New Year Resolutions

The title says it all isn’t it? You know what I am going to talk about.

Do you believe in listing out resolutions every year?

Or you don’t believe in resolutions at all?

If you believed in resolutions, how effective have they been? – Very effective? Not so effective? Ok-Ok??

It is that beautiful time of the year. People welcome the coming New Year with lots of hope, aspirations, zest and enthusiasm. Most people come up with their own resolutions too. Some people very sincerely seriously adhere to them. And some other people, I don’t need to say J.

The social media is full of greetings and images for the Ney Year. And of course there are jokes and memes on resolutions too. For example, the fitness freaks would say, they would not like to go to the gym on the 1^st of Jan, as it would be filled with people who would have chosen going to their gym as their resolution. And they would also be sure that the same enthusiasm will not last till the 2^nd of Jan. J.

Let me start with my disclaimer: I am no fan of New Year Resolutions!

Having said that, I have been observing a socially active friend of mine who would religiously put up a concept of a single word focus for the year at the beginning of the year.

Yes – a single word. It is not a resolution. Just a single word to define the focus for the year.

I became curious. How does it work?

I even debated with him – how can it be just a single word? Can it be a combination of a few? Can it be a sentence? The manager in me made me even ask - Can it be a list of bullet points? J

My wise friend wasn’t impressed – he said it doesn’t work that way. It has to be a single word!

Hmm, an interesting concept. That led me to think. Think hard.  You need to think of a single word that is going to determine the entire direction of the whole year. Wow!

Yes, it is a brilliant idea. To arrive at that single word – one goes through lots of emotions and thought processes. It is like writing the Vision/Mission statement for your Company.

Ultimately when you narrow down to the single word focus for the year, you would have gone through quite a bit of feelings, logical reasoning, analysis, intuition, goals, ambition, wishes, dreams etc.. Yet a single word. Thank you my friend!

You know what, I have been practicing this concept for nearly four years now. And it works!

I have also been talking about this concept with my close friends and many of them have adopted it as well. For example, one friend told me he had chosen "Consolidation" as his word as he wanted to consolidate his many physical assets, financials, work life balance and so on. 

Another, a very successful one and arrived well in life early, yet grappling with mid life crises, mentioned "Minimalism" as his word. 

Both of them did exactly what they mentioned! And many such. 

Friends, I have thought of mine. That one word. For the year 2019.

Would you like to give it a try?

A Happy New Year to you!

I have a dream

It was the festive season of Navaratri at Trivandrum in the year 1979. Every household had the traditional Golu set up. Most of them had a nine step or a seven step arrangement with dolls of different sizes neatly arranged and decorated. It would be interesting to see the creative side of the aunties, who were otherwise usually busy with the chores of joint families. Girls looked prettier during those times usually decked in silk top & a frock like attire called pavadais. The boys did not have any such dress codes J.  All the houses were filled with music and lip smacking goodies. People visited each other’s houses religiously and it was the best time to socialise. Girls were usually adept at singing, mainly Carnatic music. During this festive season, every house that they visited, they had to sing!

I was a single kid. My mom took me along to every house she visited during the season. I didn’t have to sing at the houses,  being a boy, I could play with my friends and cousins while munching on the chivdas/mixtures and sweets and the savouries of the season called sundal. I used to be fascinated at all the festivities and would silently take a peek at all those music as well. I guess I secretly enjoyed the music.

On the 7^th day of that Navratri, we were at my father’s sister Saroja auntie's house(my favourite aunt) who lived not far from our place. In any case it was like a joint family culture. Music was a part of life and family. Saroja auntie had just then finished rendering the song Shri Ranga pura vihara, which is incidentally a cult song today, thanks to the Bangalore based band called Agam which popularised it with the millennials a couple of years ago. I was mesmerised with Saroja auntie’s singing. She was an A grade All India Radio artist and there were no Televisions then. Her eldest daughter Kausalya, my cousin was as proficient and was a trained professional singer. She was pursuing her post graduation in music. Kausalya sat with her tanpura and rendered her song with her mellifluous voice. I was just lost in the music and in devotion! Pure Bliss! Kausalya was a very gentle and a soft spoken lady. She was the eldest of the next generation in my dad’s family and was elder to me by thirteen years.

