What is wrong with the Indian education system?

I have been teaching students some of the toughest courses since 1993. My analysis of the mainstream education’s failure to deliver is summarised in 5 points below.

1. Wrong ownership - Colleges and schools are largely owned by people who have no stake in actual process of education inside the classroom. Typical owners - large landlords, business tycoons, real-estate moguls, politicians, civil servants (by proxy), liquor manufacturers, etc. Principals are powerless, teachers fixated by routines and Boards unwilling to radically alter their approach. So all pillars are ossified. Who’ll bring the change? Definitely not the ones not holding the chalk.
2. Wrong models - Today, and here on, learning has to be truly border-less. While one needs a certain syllabus and boundaries to make it concrete, the free enquiry model of learning is nowhere present. Teachers themselves don’t know how to leverage the internet and technology to teach. Installing a so-called “smart” class is considered the ultimate leap into 22nd century. What a grotesque application of money to solve a deeply intellectual problem. Results are obvious. 
3. Wrong grading process - Over the years, grades and marks have turned into a joke. Everyone with a decent effort scores so high, lacs emerge with perfect ten pointers. What’s the point? Boards compete with each other in ways not entirely productive to overall raising of standards. While this is all debatable, the grade inflation is killing a genuine separation of chaff from the grain. And in parallel, everyone is preparing for some competitive exam using entirely different yardsticks. This schizophrenia is perhaps unique to us! As a school-owner jokingly told me - “We know all parents know ki asli padhai to ghar par tuition laga kar hi karni padegi!” (real education will be only through personal tuitions at home)

   

   Re-imagining the building blocks

4. Sham in the name of government schools - The most well-funded part of the education system - government schools - are largely broken. Until by law we make it mandatory for government servants’ kids to be educated only there, nothing will change. Just do that, and see the miracle in 5 years.
5. Distorted social ideals - Society needs degrees for marriage, for jobs, for parties, for marriage receptions, for matrimonial advts, for prestige and for dowry. Skills are no one’s concern. And most companies only want genuine skills. No doubt, carpenters are earning thrice what normal engineering graduates are. And doctorates? You have to meet some of these newly minted “doctors” and have a 10 min rigorous discussion with them to realise why India has turned into a consumer nation, not a creator nation.

Indian mainstream education needs not just a rethink, it needs total redesign. Society and its drivers have changed dramatically in the past 10 years. More drastic changes are afoot. In that light, are we really prepared? With each year’s delay, we are consciously turning our demographic dividend into … you know what.

This article from Times of India dated 11-July 2016 by R Jagannathan summarise the jobs scene neatly. Yes, our education system is not responsible for this change that has happened, but it is responsible for responding appropriately. Students in schools and colleges have to be prepared for this world, not the one that existed 20 years ago. (you can zoom in to read)

Thanks for reading, and have a good day!

A comprehensive, topic-wise and useful collection of my various posts and answers can be found here. Enjoy.
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What is the best mindset while preparing for Civil Services exams?

Well, no doubt, if you wish to be a doctor, you should imagine being in the shoes of one. It helps understand - to some extent - the challenges and the pluses. Similarly, you can try to imagine yourself as a Civil Servant even while preparing for the exams, as that can (to some extent) help you raise the bar from time to time.

The Young Aspirant as the Civil Servant - A Guide

Extreme approach

1. Avoid the Extremes - "All politicians are corrupt. All judges are lazy and slow. All policemen are brutal. All teachers are idiots. All businessmen are profit-hungry". If you have been conditioned to think like this, your preparations for IAS are doomed. This is so because India has had exceptions to the above in all fields. It's only that you haven't read enough to discover those names. Think extreme => Write extreme => Look like an extremist => Fail for sure.
2. Embrace the Truth - Our personal opinions can, at times, cloud our judgement in many matters. For example - most Indians think Pakistanis are bad people, and there is no hope for Indo-Pak relations. But turn the clock back, and you'll discover that our stock is the same. We all descended from the Indus Valley civilisation originally. So if they are bad, we are perhaps bad too. A better statement could be - "Pakistan is a horrible State, though most Pakistanis must be good people, as people are, everywhere". This is a positive way of looking at a rather despondent situation!

Does an MBA help in managing family business?

The legendary Dr. Peter F. Drucker gave a striking insight about the art and science of management when he said "the job of a business enterprise is to serve customers profitably".

