Modi Sarkar : Pros and Cons

The Modi Euphoria resulted in a dilemma. At times I think that he might be the change India needs and might result into development of the country but the thing that bothers me is, whenever I see him, an irrational fear gets hold of me.

So, I thought to do a Pros and Cons analysis. Kindly give your inputs in the comments, so that I can improve the list.

Pros and Cons

Modi Based

Advantages

1) Development as an issue: Gujarat's development evident

2) Disciplinarian and a tough task master (Needed in India)

3) Humble Background

4) No dynasty politics: merit based

5) Supports business

6) Strong personality: visionary, strategist and decision maker

Disadvantages

1) Alienates the Muslim population: Bangladeshi Hindus are welcome but not the Muslims

2) Hindutva

3) His followers are fanatics (This is not an established fact but from personal experience)

4) Riot and other criminal charges

Party (or Alliance) Ideology Based

Advantages

1) Making way for young and non-dynastic leaders (by young I mean, choosing Modi over Advani)

2) Tough stand on terrorism

3) Defined leadership and strategy

Disadvantages

1) Hatred of Muslims, LGBT, foreign goods (and culture)

2) RSS as an ally - Religious fundamentalists, defines women according to traditional roles

3) Shiv Sena as an ally - Hooliganism

And a Speculation
What if he bans hard drinks and non-vegetarian food?? :P

I have not assigned any weights, as I don't think I can prioritize, as for me all of them are important, very important. I don't want to conclude as well, as I want to wait and see what happens!

Management Learning from Books/Movie

Introduction

The word ‘manage’ comes from the Italian ‘maneggiare’, which means to handle. Thus, we can say that Management is about handling resources and organizing activities in an enterprise, in accordance to certain policies, for achieving the desired output. In other words, basic objective of management is to make people work together to achieve a common goal in the framework of right structure, values, training and development required to perform and respond to the change. Management lessons are not just learning from a classroom. It is also inculcated from books and movies which are reflections of the society and the real world. Watching movies and reading books not only add value for managers but also an interesting way to learn.

Management lessons from movies

All management aspirants think about entrepreneurial ventures. The movie “The Social Network” gives us an insight about Mark Zuckerberg’s small but innovative idea becoming a global phenomenon. It is not only about commencing a start up but making it a grand success. A start up needs capital, management of legal issues and human skills utilization. It’s also about following passion and ultimately leading to excellence, satisfaction, pleasure and exuberance. As a result, today Mark Zuckerberg is the world’s youngest billionaire.

We know that Ethics plays a fundamental role in the world of management and corporate. Every company recruiting a management graduate looks for an ethical person who can create a benchmark for the enterprise. In the movie ‘Shanghai’ we witness how in the backdrop of malicious and power hungry political affairs, a top notch executive can stand astute and ethically play to obliterate the political greed. We celebrate in unison when our protagonist, T. A. Krishnan emerges out as a clear winner.

Movies as a part of Management Education

It is highly interesting that three Bollywood films Manthan, Chak De and Swadesh are now part of curriculum for Rural Management students at Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar (XIM-B). For example, Swadesh portrays actual problems of rural India and the hardship faced by the poverty stricken ‘aam junta’ (common people) of the society. It also indicated how these basic problems were resolved by institution building and mobilizing people towards achieving a common goal. This new innovative method of pedagogy has not only ensured a great sense of involvement among students but also demonstrated that management is an experimental learning process which can be facilitated by movies.

Management lessons from books

Let us talk about the biggest management guru of all times: Lord Krishna. He was motivator, strategist, decision maker, proactive and diplomat; in a nut shell, he possessed almost all the essential qualities of a good manager. We all have grown up reading India’s most popular epic “Mahabharata”. For instance, during the war between Pandavas and Kauravas, Lord Krishna being non combatant, strategized and prioritized goals for Pandavas ultimately leading them to victory. Pandavas and Kauravas had soldiers and warriors in the ratio of 7:11, but it was the greatest manager of all times who made the difference.

The Arthashastra by Chanakya is regarded as the oldest Indian Management book on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. This books deals in detail with the qualities and disciplines required by a wise and methodical king, who is analogous to any modern day manager. Several traits of an efficient manager such as intellect and prowess, resolution, truthfulness, enthusiasm, ability to plan and forecast were depicted in the book. Even in today’s corporate environment, the lessons of this book are highly applicable.

