Non Performing Knowledge Assets (NPKAs)

I came with this word/ idea after spending sometime as an entrepreneur and reflecting on my life post & prior being an entrepreneur. As a similar term might be familiar to people from finance background what we call NPAs (non performing assets). It means 'an asset' which is sub standard or doubtful or loss making.

In today's scenario what we have been seeing in education reflects the same. What most of us study becomes useless in due course of time. During our work we use less than 10% of what we have learnt. Companies like Google who have been unknowingly able to reduce the NPKAs have surpassed performances of many companies who came before. Doing something on one's own or following ones dreams gives ability to reduce these NPKAs. As a society we should promote adventure nature in today's youth with proper guidance. Creativity is the buzzword now but little people associate it with the ability/ opportunity to utilize one's potential to the fullest. Hope we are able to see things in wholistic perspective and increase the horizon of our thinking. 

East & West: Perspective from Discipline point of view

During my last two journeys and also by numerous interactions with international students I realized that one of the differentiating factors is discipline. I would classify the discipline in two parts - emotional & physical.

If you see the general Indian public they are some of the laziest bunch of people on the planet with little regard for their health. The greatest contrast is seen in policemen or many a cases with normal businessmen. There is lack of physical discipline though since last couple of years there has been an increasing trend among people towards walking & running. Yet Europeans or US nationals will beat Indians by a mile. Yet so much of physical fitness has failed to keep the countries out of red during the recession or during economic turmoil! Countries like France, Italy, Greece, Spain etc. have lack of financial discipline and even though each of the countries have low levels of population they have been finding it hard to manage. On the other hand India & China's growth is a matter of envy. What makes them click?

In my opinion it is the presence of emotional discipline in the developing countries. On an average most of the Indian males/ females will have 1 or 2 relationships while in west it is a norm to have min 4-5 relationships by the time a guy/ girl reaches the age of 25. This is just the case of morally upright westerners. The adventurous ones will have gone through numerous experiences and when I asked one such person he had forgotten the count even! One of the European students even told that Australian girls can sleep with 5 guys in a night! So it seems that it might be the European benchmark. Indian males will envy for sure but many in the cities are trying to catch up! It is worrisome and that is the point where people should use there mind. Human beings are not simple objects but the emotions differentiate them from machines and sense of larger thinking differentiates them from animals. As Buddha says we become what we think. Everything starts at the emotional plane and subsequently manifests in behaviors. During my first visit to Europe I realized that most of the people who are into smoking or drinking habit do so to conform or to gain acceptance in the peer group without using much of their mind. Similar is the scenario in case of making physical associations. Guys/ girls start with a noble view of relationships but experience cheating, lies etc. In great hatred to their such kind of partners they also start behaving in the same manner and thus the vicious cycle starts & continues. It emotionally rattles them and to suppress 'questioning in their minds' they turn towards physical exercises. It tires them and to some extent suppresses such questioning but during the course of life a stage comes when they no longer can suppress these and things go haywire. Many change their career tracks abruptly and some run towards countries like India - seeking peace & salvation. Italy with a population of 60 million has a president who is known for his sexual exploits and adventurs. People are made helpless by their own representatives. France with almost same amount of population has a president who has hard time managing his wife's/ mistresses' affairs. How will he be able to manage a country when he is busy managing his partners' affairs!! Similar is the case at many other places in Europe. 

People should understand that questioning is good which was promoted by many philosophers - be it westerners/ easterners. Also the sense of freedom has been abused in western nations due to lack of sense of responsibility. It is true even in Indian context yet more so evident in European context. It seems 'the lost generation' will take a long time to come to its' senses. I wish it happens before irreparable damage is done. W all share the one world and I feel as much European as Indian. I am doing my bit by contribution by writing and hope few others do their bit in making this world a better place. Amen!

