Electoral Mandate

Recent furore over MP Sasi Tharoor praising PM Modi on “Swach Bharath” is absolutely absurd and uncalled for. It clearly shows the hypocrisy of those parties who could hitherto do nothing to ease the situation on cleanliness; and now claims ownership of the idea, program and try to crucify a person, for a minor issue! The loyalty of the parties or persons who criticise those who utter truth is to be doubted. When MLA Abdullakkutty said, we need Gujarath like development, he was ousted from the party. What did it imply – that they are not interested in developments, progress for the public, the nation.

After 30 long years, a single political party was elected to lead the country – by the people, for the people. The oppositions – be it Congress or Communists, ruled and ruined the country and people chose a change. On what basis those who were defeated by the people try to find excuses for their fiasco? To some it is Modi’s strategies – so what, he did something which was accepted by the people. It was for the benefit of the people, for the nation.  And what is the idea of finding fault with the selection of the people in a democracy? To some even though BJP was elected there are discordance among them – so what? The voters did not want those critics and went for the pragmatic person, party.  Finding fault with, finding excuses is belittling and befooling the public – which the fools failed; and even now fail; to comprehend. They go on with the old worn out tactics, finding fault with others and trying in vain, again to make the public fools and victims. The criminal waste of time they used to criticise and then discuss and discuss over medias are confirms their dubious motive. When will wisdom dawn on them – that times have changed, and they should think of serving the public, their interests and not fighting for power and indulge in destructive criticisms???

The cynics and saboteurs of progress carp on Godhra violence as if that is the only crime in the whole world. Why can’t they see the progress made, ways adopted to make the country clean, self reliant etc., instead of dwelling in the past and not thinking of future development.

The Prime Minister has identified issues confronting the common man, information gathered from the masses. Clean toilets, houses, offices, surroundings are of paramount importance which other parties could never see or address to. He gathers information from the masses and attends to them too. When some projects are commenced for the common man, it is not right to oppose it posing flimsy excuses.

 It is high time the oppositions put an end to baseless allegations and waste criminally the precious time of the public. Objecting on silly issues when there more important issues to be addressed to, making obscene scenes in the halls, walking   from the assembly or parliament all amount to acting against the public interest. The venom of cynicism emanating from saboteurs of progress for the public will be neutralised by the public themselves.

The noble comments, of former Minster, O Rajagopal is noteworthy - Tharoor’s positive comments uphold our culture – of respecting even our enemies.

Like it or not the party elected by the people is going to stay and be in power, since the people want it so.  Let the other parties learn from the experience – at the end of the day it is the people who will meet with success. Time has changed; and people want results.  Those who fail to comprehend the same, sure has to pay the price. They cannot fool the public any more.

Parasites

Parasites

My friend was annoyed. It was after a long lacuna he visited Kerala. The bitter experiences he had to face from most of the places were annoying, disgusting and frustrating- according to him. Exploitation to the core was rampant among almost all – relatives, friends, taxi drivers, officials, politicians  - all were  expecting money and gifts in kinds from him. The crime he did – he went abroad in search of a job. None was interested in the hardships he had to endure, long hours of hard work, issues arising from the cultural differences, perpetual tension in the work place which were not  accepted by “his people” – be they relatives, friends, neighbors, own villagers, politicians.  Experts in Geography and General Knowledge  to them even poverty stricken African countries are like Eden, where milk and honey flows and money is got at the shake of the tree! All were competing to get, get more and more from him. Drivers charging extra against the rules, even suppliers of ordinary hotels expect huge tips, officials expecting for prompt services and if not delaying the services for silly reasons.  The villages and cities alike were made dirty – he felt the minds of the people are dirtiest. No one is responsible and  are devoid of diligence. Those who criticises the old kings and kingdoms could not maintain the work of those they are against, leave alone creating something new. Government is seeking assistance from others and “others” in turn from the government. Most of them are interested in getting and their concentration is mainly on those Pravasies, even those who have left Kerala, not necessarily abroad. What a pity?

