If there were more like Ratan Tata

My Grandfather told me once that it takes ages to earn respect and it takes minutes to actually lose it. One of the most important aspects in our lives is actually not the process of living but the inculcation of values inside the living process. What is born is a living being, but what actually makes this living object a human is actually the character that it adorns. I was very young probably 11 or so, but his words later found their own meaning in my life and I realized that this was told by a person who probably devoted half of his life to the most respected corporate houses of India, TATAS.

I could never understand as to why a business house could be synonymous with heavy words like values, principles and so on. My understanding for business was the mere fact where it is a process in which money is used to make more money. Money brings power brings more money brings more power. The bottom-line of any business house was profit and nothing else than that. Yes there was a kind of social display of this power but that was probably to make people like me and you aware of the fact that these corporate giants also have a kind of social responsibility which they actually fulfill. I was wrong. I was really wrong about this for one business house, the TATAS. Many people told me about the value practices of the TATAS but then I would not believe such high standards of honesty and ethics being practiced in one of the largest business houses of India. I was wrong. So what made me change my mind? Which was the incident that actually led me to take a complete rethinking on my opinion of business houses?

None of us could forget the bruises of 26/11 Mumbai attacks. At least not who stay in Mumbai and had to go through those horrific 3 days when the whole city was held hostage. The drama ended for many of us after the 3 days. The news channel stopped reporting because the show was over, politicians shouted for some days and declared compensation, which is actually the regular practice after any kind of attacks in this country, and life, as they say, was back on track displaying the true Mumbai spirit. Life however had changed for two people, one coming from the lowest income group and one coming from the most élite strata of the society. This is a story of the two. A hawker who sat opposite the Taj Hotel and the owner of the Taj Group Shree Ratan Tata were both affected in that horrific attack.

The TAJ hotel had seen the worst kind of combat over the three days and there was immense loss to life and property. A businessman’s’ nightmare is a loss to the property especially if it has a heritage value like the TAJ has. The property required a renovation worth hundreds of crores of rupees and some of the part of the property that was damaged had antique value which was not available any more. Ratan Tata had one of the biggest challenges in front of him and that was to restore the TAJ. This however, did not make him wary. The entrepreneur thought about the lives that were lost. Not only of those who were inside the hotel but also of those who were in the vicinity among which was also the injured hawker. Tata made sure that those injured were properly nursed in the hospitals and full funding was given from his organization. The hawker also benefitted from it and is today healthy enough to again look after his family. The employees of TAJ who had lost business were not retrenched, as it would happen in any BPO or any kind of corporate houses if one of the units would have gone sick.

On the contrary they were given additional benefits and salaries did not stop for the TAJ employees. Tata probably knew that business is not all about process it is about people, which very less people in India or in fact the world knows of. Tata knew that Human Resource Development (HRD) is probably more important than the contemporary idea of Human Resource Management (HRM). He also helped every family who were in any ways directly or indirectly affected due to the TAJ attacks not caring about the fact that he had a hotel to restore that demanded more than hundred crore rupees to spare. Where contemporary business houses would actually shut shop, TATA went ahead nurturing the employees of the sick household.

Results of these good works followed. In a span of less than two years the TAJ was back to its glory. The employees who were not deserted by the corporate house put in their best to restore this magnificent structure back to its own glory. It was a slap on the face of terrorism by peace, it was a victory of hard work and more-over victory of values exhibited by one of the most valuable person this country had Ratan Tata. The utter humility came at that instant when the Taj was re-inaugurated and in the advertisement you had the picture of all employees of the TAJ but Ratan Tata. He never wanted to come to the fore-front. This gesture probably was not covered by any kind of media houses.

For me, from that time Rata Tata is the candidate for the Nobel Prize. I may be a bit unjustified for that but then if a person can restore life, restore faith, command respect and still win a battle against terrorism with all peaceful means then he and only he can deserve the Nobel peace prize. I came to know about earning respect and still being rich. Ratan Tata is definitely the Model Millionaire of India and the face of India for the 21st Century.