The girl child in India

Many of us will be aware that ‘the better half of the world’ still doesn’t have proper support system and families in India & elsewhere still feel burdened by their advent in this world. I would like to start with one incident from one of my journeys. I was recently visiting to Gwalior (a former princely & popular place in Madhya Pradesh in India) where my younger brothers stay. Three of us (including one of my brother’ friend) were returning after a dinner [at about 8:00 pm and it was quite dark]. Suddenly we heard a girl screaming and saw a guy forcibly pulling the girl to the nearby main road [I later came to know that there was a vehicle there]. We became quite concerned as this part of the India has high poverty and there have been numerous incidents of girls being forcibly converted to prostitutes. I mustered the courage and held the guys' hand. I asked him to let the girl go. The answer didn’t surprise me much. He told that the girl was his wife and running away from him. He also told that the girl was mentally disturbed but she looked alright to me. The guy smelled of alcohol even though he and the girl were wearing pretty decent cloths. I didn’t let the guy go and insisted that he should let the girl go. He then told that the mother of the girl was waiting at the main road (which was around 500 m from the place where this incident was talking place. I asked him to call her. He started calling the ‘supposed mother’. An old lady with another guy came towards us. I was surprised & bit concerned about what I was doing - was I right or wrong. As the girl was screaming some people from the nearby houses also came. The girl got an opportunity to make herself stable and called police guys on the phone. The girl then started saying that the guy was forcibly taking her to his house. We somehow freed the girl but she didn’t run away! She didn’t refute the claim that the old lady was her mother. Suddenly two police guys appeared on a bike and when I told them of the situation they took the guy with him on the motorcycle. What surprised me at this instant was that the girl then started shouting again and telling the police guys not to take the guy. She started pleading the people to call ‘good cops’. More confusion! The policemen looked quite authentic with all the walkie talkies, uniform etc. Then I was struck by a fleeting statement “Isse phir shaadi kaun karega?” [Who will marry her later?]. When I saw who made the comment I was ‘ashamed’ to see that it was the old lady [I came to know that she was actually the real mother of the girl!]. Most of the people may had missed that statement but it is still resonating in my mind.

We left the place but with conflicting thoughts and several questions in my mind which still bother me.

• Was it right to do what I did?
• Wouldn’t it have been better for the girl to go with the guy as she will be atleast guaranteed a roof and security – even though the husband would have been a drunk? At least she will be protected from the hardships of the society which can’t provide sustenance to a lone woman rather she is subject to all kind of humiliating situations.
• What would have been prompted a mother to take such a harsh decision? I have utmost respect for mothers, irrespective of nationality, and I can very well say it would have been one of the most difficult decisions the mother would have taken. A mother who fed the child from birth, provided food & shelter, took care of the child when it cried, cried and laughed with her, even feeding the child and not eating herself??
• Did I commit a great ‘sin’ by considering myself a better judge of the situation? I was not the mother and had never interacted with the child!! I had not born the child and not known the happiness or sorrows of the life which both had shared? How could I have made the judgement?

I ask these questions more today as one of my cousin sisters is going to get married soon [barely around legal marriage age in India]. When I talked to her she doesn’t want to get married. Her parents have started looking for a suitable bridegroom. When I literally told my father if he has gone crazy to help them in this he explained me the society, the people, the hardships etc. the girl or the family might have to face and I have to say he is quite right. Many of us, who have spend last several years in cities, have less understanding of things happening in smaller cities/ villages. She couldn’t get the academic environment or exposure which I could get so she can’t sustain herself. Even if I come forward to support her she can’t be married at a later stage as Indian society is not so open about it. I feel a sense of impotence. Our society doesn’t have a mechanism to support or recognize the individuality of a girl. We remain aloof from the common populace by the so called ‘fast life’ increasing our needs and hence efforts to meet those ‘needs’. We think ourselves, people from best of the institution in the country, unable in managing our own lives so how can we do that for others.