Electoral Mandate

Electoral Mandate

After 30 long years, a single political party was elected to lead the country – by the people, for the people. The oppositions – be it Congress or Communists, ruled and ruined the country and people chose a change. On what basis those who were defeated by the people try to find excuses for their fiasco? To some it is Modi’s strategies – so what, he did something which were accepted by the people. And what is the idea of finding fault with the selection of the people? To some even though BJP was elected there are discordance among them – so what? The voters did not want those critics and went for the pragmatic person, party.  Finding fault with, finding excuses is belittling and befooling the public – which the fools failed and even fail to comprehend. They go on with the old worn out tactics, finding fault with others and trying in vain, again to make the public fools and victims. When will wisdom dawn on them – that times have changed, and they should think of serving the public, their interests and not fighting for power and indulge in destructive criticisms??? It is high time the oppositions put an end to baseless allegations and waste criminally the precious time of the public. Objecting on silly issues where there more important issues to be addressed to, making obscene scenes in the halls,  walking off from the assembly or parliament all amount to acting against the public interest. Like it or not the BJP is going to be in power, since the people wanted so.  Let the other parties learn from the experience – at the end of the day it is the people who will meet with success. 

Customer Service

Customer is King, said one of our great leaders. That must have been his own personal feelings and not a general statement – for the way customers are treated in “God’s own land” is strange. My recent visit to Thrissur - the cultural capital of Kerala enlightened me as to how the customers are treated in many well known organizations.

My first visit was to a leading cable connection provider. They had their office on the third floor. Though lift was available it was not operational – result, had to climb all the steps. The reception was in the middle giving way to two other offices, shabbily arranged with not much seats for the customers. Only few chairs – that too on the passage. There was a young lady and man – both were on the phone. Visit of a customer was not acknowledged nor accepted – they were on heated conversation. A smile, a gesture to sit down or an expression of “excuse me” would have been a solace to the customer who had climbed three floors to meet them. After a lengthy chat, the young lady (isn’t it strange? Women for chatter boxes compared to men!) turned towards me. She was all serious and gave a paper explaining the financial aspect. The climate was extremely hot, the executives had fan over them giving cool air – but not for the hapless customers who had to come from the sweltering heat. There was no “service” for the customer.

Next visit was to the office of a well known mobile phone company, to get a new SIM Card. The office seemed to be well furnished. However when inside, found the seats for the customers were much dis-comfortable. The person attending was sitting on a very low chair and was covered with the table in front of him. Felt extremely hot in the great office and was wondering the how and why of it. Soon the truth came out “the A/C is not working”. And yet the door was kept locked. Fans were working – but was turned only towards the workers and not even one for the poor public.

And then went to a famous temple in the town. There were three four counters to accept the money and give computerized receipts for the “offers” to be made. Here the scene was slightly different-there were fans for the public as well as the workers. But the result was the same. None of the fans meant for customers were working where as the ones for the workers were turning in full swing.

Visit to a leading shop also gave some bizarre experience. You are not cared when you enter the shop. And if you ask a customer service person, he/she directs you to others, un- shouldering their responsibilities. You are treated as a football and they enjoy kicking you from one side to the other. Majority of the representatives do not have product knowledge or selling skills. They want to leave the customers at the earliest, so as to attend to their personal enjoyments. Selection and payment will not take much time, but the billing and collection do take a lot of time. Most slowest and inexperienced staff are placed where fastness and efficiency are required. The customers have to wait until the cashier types word by word and enter details in the computer. Once the payment is over you are their mercy. The technician will come for installation at their convenient time. It can take from 24 hours to days. No feelings or tone of apology. All those Customer Service guys hold “Take it or leave it” attitude.

The King is treated as a beggar – and beggars are no choosers – are they??

And yet I found an exception to the rule in the same town. They were receptive, attentive and assisted all the customers with the same vigor and enthusiasm. They had even survey forms to learn the customers’ views. So it is possible. Where there is a will there is a way. To smile one has to use only eight muscles - and to frown, 82 it is said. But then what are the effects. The smile melts the ice of unfriendliness; and lubricate the machine of our life. Most unfortunately the “Customer Service” providers are in the dark of it.

Backbones

Moosa is a close friend of mine. Though we have not met for months, relation was growing strong due to the telephone calls exchanged between us on a regular basis.

Our meeting after a long lacuna was a pleasant experience. He embraced me with such an affection, I felt like a child fondled by the mother.

During the conversation he told me about his three daughters and their education. Time flies and I learned the little one I saw years back  as an infant have now become a grown up girl who will be completing her school education and proceeding for professional education. And it is here I felt the magnitude of the magnanimity my friend was harboring. He was; and is a man of great principles who does not believe in bribery, wasting hard earned money. He was not ready to pay any “donation” to the concerned authorities to get admission; and yet wanted his daughter to become a doctor – the wish was not for selfish reason, to get back what he invested in and much more. He wanted his daughter to serve the poor and needy. And that he expressed not in any bombastic style, but in simple words, with all sincerity. I was moved. The respect and affection I had towards him earlier increased manifold.

