A Law-Banned

Tamilnadu government has imposed a law for wearing helmets. Do you go with it???? If yes, then this is your blog. I don’t understand why should there be a rule so stringent for personal safety? I agree with the rule of banning ‘drink and drive’ because, if somebody drinks and drives, it is a potential danger for the other persons who are on the drinker’s way. I welcome it. But I don’t agree with helmets being banned as a law by the state govt.

If you are one of a person who argues with me “personal safety is government’s consideration” then tell me, why don’t this government ban ‘life spoiling drinks’? Why can’t this govt ban smoke? Why? Is that because both of these industries generate huge revenues for the government??? Wearing a helmet or not wearing it is a personal decision. Law protects a person to kill himself. Drinking or smoking will definitely fall in this category. Smoke or drinks’ kills slowly’, that is the difference.

If the govt is really considerate about personal safety, then the first decision it would make is to ban these, both as a law. I don’t mind a person who dies in accident without wearing helmet, I mind those who die because of ‘some other person is drunk’. As a Govt which governs a state, there are plenty of decisions to make regarding ‘personal safety’. I would like this Govt to think about whether this decision is ‘ for the people’ or the people who is into manufacturing helmets. I die because of something is different from he dies because of me. That is the difference between ‘kill and suicide’. Drinks or smoke, fall in both of these categories.

I welcome, if govt creates a law like ‘insurance is a must for both the driver and the commuter behind’. But I totally disagree with a law which compels commuters to wear a helmet. I am not recommending not to wear helmets, but am thinking of better ways to implement ‘personal safety’ Am I making sense??

Customer – is he the real king?

We talk about Customer delight. We talk about customer being the centre of our business. We boast “customer is the king”. Very good; But how do we act really? Does the customer feel he is the centre of your business or does he feels cornered.

I recently went to the town’s best super market. Even though there was plenty of space before the store, I was forced to park my car 500 meters away. When asked, the floor manager replied “We receive stocks twice in a day and if customer vehicles are parked, it becomes difficult for us to unload”. Fine; after surfing the first floor, I moved to the second one, I found that the steps were too tall for aged people or a kid to climb up, and there were no elevators. To my dismay the floor manager replied “tall steps reduces cost and occupies less space”.

The placard in the second floor read “customer is the king”. Second floor had a pleasant restaurant. The owner is to be praised here; he has banned usage of plastic inside this restaurant (he is planning to do this for his entire shop). Comedy commences then. You bet me a lakh for not laughing, damn I win. Yes! Paper tumblers were used instead of plastics. If you order for two dosas they give you 6 tumblers. To save cost they don’t cover it with anything. From the serving area to your table, you become a Michael Jackson to minimize the spills.

This continued until I took my car out of the parking area. Customer service is wrongly understood by the people who do business. They think a welcome smile at the entrance or pleasing staff’s or offering a surprise gift is called as a customer service. This guy has not thought about making shopping experience a pleasant one. Every inch of the shop proves that the shop is created and maintained, for the convenience of the people who do this business, and above this weak basement they are trying to build a strong customer centric business. Its always easier to say from the owner’s seat “my business is facing the customer”. I would request all of the business men to wear their customer’s shoes for a day. You will understand that your business is facing you, your employees, your organization and is showing its back towards your RESPECTED customer.

A paradigm shift is necessary to bring in the concepts of customer service to ground level and make your customer really feel “customer is the king”.

Yellow Signal

Imagine if a day passes in Bangalore without the yellow lights on the signal. Damn you cant even dream about it. Stop, Think, Go, is what is the real meaning of the red, yellow and green lights. But the ‘think’ is used as an extra time to cross the road or is it to say ‘no no, I crossed the road before it turned red, I respect the rules’. But we don’t understand that crossing the road when the signal is yellow; is itself breaking the rules.

A person standing at the red signal believes that the moment yellow is on, I can start. On the other hand, a person at the green signal believes that yellow is an extra time to travel. Thank God we are blessed with descending ‘seconds counters’ (long live the person who invented that)

The seconds counter becomes a point of attraction and hence people forget looking @ the signal lights. But, drivers starting to cross the road while the counter displays ‘07’ is then a new story by itself.

Life’s decisions also suffer from the same symptoms. We either booz or work harder. But the yellow signal in between these two is what is called by Stephen.R.Covey as “Sharpen your Axe”.

We seldom sharpen our axe, but are in search of internal peace, just because our axe is not cutting properly. I would like all of the human beings in this world to stop, think and move ahead faster than before.

