Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Lament of a saffronite

Gulzari Lal Agarwal of Vivek Vihar, Delhi is 73 years old. A regular voter since 1962, he has had close links with both the Jan Sangh and the BJP. But today this staunch Hindutva supporter is a disillusioned man. The squabbles within the BJP, he feels, has left the party's committed foot soldiers high and dry. He argues that by abandoning its hindutva plank the bjp has lost its core essence. Now he wants advani to go and make way for fresh blood. read on...

I have been attached to the RSS right since my childhood. I was brought up in an environment that put Indian-ness and Hindutva above all else. It was therefore only logical that I came close to Jan Sangh and later the BJP. I participated actively in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and have always been a strong proponent of the Hindutva philosophy. I did not join the BJP to gain personal mileage. I was committed to its ideology, and that is what has kept me going for so long. That is also why I never accepted any post either in the Jan Sangh or the BJP. We had reposed great faith in the party and really thought that it would make a a difference: be disciplined, ethical and of high moral fibre. Most of all we believed that its leaders had a sense of sacrifice.

But after all this bickering it looks like the party is falling apart. From the way its top leaders are baying for each other's blood it appears that the party is full of self-centred people. All this has hurt the morale of dedicated workers. The party that once boasted of providing good governance and transparency has become directionless. People like Vasundhara Raje and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari are sulking because power was taken away from them. They don’t give a damn about how the cadres selflessly worked to build this party. I repeat that this is not the party that we had aspired to create.

Therefore, if you want to save it, all these selfish and power hungry people will have to be ruthlessly weeded out. Next on the chopping block should be those who are not committed to upholding the party's core ideology. For they are opportunists who come only when they feel there is money to be made.

The other major problem is that most of the leaders, even those who are committed to our core ideology, have become arrogant. What I would therefore suggest is that all such leaders be sidelined and isolated within the ranks. They are simply unable to see that the party is not their personal property; that it is bigger than them. They must know that it is they who depend on the party, not vice versa. The only way to cut them to size is to kick them out of the party. That is when they will realise how small their stature actually is. It was the party that gave them their stature. Once they leave it they are sure to become non-entities. The reality should sink in now. Look at Uma Bharti. What happened to her? She could not manage to save her own fort, leave alone her party. On the other hand the BJP, which she had so much wanted to defeat, came out with flying colours.

My personal view is that the primary reason behind this infighting is Advaniji’s holier-than-thou attitude. He thinks he should not be touched and is above the party. This has put the BJP on a ventilator. If you want the party to be cured of its current ills, the first thing to do is to tell Advani to go. And if he resists, the RSS should forcibly evict him.

For quite some time the media has been running the story that Advani will abdicate the post of leader-of-opposition in a few months. I ask why in a few months? Why not immediately? My opinion is that the longer he stays the more harm he will do to the party’s prospects.

I'll give you an example. Imagine somebody laying a boulder on another's chest. Imagine the poor fellow gasping for breath. Then suddenly some Good Samaritan shows up, but the boulder is so huge that it can only be removed bit by bit. So slowly indeed that by the time it is completely removed the man is already dead from asphyxiation. So if you really want to save him, remove the boulder at one go. Today’s Advani is a load on the party’s chest. So if the BJP is to be saved he will need to quit immediately.


For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
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Thursday, September 03, 2009

I Beg to Differ

To most of us, beggars are nothing more than an eyesore, but for Lucky, unsure of her age somewhere in the late 20s, heckling devotees outside a temple in south Delhi is all in a day’s work. Thankful for her defective left eye, Lucky is convinced of the adage of ‘ask and you shall receive’…

It seemed like child’s play when I had started, but then everything is at that age. To people, I was a sort of an opportunity to rinse their soiled conscience, by being kind to an underprivileged kid like me. My mom, similar case as mine, had no clue about her dad. She is a sad simple woman who sits outside the same temple where her mom used to sit. I, on the other hand roam about heckling the visitors to the shrine, on sympathetic and sacred grounds. I was a fast learner of this trade and thanks to my left eye (infected since age four and now completely ineffective), I used to beat all competition, even nursing mothers! For the next five years I was the main bread earner for my family including my mom, two elder sisters and a younger brother, but as one gets older, the earnings reduce. I remember I was just seven, when an extremely generous ‘Gori’ (a foreigner) gave me a sweater, bought me fancy food and even gave a crisp five-hundred rupee currency note. My family was ecstatic, as I had earned about twenty days’ income in one! Since that day I was named Lucky and even after 17 years of living off random acts of generosity, I will consider my life living up to my name.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A quick peep into the fizzy saga...

