Intelligence Failure

With blasts happening almost every week, it is clear that our intelligence has repeatedly failed... tough new measures are needed to make sure our intelligence becomes the best in the world.

I am not blaming RAW, they might be doing their job but today the terrorism is on a different level. When someone can issue emails to the Government about planting a bomb at will, then surely we have reached a stage where radical solutions are needed to fight terrorism. Point is what is stopping us.....economically, we can afford, surely we have the brains and there are billion people to choose from......why not? …When a country as tiny as Israel can keep all its neighbours at check then why not India.

Mossad is today regarding the best intelligence and security service on the earth. They have been clandestinely executing secret operations with awestruck ruthlessness and that is what we have to do...New India should keep its traditional soft stance behind its back now...it is time for some really tough actions....I say it again….don’t ban these ill outfits who in the name of religion kill innocent people…. Because if you ban them they will spring back in a different form ... we should obliterate them and surely secret agencies can deliver that without any commotion

Engaging Employees

Employee engagement is a new catchphrase among employers today. An employee who is engaged in his work is an individual who cares for the future of his company. He is passionately and emotionally involved in his work. Most employees who are engaged believe they contribute in improving the company's services or products and can positively impact customer service. 

There are many factors which are critical to keep your workforce more engaged for e.g. manager’s capability, clear outlining of goals and expectations, safety and security, social position etc. My current organization regularly organizes various social events like open house celebration, summer parties, offsites, friday pub outings, service award functions etc . some are critical about these social events and would argue that they don’t add any concrete value to the organization but actually they do make a significant impact on the engagement of employees.

When I asked a few people in our event organization committee (responsible for planning events and social gatherings) they highlighted that employee's social involvement at work is critical to engagement. If the employee is part of the social network, he will feel more connected to the organization. As an employer, by these events they are trying to set the tone for the entire workplace. Even simple things like having team lunch can bring employees together and keep your stress levels down. 

Some people are naturally wired to give their all and do their best no matter where they work. But the majority of people require some form of motivation to generate enthusiasm in order to have a sense of purpose and energy about what they do.

What makes organisations truly innovative?

Yesterday we had an offsite, which means all the employees get an update on the strategic initiatives of the organization. The founder of the firm had one message ....to be innovative and truly in today's world, innovation is very essential for success. Hard work is great, but to be successful innovation and thinking different is vital...and even if you are successful, you have to keep innovating to be in the business.

Leaders in every organization are facing enormous new challenges. What worked in the past won’t necessarily work now and with the uncertain business environment it surely requires new ideas and skills to succeed and inspire.

The best new ideas aren't necessarily the most complex ones; they are the ones that are created by looking at an existing problem from a different perspective. Lot of organizations which are so called “innovative organizations” use the right methods and practices to extract knowledge within the organization. They know that ideas are there locked inside the brains of the employees, it is just the matter of how you can get them unboxed.

Innovative organizations like Apple and Google breed fresh ideas and recognizes talent. They also have unusual ways to keep workforce engaged for e.g. Google offers 20% of its time to its engineers to freely work on what they're really passionate about. Google News, Google Suggest and Orkut are among the many products which evolved from such programmes.

Innovative organizations empower employees, manage knowledge and thrive innovation. Leaders of such innovative organizations recognize that developing breakthrough products, revamping operational processes and coming up with new business models doesn't happen overnight. So, instead of relying on gimmicks or incremental line extensions, they're working to build organizations that are capable of sustained innovation.

Finally, inspired leadership is key for innovation.

Mr.G

Imagine, you get up in the morning and you are given a choicest of breakfast to eat, have choicest of trousers and shirts to wear , choicest of perfumes to spray, latest gadgets to make you look cool, drive a car which suits your mood , 10 minutes you reach office avoiding pollution, your boss is your uncle (so there is no way you get a bad appraisal ***** Five stars rating from the day he joined the firm), you throw your car to the janitor and he sparkles it every fucking day hoping some day his boss will be pleased, tea arrives dot on time, tea is good and that guy has been waiting for last 10 years to get a compliment but you never give him one, you don’t have to worry too much about backlogs coz there are people who take care of them, time to hit the seat in a air conditioned office, you first hit the masala news, chat with your car-loving friends, update your blogs, write reviews about the movie you saw last night, chat with your girlfriend and hey....its lunch time....cool

You have home cooked food of your choice so it is obvious you would enjoy your lunch...usually an hour coz you need to read the fun filled tabloids as well (how many things one can do at the same time), then you go out for another hour to do what the fuck you want, you come back and have tea to refresh yourself…that bloke still doesn’t get a compliment, time to work ...so open up some reports...sign a few docs, chat with your colleagues on cricket, bollywood, stocks, parties, girls and mind you colleagues are more like slaves to you so it is simple...laugh at my humour or else you would get heavy stick up your ass...then make a trip around the factory while you chat with your friends (others think you are closing a deal), call your girlfriend and have a romantic chat, decide where you want to go in the evening....it is party time ... rock and roll

Have a great evening in of the page-3 restaurants, catch a movie, say good night to your girlfriend, come back home, watch some non sense TV and call it a day.

Sorry forgot to mention … unbelievable remuneration (over the years it is growing faster that the company’s growth), under table perks, foreign tours, and hold a sexy post in the company.

