Pune Watch - Software of the mind. (Emerging Pune)

Time is almost as fickle as mind. Lately it seems more so. I intend to capture some of the experiences I had in the last two years and some beyond that. This is part 3. Part 1 was about FC Road and JM road. Part II was about Old Pune.

Pune is an emerging city. Pune is a very young city in many ways. It has always been rich in terms of resources but in the last 15 years this city has surged ahead in its own growth and its people's growth. Many large and small IT companies and BPO's are having their base in Pune: companies like Infosys, L&T info tech, Accenture,Wipro, IBM all have centers and offices here. Abundant talent, (internal as well as borrowed) technology and tolerance (most of the times) - Are some key attributes that make Pune a global city. 
But the city has its problems - lack of roads, facilities, infrastructure, politics etc. and thus Pune will continue to struggle.


But wait, this is a blog on my experience in Pune right.... so whats my experience with the emerging Pune . Well for starters I was amazed when I looked at the offices and set ups of these companies. All of them are well equipped and yet not in your face. Then I met the people. Some of them from small towns, some from large cities and all of them with big dreams. They slogged in these places. They worked hard. They worked crazy. But they also chilled. Some of them build friendships which last life time, some learnt tricks of the trade and started their own start ups, some moved on to other places. But all of them will remember their working days in Pune. The days where they loved what they did and were happy. 


I was fortunate that I got a chance (even though very short one) to be with these guys and learn from them. Pune has been home, away from home for many. 


All these people add value to this city as city adds on to them. Thus it builds on its knowledge. Collective the city thus becomes stronger.


And more people and companies come to Pune. Thats what I feel about it, for better or for worse.
  
By Ninad Tatke

Pune Watch - Old Pune - My tryst with Destiny.

Time is almost as fickle as mind. Lately it seems more so. I intend to capture some of the experiences I had in the last two years and some beyond that. This is part 2. Part 1 was about FC Road and JM road.


Old Pune.
USA has a concept called Manifest Destiny. It means that God wants USA to succeed and hence does all the things to achieve that. I guess a Puneite/punekar has a similar concept going.

I think and this is my own personal opinion - (with no research) that the manifest destiny of Pune is not about the culture, history, climate, the ego, the pride or any other factor including the city's adaptability. The manifest destiny of this city is its knowledge.

So I was and still am in this city of knowledge and would like to share some bits of the city - in terms of locale with you.

 I begin with Shanvar Wada or the (Saturday Fort). Legend has it that Peshwa (Prime Minister) Bajirao I saw a small goat beat a fox in a duel and that too with a fantastic margin. He saw parallels in that victory with the achievements of maratha empire - as in- beat mughals, win forts, escape or triumph in hopeless situations when they were outnumbered-(almost always)- but still managed to set up an empire. So to show defiance and strength, Bajirao I built a land fort with its main gate pointing towards North - a gesture of defiance towards Delhi.

Next I think I should mention Laxmi road where the old market has all the things a buyer might need and shops which provide them . You have to see this road on Diwali at Laxmi Pujan or at Ganpati with its pandals. A special mention goes here for Appa Balwant Chowk/ABC. It is a second hand academic book buying heaven.

I have walked on these roads wondering what history do these roads hold. Did famous people I have read in history books actually walked on these roads.

Back to reality the places I have seen include Parvati hill. It has a small climb, a old temple and also some history attached to it. Peshwa Madharao was fond of this place and he even breathed his last here.


Camp was infact built by the British when they trained their armies out here. Its a nice place to explore and you still may get the feel of the empire.

FTII was set up around 1920s and NFA around 1925. Both are good places to explore and should be explored. Pune also has the Engineering college and Medical college which has produced some amazing graduates over the years.

Pune also has many other places, bazaars , houses and lanes which are quite old but I have not explored them completely as yet and hence I would just say its a fascinating city which has blended both the old and the new. I wont say much on the culture (my lack of knowledge) but I know for sure that its rich. But the diversity and the blending we have seen in this city is remarkable.

I wish I could write more about old pune because it is indeed something fascinating and perhaps I would ... as and when I have more thoughts on the subject. But for now this is my experience, for better or for worse.

By Ninad Tatke

Pune Watch - The Nostalgia of FC Road and JM Road

Time is almost as fickle as mind. Lately it seems more so. I intend to capture some of the experiences I had in the last two years and some beyond that. Firstly the FC Road. Better known as Fergusson College Road. Fergusson college established in 1884 is one of the finest colleges in the city. It has a Victorian feel to it with its majestic buildings, Gothic arches and well planned and spaced out campus. Each building has a subject like feel to it - I mean the chemistry building actually looks like a chemistry building and don't get me started over the statistics building.

