#NaMO and BJP- chicken first and then the hen!

While a teenager, Modi ran a tea stall with his brother around a bus terminus. He completed his schooling in Vadnagar, where a teacher describes him as being an average student but a keen debater.

The hashtag #ModiHangout became the most trending term in India on Twitter on the day of the hangout session recently, whereas #VoteOutModi, used by Modi's opponents, became the third most trending term in the country.

This is what we call evolution, and I respect NaMo for this!  Narendra Modi is going to hog a lot of bandwidth on internet!

Mr. Modi isn’t particularly known for his love for democratic opposition. His heavy handed ways of working combined with the Congress’ historical spinelessness vis-à-vis communal politics has resulted in a situation where there is no visible democratic/parliamentary opposition or alternative to Modi and his brand of politics in Gujarat. Looks he adores the advantage of being the most favorable candidate for the post of Prime Minister.

Nitin Gadkari lost his post of BJP national president due to his opposition to Modi’s PM candidature. L K Advani, the Hindutva heavyweight with laurel like Rath Yatra, heading Babri demolition and coining the term pseudo-secular, is now reduced to nobody for being Modi’s contender. In the recent Goa conclave, many senior-most BJP leaders cited health reasons for not attending. Soon after he was declared the head of election campaign committee, there was a breakup between two historical lovers, BJP and JDU. Or it was just an attraction until now, as it happens in case of most loving couples?

The recent speeches being delivered by Narendra Modi are more like India is his baby and he cares for it a lot. To prove it, he speaks how he took care of his first baby Gujrat and it is now growing elder, developing. I ask, is Gujrat the only baby cared and brought up by BJP? Perhaps not in all fields, but I am sure that other BJP ruled states have something worth to share with the country, India. Why is the election campaign committee chief not promoting Bharatiya Janata Party- party as a whole? Why is the Gujrat model of Governance and/or NaMo as a leader being endorsed like anything?

I see it as- One, Narendra Modi is the only product which the BJP depends on for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, though this product launch is not principally approved by many senior party members. Two, there are high chances that NaMO as a product threatens the line of other products which are/can be produced. Three, BJP as a party was unsuccessful in building couple of products, at least, in parallel, to promote the party as a team. Four, mis-governance by the congress gives a chance to BJP to come to power, after about a decade. BJP does not want to miss this chance and NaMO is the only product that can be launched, advertised and sold!

Case in point justifies that NaMO is taming the BJP, which should seldom be the case for a historical and big parties like BJP. NaMO stands a fair chance, BJP stands a good chance, and this is the sequence. Seems like chicken first and then the hen! 

Engineers, are you listening?

HSC/MT-CET results are not so encouraging this year. MT CET results were announced on June 5. Reports suggest that students who have scored in the range of 140 to 160 are comparatively lesser than previous year (2012-13) and the trend continues till the score of 100. If reports are to be believed, chances are high that the cutoffs might take a dip by around 5 to 8 marks as compared to last year.

The state is already having nearly 1.50 lakh engineering seats in 364 colleges. Of these, a whopping 40,000 seats had remained vacant last year. Last year too, the apex body had approved 11 new engineering colleges in Maharashtra. With an increase in numbers, this year also a large number of seats are expected to remain vacant. AICTE had received about 180 applications from all over India for opening of new engineering colleges. Though over 2.80 lakh candidates had appeared for MT-CET for engineering admissions; not even half of them are believed to be actually taking admissions to engineering courses in the state. Presently, in Maharashtra colleges have 1, 48,084 Engineering seats!

Recently, AICTE has granted additional 10,000 degree and 8,000 diploma seats to various engineering colleges in Maharashtra for academic session commencing in June-July.

I really wonder what job the apex body is performing, with the demand-supply ratio so shaky. Why doesn’t if focus on improving the quality of education and bridge the gap between campus and industry?

Recently, a circular was issued by DTE as below. The excerpt:

"Candidate should be an Indian National and should have passed the HSC (Std XII) examination of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education or its equivalent with Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects along with one of the Chemistry/ Bio Technology/Biology/Technical Vocational Subject and secured minimum 45% (40% in case of candidates of Backward class categories and Persons with Disability belonging only in Maharashtra State) marks in the above subjects taken together."

There are two perspectives for the above circular.

One, considering marks of technical vocational subjects for engineering admission is a fair decision.  Isn’t majority of engineering all about electronics and computer science?