Later that evening, Kausalya spoke a few words with my dad and subsequently at home my dad told me that Kausalya didi or Akka as I called her, would teach me music. I was excited at the thought of learning music, that too under the guidance of Kausalya Akka. My dad told me that Kausalya Akka would start the lessons on the Vijaya Dasami day or the Dussehra day, which was the practice those days to start for anything special like art and music on the auspicious day of Dussehra. My dad also told me that I have to give respect to Kausalya Akka as my guru.

As planned the classes started on the Vijaya Dasami day. It started with Saa Ree, gaa maa….Kausalya had a younger brother, Padmanabhan, we called him Padhu.  Padhu 11 years elder to me, was tall and handsome. He was the brightest and the most intelligent in our family and was studying Engineering in the best college of Kerala in Trivandrum those days. I was very fond of Padhu & looked upto him as my mentor.

The second day of my music class… When the class was almost getting over, in walked Padhu with his engineering graphics tools and set squares. He saw me sitting on the floor in the singing pose, and he burst into laughter. Hahahahahahaha. He laughed and laughed and laughed. He said, “ Are you serious”? "Are you going to do this saa ree, gaa business?" He very well knew the proficiency of his mom and sister and the music lineage the family had, yet he taunted me.

He took me to his Study den in the attic that he had created for himself. He had a table top tape recorder. He pulled out a brand new cassette from his bag and played it. It was the year 1979, ABBA had just then released a new album. The song was “ I have a dream, a song to sing”. A couple of years ago, Boney M had released Daddy Daddy cool and just the previous year they had released Ra ra Rasputin! Padhu was way ahead of his generation and people in that traditional and orthodox street of Trivandrum. I still remember how would solve his complex differential equations and integrations while drumming and dancing to the beats of Boney M & ABBA.

But the way he laughed at me was perplexing. Perhaps he wanted me to break away from the shackles of just Carnatic music. Yet,  it left a psychological scar on me.

Just before the 3^rd day of my class I told my parents I wouldnt be going to the class. Did not give them any explanation. I just refused. My parents and also Kausalya Akka felt I was too young and playful. So they didn’t force me then. They felt they would give me time. That time never came.

A few years later, Kausalya got married and shifted to Hyderabad. My dad had got transferred to Madras.

And music was a totally forgotten chapter for me.

I moved on in life. During my engineering days, I would solve the problems exactly the way Padhu did, with music in the background and in a fun filled way. But I never ventured to learn music.

Thirty five years later, it had come back to haunt me. I started to feel the void in my life. Wish I had learnt music! Wish I had learnt to play an instrument! Wish I had not given up! The thought started pounding on my head.  Call it midlife crisis or whatever, I was in a real crisis.

I mustered enough courage to ask a teacher in her seventies if she would take me as a student for piano even though I was a zero in music and a zero in piano.

She was the best teacher in town. Still she is. I was so glad she accepted me as my student.

I now tell myself – I have a dream. I want to play the piano well someday soon. That’s my inner calling.

Unfortunately both Kausalya and Padhu are not alive today, tragically. But I want to play that Sahana Raag on that piano apart from the Bach and Mozart pieces and dedicate it to my dear  Kausalya & Padhu, as I know that they are watching me as my angels.

And in the words of ABBA, I say,

I have a dream, a song to sing

I believe in angels

Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels

When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream,

I have a dream!

Friend or a Foe!

Have you ever been in a housing society’s meeting? How’s the scene generally?

The other day we were having a General Body Meeting in our housing society. It was a typical meeting. But an extraordinary one. As there were a host of tricky issues raised. And then an elderly lady with lots of anxiety in her mind raised a point. She looked concerned and she mentioned that she was raising that point on behalf of all the senior citizens, especially elderly ladies.

