most organisations do not believe that Lakshmi follows Saraswati: they do not believe that existence of knowledge systems improve efficiency and effectiveness and can provide raw materials to provoke new ideas or prevent old mistakes. Unless a leader believes that Saraswati is critical , he will end up with an organisation of Sahadevas.
Take a step back. Check if you are creatively shunning this rather tedious matter of knowledge management. If you are, then remember the wise words of Ravan: it must be actually good for you.
Coutesey: Economic Times dated 21st December 2007

Australians really suck...

First of all accept my apologies if anybody got offended. But yes I literally mean this.
We all have been watching the recent developments in Australia. These A(u)ssies are literally getting to the nerves now.

Someday Symond has problems with the word 'Monkey', and Harbhajan gets punished. Some other day Hayden calls Harbhajan as 'Obnoxious weed', no action taken.
Ishant bowls Symonds, utter few words, Ishant gives back in Symonds style, but again Ishant gets punished. Guys this is getting too much now.
Today I read Hayden calling Harbhajan as 'Obnoxious weed'. He is also asking Ishant Sharma to focus on his game as he is just 21, meet him in the boxing ring. Mr. Hayden not sure what you meant by all this,but you are undermining Harbhajan for being from small time village, or for his not so important contributions, then you should think twice. But do you know your worth in IPL and do you know how much Harbhajan/Ishant cost? They will purchase 5-6 more Haydens with Harbhajan and Ishant's worth. Jtake it lightly, no offense please. Also did you forget your (Australia's) own roots? Do you know about your anscestors? I heard you people are descendents of all thugs, robbers, slaves which Britton wanted to get rid a long time agao. You thiefs survived and yes you are somewhat better in sports field. But has the success gone to your heads now? Why do you have to use this intimidating tactis against the opponents? You use the same dirty tactis almost against everybody and all the time. It almost became an habit. Yu almost ruined muralidharan. Nobody even gave it back to you. But interesting thing is you have issues when others (india) started giving it back to you in your own style. SORRY folks...
During the Sydney test match, Harbhajan patted Bret Lee, which was objected by Symond(key). You very well said it is not allowed on the field. We accepted.
During the Sydney one day match, on your dismissal you uttered few words. Ishant Sharma like everybody assumed that you were not happy and uttered abusive words. He simply showed you the place. Now you are saying you had praised him for his fine bowling. Come on Symonds, showing double standards.
One more thing Symonds, do you have any real problem in your life. I mean anything happened in your past. Because why you have to be part of every controversy. may be with harbhajan, Ishant Sharma, with Indian crowd. Also I sugget you are perfect fit for the WWF matches. I guess you chose wrong profession. You should have been facing KHALI and not Harbhajan. Think mate think...
India, guys please give them back. Be aggressive. Start sledging. I know bit difficult for you to win matches, but let's atleast win this game of sledging.

Saren Zameen Par...

All those who saw yesterday's match will definitely agree with me that this blog deserves no better title. Australians literally crushed us. I was praying if there was any possibility of Rain @ MCG.
I had one preplanned meeting at 3.00 PM. I just postponed it for the India - Australia 20-20 match.
After the so called superb performance of our GREAT Indian Team in the recent test series, like everybody I also had big hopes from our stars. Why not, after all they are the so called world champions of the shorter version of the game. Sorry they were the champions of the game. But yesterday I saw the very champions coming down one after another from the cloud NINE. All the super(stars) came down to earth.
Mr Gambhir, Mr. Uthapa, Mr. Rohit Sharma, Dhoom dhoom Dhoni, And the big mouth Shrisanth just landed straight on earth.

Guys what I was saying,I had post poned my 3.00 PM meeting to 5.00 Pm so that I could enjoy the cricket match. Thought of having the lunch while watching the match and had other big plans. But what plans.Like the Indian team, my plans also came crashing like a pack of cards.
I had left my desk at 2.10 PM. By the time I reached for lunch, switched on TV I had imagined something like 5 overs 100 runs. But to my surprise (actually I should not have been surprized), it was 5 overs some 5 wickets and 32 runs. I quickly switched off the TV. Somehow grabbed my lunch and was back to my desk again 2.45 PM. At 3.15 PM Somebody from my team yelled 'India all out for 74 and Aussies are well on course of reaching the target'. I tried to neglect and tried to concentrate on my work.
I was still repenting why the hell did I postpone my meeting? Don't know. I knew Aussies will win this time. But atleast I was expecting a good game of cricket. Few big hits, few sixers. Nothing more. Forget big hits, there were only 3 boundaries in the whole innings. I didn't watch the world cup (except the final). After the world cup exit earlier, I had drifted away from cricket and our inconsistent players. But the world cup win again pulled me back.
I always wonder why this happenes only with the Indian team. Look at Australia, whenever they lose (hardly I remember any matches they have lost), but they lose in style. They they will try till the end. They never give up. They win 16 matches in a row. They try to break their own record of consecutive wins. Whereas our team, we win few matches and lose many. We win matches only against Bangladesh, Zembabwe, Kenya. We will only in India (where the pitches help us). We don't lose only when rain GOD is happy.
Moreover these 1 or 2 wins are sufficient to make our players the heroes over the night. Then again no guarantee if they will repeat the same performance in future. Mr Joginder Sharma, Mr Yusuf pathan our 20-20 World Cup heroes where are they? I heard Joginder got married immediately after the world cup final. because he himself was not sure if he will ever get an opportunity to play again, forget performance . ha ha ha.