When I was a kid, with lots of needs, I used to think I will become a very rich guy with s*** load of money and will change the world – mine as well as that of people around me. I now realise that even if I have the whole planets’ wealth I can’t do so. Money is not the solution of everything. ‘Proper’ education is – enabling an individual to be ‘free’ from all kinds of needs & dependencies. I feel now even closer to the goal of 'Sustainable Living'. Sharing with another human being whatever little has been given to us – be it education, money, happy moments, people etc. Sharing others’ sorrow. Learning the true purpose of life. Breaking the impermanent walls which we have built around our hearts us and ‘opening’ to the people of the world.

I ask for all those, who are as confused as me,

“Asato Ma Sad Samaya, Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya”

[From ‘non-existence’ lead us to ‘existence’, From ‘darkness’ lead us to ‘light’]

For inexperienced readers of Sanskrit explanation of the sloka above is at http://www.funonthenet.in/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=154973.0

Outsourcing between smaller and bigger cities

While I was having dinner at a restaurant in Mumbai and having discussion with few friends suddenly a thought came into my mind. Why not utilise outsourcing concept within India itself? USA has been doing with countries like India then why not within India – between smaller & bigger cities? Though BPOs have been doing it at some places but it is not sufficient. This will generate more requirements at the nearby places/ cities of the big cities and also help in creating talent pool in smaller cities as outsourcing has done to India. This in turn will help containing migration and also in enable bigger cities to sustain bigger populations and undue pressure on the resources will be minimised. What big cities give is the opportunity. If such kind of opportunities could be created at the smaller cities nothing like it.

Economics of such Initiative

Traveling daily in big cities in headache. It almost ‘costs’ 2-3 hours commuting daily. So assuming 25 days in a month the total time lost/ person will be 50-75 hours i.e. more than 2 days in a month. Apart from this the mental hassels, road rage etc. For an organisation with 50 persons it will amount to 2500 – 3750 hours i.e. 104-156 days in a month!! Why don’t HR managers pay any attention towards this? Apart from this bigger cities have more costs. Untill and unless big companies realise this potential there won’t be much infrastructure in smaller cities. Some might cite that there are no proper facilities that is why there are no companies and some say since there are no companies that’s why there are no facilities. It is chicken and egg situtation and companies have to take initiative. People can leave peaceful lives in smaller cities, costs are low, closeness is more, hassles are less etc.

Hope something might happen in this direction.

Relevance of placement departments at IIMs

IIMs are supposedly elitist of management institutions in India but there seems to be a big problem somewhere. It somehow fails to give the confidence level among the students about their own abilities. I have been a student there not so long ago. Students blame the faculties and faculties blame the students. Indians seem to be quite good blaming each other. Same thing happens at different places be it elections or after Mumbai bomb blasts. I came to realize that most of the cases students are to blame as they fail to bank on the opportunities given to them. We fail to appreciate what has been given to us. Thankfully my realization started coming after my euro trip. The thought process became quite focused after the meeting with Prof. Abraham Koshy at ESSEC. Many a cases we don’t appreciate our elders & the knowledge. It is not particular to just Indian subcontinent though. The Indian culture, which appreciates & respects so much its elders, is slowly going out of ‘fad’. What we now discuss is IPL, babes and spam mails sending ‘juice’ messages to the groups. I remember one interesting incident at French language course at ESSEC where the teacher was asking about what students discuss in the normal course of conversation. When I said politics, cricket and other stuffs she said discussing politics in France is ‘taboo’. I was quite surprised. I asked what do you discuss then and the reply was what you ate last night, where are you having party next weekend etc. and I was struck. We have made politics taboo ourselves. The meaning of politics has been much misquoted. It relates to the daily life of the people and when the older generation also refrains from it I can’t imagine what it will convey to the younger generation! Are we also moving in the same direction? Younger generation will have to ask itself.