The Damn Common Man today salutes this incarnate called Ratan “NOBLE” Tata.

Why has the institution of marriage lost significance?????

First of all let us analyze why we actually have a question like this. What happened to the eternal or assumed to be eternal institution of marriage? What is going so wrong with this institution, and where are the actual lacunae that are making this age old institution nothing more than an archaic philosophy?
I gave this lot of thought and came to some inferences, I would not call them as conclusions because for such a grave and such a time tested social practice, nothing can conclusively determine its end of life or its virtual extinction in metaphorical sense. What I really have inferred I just wanted to Jot down.

Financial Obligations of Marriage VS Emotional quotient:

It may seem to be a bit absurd but marriage has a direct variance with the financial obligations that it actually brings upon. Marriage, in its traditional sense, is more of a responsibility intake for the masculine counterpart than for the feminine instance. More of the financial responsibilities after marriage are on the shoulders of the male and the female is more of an emotional pillar that binds the family together. This concept, however is very suitable and very amicable in a deflated economy scenario, however an economy where inflation is at 11% or even more, where price rise is now a daily news bulletin, this balance of economic responsibility and emotional load sharing is a bit imbalanced. I don’t mean to hurt the fairer sex by making such a comment, and with due respect to them, it may also be noted that emotionally binding a family takes a lot of guts and courage, which is not a task that a man can do. This essentially is the crux of the problem.

Now because of a huge financial requirement both the husband and the wife have to share the financial obligations in the family. There is nobody called as the bread-earner and the home-maker. Now bread-earning is the portfolio that both the counterparts have to take care of. When such a thing happens there is a kind of void created in the emotional space. This is plainly due to the fact that the person who is actually an expert in filling that void is now sharing the financial responsibility and not able to devote time or energy to fill up the void. Also it would be inhuman for the male counterpart to actually expect her to also discharge her emotional duties even after being a critical element in the bread-earning process. However, in some families this is also happening to a great deal and this puts the women under immense pressure and under the onslaught of unrealistic expectations that need to be fulfilled.

This principle of the woman now being an active part of the financial stability and also the only part of the emotional stability of the family now takes a toll on her, and this destabilizes herself. She now has no time for herself or for her own upliftment. This makes her life miserable, even more miserable than the lives of various women who are actually being sympathized for their miseries that they actually face.


Man can never fulfill the emotional necessities:

By this I may be de-favoring the masculine gender, but somehow it is true. The male side is more logical and less emotive in nature. It is the identity of a man that emotive splurges are a representation of weakness and feeble confidence, which by the way is wrong, but then this is how it is. So it is very difficult and almost impossible for the man to emulate the emotional self that a woman actually carries. You can say that when God created the human being, there was a kind of a reverse psychology God used. I believe while creating human beings God never wanted to create them like animals. So if we see the animal kingdom or the avian architecture, it is basically the male species which is more refined and polished; e.g. a Lion is more of an attraction than the lioness because of the hair, a peacock is more of an attraction than the pea-hen because peacock is more colorful and so on. However, in the case of human beings the male species was the blue-print and the female incumbent was actually the optimized version. So probably, God forgot to put an enhanced hypothalamus in the legacy prototype and this makes the man less emotive and less prone to multi-tasking.
A female brain is always able to think in different ways at different times, and that is probably the reason that men never understand them. However, in case of males, being a more legacy and raw prototype their brains always go in one direction at a time, and this makes them more predictable and less emotional. Combining all these limitations it becomes impossible for the man to actually optimize the professional obligations and the emotional necessities of a family.

So in a marriage where initially the emotional domains were controlled by the female and the financial responsibilities were actually with the male, these imbalances lead to conflicts. This results to a paranoid response, especially from the female side, towards marriage. This is because it is the female side that is more emotionally oppressed after an urban marriage. Marriage for her becomes only a social sanctity for a relationship, which loses its significance as time progresses.