She mentioned that most of the elderly ladies prefer to go for a walk within the premises of the building. But what was bothering them was the presence of dogs. The pet dogs of some of the owners would sometimes be let free, which probably terrified those people.

Hearing this concern, one of the dog owners(who’s otherwise an active member of the society and an ardent advocate to address many of the issues pertaining to the society), got up from the meeting saying - now it is almost the end of the meeting and murmuring:  there are important issues, and people are talking about trivial things like dogs, when actually the pet dogs are the sweetest things in the world.

Until a few years ago, I was neutral to the concept of pets. Neither for nor against. I must admit I have never been exposed to pets, so no knowledge of the subject. While I knew of some people who were panic stricken by the sight of pets for their own reasons or lack of it.

But the other side of the story was alien to me.

Until I met this dear friend who has his lovely adorable labrador. Being with him I have now realised why the dog is called man’s best friend.

Yet, I have this question now looming over me.

• Was the elderly lady justified in asking this question?
• Was the dog owner justified in saying that it was a trivial issue by concluding that the dog is as much a part of his family like his own kid? And pet dogs are friendly and don’t do any harm.
• But, will he ever understand the fears of the lady/ladies that raised the question?

While I agree to the fact that dogs are lovable ones, I thought of digging a little deeper on this subject.

The book Phobias defines a panic attack as "a sudden terror lasting at least a few minutes with typical manifestations of intense fear". These manifestations may include palpitations, sweating, trembling, difficulty breathing, the urge to escape, faintness or dizziness, dry mouth, nausea and/or several other symptoms. As with other specific phobias, people suffering from fear of dogs may display a wide range of these reactions when confronted with a live dog or even when thinking about or presented with an image (static or filmed) of a dog. Furthermore, classic avoidance behavior is also common and may include staying away from areas where dogs might be (i.e., a park), crossing the street to avoid a dog, or avoiding the homes of friends and/or family who own a dog.

Leading authors and scientists on the subject concluded that the age of onset for animal phobias is usually early childhood, between the ages of five and nine and additionally found dog phobia developing as late as age 20.  Also it is interesting to note that 75-90% who reported such animal fears were women.

Now getting back to our case, the ladies who raised the issue were largely in their 60s. I can imagine the deep rooted fears manifested over decades in them. Seems more complex than what it appears.  There are genetic and biological influences that make someone more likely to develop such fears and cannot be switched off easily.

Should the dog owner be a little more sensitive to such larger fears of people?

And the population of people who have these fears out number those own pets?

There are more than 25 million stray dogs in India. While there are animal activists now protecting the interests of stray dogs, how do we tackle this inherent psychological issue prevalent in a larger population of people who do not speak up, but sulk in their own fears.

I don’t have a conclusion yet on the subject. I seek your opinions!

Or should I say, who am I to conclude on this? As the well known idiom goes, “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.”

Fountain Pen

So, they say it is a mobile revolution in India. To give you a perspective of how things have changed in the last 3 decades – Overall tele density in India was 0.6% in 1990. Today it is a whopping 89.9%. Mobile telephony when it was introduced around 1995 was considered a luxury item then. Incoming calls were charged at the rate of Rs.16 per minute.

Emails and internet also started to gain some traction, roughly about the same time. 

Slowly things started to change. Somewhere we saw a convergence of Internet and Telephony. That was the beginning of a new era. The Millennial era!

Rest as they say is history.

New Telecom operators were born. Initial thrust was to increase telephony presence. Call charges dropped. Incoming calls became free. Outgoing calls were charged under a rupee. That was the real beginning of the “mobile revolution”.

What did it do to the psyche of people? Mobiles shifted from being an aristocratic luxury item to be a common man commodity. Missed calls became a phenomena. SMS lingo were invented.

Then started the data penetration.  Tablets, smartphones came to existence. Apps and social media became a part of life. From cameras to address book, Computers to wallets, shopping to books & music - everything got encapsulated in the small device.

