It’s India’s 59th Republic Day today…

Pick whichever way you’d like to hear the greeting from this Hinglish chat conversation:

Friend: Republic Day की हार्दिक शुभकामनाऍं
Me: Happy प्रजासत्तक दिवस to you too!

Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant arrived at Vancouver, Canada after his first international flight. Speaking only Polish, he was left helpless at the airport arrival lounge for over 10 hours. This left him frustrated, he turned violent, and was left dead when the police fired Tasers at him aiming to control the unarmed man. The whole incident was captured by an eye-witness Paul Pritchard on his camera.

While I strongly condemn the Taser incident there is something in the Canadian society that I think is worth appreciating:

• I respect Paul for handing over the video to the police in order to help the investigations. Note that this incident involved the police, who, were also the investigators of the incident.
• I respect the faith a common man has in the police and law enforcement officers here.
• I respect the fact that the police returned the video back to Paul, fully knowing how humiliating and embarrassing it would be – not just to the RCMP, but to Canada itself.
• I respect the freedom of press here and how the matter is being discussed openly and transparent manner.
• Finally, I respect the fact that the common here man believes that justice will be delivered, despite the police themselves being involved in the incident.

The video is here. Content warning.

Indeed, there are many things we (Indians) need to learn…

Image from CBC News

Happy 60th [tag]Independence Day[/tag], everyone.

“उजड़े नहीं अपना चमन,
टूटे नहीं अपना वतन,
मंदिर यहाँ, मस्जिद यहाँ,
हिंदू यहाँ, मुस्लिम यहाँ,
मिलके रहें हम प्यार से,
जागो ऽ ऽ ऽ …. “  

“आसाम से गुजरात तक,
बंगाल से महाराष्ट्र तक,
जाती कई हम एक है,
भाषा कई सुर एक है,
कश्मीर से मद्रास तक,
कह दो सभी हम एक है,
आवाज दो हम एक है,
जागो ऽ ऽ ऽ …. “

I feel more and more that the verses above is nothing but wishful thinking. Nevertheless, it is an occasion to celebrate.
Sixty years of [tag]Indian Independence[/tag].

Its a [tag]BharatBala[/tag] Production, the creators of some of the finest advertisements, films and special interest videos. The theme is taken from the [tag]Bhagawad Gita[/tag]:

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥२.४७
The video says: A man’s [tag]karma[/tag] is to forever turn the wheel of life towards a better future for all

The website elaborates on the theme, excerpts:

The wheel of dharma is the unstoppable energy of life
…
This has been the spirit of free [tag]India[/tag] and this is the message of our film.

Indeed, a vision for our country’s future…
And an amazing video!

“The Unicef analysis, done in conjunction with India’s health ministry, found that about 46% of children below the age of 3 suffer from [tag]malnutrition[/tag]. That’s a staggering figure, and one that compares with roughly 35% in sub-Saharan Africa and 8% in China. It’s even more startling when you consider India predicts growth of 9.2% this year. “

The fact that we are so casual about our future, speaks volumes about the disconnected focus of the government on ‘reforms’. What’s worse, the situation hasn’t really improved since independence. This news succeeds the recent shocking event at Puri’s Jagannath Temple reported by DNA: “[tag]Food[/tag] destroyed at temple after foreigner’s entry”.

In a country where millions go to bed hungry, Rs 1 million worth of food meant as a holy offering at Orissa’s Jagannath temple was destroyed on Friday because a foreigner had entered it — an act seen as defiling the premises.

Patrix has some creative ideas I couldn’t agree more-

If the temple authorities feared associating themselves with the ‘defiled’ food then they could have ‘conducted a yagna to disassociate’ (bear with me, trying to be a lil creative here) themselves from it and leave the food alone in a lonely corner outside the temple complex. I’m sure the ‘defiled’ food would find plenty of takers even in the most religious of towns.

60 million malnourished [tag]children[/tag] in India, while people in North America take food for granted… I can picture Gods shaking their heads in disapproval.

• We Indians know that the right side to drive is the left side. But here in Canada, they think it’s their right to drive on the right and that’s the right side to drive.
• We put in the key to unlock a lock and turn the key clockwise. Guess what happens.
• I searched the whole house for a 3-pin socket to insert my electrical equipment, but I never found one. Later I discover that the circular pin is on the lower side, hidden by the contours of the socket
• You go to a restaurant – they give you a check which is really a bill and they expect you to pay bills (cash).
• If you are late for class, the professor won’t question, you can eat in class, laze (sometimes sleep) but nobody cares. While answering a question you don’t need to stand, and the most difficult thing is, that you address the professor with his/her name
• Interrupting or jumping in while the other person is speaking is considered normal here, in fact, if you do that, the teachers think you are actively participating.

Ok then the door knobs are reverse, keys go in upside down, screws get fastened when I try to unscrew them, and so goes the list.

It’s funny how it hits us when routine things change, isn’t it? We take many things for granted and this little experience has taught me to pay attention to them. Extending this to the business world, I think it’s quite likely that our assumptions could turn into contradictions without us being aware of it. Maybe two people having radically different perspectives on the same issue should think about this.

