Customer Service and Macroeconoics

After my last blog on customer service, I had a comment from a dear student of mine, he mentioned “if we're given an inch we will take a mile”. The observation is right to a large extent. There is a tendency to take undue advantage and that becomes a problem in offering reasonable customer service. Again not everyone is bad but if there is a sizeable number then all are treated alike. The question came to mind why are we like this? Why this mindset does exist in many? Is it because of socioeconomic conditions, or decline in morality? Does these two have any correlation? Do macroeconomic factors affect our morality? Macroeconomic factors such as economic output, unemployment, inflation, do affect a large population rather than a few select individuals. There is an impact on habits, social conditions, physiological conditions, spiritual and/or moral values. Vulnerability of an individual or a group increases due to macroeconomic changes. Indian movies where the hero steals bread to feed hungry younger brother or robs someone to buy medicines for dying mother highlighted deteriorated economic conditions and unemployment. Many of the movies also show the exploitation due to micro-financing by landlords or moneylenders and resultant revolt by the oppressed. There exists a strong relationship between economy and human behavior.

Over a period of time Indian Rupee has lost value, inflation has increased manifold, unemployment is a major problem, migration from rural areas and backward states has increased, politicians have played tricks, given wrong messages and have amassed wealth. Role models have changed in the Indian society and all these impacted adversely morality and the value system. It’s unfortunate. I still remember the days when one would not steal or cheat. Going down the memory lane, but not very long back, I still remember my experience. It was in 1982. I was in Goa at Miramar beach enjoying nice breeze in the evening. While walking on the beach I had to kneel down to tie my shoe lace.  My awkward bending resulted in my wallet dropping down and I saw the currency notes flying with strong breeze. Money had a value in those days. I was helplessly watching a mix of one, two, five and ten rupee notes flying. I ran after them on the sandy beach and managed to grab few. I stood there for a while and started counting what has been salvaged. In the meantime few persons came to me and returned the notes that they could catch. Frankly I did not believe that this could happen, but it did. All that I had lost was about six rupees and got back 162. Today with rupee value going down I may not get back anything and I may also not run to grab the flying notes and those who might get the notes might run away from me. It’s sad, but it’s a reality today. If there is such a change in mindset, then it’s real challenge for marketing professionals to design customer service.

We are not doing badly in India, but there is a need to design customer services keeping in mind the customer base and changing mindset. Customization is a major challenge. Websites and emails can help a long way. I did had a good experience with Britannia for the complaint that I had for one of their products. Onjus sent replacement to my residence in response to my complaint. HUL responded but more out the fear that I would complain to FDA, rather than customer care. I had no response from Reliance fresh to my complaint for overcharging. Finally I had to lodge complaint with regulatory authorities. And I have no idea if any action has been taken by investigating authority. There is again a major problem as the email IDs of many government and semi government officers are invalid. My emails for certain very important issues to Home Minister of Maharashtra, Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai, FDA commissioner, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, Insurance Ombudsman, Mumbai and may other government authorities are not even acknowledged. So on one hand many from the private sector are striving to offer good service, while government is unmindfully ignoring. This impacts credibility of the service providers and the mindset of consumer. If one is not heard then it sends wrong signals and that is bad for the business and the society. If one is denied the legitimate dues then retaliation is a strong possibility, which can manifest in different forms. This can be another dimension that might affect behavior to counter the apathy of non-response.

There has been mix of experiences in USA. Remington replaced the electric shaver just by calling them. Hanes replaced defective vest but asked for some details. It was like probing, so different than Remington experience, but did respond. But not all are same. Bad experience has been with Sunkist, their roasted almonds. A jar purchased from Sam’s Club, was just bad. The almonds were rancid many months before the “best before date”. Complaint lodged on company website was never responded. This is another problematic area when a company wants the consumer post a complaint on their own website. There is no proof unless one keeps “Print Screen”. Not many consumers do this, thus there is no follow up. However it shows the mentality. As of now I don’t buy any stuff of Sunkist. They lost a customer and may lose many more.  Best aspect of customer care in USA is return policy of most of the retailers. I had no difficulty in exchanging a defective product or just returning the product for refund or for store credit.

