June 22nd may be long gone, but a dream did come true on that day. It was on that day when I finally, finally saw my guru Mr. N R Narayana Murthy in the flesh. The occasion was the 26th AGM of Infosys Technologies. Alongside him was seated the man who has brought forth the 'flat world' idea- Mr. Nandan Nilekani. The event was a landmark one for Infy with the CEO baton changing hands from Mr. Nandan to Mr. Kris Gopalkrishnan.
The COO, Mr. Shibulal did his presentation after the ones by the above mentioned gentlemen. CFO, Mr. Balakrishnan.V held the audience's attention at the balance sheets with some very creative slide presentations. With the shuffle-up in management, it reflected very clearly on the company policy, and as Mr. Murthy has always said that the organisation must be professionally run putting share-owners interest ahead of the self.
As in every AGM, the Q & A session always ignites sparks. But with a company like Infy, we expected lesser fire in the line of action. However, as the praises and questions poured in for Mr. Murthy and his team, one particular remark bounced off at a tangent. A gentleman from the audience seemed to take personally the fact that the members on the dias were served water during the course of the meeting while the rest of the audience were left high (the balance sheets were good!) and dry (now you know why the man was annoyed!). He wanted to know if not providing water was some kind of a cost cutting measure adopted by the company!
But amidst all of this, there was a lesson to be learnt. There were really two kinds of people in that gathering that day. One that overlooked all the visionaries and their strategies for providing a profitable future for the share owners, and instead focussed on pettier issues like water/food/clothing. the other group of people would have attended the conference even if it were held in the heart of the Sahara Desert, where food and water are a thing of dreams.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
In the name of God
Politics and religion are two of the most touchy issues one can write about. From ages long gone to eras to come, these two subjects have been fodder for mayhem; even throwing so called 'stable' societies(if they ever existed) completely out of gear.
There is a reason why God is written with a capital G. Whether or not you happen to be believe in Him (notice the capital H), it is undeniable that the Good Lord's (pay attention to the G and the L) name is never taken in vain. At-least not in the land of milk and honey. As I vacation in my home town of Bengaluru (alas!), I just can't seem to ignore the fact that He (the H) is being invoked for everything from driving away way side 'urinators' to making a living. Call it cashing in on fear, guilt or anything that works for you, but it all ultimately boils down to the fact that dropping Names (N is intentionally made capital) works in India.
As I begin walking from 10th cross Malleswaram, a little girl walks up to me with a framed photograph of a God in her hand complete with a little lamp in a plate that's lit in the bright of the day. She's not begging, mind you. She's 'collecting' money. Or that's as lenient as I can be with my judgement. I spare her a buck, in the holy name. 'She's not begging, she's not begging', I keep telling myself after she's gone. At-least the Gods won't be crazy at me. As I walk further down towards 9th cross, I see this: a lady whipping herself while the man with her is dressed as a God and actually has a metal stick pierced through his cheeks playing a distant cousin of the snare drum. Again, they aren't begging.I have not much for them. By the time I am at cross number 5, just when I think He has had it, I spot a bunch of kids dressed as mythical figures from Ramayana making noise as they are going around from shop to shop. At first I'm forced to think that this is a bunch of a fancy dress event escapees. But the coins in their little hands tells me that they are not begging.
I need to pick up groceries that evening. I head to cross 8, Malleswaram's shopping heaven. What I see there takes the wind out of my sails. At regualr spacings on either sides of the road along the footpath are men holding a plate of burning camphor (aarthi) ringing away the bell continuously. While this activity is common in temples, it normally lasts for a couple of minutes at the max. But I stood there watching this go on for a complete 15 minutes, and then I had to force a quit as I could not get myself to watch the show any more. But hey, they weren't begging. It's all in the name of God!
On the 4th cross, a narrow by-lane leads to the bonda angadi from the main road. This was the pee-heaven. This was the Nirmala of Malleswaram. But guess what the BMP did? They swooped in, cleaned the place and to prevent this pee sport from continuing, they put up photos of Gods on tiles along the entire stretch of the street! Call that a smart move. I'm yet to hear of a man who has summoned up enough courage to empty it on that street ever since.
There is a reason why God is written with a capital G. Whether or not you happen to be believe in Him (notice the capital H), it is undeniable that the Good Lord's (pay attention to the G and the L) name is never taken in vain. At-least not in the land of milk and honey. As I vacation in my home town of Bengaluru (alas!), I just can't seem to ignore the fact that He (the H) is being invoked for everything from driving away way side 'urinators' to making a living. Call it cashing in on fear, guilt or anything that works for you, but it all ultimately boils down to the fact that dropping Names (N is intentionally made capital) works in India.
