My earliest memory is that of a scooter ride on a hot, very hot and sweaty day. It was a trip from Allahabad to Fatehpur on a Vijay Super. So what it was hot and sweaty.. I still remember the fun it was to overtake Trucks and then count them passing buy as we enjoyed the boiling hot oranges standing under the banyan tree - all this even after 28 years. There have been longer, more exciting, more luxurious trips since then, but No, I don't remember the details as I do of the trip to Fatehpur, with my chin in line with the handle, standing on the foot board of the scooter. Who else could have dared to take two kids and their Mom on this adventure but my Dad! Oh, what an enjoyable trip that was.
So many nights we would plan going painstakingly over the road maps. Yes, multiple maps as we always had few of them to get different points of view. We would compare the merits of chosing a longer route over national highway, or a shorter one going through the countryside. These road trips were always welcomed by us, and thankfully they came by quite frequently. We never went to Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur by public transport. There were many trips to Vindhyachal, Vindham Falls, Falls near Rewa, Chitrakoot peppered by longer trips to Hardwar, Agra, Panchmarhi in between.
Papa loved taking us out on these trips. He had boundless energy and passion. Not everything was smooth in these trips, apart from his brows. I don't remember a single trip when he was not in control, or he was hassled, or worried. There were trips like that to Amarkantak where we traversed Katcha roads (since Narmada dam was being built) over hills at 10:00 pm in night with the fuel indicator showing last few litres in reserve. We had trips where we ended up with two tyres nicely sliced by the razor sharp road edge - I had gone off road while overtaking! We had few accidents, a dead dog and cock, a hurt cyclist, a shattered radiator. We had trip where we tried out alternative therapy of pouring turmeric in the radiator to plug a leak! We went to Dhudhwa in rain, we went to Pachmarhi in peak summers. They were not luxurious trips, but they were alwaaaaaaays fuuuuuuuunnnnn.
Now, I have to take up trips without Papa . He has left me a tough act to follow - no matter whether the trips are smooth or not, they can be always FUN if we keep our brows smooth. I have the years to work on this - have a loving family to practice this on - and inherited passion from Papa to carry on making these trips - on and on...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Fish Bowl
Inspired by Assimov:
What the hell, where is the dinner, shouted Mr. Molley to Mrs Molley! What has happened to the "Provider"? Did we forget our prayers yesterday? And look at the mess our world has become - wish someone could clean it up a bit.
The "provider", Appu was busy with the new toy his Dad had got him. He had been eyeing a toy train set for long - the one with shiny red engine, glistening tracks, a bridge and a remote, and now finally yesterday he got it. Wow, what fun it is to make combinations of the track - and he thought - wish Dad was here with me. The dinner for Molleys, and cleaning their fish bowl could wait - anyway they looked over fed and under exercised.
Dad Kumar was still in office, busy in the new project he had bagged. He knew how critical this project was for the company in these recessionary times. The CEO himself was personally involved with it - but of late, the CEO looked pre-occupied - how Kumar wished he could get a slice of CEO's bandwidth and remove the hurdles to get the project rolling.
What has happened to the "Provider"? Did we forget our prayers yesterday? said Abhi, the CEO to his wife, as he stared blankly at the grim medical reports just handed over to him. Now, finally as his company looked poised to tide over the crisis, medical complications threatened to ruin it all.
The "Provider" was happy playing to the new toy her Dad had got her, and she completely forgot that earth used to be her favourite not so long back.
What the hell, where is the dinner, shouted Mr. Molley to Mrs Molley! What has happened to the "Provider"? Did we forget our prayers yesterday? And look at the mess our world has become - wish someone could clean it up a bit.
The "provider", Appu was busy with the new toy his Dad had got him. He had been eyeing a toy train set for long - the one with shiny red engine, glistening tracks, a bridge and a remote, and now finally yesterday he got it. Wow, what fun it is to make combinations of the track - and he thought - wish Dad was here with me. The dinner for Molleys, and cleaning their fish bowl could wait - anyway they looked over fed and under exercised.
Dad Kumar was still in office, busy in the new project he had bagged. He knew how critical this project was for the company in these recessionary times. The CEO himself was personally involved with it - but of late, the CEO looked pre-occupied - how Kumar wished he could get a slice of CEO's bandwidth and remove the hurdles to get the project rolling.
What has happened to the "Provider"? Did we forget our prayers yesterday? said Abhi, the CEO to his wife, as he stared blankly at the grim medical reports just handed over to him. Now, finally as his company looked poised to tide over the crisis, medical complications threatened to ruin it all.
The "Provider" was happy playing to the new toy her Dad had got her, and she completely forgot that earth used to be her favourite not so long back.
Monday, May 25, 2009
An Accident, Traffic Jam, Broken Door and Pilfered Fanta Bottles
Other day we were coming back from an outing to one of the resorts on Mysore Road.