The people who make this happen in a business enterprise are the owners (shareholders), the managers and administrators, and the workers.

At a preliminary level, there are three kinds of managers -

1. Managers who manage others' resources
2. Managers who are owners of their resources, and do manage, but passively
3. Managers who are owners of their resources, and actively engage in day-to-day management

Family is my business.

First of all, you should clearly understand which category you'd fall into. I assume that if you are a young and driven person, then it's probably going to be the third.

Most of the management programmes in India, even of the IIMs, were designed to produce managers of the first type. Starting in the 1960s, that seemed to be the only sensible thing to do, as most of the economy was under a Licence-Quota-Permit-Raj and the only "owners" in the private sector were legacy owners of companies. There really were very few first-generation entrepreneurs or Startups then. What would anyone do by learning the art of management with an ownership mindset, when all you could do is play by the rulebook and manipulate the system enough to get the licences and permits to make shoddy stuff, sell to a desperate population hungry for goods and earn guaranteed profits!

Comprehensive analysis of UPSC Mains 2015

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India's only comprehensive, questionwise, bilingual and detailed analysis of UPSC Mains 2015 is now available. We have prepared a systematic solution, that will give you a thorough insight into how the papers (Essay and all GS papers) were designed, and how you should have tackled them.

Very useful for all upcoming exams, and those students targetting UPSC 2016, 2017 and 2018.

You can buy the Book + Session (DVD) from here
http://ias.PTeducation.com/Mains2015

Enjoy this brief excerpt from the full session -

All the best!

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Why do IIM - MBAs get paid so much?

A fantastic question, that often riles subject experts like Lawyers, Tax experts, Production experts, CAs and IT experts.

"Why, oh why, do these young men and women bag the cushiest of jobs, despite their lack of in-depth knowledge in anything?"

First, some reality check -

An Indian dream

1. Not everyone from an IIM is Tom Cruise - Every student from an IIM does not bag a multi-crore package. In fact, most do not. However, a lot of them start with Rs 10 lac + annual packages, and if they have what it takes, can double / trible / quadruple those in a few years flat. Many start with a low grade - just about more than Rs 5-7 lacs p.a., say.
2. Not every Subject Expert is worth his salt, either - It is a mistake to assume that every single student who clears all the stages of the CA exam (one of the toughest in India), or graduates from the reputed Law Universities (not everyone gets in), is a genuine expert, ready to demolish the world! He/she may not be. They often are good at some topics, average at others, and bad at some. Many of them may be out of sync completely with latest IT tools, communication skills, and presentation / visualisation abilities. [ I say this out of my experience as an employer for more than 2 decades ]

Great habits for 20-year olds to be productive & for success in life

I will write based on my own experience (of having been a 20 year old once!) and working actively with 20 year-olds for two decades now!

To be really efficient at your work, life and relationships, here is my recommended set of 7 great habits to follow -

This is what we call 'losing oneself in work'!

1. Be Organised - "I am depressed to see the percentage of people who do not put things back from where they picked it up". This simple truth has deep implications. It tells me that you do not value many things simultaneously - (i) a systematic approach, (ii) other people's time and effort, (iii) value of time itself, and perhaps (iv) you are an arrogant brat as well. When you pick a book and do not put it back where it belongs, it may look like a small error. But this is exactly what you'll do later in life with crucial Documents, Official Files, Expense Statements, costly objects, and soft files as well. In a nutshell, your workspace will be an aggregation of randomness and lack of any predictability. You will not be a good employee for any employer, or a good colleague for any ambitious achiever. So how to improve? Well, start right now, clean up your study-table, make a place for everything and keep it that way everyday. Do weekly/fortnightly cleaning of unwanted junk.
2. Be Positive - We are surrounded with a lot of negativity always, of almost every type imaginable. Everyday, we have a choice to make - either we allow it to overpower us, or we create our own positivity. I have realised that it is a much better choice to do the latter. While we cannot shut our eyes to the problems, crimes, hunger and misery around us, we can keep reminding our inner selves that "I will do whatever little in my capacity to make this world a better place." That reinforcement alone can be magical. It can change your focus from brooding to contemplation, from shock-induced-inaction to positivity-driven-action. Much better to do your small bit each day, than be a great philosophiser speaking volumes and doing nothing. Every sentence spoken laced with negativity takes some life away from you.
3. Appreciating your Age - Remind yourself daily that this is the best phase of life - young yet mature, energetic, starting up, painting a blank canvass literally! Do not envy those in positions of power - they regret having lost their youth. Do not envy the kids with no worries in the world - you can't turn the clock back at all. So focus on the today, the present, the moment right now. Plan a lot - not much of that will see the light of the day but it will make you very focussed on achieving things through a systematic approach.
4. Getting up early - Nothing beats this one when it comes to time-management. You'll