Always known for its quick wit and gang of friends, now Appy Fizz wants to be known for its new style too. Surbhi Chawla explores

Wanna look cool with friends while partying, yet don’t want to touch alcohol cause dad’s going to be hopping mad when you get back home. Well, this apple drink with a fizz promises to fool your friends, make your dad happy, while allowing you to still seem the coolest guy in the party. A winner from the stable of Parle Agro (known for its mango drink – Frooti), Appy Fizz, not only looks a lot like bubbly alcohol, but also doesn’t pinch your pocket. Quite a deal! Recently, Appy Fizz underwent a change in its avatar. Nadia Chauhan, Director, Parle Agro told 4Ps B&M, “Appy Fizz got bored of its old gear and we thought it will be a great idea to change into something new. It has purely been a cosmetic change to keep things short.”

Boredom or the Obama effect of Change We Can, the most recent campaign of this drink, where a whacky Appy Fizz character hangs out with its cool friends has sure managed to generate adequate buzz around the brand.

For the uninitiated, Appy Fizz saw the dawn of the day in the sultry summer of 2005 and ever since it has focussed on being different from the others in its league. Interestingly, the year 2005 was also the year when the consumers were looking for alternatives in the drinks segment. They no longer wanted a product that would just quench their thirst or provide relief from the heat, but were also looking for something healthy. This breed of health conscious customers were partly also driven by the pesticide controversy that took place around the same time and ones that were looking for a change from fizzy colas. These developments in the market made marketers sit up and take note. Most donned their innovative hat in search of that magic drink that would tinkle the Indian taste buds yet maintain the nutritional factor. A rash of new drinks were launched – new iced teas to branded chais, and even flavoured milk. Besides, there were also new variants being launched for the fruit-based drinks including a guava flavoured Frooti by Parle Agro. To grab this opportunity Parle Agro decided to enter the carbonated Apple drink segment and introduced Appy Fizz in the Indian market.

Though there were many juice brands available in India at that time, but none of them were offering an apple juice as market research showed that apple juice or an apple based drink would not appease the entire country. And the idea to have a carbonated touch was another big risk that Parle Agro was taking with its Appy Fizz. It was a very niche segment that the company planned to capture and looking back it seems that the strategy worked for Parle Agro has a first mover’s advantage in this category. And to catch the fancy of the youth the product was given a sparkling tinge. Also, the bottle of the drink was given the shape of a champagne bottle and the drink a golden colour, so that it would be a huge hit in party circuit, especially amongst the tea-totallers, who feel left out. With its tagline ‘A cool drink to hang out with,’ and a smart advertising campaign, Appy Fizz was instantly able to create a brand new category and a captured sizeable market share.

From thereon, what has helped Appy Fizz achieve ever growing success is its constantly evolving market strategy. Nadia elaborates, “In the year 2006, the task on hand was to introduce Appy Fizz to the consumers in the most interesting manner possible. With that objective well achieved, the strategy from then on has always been to keep Appy Fizz current.” It is this new objective that allows honchos at Parle Agro to be flexible in their communication strategy that they adopt and it also becomes convenient to experiment.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

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Monday, January 19, 2009

A stopover on one’s journey to heaven

Islam is based on five pillars which every Muslim must follow. Firstly, that there is one Allah; secondly, to offer Namaz; The Sunday Indianthirdly, to fast during Ramzan (if health permits); fourthly, to give Zakaat (donating five per cent of one’s savings) and lastly, to carry out a compulsory pilgrimage to Mecca called Hajj. While Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis believe in going for Hajj only when one has fulfilled all his responsibilities in life, the fact is that if one’s health permits and one has sufficient money, one can undertake the journey as many times. It is a personal wish.

Hajj is a five-day affair. No non-Muslim is allowed in Mecca. Even the support staff – the technicians and labourers who are the caretakers of the place – are Muslims.

As soon as we landed at the Jeddah airport, we were taken to Mecca where we left for the mosque the next morning. The dress code for men is a two-piece white dress and women need to wear a headgear called Hijab and cover themselves from head to toe.