Excerpts:

Me: Where the hell are you?
Friend: eh?
Me: I’m trying to call for past 2 days, you are unreachable.
Friend: ah! Yes I know. I switched my cell phone off. Sorry!
Me (puzzled): Why?
Friend: Ok listen to this. 3 days back, I updated my resume on a couple of online job portals (such as naukri.com, jobsahead.com, monsterindia.com, timesjobs.com, jobsdb.com). Ever since I did that, I’m continuously getting phone calls from several software companies. Gauge this: In morning alone I got 8 lucrative offers. I’m unable to focus on my work anymore.
Me (stunned): huh!
Friend: And these are not emerging companies, these are the big boys. You know that software companies are on expansion spree and they are frantically grabbing every bit of talent they can. Apart from the phone calls, I’m also getting more emails that I can read – not just from Mumbai but from the other software hubs too: Pune. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. I’m simply deleting them.
Me: oh my god!
Friend: Frankly I’ve lost count, I don’t know who wants to hire me for which position and responsibilities.
Me: err.. ummm… ugh… zzz…
Friend: That’s why I switched off my cell phone. I’m not prepared to handle this.
(translated into English from a mix of Marathi, Hindi and English)

This is a real situation. If I stand on the street today and announce ‘I don’t have a job’, ten people will gather around and place handsome offers. For those who are working in booming sectors like software, BPO’s, Engineering and Construction etc, you are offered a job even if you are not actively looking for one.

Today, a student graduating from any engineering college, having passed the entrance test is assured of a high paying job for a long time. However, few of these freshers or trainees stay in the company for over two years. They are easily lured away by promising job offers, one after another. The average time an employee spends in a company has declined to alarming limits, and the HR (Human Resources) team is fighting a losing battle to retain the talent.

Attrition has been a major problem of the IT (Information Technology) and ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) since past several years. Giants like Infosys, Wipro, TCS etc complain of steep attrition rates haunting their companies. This trend has silently crept into sectors other than IT too. The salaries may not be as high, but the supply – demand ratio is a miniscule fraction. How do you get out of this?

You can’t. Can you?

So where does this take us? (To be elaborated in another post.)

The problem of plenty is real. And not all of it is a healthy sign in the long run.

Left front (CPI, CPM and other communist parties) constitutes a significant chunk of the ruling UPA alliance governing the centre. Right wing BJP led NDA is the main opposition party. The role of the opposition party is to keep the policies of the ruling government in check and question the basis of all decision making. At the same time, the opposition raises a stand on various issues and debates with the government before the parliament agrees on a proposal. A weak opposition will result in irresponsible governance. Parliamentary democracy gives importance to both – the ruling and the opposition.

Of late the Left parties have taken over the role as the main opposition. BJP is tied up trying to cope up with the mess in its own house. It does launch token protests, but they are out of sync and don’t reflect a firm stand of the party on any issue. Latest example is the issue raised by NDA over the proposed disinvestments in NALCO. While in power, it was the NDA government who proposed offloading equity from this profit making PSU. Now it’s the same NDA, which is opposing the proposal bitterly. Another example was the meek protests few weeks back over fuel price hike. I remember the previous NDA government defending the price rise when it raised the fuel prices.

The Left on the other hand has been consistent with its policies; I’m not judging right or wrong (that will be another post). They are against liberalization and disinvestments in profit-making PSU’s. They are against passing the rising oil import costs to the consumer. They oppose FDI in retail and want to stick to protectionist labor laws of the 60’s. It’s a different story that the Leftist government in West Bengal under Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is running with a capitalist agenda.

Yet, the stand taken by the communists is steady, while the BJP is in a state of complete disarray. Remember Indira Gandhi’s gesture of sending Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the leader of opposition to UN back in 1971, which has become a shining example of Indian democratic setup and role played by a responsible opposition?

Part of the government itself is playing the opposition today, which was anyways inevitable, because the Congress is more similar to BJP than Leftists! Where is the real opposition today?

News is officially out that the Jet – Sahara deal is off the shelf. Many reasons have been cited for the breakdown of takeover by Jet airways, including political ones. While the economic considerations could be valid reason for scrapping deal, the political games that are played behind the scenes will definitely hamper growth stories, such as this.

Air Sahara owned by Sahara group is known for its proximity to the Samajwadi party. Samajwai party – another one among the pool of political parties with lost objectives – has publicly declared its stand against the Congress party in the state of UP, although it currently supports Congress led UPA at the center. The merger is seen to have been beneficial to the Lucknow based Sahara group, therefore to the Samajwadi party too. With elections in UP drawing close, the rabid race to grab power in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state (and also illiterate, backward etc.) is growing bitter. Yesterday’s friends are pitted against each other and they are leaving no stones unturned to ensure the defeat of the enemy – by direct or indirect method. It is therefore speculated that the Jet Airways – Air Sahara merger deal was scuttled under the pretext of ‘security clearance’ by the central government on the directive issued by the ruling congress party. Why? So that Samajwadi party is not benefited.

If this story is really true, it speaks volumes about the shortsightedness and selfish motives of Indian politicians, whom I consider the filthiest creatures on earth. It is noteworthy that despite the politicians, India Inc continues to grow and is set to strengthen brand India.