But as in any new technological development, there were collateral damages. Slowly but surely people started losing some of their life skills. For example – people started being more comfortable texting than talking. PMs meant Private messages and not Private Meetings. They were more comfortable in their virtual world of social media. Group chats took the place of group meets. Not to forget, Mute buttons in group chats got more importance.

Does anyone remember any telephone number now, apart from their own?

Writing with one’s own handwriting – that has definitely taken a beating. Either it is typing on the computers or extensive usage of thumbs on the phones. Thankfully the new smartphones have made it easier for the thumbs.

Now even the doctors have starting typing their prescriptions. As the joke goes, deciphering what the doctors wrote in their handwriting needed some skill!  

Would the thumb have actually liked to provide the good supporting role that it used to do while holding that mighty pen? Remember the days when the thumb would be soiled with ink from the fountain pen?

With the latest thrust on data penetration, spectrum availability for faster speeds etc – the good old voice calls have now become free. Yes, all incoming and outgoing calls are free. There’s one silver lining there. Move on from missed calls and short messages. Take the telephone and speak. SPEAK. Let your voice be heard by the other person. Lest, that life skill would be lost too.

With technological advancements in SMAC & IoT, looking forward to some interesting applications which can enhance and utilise the life skills of people as well.

Can there be a laptop without the key board – but have a writing pad wherein one can write with one’s own handwriting? Artificial intelligence(AI) can take care of deciphering the letters and words. With the option of displaying in the original handwriting as well as a digitized version. After all, AI can now identify human faces faster than humans. 

The day may not be far when the traditional paper back note book be connected to the cloud? Whatever one writes in the notebook, (which would perhaps be sporting a printed antenna built-in on that paper), gets stored in the cloud too.  A few years ago – the laptops were named Notebooks and had tried to take over the traditional note books. There will be a time, when the traditional paper back notebook takes over from the laptop with even better technology at a fraction of cost.

The fountain pen hopefully will have a rebirth with an embedded chip inside, coupled with AI and to connect to the cloud.

Lovely name – Fountain pen. Will the new fountain pen spread data and connectivity in all directions just like the fountain? Will it have music too?

Seeds of Success

“What’s so great about working for that family enterprise?” – quipped a successful CEO of a large multinational enterprise to the gentleman. “You are intelligent, well educated, you have a mind of your own. Why then? There’s plenty of money outside. You will get global recognition. You can travel worldwide. You will be entitled to Five Star holidays and can play golf during your spare time. Not exactly spare time – you can actually play golf anytime you want, even with your clients and get them to sign contracts.”

The young man was still not impressed. And was getting impatient. The professional CEO had a puzzled look on his face. The young man then asked the Prof CEO – “Have you ever personally rushed any of your employee’s relative to the hospital? And have you visited the hospital to check on the well being, more than once?”

“Ah, that’s no justification. Why be a mere soldier when you can be a King?”

The young man corrected – “Loyal soldier. Not mere.”

“This is ridiculous. This is a feudal mentality. I am shocked to see this in this era and age.”

“Right you are! Feudal indeed. Namak toh khaya hoon. And yes, food is provided every day.”

The professional CEO still couldn’t get it. The super successful global CEO( as he thought he was), was bewildered that he couldn’t convince this mere soldier to switch sides. What is it that the family is offering this bright spark and holds him to ransom? How have they managed to put him in the golden cage with resort like perquisites? ( Any inference to the recent “Golden resort” is purely coincidental).

Isn’t the above phenomena true with most family enterprises? And also with so called political dynasties. The members hardly speak up against the family. They defend them through thick and thin. And they would like to ensure that the family is always at the helm despite the organisation having many more capable leaders to run the show. This love for the family is unimaginable.

Perhaps that is one of the secrets of the success in the family enterprises across the globe. They value their employees. A small touch of warmth that they provide, does the wonders.

