Must Read - Winning by Jack Welch

"Winning" is one of my favourite books. It offers deep insights,original thinking and nuts and bolts advice that will change the way people think about work. One of the concepts discussed is the 4- E framework. The 4E framework states 4 things which an employee should have to become a successful, trusted part of an organization

• Positive Energy
• Ability to Energise others
• Edge - The courage to make tough yes or no decisions
• Execute - The ability to get the job done

The book is a must read and has really helped me in my professional life.

Employee Rewards and Recognition

Employee Rewards and Recognition
By Srikant G

“I can live for two months on a good compliment.”—Mark Twain
How do you keep an employee motivated? The answer to this question is as complex as the origin of life. Most companies have adopted rewards and recognition schemes as a tool to motivate employees. Every company has a plethora of awards – Star of the month, star of the week, fortnight hero, quarterly champ etc. But do these rewards really lead to improvement in morale? Unfortunately the answer to this question is as foggy as Delhi on a winter morning. In most cases rewards and recognition programs are major failures; in fact they often lead to discontentment in the team. The greatest challenge for any such scheme is the nomination process. How do you nominate a “star”? There have been cases when an employee has been the star of the quarter but has got a poor performance rating. Does this mean that employees cannot be motivated? Is it the death knell for employee rewards and recognition? Fortunately there is still hope. The problem of recognizing or rewarding an employee for exceptional performance is not wrong; it’s the implementation that’s flawed. The Human Resources team should be thinking of new ideas rather than adopting the tried and tested methods. What works in MacDonald’s will not work in Mauruti Udyog.
Rewards Vs Recognition
Though often used inter changeably rewards and recognition programs should be considered separately. Reward systems refer to programs set up by a company to reward performance and motivate employees on individual and/or group levels. They are normally considered separate from salary but may be monetary in nature or otherwise have a cost to the company. Recognition programs are generally not monetary in nature though they may have a cost to the company. Recognition elicits a psychological benefit whereas reward indicates a financial or physical benefit.
The key to developing a rewards program is as follows[1]
Identification of company or group goals that the reward program will support
Identification of the desired employee performance or behaviors that will reinforce the company's goals
Determination of key measurements of the performance or behavior, based on the individual or group's previous achievements
Determination of appropriate rewards
Communication of program to employees
Types of Reward Programs
The following are the regularly used rewards programs
1. Variable Pay
2. Bonuses
3. Profit Sharing
4. Stock Options
Recognition Programs
Recognition programs must be separate from the rewards programs. Recognition can have a monetary value (gift certificates, plaques etc) but money should not be given. Glasscock and Gram[2] noted in National Productivity Review that effective recognition methods should be sincere; fair and consistent; timely and frequent; flexible; appropriate; and specific. They go on to explain that it is important that every action which supports a company's goals is recognized, whether through informal feedback or formal company-wide recognition. Likewise, every employee should have the same opportunity to receive recognition for his or her work. Recognition also needs to occur in a timely fashion and on a frequent basis so that an employee's action does not go overlooked and so that it is reinforced to spur additional high performance. Like rewards, the method of recognition needs to be appropriate for the achievement. This also ensures that those actions, which go farthest in supporting corporate goals, receive the most attention. However, an entrepreneur should remain flexible in the methods of recognition, as employees are motivated by different forms of recognition. Finally, employees need to clearly understand the behavior or action being recognized. This is ensured by being specific in what actions will be recognized and then reinforcing this by communicating exactly what an employee did to be recognized.