India's performance is really disappointing and frustrating. I have decided, I will not waste my time again. But again soemewhere I know, that is not possible...

And BCCI had the final laugh...

It's not that common to see that India flexing the muscles of superpwers and getting the things done the way SHE wants.

But if it's cricket, it's possible. We have seen the same recently. People just can't neglect India. Australia may be the world champions on the field. But India is the superpower in cricket and dictates the game. Otherwise who in the world will dare to take panga with ICC and the Aussies . As said by somebody , here cricket is religion and cricketers are Gods (as long as they perform). You just drop the heroes from the team and then see the streets of Kolkata, mumbai, jalandhar ... No need for me to write anything here. Basically it's all linked with our pride, self esteem and insult.

This is what happened during the recent test series in Australia during the Sydeney test. This time it was Ponting and his men (where victories have gone to the heads). They thought of using the typical aussie sledging tactis against the Indians. Poor kangaroos, little idea they had about the whole episode backfiring at them and putting them in poor light.

For India it was a question of pride. Here Tendulkar is our GOD. And Honorabe mr. Procter has neglected our very own tendulkar's testimony. ha ha. How in the world was that possible. And how millions of Indian fans were going to accept the same. On top of it Mr. Bucknor added enogh fuel to keep the fame burning with intensity. And then... it was a big drama in India as you know, also it had created enough sympathy for us. What best one could have imagined. Support poured in right from common man, politicians, cricketers across the world, the very own Australian media. Mr. Ponting might have won the test match in Sydeny, but the battle was started which eventually he was going to lose.

First signs of ICC taming down came when BCCI took a very tough stand on halting the series. I read somwhere about 2.2 M USD penatly being imposed on Indian board, had India decided to discontinue with the series. Let me tell you it's peanuts for the BCCI. Though everybody was well aware that India would never have discontinued with the series. It had put enough pressure on the ICC and first signs of ICC getting bogged down started showing. Finally Mr. Sharad Pawar who is heading the BCCI is a seasoned politician after all. :-). Mr. Bucknor was sent back to Jamaica, the other gentleman had to pack off his bags. This was enough. India had a moral victory at that point of time. The tension relieved to some extent.

Then India went ahead and almost dominated the remaining 2 matches. Inbetween some other enquiry commission was appointed. Guys, I believe it was all drama. Finally we all were aware what the result was going to be.

Again Mr. BCCI applied the pressure tactics and finally all racial charges against Harbhajan were dropped. SO final victory came India's way and has definitely put Australia in poor light. We are not still very sure what mr. Bhajan said. Whether he said or not said that's also a big question. It all was possible because BCCI has the money, India has the viewers. I doubt if Bangladesh or Zimbabwe would have been successful. :-)

Aussies some advice for you as well. By now you must have realised that you may be winning 16 matches in a row, but you have a long way to go. First try to behave yourself. Your tactics may work against few but not all. You will agree that this time your selection proved wrong. Aussies we may not be as good as you on the field, but we have enough power. So please don't take panga. Think twice next time.

Winning matches may be simpler for you, but winning hearts is not so easy and that's what you need to learn. Look at West Indian team. they dominated in the last 70th and early 80s. They were also world champions. But they were down to earth. The victories didn't reach the heads.

It's a long way to go for you...

Stock Market Crash...

Stock market crash
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A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors. They often follow speculative stock market bubbles.
Stock market crashes are social phenomena where external economic events combine with crowd behaviour and psychology in a positive feedback loop where selling by some market participants drives more market participants to sell. Generally speaking, crashes usually occur under the following conditions: a prolonged period of rising stock prices and excessive economic optimism, a market where P/E ratios exceed long-term averages, and extensive use of margin debt and leverage by market participants.
There is no numerically-specific definition of a crash but the term commonly applies to steep double-digit percentage losses in a stock market index over a period of several days. Crashes are often distinguished from bear markets by panic selling and abrupt, dramatic price declines. Bear markets are periods of declining stock market prices that are measured in months or years. While crashes are often associated with bear markets, they do not necessarily go hand in hand. The crash of 1987 for example did not lead to a bear market. Likewise, the Japanese Nikkei bear market of the 1990s occurred over several years without any notable crashes.

