Vistara and Air India to Merge

 This was bound to happen, and makes eminent sense. My Ph.D. was on Diversification Strategy (a long time ago), based on American company data. Synergy through mergers and acquisitions was also a small part of that.

Running three different airlines is not a joke. So it makes a lot of sense after acquiring Air India, for the Tatas (and Singapore Airlines, the partner) to merge the two similar premium value airlines into a single entity. Hopefully, this will make it a much more efficient operation, and might help profitability in the long run, though in India that tends to be a long road.

With Jet showing no sign of coming back, Indigo also needs a serious competitor, even if it's not a low cost one. This merger might just give the customer that much-needed option, as the routes operated by the combined entity in the domestic market would rival Indigo to an extent. 

Visit to IIM Raipur

 I have been to IIM Raipur a couple of times earlier, for either a Ph.D. viva or a recruitment session. But this time it was to meet graduating doctoral students who might be interested in joining Prestige University. Had a nice discussion with the, explaining our vision for Prestige, and at the same time, meeting old friends and making new ones. Academia has people who are generally easygoing and easy to get along with, with very few exceptions- like Golfers.

Anyway, had a nice time chatting over cups of chai, thanks to Sanjeev Prasher. Met an old colleague, Prof. Kamal Jain also, who is a Dean there. We were at IIM Indore earlier. Some pics from the campus.

Friends, some old some new.. faculty.

Meeting with the Director..

Campus with a lake attached.

A prominent mall'

Another shot of me with faculty..

Personal Branding- Take 2

 Yeah, a slightly different take. You don't have to yell from the rooftop (or anywhere else)- to be a great personal brand. You may be a great cook, for instance. Or an unusual cricket umpire - I met one of only 3 women umpires in India- and so on.

Or you may have an uncanny knack of solving Math problems- most of these types are introverts, in my opinion. A strict teacher you may remember, or a loving one- can both be remembered for long. Or one that gives you very different kinds of exams. I have had all kinds, so I remember a few of both kinds.

A problem-solver, a problem-creator are both remembered. We are not talking likeable brands here, unlike product brands. If the brand is strong (either way), you are likely to remember it, or him/her in this case.

There's a reason Birbal is remembered, or Tenali Raman. May I ask if you have heard of them in stories from your childhood?

Intelligent Innocence

 Can there be such a thing as Intelligent Innocence? I am proposing a new concept. Maybe it will catch on, maybe it won't. But 99 percent of product launches fail, so no harm in trying.

Mostly, intelligent people come across as chaalu (Hindi word for cunning, or not straight) in real life. But many scientists, one hears, have been what my term would define, innocent and intelligent. Maybe naive too, but I prefer the word innocent.

There is an added charm when a person is smart but not trying to take advantage of others-particularly the less smart. The opposite can be seen abundantly in life-politics being a prime example, but not the only one. It happens in all fields, to some degree.

Anyway, having proposed it, I will rest a while.. and see if it goes viral.

Madhya Pradesh as a Tourist Destination

 Tigers? We got a few National Parks where they roam.

Religious/spiritual? We have Ujjain, Omkareshwar, Maheshwar.

Waterfall? There's Paataal-pani.

History? Mandu ticks the boxes.

Fort? There's Gwalior.

Geological history? A less-known aspect, that Dhar district was home to dinosaurs, and has a number of petrified (fossilised, colourful) logs similar to those in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, USA.

Khajuraho has amazing erotic sculptures, like Konark.

The river Narmada has many scenic points along its way through M.P. One of these is the Marble Rocks, near Jabalpur in Bhedaghat.

For one state, that's a lot! I once wrote a Case on M.P. Tourism, but that focused on leadership..of the State Tourism Board.

Teaching Golf

 These days, I am much more a Golf trainer than player. There is joy in teaching people what seems ordinarily inaccessible- which is exactly what Golf is to most people. Particularly in an educational institute. We were probably a lucky group to have had access to an 18-hole Golf course at Harihar -thanks to the Kirloskar family- right next to our homes. We honed our skills there, and some of us still continue to meet and play. But back to training. I tried, with some success, training people on the first and last shots-the drive or tee shot, and the putt, in almost every place I worked in, as long as we had a green patch. Some examples- faculty colleagues from IIM Indore- in pics below.