Recognition Programs
There is a sincere need to look beyond the obvious when it comes to recognition programs. Here are a few ideas, which can truly motivate an employee
Peers Recognition – The true worth of any employee is known by his or her peers. The nomination for any award or recognition should be made by the team members rather than the supervisors.
Send a hand written note – The greatest recognition that an employee can get is direct recognition from the top brass. Supervisors should request the company bosses to send a hand written note to the deserving employees. The note needn’t be elaborating even a “thank you“ from the company MD means a million bucks to the employee.
Applaud – If anyone does anything worthwhile give the person a standing ovation at your next team meeting.
Reward Effort as well as success – All ideas need not be successful but ideas need to keep flowing in. Initiate an award for the best ideas that failed/could not be successfully implemented. For eg 'the best idea that didn't work' award. This stimulates positive behavior and innovation.
Create a culture of informal recognition – Recognition like leadership can be displayed at and by all levels of the organization. Create a culture where teams openly appreciate each other’s successes.
Enjoy Work – Each and every achievement of the team should be celebrated. Introduce concepts Like “Pizza Friday” or “Saturday Matinee” (Every Saturday one employee of the team gives a small presentation- fifteen to twenty mins - on a topic which is totally unrelated to work for eg a review of a favorite book or a movie)
There are millions of such ideas. The HR team needs to take the initiative in unearthing the recognition program best suited for their organization. The first step towards this is to conduct employee surveys (Appendix 1) .A sample survey is mentioned in the Appendices. Before commencing recognition program the management should ask a few questions regarding its feasibility (Appendix 2). To have an unpolluted environment we need to grow trees similarly to have a stress free, motivated environment in office we need to grow people. It is difficult but not impossible to motivate employees all it needs is a little effort.



Appendix 1 - Sample Template
Sample Attitude Survey
(Introductory Statement -- make specific to department)Before we implement a recognition and rewards program in this department, we'd like to get an idea of what kind of program our employees would like to see and how it could be positively implemented. This survey is intended to be anonymous, but you may add your name to the bottom of the questionnaire. Please return your completed questionnaire to ________________ by _________.
1. Do you receive positive feedback from your supervisor on a regular basis? Does your supervisor thank you for the work you do? ______Mostly yes _____No, or rarely
2. Have you ever wanted to be able to recognize good work done by co-workers? ______Frequently _____Seldom
3. Would you prefer to receive recognition initiated by supervisors and managers or by your peers? Or both? (Check all that apply.) ______ Managers _____Supervisors _____PeersKeeping in mind that this program is intended to involve “non-cash” tangible rewards, please respond to the following:
4. What kind of “rewards” would you like to see given? ______ Mugs, other items with a special department or University logo______ Flowers______ Certificate of appreciation______ Catalog gift certificates______ T-shirts______ CDs______ Parking pass______ Transit pass______ Dinner gift certificate______ Tickets to events______ Other: list suggestions below
5. How could we be sure such a program would work effectively and positively?
6. What drawbacks do you see to such a program?
7. Would you be willing to participate in a workgroup to implement a program?











Appendix 2 – New Recognition program checklist
Description of the practiceBenefits of adopting the practiceHow this practice worksWhat you need in place to replicate this practice Funding and top management support is needed.
Tangible improvements to the department as a result of adopting this practice.
Why this practice was so successful and is worth replicating


[1] http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Di-Eq/Employee-Reward-and-Recognition-Systems.html
[2] Glasscock, Sue, and Kimberly Gram. "Winning Ways: Establishing an Effective Workplace Recognition System." National Productivity Review. Summer 1996

First Look - Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows

The wait is finally over,well part of it atleast.The cover of HP-7 has been released.The American edition has Harry standing in front of an orange sky,the British edition has the three protagonists jumping out of a treasure chest and the adult British edition has a locket with intricate carvings.
Desperately waiting for 21-July-2007

Quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

My doctor says that I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fibre and that I am therefore excused from saving universes.
--Life, The Universe and Everything

The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
--Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

The history of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is now so complicated that every time I tell it I contradict myself, and whenever I do get it right I'm misquoted. So the publication of this omnibus edition seemed like a good opportunity to set the record straight--or at least firmly crooked.
--Douglas Adams

You barbarians! I'll sue the council for every penny it's got! I'l have you hung, drawn, and quartered! And whipped! And boiled...until...until...until you've had enough. And then I will do it again! And when I've finished I will take all the little bits, and I will JUMP on them! And I will carry on jumping on them until I get blisters, or I can think of anything even more unpleasant to do...
--Arthur Dent

One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continuously stating and repeating the very very obvious, as in It's a nice day, or You're very tall, or Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you all right?
--The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Arthur: If I asked you where the hell we were, would I regret it?Ford: We're safe.Arthur: Oh good.Ford: We're in a small galley cabin in one of the spaceships of the Vogon Constructor Fleet.Arthur: Ah, this is obviously some strange use of the word safe that I wasn't previously aware of.
--HHGTG

