Saturday, July 08, 2006
My Connection with a Word Called Marketing
It was my life first interview as a sales associate, when i was in my seventh semester. They had just asked me one question, “Sell this pen to us". Loads of answers came to my mind. But then there was one answer which never came from my mind. “If i had to sell a pen to you i would have joined some company like parker, why you”Was i selected or was i not; well i was, but then its history. I have been a sort of guy who can always get people into confidence and that’s where i stand in marketing. Marketing has always been a passion in my life and i want to do it desperately, but then my luck i could not. Why i also don’t know?You never get what you want in life, its again a "Quest for Nothing". There is one thing where i have always remained constant and fixed is that about marketing, why i want to do it and what makes me the right person to do it has been answered. But then i need a so called hyped up education MBA.Responsibilities a strong word though, makes me not go for it. I was selected at IIT Kharagpur, after my Final year, for further Post Graduate and I did not go... Why? Got calls from few MBA colleges did not go.Why? Well these are few things which i have not been able to define. Well my friends often have asked me why marketing. And for that also i don’t have an answer. I still don’t know why????
All about SSP
Dont you think that its important to know what is sardar sarovar project all about before going into the other details.An Abstract from http://www.sardarsarovardam.org/"Arable land and fresh water are two important resources of India. India's arable land area is 30% more than that of China which is as such three times India in size - geographically. India's surface water estimated at 1952 BCM is about two-third that of China. India's northern region makes up the World's largest alluvial plane and the soils rank among the most fertile in the World.And yet India remains poor and underfed : Then, what is the handicap? It is two-fold - first our arable land is spread out stretching from Kachchh to Brahmaputra valley and from Deccan trap to planes of Punjab, while bulk of surface water sources are concentrated in about a dozen river basins; second, 80 to 90% of surface water is available only in monsoon months, and flows down the sea if not impounded. Therefore neither water nor land is utilised optimally, depriving the country of their full benefits.The Sardar Sarovar Project, or any other large water resources project for that matter, has to be viewed in this national perspective.In course of 50 years of planned economic development of our country, we have taken tremendous strides in agriculture sector. Our country which had to depend upon imports to feed even a population of 350 millions (35 crores) when we became independent, has attained a position of self sufficiency with some exportable surplus even with a population of over 1 billion (102 crores). The Sardar Sarovar Project was first conceived in the 1940s by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, but the project did not begin to become a reality until 1979. The goal of the project is to create around 3200 small, medium and large dams along the length of the river, with the Sardar Sarovar dam being the largest.Suggestions like water harnessing, small dams, watershed development etc. often flaunted by anti dam activists which may look deceptively simple, become totally irrelevant and grossly inadequate to meet such situations and for such arid areas for which transfer of water from surplus regions can only provide a real and lasting remedy. Sardar Sarovar Project is essentially a vehicle for taking plentiful waters of Narmada basin which are to-day flowing down the sea, to the water starved regions of Saurashtra, Kachchh, North Gujarat and Rajasthan. It can be compared with transfer of water from Central USA to the arid areas of West USA.Such water transfer also enables optimum use of arable land and water when they are apart from each other. While land can not be transferred, water can be flown to distant places. Otherwise land one side and water away at other place, both remain unused, unproductive. And if in face of hunger and poverty, water and land are allowed to remain separated and unused, it can be regarded as a crime against humanity! The core issue of development in a country is to manage its natural resources. And as Development Economists often say, a country is poor, not because it does not have resources, but because it does not have either will or ability to manage its resources. In Sardar Sarovar Project we have undertaken this task of managing our water resources for National interest - our food security, energy security and upgrading the quality of life - including that of people who would be required to shift from submergence areas. It is a national project in the true sence.It is intended to present the factual details and basic data relating to the project, also highlighting its multidimensional contribution to welfare of the people of the participating States - e.g. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan and to the national economy.Like many other projects of developing countries from Aswan of Egypt to the Lesotho Highlands water scheme of South Africa and Tehri in India, Sardar Sarovar Project has also become a focus of a concerted international anti dam campaign, carried out by its local loyal supporters, resorting to disinformation intended to create confusion in public mind. As has happened in the case of Aswan Dam in Egypt, time will vindicate the wisdom of planners and leaders who have helped in pushing ahead with this project with determination and commitment."
