My Canvas

Poor Boy Afridi

2011-04-08T16:12:00.001+05:30

Shahid Afridi seems to be extremely confused these days. First he complains of Indian's being small hearted and unprofessional. Very next day he realized his love for same Indians. These irresponsible remarks seemed nothing more than a rage of frustation, from a non performer at WC, aggrevated by fact of India being the winner.

He also thanked his God for some reason. Earlier also in one of the match presentation, one pak player thanked the muslims all over the world. Despite being international players, they cannot think beyond religion. Ok let them have their own set of opinions and mindset. Least the world could expect is, the poor fellows refrain giving a communal colour to sports.

And today surprisingly, Afridi want pak players to be a part of cash rich IPL. I would agree with Afridi, they actually are large hearted, after making irresponsible and foolish comments about Indians, just within a weeks time, he has the gut to appeal for their participation. Ofcourse you have a large heart.

Trouble time @ Google

2011-03-03T13:43:00.002+05:30

The recent development in the very hot Android market, being the formation of Android Developers Union, is infact quite interesting.

The demand by developers being that Google should reduce its 32% stake from sale of android apps, else developers might shift to another platform. At a time when all major and not so well known brands, too, of mobile makers and new segment of tablet PCs, are moving to Android platform, it being an open source, developers have adopted to some extent a reasonable approach. This might be a voilation of mutual agreement with Google, but why not, everybody want a bigger share of a tempting and exponentially growing pie. Lets see what shape this spat takes in the coming few days.

What’s on my MIND….............

2010-08-05T00:24:00.008+05:30

11’o clock at night, 4th Aug; 2010. I just switched off my TV, watching Yoodlee. That’s right (if at all you tried and guessed it); its my favorite watch these days on 9X. Never knew I loved old songs so much. Must say lyrics make a lot sense. I just mentioned about my favorite watch, so one reconsideration changed my mind and Yoodlee shifted to slot 2. Indian Idol 5 in my favorite show. The name itself touches the latent singer inside me. If I were not an Engineer MBA, I could have been a CA, or a pilot, or a doctor (love the way stethoscope is put around neck), or a musician (love piano), or a writer, a caricaturist, an environmentalist, or a SINGER. But don’t just go by this list, its highly dynamic. Now that I have just recalled what I could have been, it just reminded me I actually spent 2 years on guitar, 1 year of caricaturing and writing since almost 6 years now, as a hobby. Not bad though.

I often see raised eye brows on tea tables or at lunches, followed by “YOU DON’T LIKE CRICKET”. Actually I tried to like it a lot, but cricket is all about being good at remembering statistics. So I could not. Further if I sit for 4-8 hours in front of TV, I feel like 2 idiots staring at each other. Sports just reminded me I tried TT, basket ball and yes billiards during my MBA days. We used to play for 30 minutes for Rs 2/ player; courtesy IIT Kanpur, Hall 4. Many of Rahul Verman’s lectures were sacrificed for the green velvet table and colorful balls.

Anyways that was not on my mind when I picked up my Parker and Cognizant notepad. I did it, because I wanted to write. And I wanted to write, because “I” want “myself” to write and “my loved ones” want “me” to write. But what to write; I will think once I start doing. Or I ll just write, what my Parker will write, or what my thoughts will think. ‘Parker’ reminds me, this was gifted by a very special person. God bless that person. I always wish good for you. OK. I thought to write a review for a movie. Ohhh….Sonam Kapoor. The girl has improved a lottttt. Don’t believe me!!! Go and watch ‘I hate Love Storys’. You will love her……….as I do. My next watch could be another Sonam starred ‘Aisha’ coming post 2 days.

Well I even thought to write a sad poem. But I am not a poet. No. I may better call myself a novice writer. My last blog, by a chance felt into groove and made some very nice rhyme. Actually I read it 2-3 times daily and feel good about myself. And pat on my back ‘I have talent, man’. If you haven’t read it, see my last post and drop a comment even if you don’t like it. After that I tried a lot to let come the so called ‘latent poet’ out; but there was none. So I am back to plain paragraph writing. No, but I am proud of that, that I can write decently well and full honor to my ability. One more thought I had. This time it was title first: ‘Crossroads’. Title indeed is good. But couldn’t frame any content for this beautiful title.

To be honest, I thought to write a poem for my wife’s B’Day. Tried, but couldn’t write. Few more days still to go, maybe I can pen down something decent. But yes I am not artistic, though I am talented, so I can definitely write something which comes straight from heart, but it may not make rhyme.

On reviewing this draft, I noticed 2 things. First I used the word ‘thought’ a lot and second I think a lot. But thinking is an intellectual’s trademark. So nothing bad with it. But yes, do think good. I had recently put my Google talk status as “Think good, for good things to happen in your life”. This is actually true, or atleast this mindset will make life simple. One more thing I just noticed, next time I ll have controlled ;)

Its already 11:55 at night and I am typing this draft in soft and I have to upload this post today, mmmm....or tonight, mmmm....or whatever. So closing this post. Just one last thing, from experience. Shy not to admit your mistake. I did that. I feel lighter now. Lighter…… a lot lighter. My mind lighter, my soul lighter. To err is human and we are humans.

Good night or good morning or whatever. I meant I wish good for you.
Love
Piyush

I am Scared....

2010-07-28T18:15:00.008+05:30

Back on my blog after a longggg gap of 1.5 years.
I never thought I ll ever try a poem.....

"For you are here..................BUT... i m scared
for its 'WE'..............................BUT... i m scared
for it may be a dream...........SO i m scared
for everytime it shatters......it gives a pain deep somewhere"

Victimised us..

2009-02-06T23:25:00.012+05:30

As a common citizen (of the world's so called "largest democracy"), I feel totally helpless, insecure and unsafe. I feel the common public has no voice at all. Whatever Promod Muthalik has said in regard to disruption of Valentine Day celebrations, is a gross insult to the Democracy, Constitution and the so called 1 billion free population of this nation. What good this Democracy is if I can't execute my freedom, a freedom as simple as enjoying the company of a female friend. What good the so called "by the people, for the people and of the people" Government is if I have to be courageous enough to go out. If still after the public announcement by these self appointed moral police, state government is not able to help our cause, there won't be anything more shameful.

Link to my same opinion published in Hindu's Letters to Editor:
http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/07/stories/2009020755411001.htm

TGI Gold...

2008-08-12T17:00:00.009+05:30

First of all, I would congratulate Abhinav Bindra, his family, the sport loving fraternity and the entire nation (barring the Sports Federation, IOA, and the Government of course, for the obvious reasons) for the historical achievement at Olympics. Abhinav has gifted the entire nation with something this nation has been badly craving for, since the inception of this event. What a historic moment it would have been, when Bindra banged right in the Bulls eye, emerging the undisputed winner. What a moment it would have been when our National Anthem had been played at the world’s highest performing platform. What a moment it would have been when the tricolor stood half level above the rest two. And being THE reason for it, what a pride it would have been. Abhinav has done the entire nation and the city beautiful, Chandigarh proud.

While winning Gold is something, which still is an integral part of the entire game. Its like one among ten or twenty, would definitely be fetching, making it quite predictable. But earning a title of ‘Being the First Indian of something’, is something very few are able to. Abhinav has done it and that’s a life time achievement.

While watching the opening ceremony, when Indian contingent being led by Rajvardhan Singh Rathore, carried the tricolor, I shared my fear with a friend that this is probably the last time Indian flag could be seen hoisting in this Olympic. I wished to see more such opportunities during the event. But I was wrong. Abhinav has given all of us this privilege. We are proud of you.

Book Review: The 3 Mistakes of my life

2008-06-01T15:11:00.006+05:30

‘The 3 Mistakes of my life’ is the third fiction from the well known Chetan Bhagat’s stable. Much alike it’s predecessors, this one is again based on friendship. It’s a story of 3 friends (Govind, Ish and Omi) from the industrial town of Ahmedabad.

Any writing could be evaluated on two broad parameters. First the content and second the writing style.

Starting off with the content, the script is a normal sort of. It’s certainly not an outstanding one, if we rate it with the debut one; Five point someone. Actually Chetan had set extremely high standards for himself in his first fiction. Thereby raising the expectations from the readers. As well setting the floor high enough, making it harder to outperform the previous ones. Besides this the depiction of incidents like Bhuj earthquake, Godhra riots, 9/11 attack on twin towers have dramatized the story a lot. Someone may counter argue here that, Chetan has used these as props for the story. I won’t disagree with that. However, I do feel that it’s an overdose of such real life incidents for a fiction.

Moving to the writing style, I would give 10 of 10. Much alike the previous two, it’s an easy going and casual reading stuff. Infact that’s one of the USPs that the writing is for the masses, not for a niche segment of intellectuals. Chetan describes the story in an easily understandable expressions. Besides this he uses a waterfall model in telling the story, wherein the events follow a freely flowing chronological sequence. Thereby not stressing your mind. Also I found the prologue too catchy and beautifully composed. It creates a solid foundation for the story, enclosing it in a fixed time frame, adding a curiosity factor, as in what would have happened.