Radha Ladkani, above, and Subin Sudhir, below.

Childhood Favourites

 They say old age is like a second childhood. But childhood is quite different, I feel. You are discovering many things for the first time. In old age, you may have made most of your discoveries, but you revert to being a child in some ways, like being dependent on someone. Like a child on its parents.

So coming back to childhood, my favourites were books, mainly, and s couple of good friends who we had in school or back home in the holidays. Learnt to read in the school library, and at home during vacations. Somehow, both places had a stock of books or magazines that I could spend hours on. Also, music took some time, to nurture a taste. Kishore Kumar Khandwawala was an early favourite- I was a teen in the 70s- and listening to the radio was a favourite pastime- it still is.

Comics, of all kinds- Goofy, Little Lotta, Dot, Phantom, Richie Rich, and so on were other favourites, among books. Later, Asterix comics grew on me. Movies- mainly Hindi but some English-were also a favourite pastime when I was in my twenties. I still like the theatre experience, though the frequency has reduced somewhat. 

Another favourite was card games, rummy, various others including Bezique which my grandmom introduced us to, and Bridge, which my parents introduced us - my brother and I- to. Lost touch with this brilliant game now.

Loss of a Friend

 Losing family and friends is always tough. Around two years ago, my mother passed away at the age of 91. Though she had a full life, healthy and satisfying-pathbreaking in many ways too-it was not very easy to digest the loss. COVID saw many lose their life, and even hearing those stories was tough. Now, I heard about the loss of a dear friend who was a pillar of support, and a great joy to be with, in Greenwood, where I taught for a few years before returning to India. He was a prof. at the same place too.

We would land up at his house unannounced, any time we felt like meeting up, Indian style. He was always welcoming, and insisted on us having a drink. His wife also became a great friend, and continues online to this day. His sons were little at the time, and I remember them prancing around, or playing Basketball out in the lawn.

Well, it's true that the bell tolls for everyone, but still, hard to bear some losses of dear ones.

Filmy Sons and Daughters

 I mean the sons and daughters of the film folks. Many first-timers make it in the film industry after a hard struggle. Naturally, they want to make it easier for their kids to enter the industry if they are so inclined. So we have lots of sons and daughters of actors, directors, music directors and lyricists entering the industry, some successfully.

Examples are - Karisma and Kareena, daughters of Babita and Randhir Kapoor

Rishi Kapoor, son of Raj Kapoor

Sunny Deol, son of Dharmendra

Twinkle, daughter of Rajesh Khanna

Anu Malik, son of Sardar Malik

Anand-Milind, sons of Chitragupt 

Rahul Dev Burman, son of Sachin Dev Burman (both my favourite composers)

Aamir Khan, son of Tahir Husain the producer.

Some did not succeed, too, like Naseeruddin Shah's son, or Raj Kumar's son.

On Being Creative

 The typical artist/painter is supposed to be poor, unkempt and not adept with the ways of the (rest of the) world. Though that may be an exaggeration, there is an element of truth in the image. S(he) may be less concerned with the world than a person in a 'normal' profession. The primary reason, of course, is love for what she is doing.

Very few jobs offer the luxury of doing what you love (teaching may be one). Mostly, they are bread-earners for an employee, however much we may try and match the employee's strengths with the job on hand. Yes, it's possible to motivate through incentives, but that motivation may end when the tap of incentives closes.

Being creative (if allowed to) may be a way out. It seeks to motivate an employee by being creative, or innovative. For example, there is a dancing traffic policeman (saw a video of him), and a cricket umpire who used variations of the sign for declaring a batsman 'out' in cricket.

Lots of creative ways of doing things can be explored, as I have found out in teaching. And observing people in 'boring' jobs doing things differently. Conversations can be creative too, with co-workers, or subordinates.. and dare I say it, with bosses. 

Of course, one can pursue creative pursuits outside of the job, like photography, painting, writing or travel.

Delhi Trip Again

 Visited Delhi for two unique meetings. One, to talk with Ph.D. scholars at IIT Delhi about the Case Method of teaching, and its possibilities, as a pedagogical tool. Another was a dinner hosted at ITC Maurya by No Paper Forms, who do our admission related process, as with many other educational institutes. Happened to meet a few interesting people in both places.

Stayed at Aerocity.