Charming man. I wish I had a daughter so I could forbid her to marry one...
--Arthur Dent

He was experiencing the aural equivalent of looking at a picture of two black silhouetted faces and suddenly seeing it as a picture of a white candlestick. Or of looking at a lot of colored dots on a piece of paper which suddenly resolve themselves into the figure six and mean that your optician is going to charge you a lot of money for a new pair of glasses.
--THGTG

Now it is such a bizarrely impossible coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the nonexistence of God. The arguement goes something like this:
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," say Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't though of that" and promply vanishes in a puff of logic.
--THGTG

Arthur: You know, it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space, that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young.Ford: Why, what did she tell you?Arthur: I don't know, I didn't listen.
"Please relax," said the voice pleasantly, like a stewardess in an airliner with only one wing and two engines, one of which is on fire, "you are perfectly safe."
--HHGTG

THE UNIVERSE:4. Population
It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.
--The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"Don't you want to interrogate the prisoners, sir?" he squaled.
The Captain peered at him in bemusement.
"Why on Golgafrincham should I want to do that?" he asked.
"To get information out of them, sir! To find out why they came here!"
"Oh no, no, no," said the Captain. "I expect they just dropped in for a quick jynnan tonnyx, don't you?"
"But they're my prisoners! I must interrogate them!"
The Captain looked at them doubtfully.
"Oh all right," he said, "if you must. Ask them what they want to drink."
A hard cold gleam came into Number Two's eyes. He advanced slowly on Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent.
"All right, you scum," he growled, "you vermin..." He jabbed Ford with the Kill-O-Zap gun.
"Steady on, Number Two," admonished the Captain gently.
"What do you want to drink?!!" Number Two screamed.
"Well the jynnan tonnyx sounds very nice to me," said Ford. "What about you, Arthur?"
Arthur blinked.
"What? Oh, er, yes," he said.
"With ice or without?!" bellowed Number Two.
Oh, with, please," said Ford.
"Lemon??!!"
"Yes, please," said Ford, "and do you have any of those little biscuits? You know, the cheesey ones?"
"I'm asking the questions!!!!" howled Number Two, his body shaking with apoplectic fury.
--THHGTG

Number Two's eyes narrowed and became what are known in the Shouting and Killing People trade as cold slits, the idea presumable being to give your opponent the impression that you have lost your glasses or are having difficulty keeping awake. Why this is frightening is an, as yet, unresolved problem.
--HHGTG

Fruit and berries on strange planets either make you live or make you die. Therefore the point at which to start toying with them is when you're going to die if you don't. That way you stay ahead. The secret to healthy hitchhiking is to eat junk food.
--Ford Prefect

He picked up the letter Q and hurled it into a distant privet bush where it hit a young rabbit. The rabbit hurtled off in terror and didn't stop till it was set upon and eaten by a fox which choked on one of its bones and died on the bank of a stream which subsequently washed it away.
During the following weeks Ford Prefect swallowed his pride and struck up a relationship with a girl who had been a personnel officer on Golgafrincham, and he was terribly upset when she suddenly passed away as a result of drinking water from a pool that had been polluted by the body of a dead fox. The only moral it is possible to draw from this story is that one should never throw the letter Q into a privet bush.
--The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

The New Age Extinction

The last dozen years or so have seen India evolve into a beautiful butterfly.We are catching the developed nations at warp speed.Yesterday, I realised that we are fast approaching the end of an era for a lot of "taken for granted" everyday items.The type writer has already made a place for itself on the dusty shelves of the national museum and the friendly neighbourhood post box is the latest in the list titled "Soon to be extinct".
When Nal asked me to post a letter for her on Saturday I was surprised on two counts ;one that she wrote letters in this mobile age and two, even if she did she wasnt using courier.
What started as a daily chore turned out to be a Bin Ladenisq search.I scanned the streets on my bike...man and machine working as one ....we tried in vain to detect one red cylindrical post box.I asked the traffic constable I asked the unassuming pedestrians but to no avail...finally I rode the seven odd kilometers to the general post office and dropped the letter.On my way home I realised another thing-forget post boxes ,Hyderabad did not have pavements but again thats another story for another post..