   

   Achchhe bachche aisa nahin karte!

   stop complaining - "got no time"! You will feel a new sense of productivity surging through your veins. You will feel automatically more capable by the sheer virtue of having more time at your hands. And the first thing to happen - your parents will be proud of you! "Hamara beta, kitna acchha bachcha, jaldi utthta hai". Ha ha - so if for nothing else, do it to make your parents happy.
5. Find time for enjoyment, Enjoy to the fullest - Usually, advice for a good life stops just short of such pearls of wisdom. But I will say - "Go ahead and enjoy life to the fullest!" Every week, go out once at least with family or friends. Watch a movie every now and then. Plan a proper picnic whenever possible. Create opportunities for fun and enjoyment regularly. It'll help you stay energised perpetually, even through your "down" moments. This real-world happiness will perhaps even prompt you to cut down on social media time. It'll make the other things look sensible. Why do we live, after all. It'll even prepare you for the next point coming up.
6. Plan for old age - As an example - I am 20 or 24, why worry. I can never fall seriously ill. Well, you got it all wrong. When the bad day arrives, it'll come unannounced. And if you are emotionally and financially unprepared, a loss of dignity ensues. So, start saving and investing. As a rule, put aside at least 20% of your monthly earnings into your safety fund. It'll have two magical effects - you'll be forced to start budgeting (value for money), and you'll prepare yourself for old age. Many of us know how to earn money, but nobody teaches us what to do with that!
7. Stay very inquisitive, Get the big picture in your mind - When we are part of a

   

   Learn

   big team led by someone else, we may become myopic and focus too much on the tiny bits handed to us as work. While that's important, but what's more so is the fact that to grow in life, you must develop a big-picture-mindset. See where your work fits in. See who the customers really are, what their needs are. See what else could be done to serve them better. Find more about competitors who are doing really well. Learn from them. Read about industry-best-practices. Read about the world, about stuff
   
   
   happening around you. Read about anything. Ask good questions. Be ready to learn new skills with an open mind.

If you can start bringing these into your life, a transformation is assured. All the best!
~

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Big 5 lessons from Apple's success

Eye-popping sales figures... Industry-shaping technological prowess... Mind-numbing financial strength

What a tremendous success it has been! The Apple juggernaut has trounced all pundits' expectations, steam-rolled all competition into pulp, gatecrashed into the 'PC' market with unquantifiable fury, and totally destroyed all existing business models in its industry.

It is a heart-warming story for those who have followed (the late) Steve Jobs' life and times.

It is a detestable nightmare for the likes of HP, Dell, Microsoft, RIM, Nokia and Google.

It is grand fodder for case-studies that are being churned from leading b-schools portals.

But what is it that's made this amazing success possible? Can it be replicated by Apple itself in the future, or by anyone else? How far can Apple really go? Will it end sometime?

Here is my analysis of the Big 5 lessons from Apple's decade of uncontrolled steam-rolling, left-right-and-centre!

1. Mega success is a unique template

Really big successes - where companies trample everyone else and romp home with full glory - are almost always based on unique business models. There is nothing "standardisable" about such models except the underlying features - genuinely unique disruptive models, firm belief in what the company is trying to achieve, and a loyal fan base. So Apple's model of success just cannot get replicated by someone else. Students of management will remind us of the commoditisation phenomenon, rightly. But other than that, corporate history teaches us that such "repeats" by someone else is almost impossible. Just check out the stories of Microsoft, GE, WalMart, McDonalds, Dell, and Google to get a feel. In each of these cases, no one could repeat their business models with similar success rates.

Indian GDP's explosive imbalance

Let truth prevail

It makes for an impressive headline across India's newspapers each year - "Services sector leads sectoral growth once again; clocks double-digit growth, pushes GDP above 7%".
The latest Economic Survey of India (2011-12) presented in March 2012 pegs the share of Services in India's GDP at a staggering 59%. Agriculture and Industry both account for the rest.

