Man’s Life – A basket of different roles.

Sometime in life we hit a dead end. A situation where confusion prevails. A state where everyone seems demanding. Everyone wants you to be like how they want. In short you are expected to play a role which the other person who is in front of you likes. As a budding marketer I will put this in marketing language like this-World is market, people are your customer and you act like how customer wants.

So everyday world expects us to play different roles. Our family, friends, girlfriend, colleagues, professors’, boss, etc all expect us to play very different roles. In this role juggling we lose our oneself. We start to lose ourselves what we dreamt in our childhood. There is only one person who just wants us to be like what we are. That’s GOD. Only god expects us to be like what we want to be. Yeah here I am becoming spiritual is what reader can know.

But in this role demanding world I figured out that one can still live himself and be proud of what he is. For example for me I think just cruising alone on bike along the lonely roads with breeze rolling over you can make me feel that here I am alive and kicking. I think such lonely space can give support to get you going. Absence of lonely space can make you to lose yourself completely.  Think about it.

Any comments, reactions are whole heartedly welcomed.

Detergent War

In marketing language an ad is a non personal form of communication. In simple terms an ad is just a virtual salesman with some limitation. Recently Indian media space has seen some hard action. Yes I am talking about Rin advertisement from HUL stable. The new Rin commerical directly depcits  a competitor product (Tide) in bad light.  Earlier we use to see Cola Wars(coke v/s pepsi) but direct depiction was limited.

Now, the two products in question come from two of the biggest FMCG giants- Proctor & Gamble(P&G) and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) . These brands have a lot on stake and they gaurd their brand fiercely.

New Rin ad seems to be well calculated and deliberate move by HUL and it is working for them.HUL would have probably taken a bold move like this,

Rin’s market share at 4.8 per cent was almost half in size to that of Tide, which stood at 8.8 per cent. Many of the regional players are also challenging the Rin. Under such competitive situation a lot of money has to be pumped into market to guard the market share of Rin if ordinary type of ad is done. But HUL did a rare act of creating a controlled disaster and using the disaster to get attention and sales.

By this controversial Rin ad, HUL is getting free publicity in almost all media channels and it has become buzz among ladies especially house wives. Under such a short time Rin has achieved awareness and its sales are also on roll. No doubt HUL will have to make few trips to court but laws can be bent. Or if laws cant be bent then also the money it pays will be smaller than what it got from the campaign. So a clever move by HUL

Indian Temples getting ISO certified!

Temples are seeking professionalism. Hope, they are not asking for prayers to be professional, but as sacred as ever. In fact, they are willing to provide certain standardized, transparent and devoted services to the people in the name of the God.

Three well-known Temples from Chennai- Parthasarthy temple in Triplicane, Dhandayudhapani temple in Vadapalani and Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore- have applied for ISO 9000:2008 certification on account of being well-maintained temples from the city. The three temples have included their fixed assets, accounts and strict adherence to rituals for scrutiny for ISO.

The cleaning and mopping of Kapaleesswarar and Parthasarathy temples have been outsourced to a private firm. A popular hotel chain ‘Saravana Bhavan’, maintains the Vadapalani temple free of cost.

ISO 9001:2008 is a document of standards for quality management systems maintained by the International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. Some of the requirements in ISO 9001:2008 include:

1.     A set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business;

2.     Monitoring processes to ensure they are effective;

3.     Keeping adequate records;

4.     Checking output for defects

5.     Regularly reviewing individual processes

6.     Facilitating continual improvement

Even before these three famous Chennai temples applying for ISO certification, the temples to have already joined the band wagon for this professional certification are Lord Ganesha’s Siddhi Vinayaka Temple in Coimbatore which is, surprisingly, just a 16×16 square foot temple.

A 180-years-old temple of Shri Ram Mandir in Madhya Pradesh boasts of ISO 9001-2008 certification for its exquisite idols and wonderful ambience for the devotees for offering prayers. The Golden Temple in Vellore is also ISO certified temple.