Biographies and auto biographies of various successful corporate leaders are also important tools for management learning. These can serve as sources of enlightenment towards various aspects of management. Effective reading can reinforce a manager’s understanding of corporate scenario and help him/ her in decision making. Kishore Biyani, CEO of Future Group, down poured his experience and knowledge in the book ‘It happened in India’. We get to know about how he started from a scratch to the Future Group. He redefined the concept of retail business in India by setting an objective of “capturing every rupee in the wallet of every Indian consumer”. ‘Simply Fly- a Deccan Odyssey’ explores the incredible journey of Capt. Gopinath from quitting NDA to forming Deccan Airlines and rewriting the aviation history. The powers of dreams, the effect of keeping healthy relationship with stakeholders, perseverance are the learning for any young generation manager. An insight into this book actually helps us understand how a business venture grows and about the characteristics of a successful manager who in due course became a stalwart.  

Books as a part of Management Education

Some B-Schools have included reading books and book review competitions as a part of the curriculum; this enhances the broadening of outlook of management aspirants and young managers. Book, being an important ingredient for management education is recommended by the professors and dignitaries. Bookish knowledge is required but reading books outside the ambit of curriculum actually aids one management aspirant grow tremendously by developing management skills and people management abilities.

Conclusion 

Books and movies are huge sources of information and lessons. These provide essential learning basis of motivation, inspiration, determination, innovation, practicability and what not. For self development, reading illustrious books and watching informative movies are indispensable. Though some B-schools have already modified their curriculum by adding these to the academic programme, more experimentations are required. The catch is to add value and impart knowledge to managers and management aspirants.

-Written along with Abhishek Mukherjee for submission to Torchbearer, official magazine of LBSIM, New Delhi, date 14 July 2012

References     

Web Resources:

en.wikipedia.org

slideshare.net

goodreads.com

mouthshut.com

management.about.com

Book Resources:

The Essential Drucker- Peter F Drucker

It happened in India- Dipayan Baishya & Kishore Biyani

Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey- Captain G.R. Gopinath

MARKE”TOURING” INDIA

Power of ad campaigns

On one of our short trips to Agra, we happened to visit the Taj Mahal for the third time and to our utter disgust we found the walls of probably the biggest embodiment of love scribbled with meaningless comments and symbols. We immediately recalled our first visit when we were mesmerised with the beauty and purity of the structure. Just when we were discussing about the prevalent vandalism in India, we came across a small child who was trying to rub off the scribbling. 

Out of curiosity and amazement we went near the child and praised him for the initiative he was taking. The child casually remarked, “Aamir ne bola”. Like a flash came the Incredible India ads in front of our eyes. It was one of the ads in the campaign which showed Aamir Khan raising voice against defacement of shrines and monuments which bear testimony to our rich cultural heritage and legacy.

The first marketing initiative of its kind in India–Incredible India was a branding exercise to create a distinctive and improved image for the country by the Tourism Ministry of India. This iconic Incredible India logo with the exclamation mark forming the “I” of India was used to great effect across all communications. Its creators acknowledged the fact that it takes a special bond with a country and its people to give up everything they know and setup roots in a country which is not their homeland. These are the people who have truly embraced our culture and assimilated it into their being as opposed to those who have simply been “bitten by the India bug”. Establishing roots is a huge decision and not a mere whim or adventure.

The earlier ads were successfully able to position India as a lucrative destination in the mind of its target population, the foreign tourists. India was positioned as “premier holiday destination for high-yield tourists”. The campaign successfully established India as a high end tourist destination generating a 16% increase in tourist traffic in the first year of its inception. While the awareness ads of “Athiti Devo Bhava”, created to complement the “Incredible India” ad series, targeted the local Indians which included sections of people interacting frequently with visitors (taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers) urging them to preserve the open-hearted and hospitable image of the country.

Not only the theme but the choice of Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador for the campaign was a tactical and thoughtful strategy aimed at captivating the masses. Aamir Khan is perceived as a thinking and intelligent actor with a strong intellect. A message conveyed by him could not go unnoticed and that is exactly what happened.