Such a figure not only makes a great headline, but creates a great comfort zone for our politicians. They love it. It gives them something to showcase, and hide the systemic faults. It creates a strong illusion that the entire economy is moving forward at a good pace. An illusion that somehow the great discomfort that stems from poor contributions from both the agriculture and industry sectors can be padded using the impressive growth figures of the services sector. And to top it, taxing this sector gives easy recourse to funds.

But the truth is far from this.

The truth is : Among the three, the Services sector - by its very nature - is the poorest employer of people. And when such a sector starts dominating the GDP with the wild swagger that we see today, it's the most visible sign that a stage of imbalance has already been reached.

The risk of such an imbalance is clear : Large employment disparity, leading to social chaos. 

Trained manpower is in abundant shortage

India is a huge country, with present population nearing 120 crores (1.2 billion) people. Services sector at present does not employ more than 10-15% of the population. A huge 75% plus of India's working population works in its most unproductive sectors - agriculture and industry.

We cannot ever hope that the service sector will become the biggest employer, or a mass-rapid employer, because it needs "skilled" manpower, and those skills take time to develop; and it has been proven through many studies that the Indian mainstream education system has shamefully failed in staying apace with what corporates want today. Even the National Skills Development Mission cannot hope to remedy the situation because by the time its efforts will start paying off in a big way (if they ever), the imbalance will have tilted the ship over.

Spiritual management of traffic stress

I live in a beautiful mid-size town - Indore (MP) - that has an amazing sense of traffic. People create their own rules, and  live strictly by them. Some such rules that I have encountered are:

• Move when the lights are red, and stop when green
• Stop ahead of the 'stop-line'
• Criss-cross the road without warning
• Never cross the road at the zebra crossing

Many more ingenious versions of these exist in my nice little town.

Now as I am a law-abiding citizen, this gets me really worked up badly. I get angry when I see that a lot of citizens are simply, blatantly, and without a sense of remorse breaking all traffic rules. I start cursing them, and swearing at them, and ultimately have a bad headache.

A practising manager's spiritual pursuit
of equilibrium amidst chaos

And the beauty of it all : nothing changes! In fact, it gets worse by the day :)

So I have found a cure for this huge internal strife that goes on everyday I drive in my town. This intelligent formula is what I call "A practising manager's spiritual pursuit of equilibrium amidst traffic chaos". I will be submitting the writeup of this theory to one of the new IIMs soon for a technical paper presentation, under the modern evolving HR theme (the older, more established ones may not entertain me). Perhaps one of the leading newspapers will also feature me on their front page, with a catchy headline.

Towards a mature Republic

Majestic and proud

Six decades is not a small period in a nation's life. India just celebrated its 61st Republic Day anniversary (26th January) and everyone who loves Mother India did stop for a few moments to ponder on the direction we are taking. The past few months have especially been extremely disturbing in our national life, with a near-complete loss of political balance, and a steady deterioration in the public's perception of what our leaders are upto.

Mother India is a vibrant, prolific and culturally rich entity, and it hold significance for entire humanity. With its 1200 million inhabitants, modern India is moving forward with a lot of promise. There are tales of "the India story" and "the Indian Elephant stirring and shaking", and the world tends to believe that the next decade will be dominated by stories like India's.

Distractors and the distraught often say that "भारत के गणतंत्र में गण पर तंत्र हावी हो चला है."

So it's time for some reality check. And who better to answer some fundamental question than Indians themselves! I wished my social media friends a happy republic day, and asked their opinion of what they wish to change in modern India, and as usual, the replies were eye-opening.

Here goes! (I have not edited anything in these replies)

Saurabh Baradia - I hope that India concentrate more on agriculture and manufacturing rather than the IT world....The scenario is going to change. thats the reason of high inflation. Thats the scenario what people in WEST have already face and are facing. So India should be well aware of all such issues in advance....Still INDIA is the best.......

Sumit Desai Happy Republic Day!!!! Jai Hind!!! Inquilab Zindabad!!!

Nick Jain ‎"khud ke desh mei TIRANGA nhi lga paye" that where our Nation is Moving and Shaping like never before... 