But the actual fun begins outside the college. Savera Restaurant which stands right opposite is always full with the katha type people - (you know the ones who like to hang out, chill, bunk lectures). Then there are places like Chaitanya, Roopali, Vaishali, Horn Ok Please, Venkys, Wadeshwar, goodluck cafe, chocolate house and many more. Basically if you have money in your pocket, you will find the food that you like. Same goes for the shopping variety with many shops selling people with a variety of goods. 

But its not just hogging (food) or shopping which makes this road so special. Its the vibrancy, the character which this road shows which brings out various likable features of this road.

JM road or Jungli Maharaj road is named after the Jungli maharaj temple who was a saint and a disciple of Swami Samartha. A large public garden called Sambhaji Park occupies a large section on one side of the road. The Bal Gandharva Rangamandir (Bal Gandharva Auditorium) stands at the corner of Sambhaji Park and J. M. Road. A statue of  Rani laxmibai of Jhansi in front of Bal Gandharva Rangamandir is a landmark on this road. Bal Gandharva was a male stage actor who was famous for portraying female characters. And Rani Laxmibai was a female warrior who stood up with valour in a male dominated society. The contradiction is not merely a coincidence. The J. M. Road is one of the busiest places in Pune. It also has many places to eat shop and hang out. Some eating places are Sukanta, Mc Donalds, Pizza Hut etc.

JM road also has Deccan bus stop which is a central connecting point to reach out at various places in the city. The Chitale Bandhu Sweets famous for its Sweets and other mouth watering delicaces.

The Apte Road which hides between these two major roads is a small residential sort of road with no special character as such but still Pune enough to find a small mention in this blog.

So what exactly did I experience on the two mentioned roads. Well I met a lot of people on these roads, I shopped for myself and others. I eat myself and I saw others eating and I also carried back enough parcels from here back to the hilltop. I celebrated here at certain times and I wandered aimlessly in my thoughts sometimes. But some how these roads always seemed nice to me even in the most sad times.

Its the meaning I give - I know that. I am calling these roads nice, they are infact just roads. Plain and simple roads. And now on the cross road of life I remember these roads and I write about them for better or for worse.


 By Ninad Tatke.

Yaad Aayange ye pal - Lavale Watch

This is just a small piece of acknowledgment.

Its been just a month left now and I can safely say that the last two years were full of buzz, activity, friendships, void, falls and learning. People in lavale campus have made me feel home for the last two years and I would like to say thank you. Yes there were some disagreements, some back talk, some front talk but overall I would say that the time I have spent here was indeed a good time.

But its the future that I look up to now. We have about a month left and then the abyss of the future which is an unknown adventure. Lets make it as memorable of a time we can. Lets catch up as much as we can.

We are all but logs in the ocean. A single wave and we don't know where we will be. But lets be there for one another as we can, when we can.  

Silver Medal part 2

So sometimes you give your best and still you end up on the losing side. May be now is the time to adapt, to let go of certain techniques and look for new one's. In the larger scheme of things what you are going through is a small aspect.

What you need to do though is to take a new guard. Every person goes through a phase when all he can do is hold on and wait.

Love the game though. Love will take you through this in ways that logic or disappointment wont. Infact disappointment is the last thing that you should think about. Because when you end up with the silver medal you have so much to learn from the winner.

Look at the gold winning person, see what they did, and try getting their deeds and mix them with your strengths. Play the game again. Try again for gold.

By Ninad Tatke

The silver medal.

No one wins the silver medal. You play to win and you play to win gold. When you win a silver, its a round or a match well played, they loved watching you factor - but at the end of the day, you might have lost valiantly but you have still lost.

But in life you end up on the losing side and its the grace with which you take this pitch of salt which forms the mark of the true champion.  The trick here is to learn from the game, accept defeat gracefully and prepare well for that next game.


post script.....
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Jerry Seinfeld once said "The Olympics is really my favorite sporting event. Although, I think I have a problem with that silver medal. Because when you think about it,you win the gold - you feel good, you win the bronze - you think, "Well, at least I got something". But when you win that silver it's like, "Congratulations, you *almost* won. Of all the losers *you* came in first of that group. You're the number one *loser*. No one lost ahead of you!"



By Ninad Tatke






  

How to achieve a win-win situation in a business?

Profit versus Social benefit- what to choose.

Try to meet customer expectations and you will find that the customer wants every thing. They want the best service in least possible price. Few don't mind paying more but then they look for some thing exclusive.

So a Decision is sought in every business as to - How much should a profit be for an organization? Should it take a social benefit angle. And this is a very hard thing to decide.