The campaign is a typical instance of societal marketing wherein the tourism industry reaped substantial benefits, keeping in mind the long term interests of the society at large. The campaign not only had a telling effect on the country’s GDP but also effectively managed to render a much needed facelift to our global image.

The once Unique selling proposition (USP) of the country (culture, heritage, religion, spirituality etc.) no longer seemed unique. It was time to provide something more. The tourism industry was quick to realise the fact and came up with this campaign with an added hospitality value thus providing an Extra Value Proposition (EVP) for travellers from abroad.

Besides finding new EVPs the new campaign is aiming at a new target market. The earlier ads were made to attract foreign tourists, but the new 2012 ad which showcased the logo in the national language Hindi aims at domestic tourism too. The international campaign has the tagline of “Find what you seek” while “Go Ahead” is clear at addressing the domestic tourists to search their own country to discover themselves. This step by the ministry can be well understood by the fact that the domestic tourism industry accounts for the three-fourth of the total tourism revenue and thus acts as the backbone of the tourism industry in India.

As of today, the promotion has been majorly done through television ads, ads in magazines and video sites like Youtube and Metacafe. It needs to increase its visibility and reach through new media tools such as social media sites, matrimonial sites, blogs and direct mailers.

Social networks provide a one stop platform where audience of all age groups are available and one can cater to all of them at once. Social media are the fastest growing communication channels and messages conveyed through them would reach the target audience faster and even cheaper. Websites which could be used for this purpose include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Indyarocks, Hi5 and Myspace. Travel and tourism websites like Makemytrip, Yatra, Cleartrip, SOTC Holidays and Thomas Cook have become daily companions of many and this could be leveraged to promote the campaign effectively.

We can go for augmenting a product only when the core and expected benefits of a product are visible. In lieu of this we should not ignore the changes and the developments which need to bring about in our tourism industry. Proper transportation facilities, proper accommodation arrangements, food and entertainment and educational importance of heritage sites are the key motivators to success of any tourism industry. The government of India has provided a fund of Rs.1210 crores aside of the marketing, which needs to be utilised in this direction. The child brought fond memories of the campaign in front of us. However we must not forget that campaigns are merely awareness and promotion tools .Until and unless we have a proper ground work in place, these campaigns would be superficial and ineffective.

-Written along with Shauvik Ghosh for the contest "Samvad" by Welingkar Institute of Management, date 26 Sept' 2012

References:

IITTM-ICC Report, Travel and Tourism Industry in India: Looking East, viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.iittm.org/doc/IITTM_ITC_Report-2011-rev.pdf

Business Standard, 16 November, Viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/incredible-india-goes-forkillindustry-wants-action/492680/