Contrasts.. thy name is India

 Shivansh Mishra sir i m happy with my country but not with its politician all though some are remarkable but some are proved as a shame for the country

Kunal Pursnani Happy Republic Day sir.... Sir I think India is standing on a point from where it can grow (sky is the limit) and it can even go in a downfall as 28 years is avg age of people living in -India but mostly people are illiterate.... And now how india uses young population is the major question that will decide the KAL of india. I think If uneducated youth is employed in manufacturing this is a guarantee we can leave china behind. JAI HIND

Bhavik Savaliya First of all we need remove corruption from our nations, then after we can think for next development....

Sujeet Sakalle Lets decide before saying this.... Will indian become superpower till 2020 that....wether we the indians want to become superpower till 2020 ...and we will shape our and countries future...right sir....???/

Niraj Vashi happy republic day sir.... this decade is going to be so important for india and we have to be hungry for development.....

Ankit Bandi keeping finger crossed... hoping india become more prosperous.... economy continues to grow at steady rate.. India become more strong in defence, agriculture and industrial sectors...governement promote SME's more then MNC's so that more y...outh select enterpreneurship then high packages.. all money deposited in swiss bank come back to india and be in rotation in the market..... and hopefuly we will able to unfurl flag at lal chowk, shrinagar in next decade and then we can truly claim kashmir hamara hai.... Happy Republic Day sir !!!!

My shelter is omnipotent

Yogendra Rai Is din hamara samvidhan lagu hua tha. Samvidhan banane walo ne best cheejo ko shamil kar ise banaya. Lekin ise lagu karne aur karwane wale dono nakam rahe. Legislative, executive apni credibility khote jaa rahe hai, ummid ki chhoti si kiran kewal judiciary me dikh rahi hai, lekin woh bhi aajkal controversy me aa jati hai....Media jisko fourth column kahte hai(jiski duty hai ki poore system ke nigrani kar sach samne laye), woh to ab puri tarah se TRP ki gulami kar rahi hai. So i am not happy with the way nation is shaping up.

Ritesh Sharma Respected Sir.... I am very happy to be Indian as every citizen of the country, Republic day for rights and duties , law and civilization , democracy and culture. As we have the largest democratic country . I really respect our constitutio...n but as we are rapidly moving towards the Modern India , here we need to make some amendments which could help for better advancement like: 1) Cases which deals which cognizant offence should deal in fast-track process. 2) There should be online process for police complaints and actions. 3) Media people should feel there resposibility from there authority . and laws should amend for the same. and Many more.

Avinash Kumar In every country there is somehings which curse u and create obstacles to move ahead and India is also one of them but still the best part of the country is people know how to overcome from the worst part and make it as a learning object WHICH HELP THEM TO SHAPE THEIR FUTURE NOT ONLY IN INDIA BUT ALL OVER THE WORLD E.G. BARACK OBAMA HAS ALREADY TOLD IN THE SPEECH, INDIA HAS DONE WELL EVEN IN THE RECESSION, AIRTEL LIKE COMPANY SPREADING ITS BUSINESS IN AFRICA WHERE NO ONE WANTS TO GO

Manish Gangwal Jai neta ki jai adhikari ki jai hind

Herwig Streubel For the last 26 I am observing the development in India. An economic development was initiated in 1991 and you could see it in towns by 1995. Around 2000 there was visible more cash also with poorer people in towns and 2005 in quite remote ...areas (MGNREGA helps a lot!). Now the government has started to take its social duties more serious - Education Guarantee Act, Anti-Corruption Drive. I really hope they continue this path, especially they have to drop the top-to-bottom approach in different schemes and have to foster basic democratic systems like Gram Swaraj - all schemes have to be implemented only with the approval of the concerned Gram Sabha (participation with the majority of the villagers, 50% women etc.)

Through the shadows of time

Mukesh Kumawat Republic day is a celebration of the historical day on which the citizens were given sovereign power and exercise this power by electing representatives, directly or indirectly. The coming decade will be very crucial for India and will be o...ne of the most "INTERESTING TIMES". India will have the chance to raise to the rank of a superpower if this gargantuan corruption gets controlled and the govt. succeeds in creating jobs for the rapidly increasing population. Moreover, radical changes will be needed in the education system and the agricultural output will be required to rise substantially to meet the food requirements. The govt. will be required to revolutionise the sports infrastructure and faciliites. The red tape will be needed to be reduced and entrepreneurship spirit will be needed to be seriously encouraged. Only then will India truely "shine". Lets be optimistic.........JAI HIND !!

