If god was a banker

If God was a Banker, Ravi Subramanian
Rupa & Co. (pp260); Rs.195
Rating 6.5/10

Another one of those short books, which you can pick up at an airport and finish by the end of the flight. (especially when the flights are late and circle for atleast 20 minutes before landing at the airport)

In last few years their has been a crazy number of books written with an 'alma mater' hangover and this book is no different. The story is written on the backdrop of IIMs and the lives of its alumni.
I feel after the success of Five Point Someone, the alumni of IIT and IIM realised the hidden potential in selling their college name blended with masala stories. This helps in tapping a large chunk of audience who had heard about these 'premiere' institutes and had once aspired to study there. But the ones who have been there, realise how spiced up and extrapolated these stories actually are.

If God was a Banker is another such story which stays gripping throughout, but the perfect end is almost predictable. Its a tale of people with different background, different ambitions but tied with a common thread of the Banking Industry. It has an interesting take on the Corporate world, which has already been sold to Indian Audience in movies like Corporate and Life in a Metro. Sex, Betrayal, Board Room Tales are straight out of a hindi movie script. The Evil versus Good is also set in the manner in which Evil is glorified throughout the story but in the end, its the slow and steady Tortoise which wins the race.

I dont want to be too critical about the book because, even the author while writing this book, must not have aimed for any critical or literary acclaim. He wanted to write a story which can be easily adapted in a film script. Three Idiots, Hello and Slum Dog Millionaire would definitely give him hopes for such glory.

But truly, for someone not exposed to the corporate culture or the finer nunaces of the industry, this book works well like an induction course. The story is set in the nineties and the author makes a concious effort not to mix up the time travel. The book subtely but surely takes on the various foreign banks and the finance sector, which time and again have promised more than they can actually deliver. These books are never written with an aim of making the readers introspect but still if you try and think about the various incidents in the story, you would realise that the author tries to convey a message to the readers. He tries to highlight the importance of setting the expectations from your life right. Some people with unreasonable aims and desires end up taking decisions which might look good in the short term, but are surely not a good bet in the long run.

Ravi Subramanian’s language and recitation are smooth and simple; probably for purists the brief but brazen descriptions of the sexual escapades of the protagonist may sound a bit obscene. Nevertheless, Ravi Subramanian,a banker himself seems to have done a reasonable job in making the reader walk successfully though the world of money, power and deception. All in all, a must read for all air travelers looking for a nice masala story with real life references.

Verdict: Good one time read. Should be finished in one sitting. (Warning: Zero Literary Value)

Frugal Marketing Tips For Start Ups

Well I am neither a Startup nor a marketing expert, but with my experience in last few months I can surely write a bit about How one can use 'low cost' solutions to market his startup.The power of Web 2.0 has been much talked about and reported in the media. Well there is no better tool than Web 2.0 to market your venture. Some of the tools which help in catalysing the marketing initiatives of your startup are:
A Company Blog
Corporate Presentation on Slideshare
Corporate Video on Youtube
Linkedin Profile of your compnay
Presence of Co-Founders on Twitter
If its a software product, its Facebook page is also very important
Linkedin Profiles of Co Founders

All of the above social media tools come in very handy if leveraged properly. The company profile should also be submitted in the relevant Start Up Directories, such as Pluggd.in, Headstart Network etc.
Attending Start Up events helps in growing the network. The StartUp eco system in India is still in a very nascent stage, but is growing nevertheless. Events such as Startup Saturdays, Proto.in and Milagrow World SME Conference are a good networking ground which sooner or later does translate into business.
The key is to let more and more people know about the venture.
Last but not the least, getting featured in media is the sure shot way to get noticed. The question is, how does one get featured in Media? With more and more news channels and publications doing special features on Start Ups, its not a tough taks anymore. Get in touch with the concerned Journalists and News Channels and if they like your Idea/Venture, they would certainly feature you. An editorial has a much more impact than an advertisement.

