We- D poor people of the Corporate World

A few days back, while I was talking to a friend of mine, we actually ended up talking some real stuff after we were done with our weekly updates of the gossips and usual inconsequential conversations. It has been quite some time I left my job and partially joined my business apart from a little academic pursuit along the way. But I still do remember my first few conversations in my hometown with a plethora of acquaintances and total strangers who often enquired about my job for a number of reasons both genuine and devious. Well more about their intentions and ingenuity sometime later.

Statements, such as, “A man is worth only his pay check” is nothing new. It has been actively been the epicentre of a lot of decisions people make right from choosing or leaving a job, venturing into business and even while choosing their partners. But what makes it a topic to talk about is how the conversation folds up in a usual middle class family in a rural or a semi urban setting and occasionally even in the urban settings. Probably, it would be a lot easier to go by classification of the mindset, attitude and mental horizon of the people than a geographical distinction. As I write this, I get a feeling that I should have written this at least 10 months back. It would have been much more recent and relevant then. However, in those days, I was way too occupied handling my crushes and one sided affairs. :D Damn. I can be hard on myself sometimes! But still I will write it now. (Will try to keep my ramblings short enough)

For the time being, let me go back to July’2010 for ease of including myself in the collective group with whom I still can connect and feel the emotional turmoil and so that I can take the liberty to write in the present tense. I call myself and all my bunch of friends who completed MBA last year as the “Poor people of the corporate world.” It is not just because most of us do not pay tax @ 30%. But also because we face the entire hardships one could in this mean selfish world where people climb up the ladders of success on the corpses of others. Well, fortunately, as of now we aren’t really the corpse, so no need to panic. But we are damn well poor.

We are made to slog for long hours and our skill sets are exploited to the extreme. And in return all we get is a salary which gets exhausted in no time. We can’t even afford a simple furnished 2BHK in a decent area like Bandra or its counterparts in other cities. And if we dare to do, we end up losing more than 33% of what we get as underpaid people. I still can’t afford a car. Who would pay my EMIs and the parking charge? (Delhites are lucky here. They park it on the road itself! ). I am forced to be crushed in the maddening crowd of the locals with all kinds of people (who stink) and the unbridled homosexuals with their new found freedom. (No offence to any of them. I sincerely respect your choice, but strictly abhor any non consensual act of seeking pleasure taking undue advantage of the crowd.) I say this because some of my poor, innocent friends were taken for a ride. (Again delhites are lucky to have a metro equipped with an A/c!!!). I won’t even get to the chances of having your dream girl with this kind of poverty. To add to it, when we go home, the people (acquaintance and the strangers) give a damn about your work quality. In some cases they do not even know the name of the company or the designation and work profile. (If you do not believe, try becoming an Insurance Broker in an MNC: P ) So much for running after a particular kind of profile! What hurts even more is, we wasted our precious time trying to understand the intricacies of corporate finance, derivatives and corporate strategy. I could have very well spent that sitting on the marine drive or riding in Leh and Laddhak. (Do not know much about the marketing people. They certainly had a relatively better life. Atleast my roomie never had to go through a 200 page book.) And this doesn’t end here. Some of my friends continue to inflict pain upon them by sacrificing that little hard earned money for another degree, innocently believing that it would make their life any easier. And here I am, pouring out all my blocked emotions here while I try to chase my own set of dreams by putting a complete end to even that small amount I used to get on every 26^th of the month. True. Poverty and Unemployment are a part of a vicious circle and they take away all the wits you initially had.

P.S.: No offence to anyone! It was a fictional narration. Any resemblance to anyone living is purely coincidental and unintentional ;)

We all are very happy people J

As Mr. Agrawal once said, " "

As early as, when I was a high school student and was gaining my interest into debating and public speaking, I often found myself reading quotes by both great and anonymous people. I read it for reasons more than one. While, it primarily helped me throw in some 4 lines of great depth during my speeches, it also was amazing to see, how those people summed up such deep meanings in mere 25 words or so. Depth, intensity and aptness are the three aspects which gives life to these quotes. However, later, I realized, it’s not the three of what I just mentioned which really matters. It is the name, which is written below those 4 lines which make it deep, intense and apt. For when Shakespeare said, “What is in the name”, we do find a mention of his name below the statement.

I wondered what if I wish and am able to write something with lot of depth and intensity, something which would give rise to a school of thought may be or something which a young energetic school kid would like to quote 50 years from now. I guess, even if I am able to write something like that, it will either be lying in one of the hundreds of folders in my laptop or at most find some place in the cyber space owing to a personal blog I have created (assuming they just don’t have a mechanism to delete it once it stops being accessed).