So as I was discussing the situation at the best management institutions in India. With the recession lot of people became so tensed that once a friend at the breakfast table went at length to give me lecture about how IIM A should care for its students and it is not able to do so at this stage. I told him the job of IIM A is to give you education which could enable you to stand on your own feet and give confidence to face the challenges of life relatively easily. He told me that I don’t know anything and when I told him I have worked for three years he couldn’t counter further. I don’t say that work experience brings relevant maturity to everybody but it gave me an opportunity to access my market value, how to make myself marketable and get maximum out of my investment. The much debated economic recession is also a time of recession in the perceived capabilities acquired by students at the supposedly best B-schools in India. People taking fraud courses and passing time as there is already a ‘placement department’ to take care. Managed by few students and not so transparent it has always been in controversy. Be it mail exchanges of Srijan & Luthara or fines it never went out of limelight during placements. Interestingly though only at the time of summer placements and final placements!! In my view the whole concept of placement department has made us so complacent that rather than becoming independent we are becoming more and more dependent. Whatever education we get less than 10-15% is utilized and rest goes god knows where. With such return on investment there are lots of NPKAs (non performing knowledge assets). We boast of having one of the strongest alumni network in India or among Indians anywhere in the world but when it comes to connecting with them we are in a pretty sad state. I remember interacting with a fuccha, one club cord at IIM A, and he told me that none of the seniors from recent past batches come for help. I assured him that at least I will be there but after few interactions the person went out of radar. Similar situation with another club cord. Even after I was forthcoming in helping and may be more active than some of the existing members, even after leaving the club, I found him so disappointing that it left me thinking has IIM A become nesting place for such students who just want to get CV points? ‘Nasal Kharab ho rahi hai’. Interestingly similar is the story with another person 2 batches senior to me. When I gave him a proposal on how to help the student body by forming a trust he mentioned that the alumni are quite busy with their own work and the student bodies don’t take proactive action. Indirectly ‘nothing can be done’. Thereafter I never heard from him and he was supposedly a guy with max enthu in alumni activities. May be for his own benefit. I don’t know. He forgot that he was also a student at IIM A not so long ago! Call it apathy, unprofessionalism, uncaring nature or whatever. I don’t know. Another instance of our remarkable skill - Blaming others! I remember once asking the whole class, during LVMR lecture, about not attending the alumni reunion [except few placecomm members & me no body attended it], I was an alumni cell member, and the response came with a certain student that they don’t feel the need to connect with the alumni. The students will spend time sitting in their rooms watching movies on DC and chatting but don’t have time to interact with alumni who are extended family members. We are becoming much and much nuclear in our minds and taking people around us, including family members, for granted. I can only dare to imagine what people from such generation will do to the organizations where they will go.

In my view the placement departments should be scrapped altogether at the best B-schools and the institutes should act as facilitators. It will give students an opportunity to explore their interests and utilize the knowledge which has been given to them rather than making their minds storage places for NPKAs [I seem to have developed a liking for it – my creationJ]. It will make them feel how worthy they are. It will bring them out of the sense of complacency which has the potential to destroy them if not now then may be later in the career. It will naturally bring the need to know more and more people. It will enable them to learn ‘real’ management skills which is about managing people. Hopefully the ‘foreign education bill’ will bring out our best institutions as well from the sense of complacency. In 1990s India became an open economy and there was tremendous positive change. This might bring another such change. I remember telling a kid at a cyber café at Hazarat Nizamuddin railway station, during my recent visit to Delhi, when he was charging high price for just taking one page printout that ‘jish desh ke log aise honge us desh ki sarkar kaisi hogi’ [what will the people in the government be when the people in this country are like this]. May be he was guided more by ‘Payback period method’ rather than ‘NPV method’. Probably cause of the present financial crisis. A cartoon which needs mention, published recently on the cover page of a news daily, had a pig labeled corruption, bureaucracy etc. near a sea beach. There was another person at the same beach at a distance and labeled ‘citizen’. The citizen was thinking ‘I won’t vote until and unless the pig goes away’ and the pig was thinking ‘I won’t go until and unless citizen votes’. Don’t have such apathy and wait for the right moment. The right moment is NOW and also as Srijan writes at his Gmail status “Change happens NOW!” Be it life, voting or contributing to something which you like and want to do.

“Be the change you want to see in this word”