Summary:
Frugal Marketing Tips for your StartUp
1. A Company Blog
2. Video and Presentations on websites such as Slide Share and Youttube
3. Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook Profiles.
4. Networking Events
5. Media Coverage

Success as a function of timing

Recently I had a very engrossing debate with a close friend of mine. As usual the discussions revolved around success and characteristics of people who succeed. This friend also being from the 'StartUp' community, like everyone else from this category of people is hoping for a breakthrough in near future.
We were trying to analyse what do these 'already successful', 'brokenthrough' guys do differently from not so successful but equally talented people. After discussing a huge list of people, famous, infamous, rich, poor, mean, generous, all kinds of people, we concluded that it was just the timing which made these people successful. They made moves at the right time. Not that it was planned or anything. It just happened at the right time. We also tried analysing the traits of a failure. In most cases, it was the bad timing of their moves, risks, and even their birth which deprived them from becoming a great. Here are some examples which would make my above statements clearer.
1. In American Football, it was noticed that most national footballers had their birthdays concentrated in certain months. On further analysis, it was found that the school selection camps was the root cause of this scenario. In all schools across America, the selections were held in Springs. The teams were classified according to age. So in all age categories, kids who had completed 10-11 months of that year were slightly stronger than the ones who had their birthdays just before the spring. So invariably just because of a few months, these kids lost out on a chance to be in the school team, even if some of them might have been better players than their stronger friends. Here the timing of their birth played an important part. Those students who were born just after spring had a better chance of making to the team as compared to those born just before the spring.
2. The timing of the career moves, even if these decisions were a part of the natural progress plays an important part in your successful career. Recently I met a guy in his late twenties, working for an international lifestyle brand. His business card said that he was the 'Director'. He was introduced to me by a common friend. I later asked my friend about his 'secret' to such giant strides in his career. He told me that 5 years back he had passes out of a Tier 2 B-School. He got placed in this company as an Asst Sales Manager. Couple of years later, this company brought this multinational lifestyle product under their own brand umbrella. He was made the in charge for that particular product directly reporting to the Brand Manager. This is when the Brand Manager quit his job and created a void in the organization structure. What made the matters worse was that the company had decided to launch this product in a fill fledged manner, that too independent of the Indian mother brand. It was decided that this guy will have to be given additional responsibilities of being the Brand Manager and Sales Manager of this brand. In 3 years time he was heading the Sales and Marketing of a leading international lifestyle brand. He had never expected this in his wildest dreams. These additional responsibilities ignited the entrepreneurial fire in him and he gave in more than 100%. The brand became a run away success. A couple of years later, he was made the director of the company for the hard work he put in.His hard work coupled with a few events with a perfect timing handed him a success, which he could only dream of.
3. Recently the Sri Lanka-New Zealand test series was concluded. As usual New Zealand Captain Dan Vettori played a lone hand in what was an absolute drubbing. On checking the statistics, one realises that, he was the highest wicket taker and run scorer for New Zealand in the series. On increasing the time period of this statistics, it shows that he has been the highest run scorer and wicket taker for New Zealand in last two years. In these two years, New Zealand has won only 7-8 matches, that too against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Consequentially Daniel Vettori always gets neglected by experts and even laymen, when listing down the current greats of the game. The timing of his playing years has gone wrong for him. Had he played in early 90s alongside a stronger side, his performances would have made a stronger impact. A 'could be' great in some other era and a mere mortal in the current one.

Favorable timing is not the only key to success bit definitely helps those people who are completely prepared at that particular moment. Its like a golden opportunity which eludes the speculative people but nitro boosts the 'raring to go' category of people.

Holding Traffic to Ransom

Recently, I have come across many news articles where the Traffic Police officials have been quoted, saying that they have stepped up the action against traffic violators. Its a good sign for any city indeed. The kind of chaotic traffic, which Delhi NCR has been witnessing for last few years, a strict action from Traffic Police was indeed necessary. But one has to see that at what cost are we achieving this normalcy in traffic.
I am afraid but in last couple of months, the role of traffic police officials has been nothing short of pathetic. After having received a free hand from their seniors, the on ground traffic police personnel have gone berserk in stopping any and every vehicle at their will. This piece of writing is not only based on my personal experiences but also of some of my friends and relatives, with whom I have had detailed discussions. Here are some incidents, which after reading, you would be able to pick out at least one incident which has happened to you in last couple of months.

1. It was the day when merely a couple of hours of rain had halted the traffic completely in Delhi NCR. The government's laxity was visible in the pools of water which had accumulated in most roads. A friend of mine was stuck in the traffic jam, and decided to call home to tell his mother that he would be late. This is when a traffic police guy jumped out of nowhere and informed him that he just broke a traffic rule. My friend was completely shocked. The car was at a complete standstill on the middle of the road. Even though technically he might have been at a fault, but logically it was far from being a traffic violation. Even though there was such heavy chaos on the road, the traffic guy was more interested in making my friend realise his mistake. Result: A argument without any conclusion. My friend was willing to pay the fine, but the traffic police guy didn't have the Challan Book.