Fantasizing the Mafia

I was seeing the promos of the film “Once upon a time in Mumbai”. It reminded me of the smuggling flicks that rose to the charts of popularity in the 1970s and the 1980s. In those days people use the fantasize Gold Smuggling as a lucrative proposition for an alternate profession. Glamorous, filled with thrill and you get opportunities to deliver lines like “ye jung tumne shuru kiya hai aur khatam main karoonga” (this war was started by you but will be ended by me. Strong punch-lines and stronger impacts on the minds of people who looked for inspiration with entertainment in the movies and also wanted to be a part of this lucrative bandwagon were the news every Friday. There were English flicks like Godfather and Mafia to add more fuel to the fire and also lure the elites to have a consideration about smuggling as a profession.

Honestly speaking even I was not away from it. Although, I started watching these movies in the late nineties, when they had already overshot their prime times but I developed a kind of fantasy towards the life of a smuggler. I always used to believe that these people in flashy suites have their way in life, for them spending money was like throwing water in the toilet or even trivial than that. They never used to talk less than millions and would always have their ways even with the law and the system. It was so surprising to see a so called anti-social element being also revered by the society at large and feared by the system which was in place. Smuggling heroes like Rana (marte dam tak), Vijay (Dewaar) and Dharmatma (Dharmatma) were the inspirations of various young minds that were watching these movies.


I also used to imagine myself growing up to be a smuggler of Gold, who dons all sorts of attires (designer ones) and then leads a luxurious life. He only has his dinners in five stars and has more female admirers than one can ever imagine. He only uses the telephone to make deals worth billions of bucks and doesn’t worry to spend millions on his security. He always carries a gun, which is always loaded with lots of bullets. He has rivalry with a gang that is always trying to catch up with him but is never able to be as gritty as he is. He always wins in a gun-battle and is never defeated unless he is in love with this girl who tries to bring about a conscious change in him to turn him towards the path of honesty (how I hate such girls!!!!!!).


Such movies are really not made these days. These days we have stupid love stories and some really off the hook subjects with some sleazy doses of steamy scenes. We no more have dialogues that are spoken over the roof-top like “Bhagwaan ko yaad karle zaalim singh” (recall your God Zalim Singh) or dialogues like “Kam se kam apne honewale bachche ke liye to yeh rasta chhod do” (leave this path of crime at least for the sake of your kid to be born). We only have some hard hitting lines that hardly make any impact. I am really looking forward towards watching this movie.

Racism at its worst in India!!!!!

In India the word racism has a different meaning. Most of the time racism is actually favoring the citizens of a particular country, which is also a wrong way of interpreting it, but a very logical way of assessing racism. However, in India it is the other way round. In India racism is more against the Indians than the foreigners who are actually coming to visit India. Of course Indians believe in the concept of “Atithi Devo Bhava” (treat your guests just like God), however having said that, worship should not be at the cost of debasing your fellowmen. This is what I want to highlight in this article of mine.

There are many places in India that actually practice this habit of discrimination, especially joints where you see more foreigners entering and enjoying, in those joints the Indian counterparts are always given a measly treatment. To give an example let me tell you about Leopold Café in Mumbai. The café came to highlight in the recent 26/11 attacks. However, apart from the gruesome and condemning act that happened in the café that night there is a dark side to this place which I want to share. By this article I nowhere want to prosecute any foreigner who may be visiting our country. India is always a country that accepts everybody with warmth and affection; however I just want to highlight the amount of mental discrimination that an Indian actually does with another Indian.

It was a Sunday afternoon when I and one of my friends paid a visit to this café once. I had been a regular visitor in the café and a real admirer of the food and beverages that is served in the café. That day too like other days I went with my friend to have a good time in the place. We also planned to watch the formula one race on the LCD screen that is on the upper first floor of Leopold. In the afternoon there is not much rush so I just went ahead and we entered the first floor. We were given a table near the LCD as there were not many people to watch out for. There was this usual crowd of foreigners in the café who had also come to have a good time. We ordered our food and beverages and waited. First of all it took a long time for the waiter to attend to us. He was always engrossed in attending the visitors from outside India and didn’t even bother to listen to us. When he was free, thankfully we could order our things. Then it took him more than half an hour to deliver our order on our table whereas the foreigners got an express service within 5 to 10 minutes. We didn’t bother about this as we were keen on seeing the formula one race and were enjoying it.