Another good service available in USA is “gift receipt”. If one doesn’t like the gift, the same can be returned to the retailer, another one of choice can be exchanged or store credit can be taken. Macy’s return policy has been good and what I liked was the customer care. Once I had a bad experience with one sales executive, resulting in my wasting almost half an hour to get my stuff. I asked for the manager and explained the need to be more professional. The interaction with store’s manager ended in getting an apology with $25 store credit.

Returning to India, many of these practices are not feasible. I can’t think of replacement of a $100 worth electric shaver without returning the defective piece and supporting invoice by any Indian manufacturer. My experience with a Tata company to avail of extended warranty has been very painful. Dmart deducted 2.5% from the amount they refunded because I had made the payment by credit card. The dealership of Tata Motors in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, charges 2.5% extra if I pay by credit card, but the dealership in Pune does not charge anything extra. The company has to have clear policies in this regard.

Picsquare, the online photo print company, published certain rates on the website and charged 33% higher amount on checkout. I spent hours in selecting, editing, and uploading the photos after taking into consideration the published rates and while checkout I find I am being cheated by 33% overcharging. I had two options either to cancel the deal or pay more. If I cancel the deal then my time spent to load the photos and my ISP’s charges are wasted and If I checkout then I pay more. I chose the option to pay more and check later with the company. The customer service sent a mail that the charges have been revised and the one published on the official sites are not valid. They had no concern or any desire to refund the extra amount charged. They lost a good customer. As against this Amazon offered for a free unconditional return for an item that I was not 100% happy or 10% refund of purchase value, if I decide to keep the product. Can Picsquare learn something?

Indian companies have to graduate themselves and offer better service. At the same time the consumers have to be honest and try not to take undue advantage of service offered. Who should take the lead is like whether chicken first or egg first. The changing socioeconomic conditions and with technological advancement a win-win situation is certainly possible.

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Customer Satisfaction

Customer service is graduating in India. Things have changed in last couple of years in the service industry and levels for customer satisfaction are rising. Many of my friends have studied Management of Services and few hundreds of them will learn this subject in the next semester. Undoubtedly this is one of the wonderful subject to study. The kind of insight one can develop about customer satisfaction is phenomenal. What can offer a customer delight and what can put off the customer is very subjective yet can be generalized to some extent. One of the challenges that the service providers face is managing sudden spurt in demand, may be sporadic demand. In other words I will call it as keeping the waiting customer in good mood till the service is delivered. This can range from helping the customers track their consignment to managing queues in supermarkets. The usual approaches like advance booking, off peak hours, online ordering and store pick up, which are practiced, are valid but something more needs to be done. People and process both have a major role in future to accomplish this.

Many a times when I call the customer service over the telephone, very often I listen to most uninteresting messages while I am on hold. If these promotional messages are mundane or are not of any interest for me then the wait becomes irritating, more so when it’s my paid call. This irritation has impact on the final outcome. Similarly waiting at the checkout in a supermarket can also be extremely irritating. At times I may finish shopping in ten minutes but has to wait for twenty minutes for payment. While waiting in restaurants the ‘wait’ can kill my appetite. If I am with my four year old granddaughter she might lose her interest, and I might lose my temper. Many times I decide to grow my hairs to shoulder length while waiting in the salon and going through old magazines garnished with shredded hairs of multiple customers, that I confuse with commas or capital I at times. These waits are mostly boring and managing these well can help to retain the customers. One of the most irritating wait is in doctor’s clinic. I have yet to see a doctor who has kept his appointment. Sitting for your turn and watching anatomical charts, disease charts and gloomy faces of patients makes me more sick. This waiting is most painful, more painful than going through the old magazines that the doctor brought from his home or bought from Raddiwala. Even though there is a technological advancement, banks still have the rush, more so during the first few days of the month or after the weekends or bank holidays. Waiting to get your own money from the bank is not a pleasant experience.

There are many more painful waits and I can continue for couple pages more. The bottom line is how to make these waits pleasant. Music is one answer, but again what kind of music. This is again is subjective. TV monitors, may be a way out. One of the Honda service centers in New Jersey have multiple TV monitors mounted at some distance from each other in the waiting area. One can choose the channel one likes. The subjectivity is taken care off to some extent. The service center also offer free snacks, juices, soft drinks, tea and coffee. The wait becomes bearable. Tata Motors service center in Navi Mumbai offers tea in 50 ml thin plastic cups, in a gloomy environment, while the one on the bypass in Pune has better ambience and better quality of hot beverages. (Importance of physical environment!). It’s a good attempt but the imitating American design doesn’t help. The social stratification and other disparities annul this Tata attempt. Acceptability to sit next to a Sumo driver for an owner of Aria and have a cup of coffee in a 100 ml disposable paper cup is difficult in Indian society. There has to be separate area for elites to overcome this hindrance.