 http://www.youtube.com/

 http://www.squidoo.com/the-incredible-india-campaign

THE POLITICAL KOTLER-BAL KESHAV THACKERAY

One of the biggest financial capitals in Asia came to a standstill. Lacs of people flooded the city just to have the last glimpse of the man they worshiped to the very core. 20000 policemen including rapid action force were deployed to maintain order. Commercial businesses ranging from corporate houses to pan wallahs chose to shut down voluntarily. It’s not difficult to gauge the might of the person who was the source of this commotion, a person who held the awed emotions of millions. To sections of Maharastra he was a straight forward, spontaneous, large-hearted man, to others he was a Xenophobic Fundamentalist. Some called him a Political Innovator, while for some he was an intimidating, autocratic leader. Such was the charisma of Bal Keshav Thackeray. From a small satirical cartoonist, to a man of godly stature, Thackeray’s journey is illustrative and a lesson for a student of marketing. To trace his history, we have go back to 1 May 1960, which saw the state of Bombay being divided into two new states of Gujarat and Maharastra, which was the result of a very bitter struggle witnessing the loss of 105 lives. Even though the state of Maharastra had mostly Marathi speaking people, they soon realized that there was a crisis of unemployment for them as the Gujaratis and Marwaris ran the businesses while the white collar jobs went to the South Indians. During those days Thackeray used to publish satires in his periodical "Marmik" which were aimed at Non-Marathis. It also published a list of employees in various companies, which revealed that most of them were non-Maharastrian. Thackeray righty targeted the educated unemployed Marathis youths. He made them aware of different issues that stalled their growth like unemployment of youth and loss of self-pride. It appealed to their cognitive senses. Soon he also won the hearts of the embittered unemployed youth through his anti-migrant philosophy which mesmerized them. He was able to identify that the people of Maharastra were suffering from an identity crisis and he addressed their social as well as self-esteem needs by starting the movement of unifying the Marathi-speaking people. He understood the needs for economical as well as social development of these people. In 1966, Thackeray formed the political party of “Shiv Sena”. The popularity of Thackeray was increasing amongst the Marathi speaking people, while at a loss was the South Indian community. They were the targets as they were held responsible for taking up the jobs from the educated Marathi youths. The Shiv Sainiks marched ahead with the anti-South slogan of "Pungi Bajao, Lungi Bhagao" as they referred South Indians as "lungiwallahs". Thackeray used a developmental strategy to address the latent demand thus formed the product of "Marathi Manoos" which catered to their needs, hopes and aspirations. He unified the marathis by providing them with an identity, which asked them to respect themselves and ask for their rights proudly. The concept of "Marathi Manoos" was positioned in the mind of the Marathis as a self dependent clan who worked for their own welfare and upliftment. They have always stood for the cause of “Marathi Manoos” by constantly being a pillar of support for them. They have established good customer relationship by working for them. They claim to have worked for the people of Maharastra by playing central role in rehabilitation of 500000 slum dwellers. They also provided services to their community by cremating older people whose children resided outside the country. This was the calling of the brand “Shiv Sena”. The Shiv Sena was born at a time the Communist party was already the market leader of the segment, Sena was planning to target, i.e. the disgruntled Marathi mass who were unemployed because of the job offers being snatched away by the migrant South Indians or for that matter the Gujarati section who had remained there after partition of Bombay Presidency. Thus it had lost the opportunity of primus entrant. So it had to meet competition as it entered the market. The value proposition Communists offered these youth were of equality but what Shiv Sena had in store for them was much more than the concept of being at par with others. It offered them identity, a sense of pride and superiority in who they were, “Marathi Manoos”. Building on this extra value proposition, Bal Thackeray had two options. He could compete with the communist party bang on with a frontal attack or it could dilute the brand slowly and steadily and adopt the strategy of flanker attack which was actually done by him. Bala Saheb Thackeray with his regular satirical cartoons in Marmik and charged oratory was successful in disseminating anti migratory feelings. With the backup of Congress, which had actually fueled the formation of the Sena, it through a series of violent conflicts with the communists was finally able to rule over the labor politics in Mumbai. Within no time Shiv Sena was the market leader with powers unmatched to any of its contemporary competitors. Shrewd marketer as Bal Thackeray was, identified the need for strategies followed by market leaders. He went on expanding the market for Shiv Sena through geographical expansion when it won the 1995 elections in collaboration with BJP. Bal Thackeray knew that for pan Maharashtra operations it needed to re-positioning and re-orientation of his party being in government. Thus Shiv Sena moved on to the ideology of Hindutva and made controversial moves against Muslims and Pakistan. The Brand Thackeray created was able to extract customer loyalty and engagement. The emotional connect he had with his followers can be made out from the fact that In 1969 when he was arrested for allegedly organizing protests against the then deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai, the city was thrown into chaos by rioting activists who were silenced only by a statement from their leader. He was arrested on one other occasion but was quickly granted bail before the situation went out of hand in Mumbai. The Ferocious tiger as Shiv Sena’s Party symbol represented the true image Bal Thackeray shared with his followers. He was otherwise called Tiger Thackeray by his fans all over. Taglines such as “Hindu Hridaya Samrat” for Thackeray, “Pungi bajao, Lungi Bhagao”, “Marathi Manoos” were in the language the common man could understand and created an indelible mark on the minds and hearts of people. Balasaheb had been a cartoonist and very clearly knew the art of connecting with people through imagery and presenting his thoughts as clearly and effectively as possible. Though some termed his brand as a “brand of hatred” and “vitriolic comments” but what we can learn from him is the fact that he built a brand with a stature that could be loved or loathed but could not be ignored. His ideas always stood out and against the common notion like anti-bihari, anti muslim, admiration of Adolf Hitler etc. The range of varying obituaries and differentiated opinions about him published after his death is a clear indicator of the place and importance he held in Indian Politics though his actions may be confined to just one state. The astute skills he used for promotion included word of mouth publicity and public relations. Bal Thackeray was one man never short of opinions. Whether it was culture, arts, sports, national politics or any other issue he always had something witty or sarcastic to say. It was his articulation, eloquence and quick-wittiness that moved millions to his side. He based his campaigns on issues centering the middle class Marathi. His other means included rallies and protests sometimes violent, sometimes demonstrative. Doubts are now being raised about the future of Shiv Sena and the brand value Thackeray created. For Shiv Sena, losing Bal Thackeray is same as Apple losing Steve Jobs. The question is that, with Udhav as the party supremo does the party plan to concentrate on the same target group or should they reposition it with the changing behavior of the current generation? Is it better for them to follow the same strategy and politics of hate or move towards a more liberal and relaxed approach, if yes then is it easy for people to forget the Brand Bal Thackeray has created over years, which is the very base of the party? The answer lies in the times to come... -Written along with Naveli Singh for the contest “Conquest” by IIM Shillong, 24 Sept’ 2012