The climax came at around an hour later when the café was virtually filled with people. We were enjoying our food and the race near the LCD. Now suddenly the waiter comes to us and urges us to sit in a separate table which we had to share with some other people. This was because there was a group of four people, from west, who wanted to have a seat near the LCD. I was furious at this request. It was as if we were eating there for free and were unlikely to be billed, or as if the other “guests” were going to pay them double the amount. It was racism at its worst done to an Indian by and Indian on Indian soil.

Sometimes I feel that the country has still not been able to come out of the foreign rule that was there in this country for 200 long years. We still have people who would rather prefer a foreign rule in this country than a sovereign democratic republic. The proprietors of Leopold Café are definitely one of them. I don’t blame the waiters because at that position you are more commanded upon than asked to take your own decisions. The waiters were just probably following the dictum set by the Leopold proprietors of just ignoring countrymen to foreigners or even insulting them at their cost.

The café boasts of being in existence since 1871, however it has just forgotten that this is not the 19th century India where locals were treated equal to dogs. Today India is one of the forces that is shaping the world economy and politics. It is a country of billion people with billion ideas that are capable to changing the face of the world and influencing decisions on a global scale. It is a country, where businessmen, just like me have proved to be competent enough with the international business scene. Despite all these the racist proprietors of Leopold only feel that we are a country still struggling with our existence. They dare to deny the law of the land and carry out their open discriminatory policies against Indian guests that too on the Indian soil.

My question is, how long can this go on? Are the torch bearers of this society not seeing this? Where are the organizations who are more interested in lifting the national spirit high? Why are they ignoring such activities that are happening in the most happening place in India? Will there ever be an end to this racial nonsense that Leopold is carrying out? How can Indians be treated like second class citizens in their own country? What about the constitution? What about equality in the country itself? Should we allow such racial joints to even operate in India?

Purpose of Wealth

These days one of the biggest talks in the town is the new mansion that the CMD of Reliance Industries is building. Magnificent, palatial, ostentatious and flamboyant are some of the words that I can actually associate with the structure. Named appropriately as “Antilla”, this building has all sorts of comforts that you can only dream about in a developing country like India. Some of the things that the building has even many other buildings in the world don’t have this kind of facilities. I am talking about the proud buildings that are built in the western world. On one side I feel proud to reside in a country that is resided by such a wealthy person, who by his might of wealth, is ready to take on any kind of completion that may come from the western world, but on the other side I am really confused as to why I am really feeling the pride for this structure and actually admiring it when it is not creating any kind of value to me as a citizen of this country.


To introspect myself I refer to an interview of Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, which was recently aired on CNBC 18 channel. In a very candid and honest conversation the telecom baron said “Wealth should have its own purpose and should keep you alive even when you are gone”. The words and his comparisons with purposeful millionaires like Carnegie and Rockefeller actually moved me a great deal. I was very much in synch with what he was hinting towards in his interview and that was the obscene display of wealth. Wealth is not might, it is not ethically speaking a source for powerful display, and rather it is a very powerful tool, given by God to only few lucky persons, to change something in the world for better.


I recall the story of Andrew Carnegie, who told, “It is a pleasure to live like a millionaire, but a disgrace to die being one.” In today’s world that would be a bit of an overstatement but the work that the steel magnate was able to do in his life-time, was a stupendous example of philanthropy till date. The Carnegie foundation today is actually one of the most renowned foundations in the world. It has been able to create wonders for the American society in general and has played an immense role in the development of the life of the common American people. Sunil Mittal’s initiative of the Bharti Foundation, similarly Narayan Murthy’s Infosys foundation and the innumerable social point of influence opened by the Tatas are the examples of wealth being shown its own purpose.