Rajat Sharma First of all Happy Republic Day to you too Sir! This day reminds me that India is my Mother Country and for the proper continuation of democratic system India made its Constitution and it's absolutely one of the best like others. But it has ...not been followed properly. I am happy the way it's advancing day by day, and it is now even praised by developed country. And as per this situation it will be more technical based and strong country in the next decade. But the only thing is missing in our country is the feeling of belonging to it. But I love my country. Jai Hind!

Subodh Puranik i proud to be an indian the way nation is shaping up northward.young generation and the ambition they have will definately take nation to new hights

Ankur Chourey yeah!! the way our nation has shaped itself in these 60 years has been remarkable.India is undoubtedly one of the best stories throughout the world even before china and to be a part of this country I feel proud..

Colours that beat the world

Pallavi Chauhan we always celebrate our birthday , anniversary, and our religious festivals also. But this is the real festival because of this we are able to celebrate our all these festivals so in real sense this is the real festival to be celebrated. i am very happy that we are growing so fast and i am sure that in coming decades we will be top in the list......................

Tulesh Sahu Jai Hind Sir, i can see all comments its very nice & i came to know that we common people know what is going wrong hence we can say our politician may also know bt still they are enjoying their POWER & POSITION & doing nothing. WE... LOVE INDIA

Prashant Ghotkar I think era with in British empire was better than this, planned shaped and up to mark. I thank them the physical foundries they took from us returned in same manner, and later we lost them.Thank to them for nice administrative setup, railw...ays, special thank to them. I still dont think our natinal leader still have any concreate plan to take this country in coming next 10 years. We need to have key focussed drivers to shape it up. JAI HIND.

Punkaj Goyal Adrash Society in Maharastra

70,000 Crore in CWG
Raakesh Mohan Thanx Sir,Same to You...Probably the Apt time has come to start contributing further to the develotment of Nation by self decipline and knowing what good you can do for the society...and You are one of the examples,Mr Manudhane...

1,76000 Crore in 2 G Scam

Uncountable money in swiss bank and much more.

OR FIR EK DIN ONION AND PETROL K PRICE BADKAR LOGO KI AANKHO ME AANSU LA DETE H OR SARE METTERS SCREEN SE DIKHNE BAND HO JATE H.......Sir, i hope u can guess our hopefulness in coming decade!!!

Karan Verma i am personally not at all happy the way it is shaping up sir. Despite the fact tht many of us has forgotten the sacrifices of our ppl, for our nation andfreedom, we still r supporting tht coward congress govt whose corrupted upto core level. Look at the inflation rate, & Ice-ing on the cake Dr Manmohan Singh condemns hoisting of Indian flag. Now that is boiling up the blood streams, such a shame for letting such ppl governing us. THE YOUTH IS ANGRY, FURIOUS AND WHEN WE SPILL OUT OF OUR GLASSES THERE WILL BE ONE MORE REVOLUTION..

Anand Singh Tomar We need to think properly in order to develop the Nation..... Its really really high time for us.... all youths of Nation need to pull their socks up.....

Modern and traditional

Prahlad Baghel Happy Republic Day to You sir, and to all PROTON family, This is PRAHLAD BAGHEL, Ex. student of PT Education. This day is meant a lot for us, as the day signifies the democratic and constitutional remedies of the country.

Paarth Ashok Narang Happy, yet not satiated :) Instead of complaining; I will try taking that one step, which is waiting to be taken by the commoner. Congratulating the masses on this day spelling integrity and republic status of the state!

Satya Mahant its really proud to be INDIAN, really we have achieved a great height,but still somewhere we lack.We lack good politician,awareness and responsibility to change fate of INDIA.bcoz still there r people who sleep without food,children who r u...naware of school and still great pressure on the mind of middle class people for everything and there are people who r still filling there bags with money enjoying the money of ours. i think we youngster can change this we should understand our responsibility not only towards our family but also towards our motherland. So lets start to be a good citizen.lets take an oath to contribute in the development of humankind and our INDIA.For that we have to be honest, energetic, determined and feel ur heart with proud of being INDIAN.

Mohit Wadhwani Historically this day counts a lot, constitution came into existence rules and regulations needed for smooth running of country came into existence but now it's just a book nothing else. Every1 knows how to bend laws for their use, lakhs of cases are pending with judiciary, which will take another 5 to 6 yrs time. I think if India needs to get fwd not only economy needs to be strengthen but judiciary too. HAPPY REPULIC DAY TO ALL

Sameer Katarpanch जय हिन्द

Jasvinder Singh Hora Well,its time to keep Personal Interests apart and try Shaping the future !!  Problems are around the World including Corruption and Me First attitude,a Hunger for Getting Noticed and Materialistic Mania !! When the Parametre of Success is Fo...reign Holidays,Property Assets and Fat Bank Balance for We Youngsters as Well then for sure we will Continue falling prey to the Craving to accumulate. Try checking the Trail of Existing Politicians,I guess majority would Inherit the Position by Virtue of Family in Politics or after earning Lot of Money or being a Celebrity the Last Destination remains Politics. Intelligent People like Amitabh Bachchan stepped Out from Politics stating "Its Not my Cup of Tea". In this Context,the Need is that the Political Corum should be 50% THINK TANKS and 50% EXECUTORS.Social Workers who have made a Mark in some Social Cause should have Place in the Corum.

Avinash Choudhary We've demographic advantage but don't have the educational infrastruture which can transform this young population into a positvie force. And how dangerous ambitious, unemployed, indisciplined youngsters can be to ...a society, is something we will see in the coming decades. Because every school can't turn into an English Medium school, instantly. Even if it happens now it will take 12/15 years for these student(who are in 1st std of an English Medium school) to get jobs. And in the next 12-15 years, I believe India's chances will be almost over. It is only the people who are starting English Medium schools in villages can save this nation. And they are doing it at a rapid pace, I've witnessed in my own town. Still, in my opinion, unlike what our PM says, we will have a very EXCLUSIVE growth.  But even then I am very hopeful, as I come from a village where most of the houses(including mine) got electricity connection when I was in class 5th. And today I am connected to the world by Facebook & internet. And read very good books & interact with very successful people which I always thought of. Though above contradicts my exclusivity point but India is very big than my village, here a small part of population is also very big in absolute terms.

So that's the voice of modern India. Insightful, appealing, emotional and so clear.

~

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The repositioning of Airtel

We have arrived, world!

All of us have been hit in the face by the new logo and brand identity assumed by Airtel recently. There is no street, no traffic junction, no major hording that's left untouched by the striking red and white combination of its unique new design.

Why is Airtel doing what it is doing? And how is it doing it? What does it hope to gain from this? Here is a detailed analysis.


What's in a name!
Well, nothing really, but surely a lot! The name carries the entire persona of the brand with it. The words used, the colours chosen, and the way the whole thing blends together is a direct representation of the class of the brand itself. Just like situations and circumstances in the real world change, so does a brand's need to stay relevant and contemporary. The latest major upgrade by Airtel to its visual brand representation is precisely this - a desire to stay relevant (in the consumers' minds) in a changed world.


A picture speaks a thousand words

Time for goodbye

As said, the logo becomes the visual depiction of the entire company. The striking visual becomes the live embodiement of everything the company stands for. People may not know the company well, or may not be its customers, but the logo strikes a certain chord in their heads when they see it, and the company ensures that it (it's brand, that is) has ensured a position in the mindspace. At least for now. The large clutter in the brand street also explains why the "red" was chosen - the human mind is hit hard by red. That's why traffic lights are red too (of course, there's the Physics behind it - minimum scattering due to maximum wavelength etc.).

The Limits of Success - what internet companies can teach us

As we go about experiencing and studying the business model of internet companies, there is a fundamental big lesson to be learnt about managing businesses - the limits of success.

Every business, new or old, successful or not, has to undertake strategic planning for its future. It can be an informal approach (as it is with most SMEs and FMBs) or it can be a formal HQ directed approach (as with most MNCs). Whatever the model be, there was a time when strategic planning meant creating a vision for the next several decades. Then it got reduced to perhaps around 10 years, and then 5, and then not more than the present fiscal. I doubt if strategic planning today can be done with any amount of confidence even for the next 6 months.