ABOUT MY ATTACHEMENT WITH NARMADA RIVER
In his Highlands of Central India Captain J. Forsyth speaks eloquently about the infinitely varied beauty of the rocks: "the eye never wearies of the ... effect produced by the broken and reflected sunlight, now glancing from a pinnacle of snow-white marble reared against the deep blue of the sky as from a point of silver, touching here and there with bright lights the prominence of the middle heights and again losing itself in the soft bluish grays of their recesses. . . Here and there the white saccharine limestone is seamed by veins of dark green or black volcanic rock; a contrast which only enhances like a setting of jet, the purity of the surrounding marble." Well I wanted to write since a long time about Narmada River. Since my childhood, there has been a special attachment with this river. Why? Well I have been staying at that place where this river, flows through one of the most beautiful gorges you would ever come across in the country. Originating from a small town called Amarkantak, this river is considered to be one of the most pure rivers in India, though the reason may sound very absurd, but then it is said that Narmada the Goddess is not married. Well leaving this apart, the river flows through the deep forest ( Sal and Bamboo ) of Madhya Pradesh , inhabited by hundreds of animals like Sambar, Cheetals , Cheetah , and quenching the thirst of millions , species present on the planet Earth (Don’t forget Human Beings are also species ) I believe that many of you would have definitely seen the Gorgeous Kareena Kapoor (I used this word because i really like her), dancing on a small raft, on the tunes of Anu Mallik and Sandeep Chowta (not sure who composed raat ka nasha). This is where Jis desh main Ganga behti hain was shot,the very same place where Rekha was pushed to her death in Khoon bhari maang and Nargis sang with Raj Kapoor in Awara.If you have ever been there then you would be amazed with the boatmen calculation of the depth of the river , starting from a mere 10 feet to a whooping 600 feet (thought i have never ever figured it out that how they calculated the depth ). Boating on a moonlit night, when the whole stretch of water is transformed into a sheet of liquid silver is a site to cherish is absolutely magical and enchanting. Not been there ask anyone in Jabalpur if you are there to take you to Bhedaghat , the holy river flows by tranquilly flanked by the towering cliffs which reflect in it like a mirror the changing moods of nature,(there are volcanic seams on these rocks of different hues – black, green, brown and sometimes pink) Narmada! I still remember, when i was small used to get reduced to a small stream of river, during the summer, but the building of the dam, not only solved the problem of water for the people living in the area around Jabalpur, but then also, gave a new hope to the people around in terms of trade when it comes to fisheries. You can see the greenery around the dam, when you cross the area. Also, a huge bridge is built over the river Narmada near Tilwaraghat, which is unique of a kind, with a road built over the canal. That is the place when we all friends , do go whenever we are at jabalpur during our vacations .Beautiful days and cool nights we all friends have spent lingering around on the Tilwaraghat Bridge shouting and don’t know doing what all not. Being so emotionally attached to the city and the river which flows through it and quench the thirst of millions of people , when we are not protesting and are not against the building of the Sardar Sarovar Project, then why the so called Social Element of this country are creating all hue and cry of.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Why Marketing?
Development is a part of software, where your life is confined just to the screen and the keyboard. You get to meet people during the coffee breaks. This is not ultimately what i believe in. I believe in not only delivering the best to whom i am suppose to deliver, but then i want to be the delivery man , to whom i was delivering the thing. I want to meet out people and help them get what is really good for them .Basically want to live out to the people expectations not as someone who is a part of a back office, unknown and not heard, but to meet them , help them in believing that what we deliver is the best. Building that confidence and faith , that what we would at the end of the day be helping you achieve , something which will not only be beneficial in terms of short term monetary gain, but help you to achieve what is most commonly known as the Brand Name. I know that Even though it’s just out of my field, I think that it’s in me to go out and get the required in for the firm.
My Understanding of Marketing
My Understanding of Marketing
1. Marketing on the internet differ from marketing in other regular medias
First internet marketing is a part of e-commerce. What i believe is that differentiating Internet from other media will not be a reasonable one, if it is in terms of communication to the customer. How do i then differentiate it? One most common way to differentiate it from regular media is that the ease of buying option which internet marketing offers. If you are giving out a ‘3 – P (price, persistence, pleasure) product, and you have it as an advertisement on the Net, the viewer right now who is viewing that advertisement, can become the customer of the product within few minutes, and that too just on a click of mouse. With India’s growing economy and the increase in the number of internet users, Internet has become a popular media of communication and advertising. For example, the retail sector which is now the happening sector is concentrating more on youth, and the increase in the number of youth as internet users; I believe it would definitely open Internet as a bigger market. The only challenge which internet marketing has when compared from the regular media, is that of advertising through television. Though that day is not far when television will be a part of internet .I think that, coming are those days when people will believe only on Internet - Marketing.
2.What works in marketing? Maverick behavior or meticulous planning?
Both, they are something similar to the two sides of the coin. How? Take the 5 rupee coin, the digit 5 is the Maverick Behavior and the National emblem at the back is the one related to meticulous planning. Why?Because, the national emblem required meticulous planning to help it identify its authentication .Digit 5 is in itself a maverick behavior, what you are gaining from it!I would take up maverick behavior here because; meticulous planning is what always everyone does to survive. Maverick behavior has many words like strange, unfamiliar combinations, seems impossible to handle, etc related to it. And that’s what is needed, you need to hit it right when you have to and when you don’t feel like hitting it, then you should not. The dictionary meaning of maverick is, Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence. This is what you require; you cannot borrow ideas in Marketing. You can not be repetitive in something which your competitor has already done. You need to be a maverick. (And I would love to have my call sign as ‘maverick)
3)Why towards Marketing from a company really challenging?
Well , the company which would target to go toward marketing , would be 2, one the company which would want to establish itself as a brand , and then other the later which has established itself as a brand and wants to sell its product as a bulk consumer , which would be another phase of marketing through advertising . What they need to target on this is youth.What i think is that if you have the youth power with you, and you are among the happening among the youth then you have the power.Well no one was born intelligent, Albert Einstein though he had an elongated piece of mind, had to work, and show the world that what he has done is worth. What i think is that if we have something good to show to the world, then it will never be tough to convince someone of what you want from them, even if it is asking then to invest a fortune in. This is something very similar to a process of an IPO, if you have enough backing to show to the investor, He will definitely not say no.
4)Why me into marketing ?
Rather than going in for a research, just hit the market raw, and get some deals in. I believe the company should hit the market. On the way start collecting data, analyzing it, and on a targeted date, hit the road, for the Red bull. Come out with a bang, go ahead with the data, the research and get the horns honking. This is how I believe myself as I would go ahead. I would require help in terms of other material thing, but then if I am allowed to handle something, though would not be able to immediately show results , like not would come up with a diamond in a go, but then I would definitely slowly within a span of time emerge as a go getter. But then as time flows, there are many aspects here, what I believe is that, even though something can be done alone, there are few things which cannot be done alone. I would be requiring a team to work in. There are places where obviously a team view should match, the view that should match is respecting each other views, and basically recognizing the profitable view. This would sound like something absurd but then, the point here is that i would try to build a strong team (if permitted) also on the way which would be basically divided into two categories, one who have the ability to hit the road once they are in and the other to do the research and analysis handling the risks related issues and everything, so that all the things which are vision by the team is achieved. I not only want in the end to emerge as a leader alone but what i want are the Winning strokes.
1. Marketing on the internet differ from marketing in other regular medias
First internet marketing is a part of e-commerce. What i believe is that differentiating Internet from other media will not be a reasonable one, if it is in terms of communication to the customer. How do i then differentiate it? One most common way to differentiate it from regular media is that the ease of buying option which internet marketing offers. If you are giving out a ‘3 – P (price, persistence, pleasure) product, and you have it as an advertisement on the Net, the viewer right now who is viewing that advertisement, can become the customer of the product within few minutes, and that too just on a click of mouse. With India’s growing economy and the increase in the number of internet users, Internet has become a popular media of communication and advertising. For example, the retail sector which is now the happening sector is concentrating more on youth, and the increase in the number of youth as internet users; I believe it would definitely open Internet as a bigger market. The only challenge which internet marketing has when compared from the regular media, is that of advertising through television. Though that day is not far when television will be a part of internet .I think that, coming are those days when people will believe only on Internet - Marketing.
2.What works in marketing? Maverick behavior or meticulous planning?