I remembered the old adage – the silver lining in the darkest of clouds.

In a dark world ruled by corruption, hoarding, undiluted selfishness, there are still such silver linings, such Moosas who stand on their ideals and ready to prepare their wards for the service of the society. What a noble soul. Such unpretentious people are the backbones of the family, society, country and the whole world. 

The Real Manager

Managers and Management Gurus are aplenty in the present world. Mushroom Universities churn out MBAs every day and all vie for being Managers. But then how many are real managers; how many can really manage – people, situations? Majority are mis-managers and hence the present pandemonium – in office, companies, organisations, societies and thus in countries.  Most of them have become managers by sheer chance or by “back door efforts”! Result - they do not know how to manage, and in the attempt to prove themselves create lot of problems to others as well as themselves.

After umpteen number of interviews, delays and dilly dallying people are hired and within no time they are fired – for incompetency. But whose incompetency is this? If a manager cannot comprehend the potential of a candidate after spending much time on psychometric tests, tele / skype/ personal interviews who is more incompetent?

Even now, “hire and fire” tactics is practised when real managers will adopt hire and retain. That shows the inefficiency of the interviewers, so called managers and result in victimisation of innocents employees much to the frustration which produces a negative effect in the system.

Many managers feel they should be grave, aloof, shout, curse, use four letter words to their employees and rule by creating fear complex. Instead of commanding, they demand respect. They simply fail to realise, in a friendly atmosphere work becomes more pleasure; productive.

It is in this scenario, “he” becomes different. He is not an MBA, but an engineer who is more familiar with science and not psychology. However his career graph always showed an upward trend. Starting from the position of Sales Executive his rise to the position of GM was steady and  steadfast. This enriched his experience and made him most suitable for the position he holds.

A recent incident proved his prowess as the real manager. After lengthy procedures of interview a candidate was selected to his company, The person joined and within few weeks the manager was made to feel the candidate is not comfortable with the work. The manager could have very well “terminated” , thrown out the employee in a jiffy. Instead he tried to find out the how and why of it – sessions, meetings and interviews were held. And at the end of those exercises, the employee was transferred to another section, where he excelled. There was no warning, termination letters, shouting and abusing, no frustration and hypertension. The method was logical, fool proof and ended in creative decision – proving the managerial competency

The end reminds one of Shakespearean drama – “all is well that ends well”

But then that is not the long and short of the story. It simply proves how a failure can be converted to success, how a positive approach can bring productive result, This is real management. How many can claim they belong to that category??

Indiscriminate pricing

Cost of living rises in UAE Capital – The caption and the news published in today’s GN daily (Tuesday, 20th March, 2012),  are points worthy to be noted and treated with utmost seriousness.

The gullible public is taken to task by the intelligent shop owners.

Price of 120 grams of Close Up toothpaste varies from  6.50 to 7.25 to 8.50 in three different shops -all in the close vicinity. 700 gm of Milk Powder costs 42.50 in one shop and in the near- by shop ( in the very)next building is it 45.75!  NIDO milk powder has 5 different prices in 5 different shops all in close quarters. 5 Kgs of Wheat Flour was sold at 10 and within one week, the price was increased to
12, first after creating artificial scarcity. A cake is sold for 6 and in the nearby shop it is  is 5.50 and on another it is only 5 – all made in the same company. Chicken Biriyani is sold from 08.50 to 9,
9.50 and 10 dirhams in similarly furnished hotels. A lunch costs 5 in one restaurant and in the neighbor-hood it is almost double. And both are of same standards as far as seating and other arrangements are concerned. Same is the case with snacks – South Indian delicacies like
Iddli, Dosa, Masala Dosa all have different prices in different hotels.

Trimming of beard was earlier AED.5 / and all on a sudden it went up to AED. 10  - 100% increase . Reason was because of the rise in rent. Well, the rent has come down but not the increased rare in the saloon!

Electronics goods, Textiles – not spared.   And so it goes and on –  the indiscriminate pricing of products.

What makes them tax the public so? Is there a pricing policy in the Super/Hyper Market and cafetarias /Restaurants, with Land Lords!

Who can and will bell those cats – so poor public are not cheated so blatantly. Seems Public has to be more active, vigilant to confront the misdeeds. As long as we are unaware, or aware and simply passive they can go on with their misdeeds.