Mathematical theory of stock market crashes

The mathematical characterisation of stock market movements has been a subject of intense interest. The conventional assumption that stock markets behave according to a random Gaussian or normal distribution is incorrect. Large movements in prices (i.e. crashes) are much more common than would be predicted in a normal distribution. Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that there is evidence that the frequency of stock market crashes follow an inverse cubic power law.[6] This and other studies suggest that stock market crashes are a sign of self-organized criticality in financial markets. In 1963, Benoît Mandelbrot proposed that instead of following a strict random walk, stock price variations executed a Lévy flight.[7] A Lévy flight is a random walk which is occasionally disrupted by large movements. In 1995, Rosario Mantegna and Gene Stanley analyzed a million records of the S&P 500 market index, calculating the returns over a five year period.[8] Their conclusion was that stock market returns are more volatile than a Gaussian distribution but less volatile than a Lévy flight.
Researchers continue to study this theory, particularly using computer simulation of crowd behaviour, and the applicability of models to reproduce crash-like phenomena....

Nostalgic Ads...

Nirupama - The Nirma Girl

Washing powder Nirma, washing powder NirmaDudh si safedi, Nirma se aaye Rangeen kapda bhi khil khil jayeSabki pasand Nirma Washing powder nirmaanirmaa
If you have been hearing this for the past 25 years, there has to be something special attached। Maybe it is the fact that the brand name is derived from
Nirupama, the company owner’s daughter who died in a car accident but whose image has become iconic with the brand.

Karen Lunel - The Liril GirlLa la la la la la la la laa la laa।

Quite simple isn’t it. When Alyque Padamsee decided to shoot an ad for Liril with a relatively unknown model, Karen Lunel who was wearing a lime green bikini in the icy cold waterfalls near the Guna caves in Kodaikanal, not even the folks at HLL would have thought it would become such a phenomenon. Not only did it capture the imagination of an ultra-conservative Indian society, it also multiplied Liril’s sales figures. So much so that McCann Erickson, the agency who was handed over the Liril account recently from Lowe India (formerly Lintas) who has held it for the last 30 years will have the ominous task of creating a new vigour in the brand. Karen Lunel worked as an airhostess for Air India (apparently she was on duty in the flight when Rajiv Gandhi celebrated his birthday on his way back from USSR in 1988) and later became a DJ for Times FM. She is married to Tibetan Tashi Hishey and has a 18-year old son, Scott.

Salma Sultan Doordarshan News reader of yesryears

Salma Sultan’s famous rose brightened up her otherwise cold renditions of the government press releases praising their own achievements. Set to retire in 1984, legend is that she was granted an extension after shedding a tear while reading the news about the Prime minister Indira Gandhi’s death.
Having got her first chance as a newsreader only because her compatriot Gopal Kaul came with a completely shaven head to avoid reading the news, her long association with Doordarshan continues even today after producing serials like ‘Panchatantra’ and ‘Jalta Jawal’ for DD under her production house Lensview Pvt Ltd.
These are the days of celebrities Anthony and Bani as they say and sometimes I miss those ‘Sorry for the Interruption‘ boards. Especially during reality shows.

Lalitaji >> Surf

Lalitaji“Bhai saab, aagar itni saari safedi yadee kaam dam me mile to koi yeh kyoun le, yeh na le“।An obvious reference to the the cheaper competitor, Nirma(once available for Rs.3 per Kg) by Lalitaji, posing as the ‘typical no-compromise, quality conscious, bargaining Indian housewife’ set the momentum for Surf as a brand that stands for quality at an affordable price.

Kavita Chaudhary went on to achieve more fame in the television saga ‘Udaan’ portraying the real-life story of Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, Kavita’s own sister who become an IPS officer overcoming the odds. Kavita is also a gold medalist from the National School of Drama. For a while she got into making corporate and ad films and did not have much success with her forays into screenplay and dialogue for movies as well as a socio-drama called ‘Your Honour’. Apparently, she is now planning to direct one।

Courtesey : mutiny.wordpress.com

Nano is here to stay...

Last week Ratan Tata kept his words and delievered his promise। Yes you are right Tata gave the much awaited 'People's car' with the agreed prise and within the agreed timelines. As he rightly said Pachaouri need not have nightmares। Not Sunita narain or the green activists need to worry because of Nano.