One has to spend the whole day at the mosque offering prayers and performing different religious activities. For instance, taking seven rounds of a black-coloured structure and walking around two hills in the mosque seven times. While the small hills are called Safa and Marwah, this activity is called Sai. After this, one goes to Mina from Mecca. There are fire-proof and water-resistant tents with centralised air conditioners where we stayed. From Mina, we proceeded to Jamarat. It is believed that there existed three devils which are symbolised by the three pillars built there. In Jamarat, we stoned those symbols of devils seven times. Next, we went to Muzdalfa that lies to the north of Mina. Here, we were made to stay overnight without any tents or accommodation. We could either pray or just sit there for the night.

One of the most interesting aspects about Hajj was that we got to interact with Muslims from all over the world. It is believed that people from Muslim nations, especially from Saudi Arabia are rigid followers of Islam. But, I would rather say that they are the real followers of Islam. That’s because they follow the Quran and whatever the Prophet has said. Nowadays, Muslims who have moved to other parts of the world (especially west) do not really follow everything that has been written in the Quran. But, a true Muslim is the one who follows the five pillars of Islam. Muslims these days have deviated a lot from what has been written. It is probably due to the way the Quran is being interpreted.

Actually, we believe that one has to perform all the deeds in this world and accordingly, it will be decided if that person is eligible to go to Allah. So, the time spent on this earth has to be dedicated towards the right things. Though, every now and then, there will be a lot of distractions to sway one from the right path, one must stick to the right one to reach Allah.

It is true that people’s attitude and mindsets change after Hajj. In fact, I had noticed some changes in me too. Once there, we realise that there is a life after this one. One also realises that it is important to be good towards people and towards life. We all, somehow, know where we have gone wrong and feel guilty about it. So, when we get back, we come back with a mindset that we have one life and we should do the best we can with this life and be good to all.

One of the most interesting aspects about Hajj was that we got to interact with Muslims from all over the world. It is believed that people from Muslim nations, especially from Saudi Arabia are rigid followers of Islam. But, I would rather say that they are the real followers of Islam. That’s because they follow the Quran and whatever the Prophet has said. Nowadays, Muslims who have moved to other parts of the world (especially west) do not really follow everything that has been written in the Quran. But, a true Muslim is the one who follows the five pillars of Islam. Muslims these days have deviated a lot from what has been written. It is probably due to the way the Quran is being interpreted.

Actually, we believe that one has to perform all the deeds in this world and accordingly, it will be decided if that person is eligible to go to Allah. So, the time spent on this earth has to be dedicated towards the right things. Though, every now and then, there will be a lot of distractions to sway one from the right path, one must stick to the right one to reach Allah.

It is true that people’s attitude and mindsets change after Hajj. In fact, I had noticed some changes in me too. Once there, we realise that there is a life after this one. One also realises that it is important to be good towards people and towards life. We all, somehow, know where we have gone wrong and feel guilty about it. So, when we get back, we come back with a mindset that we have one life and we should do the best we can with this life and be good to all.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

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'This is one of Big B's best performances'
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Thursday, October 23, 2008

“Sales have suffered lately”

B&E: What’s your take on downturn in the automotive scene?
MB: The market is undoubtedly at risk and sales have suffered lately but we are looking into the matter closely.

B&E: What are Ford’s plans for capacity expansion in India?
MB: Well, we will be expanding our production to 200,000 units by 2010. We are considering a number of models for the market and that includes a small car that we intend to launch in India.

B&E: Why has Ford discontinued the smaller 1.4L engine that could add volumes to the Fiesta?
MB: The 1.6L engine can alone meet the requirements that would have been met by the 1.4L engine. It has been tweaked and now delivers brilliant performance and fuel efficiency. As a result of these changes, the Fiesta has now become a very attractive product.

B&E: Since the Fiesta was already a high selling car, with the addition of new features has the product changed?
MB: This is a very stylish car with very good performance. It is a kind of car you want to own just by looking at it. The car is targeted at the educated urban Indian, who has succeeded in life.4

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus

Top Articles on IIPM:-
'This is one of Big B's best performances'
IIPM to come up at Rajarhat
IIPM awards four Bengali novelists
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
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domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs