Helming India's entry to Oscar, 2010

Read an interview of Paresh Mokashi who is the director of India's Oscar Entry this year - Harishchandrachi Factory. Read the Interview here - Helming India's entry to Oscar, 2010: Rediff.com movies

I particularly like the inspiring comment he makes on the question of regional directors not getting that kind of recognition or financial help. Here's what he says "If I go to a producer with big names like the Khans or Roshans, I will get the money fairly easily. But if you knock at their door with a different kind of a story, they won't entertain you.
I'm all right with that attitude because it really tests my passion. It makes me question myself, "To what extent will I go to make this film?" So why not face these obstacles?
It's essential to struggle on your own for a while and prove to the world that you have the brains and brawn. Support will then automatically come your way."

Of course he is talking more from an entreprenurial perspective, but I feel that things we undertake in our daily lives as well can also draw from his quote. Maybe in my life it could apply to daily exercise, studying for that certification exam.
At times we start to undertake a few activities only to find that we have run out of steam & have excuses dime a dozen for the same. But the obstacles really help strengthen the conviction & resolve to go that one step further to achieve our goals..

Rio to host 2016 Olympics

IOC announced that Brazil's city Rio de Janerio will host the 2016 Olmpics Games, ahead of even Chicago which was strongly backed by Barack Obama. IBN reports that economic muscle of Brazil was one of the main reasons that IOC awarded the Olympics to Rio. Brazil's economic muscle, Lula behind Rio's win

Was wondering that amongst the BRIC countries except India all the other countries have hosted or will host the Olympics.
When will India get a chance to show its might & have the authority to host a Olympic Games.. or is that just a pipe dream. I am optimistic & maybe in our lifetime we will have the Olympics in our country.

Social Networking Shy

I am a big fan of internet & its power, but I was never enamoured with the so called "Social Networking" sites & frankly there are too many of them now. Orkut was the front runner, then we had the facebook, linked in, twitter etc etc.
But this time i really found the power of social networking when i was able to connect with most of my US friends through these sites, esp Orkut & LinkedIn.
Well, maybe I will get converted to using these more often..Having said that I am still not comfortable with opening a account with Twitter..!.. or maybe i will find a reason to get converted.

MSS Implementation - Why should I?

I had a rather interesting question posed to me by one of the HR Business Managers in the context of implementing a Manager Self Service, they currently do not have one & managers have the HR Admins or Deptt Admins doing all the transactions on their behalf.

Question was: Why should I implement a Manager Self Service module, what is it going to do for my managers? Is HR trying to push its dirty work back to the Manager? What are the benefits of having a MSS solution. This set me thinking real hard on the actual merits of a MSS.

A line manager is an extension of a HR function & is supposed to execute the policies, processes that the HR function implements. Manager by virtue of his name, is the closest to the employee & understands the employee the best. Also all job descriptions of a manager would include tasks like managing the workforce productivity, manage turnover, quality, training etc., so in essence a line manager is a "mini HR Manager" & hence having a MSS makes lot of sense for him/her to accomplish the HR tasks.

There are numerous advantages of having a MSS
1. Manager's now have access to all of their direct reports data in one single place, which means that they don't have to go back & forth to HR for this information
2. It definitely decreases the time taken for routine transactions like approvals for say absence or timesheets
3. With areas like compensation planning, MSS would have provide managers with their budgets & they could plan & recommend salary increases for their direct reports
4. In areas like performance reviews, competency management, skill development managers have the information required on their desktops to carry out these critical tasks.
5. It will help decrease the paper trails, improve control of information, improve data integrity - all essential requirements from a SOX compliance angle as well

What this is doing is really freeing up the time HR would spend on routine tasks & enable them to focus on what is really strategic for the organization - like Talent Management for e.g.

Hiring is On.. But be careful

A recent report in Rediff indicates that hiring trend has gone northwards. The same report also indicates optimism -- "as much as 25 per cent of the employers showing an intention to recruit people in the next three months of this year"


While this is good news, there is something that recruiters need to be careful of. This report in workforce.com indicates the discrimination claims that employers can expect if they recruit from social networking sites like Twitter or Linkedin.

Hmm.. while this report is US specific, it gives a good insight into what might constitute a discriminatory hiring practice, something global recuiters will need to be aware of.

GKVK Saved

So.. All's well that End's Well..
Finally the Courts had to intervene.. In what I would like to call a Landmark judgement from the High Court, the trees of GKVK will not be cut & hence the link road through GKVK linking Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka road with Bellary Road will not be taken up further.
Link to High Court Verdict in Times of India.
For this verdict special thanks to all the Vice chancellors of GKVK who filed the PIL in high court. Hasiru Usiru for their sustained campaign & who organized a Green March at MG Road to highlight the issues if such a road were to come up.Rotary Club of Yelahanka which organized candle light vigils at GKVK.
Special thanks to indian Express, Hindu for exposing the former commissioner of BBMP Subramanya's undue involvement in the road project.

Some questions which readily come to one's mind
1. Why should the court's be always involved in these kind of environmental issues, doesnt the exectutive understand these issues?
2. Why is the BBMP getting involved in a road project which nobody wants? A road already exists which connects bellary road, this road is the Sandeep Unnikrishnan road & has considerably reduced the travel time to the airport in the north bangalore area.
3. The whole of Bangalore is crying for attention to the existing infrastructure which is woefully short for the current population, what are the BBMP's plans to expedite this?
The KR Puram ring road junction is an excellent example of what is lacking in Bangalore's infrastructure. As a daily user of this route for many years, I shudder to see fear on old citizens faces when trying to cross the road, the daily traffic jams on both sides of the road have been a regular feature since the sky bridge has come up. What has BBMP done to address this single piece of infrastructure. Maybe a PIL to the High Court will help?
On a funny note here is Mr Subramanya's singular piece of contribution to Bangalore's infrastructure..!..

Water; An attempt to understand cinema

I was just listening to the music of Water by AR Rahman.. Melodious music no doubt from the master, but this post isn't about the music. Instead I was thinking about the theme of Water directed by Deepa Mehta. This is the last in the trilogy after Earth and Fire. I am not a great fan of Deepa's work, & happened to see the above 2 movies for their controversial themes, especially Fire. I watched Earth for Aamir Khan..!..
Water is the movie which was disrupted by Bajrang Dal activists in Varanasi, protesting against the way the hindu widows were being betrayed by Deepa Mehta.
I saw the trailer of the movie in some website, I am not able to recall, some days back & it did have something to do with how a child is married & she becomes a widow at a young age (played by Lisa Ray). She can then no longer marry & is forced into isolation till the time she happens to meet John Abraham & I am assuming the rest of the movie is how they overcome the odds and get married.

This triggered a thought process, where I was wondering what the real purpose of cinema is;
is it for entertainment or does it serve a kind of larger social cause.
Can it trigger an awareness of the society's problems, or is it that directors like Deepa Mehta want to sensationalise some incident and gain popularity (this was the main grouse of people when she released Fire, which did not address the hidden-under-wraps issue of lesbians).

Why do people see cinema?
I for one think it is mainly entertainment & I am sure for most of the masses would not want to spend 50 rs for being lectured on morality or see some serious issue after spending a hectic day at office or work.
Is it any wonder that No Entry a laugh-a-minute comedy is the biggest hit.. if so why do people like Deepa Mehta make these kind of movies?

Change

Hey
I have changed the look and feel of the blogpage... the old one I thought had outlived its exsitence..
Do let me know how this feels..?

Currently reading..

Heat & Dust by Ruth Praver Jhabvala...
the Booker Prize winning novel...

Review of Rising.. Mangal Pandey

I managed to see Rising some days back at Rex cinema in Bangalore.. this was my first movie in quite a while & Aamir Khan's in 4 years..!..

Needless to say Aamir Khan doesnt disappoint.. he is revolutionary incarnate as Mangal Pandey, his eyes, his face convey all the emotions & bring to life this long forgotten freedom fighter.
Toby Stephens as Capt Gordon is excellent & is unbelievably good in the last scene where he tries to defend Mangal.