I always wonder if these NGOs are really against the development। The whole life they just think about protesting and not progressing। When Sunita Nairain can come in her luxury car why should not others? Why only the small Nano will create trafic problems and why can't be her car or Pachouri's CAR? Surprising।

Okay I agree with the environmentalists who are trying to the noble cause of the 'Global Warming control'। Then they should protest against the Government policies, the policy makers, the law makers and not against the one who is a visionary, who is trying to bring out the revolution. It reminds me of the old stories I read in school book। Way back in 16th century when Gallilio galieli put forward the concept around earth's motion, there was a huge outcry. i don't exactly rememebr. but I more of less think the same here. Not only he, there were so many revolutionary, visionaries who faced the wrath of the society. But still nobdoy could stop them.

I guess Nano is a paradigm shift. No body would have imagined a lower middle class, middle class having a car. It was just assumed as a rich man's area. Now even an autoriksha driver can think of Nano. Who knows tomorrow you and may be using Nano as our cabbi. See below how a Nano can change the society. Little bit of exageration, but worth have a look....

Flash Slideshow

What is Subprime Effect and Impact on Indian Economy

If you are the kind who follows the business press and news channels very closely, then chances are that, in the last one week, you would have heard stock market experts blaming US subprime defaults for the fall in the Indian markets।

Welcome to the world of globalisation, where when America sneezes, India catches cold. But what on earth is this subprime crisis?
It all starts with an entrepreneur who finds a demand supply gap between people who want to buy a house and people who have the money to lend.
These people who want to buy a house do not have a good credit rating, i.e., their probability of defaulting on the loan repayment is very high.
So, if anybody wants to lend money to them, it will have to be at a significantly higher interest rate (sub-prime rates is the jargon for it). This is because the entrepreneur lending the money is taking a higher risk, and hence, needs to be compensated through higher returns.
The entrepreneur takes a loan from a bank/ investment bank at low interest rate (as he has a good credit rating, he can raise money at competitive rates) and lends out that money to many people at a higher interest rate.
This ensures that he gets a higher return than what he pays on the loan. At the same time, by giving out loans to many people, he has ensured that a few defaults on repayments do not have a huge impact.
Another key feature of these loans is refinancing. The loans are such, that in the first 2-3 years, the interest rates are very low and then they become variable (which means they will become volatile and can go up significantly) for the remaining term, usually 27-28 years as the loans are generally for 30 years.
When real-estate markets are booming, refinancing is not a big problem. Every two years, the borrower gets to refinance his loan, thereby his cost of loan never really goes up.
The entrepreneur, on his part, securitises the loan by issuing mortgage-backed securities (MBS) i.e., he divides his loan into marketable financial securities and sells them to investors. The investors are promised a certain rate of interest on these securities.
The money collected by securitising the loans is used by the entrepreneur to repay the bank/ investment bank. The coupon (interest) payments and the repayment of principal for the investors of the MBS are met by the installments, which the home loan borrower pays every month.
As interest rates start climbing, the impact will be felt on the real-estate market with prices flattening/climbing down. A double whammy will hit the home-loan borrowers as rates start climbing. They were not in a position to pay higher installments and when they went to refinance their loans, as they had been doing earlier, it was not possible this time around as nobody wanted to refinance when real-estate prices were falling. This lead to defaults by the borrowers (remember - their credit quality was always very poor).
As the borrowers default, the repayments from the borrowers, which were used to meet the interest obligations of the securitised paper, also stops. This lead the investors to bang the doors of the entrepreneur who had issued the security. What could the entrepreneur do? He would file for bankruptcy.
Now, what happens to the investors?
In case of institutional funds, all their investments would turn. Any fund with global exposure has percentage allocations to various parts of the world. So, in case the US exposure turns bad, the fund will have to pull out of all markets for keeping the percentage allocation in line with the stated objective, and also for meeting possible redemptions.
IKB, a German bank, has already said that it had invested in such papers and has issued a profit warning. In fact, the issue is snowballing into a larger one, with German investors worried about other banks having similar exposure as well. Meanwhile, German banks have come together to bail out the bank even as the IKB chief executive has stepped down.
Now, if this is not all, there starts a negative spiral. As prices flatten, defaults increase as no refinancing is available. As defaults increase, lending rates increase as lending is now done in a stricter manner. As lending slows, the flow of money to the sector stops even more, so prices decline still further and thus starts a cascading effect.
Now, the debate is on whether this crisis will have an impact on the US economy as a whole or will the economy be insulated from this crisis? In case this virus affects the economy, one can forget support levels for our markets…and yes, you never catch a falling knife, so the best step would be to stay away from the markets. Once the storm has subsided, you can find pearls at throwaway prices!