Coca-Cola: Content Management

Strategies

1) Liquid and Linked

Liquid- Liquid means freely flowing, thus plan consistently on creating such contents which go viral and wanders freely around the web. They push out their best content which generates high levels of interest across social networks and other online platforms.

Linked- Whatever they write are linked to their very goals. Simply putting, if it does not add any value to the company by generating revenue or strengthening the brand image, it is useless!

2) The 70/20/10 Plan

70%- 70% of their contents are of low risk. By this they mean content that has consistently
worked well and achieved results in the past. It does not ether mean boring or low quality.

20%- 20% of the content they produce are spin off from what has worked earlier. It means an in depth, detailed and better quality version of the content created earlier for the 70%.

10%- The rest 10% of content are of extremely high risk. Innovative ideas and concepts which often end up by working fantastically well or failing terribly.

Few of the Online-Marketing done by Coke

1) Global toolkit for the London 2012 Olympic Games Move to the Beat campaign:
 activated in more than 110 countries.
 included 60 different types of content.
 60-minute documentary on the making of global anthem with Mark Ronson that were cut into shareable webisodes and mobisodes, to Beat Maker app, which let consumers create their own beats as ringtones and upload them to the Global Beat on Facebook.

2) To re-present the corporate Web site as an online magazine, called Coca-Cola Journey
 The reorganized Web site will offer articles on subjects like entertainment, the environment, health and sports, including longer pieces given prominence in the same way that magazines play up cover pieces.
 Interviews, opinion columns, video and audio clips, photo galleries and blogs also will be featured.

3) Extensive presence for the company and its brands in social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
 Advertising on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter is becoming more used.
 features a site for customers to blog.

4) The Coca-Cola Company will promote the new version of the corporate Web site with
 search engine marketing on Google, Searching a word for example typing in Coca-Cola, a bunch of links would show up related.

5) Engaging customer on Facebook 
Targeting the youth segment
 In Australia, they launched bottle’s with common names. Later the promotion shifted to FB, where the most voted names were to be printed on bottle next.
 Coca-cola company apps on FB.

6) Digital display ads
 Web banner.

7) On mobile 
Targeting the teenagers hooked to their mobiles
 AdMob (Google Advertising) features Coca-Cola advertisements in videos and text format.
 Coca-Cola launched a promotion in Great Britain to give away 50p free mobile credit with every purchase of a Fanta, Dr Pepper and Sprite drink (other brands of Coke). Bottles and cans will carry a code, which entered at www.gimmecredit.co.uk.
 My Coke Rewards: On the caps of bottles carries a code where then consumers go online to enter the code to gain points. With over 500 ways to spend the points like new screen savers for the phone, songs, pictures, ringtones, cheat codes and emotions.

8) “What makes people happy?” 
The whole family as the target segment
This campaign located online at Expedition206.com for viewers to follow and blog, blog posts seen on Tweets, YouTube or on Flickr.

9) Online games
 Polar bear games.
 Coca-cola zero facial App.

Bottomline: They use all the media in an integrated manner to create the fizz!!

Sources:
http://paige1228.angelfire.com/Powerpoint.pdf
http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/social-media-matter-marketing-coca-cola/240444/

Educate, the Sakshum way..