Greatest Sportsmen of all Time

I have listed the top five sportsmen of all time(in no particular order).These are people whose fame has transcended their sport and are the
most recognised celebrities.They are accepted as true champions across nations and even by people who do not follow their sport.And yes they are legends in their respective sports.

1. Michael Jordan - Ask anyone anywhere ,every body knows Michael Jordan.In India where NBA coverage came only in the mid 90s Jordan was already a star and very easily recognizable.His basketball skills are legendary and has been recognized as a true champion.
2. Michael Schumacher - The name Michael Schumacher has become synonymous with Formula 1.Schumacher is the face of motor sport and even in countries like India where motorsport is not very popular he has attained legendary status.
3. Tiger Woods - Another superstar who has wowed even the Golf ignorant world.Woods is to golf what Schumacher is to F1.
4. Mohammad Ali - Probably the greatest champion of all.He is known world wide even by people who have not watched a single fight of his.
5. Lance Armstrong - One man against all odds,he has captured the imagination of the world like none other.A champion par excellence.

Another name to just miss out of my list is Nadia Comaneci the first gymnast to get a perfect 10 score.

Back to the future - Remakes ka Zamana hai

"Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin na mumkin hai"....as Shahrukh hams these immortal lines the front benchers in Sangeet theatre show their consent by a loud round of sonic whistles.Nope this is not a scene from a shady CD theatre in the by lanes of the old city but the reactions to King Khan's latest venture's promos being screened in a popular Hyderabadi theatre.Remakes,like item numbers, have become an integral part of Indian cinema.Ever since Shahrukh stammered and hammered his way to box office success in Devdas ,Bollywood directors have been flocking to the classics to remake them.So we have Ram Gopal Varma's Sholay,Farhan Akhtar's Don and very recently Jai Santoshi Maa. Waiting in the wings is the ice maiden(you will agree once you see her acting) Aishwariya Rai giving us her version of Umrao Jaaan.The Khan brothers,Sallu,Sohail and Arbaz are planning to make Amar Akbar Anthony,Anil Kapoor is trying to reincarnate Mr. India and Subhah Ghai is remaking Karz.

I am not against remakes but what I am definitely against is an excess of them.I already shudder at the prospect of Mithun Da re making all his movies.Bollywood like everything else in India always tries to take the easiest way out.If a love story is a hit we have a deluge of love stories ,if an action film is a hit we have bare torsoed heroes chasing rowdies ,if a sequel is a hit we have sequels galore and the list continues.What avid movie lovers like me want are good movies like Dor,Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Rang de Basanti.It was an Herculean effort to grow out of the eighties nineties' formula movies ...making an entire generation endure the pain all over again is not only unfair but down right cruel.As I type this my roomie tells me that Dev Saab is planning to re make The Jewel thief with himself in the lead....what next Rajnikanth remaking all his Tamil movies in Hindi?God save Bollywood.

Numbers Game

Nature has an affinity for certain numbers and unknowingly they become a part of our life. There are two numbers which play a prominent part in our life and rarely do we think twice about them. One of them is three.From the holy trinity to the third umpire; three is a number which is as frequent as the strikes in Bengal. Christianity swears by the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Hinduism has its Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and the "Three Lokas".Lord Brahma has three faces whereas Lord Shiva has three eyes. There are the three Musketeers and the three stooges, there’s the Good the Bad and the Ugly. Baseball has three strikes whereas basketball has a three pointer, cricketing decisions are referred to the "Third umpire" .Even Charlie's Angels are three in number. We have three dimensions. Newton postulated three Laws of Motion (even Asimov postulated three laws of robotics).Even the greatest epic of the 20th Century, Lord of the Rings was in three parts. Our national flag is the Tri color. Counting to three is common in situations where a group of people wish to perform an action in synchrony: Now, on the count of three, everybody pull! Have you heard of a three piece suit and what about the third finger gesture? India is a third World country, S.O.S is also in three. The most glaring example of "three" is our planet Earth; it’s the third planet from the sun. The three blind mice, the three men in a boat, the three wise men,land-water-air,examination durations are of three hours, any Tom,Dick or Harry the list is endless. So three cheers for "three". The other number is seven. We have the seven seas, there are seven colors in the rainboow)remeber VIBGYOR) and seven musical notes. We are in seventh heaven when we are happy. A week has seven days and who hasn’t heard of lucky seven? There’s the seven year itch and what about the seven deadly sins. There are seven continents on planet earth and according to Shakespeare Seven Ages of man. The Harry Potter Series has seven books, Lord Voldemort has split his life in seven horcruxes and we have the Magnificent Seven. The greatest of them all James Bond zero-zero- seven. The number of openings into the human head are seven(mouth, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils).In Hindu weddings the bride and groom take Seven "Pheras"(rounds) around the fire and if you are an amateur astronomer all you have to do is gaze at the sky and you will spot the seven sisters. The world has threes and sevens galore, so dear friends give these numbers a second or should I say a third thought .Life indeed is a numbers game.