But, the second perspective is quite surprising! Why on earth are the marks for biology being considered for engineering admission? I have no clue why such decision has been taken except for to fill the massive vacant seats. Perhaps, it also defeats the decision of including technical vocational subjects like electronics and computer science for the betterment of engineering education.

Having said that, it is clear that the apex bodies have lost focus and the quality of engineering education is deteriorating!  

The reasons for such a scenario are many. But the prime reason is the absurd stipulation that the universities and the authorities have made with regard to the minimum qualifications for teaching. For a professor's post in engineering they stipulate a minimum PG or PhD level education in engineering regardless of the experience. Whereas it is common knowledge that most of the working engineers in the industry at any level have only a degree in engineering, generally. They have gained years of actual practical knowledge in engineering whether it is in research, design, project implementation, operation, maintenance, technical management, etc after their degree level education. For the experienced engineers, a later day college education to get a PG or PhD does not add much value, unless it is for some specific purpose to gain more theoretical knowledge!

Good technocrats and engineering managers who have only a degree in engineering, but years of practical experience have better pay and facilities that they normally should not bother to switch their career to teaching side. But even those who have an inclination and liking to teaching and those who have gained years of working experience, who think of sharing their industrial knowledge to the younger generations, are restrained to do so due to such illogical rules and stipulations.

Oops, I came too long. Is anybody listening? Engineers?

Sex at 16, Child at 17, Marriage at 18!

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 lowers the age of consent for sex from 18 to 16 years and makes 'rape' as a gender-specific offence under which men only can be charged for it. Bullet points here:

1. Stalking, voyeurism have been defined as criminal offences in the bill. Sustained stalking will be a non-bailable offence.
2. The bill uses the term 'rape' which will be gender-specific, in contrast to the gender-neutral 'sexual assault' as proposed in the ordinance.
3. The measure, on the lines of the ordinance, has not touched on the issue of making marital rape a separate offence.
4. The bill also lowers the age of consent for sex from 18 to 16 years. In the ordinance, it was 18 years.

I do not have much to say on the first three bullets except that there should be sufficient safeguards, including harsh penalty for lodging false cases. Only this way, we can avoid the misuse of this law. If this is not put in place early, this will lead to a huge divide between societies, families to be specific.

On the fourth point, I can only restate the title of this post, ‘Sex at 16, Child at 17, Marriage at 18’!

By clearing the bill, the eGoM stated that the legal age for sex is 16 and that of marriage at 18. I just filled in the blanks. I do agree with Ms. Tirath, with a different perspective, who said that lowering the juvenile age would put the immature children under the risk of being treated as grown-up criminals.

They are busy deciding the age for sex and are forgetting of the major issues like corruption and inflation.Seems UPA is spending 'sleepless nights'. With this ending note, I have a busy day ahead and yes, a sleepy night then!

Romancing!

The truth of the matter is that entrepreneurship is hard. It’s really hard. Venturing out on your own. No steady stream of income. No way to know that your idea will be the one that works, not the one that fails. No stability. No demarcation between life and work. People constantly questioning your progress. You get the picture. It’s hard.

Despite this, entrepreneurship, and particularly social entrepreneurship, is in vogue. They are cool. Everyone wants a piece of the action. What is cooler than chasing your dreams and having a social impact? No one is ever going to accuse you of selling out to the machine, of being a slave to the man.

Instead, you are going to sit and shape one’s career. In our case, the ones are increasing, day by day! ;)

Yet it is increasingly becoming clear to me that the western conception of entrepreneurship is having a powerful influence on minds. You need to have an air conditioned office and that too at a nice location, a brand laptop, and what not. Lot of people ask me, “Where is your office?” I respond saying ‘Mmmm, Office cum hall at Jilebi Chowk, Miraj!” They exclaim, “Miraj?? Why don’t you go to Pune/Mumbai??”

Office location, interiors, the laptop you use, the mobile you use, etc make a difference. I do not disagree. But many young minds are having these ‘material’ as their first priority, which according to me is very risky. This way you lose your focus on the ‘idea’ that you set out to implement at the first place. I see people romancing all these ‘stuff’ and when they do not make it ‘big’, they think that the ‘idea’ itself was not class.

Valentine day is nearing. Our business, with a social impact, slowly is gaining pace. I am happy that I am romancing the ‘morals’ rather the ‘materials’ of being an entrepreneur. The holy grail of individuality, of being your own person, of choosing your own path is my muscle power.