And I liked the way, character Vidya has been portrayed. It has been so well explicitly described, that I could effortlessly craft a real picture of her in my mind.

Overall it’s a good reading for youth and people in age bracket of 15-30. I would say one should read this book, you will enjoy the overall package. Also it won’t burden your pocket, being nominally priced at 95 bucks, as always.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Goof Ups: Mobile phones were not so prevalent in early 2002, incoming calls were paid and the concept of SMSing caught somewhere in 2003. However, Chetan has shown extensive usage of SMS between Vidya and Govind.

Book Review: The McKinsey Way by Ethan M. Rasiel

2008-04-20T00:14:00.012+05:30

‘The McKinsey Way’, a book written by Ethan Rasiel a former consultant at McKinsey, makes an easy going and a casual reading. Infact it could even make an overnight readable stuff for avid readers. The book talks about the problem solving approach at McKinsey, along with some tools that go handy throughout the assignment. I would be talking of some of the key concepts talked of in this book, meanwhile adding my own judgment.

Every McKinsite has to dig in loads of data and has to substantiate his argument with these facts and figures. They say “Facts bridge the credibility gap”. Quite well said. Then they rely a lot on Hypothesis, which is merely a statement or a theory that needs to be approved or disapproved based on facts, again. By negating a given hypothesis we can move closer to the possibly right solution or atleast it shows a right direction to proceed. It’s just like saying Delhi lies towards South of Chandigarh with a possibility of 45 degrees error from N-S axis on both sides. This essentially means that by using hypothesis we have zeroed upon this 90 degree arc and negated the rest of 270 degrees, thereby moving closer to the solution.

Then it talks a lot about 80-20 rule, brainstorming, interviewing the client, importance of team building, developing rapport among team associates and with the client as well. Now, these doesn’t seem something like out of the world to me. These are pretty much direct, easily understandable and have been widely exploited in the consultancy world.

There are however some new concepts like Elevator Test, MECE (Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive, a very nicely thought of and well structured tool) and Prewiring. (I can’t talk about them in details here). These are very simple, yet extremely effective tools employed in McKinsey. If we try to analyze these tools (premise: after reading the book), they are quite common sensical, but the way such a simple thought has been given a tangible shape, is extremely good. McKinsites follow a simple rule of 1 message per chart, without any 3D animation, to convey the message through a shortest path.

Overall it’s a good reading that reframes your problem solving technique and can act as a ready reckoner while actually being on a project. For those in the consulting world, it’s surely a onetime readable book.

One interesting thing about the author I could make out is that, he seems to be a feminist, enamored by the feminine gender. Whenever he is quoting a loosely defined example of an associate or even someone senior in the hierarchy, he intends to fit the fairer sex in the skin of these roles. Anyways that makes it all the more an interesting reading.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Pics from my latest trip

2008-02-07T23:48:00.000+05:30

Nature has so much to offer....

A view from my home....

Rediscovering a Forgotten Canvas

2007-12-11T22:42:00.002+05:30

It’s exactly after 7 months and 19 days, that I have picked up my pen and paper and trying to pen down my thoughts. A lot had happened in this long period. India won the Twenty 20 World Cup, Sanjay Dutt got convicted, Salman got into trouble once again, Chak De rocked the box office, my life too witnessed lot many changes. I shouldn’t say nothing happened exciting enough, in and around to motivate me to write for my blog. Infact many interesting events happened, that I wanted to share, but somehow couldn’t materialize. I shouldn’t even be complaining of having no time, as I actually had a lot of it.

Not writing though, I had been constantly tracking blogs of my known twos. I wonder how could some of them manage to write, upload the same, beautify the writing with pictures, insert links, add friends. But the point is ‘quite so often’. Hats off to such writers. Wish I too do that.

Well now that I have composed a couple of lines, I would need a password to logon to my home page. I am sure, I don’t remember it. I am not sure, if I maintained a backup for it. Don’t really know if I alone would be writing and reading it too. But if you are reading what I am writing, means something worked out. But if you are not reading it, then anyways you are not. Hopefully, I get the password.