Hate - A Short Story

The silence of the cold winter night was punctuated by her incessant sobs. She lay at my feet, at my mercy, like a lamb at the butcher's shop. I looked at her, she must have been twelve or thirteen, and her face was covered with blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. "Mujhe Chhod do Sahib"(leave me Sahib) she pleaded. Her innocent eyes stared into the depths of my conscience. My finger on the trigger hesitated. What was I doing? She was an innocent young girl, neither did I know who she was nor had she done me any harm. I lowered the gun and she started sobbing loudly. The distant chant of "Jai Bajrang Bali" and "Jai Shri Ram" was slowly growing louder. The Eastern sky was had a strange twilight from the burning huts.I looked at her and for a moment felt pity for her and for a fleeting moment was ashamed of myself but it was only for a moment. Suddenly images of my room-mates being butchered in cold blood, my girl friend being raped before my own eyes, my hostel being burnt flashed past my eyes. There we were at MG Road watching the procession when someone threw stones at it and all hell broke loose. In fifteen minutes from a model of religious harmony, Tumkur became a cauldron of hate. The girl looked at me and pleaded "Mujhe jaane do saab"(let me go).My eyes met her and we both knew immediately what the outcome of this encounter would be. She stopped crying for the very first time, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and squeezed the trigger, once,twice, thrice. She fell down silently but she wasn’t the only one I had murdered that day, I had murdered the last living trace of humanity left in me.Tumkur burnt in a furnace of hate and so did I.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee - A Legend

Hrishikesh Mukherjee , one of India’s greatest directors passed away on Sunday. He had been battling ill health for the past couple of months and breathed his last at Mumbai’s Lilavathi hospital. It is a great loss for millions of fans like me .Hrishi da has given Indian cinema some of its best films. He never succumbed to making films with vulgarity or crime. His movies were simplistic and explored human relations.
Chupke Chupke and Golmal are the most watchable films ever made. Hrishi da though was not limited to comedies. His Abhimaan was a movie way ahead of his times and very relevant in today’s DINKS (double income no kids ) generation. The entire country wept for Anand and , Guddi became India’s darling. He also produced one of the most heart rending movies , Sadma .The list is unending but no movie has made more impact than his Raj Kapoor starrer Anari .His bittersweet romances have made millions laugh and cry . Hrishi da you will be sorely missed.

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Sent via the WebMail system at mail.ibsaf.org

Pluto: An obituary

For years the ninth rock from the sun of had clung on bravely to the outer edges our solar system. The puny planet, which for decades has been confused with a cartoon dog, has been demoted to a “dwarf planet”. 2500 astronomers from 75 nations have decided that Pluto doesn’t match up to the other members of the solar family (who says size doesn’t matter). Pluto lovers across the world are greatly aggrieved but breathing fire are astrologers who ply their trade on the premise of the nine planet theory. This sudden change not only endangers their livelihood but also questions the basic tenets of astrology. Pluto named after the God of the Underworld has been on the brink for ages and is the latest celebrity to be red carded from the playing field. As the debate over this demotion rages on, the ninth rock from the sun keeps doing what it does best – being eccentric.

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Sent via the WebMail system at mail.ibsaf.org

Arjun Singh - Quota King

Just when India seemed to be heading towards El Dorado,just when everything in India was touching unprecedented heights - from the sensex to the Indian cricket team,Arjun Singh happened.In true Congress style he pulled the cheapest trcik of them all- QUOTA.