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Life in between a hoarding

Few days back while negotiating the city traffic of pune, I came across a very unfamiliar home in middle of busy traffic joint. The house was at high elevation overseeing the river. It had every aspect which a rich man wants like high elevation, scenic beauty, near to the city etc but the only difference being the home sandwiched between two hoardings.

Let me describe the home. Two hoardings back to back standing high at elevation enough to oversee the river. A small narrow space is created between the hoardings as they are erected back to back. This narrow space is the home I m talking about. It has space for everything even for the cycle which that family owns but it’s just hanged to the hoarding supporting bars.

The scene made me to think how we can live our life. It made me realize that we can live on this earth at any budget. Happiness at the heart is more important than the money. A person behind those hoarding lives his life fullest and a person in Kalyani nagar( elite class area in pune) also lives the same. That makes me wonder why we run behind temporary happiness created by money.

Few days prior to this incident my family ordered a sofa set for our living room costing half a lakh. I just kept on wondering throughout the day whether that sofa really needed when I saw that family between the hoardings. I just kept on thinking throughout the day whether that sofa where we hardly sit is really required for my family……..

Intelligent guys at Insurance Companies

India is ill insured country is what the world bank commented. Our penetration rates of insurance products are very low and there exists a huge market potential. Because of this there is heavy influx of many insurance global giants to India.

In race to grab this lucrative market pie some of these companies are leaving no stones unturned. One such out of box idea is selling insurance through MBA students. MBA student as per the circulars, have to do few mini projects and inplant training. So these Insurance companies approach the MBA’s institutions in which they allow MBA students to do project in their company provided the students inducted bring-in some policies from their friends and relatives. Students are given a one day training and asked to sell the policies with no or meagre monetary compensation. Insurance companies also give assurance that on meeting the targets they will be placed in the companies.

Benefits for the Insurance Company:

1.       They get policies with almost low selling cost as commission is nil or meagre and no allowance is paid.

2.       MBA’s student will be working for the company selling policy without been on company pay roll.

3.       The selling network grows with inclusion of MBA

4.       Companies get a ready talent pool with tried and tested candidates for hiring at the end of the MBA programme

Benefits for the MBA students:

1.       They get the so called feel of corporate environment.

2.       Feel of corporate pressure

3.       Better understanding of the theoretical concepts working in practical world

4.       And all round development of the students

But the sad thing is that many of these companies give more assurance and deliver less. Most of these insurance companies are interested in how many policies student bring from their friends and relatives taking the ethics and social responsibility to the new lows.

Are we in Recession? I dont think so...atleast in India

One of my closest person shared this photo. Check the bride whose body is all covered with gold. This photo proves the point that we are not in recession.

Intresting one liners

1. I say no to alcohol, it just doesn’t listen.

2. A friend in need is a pest indeed.

3. Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.

4. Work is fine if it doesn’t take too much of your time.

5. When everything comes in your way you’re in the wrong lane.

6. The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train..

7. Born free, taxed to death.

8. Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don’t have film.

9. Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.

10. Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.

11. If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you’ll have trouble
putting on your pants.

12. It’s not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.

13. I love being a writer… what I can’t stand is the paperwork.

14. A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper
tray and the blinking red light.

15. The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who
invented the other three, he was the genius.

16. The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.

17. In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?

18. If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one?

19. Beat the 5 O’clock rush, leave work at noon!

20. If you can’t convince them, confuse them.

21. It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the end.

22. I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

23. Hot glass looks same as cold glass. – Cunino’s Law of Burnt Fingers

24. The cigarette does the smoking you are just the sucker.

25. Someday is not a day of the week

26. Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.

27. To Err is human, to forgive is not a Company policy.

28. The road to success…. Is always under construction.

29. Alcohol doesn’t solve any problems, but if you think again,
neither does Milk.

30. In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don’t need it.

31. All the desirable things in life are either illegal, expensive,
fattening or in love with someone else

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