Both, they are something similar to the two sides of the coin. How? Take the 5 rupee coin, the digit 5 is the Maverick Behavior and the National emblem at the back is the one related to meticulous planning. Why?Because, the national emblem required meticulous planning to help it identify its authentication .Digit 5 is in itself a maverick behavior, what you are gaining from it!I would take up maverick behavior here because; meticulous planning is what always everyone does to survive. Maverick behavior has many words like strange, unfamiliar combinations, seems impossible to handle, etc related to it. And that’s what is needed, you need to hit it right when you have to and when you don’t feel like hitting it, then you should not. The dictionary meaning of maverick is, Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence. This is what you require; you cannot borrow ideas in Marketing. You can not be repetitive in something which your competitor has already done. You need to be a maverick. (And I would love to have my call sign as ‘maverick)
3)Why towards Marketing from a company really challenging?
Well , the company which would target to go toward marketing , would be 2, one the company which would want to establish itself as a brand , and then other the later which has established itself as a brand and wants to sell its product as a bulk consumer , which would be another phase of marketing through advertising . What they need to target on this is youth.What i think is that if you have the youth power with you, and you are among the happening among the youth then you have the power.Well no one was born intelligent, Albert Einstein though he had an elongated piece of mind, had to work, and show the world that what he has done is worth. What i think is that if we have something good to show to the world, then it will never be tough to convince someone of what you want from them, even if it is asking then to invest a fortune in. This is something very similar to a process of an IPO, if you have enough backing to show to the investor, He will definitely not say no.
4)Why me into marketing ?
Rather than going in for a research, just hit the market raw, and get some deals in. I believe the company should hit the market. On the way start collecting data, analyzing it, and on a targeted date, hit the road, for the Red bull. Come out with a bang, go ahead with the data, the research and get the horns honking. This is how I believe myself as I would go ahead. I would require help in terms of other material thing, but then if I am allowed to handle something, though would not be able to immediately show results , like not would come up with a diamond in a go, but then I would definitely slowly within a span of time emerge as a go getter. But then as time flows, there are many aspects here, what I believe is that, even though something can be done alone, there are few things which cannot be done alone. I would be requiring a team to work in. There are places where obviously a team view should match, the view that should match is respecting each other views, and basically recognizing the profitable view. This would sound like something absurd but then, the point here is that i would try to build a strong team (if permitted) also on the way which would be basically divided into two categories, one who have the ability to hit the road once they are in and the other to do the research and analysis handling the risks related issues and everything, so that all the things which are vision by the team is achieved. I not only want in the end to emerge as a leader alone but what i want are the Winning strokes.
India Israel justified is It ??
"India, 28 others demand end to Israeli military action"
Eventually what is this country trying to do? I am talking about India. This is the second time when India has voted against an allied country. Allied country here I mean Israel. How do they justify this? Is this now because of Russia this time, as Russia voted in the favor of the resolution which was passed?
Let me take you through the whole issue,
“Agitated by the abduction of one of the Israeli soldiers by the Hamas Govt, Israel launched a military action in the Palestinian civil area on June, 25. The UN decided to send a special mission headed by the Special Rapporteur to the area for getting the details. After 2 days the session adopted a resolution on the Human right situation. Ultimately this resolution was passed and India and 28 other countries voted in favor of the same”
Let me take you back on a flashback
“India supports the Israeli method of handling terrorism”
"Israel Offers Support to India in Fighting Terrorism"
"Israel-India nuclear cooperation gets attention of the region"
"Israel assures all-out support”
What does India want? Is it giving the votes in favor because they want a permanent seat in the Security Council or does it want Shashi Tharoor to get the top UN's post? What India is doing is that it trusts those aids which they should definitely not. This country should realize that in the long run they have support from few countries, Israel definitely one of them. India should be careful not to condescend to its allies. A congenial solution here would have been not voting or try to be normal.
“A man learns by his mistake ... Hope we all do learn”
Eventually what is this country trying to do? I am talking about India. This is the second time when India has voted against an allied country. Allied country here I mean Israel. How do they justify this? Is this now because of Russia this time, as Russia voted in the favor of the resolution which was passed?
Let me take you through the whole issue,
“Agitated by the abduction of one of the Israeli soldiers by the Hamas Govt, Israel launched a military action in the Palestinian civil area on June, 25. The UN decided to send a special mission headed by the Special Rapporteur to the area for getting the details. After 2 days the session adopted a resolution on the Human right situation. Ultimately this resolution was passed and India and 28 other countries voted in favor of the same”
Let me take you back on a flashback
“India supports the Israeli method of handling terrorism”
"Israel Offers Support to India in Fighting Terrorism"
"Israel-India nuclear cooperation gets attention of the region"
"Israel assures all-out support”
What does India want? Is it giving the votes in favor because they want a permanent seat in the Security Council or does it want Shashi Tharoor to get the top UN's post? What India is doing is that it trusts those aids which they should definitely not. This country should realize that in the long run they have support from few countries, Israel definitely one of them. India should be careful not to condescend to its allies. A congenial solution here would have been not voting or try to be normal.