Now a logical question here is how come I start it again after so long or what exactly pushed me. Now there are more than single reasons to it. Firstly, I had read a lot of stuff on blogging, illustrating how fast the concept is picking up in the Indian context. Every week there is a cover story on increasing popularity of blogs in various magazines and other news dailies. Even celebrities like Amir Khan are today exploiting this form of media. Then at last week end’s D party my MBA friends reminded me that I had been writing well, so far. So I should stop this break.

Now that almost a page is over, I attempt infusing life to my long forgotten “my-canvas”. May God bless my blog.

P.S. 1) Partial credit for this goes to Abhishek and Hemant.
2) Thank God, I got the password.

Snapshot of a golden phase of life

2007-04-22T15:50:00.001+05:30

It’s 22^nd April, 2007. Hardly 12 more days are left before we pack our bags from one of the greatest place, I have ever been, it’s IIT. Lying in my luke warm bed in my room G305, I have been recalling some of the coolest moments at IITK. So just decided to jot down some of these, before they get washed out from my life. It’s a bit long narration, so please be patient.

(Some of my very close frds in MBA: Renish, Hary, Me, Jassi (noone call him JASMINDER), Bunty, Santu, Sharmaji, Supriya, tanuja, Vidya and Neeraja)

When we talk of MBA, first thing that comes to mind is case analysis and presentations. OK, so ‘Hubble Error’ was the first case our group presented in I sem. Being my first pres in MBA, I was kinda apprehensive, so it deserved a well rehearsed session (“Dry Run” in sophisticated MBA jargons) before the actual show. You know, I sem was far from reality and more of an illusion. As perceived by me and many others an MBA meant a young energetic immaculate professional enlightening his audience, with no room at all for errors. Everyone has that desire of carving a niche in the batch. Competition too was quite a lot in the earlier phase. Anyways 2^nd sem was more closer to the real world. One tactic which we learnt right in the beginning of presentations was: “Sir, its there in the further slides”. I mean today it appear so naïve, that if it’s not there in the current slide where its required, why would it be anywhere else. But at times this is the last resort you need to count upon. Anyways past of entire game.

Then our MR group is one thing I am not going to forget ever. We were six in all. In a 2 hour meeting we used to work for max half an hour and rest used to be the fun time. Someone would then crack a latent joke, followed by some exchange of glances and then finally a loud burst. Finally the hunky dory girl would coyly remark ‘Dirty Minds’. Our MR group really rocked.

How can I not mention about ‘Hero Honda’. The organisation has been so overly exploited by us, that we had done around a dozen projects on it, including a management paper. Courtesy two guys from HH in our batch. One standard monotonous dialogue in every presentation “HH has one plant in Gurgaon and one in Dharuhera” would lighten up every single face in the audience.

In another interesting incidence, I lifted the remote control amidst a presentation, to use the laser beam, or more precisely to add an air of sophistication. Thinking the red button to be the laser one, I pressed it and the entire system got switched off. The response was well expected. Everybody was laughing, including me.

Then we had a prestigious club viz. ‘S&D Club’ (even though I had membership only for D and not S). Some of the regulars included Hary C, Bunty, Shuklaji, Sharmaji, Billu, Sharmaji, Kaly and of course me. When no one initiated till around 10pm to go to gate, then our beloved KK would initiate. His pet dialogue would be: “Tum sab ke sab ******* ho (sensored, for obvious reasons), mein leke ata hun”. We love you for that Hary. Then popped up the real operational issues like money, cycle (to go to gate), bag (to carry the stuff) and at the high time responsibility delegation would take place, as in who would get the snacks from canteen, whose room would be the venue. Finally the signature giving ceremony on the bottle followed by a long walk from Girls hostel thru SAC, MT and Basky court.

I am gonna miss all these.

And I hope my parents never get to visit the webpage.

All the best doston. May all you have a great career ahead and your beloveds as your life partner. Enjoy life and wish me the same :)

SRKs "KKK.....KBC"

2007-01-29T12:43:00.001+05:30

I rarely remember dates, infact I have to push hard enough to do that. But sometimes it occurs just naturally, without that extra effort, as some of these create a space in my sub conscious mind. Perhaps 22nd Jan, 2007 was one such entry. Just like million other SRK fans, I too had been waiting for it, may be coz I too have been a die hard King Khan fan or may be coz I have been also been a KBC fan or may be both.