There are also grey areas in the movie, esp the two heroines Rani & Amisha whose characters arent very well developed. Also some songs, esp the Rasiya one can be easily removed from the movie since it dampens the proceedings. Rahman's music is also OK, but could have been better.

But all in all a very good attempt by Ketan Mehta to bring to life a long forgotten historical figure & yes Aamir Khan (good to see you..!!)

The Rising.. Mangal Pandey

Rising is all set to hit the screens on 12 August.. & is the most awaited movie of the year.
It has already been premiered at Locarno festival..
The reviews from there havent been very good though.. read here

Betting has already begun for the movie, whether it will be a hit/flop etc... bookies have been to Locarno for the movie & have predicted that the Rising will be a flop..!...

Lots of reasons given..
1. Ketan Mehta's awful record as film maker. (Maya Memsaab, Oh Darling yeh hai India etc)
2. Period films generally havent done well in India.. (Bose is the most recent example)
3. Rising has been in the making for almost 4 years now.. & a film loses its punch once it takes so long to make..

These have been the arguments..

I for one would defintely like to go & watch whatever the press says... simply for Aamir Khan & the fact that he is acting after a gap of 4 years.. & also for Rahman's music..
Sak kushal Mangal hui Jaaye..!!...

Bangalore's traffic.. & my take on it

My solutions are quite simple really..

1. Metro
2. Metro
3. Metro...

Well, its that simple... Metro or any kind of mass transport system is definitely the need of the hour. I think we have wasted enough time & resources trying to figure out what is best for Bangalore.. Delhi Metro has shown the way ahead & this I feel should be the way going forward.

4. Traffic police & their role in the traffic management needs to be redefined. They need to be more proactive & book people on spot during traffic violations, especially auto & bus drivers. On busy roads one observes this quite frequently, where traffic police are mere bystanders & dont take any firm action.

5. People (pedestrians) should be taught to walk on footpaths, sometime footpaths are occupied by hawkers etc, the traffic police should ensure that these are cleared off. Sometimes debris is collected on footpaths, this also hinders pedestrian movement. The agency responsible has to act & clear the debris immediately.

6. Usage of traffic lights on all busy traffic intersections, I have observed that even on Hosur Rd, there arent traffic lights, leading to lots of chaos...

These are small suggesstions, but I guess this is the only way forward.

Bangalore's traffic.. & Ethiraj is caught in it..!..

Well.. well.. so Govindraj Ethiraj of CNBC is caught in the famed Blore traffic... for us it is a daily ordeal..
http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/jul/15guest.htm

His article is suprisingly quite mild where he praises the citizens of Blore & says that they are trying to save the city. Well if the citizens have to pay taxes and come to the streets every now & then, what is the Govt for?

The BDA only gives deadlines & more deadlines for existing projects to complete... while on the other hand it announces new ones..!!... ironical..!!...

I promised I will give my take on what needs to be done for this mess... well I am going to do so.. watch out....

Bangalore's traffic.. & solutions

I have now spent almost 27 years of my life in Bangalore, the famed garden city of India.. now this very sobriquet will only elicit cynical laughter or a sigh from Bangaloreans...
I travel by the dreaded Hosur Road daily, since I work in Electronics City, I notice that to cover just 9 kms of stretch from Electronics City to Silk Board Jn it takes 25-30 minutes, which is a pathetic 20 kmph on an average... this distance should ideally be covered in 10-12 minutes..
Anyways to cover the distance to my house in distant Yelahanka it takes 1 hr 15 minutes.. !!.. the distance just 30 Kms.. again an average speed of just 24 Kmph...

With this kind of infrastructure it is ridiculous to find the so called administrators of bangalore messrs Deve Gowda, Dharam Singh, BJP fight over Metro/Mono rail...
If my memory serves right this Metro project was conceived some 15 years ago.. when I was in school... yet the debate goes on.. why? what has happened since then.. Why hasnt any decision been taken.. Ditto for International Airport.. this project too was initiated some 15 years ago.. it is only now that some action has been taken...