Those who wish to experience this ‘moral satisfaction’ do visit our office/hall at Jilebi Chowk, Miraj. You need to call me to reach here; you won’t get this address on Google maps!   ;)

Happy Valentine day! Happy Romancing!

I Have A Great Idea and Need An Investor: NO YOU DON'T!

Although, I have not made it ‘big’ yet, I am taking the liberty to write few lines on something called ‘Finding an investor for a business’!

Recently a business plan was emailed to me, and I told this person that although the business concept was good, they shouldn't pursue this idea because it required that they find an outside investor. You should only look for an outside investor if you have already successfully started your business and need additional capital to grow, if you have experience launching at least one but preferably more businesses on your own (the more complex the better), or if you have accumulated enough experience in your industry to truly be considered an expert.  Otherwise, don't look for an investor, and find a business that you can fund on your own!

First of all the chances of you finding an investor are almost slim to none, unless you can get your family or friends to invest.  Personally I would never take money from family or friends, because statistically the chances of failing are great, and what are you going to say to your friends or family when you lose their money (I might make an exception for someone that truly understands business)?  If you can't get investment from family or friends, then you will have to find an outside investor.  You've never started a business before, and you aren't an expert in your field, so why would any intelligent person (intelligent people are usually the ones with money  J ) invest in your idea?

Even if you were able to find an investor I wouldn't recommend it.  An investor means you have just been bought and instead of having the freedom of being an entrepreneur, you now have a new boss.  Nobody is going to give you money without putting extreme pressure on you to earn a profit on their investment. They invest to earn and not to learn!

Right now I'm having fun launching 'O₂; Breathing Brain, Respiring Career!  and learning about business.  If I had an investor, I certainly wouldn't have the luxury of launching the business at the more modest pace that I have launched O₂. When you acquire an investor there are future goals that are set that will allow the investor to profit off of their investment.  Then the investment capital is used to hire staff, pay for research, launch products, introduce new services etc, depending on what kind of business you are in..., all towards the objective of meeting the goals agreed upon with the investor.

The problem is that it’s a start-up and many of your guesses are just assumptions.  You received money to reach your goals, so you are obviously going to invest in recruiting new staff, infrastructure etc. Once you launch your product/service you will realize that at least some of your assumptions were incorrect.  Unfortunately you have already hired staff, setup your office and invested money in resources aimed at targeting an incorrect assumption.  It won't be that easy to just fire staff that you spent months recruiting and/or training or just to change your office location.  It also won't be easy to explain to your investor that you just wasted her or his money on an incorrect assumption.  Best case scenario is you fire the staff you didn't need; just change the office location just because things were not going good and you annoy your investor by admitting that you wasted their money.  Worst case scenario you get so trapped in the world of your poor allocation of resources that you continue down the incorrect path.

With O₂, I am using my own money and along with my partner.

When I realized something wasn't working, the worse thing that I had to deal with was the disappointment of my partner or staff that they had been wasting time down the wrong path. Same is the case with my partner. However, that’s a much easier problem to manage than having an investor that doesn't completely understand what’s going on, and you have to go to them and explain that you have been wasting thousands or lacs pursuing the wrong path.

I don't care how frugal you are, but I can bet you are going to spend one lack given to you by an investor differently than you are going to spend one lack of your own money!

If you are not an expert or don't have entrepreneurial experience, I don't think having an investor increases your likelihood of success.  It's a far better idea to start a business in which you have the financial means to fund on your own.  You will learn a lot more, you will have more fun, and if your idea is successful then you will have a lot more equity.

Starting a business with your own savings is like creating true art for the love of it.  It’s truly a beautiful endeavour, you and your team against the world, fighting and scraping to figure out how to make your venture a success.  Not just for the money but for the love and the passion of what you are doing.  Introducing an investor in the beginning makes it all about the money from day one, and you have corrupted the process from the beginning.

Cheers, I don’t need an investor! And I’ll make it big, very big!

Let the ideas flourish

Everyone’s first experience in the job world is different. Some have an awful boss or unbearable coworkers, others have an average time, and some even have a good first job. But there are a few people whose very first employment is one of the greatest experiences of their life. I am one of these lucky few, my first job is well described, and with all due respect, I thank to all my past and present bosses and peers who gave me the freedom to live, in my small cubicle; who honoured my capabilities and had trust in me that the freedom I enjoy will never be tangential to what they expect. And did I live up to it? Yes, I did (at least according to me)! They say this is great. Then where is the problem?

