Invictus – A Movie on Nelson Mandela

A couple of weeks backed I watched the movie “Invictus” starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Morgan Freeman has done a perfect justice to Nelson Mandela’s character. A heartfelt admiration for such a great actor for portraying before us such a brilliant piece of act.  The movie has made me respect Nelson Mandela more and more. Let me admit it, I knew very little about him and his noble thoughts & opinions before I watched this movie – the only thing I knew was he served in prison for 27 years before serving as President of South Africa. The movie Invictus brings me a step closer in knowing this Nobel Peace laureate – his anti-apartheid movement and his vision of making South Africa a multi-racial democracy. I was pleased to learn through the movie that his

Do we require connectivity or optic fibre cable infrastructure?

I heard of optic fibre cables for the first time a few years ago from one of the professors at my college of graduation. After googling around for some time (yahoo-ing too… sorry bing, you were not there at that point of time… you’re not-so-good brother MSN Search was there), I learned that laying optic fibre cables involves gigantic capital outlay and India is investing heavily in to it to expand the connectivity in the country. Co-incidentally a few days later I also learned nuances of wireless internet. Since then I have always been thinking that, “If the ultimate aim is to increase connectivity, why not invest in relatively cheaper wireless infrastructure since portability in accessing internet is seen to be future of internet connectivity, rather than capital intensive optic fibre cable infrastructure?” Two days back I was glad to know that an author at Times of India (TOI) also shares the same opinion as of mine and has rightly stated it in his editorial column of the newspaper, dated March 26, 2010.

The author quoted above mentions in his referred article,

“…But we too are showing muddled thinking in addressing the problem, opting for a capital-intensive optic fibre network instead of focusing on wireless infrastructure to expand connectivity.”

You can access the above referred TOI’s Editorial column over here Opportunity Knocks.

On the Occasion of Mahavir Jayanti

Yesterday, Jains all around the world celebrated Mahavir Jayanti – an important religious festival of Jains marking the birth of Lord Mahavira, the last Tirthankara. Following this occasion, I am posting here a moral lesson preached by Lord Mahavira. Times of India (TOI) also published this thought in an editorial column, dated March 27, 2010 (Link).

“A living body is not merely an integration of limbs and flesh but it is the abode of the soul, which potentially has anant darshana or perfect perception, anant jnana or perfect knowledge, anant virya or perfect power and anant shukla or perfect bliss.”

- Lord Mahavira

Urgently required: A law for ‘cruelty against husbands’

You don’t find such sort of news very often and that too in one of the most recognized and widely read Indian English daily. Yesterday morning, as usual, I got up from bed and walked through the door to pick up a copy of Times of India (TOI) delivered by my dear newspaper vendor (I thank him for being so good at his promptness in delivering the newspaper… consistently. Who says you need an MBA to know/literally perform the art of maintaining a happy customer). I started flipping the pages of the newspaper and suddenly my eyes fell upon a news column one never expects to come across or hear about (generally). I am not sure if anyone can even dream about it. The news column featured a photograph wherein a group of men, under an association named Akhil Bhartiya Patni Atyachar Virodhi Sangh (in English it means an All India Association to protest against atrocities of wives towards husbands), were demonstrating outside a family court in Surat. These men are of a firm opinion that

What needs to be told Vs. What needs to be known

Mint (a business newspaper published by Hindustan Times in collaboration with Wall Street Journal) rightly mentioned in this morning’s edition, ‘Managing market expectations is quite a big task. If you tell too little to investors, they get suspicious and the moment you tell them too much, they panic.’ The article points out the existence of this sentiment in context of the recent crisis in the Greek economy. However, the same holds true for the Indian markets too and we have experienced this earlier during the financial crisis of 2008 and mid 2009…

So, the key for company executives, political party spokespersons and bureaucrats lies in striking a balance between ‘what needs to be told’ and ‘what needs to be known’…

You can find the link to Mint’s Article over here … Rhetoric in a Greek tragedy

Photo Courtesy : http://www.athina984.gr/files/imagecache/main/files/news-images/finance_0.jpg

Quote quoted 3

This quote flashed on my cell’s display just now…

“We attract love by the quality we display,

but we retain love by the quality we possess.”

25 Brand Building Mantras by Jagdeep Kapoor

Recently I read 24 Brand Mantras-Finding a Place in the Minds and Hearts of Consumers, a book on Brand building by Jagdeep Kapoor. As the author rightly claims, the book puts forth 24 mantras for building brands in a lucid way. The 24 mantras, well illustrated with examples, will be an interesting read for management students, and all those who are/will be involved in one or another way in marketing including building brands. Wait… before you think this post to be a review of this book, let me surprise you saying that I have no intentions to do so . There are a plethora of websites where you can find reviews of this book. In this post, I am just penning down those 24 mantras, which by mere headings will convey

Quote quoted 2

One of my favs…

“Excellence has always been achieved by those who dared to believe that something inside them is superior to circumstances”.

- Bruce Barton

Quote quoted 1

“Love makes you feel you are surely lovable”.

I believe in fuzzy vision

My MBA program at NIASoM is about to end in the next 3.5 months and companies are coming down to the campus for recruitment. During one such interview of mine with a recruiter, I was asked, based on my CV, “Why you like to experiment with new ideas, new things? Don’t you think it shows lack of  aim/target?”

I have pondered over this question a few times earlier too, “Why am I always eager to try out new things/ideas”? And few days back, I got an answer to it and this was what I told the interviewer who asked me the question I mentioned  above (in italic bold).

“At this age, I don’t want to prematurely lock myself into one course of action and stick to it throughout my life or may be for the next one decade. I feel it makes me unfit in achieving my aspirations.

My passion towards trying out newer ideas and concepts help me develop a fuzzy vision which guides me in achieving my aspirations by way of general and newer directions. It rejuvenates my dream, my aspirations. It’s the Kaizen way !”