Some interesting points about family enterprise that various researches indicate:

• A feeling of “I feel loyal to my organisation” is far higher.
• Employee retention and longevity is definitely high.
• There have been many instances of employees' families generations working in the same family enterprise.
• High levels of productivity including multi-functional-tasking by employees.
• Interesting and intriguing sentiments by the top employees - "I know I can never be the number one nor do I want to be one. I am just happy to be of support." Unlike the quest for power that happens in the professionally run. (Disclaimer: -The infighting for power amongst the family members if at all, is not considered in this).
• Customer’s faith towards family enterprise is far greater as there is an element of trust embedded. This is really big.
• Across diverse business interests and across generations in the family, it is  the “Core Value” that binds them together for decades. This core value is the reason for success, despite the vagaries of the market place.

And so on…

Does this mean, it is a cakewalk for the family businesses? Certainly not. They strive hard to establish themselves. Hard work, productivity, value for money from employees are significant. They concentrate to provide a clean, simple environment than to provide a luxury laden ambience. Small family enterprises are more often training grounds and thus poaching grounds for bigger multinational competitors. Certainly there would be some percentage of employees who’d jump across for the “greener golf course”.

While, the family balances to manage the above factors, there are a few things which they need to be wary of. As per studies, only about 30% of family and businesses survive into the second generation, 12% are still viable into the third generation, and only about 3% of all family businesses operate into the fourth generation or beyond. Some sample questions that arise in their minds – I've built a great business but my children are not ready/interested in it. My father built a great business, but I am not a good fit to take it to the next level. Our family-owned business has family issues affecting the business. Our older generation cannot/will not 'let go'. We have a lack of the right talent as family members without skills or experience occupy management positions. Etcetera.

The key to longevity of success depends on the critical nurturing of Management Succession Planning, Ownership Succession Planning & Leadership Development. It is as important as the business itself. 

Organisations will thrive. Political dynasties will thrive. 

Yes, call it SuccesScion Planning!

Cash – 22

It is the most common topic in conversation these days. No, I am not going to use that most commonly misused word! Yet….

This is about the simple psyche that commoners are going through (that includes myself). For simplicity sake let me call these people, in the context of India – the middle income group which perhaps constitute the median of the bell curve.

There is no denial that in the last decade or so the economy has seen tremendous growth, despite a depression in between. India had faced that situation quite boldly. People did have cash with them in India even in those difficult global situations. Slowly but surely the spending patterns had also seen interesting growth in the last many years. As people say the (erstwhile) Rs.500 note was symbolically equivalent to that of the Rs.50 of say 10 years ago.

Like many, I wouldn’t like to carry a lot of cash in my wallet every day. Just a few Rs 500 notes. The moment a 500 was broken for some change, you can be sure the rest of the change would vanish in no time. So the psyche was to keep the 500 note in full for as much time as possible.  And like most salaried employees, neither did I like to keep a large chunk of cash at home. The cash withdrawal patterns were mostly based on monthly essential requirements.

Have those changed in the last few weeks after the big announcement?

The first week – I didn’t want to stand in the big queues. So no new cash. I was moving around with the old Rs.500 note which had no value. But why did I carry them in my wallet, if no value? Just to give me a secure psychological feeling that I have something in my purse and not empty handed. The next week I got some new notes from the bank (the now famous pink Rs.2000). I had to obviously leave a large chunk of what I got, at home for emergency usage. I just kept one note of Rs.2000 in my wallet.

That was like a life saver. Started leading a frugal life. That 2000 buck stayed with me for a long time, as I did not want to spend it. Had lots of discussions and chats with my friends during that time. Most of them were almost on the same boat. People were debating that this situation could be bad for the economy at large. That people have started spending less. Overall spending less by people over a long term is apparently trickier than a lower inflation!

Come next week, I got some more new notes from the bank. I have now more than one 2000 note in my purse. Now that a few weeks have passed by, I am not as rigid as I was in the second week about giving the 2000 note to a vendor (albeit some hesitation).