The day had been well spent with friends - and journey back was fun till we hit a road block. The traffic had come to almost a stand still. In between listening to the music, kids' fighting and honks we made the following observations:
The day had been well spent with friends - and journey back was fun till we hit a road block. The traffic had come to almost a stand still. In between listening to the music, kids' fighting and honks we made the following observations:
- Few people were smart and went the wrong way- even bullying the oncoming traffic to slow down and give them way. Makes me wonder why only few people do it? When will it happen that everyone will go the wrong way?
- Finally we crawled on to the reason for the slow moving traffic: an accident where a truck load of fanta had a breakdown
- What a site it was - it was free for all:
- We had to stop to let two people scamper away with a fallen down door panel of the truck - they must be really looking forward to making some fast cash with it.
- Then as we were passing by the treasure chest, a small scuffle broke out - and unmindful of the traffic people broke out from the truck like a swarm of bees onto the right most lane. Made us wonder if a bottle or two of Fanta is really worth a life?
- Anyway, as we passed by we noticed that many more trucks, tractors and buses were slowing down onto the side so that the occupants could satisfy their thirst
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Organised Retail: No Smile within a Mile
Its that time of the week when I have to go for the weekly grocery and vegetable shopping, and NO I'm not going to the Supermarket anymore..
I had enough of moments of truth and finally the truth has dawned that I'm not good enough to enjoy the benefits of organized retail.
The "moment of truth" in service marketing parlance is described as the moment when the service triad composed of the Consumer, the serving personnel and the service organization meet. In organized retail, the experiences I had with the truthful moments were never great, but I stubbornly trudged along from one outlet to the other - expectant that some day I will have a truly enjoyable moment.
Imagine a typical scenario:
It is Sunday morning, and I get ready for the trip. I collect the cloth bags (yes, we are trying to reduce our plastic dependance), the list is safely tucked in the pocket and the kids are secured on the back seat as we drive down to the supermarket.
The first hurdle is to find a parking slot. The store is big, but the designated parking slots are too few - and even on the Sunday morning they are full. We poke our noses into side streets and quickly occupy the one slot free.
Next hurdle is getting the empty cloth bags inside. The mighty security gurads are programmed to reject any bags from going inside. If we are lucky we might be allowed with the bags - else we might escape with a simple admonishment that bags need to be deposited at the entrance, to be collected later while the billing is in progress.
It has been half an hour since we entered this wonderland. Our trolley is half empty(we are optimistic people you know), to accomodate the planned items from the list which is still safely tucked in my pocket, as all of us have been stuffing the trolley with things that we don't need.
I refer to the list and ask one of the attendants where a particular item is stacked. It is always a dangerous question. It triggers a chain reaction where the query gets transferred from one attendant to the other and after a considerable delay the response could be don't know, don't care or it is out of stock.
Another dangerous question could be: "Do you have a fresher stock"? This typically happens with perishable items - with warning like "best within 15 days". In cases when the 15th day happens to be tomorrow, expect no sympathy from the attendant - come on you could still consume the item within today. Do you have to really trouble them with such silly questions as : do you have a fresher stock!
The trolleys are full with 70 percent of the planned items bought and we are in the final lap - just the billing is pending. The queue is long, some of the counters are closed, but attendants could have been the receptionist of a clinic for all you know. Typically they were the only ones in the service industry who could get away by being rude. Your appointment should come in 10mts from now, where 10 mts instead of being earth minutes are typically those of Pluto. (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/day_night/activities/nightlife.shtml)
Coming back to retail - the attendants don't care - selling is NOT their job - they have a role: receptionist, customer care, billing, stacking - thats all - but who sells??
So, now I have come back to my friendly neighbourhood mom and pop store. The store does not have AC, it is not sparkingly clean - but it has a person behind a counter and not a role.
It has a person who acknowledges that I exist, who tries to make small talk - who at least tries to help and pretends to listen when I crib.
I had enough of moments of truth and finally the truth has dawned that I'm not good enough to enjoy the benefits of organized retail.
The "moment of truth" in service marketing parlance is described as the moment when the service triad composed of the Consumer, the serving personnel and the service organization meet. In organized retail, the experiences I had with the truthful moments were never great, but I stubbornly trudged along from one outlet to the other - expectant that some day I will have a truly enjoyable moment.
Imagine a typical scenario:
It is Sunday morning, and I get ready for the trip. I collect the cloth bags (yes, we are trying to reduce our plastic dependance), the list is safely tucked in the pocket and the kids are secured on the back seat as we drive down to the supermarket.
The first hurdle is to find a parking slot. The store is big, but the designated parking slots are too few - and even on the Sunday morning they are full. We poke our noses into side streets and quickly occupy the one slot free.
Next hurdle is getting the empty cloth bags inside. The mighty security gurads are programmed to reject any bags from going inside. If we are lucky we might be allowed with the bags - else we might escape with a simple admonishment that bags need to be deposited at the entrance, to be collected later while the billing is in progress.
It has been half an hour since we entered this wonderland. Our trolley is half empty(we are optimistic people you know), to accomodate the planned items from the list which is still safely tucked in my pocket, as all of us have been stuffing the trolley with things that we don't need.