India is a young nation. 65% of the population of the country is employable population whereas 35% of the population is under the age of 15years. What about literacy? Forecast says that by 2020, 50% of the illiterate population will reside in India. The 2011 census also indicated a 2001-2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is the slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. For our country to be productive, we need skilled workforce, for which education plays the most important role.

Sakshum, envisions spreading awareness and promote Child Education. The “Ëducate a Child” project of Sakshum is aimed at “Promoting and encouraging child education by supporting needy children who are willing to study.”

Whenever Sakshum visits any school for other projects such as the 'Eye Care I Care', they enquire with the school authorities about the children who are good at studies and need financial support to carry on their education. Based on the information provided to them the screening of the children is done and the authenticity of the case is verified. Those who really are in genuine need of someone to bear educational expenses are uploaded to their 'Children Profile' page.

Team Sakshum then look for people who can adopt these children educationally. Those who are willing to sponsor are introduced to the school and to the children. 13 children are currently being supported and the total numbers of Children sponsored are 15. Schools such as St Isaac School and Shivaji Vidyapeeth School, both in Hyderabad have been covered.

Being responsible citizen of India, we can also help Sakshum in their small endeavour by being volunteer in any of their upcoming project or by monetary support by making donation.

JAI HIND!

Visit the NGO at Sakshum and like them on Facebook.

Adopt an NGO..

According to Wikipedia, a non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any form of government.

There are around 3.3 million NGOs in India as of 2009, which means there is one NGO per 400 people in India. In India NGOs can be established under various Indian laws, and the different legal entities under which civil society organizations can register themselves.There are various organizations for women, children, farmers, artisans etc. Societies Registration Act, 1860 is a central act for registering not-for-profit organizations

Sakshum is one such not for profit organization. It means "being capable". It aims at providing holistic development to children with special needs and help them to integrate with the regular society. "Special needs" includes children suffering from Autism, Down's syndrome etc.

Sakshum has undertaken following initiatives-
*Blood Donor Registration
*Eye Care I Care : Regarding vision problems and treatment
*Light a Life: Eye donation
*Educate a Child
*Adopt a School
*Adopt a NGO

"United we stand, divided we fall."

Sakshum has started this project of "Adopt a NGO". It helps smaller NGOs by strengthening them by providing them with direction and financial assistance.

Sakshum has already taken the following NGOs under its wings.

1) Prekhsa Foundation
2) Organization of Rural Development

It is helping 160 children by providing basic education and by helping them to join a school.

Small steps like this can help many underprivileged citizens of our country. Being responsible citizen of India, we all have duty towards betterment of our country. These initiatives can be a big motivation for us all. Thus I request all those who are reading to make small but effective steps to help our country be a better place.

JAI HIND!

Visit the NGO at Sakshum and like them on Facebook.

Happy Independence Day!

This is an appeal to all of you my friends..

Independence Day has become just another occasion for us to send message n wish each other.. We have overlooked it's significance..

Some people say-"Who says we r independent".. To some extent they are wrong and to some extent they are right.. We have advanced in many fields.. We have nuclear power.. We have a bid IT sector.. 1000s of millionaires.. But then.. Acc to planing commission of India, 27.25% (42% under international poverty line) of our population is below poverty line.. 34% of our population is illiterate.. On one side we have big mall n the other side, we have slums.. Corruption is evrywhere.. And our India needs cleanliness.. in terms of minds n also regarding sanitation..

We, the youth can do a lot for our country.. Learn from the Chinese, they and us, we both started together, but now they are the second largest economy, but we, are going to surpass them as the country with highest population.. Why don't we just promise ourself that we need to do somthing big.. We Indians don't aim higher.. We need to make ourselves proud.. We r not doing this for somebody else but our own motherland.. We youth are very passionate.. But as we grow.. We get power.. We become selfish.. Power corrupts.. But don't let it happen with us.. Don't corrupt yourselves.. Love ur country.. Work for it..

On this Independence day.. Let us take a pledge of making our country better..

Start from small things-

1) Say NO to corruption
2) Maintain cleanliness in our neighbourhood
3) Save electricity n water, reduce pollution
4) Stop distinguishing people as Hindu, Muslim,Bengali, Bihari, Marathi, Bhramhan, Shudra n all.. No religious, regional n sexual biasness.. We r Indian.. n even above that we r human..
5) Study hard, work hard
6) Spread literacy, promote literacy, try to teach at least one person..

