Rupashi Bangla, Amar Kolkata

Hustle bustle on the streets, shouting by hawkers at the corner of the road, Buses, Trams, hackneyed rickshaws, the yellow Ambassador Taxis coupled with the timely Metro… warm faces, happy faces, intellectual faces, artistic faces; familiar faces… it’s a trip down the Kolkata lane!

Been travelling quite a bit during my higher educational tenure and work time… Hyderabad to Pune to Mumbai to Delhi to Gurgaon… probably another few more to add on to the list. But coming back every time to Kolkata gives a wonderful feeling, surely because it being the hometown. Pune tops my chart of a favorite place but Kolkata remains a close near only losing out only on the career opportunity front. Hope the people responsible for the talent siphoning are rendering their concerned listening ears. Kolkata has its own charm, more because of the kind hearted warm people and the cultural trigger. The city of Joy has changed a lot during the last 4 years; it’s got a lot better than before compared to the big cities in India. Only that the pace of life is slow if business is concerned or as they call laid-back.

Staying few months in Delhi didn’t quite land me up with very good experiences. To start it up, the PG aunty of Vasant Kunj tops it with her unruly, cynic like and business-minded behavior. We unanimously dislike her. Only the place seems to be better than other viable available options in that city. Next in line is the super arrogant crowd especially in the DTC buses. They are indeed a treat on Delhi roads. Thirdly the auto drivers, who never go by the meter, pass comments without any reason and think themselves the king of the roads. The roads are well made but I find them very dimly lit. All this probably makes the Rajdhani the hub of show, non-safety and arrogance. It’s good to have a car in Delhi only if you get decent parking space or are safe from being towed. You’ll not find such instances in Kolkata. One wont find good made roads, there is unorganized traffic but surely people are more than willing to help; living is damn cheap (one still gets flavored warm tea at Rs 1.50p, an auto ride of 5kms at Rs. 5 and Bus travel at Rs.6), city is well lit up and has preserved its natural beauty…

Visit Kolkata during the Durga Puja one is sure to get surprised with the artistic vent. The familiar sweets like rosogollas, sandesh, mishti doi are all time favorites. The ‘golgappas’ or ‘pani puris’ known as ‘fuchkas’ taste the best here. Nothing like the Bengal handloom cotton saris or other variety of saris that is available. One won’t find a mud house, a pond or a river flowing past very often in big cities, but you’ll find one in Kolkata. It is the land of communism, of sage and spirituality, of intellectuality and culture. Bengal smells traditional in modern times.

Though the city doesn’t have the best of the worlds, but it lives on its uniqueness and still survives in the hearts of all the Bengalis worldwide…

Pune Revisited ;)

Cold wave in Delhi and no woolens to wear! Oh what a wonderful situation to be in. This was one of the primary reasons for a quick trip to Pune to collect my luggage the long weekend last week. But how can one ever forget the impact of the place that had been my abode for the last 2 wonderful years. Mind here… but heart there for sure.

Must say it felt such a familiar place to be as I landed… known streets, known areas, known people. A relief from the current struggle of the new city called ‘Dilli’ that I have landed up in. The short duration that I spent was a roller coaster with mixed experiences. The primary thing as I reached was to get glimpse of those few chosen people and meet them who mattered a lot, but didn’t know that I didn’t matter to them anymore. Never mind? No ways, I did mind and felt quite sad. The other part was friends who were awaiting me… meeting them was such a comforting experience. Aakriti… aki or dhingra was a constant support juggling between her office and work and spending time with me. It was so much fun to get back to the child within us and make sudden plans to Shirdi… running down crazily on the streets of JM… having a bumpy ride in Volvo… posing innumerable times for that perfect look in the camera… having a midnight bath or spending long hours at night chatting… Yup did miss out on a lot of visits and had to change plans due to shortage of time.

In six months time changes had come… the college atmosphere had changed… R2, the famous ‘bhurji pav’ ki tapri didn’t exist anymore… Level 9 looked different… FC and JM Road became one way…

Don’t know if I’ll ever get an opportunity to come back to the place again but this place would pull me forever. Have seen a lot of places, almost completing the golden quadrangle with Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Delhi but Pune is among the best places to be in India.

We would grow… grow in years, in position, in stature, in experience, in life… slowly would come a time when we would adorn those silver grey hairs… but what would remain would be those MEMORIES… I would remember the times I laughed, I loved, I cried, I fought… with those special entities called ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S’…

In the words of Thomas Moore… “Fond memory brings the light of other days around me”

OUT of the BOX!

Check out Sakshi's blog for our unique experience during SCMLD days at : http://sakshiprakash1986.blogspot.com/2009/06/outta-that-box.html

“MBA” – THE READ AND THE EXPERIENCIAL

Do you get reminded of plush jobs, high salaries and a quick accelerator to the dream world that you ever thought of? Give yourself a slight pause at this moment and a good reality check. Ask me about the ‘recessionary chic’ of the times what a learning experience it has been.