America has a solution for my wait in salons. There are many salons that offer me web check in. I log on to the website of the desired salon and check in on available time slot. Accordingly I leave my home and arrive at the salon to directly get in to the barber’s chair. There is a sadistic pleasure to see the waiting customers when I walk in.

Young customer in waiting

Many of the American restaurants offer drawing book and set of crayons to children accompanying the parents, to keep them busy till food is served. Indian restaurants (in USA) are busy in making money and ignore these young customers. McD offers a toy on some kid’s menu, in most of the countries where they serve. Offering free refills to customers buying a soft drink is very common in American fast food joints. To manage waiting, PF Chang’s Chinese Bistro gives a hand held gadget when the customers arrive at the counter and if they have to wait for the table.

I was waiting....

With the gadget in hand the customer is free to move around or have drink in the bar or even go back to their parked car. The gadget will flash light and buzz when the table is ready. In few places in Navi Mumbai the restaurants have kept few rides, like rocking horse or Mary go round or toy car for children and that also keeps their parents busy too. A restaurant is Navi Mumbai that is closed now was having paper table-mats with puzzles, riddles and anecdotes. Customers would keep themselves busy solving the puzzles or riddles till food was served.

Technology has helped Domino’s. The online order placed with Domino’s can be tracked till the delivery. This Domino’s tracker keeps me updated right from the moment I place the order till the pizza is delivered. I can open multiple windows on my laptop or tablet, work or listen to music or watch youtube and also check the status of my order. Waiting for the pizza becomes comfortable.

My order on Domino's Tracker

Most of the banks in USA offer free tea or coffee. Customers can pick up K-cup (premix in a sealed disposable cup) of their choice pour hot water and enjoy the beverage. Keeping chocolates or candies in a jar is again common. Some more enterprising entities keep a box of cookies also. Thus one can munch a cookie, sip a hot beverage while waiting to transact the business and walk out with candies when they are through.   

Self-checkout at supermarkets is another option that is available in the USA. But if there is a queue for this then again we are back to square one. Such checkouts however are supervised by an employee who can offer help in case of any difficulty. The human involvement is welcome and at times necessary to for assistance or malpractices by unscrupulous customers.

Fortunately the problem of waiting and the boredom associated with it has been reduced to a large extent by the current technology. The smartphones have come to the rescue. FB, WhatsApp, loaded games or online games offer some respite to the waiting customers. The least use of a cell phone in USA is for talking. The cell phone is used for almost everything except talking (incoming is not free in USA). A step to please customers that has been adapted by service providers is to offer free WiFi. Supermarkets, malls, restaurants, airports, train stations, you name it, all these provide free internet access. The customers are taking care of themselves so the service providers have some respite. However in this fast changing world, this is not the end, but just a beginning for offering newer avenues for customer satisfaction. Customers are going to be more demanding.

In the service industry a pleasant experience is must before and after the customer transacts the business. The pre and post production experience has a lasting impact to retain and attract customers. This is possible with involvement of “people” in pre-production and delivery of the service. Automation, IVR can never offer that human touch which can create a magic in customer satisfaction. The greatest requirement of one of the Ps of services mix, “People”, is at these two stages. Manage these well and you are on the right track. Technology has its limitations.

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Tea around the world

While enjoying my masala chai (मसाला चाय) during breakfast, I glanced through the flier of Trader Joe’s that was delivered in the mail earlier afternoon. While many of the products failed to catch my attention, one product in particular, I couldn't ignore. It was Salted Caramel Chai, Tea Latte Mix. Being a management student and also an experimental cook, I read with interest what the product is. It’s a blend of black tea (must be from Assam) and Darjeeling Tea along with cinnamon, cloves, anise and ginger. In short it was a masala chai (मसाला चाय) with little difference as it was with caramel and few crystals of common salt. For me it was an interesting mix of typical Gujarati masala chai (मसाला चाय) with a dash of salted tea that I had on the streets of Kolkata tuned to the American taste with addition of caramel. From marketing point of view it was an adaptation of Indian tea for select American consumers at an attractive price of about USD 0.60 per serving. I will certainly not miss an opportunity to have sample of this blend when I visit Trader Joe’s next, which is almost at a walking distance from my residence close to US 1, in Princeton.

