The Connexion

Coastal Treat - Fall 2010

2010-09-15T16:03:00.001+05:30

Nirvāna is a central concept in Indian religions - ohh yes I enjoyed a bounty of the phenomenon recently. To free ourselves (me and my wife) from the mundane, we managed an escape to Bekal, a small coastal hamlet located at the tip of Kerala bordering Karnataka. Interestingly, the resort cottage we had booked was a namesake of the phenomenon...not bad.

Some 500 odd kms from Bangalore westwards, the blue Arabian sea makes rough roaring sounds when it hits the giant rocks in the shoreline of Bekal. A sound that proved to be soothing, wiping away the toxis decibels accumulated in a week of travel inside a city - huff, such a relief. Striking differences in the small beaches were noticeable in Bekal as it was hard to find tourists even to click a picture of us together....in a positive way, its heaven for someone looking to relax. Sun played hide and seek throughout the day as heavy monsoon winds hovered above the west coast regularly.

Opposite to the resort was the Bekal Fort, which was noticeable for more than one reason. Apart from being the largest in Kerala, the fort has a Hanuman Temple inside and an ancient Muslim Mosque nearby - bearing testimony of harmony. Googling would yield more information as fort premises has nil information about its history (though its caretaken by Arch. Survey of India).

The West Coastal Railway passing through most of the north Malabar presents a great spectacle. During our journey back to Bangalore, we chose to board a train to Mangalore and it was refreshing matching our expectations. Well, locomotives with their respective shed livery and Indian Railways has always fascinated me.

Small private beach areas and serene surroundings definitely makes up for the sub-standard connectivity to Bangalore and limited fooding and lodging facilities.

Will update about upcoming trips.

Debanjan

Raise a Slogan for the Royal Bengal Tigers

2010-02-16T15:26:00.000+05:30

While checking out interesting online entries on Tiger census, stumbled upon this blog - save-tiger.blogspot.com. Here is what one of the slogans read on the blog:

No Tigers = No Forests = No clean Air & Water = No You & Me = No Blogging = That sucks man!

For a moment, I was drawing a typical forest food chain in my mind as I had read in my schoolbooks. Ah, no prizes for guessing now....for why a question on food chain was set obligatorily in science exam papers.

Less tigers means > loss of vegetation cover due to rise in the number of herbivores > affecting water cycle (lesser transpiration volume) > lesser rain, more harmful particulate matter in air > threat to human beings > and yes, no human being, no words of wisdom online.

Sometimes a thought of losing such wonderful creatures sends a chill down the spine. The feeling is more and more frequent now. Remembering a Tiger cub in a spot hosted by a mobile carrier. Time to act!

Google's newest Doodle - Vancouver 2010

2010-02-12T17:50:00.002+05:30

Google users - you all must have noticed the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic themed backdrop of the home page. The image has the torch in place of letter "l" and a small Olympic logo on the left hand side.

As usual, Google marks the games and sports extravaganza by changing its doodle to fit the taste of times. Google had marked Beijing 2008 showing five mascots carrying an Olympic flag.

Original doodler Dennis Hwang says, "I have several favorites. Usually, artists' birthdays are the ones I spend the most effort on, like Monet's birthday."

Looking for more interesting logos post March 2010, as of now Google holiday logos can be seen indexed till March only.

Bon Googling - Google-Doodle-Do!

Language of Music

2010-01-28T15:18:00.003+05:30

Music and language, as they say, have co-evolved and both share certain unique similarities.

I write this while listening to a song, a peppy Bollywood number, that belonged to a movie, which fizzled out before anyone even knew about it. The song has an impression on my mind - and trust me, it can endure time and memory.

I have lot of similar stories on songs and the music composition surrounding it. I say that lyrics, tune, instruments used, singer - all are factors that are attributable to a song's success. Still, irrespective of who sang it, wrote it, composed it, I can like just by listening to it. This contradicts my previous statement, but that is what I call - "Language of Music".

Experts say that same brain structures are involved in processing music and language. Does this suggest that music can play a key role in developing one's linguistic capabilities? Well, I partly agree with this, because I know people who , in spite of stammering, can sing mellifluously. Whoa, another speech therapy - "Music"!!

There is a striking characteristic of a good song or rather a song which I, you or any other human being cherish -- The "feel good" factor. A song, or any part of it like a beat, a word, a stanza, a note or the time when one heard the song initiates a cascade of emotions somewhere, which you realize each time you listen to it. This is probably the most common feeling that most of us have and we express often. Just remember a song which gets you going - getting goose flesh..eh?

So....go ahead enjoy music, relish what kicks you best and hard. "Su Che Su Che" - this is what I am listening to ;o))

Au Revoir - Jyoti Babu!