Sharukh has returned to the small screen after almost two decades. (As a kid his amongst debuts ‘Fauji’ in late 80's impacted me a lot). He delivered major blockbusters like Bazigaar, DDLJ, KKHH, KHNH, the (in)famous DON, just to name a few. However, this time the challenge is tougher, perhaps his career’s biggest (at least I feel so). Because it’s a one-to-one fight with the invincible and charismatic Big Bachchan. Undoubtedly both have been the icons of the industry, both have redefined acting their own ways, both do posses that irresistible X-factor. Infact the duo had proven that, in past in the likes of Mohabbtein, K3G. However, KBC is a different game altogether. It’s not just another prime time soap, rather a perception in the minds of a billion. A perception whose contours were defined by Amitabh Bachchan. It’s not just the brand that Big B carried along (infact both enjoy a decent brand value and according to a marketing saying ‘only SEX and SRK sells in today’s world), I believe it’s the sheer elegance, a manner overloaded with sophistication, which acts as icing on the cake. He did posses the talent of hitting the right balance of humor and modesty. I feel this is where Sharukh couldn’t deliver as good. He had been quite a lot explicit in entertaining his audience, while crossing that very thin line between modesty and ridicule, at times. And that ‘massage’ & ‘give me five’ stuff were some of such instances, where Sharukh pushed himself real hard and actually diluted the flavor.

One disadvantage Sharukh definitely had right from the very beginning is that he would always have been juxtaposed against Mr. Bachchan for KBC. And that created a lot pressure on him. Fans in this regard are quite a lot unkind and even Abhishek had been haunted by the same in the past. If Sharukh attempts another Mr. Bachchan, he would unanimously be accused of imitation and if he doesn’t he would be tagged for not being dynamic enough. Either way he is going to be punished. But yes, imitation is definitely not ‘THE KEY’. One thing that could help him is ‘Being Yourself’. At least he would have to stop giving the Munna inspired ‘Jaddo ki Jappi’ every now and then. Of course it would take some time for viewers to digest the fact ‘Yes, this is Sharukh and not Big B’. Till then journey could be not so kind for SRK.

Till then, All the Best

P.S. Don’t forget you are Sharukh, Sharukh Khan……

Truly US

2006-11-24T02:18:00.001+05:30

The landmark Indo US civilian nuclear deal has finally matured and it has its own undisputed benefits. India would now be getting an instantaneous access to more than 3000 tons of spent fuel to feed its nuclear power plants. This could otherwise have taken, India more than 30 years to accumulate the raw material on its own. However, I believe US is still the most self centric, self driven nation which has an obvious strategy of ‘Use and Throw’. In response to Pakistan’s contention of having a similar pact, US termed the Indo US deal as a unique deal with a unique country. This exhibits the thanklessness of US, as Pakistan was ‘the nation’ which enabled the invasion of Afghanistan, by letting it use its Air Base. A few years back US had been patting General’s back for the much needed help.

Without contending the importance of deal here, for India, I simply try to highlight the commitment and loyalty US has displayed with its so called ally. Today US has left Islamabad like a parentless orphan, which is now forced to pin its hope from China, exclaiming it to be a historical and true friend. I extend my true hearted sympathies to the General, who had till recently been deluding himself and the nation, perceiving Bush as their Godfather. Infact Islamabad’s foreign policy towards its neighboring countries too, to a large extent had been governed by the same perceived mirage.

That’s just a drop in the ocean. A few days back General disclosed that Islamabad had been warned to be bombed back to stone age, by the then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in case it opted to stay away from the Bush’s quest (still a coveted quest) of Osama. To this President Bush expressed his unawareness and offered his apologies to the General. To me this highlights an innocent Mr. Bush, who can dare to invade any nation (that too without UN permission), be responsible for thousands of lives and who can also be unaware of what his own right hand is doing. I can understand that.

One thing I definitely couldn’t convince myself is, how come America be so liberal, that it could afford to change the rules of game for India, how come it could sign the pact with a nation which has earlier refused to budge to international pressure for signing the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Well my concern here is that, even though India might be gaining today from US policy, but the same may not hold tomorrow. US is a non reliable ally which uses the nations, solely to serve his own means. Since India is on the receiving end it has to be very much cautious while dealing with it and it should maintain diplomatic relations with it. It should not let it’s foreign policies be affected by it’s relations with any other nation, US in particular. It must have an independent opinion of every nation, not biased by a third party.

Dead End

2006-09-11T01:29:00.001+05:30

Wednesday, September 6, 2006, 7 am
They have already left the beds. Splashing some water on their wrinkled faces, putting the same tethered filthy uniform, carrying the trademark safety caps with an electric torch, they are almost ready, heading for yet another journey of their not-so-kind life. Barely aware that this might turn out to be the last one.