A secular country is one where any discrimination based on caste ,creed or sex is non existent.Quota is a slap on secularism.It will not only hamstrung India's progress but also divide the country like never before.The sad part is that Dr.Manmohan Singh ,a hero for the entire youth of India,has succumbed to the lucre of power and become a mere puppet in the hands of dirty Congress politics.

India should burn,India will burn.I am doing my tuppence protesting against such dastardly ,divisive policies.I fore see an India where a new wave of naxalism will emerge..the only difference this time would be that the new age naxalites will not be some down trodden tribals but doctors and engineers of this country.

I will never vote for Congress ever again and I wish anyone who reads this post does the same.The Left parties have been the biggest roadblock to India's success.I sometimes feel that the Communists are anti nationalists .Their contribution to India has been a big zero.

Arjun Singh will one day meet the most hideous end ever imagined.He has challenged the youth of India and he ill get a very fitting reply.Kudos to all the doctors and Engineers agitating against Mandal II .We are united in this battle ...if we could get freedom from the British am sure we can get freedom from a bunch of unscrupulous politicians.

Opal Mehta and Kaavvya Vishwanath - Kiss and Tell

Deja Vu....thats what a person feels when he reads the lines he has written but published under someone else's name.Then realization dawns that the lines have been nicked.Kaavya Vishwanath's book How Opal Mehta Got Kissed,Got Wild and Got a Life has opened a can of plagiarized worms.Her defense that she pinched the lines out of reverence to the author is as weak as George Bush's claims of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.The controversy though has helped Kaavvya a lot and "Opalgate " will definitely give the book sales a boost.As for the book ,well I wish the entire book had been plagiarized.An amaeturish attempt to write a story has been passd off as a book.The style is very ordinary and its books like these which make the likes of me dream of becoming future writers.If you have seen the teen movies,if you have seen the Desi movies well you just about know what's in store.
One good thing about the book? Well ...well.....the picture of Kaavvya on the back cover.
This new trend of creating controversies to sell ,be it the wardrobe malfuntions or plagiarizing specific paragraphs leaves a bad taste in my mouth .In the 21st century quality doesnt sell , controvery definitely does.

Sania Mirza - Miles to go...

We Indians have a long history of celebrating mediocrity.Unlike the Japanese who pursue excellence we pursue "averages".Sania Mirza is another example of the nation rejoicing in mediocre achievements.I agree Sania has done a lot for Indian tennis.She has many "firsts" to her credit but in terms of achievement she has miles to go .

Sania deserves the accolades that she has got but giving her the Padma Shri is going overboard.The advertising agencies across India have grabbed the opportunity with both hands.That she is young ,successful and pretty makes her the perfect"model" to sell products.But the fact remains that after her initial triumphs Sania has struggled on the courts.Whats even more worrying is that she looks plump and out of shape.She has needlessly got into controversies off the court and they seem to be distracting her.

WTA's best newcomer award has further boosted Sania mania in the country but her defeat to a 1000 odd ranked wildcard in the Miami Open has made it evident that Sania Mirza is fast on the decline or she was never the world beater we all made her to be.Sania Mirza is another case of a mediocre player being given god like status.Its high time Sania pulled up her socks and concentrated on her game or else the same media which has made her a queen will rip her apart..if she doesn't believe me she can always call the erstwhile God of Indian sports ,Sachin Tendulkar and get some advice.

Mallika Sherawat - An Inflexion Point in Indian Cinema

Mallika Sherawat has changed the way movies are made in Bollywood.If flowers and bushes in Hindi movies have become extinct, she is the culprit.For years audiences in cinemas across the length and breadth of the country had been dying to see onscreen kissing.But all they got was two flowers bumping into each other or the shaking of bushes.Then Mallika happened.

Nowadays "bold"scenes have become as common as songs in Hindi movies.Every heroine in Bollywood is in a kissing frenzy.The industry is overflowing with wannabe Mallikas and the quality of cinema has fallen a level.The lines demarcating good and the really bad movies have blurred.Nowadays 99% movies are bad with wafer thin story lines and minimistically clad heroines.The "Ghar ki izzat","sati savitri" image of heroines has gone for the proverbial toss.INdian cinema at its all time crassy lowest.One day when analysts sit down and analyze how the great Indian film empire collapsed,the first point they will write down would be "Mallika Sherawat"and her"Kissa kiss ka".