As I begin walking from 10th cross Malleswaram, a little girl walks up to me with a framed photograph of a God in her hand complete with a little lamp in a plate that's lit in the bright of the day. She's not begging, mind you. She's 'collecting' money. Or that's as lenient as I can be with my judgement. I spare her a buck, in the holy name. 'She's not begging, she's not begging', I keep telling myself after she's gone. At-least the Gods won't be crazy at me. As I walk further down towards 9th cross, I see this: a lady whipping herself while the man with her is dressed as a God and actually has a metal stick pierced through his cheeks playing a distant cousin of the snare drum. Again, they aren't begging.I have not much for them. By the time I am at cross number 5, just when I think He has had it, I spot a bunch of kids dressed as mythical figures from Ramayana making noise as they are going around from shop to shop. At first I'm forced to think that this is a bunch of a fancy dress event escapees. But the coins in their little hands tells me that they are not begging.
I need to pick up groceries that evening. I head to cross 8, Malleswaram's shopping heaven. What I see there takes the wind out of my sails. At regualr spacings on either sides of the road along the footpath are men holding a plate of burning camphor (aarthi) ringing away the bell continuously. While this activity is common in temples, it normally lasts for a couple of minutes at the max. But I stood there watching this go on for a complete 15 minutes, and then I had to force a quit as I could not get myself to watch the show any more. But hey, they weren't begging. It's all in the name of God!
On the 4th cross, a narrow by-lane leads to the bonda angadi from the main road. This was the pee-heaven. This was the Nirmala of Malleswaram. But guess what the BMP did? They swooped in, cleaned the place and to prevent this pee sport from continuing, they put up photos of Gods on tiles along the entire stretch of the street! Call that a smart move. I'm yet to hear of a man who has summoned up enough courage to empty it on that street ever since.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Globalisation and its effects on youth.
The big G-word is splashed all over the place today. From front pages of newspapers to the back covers of magazines and everwhere else in between, globalisation occurs as more than a mere definition. It is a way of life. A change so profound that it has come ripping through socieites and uprooted the very basics of hierarchy and timeline and put the whole of the 6.5 billion that walk this planet on a level platform. But all of this was not a big overnight BOOM. It happenend while you were up each morning brushing and sipping on coffee. It was happening while you were hanging out with your girl(boy)friend. It will continue to happen as you trip on chilled beer. If something so earth-shaking is moving about us so stealthily, it is worth a minute of our attention.
From a Pan India point of view we can see globalisation operating on three levels:
Win-win state
Win-lose state
lose-lose state
Or simply put, the three levels or states show the consequces that globalisation has had on India with the rest of the world and vice versa. As of now. with 52% plus Indians in their sunny days, it is but obvious that the youth are very detrimental to the course of the world in the years to come.
1) THE WIN-WIN STATE
In English this is what it means - how has globalisation benefitted both the Indian youth and the world's at large. By wiring the whole world on to the www, we have been able to allow movement of information as freely as words flow out of Prathibha Patil's mouth. So information rests at everyone's fingertips. This has been one of the inherent factors that explains the 5 or 6 figure incomes of the 25 somethings, This has meant that there are more people today than 5 or 10 years ago who can afford a better lifestyle than their parents. As a by product of this we are seeing a boom happening across practically every section in the market, from ayurveda to aviation.
A Kannadiga boy working in Hewellet-Packard marries a Mexican girl. And the marriage ceremony is held in the boy's home town in Karnataka; and the girl changes her name form Jessica to Jaya. This would have been a rosy-walk-in-the-park story straight out of Womens' Era in 1995. But in June 2007, it is a newspaper report splashed on the front page of the Deccan Herald. The moral of this story is that you could make a great friend or even find a partner half way across the world without having to move out of your chair. That's a win-win proposition!
2) THE WIN-LOSE STATE
What has the Indian youth gained at the expense of the world, as a result of globalisation? And what has the World gained at the expense of India?
Since globalisation is itself in its youth, only the first of the two questions can be answered as of this point in time. So what did they lose that we gained? The answer to that question lies in the word 'outsourcing', A word that we have come to like and they have begun to detest.
3) THE LOSE-LOSE STATE
What is the down side of a globalising India? Going the G-way has put considerable sums of money and opportunities in the hands of millions of youngsters. What it has failed to provide however is the education on how to manage all that is earned. And consequently, we hear of stress, burnouts, failed marriages and rich credit card companies.
As the youth continue to march along hand in hand with globalisation today, we can't say with any more certainity about the direction of it's progress as we can about Paris Hilton's next big act for being in the news. But maybe someday, we will hear of Raju's and Rani's Pasta corner, Joe's and Jenny's Dosa camp and Chin Yew's Fish and Curry all lined up next to one another on a street in Cairo!
Arjun.B.S
W: bondasoup.wordpess.com
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