At the event with the host from No Paper Forms.

Setting Up a New University

 I am now in the position a brand manager for a new brand finds himself in. It's an exciting process, with a lot of things to be done. With a usual product-based brand, it's about the Go-to-market plan/strategy. But with an educational brand like ours, it's a lot more than that. It's a vision, that has to translate into action on multiple fronts. I am involved as the VC, in setting up Prestige University, a new venture at Indore.

The most difficult part in any educational endeavour is getting the right people. In a university like ours, it's three kinds of people- the students, who would become our Brand Ambassadors, the faculty, who will be the torch-bearers, and the non-teaching staff who will support these without questions.The physical infrastructure is the easy part, and is a hygiene factor.

So we are now on a quest to recruit the best faculty we can find. We have a range of niche MBA programs, so it's not an easy ask. Sustainability, Supply Chain, Analytics, E-business, and Agri-business/Food are the areas we will cover. We also plan to offer a 5-year integrated MBA program, made popular by IIM Indore and others.

Students would come through CAT and similar competitive exams conducted on a national scale. We also have plans to offer programs for experienced people in an online mode, because that enables executives to enroll without leaving their jobs. A lot more is on offer, and will be rolled out at an appropriate time. 

Kantara - Film Review

 An awesome movie, and a must-see, if you haven't watched it. Saw it (with Hindi dubbing), in Indore.

It is rare for a Hindi film-goer to come across such a film. So rooted in local culture and mythology. Yes, this is also larger than life in parts, where the supernatural element enters the plot. But utterly believable traditions of rural life in India.

The plot never slackens, and the mother's character is really delightful-what a contrast from the Nirupa Roy-style mom of Hindi movies! The hero, his cronies and the villain are well-played. The forest officer character is also portrayed really well. Since I don't know the actors, can't name them.

It's a brilliant screenplay, edited to perfection. No major songs except in the background. The Wow sound that emanates from the Daivi -possessed form, is a great value-add, and makes that character/form memorable, apart from the make-up.

Difficult to describe, but it's an experience you don't want to miss. Rishabh Shetty, hats off!

Finding Your USP

 A Unique Selling Proposition. Known as USP, for short. Popular in marketing, and now everywhere. We all know it helps differentiate a product or service from others. On-time performance has been a USP for some airlines, luxury for others. But the more important question is, how do you find your USP if you are a brand/product/service or even a person?

If you do find it, you may be able to use it in a sales pitch, or demonstrate it consistently for people to identify it with you. Packaging is an easy and tangible way to do it. At least externally, if your product has a packing option. For an institution, it's tough to find one, but worth trying. Perceptions get built anyway, but you can help them along with your branding, AND performance over time. Air Deccan had Simplifly as a slogan, which expressed its desire to bring a flight within a common man's reach. Just like Maruti when launched, was a 'people's car'. 

As far as professors go, you could be known for your teaching methods, skills, knowledge, student-friendly (or the opposite) behaviour. I remember a professor from IIMB because of the exams he gave us- open book. He would give us ten statements, and ask us to agree or disagree with each, supported by references. One of the toughest exams in pre-internet times, when we had to read books/journals in the library for getting those references.

Thought Leaders

 Who is a thought leader? Anyone who takes it beyond the ordinary level, in whatever sphere or domain he is thinking about. It could be science, art, leadership, management, architecture,... what have you.

Governance too. If we had more thought leaders as politicos, it would do us a world of good. Simple ideas can help the common man live better. Job generation could be one such thought process (this includes entrepreneurship, the generator of jobs).

Delicensing was one such, that India did in 1991. Before that, to set up a factory producing nuts and bolts (or anything), one needed a license, and multiple permissions. Naturally, that led to corruption and zero competition. The consumer, or the common man, came last. In the USA, one of many reasons that the consumer gets a good deal is minimal government interference in the process of starting a new business. I have a friend who got his license to operate in the mail, without having to visit any office personally! Why can't this happen elsewhere?

Public transport that is cheap and efficient can solve half the commuting problems that common people face. The local trains of Mumbai solved this, and remain the cheapest and most efficient mode of transport, barring some Metro trains in other cities. One reason why Mumbai grew much faster.