So this drives a point that our words carry a weight mostly in proportion to the weight and significance of our personality and the space we acquire in the minds of people. Well, the reason, why I got stuck with this thought is not just due to my incessant desire to reach a position where what I speak shall become a quote to be quoted in future. May be if I focus on what I do will help me taste success faster than brooding on this random thought. May be I will come across as a self obsessed individual with this thought, but who cares. We all need an incentive to work and grow. May be this is what could drive me to abandon my sleep and sacrifice the homemade food and other luxuries. But on a more serious note, I have found myself a victim of such a philosophy on more than one occasion. And considering myself to be not totally insane, I guess it could or does happen with others as well. What I am talking about is our tendency to value people’s suggestion not on what they speak or suggest but more on what they are and how successful they have been. The business mantra which a small time school dropout businessman staying next to my home gave me was exactly what Mr C.K Prahlad and Mr. Porter gave in their books. While in the former’s case, I honestly didn’t pay any heed to what he said, I did spend hours reading and mugging every single word of the latter’s point of view and at times even appreciating the same.

Probably, it was just my ignorance, immaturity or a kiddish behaviour to have misjudged his advice on the superficial parameters like his education or the size of his business. Or maybe this is what a lot of us end up doing and do not even know. I realized it only a couple of days back.

So may be from now on, I will need to weigh the advice in terms of its content and relevance rather than the qualification of the one giving it to me. For blindly following what the so called great men said may not always be a sane act and neither would be discarding a thought of wisdom just because it came for free from a common man. After all what made Mr. Mittal, the biggest steel tycoon, may just not work for me.

---Sriram

Arranged M&A..Oops..I meant marriage!

Coming from a joint family with a really huge base of relatives all scattered around in the vicinity offers far too many advantages. As kids, we had our own gang which was so high in number that, the elders feared all of us coming together at one place in one time. A reckless gang, where the age difference was as large as 10 years. We have played hide and seek and every single board game be it a ludo or a business or a monopoly. And we played cricket in all the seasons and times of day and night, including the indoor cricket where hitting the tube light was considered as “out”.

Time flies and today most of them who were elder to me are married or on the verge of getting so. Coming to the point of marriage, they all have been very true to what was expected of them. Each and single soul went through the process of “arranged marriage”. All my hopes of having someone in my family who would do a love marriage were belied every single time. Never mind. Now, if they couldn’t find one for themselves, I am not really the right person to blame them. After all people living in glass house shouldn’t be throwing stones at others.

But what has always amused me is the entire long process of arranged marriage which is no less than a Corporate M&A. Well don’t raise your eyebrows. I am not exaggerating.

The above pictorial representation is taken from one of the many ordeals of slides we went through during the MBA days. It all starts with a strategic plan where the elder decides that its time the protagonist gets married. This could be due to reasons across all the aspects. Crossing the threshold age or completing a post graduate degree is the simplest of the reasons. It could also be if the eldest member wants to see a grandchild or great grandchild or even in situations when suddenly people realize they didn’t have a marriage for quite so many years ( 5 or more) and now it is time to have some party and reunion with all the kiths and kin.

Once it is approved and the would-be bride or groom is informed about the same, the elders try to show their flexibility and liberal nature by asking if the protagonist has someone in life. The questions are not supposed to be taken in a literal manner. Its only accepted answer, is “No, I am fine with whoever you think is suitable for me.”

I have seen families using the matrimonial sites, but I guess, in a tier 2 and 3 cities, even that isn’t required. The elders (possibly the most connected one) only need to put a word in the community and the message travels far and wide about the intentions of a possible merger..oops a marriage alliance. A number of proposals come along the quality and quantity depending upon the protagonist as well as the family. (Read company and group company/promoters). Every application is studied and a proper due diligence is performed by both the parties which involves interaction with protagonist and a general survey of the past track records known it the market and close friends. A set of possible targets are identified and the deal is sealed based on parameters like financial stability, cultural similarities, possible synergies and of course the not so official factors like the amount of peer pressure and miscellaneous “financial transactions.” Not to forget, the valuation done is a matter of subjectivity and is based on the information both public and private acquired through both reliable and unreliable sources. The model encompasses a detailed list of factors and its correlation with the final number which could contain 6 to 8 zeroes. But then as we all know, at the end of the day, it is just a call one needs to take and pray that its close enough to the reality.

Once all of this is in place, it’s time for the execution and here it is the ability of the two parties to manage their expenses and time frame as any deviation or extension in the timelines could make the entire deal fall through. All this while, the 2 nominal central characters are allowed to interact; not to decide but just to be prepared for what is going to come ahead.

Finally the deal... I mean the marriage takes place and its success is measured by parameters quite varying in nature. After the cultural and financial synergies are formed, one might expect to have some harmonious relationship between the two people. And yeah, at most places the parent companies have pretty short horizon and the profitability of deal might even be judged by how soon the small companies are born. 3 years without the entry of new member and you will get to hear every possible ridiculous/hilarious explanation for the same. Well, I think I should just stop now or else if this piece fall into the wrong hands, a deal in the distant future might not all together take place...

---Sriram

Finally...

Today I am done with the first part of my summer internship. All the initial rounds of moving around in the market, meeting various types and kinds of dealers and trying to connect with them, even though, I sometimes couldn’t even speak their language! Past 2 weeks has been like a continuous war against the summer heat and the laid back attitudes of the small town dealers. I thought marketing is all about communication. But the thought needed a little specification. Communicating in a way, which your target customer understands, irrespective of whether I myself am any good at it. Earlier I was pretty much confident of my spoken English and thought it would be a cake walk talking to the cement dealers. Now I know it wasn’t. When you talk to a middle aged man who has been selling a particular brand of cement since last 2 decades you ought to have something in you. It was never like the usual classroom talking where every kind of bullshit is permissible.