2010-01-25T12:31:00.002+05:30

It has been quite a while that I was looking for time and space to pen down my picture of Jyoti Basu. For a man whose reign as a Chief Minister (of West Bengal) spanned 23 years, and whose legacy is there for eternity, much has been discussed in media following his sad demise.

Each day, while browsing my newspaper, I find a column or two dedicated to this personality, which brings out his lesser known facts and makes me wonder about the sharpness of this man. Someone had rightly said after he declined PM'ship, "this man is not a king, he is a kingmaker." Even being in power of such a politically volatile state, he was humble and humane till his last breath.

As an aspiring lawyer he was drawn to Marxism very early in his life that proved to be a factor behind his rise in the communist ranks of India. Before Mr. Basu took to bed, he was the most sought after leader in CPI (M) central committee. A veteran in freedom struggle and having seen the early politics of a free India, this man, indeed, was in a perfect situation to take on the mantle of the revolutionary Communist Party of India.

I haven't been a resident of West Bengal, however, the impact that this man had over the people of India, and those of Bengal, in particular, is very strong. Post his death, I am more drawn to the kind of life he led and the control he had over folks.

Farewell to an era and the icon who will reign at the top with his grit and courage forever.

Recession Or Boom….Consumers Always Have Alternatives!

2010-01-20T17:01:00.004+05:30

Recession is heading north as unemployment grows, energy prices soar and property prices nosedive. I had a strong feeling that during a recession, people tend to hold back assets than cash. However, the slump in property prices across Europe and its ripple effects in Asia have dented the confidence of investors in Asia. Consequently, consumer spending also took a beating in retail, services, entertainment and others.

An economic downturn represents breakaway growth opportunities for those clever enough to help consumers feel good about migrating to “inferior goods” by enabling them to justify their decisions in terms other than affordability. A status-conscious car owner would not feel bad about trading his/her Accord or Teana or Camry for a more economical Toyota Prius, because he can boast of saving the environment.

So, how does a common man like me, (provided he is aware of the global crisis and weighs its implications on an individual level) would have a shift in spending behavior? Basically, as a consumer, the following factors would prompt me to buy a new product:

Dissatisfaction with a current product
The Need/Want for a new substitute
Availability of the substitute
Market price
Utility factor of the new substitute
Post-buying evaluation

Among these factors (in trying circumstances), I would give utmost importance to the utility factor and see if the product is living up to my constantly changing set of expectations.

This shift of my buying behavior for different kinds of products and services is technically termed as preference for “inferior” goods. Well, I am happy with it, what else do I need? Whether it is “inferior” or “cheap”, I look into the utility of the product in the near-term, enough to weather away the recession storm. What is noteworthy here is that companies with smartly cultivated “inferior goods” in their portfolio will ensure repurchase of its premium products.

In these situations, marketing holds the key, because in an age of pressure consumption, insights and understanding of marketers can make all the difference. Sooner or later the economy will bounce back. So, with my amateur marketing know-how I would suggest that companies should remain focused on consumer behavior dynamics rather than blunt selling, for a consumer is the best judge.

Give a Balanced Treat to Sachin – Please!

2010-01-20T17:01:00.001+05:30

Newspapers splashing the recent achievement of Sachin Tendulkar across the world are a testimony to the fact that he is equally celebrated worldwide as he is worshipped in India. Sachin enjoys the distinction of enthralling cricket lovers not only with his immaculate strokeplay, but also with his dignified charm and humility off the field.

What I believe is that the connoisseurs of the game must take the responsibility of placing him in a position where the little master deserves to be, ignoring the emotional cravings that we Indians show for him. Not long ago (2002), very few remember that Kapil Dev was honored as the Wisden Indian cricketer of the century. The feat, well deserved by Kapil, is unique and stands out to be the best all round achievement of a cricketer. The former Indian captain aggregated over 5000 runs and over 400 wickets in tests.

An overdose of applause does come with its baggage of emotional outbursts that we Indians do express time and again. And that is well understood and taken in the right spirit always. But the debate regarding whether Sachin is the greatest cricketing mind will be carried on and on…without the possibility of reaching a consensus. Sir Gary Sobers, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border (leaving Sir Don apart) and current player Ricky Ponting belong to the same level or very close to it.

Little research will show that there is a lacuna in Sachin’s CV. A triple hundred, scoring centuries in each test innings, 750 test runs in a five-match series, 500 test runs in a three-match series are some of the elements that are missing from his aggregates. These achievements are considered common in the list of greats.

Being a cricket enthusiast myself, I believe that India can again produce someone close to a Gavaskar or a Tendulkar, but producing a great all-rounder like Kapil is next to impossible. There was no hullabaloo of hailing Gavaskar as the greatest when he crossed the hitherto unimaginable milestone of 10,000 test runs and similarly for Kapil when he reached the pinnacle of bowling glory by taking Mark Taylor’s wicket in the 1991–92 home series.

