A Ray of Hope

Studying in the premier institute like IIMs has its own benefits. One of them is the regular visits/guest lectures by eminent personalities. Yesterday, one of the legends of Modern day India, Dr. E. Sreedharan, the Metroman of India visited our campus and shared his experiences with regard to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (DMRC).

What this 70+ Indian has achieved to be called as a legend?
Born in a country, known for delayed Government infrastructure projects & lacklustre government workforce, achieved something that was considered to be impossible. Finished the Phase-I of the Delhi Metro Rail project ahead of schedule. [Remember every 1 day saved = 1.6 crore rupees with regard to the project]. Read about it here in New York Post.

One of my aunts who works as a Principal in a Government college always used to say that the Indian Government has the best of the employees with regard to what they could achieve. [Her logic was that during her days, the best of Indian minds enter the government workforce.] But most of the times this potential remains untapped.

Dr. Sreedharan has shows what can be achieved with the same old Government workforce which for most of the times remains as a butt of our jokes.

Certain Key Points from his lecture:

• The words 'Vision', 'Mission' & 'Corporate culture' were regularly mentioned as one of the key reasons for their success. Compare this with what i have written about the comical vision of BSNL.
• Happy to hear from him, a lot of management jargon(like learning effects) that we use in our day-to-day life. It shows that they have worked in a very professional manner.
• Reverse clocks in each rooms reminding the people about the days left for the deadline.
• Integrity and Punctuality
• Use of IT for day-to-day operations
  
• Lean and efficient workforce - No clerks and No peons except for those working for the directors.
• A Big 'NO' to political interference

Seeing people like him, surely gives me a ray of hope that the Indian Government workforce of tomorrow would be able to function much more efficiently.

P.S- For Indian Quizzers, Connect E. Sreedharan & T.N. Seshan.

Water - A source of life & Perennial Conflict

After the recent Cauvery tribunal verdict, there has been tension reported in Karnataka, especially in Bangalore. (Read the news here). Hope any untoward incidents like the one that happened in 1991 do not happen this time around. If any violent incident occurs, Bangalore is sure to lose the status of "Silicion Valley of India".(atleast in the minds of the Tamils)

It was reported in Indian Express that there were sporadic incidents of violence in the Tamil dominated areas in Bangalore. We have been living as a single nation for more than 50 years. But Still how far apart, people in each State have been. [What is the logic behind targeting a community for the verdict by a national body in which they have no role to play?. This escapes my mind.]. These incidents shows how much racism is still prevalent in india.

If communities/States/Nations fight for water now itself, fear to think of the up-coming days of global warming, when it will be more tough to find water on this beautiful earth.

GOD, Please Save this Earth!

Hurrah! Time to Party!

My long wait for the last of the Harry Potter series is going to be over in another 166 days. :-) If you want to know how important Harry Potter is to my life, read @ "Harry Potter & Me".

For the muggles, who have not heard the news, the final book of the Harry Potter series " Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be published on the midnight of July 21, 2007.

Hurrah! Now Time to Party!!!!

BSNL and Its Comical Vision

This is not a post to give various reasons for Indian public sector companies to be privatised. But because while working for my Strategy Planning project about BSNL , I found out how inefficient the Indian public sector companies are, that i could not stop myself from posting.


The vision of BSNL according to the company's website is "To become the largest Telecom Service Provider in South East Asia." Read it over here. But according to Wikipedia, South East Asia is a sub region of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia. The point to note over here is that South East Asia does not include India, the only country in which BSNL has its presence. Except BSNL, everybody in this world know that the sub region of Asia which includes India is known as South Asia.

I do not know whether it is just a mistake they committed in their website or it is a mistake in the vision statement of BSNL itself. Anyway, no excuses can be given for committing such a blunder in their vision statement for such a long duration, even if it is only on their website. (In my strategy classes, my professor & Porter have made sure to drive the point that the vision statement plays a very important role in a firm).

Even if we take the corrected vision of BSNL "To become the largest Telecom Service Provider in South Asia", a company's vision is supposed to speak of an envisioned future, not a goal it has already reached. With more than 60 million customer base, BSNL is indeed the largest telecom service provider in South Asia and 7th largest telecommunication company in the world.
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A Humble Request to Government (though i know for sure, my request wont reach its ears)
Please make sure the public sector companies gain the professional skills to compete in the world market or just disinvest in them so they don't become the laughing stock about our nation.

Added Later(on Feb 7, 2007):
If we got a chance, our project group would like to suggest the following Vision for BSNL "To become the world's largest Telecom service provider by providing quality Telecom service at affordable prices and aiding in the socio-economic development of the nations".

Update(on November 13, 2007): Thank God! BSNL has finally changed their vision - "To become the largest Telecom Service Provider in Asia" . But i still prefer "largest service provider in the world" because both the vision are the one and the same, since for achieving both the goals BSNL has to displace the Chinese telecom service providers from their No:1 spot.

What can I Give to My Nation?

The title is taken from the Address to the nation by the President of India Dr. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM on the eve of the 58TH REPUBLIC DAY - 2007 . If you have not read it until now, please read it here.

A must read for every Indian who loves his nation...

After reading it, i am unable to wait for the India of 2020 with 100% literacy rate and nearly zilch People below Poverty line.

The address also stresses the role that needs to be played by each and every Indian especially the youth for such a future. I was especially attracted by the call to the youth to enter the politics. Politics has always been a career option that i have been looking at for a very long time. [If i am entering politics, surely would be running for elections in TIRUNELVELI only:-))

But, with the current set up of Indian politics, it is virtually impossible for any honest youth to have at least a semblance of chance to win the elections. To win, you need a backup of a well known-party to win the elections. Also you need your fair amount of supporters to campaign. Add to this, the money that needs to be spent for publicity and various other purposes related to elections. Hope this changes so that youth like me who are out there wanting to do something for the nation are given a chance to take part in the Indian political scenario.

But the President's call is surely a tonic to my dreams. Especially his final call to the youth of the nation to have

"Courage to think different,
Courage to invent,
Courage to discover the impossible,
Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
Courage to share the knowledge
Courage to remove the pain
Courage to reach the unreached
Courage to combat the problems
And Succeed,"

JAI HIND!