If I were to sum it up in a few lines I can confidently claim I learnt more of marketing in last 2 weeks than what I did in 2 trimesters. And it wasn’t just because I got a chance to move out in fields but more so because my lucky stars got a chance to have a 1 to 1 interaction with the marketing officer of the region who happens to be the best in the entire eastern zone. Probably I might be unable to coin a word for every little aspect I understood but it has given me a kind of confidence which assures me of my capabilities.

The insights which I got about the cement industry and customer behaviour from people who haven’t even completed their graduation but have devoted their 30 years of life helping people to build home is just worth mentioning. I may not take marketing as my majors but there’s one thing I surely learnt. Marketing isn’t about thick fat heavy books by world renowned authors only. It’s more about on the field capability. I used to say this earlier too. But now I do realize its essence.

Now my project will all be about analysis and interpretations and suggestions. Probably here I might need to use all that I learnt in last 10 months.

I am now really happy to have taken up this project. I get to travel, I get to talk to intellectuals, I get to talk to not-so-intellectuals, and I get good food at home!!! After all this is all I need.

I DO NOT NEED EDUCATION

A year back I was a different individual
I talked about versatility, commitment and integrity
I showed off my style as well as morality
And I wanted to do a specialization DUAL

I thought I ll learn how to sell goods
I thought I ll learn to manage finances
I thought I ll learn to transport cheapest
I thought I ll manage people the best

I asked my mom not to call b'coz I ll be busy
Busy studying and preparing projects
I, certainly was busy all the year round; well
Figuring out why I am so busy when I was never taught how to sell

MBA was/is meant to be rigorous
It was meant to be demanding and exciting
It meant exams anytime; classes night time
It meant a giant leap in the careers

10 months down the lanes of time
When I look back I am mesmerized
Rather surprised; or should I say shocked
I never ever wasted so much of my time

What I did was take an exam every 40 days…
And to do well I wasn’t supposed to understand an iota of concepts
All I did was attend all the classes to get 10 on 10
And to vomit all that I read on a presentation

Must I say I performed well in all the papers
Except the one I studied or tried to understand
Correlation between marks and academic excellence
Was as a friend of mine says, “zero”

Now when I am supposed to spend the next 2 months
Working in a firm to understand the core finance
I am stuck with nothing more than a piece of bread
Which was thrown to me b'coz I am a so called “lucky boy”

I spent days sleeping and cribbing
I spent night singing and movie watching
And now when I realize I stand nowhere
I am looking for someone to put all the blames

What have I done to myself!!!
Commitments changed to compliance
Versatility changed to vagabonds
And “I” changed to what “I am not”

As I listen to the lyrics
Sung time back by the pink flyods
I see the relevance of everyline
In the irrelevance of education sublime

If this is what I gain and learn
If this is what I get to earn
If this is what I acquire as an attitude
I DO NOT NEED EDUCATION!!!

A typical day of PGA students @ KJ SIMSR

Early morning hours just before the class begins
It’s Monday morning and the class is scheduled from 10 30 am onwards. 2 boys fast asleep in room no 521. The alarm rings at 7 am with the best of its capabilities trying to pierce down through the ear drums of the 2 future managers who have slept just a couple of hours back(anytime between 3 to 5 am). An automatic mechanism makes the taller one react in a particular way such that the hands fall right on the alarm button and switching it off (not even snooze). The moving body then gets back to sleep without ever realizing what happened. Exactly after 2hrs 25 min the other one jumps out of bed and looks at the watch wondering why didn’t the alarm ring !!!
SR: (looking horrified at the watch) oh shit!!! Dude wake up…. Its time….
RDA: (disturbed) why so early man… what time is it???
SR: 10:26 am
RDA: when do we have our class and who's lecture is it now…
SR: FM@10:30am
SR&RDA: (simultaneously) Oh f**k…… not again…….
They think for a moment and both of them rush to lie their hands on whatever is fit enough to wear and run to the academic building praying that the gate doesn’t close. And as usual they often succeed in their endeavor without fail.
Well inspite of all this they are never the last ones to enter…a few more always beat them in this regard… m sure names are not important “quote unquote” to add to it one can always find a couple of troubled hearts desperately trying to prove themselves as SIMSRites when the gatekeeper stops them at 10 29 am for not carring that stupid hanging I card.
While the 2 poor souls disturbed from their sleep were running for their life there were people from all regions of India sitting in the mess table gobbling the mess food seriously discussing who had the maximum no of head shots last night. Without any doubt the CS domain is a kind of oligopoly with a few leading market players who can turn the events anytime in their favor. (Apologies for the eco effect)
While the professor desperately attempts to start the class people keep pouring in at continuous intervals. Few of them have a bread loaf in their hands instead of a register and a few reluctantly sit in the first bench when they find all the back (coveted) seats already occupied.
And then finally at around 10 50 the class finally takes off to meet yet another set of events…..

To be continued…