This list is endles.. (Now that I write this, I can recollect the Hudson Circle flyover was supposed to start long long time ago.. it is only now I can see some activity happen & I am sure no flyover will materialise in the near future)
I think time has now come for some decisive action from the residents of Bangalore.
What are the solutions... let me brainstorm in the next post.

Back again.. & again..!...

Last time I had remarked that I would be regular in my postings.. but seems I really havent done justice to my remarks..
Anyways hope to be more regular...

Some of the important events that happened since the last time..
My son Dhruv's arrival....will upload some snaps soon.
Trip to US & some great learning experiences..
New found interest in Marathi Literature, Marathi movies, philosophy esp Gita, Wine making, HR-BPO.. ha ha seems like a pretty wierd list...
will want to talk about them in the future...

Back again

I have been off the blogging arena for a long time... was busy with work & was out of the country for some time now...
But i am now back & will start the blogging afresh....

Accident on Kokan Railway...

It was really sad to hear about the derailment of MatsyaGandha Express today in which around 25 people were killed.
This was the same train I had taken when I travelled to Mumbai from Mangalore some months back. The Konkan Railway though a man made wonder and extremely beautiful, still is not free from accidents. I remember another accident about a year back.
Although the rocks around tracks have been covered up properly by steel meshes, when it rains the boulders still roll on to the track. Something needs to be done urgently to reduce the accidents especially in the monsoons. Maybe the rail minster Laloo Yadav can take this as a priority.

HR folks at the TOP...

Hey it has been a long time since I blogged.. lots of reasons.. but now I intend to be more punctual..
I picked up this from Gautam's Blog.. since I also a HR person it made good reading to know that lots of HR people are at the top. Of course Sujith Bakshi is the one who comes to my mind immediately.

Well I am not talking about the usually understood contexts of glass ceilings as applied to minorities in the corporate workplace.

Instead, I am referring to the functional glass ceiling. For years, accounting, sales, marketing and finance people were usually the first choices to lead businesses as CEOs. Most people who had spent their careers in a support function like HR had to be content with a job like Director HR in the corporate ladder. The only route that was open to them to actually head businesses were in niche industries like HR consulting outfits.

No longer.

In India at least I see a rash of HR honchos who've made it to the corner office, and interestingly its in the people intensive BPO industry. There are several reasons for this but lets take a look at the people:

- Sujit Bakshi of vCustomer
- Aadesh Goyal of Hughes' BPO unit
- Bhaskar Das of Sutherland Technologies
- Prashant Sankaran of Digital Contact Centre (a part of HP)
- Vinoo Thimayya of Honeywell's BPO

I am sure there are others in the non-BPO industry too ( I know of Dr. Ajoy Kumar who briefly headed Cummins Deisel Sales & Service after a stint as GM HR of the Tata Group, but then he wasn't a career HR person). And a lot of CEOs have done some stints in HR.

Coming specifically to the case of HR people heading BPO operations, I have the following theories:

- BPO work is quite content-free and the essential skill required for a leader is people management skills, where HR people are the assets
- When BPO organizations mushroomed in India there were not too many top leaders available and with the reason given above HR directors were given the chance

The First big blow to the NDA

The first big blow to the NDA led alliance was felt when the TDP lost badly in the AP elections. There is a landslide victory for the Cong alliance here.
If these results are anything to go by then the Lok Sabha poll resukts suggest a similar sweep to the Cong. This will be a real disaster for the NDA which hopes to do well in AP & TN.
The results of these two states could well decide who forms the next Govt.
Eagerly awaiting the results on May 13.

exit the polls...!!....

It is that time of the elections when the pollsters take over... television channels are oudoing each other in analysing exit poll results... and the political parties are crying hoarse that these polls do not reflect the true character of the indian voter.
anyway I guess it is too early to make any predictions about the outcome of this election. even some months back the pollsters had got it terribly wrong on the assembly elections in MP & Rajasthan. there is no evidence to suggest that such a thing will not repeat again that too for a national level poll.
better to wait till May 13..