Problem is with me. I do not find this ‘cubicle freedom’ sufficient. I’ve had my own ideas of living life, though weird for you all, they are like freedom to me. They are still there, they are there for the past 2 years, but as they say, on ‘hold’. And guess what, these ‘ideas’ are going to give my bread and butter (perhaps some toppings as well) for the rest of my life.

If you’re like most of us, you have a hectic work day filled to the brim with activity, meetings, issues, deadlines, etc. It’s easy in our chaotic work life to get tuned-out from our personal goals and even easier to lose sight of the big picture of what we truly want in life. So while I’d love to say: I’ll do less, create more free time. In fact, I’ve always liked fast-paced jobs. I enjoy being busy and having new challenges pop-up in my day as they tend to bring new energy and opportunities along with them. However, with this busy environment, it’s easy to get caught up in the commotion, and to lose sight of how we want to be living our lives, impacting others, and reaching our dreams.

We all realise all this and still work like donkeys and eat like dogs? For? For that Louise Philippe apparel or those hush puppies from red tape or the newly launched BMW or to have a date at The Leela? Is it all? Brand does not make a person. Even though one can wear the most expensive clothes far out of the budget of many, but if one’s character is proud, unkind and manipulates others, it is difficult for one to find someone who genuinely respects the person. Respect is earned, no forced or bought. If we feel people do not like us and instead of trying to hunt for that perfect dress, why not instead try to hunt for the personality traits within us that may put other people off? Then there would be no never ending quest for more cash and credit to fuel that shopping habit. I know some people need to spend extra months or weeks to work off enough money to pay for that expensive shoes, gown or handbag for that one night’s glory that goes forgotten by others. Is it really worth the effort?

There is so much liberation in opting for the life style you want. It is not the clothes you wear or just the shoes you wear or the restaurant you dine, it is also the time you wake up, time you have lunch, time you go on a date, time you sleep, time to hangout, time to booze, time to play with pets along with the chai ki tapri, man me aya ghumne chale things, and yes time to work and most important, time to spend time!

The cost of life that I am paying to earn money is a going beyond the boundaries that I had set. My last blog was in the month of Oct’11. WTF!

My ‘ideas’ are getting suffocated in my head. Got to set them free before they rot in there!

Speak up pal, only then will happen the lokpal!

Apparently, a new party is rising, lead by Mr. Anna Hazare. The series of occurrences in and for his team, not personifying it as a party yet, for the benefit of the larger whole, has more or less lead us to believe that it is not heading on the right track. Or who knows, it was planned to be heading this way and it is precisely on track? Let us assume that it was not planned to be heading this way so that the dust on my keyboard is wiped!

The key spark hit the roof when Anna went on for a hunger strike and was stay put in Ramlila Maidan. But, then onwards, lack of coherence in the team is evident and I wish to take congruence of most political parties in democratic India within which such conduct is a norm and hence  the term ‘party’ presumably, has started to encompass bondage with team Anna! I recently, planted on my face book wall whether team Anna is for the Lokpal or against the ruling party! Two members have already stepped down, chappals hurled on one, one suffering from physical bruises and now, it’s Ms. Bedi!

Ms. Bedi, an ex-DG of the police; a Magsaysay Award winner; an important and much hunted pal party member! She’s over-claiming and her (ill) logical argument is that she’s not pocketing anything personally but passing every bit of the saving on to her NGO!

“Because if one chooses to buy the argument what is stopping DMK from saying that the money made from 2G scam was used for distributing free sewing machines to the poor? Or Congress, from saying that the money from the CWG scam was spent to fund some such poor-friendly initiative. Do A Raja, Kanimozhi, Suresh Kalmadi and the lot in Tihar, then get a clean chit? What is Anna Hazare agitating against then?” (Abantika Ghosh – Corruption is in the way Ms Bedi – dated 20^th October)….

Ms. Bedi, who’s NGO has helping hands of Bharti Walmart, Lehmann Brothers, Infosys foundation, will have obviously lofty powers. Let’s accept this and treat her as high profile case, as we have already, for many who are/were in jail with AC’s and TV’s!

Anna, break the silence, restructure the team!

Ms. Bedi morally has to step down or must apologize for the discounted act. Bhusan, take a break, go for a trip (please, on personal funding!) Hegde, might take a sabbatical as there is a possible downturn ahead and I doubt if Anna’s payroll will bear with him or vice versa.

Anna, you , Speak up pal, only then will happen the lokpal!