Sudden Realizations...

Innocence Unlimited... 

Needless to say that life has picked up too much of a velocity in today's time. Only thing that's increasing everyday is no. of emails in your inbox apart from cost (inflation). Myriads of notifications, watsapp messages, linked inn updates etc... which makes life too full for anything else.

Then we have SUDDEN realizations in life in one form or the other. Today I got a phone call from my wife which I disconnected. Later I got a text, pls call back.

I called back after an hour and found that she is crying as our pet rabbit has passed away. I came back home and sat with her and realized that probably we should have cared a little more...spent a little extra time with him...

I had to bury the cute little creature. I was deeply troubled inside and pretending to be strong...

I got some relief when I poured the white salt...then came a layer of mother earth and things were calm.

Today it was a sudden pause from so called fast life. A good realization that life is certainly MORE than what it appears...

Women Drivers

I can see the wit with which you have clicked this blog post :)
Let's admit that this is one topic which attracts attention of both the gender equally.

Let me share some experiences that I had...

@Toll Plaza

Cars are queued up & almost everybody is stressed to reach office and punch in time.

Since cars are not moving at all, the lady in the car in front of me thought of doing justice with time. She tilted the central rear view mirror and picked up a lipstick.

She just started her 'paint job' and the traffic started moving. She was completely ignorant about this. When I press the horn to seek her attention, she adjusted the rear view mirror and gave a look as if I am unreasonable here.

When I pointed towards the road, she grinned and moved on.

@Office Cafeteria

These supposedly good drivers are definitely clueless about car parts. When I asked a colleague that what is piston? She said, is it in the front of the car which covers the engine? She meant bonnet

 

This gross ignorance made me laugh. And not to mention that she finished her meal in a jiffy and disappeared!

 

You can share your experiences too :)    

  
 

That feeling – I can smell it in the air!

I want to share a very intimate phenomena that happens with me every year.

 During this time of the year, when monsoons are over and winters are approaching, I feel AWESOME!

There is something about this phase. I feel elated for everything that I see or do. I feel good about the people living in slums who are taking an afternoon nap on their terrace (which I can see from my 12^th floor office window).

I feel excited about the concept called LIFE. Everything looks beautiful. It has a weird psychedelic effect on me. I can sense the upcoming festivity. I CAN SMELL THE CRACKERS IN THE AIR.

I visualize the market place decorated with lanterns, crowd thronging the streets, shops extended to the road, houses taking a shower with lights etc…

I was skeptical about sharing this concept. I did tell this very recently to someone who also experiences the same. If you feel the same do click on like button J

Contemporary design - Creating the differentiation





I wish to highlight the recent changes in  Hotel design and the impact of the same on consumer experience.

I recently experienced Novotel - Hyd and Vivanta by Taj.

Traditional hotel rooms were having a bath tub which is no more prominent in modern properties.

Well, When I use a bath tub, invariably i get up with a guilt of wasting water - close to 200 liters which otherwise could have been sorted out in 20 liters!

Things which I really like about the new design is that they are vibrant, bright and full of utilities.

I remember connecting my laptop with LCD and working on it was fun. The bedside iHome puts a smile on Apple users. The rooms are designed keeping in mind the modern day traveler. The connectivity panel which can connect the most of modern day devices was impressive. I like blackberry charging port the most!

Rooms had one touch control to manoeuver the room lighting temp etc.I was wondering if i make my parents stay here, they will spend the night figuring out how to operate !

This was reiterated when I experienced the electronic shower next morning :)

The design element was leaving a mark in coffee-shop ,conference halls etc. Well lit, bright carpets and concealed lighting's make the hall look bigger than it is.

I am happy to see the tectonic shift in hotel design. Thankfully we have moved away from maroon carpets and golden chandeliers :)

Innovation

Recently I attended a Operations Road Show. It was amazing to hear from one of the best leader of the century.

The way they define innovation is "It is a interaction of imagination with reality"

What an apt description, very true... What we see around was an imagination at some point in time.

The question is why innovate? If we don't someone will do & serve customers better by taking our share away.So, for the very own existence innovation is must.

To put innovation to action, we can use these analogies:

1)If Apply was to design...
2)If BMW was to drive efficiency...
3)South Western to take costs out...
4)Google was to develop a Mobile Interface...

What they would have done...

Now the question is all the companies are having similar strategies... meetings/summits etc.

The differentiator is the thirst for getting better and better and better and better and better...

The winner will be decided by one thing. "How badly you want it?"

Customer service

Today I went to a dhaba where I use to have my dinner when I was an intern in a prestigious 5 star property of Delhi. This dates back to winters of 2002. This dhaba wala remember me for two reason:

• The most regular customer
• The last customer (every day; He has to keep it open till 2330 hrs for me)

Well, Today I had my lunch at the same place. Some cops were having their lunch & some painters/labors were also having lunch.

What I liked was a painter who was wearing a green T shirt & white trouser (with paint marks on them, half day work result) Good amount of paint was sticking on hands also. He ordered dal and 4 thick tandoori rotis. The dhaba wala asked rudely “Makhan lega”. He said “aaj de do”. He had some good earnings for the day, so he was relishing it. It was a Rs.2/- butter packet (which was a treat for him).

The butter was divided into 2 parts

• One piece into dal
• The other was equally rubbed on all 4 rotis.

The wrapper was rubbed in hot dal to squeeze the little butter sticking to the wrapper, wiped with colorful fingers & licked with a smile full of gratification. Today was his day. He was shaved freshly , neatly combed hairs. I kept watching him eating his food with colorful fingers.

Thanks to festivals like ‘diwali’ which allows money to flow down to these people, who in turn can have some colorful days!

Dispose Responsibly!!!

We have seen this symbol on most of the electronic gadgets, batteries, cells etcetera. This symbol says do not dispose this item/gadget in the dustbin as it will harm the environment.


In India most of the gadgets carry the same symbol (might be because we are becoming global). My question to the marketing team of big brands is where we dispose them when finding dustbin is a challenge.

I would like to make a point here that why can’t we be real and practical or maybe we can implement executionable ideas.


In developed countries, there are collection days for hazardous waste and centers where people can dispose of these items. May be in India the battery companies can offer buyback for lithium ion batteries which generally goes into the dustbin.

In India the lead acid batteries are mostly recycled but in an inefficient and harmful to environment manner as checks are not there in place.


Final word is, please find out an actionable way of reducing impact on environment rather than just branding ourselves in an unsustainable manner.