“A man learns by his mistake ... Hope we all do learn”
Brolly - Parasol - Umbra - Umbrella
'Rain Rain go away come again another day “Its monsoon time again. And every one have their umbrellas out. This is my 3rd monsoon in Mumbai and I just love the monsoons out here. Be it my way to office, to my girlfriends place or anywhere, i just love the way this city has always taken the monsoons. Though this time the situation is a little paranoid after the 26th July, catastrophe.
People would really hate me if i dig into the negative side of the monsoon, as this is smeared in the media, as if it is the only thing which they have to cover. Well leave apart the negative quality. Have you ever smelled the perfume of this wet earth, the way it fills your nose with the intoxicating smell. Being in the closed 4 walls of your office and then in your small car is not what these rains are for. I hate people who love to stay in their so called air conditioned office, cars and homes during these monsoons. You ask them have you ever smelled the wet earth and, you will be amazed to hear them say in some funny accent ‘It stinks man/dude'. Well that’s the bad part.
My way to office is somewhat something very funny which you would not see much in mumbai, one side of the road you would see big salt beds, which are normally full with rain waters during the monsoon, making you feel like a carpet of water all around you , the other side big unused green land , with tall buildings visible faraway as if trying to envelope everything around you. What it tries to depict is a competition between the Man and Nature. Who knows who will win?
Even though mumbai is a concrete jungle, you would love the small brooks formation on the various hills around the city which makes it lively, contradicting the dull illogical designed concrete structure of this city. I have not tried to cover the Arabian Sea here as that would be a complete injustice to the beauty torridness of both the torrential rains and the Arabian Sea. I will definitely try to cover that in my next blog….
People would really hate me if i dig into the negative side of the monsoon, as this is smeared in the media, as if it is the only thing which they have to cover. Well leave apart the negative quality. Have you ever smelled the perfume of this wet earth, the way it fills your nose with the intoxicating smell. Being in the closed 4 walls of your office and then in your small car is not what these rains are for. I hate people who love to stay in their so called air conditioned office, cars and homes during these monsoons. You ask them have you ever smelled the wet earth and, you will be amazed to hear them say in some funny accent ‘It stinks man/dude'. Well that’s the bad part.
My way to office is somewhat something very funny which you would not see much in mumbai, one side of the road you would see big salt beds, which are normally full with rain waters during the monsoon, making you feel like a carpet of water all around you , the other side big unused green land , with tall buildings visible faraway as if trying to envelope everything around you. What it tries to depict is a competition between the Man and Nature. Who knows who will win?
Even though mumbai is a concrete jungle, you would love the small brooks formation on the various hills around the city which makes it lively, contradicting the dull illogical designed concrete structure of this city. I have not tried to cover the Arabian Sea here as that would be a complete injustice to the beauty torridness of both the torrential rains and the Arabian Sea. I will definitely try to cover that in my next blog….
'Reticent' Are We !!!
Having written all those stupid and no-sense blogs, it seems like a real time waste. I was never been leveraged upon by anything in my life , but then now it seems more like a umbrage to me and my life that i have been so sporadic in my daily activities. Insipid - Would be a very good word to call life. Very monotonous and the Salacious part is obviously missing. I was just glancing across my old school magazine and to be honest it was amazingly very nostalgic. It seems that we have been vanquished by our daily life and we are forgetting what we actually are made for. Though this argument may seem arcane to those who are not working, but then now every one has become brazen about the whole affair , whether its politics , whether it is sports or whatever. It is definitely being shown here of our ceding authority to them. Them!! ‘them’ here is a strong word and basically covers a very big community. What we do is just commiserate with the losers on their defeat. We all know that they, in the past, not taken cognizance of any protest unless there has been some show of violence. Leave apart being a colossus of this movement are we even a small part of it? Is it really a thing to be cogitated upon before giving up? Even if we do this, we always put forward some cogent reasons not to anyone else, but ourselves for abandoning the plan. The cardinal member of us is missing, it has been lost!!!!!!!!!!
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