I mean – “REALLY THINK”

Individuality Vs Communal harmony

Yesterday I was about to go to lunch, while my friend wanted to join me. “Friends are always welcome but don’t forget to take your plastic cards” I replied. He is one of the best friend of mine that he did bring it. Now its time to decide on the food we liked to have and the hotel. I was so hungry that I thought an Andhra mess would serve that purpose.

My friend stared at me like an alien. ‘What nonsense its either pizza hut or the domino’s”. I worried why had I been with him. After all I was not in a mood to argue. Alas I was there @ pizza hut. We spent a little less than a thousand. Friend with a triumphant smile lighted a cigarette. I was so curious to know if he was really content with the pizza’s. I told him “that’s really great to have those pizza’s isn’t it?” . For the reply he has said, I heard my heart broke in to pieces. “I don’t like to have pizza’s but still pizza’s are the fancied food for lunch” Fancy- in food I exclaimed.

I wondered for sometime “fancy and food” do they really go with each other? This is a stimulated world. We are forced to do those not which we really like but what others have rated as the modern society likes .I call this as communal harmony. This society led by charismatic advertisement has formed a set of rules for the so called hi-fi people.

These rules are blindly followed by the society. If I don’t eat pizza’s I am left out from this fast moving society. It is not only about foods, take dresses, vehicles, mobiles, education or even your career. Buddy you are unique. You are eating pizza’s for the society instead of your stomach.

Your personal interests are over ridden by the society’s unwritten rules. All the world is a stage and every human is acting like somebody else. And a day will come where everybody in this world will start wearing a jean, a Reebok tshirt, an N series mobile(I pray nokia will not introduce o,p,q,r…z series mobiles), a pizza for lunch, weekends at pubs,…….

World lives in the differences. And imagine if differences vanish. Every human being in India will follow that communal harmony to change his child’s genes to look like “sharrukh khan” with the brains of “Abdul kalam”.

In ancient days every human being is treated unique. Kurukulam taught, beema about being strong, arjuna about throwing arrows. But all those Arjunas, Krishnas and Dhuiriodhanas are software engineers now.

Let uniqueness die and the world flourish.
Long live the economy boom.

Cognitive Dissonance

Once I was talking to a friend of mine, he said “I have repented for most of my lifes decisions” I took it as one of the post booz gyans. Later, had some mulling on this for a while. Out of the blues came a question “are all your decisions in line with what you really want “. Blink.

I can’t cheat myself saying yes. Decisions are different from person to person. Can I say decision is a child of thinking? And thinking could be the grandson of experiences. His brothers include memories and knowledge. And experiences are outcomes of decisions again. IT friends might call this as cyclic redundancy check. But that’s true.After making out the history of ‘Decision’, I moved to find out the geography of ‘decision’. Dictionary defines it as ‘choice’. I don’t agree with it.’to choose’ will be an apt definition. Am I the creator of this choice? No I am only offered to select from the available choices. Ok, then choices, are they just in time made? No . every time I make a decision ,I find choices are older than my thinking. So choices are nothing but somebody’s decisions outcomes.

Fairly getting closer to the choices, I wanted to ….but WAIT, for the same decision to be made, two persons don’t have the same choices. To quench my thirst, I decide to drink water but my friend chose a cool drink. Decision also is not the same every time. The next time I chose a cool drink. So decisions depend upon TIME. To perfectly put, series of incidents before making that decision has a larger impact on the decision.

Life is full of decisions, your decision is to read on or you just comment me as ‘this guy has turned mad’. Options multiplied by decisions will give you thoughts. Oh god mathematics now. You are evaluated, respected, criticized only by the decision you make. Infact you are your decisions. I memorize you on your decisions made. I call a drunkard, drunkard because he decides to drink non stop. My brother ran out of my house just now and screamed ‘icecream,icecream’ I was wondering is he calling the icecream or the person who sells it? Damn, the icecream walla is called icecream because he has decided to sell icecreams and tomorrow he will become milk, if he decides to sell milk. I was taken aback. Deciding is not doing but any doing is preceded by a decision. How important is this decision.

Coming to my question ‘am I taking all decisions inline with what really do I want’ .If decisions are so important, taking the right decision at the right time, with all the right choices evaluated will erase dissonance from my life.

Yes, I don’t want to repent for ‘how I have lived’ in my death bed. Instead ‘I want to cherish on the wonders I have made in the life of others’. I have decided to LIVE.