Miniaturisation of electronics by the Japanese was a similar thought process, that led to pocket radios and much more. Digital innovations have led to a communication revolution, and made it possible for you, dear reader, to be able to read what I am writing, even if these are not world-changing thoughts.

Quality of the Learning Experience

 There needs to be a lot more flexibility in teaching-learning methods across higher ed. and perhaps other levels too. We need to give teachers the autonomy to innovate and experiment. Of course, subject to the recruitment of teachers being conscious of quality.

Right now, at school level, the battle seems to have been won by coaching classes. Entrance exams galore make that possible, in a way. Medical, Law, Engineering are the prime culprits. But more entrance exams are coming up each year or two.

Anyway, back to the classroom. Exploration, and exercises/projects are some under-utilised methods in my view. I am not talking of teaching coding for computers, but social sciences such as management, where dealing with people is the major skill that has to be a part of the learning goals. Too much emphasis on the 'knowing' part and not enough on the 'doing' or 'being' parts may make Jack a dull boy (and Jill a dull girl)..diversity in the class is a also a desirable goal, to help peer learning thrive.

If entrepreneurship can also be a small part of the curriculum, the job-hunting mentality among many grads may give way to a more exciting and satisfying journey for many. Of course, selecting students with a risk-taking ability may need a re-look at admission processes. Maybe we can talk about this another time.

Categorising People on Social Media

 Whatsapp

People who hate WA.

People who think it's the ultimate based on Forwards..

People who Leave a WA group because they got offended

People who threaten others or get into long, nonsensical debates.

Grads, postgrads and Ph.D.s of Whatsapp University.

Facebook

Lurkers who only read posts

Post-ers who post

Those who like others' posts

People who use fb to form communities

People who use fb to actually meet people real time

LinkedIN

People who give gyan

People who listen to gyan and respond to it too

People Looking for Jobs

HR guys looking for guys looking for jobs

Obsessions of Indians

 Americans are obsessed with 'football'- not as we know it. The foot is hardly used. Anyway, it's a national obsession. In India, we fret about cricket in the same way. Every run, each ball in every match big or small, is analysed by armchair pundits. Opinions about batsmen or bowlers see-saw faster than the stock market, or the dollar exchange rate.

But there is another obsession we have (not the fat wedding), which is not talked about as much. Education. From pre-primary play schools, to Kindergarten, and onwards, we obsess about schools, and grades-only we call them marks. It may sound crazy (it is? Ok), but every parent is obsessed about what his kid will study- at least in the middle class, which is infinitely larger than we assume based on statistics (which are dodgy at best). Whether it is the Board exams given by Super-bored students, or entrance exams that are cracked by the super-prepared ones, one thing stands out. The obsession about education, IITs, or IIMs, or the National Law Schools, that recently entered 'the league'. 

Coaching classes seem to be the largest industry in India, though fragmented into hundreds of brands in each town. Kota is a town known only for coaching classes, the way Hyderabad once was -or the whole of Andhra Pradesh. 

If we only cared as much about the outcomes of that education on society and its well-being..

Case Studies of People- Part 5

 Prashant Sardessai. (Classmate, IIM Bangalore). A quintessential Goan, and a great host. Once when we were sitting in his house, his daughter had ordered my autobiography (My Experiments with Half-truths), and it showed up that day! He and his daughter became my best friends, instantly! He was also known as a creative guy with his gang for developing many local buzzwords among students, half-Hindi too. Reddy, Dazy and ROI formed part of his gang, I think.

Diti Goswami (Prof., NMIMS Bangalore)

A few days ago, as I left Bangalore, I had a quiz, and she was one of the answers to a question - Name a prof. who looks most like a student. She does, and we were worried when hiring her, because she may not be taken seriously by the real students as she looks really young. But she managed very well. Good-natured, with a great sense of humour- self-deprecating variety also.

Jaya Jha (Entrepreneur, Bangalore)

Wry sense of humour, maybe shaped by her IIM Lucknow days (no one can escape that there!) as an MBA student. She became a serial entrepreneur, founding Pothi.com first, which is a platform that I used to self-publish my autobiography. She is now an author of a book on Product Management, a hot topic today. 

Meghna Sinha

First got to know her through her blog, when she was studying at IMT Nagpur. Then we discovered other common interests, and met in Delhi and Mumbai, where she is with Asian Paints. We plan on meeting again soon.