The achievement of Sachin is spectacular, after all not everyday does a batsman cross 12,000 test runs. However, I believe that the instead of going overboard, the media and the so-called experts should treat Sachin in a much more balanced manner, carefully examining his unique achievements.

Applying for a Loan? Check Your Responsibility Score

2010-01-20T17:00:00.001+05:30

Banks may very soon rely on your school grades, driving habits, shopping habits and tax payments to appraise your capacity to borrow or absorb a credit. These nontraditional metrics apparently help a lot in judging a borrower’s behavior in the long term, according to industry experts. Risk analysts term these metrics as “responsibility” scores.

How are these scores arrived at? Let us see this example – A person who pays all his utility bills is more likely to follow his exercise regimen in a gym. This accomplishes his objective of weight loss and demonstrates his responsibility. A habit like this ranks him well in his responsibility score.

Nowadays, lenders harvest huge amounts of borrowers’ financial data to assess risks associated with credit, but the need for a broader read and more comprehensive social profile of people is imminent. Industry leaders like SAS are already working towards this by surveying a number of Americans in order to investigate and infer their behavioral patterns in daily life. Lenders may one day take into account lots of nontraditional metrics, such as whether the borrower has a good reputation on eBay or pays cell-phone bills on time before deciding whether to extend credit.

Borrower’s appetite for credit – not for their ability to afford the risks was something banks were glued into till now. However, the credit crunch has pushed analysts to paying more attention to newer risk models that call for more revenue projections from each borrower. In future, the responsibility scores may well earn you admission in a reputed college or employment in the same.

Social statistics would always be subjected to privacy laws and regulations. Even so, analysts are highly skewed towards introducing new risk analysis models. So, do we need to be a little paranoid with the thought of borrowing? Well, I would say…just act responsible!

Is Print Media Dying a Slow Death?

2010-01-20T16:58:00.000+05:30

There is a fundamental shift in communication and consequently in media as our daily mode of talking, writing and speaking has become increasingly dependent on computers. The fact that you are reading this on a computer endorses this change. The same is happening for businesses and enterprises as the news they get from the main stream media and newspapers is moving towards the online world.

The first act of a day for an analyst in an organization like ours is checking email, and opening up a browser. On this browser page, whether it be Yahoo, Google, or another, the news is one of the first things that they read. And slowly, we find our own ways to keep abreast of all the local developments through the Web – be it bookmarking our favorite news sites and subscribing to RSS feeds or alerts and customizing our preferences.

There is a silent but steady shift of viewership from traditional media to online media, blogs, RSS feeds, Newspaper and Television Websites. But still there is significant need of traditional media for certain industry verticals.

News headlines across the Web and print media flashed several announcements from leading news agencies and newspapers including USA Today, Associated Press, Gannett, Los Angeles Times, Star-Ledger, The Washington Post, and even The Wall Street Journal, about newsroom job cuts ranging from 10-20 percent of workforce. The job cuts reflect the huge losses incurred by the print business of these agencies which implies that traditional media is facing stiff competition from online/new media and losing some ground.

Contrary to above, there is interesting development in another communication realm where companies are increasingly investing intellectual capital in developing brand relationships and business-to-business marketing efforts – the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Blogosphere is suddenly turning out to be the most solicited place for corporate brand building. However, this will be a gradual transition, as people and companies have different learning curves for the social media.

Having said all that, I still have a strong feeling that people are tactile creatures, and they like to touch the newspaper and turn the pages, flip them over and eat and sleep on it. The sense of accomplishment that you feel once you have read the entire newspaper is unfathomable. For me, reading a newspaper is a different experience on its own and I have my own reasons for NOT staying away from it. My newspaper has never crashed. I can carry my newspaper or my favorite clipping anywhere while traveling, I do not need a WiFi connectivity or laptop. I don’t have to go through registration/signing in/customizing my newspaper. My newspaper is not made up of toxic un-recyclable material. And my newspaper provides correction updates with explanations, and it is not sneakily applied to the original story after I have read it. These characteristics of a newspaper would certainly reinforce my loyalty towards print media forever.

By Debanjan

Traffic Woes Choking Us

2008-04-17T14:42:00.000+05:30

This piece of writing is incited by a constant, ever-growing problem of traffic congestion that we witness everyday while traveling to and from place of work. As Bangalore gears up to the challenge of meeting the growing needs of huge volume of traffic by initiatives like Blackberrys for cops, Bharti Airtel’s tie-up with local administration to provide sms alerts on traffic information and GPS installation in buses, we, the people, need to realize that common sense can also relieve us from our daily woes. Besides that, there are open discussions on radio and other media, which are constantly building up consensus on how to smoothen the traffic flow on city roads.