2. It was a saturday night. I was coming back from Delhi to Gurgaon. I was in the queue at the toll bridge waiting for my turn. This is when I saw that there were police guys probably checking for drunk drivers. I felt relieved that I was sober. The police guy walked up to me and I pulled down the window. He asked me where was I coming from, where was I heading to. What is his business. Anyways. I answered the questions. He asked me how many beers had I consumed. I said none. He said it was difficult to believe that a guy on a saturday night is not drunk. What logic? I told him that I wasnt drunk and they can have my breath analyser test done. He agreed and asked me to accompany him to the Thana. This is when I lost my head. I refused to accompany him to thana and asked for the test to be taken there and then. These guys were searching for drunk drivers without the breath analysing kit. After a heated discussion, he let me go. For him it was an opportunity to make a quick buck. But sadly enough for him, I wasnt the kind of catch he was looking for.

3. A friend of mine was driving back from work. A police official waved and stopped him. He slowed down and stopped after a few meters. He was surprised as to why he was stopped. He got out of the car and walked back towards the Traffic Police guy. The traffic police guy told him that he wasnt wearing his seat belt. He felt damn irritated because now there was no way he could prove that he was wearing the seat belt. He tried convincing the traffic guy, that he was indeed wearing the belt. The traffic guy asked for all his papers, which he politely showed. Then he asked for his mobile phone. My friend was a little hesitant but handed over his phone to him. He started checking the recent calls list to check if my friend was on the phone when he was caught. There were no calls in the last few minutes. Finally after the traffic guy was over with all the 'routine' check ups, my friend was told that he was free to go. He didn't even find the traffic guy worth arguing with and left that place.

I would like to clarify that I am not trying to look down upon the good work the Traffic Guys are doing, but some traffic police personnel see it as an opportunity to earn an easy buck. There is no reason why these guys should not be equipped with the Breath Analyser or the Challan Book. They know that many people end up paying cash to them as an escape measure. Also, the practice of traffic policemen stopping cars without any valid reason has gone up drastically. I have been stopped atleast 4-5 times in last one month, for no rhyme or reason. Maybe because I have a Rajasthan registration number, or maybe because they were hallucinating. The senior traffic police officials need to realise that the good work of most of the good on ground officials is undone by a small number of inefficient traffic guys who are doing nothing but holding the traffic for ransom...

BJP Heading Towards Dark Ages?

This one is a quick one.
Jinnah left Indian shores on 14th August 1947, but his ghost still haunts Ashoka Road in New Delhi. Thats where the BJP National Head Quarter is located.
In 2005, Advani on his 'memorable' trip to Pakistan praised Jinnah for being a visionary and paid the price by losing his post of Party President. Jaswant Singh on his Academic pursuit ended up writing an entire book on Jinnah and in this process lost the membership of the party with which he was associated for almost 3 decades.
I wont go into the analysis of Jinnah's role in Partition, Jaswant Singh's view point and Congress's reaction to the book. I just wish to convey my feeling of shock and irritation to the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from BJP.
A Political Party which throws out senior people from its party just because he wrote a book on controversial issue, is surely looking down the dumps. It has lost its path and has forgotten its priorities.
If BJP has to reinvent itself, it has to rise above personal attacks, factionalism and has to look at youth. There is no way this ideology can help them in relating to 70% of population which is below the age of 35...
Continuing with yesterday's post... BJP listed down the following reasons for their defeat in Lok Sabha elections.. Neither does the list looks complete nor impactful. What measures are being taken??

Lack of unity among party leaders.: The whole world knows that
Failure to connect with youth.: Tried their best through social media
BJP failed to corner the Congress on 26/11. Instead the party let the Congress and the media divert the issue and bring in to Kandhar issue.: Terrorism cannot be politicised
Party's election slogans failed.: Bhay Ho song was so lame!
Varun Gandhi's hate speech also led to BJP debacle.: High Time they realise it. He is still a BJP MP and the only 'young' leader
Projection of Narendra Modi as the future prime minister damaged the party's prospects.: Is he not the next PM candidate anyways
Campaign should have been more meticulous, synchronised and effective.: A very general statement
Personal attack on Manmohan Singh did not go well with people.: This is because he counterattacked agressively
In Punjab the alliance partner’s attitude affected the performance of National Democratic Alliance.: Blaming others!! Your own sitting MPs like Vinod Khanna lost..
In Delhi the BJP lost the game even before it was played. : They can't win a seat in next 10 years..No leaders at all
In Haryana party failed to assess the popular mood.: wt#?
Break up of alliance in Orissa at the 11th hour left the party unawares.:What happened to the tall claims of going single?