Indian Masala Chai

Tea is an English legacy. We cannot prove (not surprising) that we had tea in India much before British learnt how to spell tea. East India Company got firmly rooted in India; they encouraged the tea plantation in Assam in nineteenth century. India has been the largest producer of tea. Today India is pushed from top position to second largest tea producer’s position by China. Tea has been a native plant in Assam and some antique recipes of tea leaves and garlic are also documented. Contrary to this many researchers claim that tea travelled from China to India. Hope China doesn't claim that Assam is a part of their territory on this pretext. In one of the four ancient Chinese novels, “The Dream of the Red Chamber”, the author Cao Xueqin has mentioned that the tea was imported and consumed by rich people in China. Some researchers believe that tea is native of India and has been mentioned even in Ramayan. Some believe that the Somras (सोमरस), is tea. Black tea is a fermented product and so is, as claimed, Somras (सोमरस). The base for any alcoholic beverage is of vegetable origin and so is for most of the intoxicants (afim अफीम, charas चरस, ganja गांजा, tobacco etc), except two legged human beings (your sweetheart) and chemicals (LSD, amphetamine and alike). Ayurveda has been advocating various infusions, commonly called as Kadha (काढा ), may be kind of herbal tea, so tea is certainly not alien to us.

From marketing viewpoint tea has been regionalized. In China it’s the green tea that’s very common. There are also flavoured teas like the most popular, Jasmine tea. I have seen many Chinese dropping a tea bag in the kettle of hot water and pouring a small portion in porcelain cup and repeatedly sipping throughout the day. Every meal must end with tea. This is a "tea drinking" for its refreshing and tonic effect. Another aspect in China is "tea tasting" and that has

Chinese Black Tea

cultural significance. So tea in China is unique to its culture and traditions yet as per changing taste flavoured tea has its own niche.

From China tea travelled to Japan in the eighth century where the monks of Zen Buddhism had tea to keep them awake for meditation. Tea contains nearly 40 mg of caffeine per cup to keep one awake. Being expensive tea was consumed by priest and noble persons. Now tea is a part of Japanese food culture. Tea is widely available even in PET bottle from the vending machines. Here again when tea is served it is usually green tea; however black tea and Chinese jasmine tea are also popular.

British were instrumental for large scale farming of tea in India. They set up large tea gardens and went in for commercial production. British also had tea gardens in other colonies namely Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Kenya. The typical English breakfast tea is a blend of tea from India, Sri Lanka and Kenya. The blend has created a niche for itself. Another niche is for Earl Grey Tea, which is a black tea with addition of oil from fragrant citrus fruits that offers a distinctive taste and aroma. These two blends are popular in the UK and many brands are available in the market. These are strong blends, and therefore milk is added to the brew unlike China. UK Tea Council reports average consumption of 165 million cups of tea every day in UK.

It was the British who exported Tea to America from India. Americans have been ungrateful to tea. In fact they owe their independence to tea. It was the Boston Tea Party, a protest against tea duties in 1773 that sparked off the American War of Independence. Had tea not been there, America would have been yet another British colony.

American Ice Tea

But Americans forgot tea and chose coffee. Times changed and the migrant population from Indian subcontinent could not be ignored. Chai has attracted Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and many other American fast-food and beverage joints, where it finds a prominent mention on displays and menus cards. Snapple’s gave a “cold shoulder” to tea and offers ice cold fruit flavoured tea in American market. In grocery stores and supermarkets a wide range of tea from India is available. Flavoured ice tea is adaptation for American market.