One would say WOW… that is a dream fucking job....but hang on a minute…

There is one person who still cribs about all this mess ....you can gratify anyone on this earth but not him...but that is why he is my close friend and another Libran as well...Mr.G

No safe place for common man

After watching this movie, "A Wednesday" on Friday night, I felt as helpless and frustrated as any common man on the street. The message this movie sends across is simple “Governments…please stop testing the patience of the common man because it is already running out”. I went to sleep, thinking about how unsafe the world has become. Barely few hours, On Saturday, we witness yet another terror attack, now it was our capital.

Watching all the mayhem caused on the streets and so many innocents killed, I was angry, frustrated and extremely disappointed with our intelligence and mainly the politicians. Surely one can argue that being a country of billion people, it is difficult to track every individual but point is what lessons have we learned and what is the government doing to teach these culprits who in the name of Islam are killing innocent Indians.

If someone can casually go and plant these bombs at India Gate which is memorial for soldiers who died fighting for our country then I guess no one in India is safe. Our politicians assure us that these culprits will be punished but these assurances are as void and frail as our system. What we need now is India to act tough…very tough....get to the root cause and annihilate these extremists groups, whether it is SIMI, LET or any fucking terrorist camps inside our territories. Don’t catch them, just kill them. Surprisingly, I have not seen a single Muslim politician who came out in public and spoke harsh words about Islamic terrorists. Aren’t they polarizing us further?

Racial Slur

We talk about some western countries possessing double standards and being racially discriminating but right now what is happening in Maharashtra by no means is different. MNS and Shiv Sena are playing the religion card to persuade vulnerable Marathi voters.

I notice that some political parties have started playing this card very openly especially from last few years (Modi played it in Gujarat) and it is purely to gain some attention and votes. Shiv Sena played this card in 60’s 70’s, when they said South Indians are taking up all the jobs and should be driven out of the city. They funnily called it “lungi hatao” :) As expected it backfired, MNS today is also playing the same card; they are as odious as other fundamentalists. Let me be very clear, Bombay was not built by Marathi Manoos; it is built by every fucking Bombaikar.

MNS and Shiv Sena are nothing but two sides of the same coin. There is no rationale behind their actions, infact they are the ones who provoke people. Honestly I feel they don’t have the balls to compete, that are why they feel insecure. Tomorrow if same card is played by some politician in Hyderabad or Bangalore then all the Marathi speaking people who are working in Southern Indian states especially in BPO sector will meet the same fate. India so called largest democracy which we are proud of would become a joke.

Today, whether it is Bombay, Delhi, New York or London, it is people who came to these cities to earn their bread have made these cities and everyone should be proud of the city there are dwelling in. I strongly urge that everyone who reads this post should not vote to these parties. They are as bad as terrorists….don’t think I am over reacting :)

I have already decided to call the city Bombay...no offence it is my choice

Parenthood

Yesterday, I attended the first session of our ante-natal classes, which are conducted by the local hospitals (by midwives) for parents-to-be. It is a great idea to help one prepare for labour, birth, and early parenthood.

First session was quite a handy one; we met a few families who more or less had a similar due dates. We were requested to ask every query/doubt we had in our mind. Interestingly, you have people coming up with all these funny queries for e.g. someone wanted to get the details on where to park (I guess it is critical when you are in hurry during labour). Someone asked about water birth at home, changing nappies etc. In India obviously majority of families have elders to guide and provide the right advice but here with the family setup being weak, local government spends a huge chunk of their annual budget on medical services to make sure common man has access to basic provisions of life.

I must confess that I took some time to mentally prepare myself towards parenthood but now I am really excited perhaps looking forward to it. I guess initially I was apprehensive because of the whole process but slowly now I realise it could be great fun. I pray and hope that I become a good parent and to be in a position give all the happiness to your child …already talking like a parent :)

Corporate social responsibility

For many Indians, especially from rural India, when it comes to big organizations, it has always been Tata or Birla.

Tata is a name of trust, someone with sound CSR (Corporate social responsibility) values. Today, in every business school around the world, CSR is a mandatory subject. These values were re-iterated by Ratan Tata when Nano was first launched (we can argue about health and environment hazards but that’s a different story). But what is happening in Singur is something that is going against the name of Tata. It is high time they realise how much damage they are causing to their image before they totally lose trust from rural India.

Singur is highly fertile agricultural area and it is alleged that state and Tata have forcibly taken away their land for setting up the Nano plant. In a recent interview, Mamta Banerjee who is backing the protestors clearly highlighted that industry should not grow at the expense of agriculture, which is quite justified. The last thing what India doesn’t want is to lose its agricultural identity. Few years back agriculture accounted for 22% of India's GDP and employed half our country's workforce. Surely one would argue what about new face of India? Can we ignore industrial zones? Answer is 'No'. India is such a vast country and surely we can find enough place for industrialization...you don’t need fertile land to build IT parks or manufacture cars.

The offer made by Singur protestors is quite reasonable. They want Tata to return only 400 acres (out of 1000 acres) earmarked for ancillary units for the Nano car project. In return they are asking Tata and the WB govt to take the 500 acres of land lying just opposite to the Tata's Nano factory.

Certainly this is bad publicity for WB and India but then we all know that in India some drama has to happen especially when the stakes are so high and for the first time I doubt Tata's sincerity and their values.