I refer to the list and ask one of the attendants where a particular item is stacked. It is always a dangerous question. It triggers a chain reaction where the query gets transferred from one attendant to the other and after a considerable delay the response could be don't know, don't care or it is out of stock.
Another dangerous question could be: "Do you have a fresher stock"? This typically happens with perishable items - with warning like "best within 15 days". In cases when the 15th day happens to be tomorrow, expect no sympathy from the attendant - come on you could still consume the item within today. Do you have to really trouble them with such silly questions as : do you have a fresher stock!
The trolleys are full with 70 percent of the planned items bought and we are in the final lap - just the billing is pending. The queue is long, some of the counters are closed, but attendants could have been the receptionist of a clinic for all you know. Typically they were the only ones in the service industry who could get away by being rude. Your appointment should come in 10mts from now, where 10 mts instead of being earth minutes are typically those of Pluto. (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/day_night/activities/nightlife.shtml)
Coming back to retail - the attendants don't care - selling is NOT their job - they have a role: receptionist, customer care, billing, stacking - thats all - but who sells??
So, now I have come back to my friendly neighbourhood mom and pop store. The store does not have AC, it is not sparkingly clean - but it has a person behind a counter and not a role.
It has a person who acknowledges that I exist, who tries to make small talk - who at least tries to help and pretends to listen when I crib.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Something common between Brand and Religion
What?? The title looks absurd.
I had two completely free days - no not really - but then got bored of assignments, and normal routine work. They say Empty mind is Devils workshop - and we all know Devil wears Prada - and Prada is a well known brand - so one thing lead to the other and ended up spending time in Library and reading about brands.
Came across this book: "Sonic Branding" by Daniel Jackson.
The book discusses, Brand in general and Sonic branding in particular.
Like the way the author has brought out the concept of Brand.
So what is common between religion and brand (no offences meant to religion).
It is the belief of the follower that is important.
The book says:
Brand is Belief.
Belief comes when believers put in their emotional capital.
Hence, Brand is like religion. E.g Christianity- initially the evangelists had to struggle to get the converts – but once converts had bought in the idea – they became the ambassadors.
Now consider the e.g. of Coke and McDonalds.
What is coke – just a normal thirst quencher – like sprite, Dr. peppers, Thums UP. But if you look around – Coke stands for American spirit. It is “the original thing”. And getting coke in a country means that American culture has arrived.
Similarly MaC…
I had two completely free days - no not really - but then got bored of assignments, and normal routine work. They say Empty mind is Devils workshop - and we all know Devil wears Prada - and Prada is a well known brand - so one thing lead to the other and ended up spending time in Library and reading about brands.
Came across this book: "Sonic Branding" by Daniel Jackson.
The book discusses, Brand in general and Sonic branding in particular.
Like the way the author has brought out the concept of Brand.
So what is common between religion and brand (no offences meant to religion).
It is the belief of the follower that is important.
The book says:
Brand is Belief.
Belief comes when believers put in their emotional capital.
Hence, Brand is like religion. E.g Christianity- initially the evangelists had to struggle to get the converts – but once converts had bought in the idea – they became the ambassadors.
Now consider the e.g. of Coke and McDonalds.
What is coke – just a normal thirst quencher – like sprite, Dr. peppers, Thums UP. But if you look around – Coke stands for American spirit. It is “the original thing”. And getting coke in a country means that American culture has arrived.
Similarly MaC…
Monday, February 23, 2009
Loyalty and Choice
When are you loyal to a brand?
When you have enough alternatives to choose from and you still stick to it!
Such a basic idea - lets see whether it holds good in some other spheres:
1) You are loyal to your company when you have enough choices to leave - but you still remain
2) You are loyal to your country, when you have enough choices and still you remain
So what drives the brand loyalty?
When you have enough alternatives to choose from and you still stick to it!
Such a basic idea - lets see whether it holds good in some other spheres:
1) You are loyal to your company when you have enough choices to leave - but you still remain
2) You are loyal to your country, when you have enough choices and still you remain
So what drives the brand loyalty?
Brand Loyalty Defined
”You learn that creating customer loyalty is neither strategic nor tactic;
rather, it is the ultimate objective and meaning of brand equity. Brand loyalty is brand equity.” Daryl Travis, Emotional Branding
So, what constitutes brand loyalty? According to Bloemer and Kasper, brand loyalty implies that consumers bind themselves to products or services as a result of a deep-seated commitment.
To exemplify this point, they rendered a distinction between repeat purchases and actual brand loyalty. In their published research, they assert that a repeat purchase behavior "is the actual re-buying of a brand” whereas loyalty includes "antecedents” or a reason/fact occurring before the behavior. Bloemer and Kasper further delineate brand loyalty into "spurious” and "true” loyalty. Spurious loyalty exhibits the following attributes:
Biased ; Behavioral response; Expressed over time; By some decision-making unit, with respect to one or more alternate brands; A function of inertia .
True brand loyalty includes the above, but replaces inertia with a psychological process resulting in brand commitment (Ref: Journal of Economic Psychology, Volume 16, Issue 2, July 1995).
So are you loyal to your company/country?
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