And a lot more.. Think friends, think.. Dont lose hope.. Or dont make urself think like.."WHO CARES".. It's ur country.. Ur OWN Identity..

As they say.. Even one man can make a difference.. One man cant change the whole nation.. But if all of us make some difference.. We will surely change our Country..

JAI HIND!

KK fans please join...

KK, the voice of many hearts, is among the best singers of our Indian Music. The path to reach this zenith has been carved by this Keralite himself. If you listen to the songs of this Delhi based singer, you can easily feel how beautifully he emotes. He truly believes in what he says, “Dil se kaam karo is my ‘funda’". Just like his idol Kishore Kumar, KK is self-trained. Yet his singing is so simple and his effortlessness is beyond comparison. He says God has gifted him with his talents. And also says, “I leave everything to God and that helps me select the best songs.”.His has a very wide range of songs, be it soft numbers like “Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai”, “Zara Si”, “Dil Ibadat”, or sad songs “Awarapan Banjarapan”, “Tadap Tadap Ke”, or dance numbers such as, ”Dus Bahane”, “Main tera Dhadkan” and ”Ayashi”. The ease with which he strikes his chords is so remarkable. The best part of this amazing singer is that he is one of the most amazing human being, his humble nature will make you go gaga over him. There is nothing that he craves for, be it awards, fame or publicity. He is always thankful to God for his ability and work. His ultimate focus lies on the kind of work he gets & needless to say, he outdoes himself every time he comes up with a new track.

As a child he wanted to be a doctor, but went on to become a commerce graduate. He even worked as a Market executive for 8 months. But destiny had something else stored for him and us. He soon realized that music was where his heart lies.

In 1994, the year his son was born, he gave his demo tope to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Shiv Mathur and Leslie Lewis to get a break in the music arena. He got the first break in Mumbai from UTV to sing jingles and success followed soon. He grabbed his first bollywood song, “Chod Aye Hum” from the movie “Maachis” with music director Vishal Bhardwaj. Since then he never looked back, he has sang over thousands of jingles and more than 600 songs in 9 languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and many more.

His first album “Pal”, which he came up with his mentor Leslie Lewis, was an instant hit and ignited the youths. For this, he got the prestigious SCREEN award as best singer. His second album,”Humsafar” came after a gap of 8 years, in which he plays the composer too. He says that he has grown as a musician and a human being too over these years.

He also says that he feel lucky to be able to work with music directors such as “Shankar-Ehsan-Loy”, “A R Rahman”, “Illayaraja”. Nevertheless, this man is a genius himself and that is why his fan followings are increasing day by day. He says, “I'm as popular as my last hit song. I'm happy as long as my listeners like my music.”

He loves to sing live as much as playback singing. “There is a certain energy an artiste gets when he or she is on stage. No matter what one’s condition is, once I am on stage, I forget everything and simply perform,” he says.

The kind of performer he is, rightly give us the reason to call him The Mesmerizer. He married his childhood sweetheart Jyothi in 1991. It has been 28 years since they know each other. They know each other from sixth standard. Jyothi is a painter and designer by profession. His eldest son Nakul seems to be following proud father's footsteps. The then 13-year-old sang a song MASTI from his latest album HUMSAFAR with his father. KK has a daughter Taamara. As a family man, KK prefers to spend time with family when he is not working. In an interview he said,” One thing very few people know is that I love to talk. My wife and I chat from morning till evening. Eventually, my 16-year-old son has to come and ask us to break our chatting session!”

He says his family is what gives him the strength to cope with all the pressure of Bollywood, where one has to continuously carve one's niche and hold on to it.

KK appeared on television too. He was invited as jury member for a talent hunt show FAME GURUKUL, but he is clear that he would not like to return to television as the medium restricts him.

www.themesmerizer.com

How civilized are we?

A few days back, my friend and I were discussing whether our government should give sentence of Capital Punishment or of Life Imprisonment. My friend was in favor of Capital Punishment while I was in favor of Life imprisonment. Soon we moved to terrorism and something which started as a discussion turned into an argument, while ended with none of us talking to each other. Thus, I thought that I must write this post regarding us, we people and our outlook towards life, death and terrorism, and rather towards how civilized we are.