Coming to think of it, the 24000 per week withdrawals are more than what I used to withdraw earlier in the whole month. Curiously I wanted to study the mind pattern and the behaviour in this situation. 

Have I started to withdraw cash in the month, more than I ever did? Have I started carrying more cash in my wallet now?

Is the new 2000 going to be another 100, if not 50? Will my spending actually increase now, without my realising?

It is a paradox! Cash 22 indeed!

Cash or Digital Cache

Every day we see many articles on the latest important subject in the lives of Indian people. What they call as De-Monetisation(whatever that means). Too many buzz words around it. Many people reacted as if they were stuck by the Amygdala hijack and started to panic. Some people say that what started as an initiative to curb black money, now the goal post has shifted to being a Cashless society. And there are many theories about how cash will be important, and how long will it take for the authorities to print the currencies. How deficient will it be for livelihood and therefore how we might be proceeding towards the doomsday?!

While the authorities are relentlessly promoting online transactions.

Well, point noted. And I am not here to debate whether the execution is appropriate or not. For the time being, let us accept the current situation and take a positive outlook. Agreed that the physical currency printing will have its lead times and the logistics around it. In my opinion, the authorities are not shifting the goal post to a cashless society. They are making people aware of going the digital way. And if not all, even if some people do adopt and change their transactional processes, to that extent the demand for physical currency would reduce, while the authorities get ready with the new currency notes. Another question – why Rs.2000? This is also strategic perhaps. They can do with a big value for less number of notes. Just for logistical reasons.

Having said that, how can the future be shaped? The naysayers and the doomsayers have been saying that middle class is largely affected and the poor in rural areas is affected big time. And there’s no recourse.

Let’s admit, this is the era of technology. Solar panels and LED lights have already started illuminating the villages largely. Mobile penetration and growth is phenomenal. Make the best use of the system. We have already seen a surge in digital wallets and online transactions increasing tremendously in the last 2-3 weeks. The current situation should pave way for a new age economy and India.

Can we have rural friendly digital transactions being evolved and developed? A new set of ecosystem could develop in the coming months. For example – can we have a very simplistic point of sale device which would accept payment based on finger print? One need not remember a security code. Your finger print could take care of that. The amount should get automatically get deducted from the corresponding Bank Account or credit card or any other medium. Keep it simple for the end user but supported with heavy backend to take care of all the security requirements linked with Aadhar, PAN or any other mandated gateways. Authentication could have a combination of picture of the end consumer, finger print and if required any other biometric including iris scanning. All done in a single cost effective POS device. The consumer will be agnostic of all the technology behind the transaction.

Now mobile companies have started getting Banking licenses. The mobile companies should not restrict themselves only to mobile wallets. They could offer path breaking banking experience for people. Especially rural people. Other banks could tie up with some mobile operators. With this combo, any person opening an account could be given a start up kit like cheque book, debit card etc. Also should give them a mobile phone with pre-loaded Banking App of the particular bank with the consumers credentials and biometric authentications. The App should be simple enough for the user for transaction purposes. Like a mobile game – the currency notes in their respective denominations could be visibly presented. Seeing is believing. If a person wants to transfer money to another person – they should choose the person’s name (with picture displayed) so it is easy for the rural person to pick the recipient. The account details of the receipient is all taken care automatically by the system (linked with Aadhar etc etc). And he shouldn’t be bothered whether it is an IMPS transaction or NEFT or RTGS. All to be taken care by the system. The transaction should be simple enough for the person to drag the digital currency note from his account and pasting it to the other person’s pictorial account and duly authenticated by finger print on the mobile phone. Bingo, the transaction is done!

Easier said than done. I am sure with the advent of technologies in banking, mobile communications, cost effective mobile devices, technologically advanced App developers, superior, simple and effective Multilingual User Interface, Risk mitigation systems, Security enhancement facilities including protection from data hacking, thefts etc and backed by social security & government support, the day is not far.

Afterall, we are a society with more number of mobile phones than toothbrushes!