A hundred years later when I am not there and they are also not there, I see people remembering these noble philanthropists for their contribution to the society, rather than actually harping about their luxurious residences. Honestly speaking, we should not assess a rich man by the mere show of wealth that is being done, however the assessment should be based on the way the wealth is being spent for the betterment of the world. After all the word “Rich” should suffice for being rich in values, content, obligations and responsibilities rather that just being rich in money, power and influence.

Think about it.

Pragmatism and Relationships!!!!!

On my series of articles about relationship I feel that there is an impression that I have been totally cynical and pessimistic about my attitude towards relationship. It has been often understood that the articles on relationship that I write are about how a breakage occurs in a relationship rather than how actually to maintain it. Well, I am here to justify myself that I am not that kind of a misanthrope after all and I also would like to write some articles on the essence of maintaining a relationship in a very peaceful manner but to understand how to maintain a relationship it is also very essential to understand how relationships are broken and that is why the first two articles.

One very important thing about sustaining sanity in a relationship is pragmatism. Most of the time there are differences due to the fact that the female brain works in a different way from that of the male brain and thus the definitions of pragmatisms may differ in such cases. For the female mind dining near the beach on a full moon night may be a pragmatic option but for the male counterpart this may only seem to be a futile expenditure that may be avoided. In such a case how do you deal with the things? How do you actually convince that the best thing she might be imagining is actually not a very good proposition after all? If I really had the answer then I could actually have solved lot of problems. However, articles are also written to search some answers rather than only propose new theories. I believe that there are many sensible people who could actually find an answer to this question.

Pragmatism is a factor that is relative as I said before and does change from people to people. For you a candle lit dinner may not be a practical option to celebrate an occasion but for your partner this may be the most important treat of her life. You may be thinking that she has gone crazy, you are wrong. Because it is you who have come of age and diluted time with the concentration of love that your relationship actually had. You have actually forgotten the fact that once, long time back, to woe her you also had suggested the same option to her, to which she was as enthusiastic as she is today. In such a case who is the culprit, your partner or you. I have seen most of the times it is the male counterpart that tends to dilute feelings citing reasons of work-pressure and pragmatism, these however are only excuses for the male counterpart to actually escape from the fiddles and chores that the relationship demands.

A man’s love is just like that of a waterfall that begins with a lot of enthusiasm but then when it sees a little cold surface it just breaks down to never start again, the love of a woman, on the contrary, is like that of a river which keeps on flowing and flowing consistently in its own pace. However, it is not the job of the man only to understand the female mind always. It is, believe me, the most difficult job in the whole world to understand a female mind; however it is easier for a female to understand a male’s psychology. What men want is much easier to guess for a woman rather than for a man to guess what a woman wants. That is the reason I said in my earlier article that love cannot be the sustaining factor in a relationship as it has its own ways of expression in either of the cases. So it is always better to set the feeling of love aside for sometimes and understand in a more practical way as to what is happening with your relationship.

It can be a herculean task to actually guess what the other wants but it comes with time. People are there who have been able to perfect it with time. This requires a lot of patience and lot of perseverance also. It is a tough job and requires a lot of soul searching as well as introspection. However, it is much more evident and easier to understand as to what the other doesn’t want. It comes from the experiences, bitter or sweet, that you might be having and also from the time that you may have spent with your partner. This is an easier job and a more pragmatic way of handling the intricacies of a relationship. Eg she may not want you to be busy with your cricket match on weekend; solution: don’t do it and just record the match, after all you will not be awarded if your team wins or not be sacked if your team loses. The recording when watched for the first time can be equally intriguing as the live match. He doesn’t like to watch serials in the night, so good, just go out for a walk in the park and this saves you from a lot of fight that you might end up doing. You can watch the re-run and also if you don’t watch it now then it doesn’t affect your family life in any manner.

This is how I define adjustment and pragmatism in a relationship. It doesn’t come immediately, it doesn’t come over-night, however with experiences good or bad it may develop gradually.

