India Redux: The first objective achieved!

Well, a few weeks back I had posted the India Redux post.

And guess what? The first bullet point has been achieved. Ramayana is back on TV. Mahabharata is coming back. And Star One even shows the old Sword of Tipu Sultan. Now only, if they were on prime time once more.

Hope that the next few points of the post materialise soon as well.

The barber,A murder mystery तमाशा and Subhash Ghai's छठी औलाद!

As usual, I have been contemplating about getting back to blogging. As usual, there were again the umpteen number of ideas, topics, issues on which I felt I should express my views. As usual, I could not structure my thoughts and translate them into words.

Unusually, I thought of penning all of them together in a single post.

First thought: The barber : Maybe an important service marketing lesson

I went to the barber shop today and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time while I was there. I had the usual hair cut and a good hair massage. Hardly interesting, one would say! Well, the reason I had a great time was because while the services were being rendered, there were old Mohamed Rafi songs playing in the background. Just listening to those songs made me nostalgic. During my childhood, my dad used to take me for the usual hair cut (or the usual hair massage) and in those barber shops of Naraina Vihar, Somajiguda or Secunderabad Club, there used to be the old Rafi songs (in my mind, playing out over an old music system). I never appreciated them, for, for me, they were songs for the old. Well, today when I heard them again, I could actually reflect on the subtlety and the relaxing nature of the songs. It made one relax. Don't ask me the reason or the logic behind it, but it just made me relax, and in a way let go.

A possible lesson which I had harped upon in the title was that maybe while rendering a service, we could use tools such as music or the surrounding environment to make one remember the old, or as many say, the golden days of their youth, or even times gone by, the past. Maybe, the customer would relax in such a "familiar" environment. And maybe, this could make him not only a repeat customer, but also a well spending one.

Certainly a thought to ponder over!

Second Thought: A murder mystery तमाशा : Ban the inconsiderate channels?

For the last 35 days, news has been dominated by a sordid murder mystery, or as it is called by some the double Noida Murder case. Time and again, news channels have revelled in revealing the "breaking news", or like today, being the first channel to make a "खुलासा". There has been a trial by media, and every household today, or at least the ones who watch this news day in and day out, talk about the aggrieved family or the victims in the most perverse ways. Every family imagines, discusses what might have happened, and who may have been responsible. And all this is fuelled by the so called आवाज़ of the जनता, the news channels. Some have framed such exquisite stories that it has become difficult for many to separate the truth from the lies.

I have only one thing to say. Bring the matter to a swift conclusion, and let the family grieve or be crucified for the crime committed. At the same time, let there be some civility. The media can not and should not conduct a public trial. News should be reported, not sensationalised or like many do not made into " breaking news" (Maybe watching " Good Night & Good Luck" should be made mandatory for everyone to understand what I mean here!).

The thought to ponder over here is: Can we as viewers, and hence as consumers of these channels, do something to enforce some sense of civility?

Third Thought: The Happening: What happened?

A much hyped up movie called "The Happening" released a few days back. With a superb concept of nature hitting back at the humans, the movie could have been a great one. It could have maybe made us aware of what we may be doing to the nature all around us. Having an Indian production house, maybe it could have made a deeper impact upon our own society. But it never did.

Why?

Because the movie never " happened".

The only possible interest left for many, like my brother , by half time, was how Subhash Ghai's छठी औलाद , the director of the movie, Mr. Shyamalan, would make his entry.

Alas, we were all disappointed once more. He too, never, "Happened".

The thought to ponder: Why was the movie made? What " Happened" Mr. Shyamalan?

I just dump these three random thoughts here. Not that many will read it, but at least I made the effort to pen down my thoughts. Who knows, there may be some pattern in my viewpoints? For the reader, do tell me if you detect the pattern!

"So when are you coming back to India?"

In the year 1994 AD, ...uhmm sorry, too much of Dominique Lapierre/History Channel, etc etc...

Anyways, in 1994, my family shifted from Delhi to Hyderabad, and hence away from some childhood friends as well. With Internet having real low awareness scores in North India, I was not aware of the phenomenon called E-mail, and hence used to write hand written letters to my friends in Delhi. The fact that at the time this was actually encouraged by my family ( I wrote to all my extended family as well ) is redundant now, for my handwriting never improved. Well, during one of the responses from my friends back in Delhi, he asked me a very peculiar question: " So when are you returning to India?".