Quotes from Ayn Rand's Fountainhead

Here are some of my favourite quotes from the best book ever written.

Keating: "How do you always manage to decide?"

Roark: "How can you let others decide for you?"

" I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the half-way, thealmost, the just-about, the in- between."

Roark: "Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value.What a man is and makes of himself-- not what he has orhasn't done for others."

"Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."

"Kill reverence and you've killed the hero in man."

"It had to be said: the world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrifice."

"Man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress."

"Great men can't be ruled."

"I do not recognize anyone's right to one minute of my life."

"Self-sacrifice?... It is precisely the self that can not and must not be sacrificed."

"Don't work for my happiness, my brothers--show me yours--show me that it is possible--show me your achievement--and the knowledge will give me courage for mine."

Ricky Ponting - The God of Sad Things

It was a One day but provided two miracles.South Africa chased down an improbable target of 434 to down the Aussies and win the ODI series at the Bull Ring.Ricky Ponting is a great batsmen probably the greatest at present but as a captain he has many dubious records,Sunday was just another addition to his long list.

He became the first captain whose team couldnt chase the lowest total in test cricket(103 aginst India in Mumbai ).

• First Aussie captain to lose the Ashes in the last decade and a half.
• First Aussie captain to lose to Bangladesh in an ODI.
• He couldnt bowl out SouthAfrica in over 130 odd overs , first time it has happened to an Australian team in the last 20 years.
• Couldnt defend 331 against New Zealand and 434 against South Africa.
• First captain to lose a ODI series to South Africa.

The way things are going he may become the first captain to lose a test series to the Proteas and who knows maybe even a test to Bangladesh.

Cricket and Racism

The recent South African tour to Australia has revealed the ugly side of racism.The Proteas had a torrid time facing the racial taunts hurled at them.To many it may have come as a surprise but I am very sure that racism is very much a part of the cricketing world.

Take County cricket for example.The world has seen great colored batsmen from Weekes to Lara but there are very few top class batsmen in County cricket.The reason - The age old feeling that a black man can only bowl fast,hence you have the Devon Malcoms and Chris Lewis' reperesenting England as bowlers but no black batsmen.At the grass root level itself the divisions are made,if you are from the subcontinent then you are suited for batting or spin bowling ,if you are colored then fast bowling and if you are fair skinned well you can do whatever you want.

Take the case of match referres ,the Chris Broads and the Mike Dennes' of this world suspend the likes of Ganguly and Ranatunga for "excessive" appealing whereas the likes of McGrath get away even after finger wagging and mouthing profanities.

The crowds in Australia have once again proved the hypocrisy of the country.The Aussies always preach something but do just the opposite.Hence we have the Aussies accusing Chinese swimmers of using performance enhancing drugs and claiming to be on a moral high ground .But when Shane Warne tests positive all he gets is an year's ban and no one says a thing.The abuse hurled at Muralitharan is another example of the underlying racist currents in Oz.Racism is a monster that is slowly but surely dividing the cricketing world.

The New Marketing Mix

For decades McCarthy's marketing mix - the 4 Ps(Product,Price, Promotion and Place) have ruled the roost .The first thing an MBA learns in marketing are the 4 Ps.The entire marketing fraternity swears by these time tested fundas. But now these concepts have come under severe criticism.

Management guru Prof Jagdish Seth has not only questioned the relevance of the marketing mix in this age but has also come up with the 4 A s of marketing - acceptability, affordability, accessibility and awareness.According to Prof Seth marketing today has more to do with what customers actually require rather than the product-centric world that companies think they require. "The consumers' is gaining power. There is excess supply and it has become the buyer's market."

In this cutomer centric world the 4 Ps may soon become extinct.

The Empire Strikes Back

The brilliant performance by the Englishmen has left the Indians shell shocked.As in Pakistan,Rahul Dravid's captaincy left much to be desired.He is turning out to be the Ricky Ponting school of capataincy rather than the Steve Waughish school to which Sourav Ganguly belonged.I am very sure that India will lose this series and after my previous post where I predicted a 3 -0 sweep for the Indians will have to eat my words.It is really disappointing to see India wilt away the way they have.Kudos to the Englishmen for proving crictics like me wrong.