Is new prosperity creating raw deals for some working women?

Rukmini was a girl who grew up under fond encouragement of her parents. She grew up with a dream in her eyes – to be financially independent and to work and make use of her eduction. She saw her dream come true when she got a partner after marriage who allowed her to pursue her career. She cherished her first salary which she donated in total to an old-age home. Within a few years, her businessman husband got it all coming in his ways and achieved a grand success. His business thrived on a web based business model and the influx of high earning young population. And then, he asked his wife to quit her job and “look after the children”.

Rukmini had to quit her job. She had a Hobson’s choice between her family and her job.

This story is a quite real; it is happening behind the walls of 3/4BHK flats in high-rise Indian Metros. And the factor responsible for this trend is: high economic growth and the tremendous opportunities created by it.

I wonder if India’s high GDP growth and the new economic successes are creating raw deals for some women. Just a decade earlier, it was thought that both husband-wife working was a necessity to survive. With salaries for highly educated professionals and profits of successful new-age entrepreneurs going beyond the roof, this is not true anymore. And when it comes to re-prioritizing, it is mostly women who are asked to stay back at home and raise the children.

Indeed, this trend is one flip side to India’s growth story…

- Rahul

Article Published: 10 Reasons Why Airline Industry Is Unique

My article titled “10 Reasons Why Airline Industry Is Unique” is now published on MBASkool.com. Here is the link:

http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing/207-ten-reasons-why-airline-industry-is-unique.html

In this article, I have tried to analyze how the airline industry is so unique, covering the business model, government interventions, profitability, safety concerns and a host of other factors. The inspiration for the analysis and report was a quote from Richard Branson. When asked how to become a Millionaire, Richard Branson said, “You start off as a Billionaire and then open an Airline.” I found this funny, but at the same time it was so true!

Read this article to know more…

Regards,

Rahul

Role of Expression in Parent Child Relationship

Have you seen your parents cry?

I guess you may not have seen it many times. But how would be the feeling? I guess that would take the world out of you…

Does it happen the same way when parents see their children cry?

Do they get a sinking feeling when they see their children cry? Do they see the world collapse in front of their stoned eyes; do they feel something as if bursting out in their hearts? I guess we would answer in the negation. They must not feel so deeply every time they see their children cry. After all, they are grownups. They are mature, have seen life and are not easily shaken. But even then there should be times and situations when no matter how much they have seen life, all would seem trivial; when no matter how grownup they are they would feel helpless in front of the situation. I hope you would agree with me. In those situations, what do you think - would their pain and grief be graver than ours? I think it is difficult to answer, though the pointer would be tilted towards “yes”.

I think we take expression too seriously. If we love someone, we are taught that we should express so. If we like someone, we should tell him or her how much they are for us. After some time, we tend to think “seriously” that expression is a necessary indication of what goes inside our heart. It may not always be so! And this is where I find connect with my example of parent-child pain situation.

If parents start expressing all their pains, problems and objections, I think our life would become very depressed. On the other hand, though we would always love to see them express their happiness, pleasure and applause, this knowledge can also make us over confident, relaxed and uncaring in extreme situations. Therefore, I think “trust” is an immensely important ingredient in a parent-child relationship. Though it is important in all other relationships too, it plays a very critical role in parent-child relationship because when children grow up and become laden with responsibilities while parents become old and non-contributing in worldly matters, the dynamics of relationship changes. A “trust” between them makes them perceive, imagine, empathize and feel more than simply react according to the expressions of the other.

I think expression is important, but not always necessary. It is good, but its absence is not always bad. A trustful relationship based on mutual empathy would turn the silence into another language of expression…

- Rahul

Ironing Clothes

I iron my own clothes. It saves lots of time and hassles for me. Today when I was ironing my shirt, I noticed how it worked. The shirt I picked up was clean and dried. But merely being clean didn’t matter – it had to be wrinkle free. When I ironed it, it eliminated all its wrinkles and made it appear perfect. But the process of ironing may not be very pleasant for the cloth. After all, it would heat the fabric, and then rubbed on the surface to give that perfect touch. This made me think: the process to attain perfection is almost always through some unpleasant experiences or challenges. It is also reflected in the oft repeated anecdote: gold attains purity only by getting melted in a furnace…

I kept watching the hot press move, the wrinkles vanish and my shirt becoming wearable… The difficulties and challenges in our life making us and our approach closer towards perfection…

- Rahul

Lessons Learnt - Online

Learnt these lessons:

1) Arrogance is a disqualifier for friendship.

2) We should learn to keep friends who are more intelligent than us, for our own benefit.

3) There is fine line between admiration and flattery and we should not become victim of the later.

4) Expecting flattery from friends means having only weaklings as friends who would not only dump us in critical times but lead us towards mediocrity.

5) Online friendships are often a ‘waste’ of time/energy and can be ‘dangerous’ too.

6) Intelligence breeds more opponents and enviers than friends.

– Rahul

My Article Published: “Role of Software Tools in Supply Chain Optimization”

My Article titled “Role of Software Tools in Supply Chain Optimization” has been published today on MBASkool.com. You can read it here:

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Role of Software Tools in Supply Chain Optimization
By: Kumar Rahul

http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/operations/192-role-of-software-tools-in-supply-chain-optimization.html

Here is a small URL for the same: http://lnkd.in/FZ5tkZ

The article builds on my experiences during working on supply chain optimization software packages and in my interactions with many 3PLs (third party logistics services providers) in India. While interacting with many 3PLs and also their clients, I noticed a level of discomfort in using the latest software tools for supply chain design and optimization. They wanted to do the same thing using Excel. And I knew for sure that it was not possible to achieve the same result without using the advance tools enabling them. I have attempted to summarize my thoughts in this article.

Do read and if possible comment/discuss, like, or recommend.

- Rahul

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Infosys in Pune - Shining India!

Infosys Campus in Pune, India. Shining India!

Infosys in Hyderabad - Happy Moments!

Infosys Campus in Hyderabad: Happy Moments!

Acknowledgement: Snaps taken by many people. Sorry for not being able to mention names.

Is India really so Diverse?

It is true that our India is very diverse. It has diverse people, diverse cultures, and diverse places. But at times we tend to take such diversity too far and too seriously. I realised it very recently.

It was raining in Delhi. There had been a snowfall in Kashmir a few days back. Two days afterwards, weather changed in our hometown in the East, there was a cold wave. Back West in Pune, I saw clouds in the sky and also felt cold wind blowing through. When I told mother about change in weather at my place, she said, “How big India is, but see how each part is getting affected by the same change.”

So true… I think we should not get so lost in appreciating diversity that we forget to notice the unity and oneness of India!

- Rahul

Short Listing

I was writing a one-line email to my colleague. I wrote:

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“I had done some shorlisting; sending you those:”
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I was doing a spelling mistake, as the correct word should be “shortlisting / short listing”
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When I tried to correct the mistake, MS Word suggested me this:
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“I had done some shoplifting; sending you those:”
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:)

Add Sanskrit in Census Data

I received a noble request from a friend. Sharing it because I support the cause:
 

Dear All,
 

I want to bring your attention to the very important thing…
 

The census of India has come to the last stage now and at any moment the government officials will come to you to ask information about you and family …
 

The form contains some basic information such as your name, no. of family members and the languages you know…
 

While filling the details DO NOT forget to write SANSKRIT language against the Languages You Know …. Please.
 

Though we rarely use Sanskrit in our day to day activities, it is the oldest language of the human civilization and is the language of the Gods.
 

All our ancient scriptures & Vedas are in Sanskrit. Every year many scholars from various countries visit India to study this language.
 

Its now been a known fact that many of the words from other languages such as Hindi, English, Latin are borrowed from Sanskrit…
 

The sad story is that, this cultured language is taking its last breath. It has been found during the last survey that population aware of this language are only in few thousands. So the government might declare this language as DEAD Language.
 

Once declared as DEAD Language, the government will stop the funding and there will be NO further hope.
 

The only hope is YOU, the people of this country, can enliven the glories of this language.
 

If you think this is right step, do spread this message to your friends…
 

Regards,

My Article Published: 'Wal-Mart in Banking?'

My Article titled “Walmart in Banking?” has been published today on MBASkool.com. You can read it here:

http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/finance/187-walmart-in-banking-and-financial-sector.html

The article analyses Wal-Mart’s interests in the banking and financial sector and tries to see the business rationale in those. It also analyses whether such a move is beneficial for the stakeholders.

Do read and if possible comment/discuss, like, or recommend.

- Rahul

Multiculturalism is Not a Failure in General

In the recent times, a lot many National Leaders in the West have expressed concern over non-integration of immigrants with their societies. The oft repeated statement is: “Multiculturalism has failed”. I think Nicolas Sarkozy of France was the most recent one to say this to the world. You can news about his statements at:
 

https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jR1m5BpdMrDES3u4Cso1v3FwQRUg?docId=CNG.6b096ac0cdcfce7a0f599fbbb1c85c27.911
 

Or
 

https://www.sify.com/news/multiculturalism-has-failed-nicolas-sarkozy-news-international-lclmafaahgd.html
 

Among the other World Leaders who have said exactly the same about “failure of multiculturalism” include:
 

·         British Prime Minister David Cameron

·         German Chancellor Angela Merkel

·         Australia’s ex-prime minister John Howard and

·         Spanish ex-premier Jose Maria Aznar
 

These leaders have said that their respective nations have not been able to effectively integrate the immigrants and hence “Multiculturalism has failed”. While reading through all their statements and all the news about them, I want to correct what should be the tag. They should have said: “Multiculturalism with Muslims has failed”.
 

In each of these nations, the Muslims no matter from where they migrated from have lived a life in reclusive pockets. We see the same thing in India. Muslims world over have shown the tendency to start taking part in terrorist activities, as all the biggest terror attacks have involved participants from many nationalities and colors but with a common religion. And if we read all these news, we realize that all these leaders are indeed speaking about non-integration of Muslims in the Western societies, and not about others!
 

Being an Indian, I would like these world leaders to know that even India, a country which celebrates “multiculturalism”, has by and large failed to make”integration” with Muslims. In India, there are two separate penal codes – one for the Hindus and one for the Muslims. Due to different penal codes, Muslims are legally allowed to have so many “privileges” in personal lives, which would be called criminal for Hindus.
 

In fact while reading a summary of the book “Tea with Terrorists”, I realized that such “failures” are neither failures of multiculturalism as a concept, nor failure of these world nations, but these failures are failures of the Islamic world to keep up with the times…