India...wait a minute... I was very much in India..so what did my friend mean by asking such a silly question?

Now at that time i laughed it off. In fact over the next few years, this tale actually turned into a good dinner time joke to be shared with people especially from Delhi. But today, the innocent question is no longer just a faux paus but is actually made me think of my life ahead.

Today I got my location for joining Airtel. It is Jaipur, the city I was born in. Well, as soon as I got to know about, there was rejoicing by many of my relatives who are in Jaipur. My parents were actually sad that I have to go back to the city they had in a sense escaped from. The fact of the matter was that I was a guy who had always lived in Metropolitan cities, and they were duly worried about me adjusting to a place like Jaipur. On my part, I am quite OK with it, for I can't wait to start work. But, I am digressing here..( blame it on bhasadi skills).

Well amidst the plethora of emotions and the advise which I was getting from everyone, my brother actually asked me with a smirk on his face ," So when will you come back to India?". Now his intention was very much to turn the joke on me, but it got me thinking of how true the statement actually was for many of my Delhi friends, and even to a certain extent for me. For Delhi has always stood for most of my friends as the symbol of India. Even when I came back from a trip abroad or from another city in India, my heart always felt lighter and at home once I was in Delhi. And maybe this is the feeling which we all relate with our country as well. Hence, it is but so simple to equate India and Delhi.

I have been to many cities in India, and I can say that for me there is no other city like Delhi. I do realise that it may be very early in my life for me to form such a judgement, but somehow, I have always visualised myself staying on here, if anywhere in India. I could put it down to the fact that wherever I have gone i have been always characterised as a Delhi-ite ( talk of re-enforcement techniques). But just imagine, how true this must have been for friends, such as my childhood friend, whose family and ancestors have always been in Delhi ? For for them, the world outside Delhi would be an alien environment. Maybe that actually explained the reluctance of many of my fellow B School students in moving out of Delhi!!!

But in the end, as I start out in the next chapter of my life, even I wonder if even after having travelled extensively, would I always equate India and Delhi as one. I am en route to Jaipur by the month end, and who knows where all I will travel, but one question which is sure to keep coming back to my mind would be..." So when are you coming back to India?"

The first lesson: Know your Target Group

Sometimes there are instances which one is reminded of suddenly out of the blue. More than often it usually is about something embarrassing, or something which you were never able to figure out at that time.

A few years back, just before I was going to join IMT, I had the opportunity to head over to Hyderabad for a school re-union. While there, I met a few old teachers, some people whom I really look up to even now. Well, I was all gung-ho about my work experience, and after a few pleasantries were exchanged, I launched into the work which I had done for the past few months. Very soon, I had lost them, and their interest was evidently somewhere else. At that time, I never could figure out why my teachers would not be interested in my work. I was there, showing off my new found presentation making skills, and business acumen, but no one seemed to be interested.

Cut to a few days back, and I had accompanied my mom to a bank nearby. Now this bank has the best policies which they offer to their customer base. And evidently, I thought that with such rates, I could also start banking at the same bank. But a thing which I was not able to figure out was why there were hardly any customers at the bank. Well, I soon found out the reason why.

These two experiences actually made me realise one of the most fundamental lessons learnt at B - School, and the one which needs to be absorbed by every professional --- Know thy Customer; or in B school parlance, Know the Target Group.

While at the bank, the manager and the employees servicing the client, were not aware of the background of the customer, my mom in this case. They had basically never bothered to know the potential of my mom in terms of financial worth. Hence, this led to an ordinary, rather a dismal customer service, and that alienated not only her, but a future customer as well. We had learned about a concept called the Moment of truth at B-school, and trust me, the principle became much more clearer to me that day.

On a similar note, at my school, I had not really understood that for every message communicated there has to be a target group. The group of teachers to whom I was talking about the latest Pre-Sales solutions in the market, was evidently not the right group. And the fault was clearly mine. I should have understood what my audience reacted to, what was their need, and then talked about the appropriate things.

Hence, in both the circumstances, knowing one's target group, or customer, would have actually helped in meaningful dialogue, where everyone would have been in a win-win situation.

I intend to put into practice this lesson ASAP, and I hope that these lessons and many more like these make me learn further.