This is especially true for internet companies. By the term "internet companies" I refer to those firms whose main business is to provide a certain platform/service to users on the internet. This platform/service can be social media (Facebook), search engine (Google), online auctions (eBay), cloud services (Microsoft) or retail store (Amazon).


What do we mean by "the limits of success?"

Going beyond strategic management, the internet companies are a great way of learning crucial lessons about the most pressing question in business management - the limits of success. Four questions define this:

1. How much can a company succeed in its business?
2. For how long can a company succeed in the same business?
3. How profitably can a company keep on, in the same business?
4. Is success permanent?

These questions almost seem encroaching in the domains of philosophy and futurology, but they remain the core questions that every manager worth his/her salt has to confront some or the other time. As I said earlier, studying the internet firms is a fantastic and enriching way of understanding the answers to these questions regarding the limits of success.


Let me illustrate my thought with some detailed examples :

The engine and the windows

• Browsers I remember way back in 1993, there was a time when the email was just beginning to make its presence felt. As the email spread around the corporate world as the most fancy thing to have, the path was set for the development of the first business model of dominating the internet - the browser. Netscape Navigator (NN) was the first classy internet browser that came along. Created by the famous Mark Andreessen, it soon became the dominating force for desktop internet search. However, this lasted only for a couple of years when Microsoft made a u-turn on its stand on the internet, and decided to come full force and destroy the NN. In classic Bill Gatesian style, Microsoft bundled a free Internet Explorer browser with its dominating operating system the Windows, and naturally, as always, it killed the NN in a short span of just 2 years. NN could do nothing and watched in horror as it almost vanished from the market. It still exists, but the glory days are over. As a dedicated user of the NN, it was quite shocking for me to see its sudden demise, and the inexorable rise of the IE browser. This - amongst other things - culminated in a legendary battle between Microsoft and the US Justice Dept, which again Microsoft won, and saved itself from being cut up in parts to avoid its monopolistic abuse of power.

Civic sense in India - Indians speak out!

Recently, I started a discussion with my social media friends on this topic - "Indians lack civic sense - basic manners in public places that keep civility alive. Suggest one thing you wish to change in Indians' habits, that would improve civic sense and civility."

The list of answers I received reflected pain, hope and frustration in almost equal measure. Here I present the entire range of opinions expressed  by various individuals. It makes a fantastic read.

Indians lack civic sense - basic manners in public places that keep civility alive. Suggest one thing you wish to change in Indians' habits, that would improve civic sense and civility.

Rohit Vyas VALUE BASED EDUCATION

Shoaib Ahmed If everybody loses "I am the king, no one messes with me or talks in even a lil higher voice with me" then India or atleast Indore would be, atleast, a place to live in.

Nikita Phadke I think talking loudly on phone in places is a habit people should try to improve.

Navneet Bajaj Every Tom, dick & harry in India has some 'Neta' connection, which not only empowers them to keep their civic sense at home but also enables them to take law in their hand...

Rahul Sinha the correct word is nepotism :)
Menal Lunawat The mentality of the people and would like to widen their thinking...people want all the luxury but dont want to make any efforts from their side....like people love living in clean city but still will throw wrappers n stuff on road even when proper place to discard them is there...but people should understand that make some efforts because 'boond boond se gadh bharta hai'
Yuvraj Jaipal staring @ people..
Anurag Mangal As a resident of Delhi, I believe that people should get themselves more calm. Unnecessary aggression especially in north India is very high. Which reflects on traffic lights, que of metro, buses etc. Those who are not a part of this aggression while watching others violating their rights makes them also to be a part of this disease.

Giriraj Singh Chundawat recently some official (i dont know name) claimed that we Indians have inferior cleanliness sense than west. I felt bad but somewhere inside i thought that actually he is partially correct too. The way we spit on roads, throw garbage wherever we wish, etc shows how much we care for our prestige. We sincerely praise the clean foreign roads (yar UK ki roads to kaach jaisi hoti h!) and then turn away in disgust our face when it comes to clean our own house. i wont suggest some law or something else to ban spitting etc bcoz thats very difficult to implement in the country of our proportions. But i think it can't be done unless we realise the moral responsibility of keeping our country clean. And we can do it. Why cant we keep our roads clean when we think twice before spoiling a five star hotels' floor? We are one of the oldest civilisations on earth. We have taught the world how to live. Cant we do it again??