The Auto-Rickshaw nuisance of Mumbai

It was really a very happy moment for me when I heard that 22nd June 2010 the rickshaws were going on strike in whole of Mumbai. Surprised!!! How a person who almost regularly takes the auto can is now relieved on seeing the autos going on strike? Well, I am just going to describe in this article how beneficial is the strike for Mumbaikars.

What the Autowalas think and what the Mumbaikars gave them:
The autowalas of Mumbai just think that one strike and the entire commercial hub of this country comes to its knees. Their assumption was given a hooting by the Mumbaikars as the city didn’t collapse. The egos of this irresponsible dwellers in the city was given a kick back by the people as the business continued as usual and there was no disruption in whatever way you can think of to the regular working of the city. Also on the contrary there were no traffic jams in the city and even in the peak hours despite rains the traffic was moving very well. I could in fact drive to the office very nicely which I never do. Also I could see that the other modes of transport running almost flawlessly on the otherwise crowded Andheri-Kurla road with much ease and comfort. The travelling time that day was reduced like anything and the distances that used to be more than an hour reduced to mere 15-20 minutes, which was unbelievable. Their so called strike was a blessing in disguise for the common Mumbaikar, hello are the news channels listening?????

Media Sympathy:
That day I also saw the way the media was going left right and center just lying about the so called difficulties that the people were facing in the city. Frankly speaking the politically motivated media just is not aware of the sentiments of the people who actually despise this irresponsible autowalas of Mumbai to the core. Whole day there is a reporting that the life is totally paralyzed in the city, which was just a white lie that the media was presenting, on the contrary life was much more smooth and prepared without this unscrupulous community who just dwell on the roads irresponsibly and ply the three wheelers on their wish and without any kind of adherence to rules.

Why I am so angry?
The reason of my outburst is because of the fact that the autowalas of Mumbai are the most irresponsible beings that I have met. Everyday there is a thing that there would be two or three autos that will just not go to the destination that you are planning to go to. In the morning they always give the excuse that “wahan pe bahut traffic hain- isliye nahin jaana hai” (There is a lot of traffic over there so I don’t want to go) without realizing that is their community which is contributing the lions’ share to the traffic. Even when a person is in emergency they would just not care about them and only look for their convenience. It is as if the government has given them a three wheeler to just stroll around the entire city with a public transport license and cause this nuisance that they are causing in the entire city.

Political instability:
If I investigate this issue in deep then I find a lot of reason behind the anger of MNS towards these people who have come from outside and causing this nonsense in the maximum city. I have never seen a local auto driver say no to me for any kind of destination; it is only the migrant autowalas that have this kind of geographical discriminations which they openly display. The question is that if they are not actually interested in doing the business that they have come for then why are they staying in this city after all? The answer is to serve the great vote bank that the non locals are having, a reason to grab power the non ethical way and then try to rule over the locals in the city by the virtue of some illiterate vote bank. I am also a migrant but MNS is not having a problem with me, it is because of the fact that I am not creating the political and regional imbalance that this city doesn’t deserve, I have come to this city to do my work, which I am doing with utmost dedication by abiding by all the rules that this city and its administration has laid down for me. I am not trying to be a power snatcher and definitely not a person who would go against the local population. I am trying to be the sugar in the milk rather than being the drop of lemon syrup that actually would spoil the milk. I see autowalas (especially migrants) just plying the autos without any reason, not interested to carry passengers but only to give a paid lift to people who are going to go to their destination of interest or even on the way. They are just paid to stay in this city for the Election Day, when they can actually misuse their right of voting and try to create a regional imbalance in the city. For some reasons I feel that this agenda of MNS of stopping the useless migration from the root holds little water. However, having said that I would also like to say that there are intelligent and very tactical ways of handling these people.

Finally I would like to say that we on the other hand are also equally responsible for giving lot of importance to these people. If we are not happy with their services, or we feel that our priorities as public is being neglected by a so called public transport system then we should launch mass complains to the relevant authorities and seek our right to information for follow-up of these complains. It is only then, we will have a proper system of autos in this city.