Some of them had the luxury of seeing the faces of their loved ones, with an eternal optimism in their eyes saying, ‘See you in the evening’. While some others couldn’t avail this opportunity, it being like any other normal routine day. Housewives got to address the chores, while kids picked up their bags to school. After all it was still a normal routine day. None had hardly imagined that one news is going to change the course of their lives, just a single hit of a seconds hand and the world would never be the same again.

They picked up their equipment and fearlessly boarded the bogies that gradually carried them away from rest of the world; forever. The greatest irony of the instant is that, inspite of yourself being the subject, yourself being the actor, is still unaware of the role you are going to play very soon. Every single moment passing, is inching closer to the dead end.

The unfortunate moment has struck. Sometimes I wonder this ‘Time Machine’, its such a flawlessly programmed device, that it not only executes everything as scheduled by the Big Boss, but also the most cruel and heartless as it wont give an instant more than it has been programmed for.

News has broken out. Reporters, journalists, cameramen are a common sight all around. ‘Breaking News’ has got a brand new story. It’s a huge commotion.

Deep down there 250m below the surface, were 50 men caught totally unaware by the leaking methane gas, resulting in an explosion powerful enough to rip apart the coal bogies, that sent people slamming across mine walls. Within a few moments the oxygen levels fell to zero, filling the entire mine with lethal carbon monoxide gas. Explosion, suffocating gas, followed by mine inundated with water was enough to kill all of them in a few moments. The 50 souls witnessed those atrocious moments , when life is worse than death. The end stands in front, ready to embrace, while the victim has endless thoughts playing on his mind. One moment comes a thought that lot many tasks are yet unaccomplished. The entire life cycle is reduced to a single snapshot and it gets hazier every moment. Then comes a thought if at all God gives me a second chance.

At times one is left totally helpless, with little control over our own life. There is little any of us could have done. All we can do is to pray for peace to the souls.

Why Japan

2006-08-26T00:45:00.002+05:30

My 6 months of work experience with an automobile component manufacturer, plus a brief stint at a Public Sector Navratna, provided me a reasonably good opportunity to get accustomed with the concepts that made the country’s manufacturing sector stand apart of the entire crowd. Tools like 5S, TPM, TQM, Kaizen; just a few to quote here, lie at the heart of its success that helped the nation to establish global benchmarks in the industry. Undoubtedly, the subject here is JAPAN. Organisations around the globe are today trying to implement these tools and emulate the Japanese success model. Substantial amount of money is being invested for Japanese Consultants, to guide through the methodology and nitty gritties of these concepts.

If you ever happen to be in a Japanese partnered company, yellow striped floor & the hanging sign boards will themselves direct you to the destination, sans any assistance. Neatly stacked files, flawlessly oriented furniture, labeled equipment, attention seeking warning signs, clear and perfectly sorted table tops; well that is a way of life in any such company and is notoriously known as a 5S company.

In Indian parlance, 5S refers to sorting, sweeping, cleaning and segregating. This was infact the first training session I attended after induction in my first job. Barely within one month of joining, I realized Indian companies take too much pride in claiming itself to be a TPM or a 5S compliance company. With another month adding to my experience, I concluded Indians corporates are actually obsessed with something as rudimentary as sorting the stuff on your study table and putting the unwanted under cover. Precisely, this is something my mother (and infact everybody else’s) had always been trying to convince me when I was a kid.

My two months summer project at the above mentioned navratna was to assist in implementation of TPM. ‘Total Preventive Manufacturing’ or ‘Total Productive Maintenance’ even I get confused sometimes, but that is immaterial, trust me. What matters here is that a 'Totally Focused approach' to get rid of unpredictable breakdowns. I find the Japanese to be the most organised creatures on planet. TPM involves identifying the worst nightmare machines in your manufacturing facility. The first step is to clean, inspect and to lubricate the machines, meanwhile rectifying some minor flaws and identifying the critical issues. Followed by ‘Why-Why’ technique to reach the root cause of a trouble. The driving force here is the challenge, to make your machine ‘The Best’ and a benchmark.

I found, the Japanese begin with a target, set up practically achievable time frames and then they execute the action plan. I often hear people saying, a Japanese will start from home at 8:02 am and by the time he will reach the traffic signal at 8:07am , it would be green, thereby saving him one and a half minute. They are certainly not born like that. Indeed it is the self discipline inculcated within. It is not the jargon, but the self imposed discipline and commitment that made the small patch in south east , a cynosure on Globe.