Bagle's Cafe Gurgaon: Disappointing

For a place which opened last month with good reviews all over the print media, my trip to Bagel Cafe, Gurgaon was nothing short of a disaster.Before visiting the place, I did a quick google search and visited the website (www.bagelscafe.in). The website offers a refreshing mix of colours and further raises your expectations from the place.
As soon as you enter the cafe, you feel a bit cheated. The ambience of the cafe is more like a CCD or a Barista and does not offer anything better than a routine neighbourhood cafe. The ambiance and the interiors do not do any justice to colourful logo,menu cards and the websiteThe staff did greet us with a happy smile initially, but alas, that happy feeling on their faces also begins to fade away in some time.
We ordered Plain Cream Cheese Bagel, Cafe Lattes and Country Style Stew with Chicken and Sausages. When you order a Cheese Bagel, you don't expect the cheese layer to be as thick as the Bagel itself. Well, We did find our way out by removing half the layer of the cheese, but the stale 'cream cheese' didn't do any good to us. It was just not edible.When we made the staff aware of the stale cheese, they simply handed us a feedback form and asked us to leave our comments.
The Chicken and Sausage Meal in the Bowl was at best average and could have been better, had it not been so bland and full of Cream Cheese. It seemed that the staff knew that their Cream Cheese was getting stale and wanted to exhaust the entire thing on that evening itself.Coffee also does not need any special mention. A specialised cafe like this can work harder on the aroma of the coffee.
I am being a bit too critical about Bagel's Cafe only because of the good reviews it had received during the week of its opening. One tends to question the integrity of the Food Reviewers which the major publication houses employ. To make the matters worse, the pricing is also not something to write home about.
Details:
Name: Bagel's Cafe
Location: Shopping Mall, Arjun Marg, DLF 1
Phone: 0124-4284742
Website: www.bagelscafe.in
Cost for 2 people: Rs 500-600
Verdict: Disappointing

P.S. I am glad that some of the Gurgaon people whom I follow on Twitter have a similar opinion of the place

Wanted- A Win For Armymen

Recently I got a facebook friend request from a school friend of mine whom I havent spoken to in the longest time. I accepted the friend request and started browsing through his profile to find out what he was upto in last 6-7 years. I opened his photo album and was pleasantly surprised to see my friend in the army unifrom with an AK 47 in his hand.
It wasnt a one of pic, rather there was an entire album of pictures from his base camp in Kashmir. It took me a while to actually come to terms that one of my friends actually joined Army and is currently posted in Kashmir. A rank in army is such a glorified position, yet strangely not many of us ever pursue it with passion.
From a batch size of 300 in our school, 15 people got into IIT, 100 others got into various other engineering colleges, 15 became doctors, but only one dared to join the army.
In last one week, there has been a lot of talk about the Kargil War and the heroic deeds of our Jawans. We draw so much pride, when we talk about the Indian Army and its achievements, but somehow we fail to even think about being a part of it. I am sure, its just not the lack of courage, but also a few other factors, which has created this notion in the Urban Youth of India.
Inappropriate pay packages is one huge factor which keeps the youth away from joining the army, but the recent incidents of disrespect shown by politicians towards the Martyrs would have only accentuated the unwillingness to be a part of the great institution.
Wars are never won by governments. They are won by armies. By brave men who risk everything to watch the borders. The martyrs who leave behind a legacy and a legend to inspire a million others to follow their footsteps. But sadly, when political agenda takes over the general good of the country, a feeling of resentment is created.
Today on a news channel, during the decade celebrations of Kargil victory, the families of the shaheed jawans were invited in an open discussion. Each and every family member made a strong point that, they wouldn't let any of their future generations to join Indian army. This just goes to show how we have let down the families who gave away their sons for our well being.
Government needs to realise that the reforms are over pending and Rs 5000 pension and a gas agency or a petrol pump cannot be used to barter the lives of our soldiers.
The kind of contorversy which was created around Major Unnikrishnan's death during the 26/11 operation was shameful. Similarly, the deaf ears which government was offering for last one week to all the requests for a major celebration, just highlighted the effect of politics on even such sensitive issues in India. Thankfully, Prime Minister made his face saving appearance at Amar Jawan Jyoti today morning, his first such appearance on Vijay Diwas in five years of his office.

Each year, the government comes out with figures stating that the vacant seats in NDA is increasing each year. Well, its for the governement to introspect on why this is happening. The day the brave soldiers get the respect, the means and the social security which they deserve, India would have redeemed itself and it would continue to produce the Bravest Soldiers.

On the occascion of the 10th anniversary of the Kargil War, I salute all the brave soldiers who spend sleepless nights on the border ensuring a sound sleep for the citiizens of this country..

Jai Hind!