It all started with struggling placements at the B-School. The luck over ruled the deserving this time with shrinkage in business opportunities. The heat was evident in the India Inc. business arena. Talent and experience was sought after the most during the slowdown for the little positions that were being catered to. If we ponder over the kind of opportunities many landed up, they might not be lucrative at all…not matching the area of interest or expertise that we were knowledgeable or could contribute. Fast learning, no wastage on training, prior experience and action were the key words of the time.
Learning at Sadhana Center for Management and Leadership Development (SCMLD) had been so dynamic that the current pass out batch could absorb the heat with silence… “Taking things as it is” (remember as taught at the Vipassana training camp). There had been shocking stories of pink slips at MNC’s and people completely out of job after such a long tenure and being loyal to the organizations. The top 10% made sense on the Performance meter and many put on PIP.

What we read in B- Schools made little sense when action was asked. Organizations dealt MBA’s as just as a normal part of the cycle and ‘nothing so special about’ it kind of an attitude. A lot of things could be well co-related like a ‘halo effect’ while selecting candidates, ‘Out of the Box’ thinking, Psychology studies on ‘Games people play’, Organizational Restructuring, Marketing meant ‘sales’, Lean Management, Lay offs, Sabbatical, flush of Free lancers, rise of Indian Entrepreneurs. The environment brought in the good side of the coin in India with focus on rising Entrepreneurs with efforts like Economic Times’s ‘Power Within’ campaigns and NEN challenges like ‘Hottest Startups’ etc. India’s focus shifted on the Agriculture and Rural Development, SME’s and MSME’s creating a path of a self sufficient mode for the country.

I’m a part of the present MBA Grads who is still to come across a profile where in I could contribute with the kind of skill sets I possess… but learning with whatever is at hand and doing full justice with the resources available. I keep self motivating on the lines of “no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow” and would suggest all. Lets not to too optimistic about the future but lets also not forget the ‘silver lining’ or the ‘cherry on the pudding’.
Change is dynamic and that’s the only constant thing.

Delivering SMILES with pain!

'Delivery in 30mins or get your money back'-what a lovely thought to cuddle in customer delight. The perfect recipe for gourmet TQM…

We all love our sumptuous, juicy and cheesy pizzas hot... don’t we??? Even I was one of those pizza lovers who cared little about ‘WHO’ delivered but what was delivered. It was those pre puja bashes at home with family when hunger struck for a nice pizza. Added to that was the discount coupon in hand which prompted a quick order. Nearby was the Domino’s pizza outlet so a swipe of credit gave way to an order of 2 medium sized pizzas. Another thing that added a dash of specialness to the occasion was that it was a nice Sunday treat by me to my parents.

Enter any good pizza outlet and you are bound to be delighted by the ambience and the customer dealings. But that Sunday it was a heavy rush, probably everybody was troubled with pangs of pizza hunger. I did get a queer feeling that ‘something might go wrong today’… first it started with some swiping problem with the credit card and the story continued. The memo showed a kitchen time of 9pm and a delivery time of 9.30pm. Back home excitement about pizzas was slowly mounting. Little tit bits about other pizza experiences were on. Clock ticked 9pm and in my minds eye I could visualize the pizza going into the oven and topped with hot melted mozzarella; 9.15pm- almost done and getting packed to come home. Clock crossed 9.30pm… 9.50pm… was getting elated because might just get the money back as promised ;) Bell rang and the delivery boy with a smile delivered one cold pizza. When asked about the other pizza, the delivery boy remained amazed as if I was speaking Greek. He quickly called up and realized the other order was not given to him by the outlet. I was angry with hunger and had a hot talk with him. He promised a quick delivery within 15 mins for the remaining order. It was 10.30pm when finally the 2^nd pizza entered. I was furious as the whole spirit of the little party had got diluted with the long waiting time.

The anger suddenly vanished when a shocking fact came up from the delivery boy’s mouth about the pain they go through while delivering. He quickly showed all bruises and scratches on his hands and legs. Also realized he had a crepe bandage wrapped around his hand… and all this thanks to the 30 mins delivery concept. All the anger suddenly diluted and the humane side of me emerged. I did curse myself a little for being insensitive.

These wonderful people called the ‘Delivery boys’ suffer so much pain with old second hand bikes, falling on roads, meeting with accidents just to deliver little SMILES for us, so that we don’t miss out on the ecstasy of having a melting hot pizza. Their grievances need to heard and acted upon because they are a wonderful part of the value chain. Are we lending them ears!!! Let’s create a promise which we can deliver with ease bringing in customer delight and employee satisfaction.

Next day 2 melting hot pizzas, the similar order that was placed day before, was delivered on time, free of cost… and yes with a smile. I was delighted and spellbound with the customer satisfaction. A CSAT score from my side for Domino’s Pizza. Indeed spreading ‘Khushiyon ki Home Delivery’ all the way…