There is a big difference between “traffic jams” and heavy flow of traffic, both in the cause and its ripple effects. Interestingly, there was this news that Microsoft has introduced a tool called “Clearflow” which directs drivers with route plans in a situation. Microsoft researchers can get away with algorithms designed to serve residents of Seattle, but what about Bangalore?? Ehh...that would take further research on city planning and even more complicated algorithms. Nonetheless it is a good attempt by the software giant to utilize artificial intelligence.

Please follow the link to vote on ways to relieve traffic chaos in Bangalore: http://debanjannwrites.blogspot.com/

Let us come back to ground realities……on the streets of Bangalore. With more mobile penetration in the city population, consumer demands are increasing on traffic information, according to analysts. Thus it might be a feasible for service providers to integrate real-time traffic information into mobile devices (which apparently “Clearflow” does not possess). Anyways, let us see what the impacts of a typical congestion are:

Fuel waste due to idling, accelerating and braking, which contributes to increased emissions leading to global warming
Time delays – most of our potentially productive time is lost in the roads
Personal losses due to mishaps
Increase in stress levels of motorists

Now, aren’t these problems handful to spur us finding some solution? It is. I have listed some key points that need to be addressed at the administrative levels. And, organizations like ours can play a vital role in encouraging healthy practices of commute and ensure that we contribute our bit on this issue of traffic. Car-pooling, mass transport facilities are some of ways to mention.

Below are areas of concern, the sooner they are addressed by the concerned authorities, the better it is.

Road infrastructure

Increasing lanes
Improving secondary roads
Identifying new routes
Increasing road capacity

Parking improvements

Multilevel parking
Incentives and disincentives on parking
Generating awareness

The unplanned nature of growth in the city resulted in massive traffic gridlocks that the municipality attempted to ease by constructing a flyover system and by imposing one-way traffic systems. Ahh…..there it goes again. Problem of one-ways….well, reversible lanes/ways/roads based on peak and non-peak hours of traffic is indeed an alternative. Overall, the responsibility lies on each of us. How soon we realize the menace and act against it will depend on initiatives at an individual level. Anyways, that’s all I could sum up as of now……will keep posting on latest traffic solutions soon.

Debanjan Chakraborty

2008-04-12T04:55:00.000+05:30

THE INCENTIVE TO WORK

As a people’s organization (which we consider ours as one), a significant element that contributes to the productivity of the organization is the trend in “employee sentiments.” I would say that given the long-working hours and continuous evolution of our work process, we always tend to be on our toes and this creates a very good competitive environment. May be, that’s what spurs me to consider our daily time “deadlines” as “lifelines.” I feel that its time we realized the key to balance our work and life. I believe that as we take our work in a more enjoyable manner, we create the opportunity to satisfy ourselves, with minimum conscious efforts.

Here, I would like to quote Mr. Srinivas Rao Kandula, Head-Human Resources, iGate, “Today, the fear of the unknown has affected employee sentiment. They are less ready to move to unfamiliar environs amidst new people.” With this kind of paradigm shift, I feel we owe ourselves the duty to motivate the self and peers alike. Each employee is an asset to the organization and it becomes vital to maintain the satisfaction levels in work. Adding to this is the issue of maintaining consistency in performance and keeping the motivation levels high, despite the monotonous work.

Now it’s the turn of the HR

When an employee joins an organization, the greatest challenge the HR department faces in most organizations is on-boarding new joinees. I strongly believe that the new entrant needs to be made aware of the realistic situation from day-one itself, by keeping an eye on the motivation levels of the employee. Motivational training is still in its evolving phase, but we can always start it right where we work.

Creating the environment for knowledge-sharing activities

I feel there are some ways by which we can break monotony in work and fillip ourselves up:

1. We need to identify whether team members view knowledge as a public good belonging to the whole organization. Motivating employees to share knowledge on any domain they are comfortable with will foster a seamless transition.

2. One common constraint here is, when individuals give the highest priority to the interests of the organization, they tend to shy away from contributing knowledge for a variety of reasons. The reasons being:

Fear of criticism
Unsure of the significance of contribution thereby afraid of misleading the team members

3. To remove the identified barriers, there is a need for developing various types of trust, ranging from the knowledge-based to the institution-based trust.

The benefits of a motivated team:

Motivated employees always look for better ways to do a job
Motivated employees are more quality oriented
Motivated workers are more productive

The aforesaid points can be collated to reach a conclusion, which justifies the need to spruce up ourselves and strike a balance between our work and life. For satisfaction in our profession highly complements our social well-being. The more we enjoy the daily responsibilities in office, keeping realistic targets and fulfilling our priorities, the better will be our holistic growth.