But actually there might be a possibility that profit and social benefit are interlinked as buddies and not as competitors. Reliance did it in its growth years, Idea (What a Idea sirji) & Tata Docomo (1 paisa per sec) did it recently in a very crowded telecom environment. Even Fab India did it . Infact Fab India has marketed the Indian wear well, increased demand for good quality Indian wear and thus it has helped the craftsmen earn better wages.

 As per a quote by William Bissell, (Owner Fab India) "It seems contradictory that we pursue both profit and a social goal, but I believe that is the only way to do it."

So if you have to choose - choose profit which also leads to social benefit and thus its a win-win. 

India Watch - God. The Religion and the humanity.

Are we expressing Solidarity for Japan. As per google news India is. But right now lakhs of people are praying that Harbhajan spins his web on Republic of South Africa. Few more are wondering as to what price will the stock market - BSE/NSE will open on monday morning. Others might be wondering as to what exactly is Aamir Khan doing in Dhoom 3 or some such trivial matters. Few people may be having genuine concerns on health, welfare, poverty, safety. But excluding those people, others should hang their heads in shame.


Are we so insensitive that we cant observe some sort of mourning. I am not saying that we switch off the TV - forget that Sachin scored yet another century. But some sort of silence. 


Even when India faces a internal disaster or a tragedy - lets say a bomb blast in Mumbai. How many people from Chennai are really going to be concerned. Are we so individualistic, so full of our own little worlds. 


We are divided. We do live in our own little world and yet think of ourselves as melting pot. 


So after pointing the problem, I believe that their has to be a solution, or we can try finding one.


We need to be open minded,united and we need to be sensitive, as to how can this be done, I will need to work on this,I hope you as a reader might have one or two solutions/suggestions. If you do, please share. If I have any, I will of-course add on to this.

Lavale Watch - A prayer

It felt so wrong when all that exists just gets swept away in the matter of seconds. Tsunami in Japan did just that yesterday and it has once agin reminded us how small our worries are.

 Worries like money, love, status, prilivege for which all of us strive for. But then a disaster like we witnessed yesterday puts everything back in perspective.

We are sad for what happened but also glad that it did not happen here.

Hence we pray. Pray for the lost lives. Pray for the people and pray even harder that we help each other and no one goes through a disaster like yesterday.

May the force be with those how require it.

Lavale Watch - The classic no story.

Its been a while that I have seen my beloved Lavale campus with out any buzz or exciting activity. First we were awed by presence of stars like Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma and Sunny Deol. (May be not Sunny Deol). But even now a untitled Youth oriented film from YRF is being shot in our campus. Thus our campus sees make overs from Learning Resource centre being renamed as Library, (It should have been called that in the first place) to Canteen being redecorated.

Also we saw the famous photoshop prone brand sign  disappear completely. Let us not get into a debate about that. Not in this post.

So I went about minding my own work, not disturbing, not getting awed. Until one day I realized that I should actively enjoy this scenario. Its not every day that one sees a dream created in front of you. You can start by observing the hard work the unit puts in. Then you can realize that it takes so many factors to get the blend right. All proportions need to be right and each work is important.

The magic that one may see on screen is a visual illusion but it requires real people and real work to pull it off.

There is nothing heroic in what the unit does and hence I guess, we shall  thus remain star struck and we would not notice backend people to these stars.



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How to reinvent your personal brand.

I liked this article.


http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/11/how_to_reinvent_your_personal.html

Icons - some pointers- Based on a HBR case study on Icons by Douglas Holt

(Based on a case study on Icons by Douglas Holt)

• Iconic brands win because they build a deep connection with culture.

• The Strategic focus is on what a brand stands for, and not how the brand performs.

• Through Brands people get to experience powerful myths

• Myths are required as they ideals to live by and work to resolve some of the most difficult questions in life.

• Icons are condensed myths

• They are powerful as they deliver myths to us in a tangible form, and thus they are assessable.

• Icons are not just brands, they can be people too.

• When Icons create a myth, consumers come to perceive the myth as embodied in the product. So when they consume it, they forge a relationship with the brand.

• In Brief a Brand becomes Icon when it does 5 things.

1. They talk to intense anxities and desires. (They do speak to mass audience). 
2. They redefine and create new culture . They just do not follow the existing culture. ie. Pepsi - Youngistan.
3. Iconic brands rebel - they speak in rebels voice- ie. Apple
4. If the brand myth bursts, the brand uses the same line of logic/thinking to rebuild a new relevant myth in a convincing way. It does not have a stick to one single myth. ie. Reliance, Tata
5. Notice new contradictions in the culture and align with the brands line of thinking/logic. In short icon has to have its pulse with changing culture. ie. Old Spice.