Starting from the initial question of Capital Punishment and Life Imprisonment, most of us would agree that when someone murders an innocent person, how can we just let him go off? When the family of the victim suffers how can the murderer live happy? How can we let him go and commit more crimes? He must be punished, but I would like to say two things. First, can we create life that we have the right to take it away? Second, can violence counter violence? If this was the way, then soon we would have Nobel Violence Award! Well, I am not asking to let the criminals go free, I too want them to have punishment but also a chance to reform and serve the society. Not death sentence, otherwise what will be the difference between them and us.

Now, the terrorist point of view (as we did in the argument!). They kill hundreds of people each day. Those cruel animals, should we forgive them? Even God won’t have mercy on them, isn't it? Well, I say killing them will just act as a painkiller and not remove the root. Killing their people will enrage them and they will kill many more innocent lives. Then again we will kill them and they will kill us. Like this the cycle will simply go on and on and never end! (Well, yes killing in a counter terror attack is different from Capital Punishment; it’s simply the need of hour. Here I'm discussing a larger picture!).

As I was talking about the root, so what is the root of terrorism? Some would say religious fundamentalism, some would say politics. True indeed, but these facts are true in case of the terrorist leader and not the suicide bomber. Who are this small people? Why are these terrorists from Afghanistan, Iraq or Pakistan and not from UK, France or Spain? A clue-The oil reserves at Kuwait and Iraq are sold by USA and not by those local people. Well, the answer is simple, Poverty. This is the reason why the local people support these terrorists. Even these people were not born cruel. Poverty, Revenge and Anger has made them these. Instead of declaring war on nations (Yes, I am talking about US' policy on Iraq and Afghanistan) we must try and uplift the people in these poor countries, so that they can resist the path of terrorism.

Now, if I go deeper, this article will become too long and people won’t read it anymore! Let me try and summarize. I talked about Capital punishment as well as terrorist. But my thinking was directed towards none of these. My point is we proudly call ourselves civilized, but are we really civilized? We promote killing of people either way, we kill lawfully, and they kill unlawfully. But what we do is crime. Does this have any real end? Can war really bring peace or Is it “An eye for an eye will leaves the world blind”. What about other burning problems? One is honor killing in which family members kill their own child, same in the case of female infanticide. Everywhere violence and violence. The purpose of my writing was to make you ponder over these questions; I hope somebody might just come up with an answer.

Heart Gul, Croc the fool!

Well this was created about 7 years back. This may be a bit childish, but my sole intention is to make you smile a little. This is the story of the monkey and the crocodile, retold in a different way…

In the Land of Barbadistan,

Lived a monkey named Mastaan.

On the bank of river Sile,

Lived monkey’s friend Crocodile.

They were the best guy,

And for each other they could die.

Mastaan used to give Croc mango,

While they enjoyed doing Tango.

Like this days were going past,

It seemed their friendship will always last.

But fate had something else planned,

Enters into the story an evil mind.

Croc had a beautiful wife,

Whom he loved as much as his life.

Mastaan used to send mangoes for Bhabhiji,

Which she enjoyed with glee.

One day, she said, “O my darling!

Will you ever start thinking?”

“Your friend has such a sweet heart,

I worry he must have to part.”

Croc was frightened,

And shouted, ”But he is my friend!”

She said, “Bring me his heart fast

Or I’m your wife will be matter of past.”

Croc had no choice but to leave,

While his heart starts to grieve.

Now he started thinking of a plan,

How to bring monkey on the pan.

He went to Mastaan’s tree,

Where Mastaan gave him mango for free.

“I will have the mango later,

Come home with me for a dinner.”

Mastaan agreed to be his guest,

Thus begun their quest.

On Croc’s back sat Mastaan,

Singing all the way his favorite gaan.

Suddenly in the middle of the Sile,

Started crying the crocodile.

He told his friend about his compulsion,

Listening to which Mastaan had tension!

He said, “O my dear friend!

Your problem is at it’s end.

I will gladly give my heart away,

But I left it on the tree to stay.”

“Take me back to the shore,

And you will have to cry no more.”

The Croc agreed and swimmed back,

While Monkey patted his own back.

As they reached the shore,

Monkey knew he made his score,

He jumped back to the tree.

Now surely he was free.

Then he shouted, ”Can somebody live with his heart gul?

Never show me your face Croc the fool!”