Coming to India, undoubtedly it’s national drink. The southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu also have tea plantations apart from traditional tea producing areas like Assam and West Bengal. India has 30% consumption of world tea production and 70% of India’s produce is consumed locally. Tea was again a rich man’s drink in this country till 1950. Government of India set up Tea Board in 1950 and then after there is no looking back. The consumption is on increase year after year though coffee is trying hard to get a firmer foothold. Tea is a welcome drink in most part of the country and like British tea is taken with milk. Indians need strong brew, fragrance is manageable as chai masala (चाय मसाला), ginger, cardamom mask the original flavor. There no better drink than Adrakwali Chai (अद्रकवाली चाय) with Pakodas (पकोडा) or Batata Vada (बटाटा वडा) anytime on a rainy day or a hot cup of tea when one is out of the bed, particularly in morning in the winter season. Tea however is always welcome drink. It’s a drink in any season for any reason. The Mumbai culture is of “cutting”, about 50 ml of hot tea supplied by and at roadside Tapari (टपरी), a tea stall. At places Kori Chai (कोरी चाय), strong black tea without milk, is also popular. Each state has its own speciality as far as tea is concerned. Before advent of disposable plastic and paper cups, the indigenous disposable cups for serving tea were kulhad (कुल्हड), small cup shaped earthenware.

Indian 'Use n Throw' 

Before pouring tea, these would be dipped in water to mask the murky smell. A ting would still remain and that was adding a distinctive flavor to the tea. The kulhad (कुल्हड) are part of history with changing times. And these changing times have also brought in flavoured teas, green tea, chamomile tea and hoards of “healthy teas” to the Indian market. Different brands of Chai Masala (चाय मसाला) to add further zing to tea are also available in the Indian market. However the simple tea with ginger or cardamom still rules the ready to serve tea Indian tea market and is going places around the world.  

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More about Tea 

Thanksgiving Day

Fourth Thursday of November is a Thanksgiving Day in USA. It is different in different countries. In USA this the most eagerly awaited event. I may not call it as a festival, but is certainly an annual event. Thanksgiving is important in an individualistic society like USA where family and friends can meet and party on this day or on following days. This is the longest weekend in the US starting almost from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday midnight. Children meet their parents on this day and gifts are exchanged. The holiday season starts with this.

Thanksgiving was traditionally celebrated in England for thanksgiving prayers after the harvesting. It is known as Loaf mass. Farmers make a bread from freshly harvested wheat and that would be handed over to the local church. Thanksgiving is very much similar to Holi and Diwali in India which are also post harvesting festivals that are social and religious. In Christianity there were ninety-five holidays and fifty-two Sundays on which one was expected to offer the prayers in the church. Following reforms the numbers of holidays were reduced to twenty-seven. There cannot be any reduction in Sundays, in certain years these could be even fifty-three, so these were left untouched. Original migrants to America started celebrating this day during same period as that of England, even though in New England the harvesting is over much earlier than it is in England. No adjustment in dates was ever made, unlike other countries. This reminds me of Australians celebrating X-mas in summer, knowing well that Santa cannot come on a sledge in their country in that season.

Thanksgiving has assumed different dimensions and  great importance in America. England doesn't have that kind of celebrations as America has. Some researchers also put forward another theory. It states that the first batch of migrants was fighting with sickness and shortage of food when they landed in America. The seeds and food that they had brought with them was either of no use in this new-found land or had got spoiled, except for barley. The natives taught the migrants to fish, to hunt and to cultivate. The migrants in honour of the natives celebrated Thanksgiving Day.

Wild Turkey

Few things are of great importance in this period and one of them is turkey. This beautiful bird is roasted and served on this day to the invitees. As during Halloween everything is of pumpkin, likewise during this period everything is dominated by turkey (scientific name - Meleagris gallopavo). This native American bird travelled to Central Europe via Turkey.   I am not very clear via such an odd route, but Wikipedia says so and thus this native American bird got the name turkey. Guests are served turkey for few simple reasons. Being a large bird (can weigh upto 18 kgs) and cheaper than chicken, turkey was the choice. Turkey got preference over beef as cow was considered as a useful animal when alive (similar to considerations by Hindus) and thus was not preferred to be slaughtered for feasting. Ham and bacon are not considered as good meat for such occasions thus pigs were spared. Unable to compete with these edible creatures, poor turkey had to submit to the knives of the butchers to satisfy holiday hunger. PETA has campaigns to protect turkey. Average number of turkeys raised in America is about 248 million, valued at USD 4.37 billion.

Turkey farm

As per the published estimates as of 20^th Nov 2013, over 51 million Turkeys are reported to have been slaughtered for Thanksgiving Day feast. It is estimated that nearly 50% consumption of turkeys in America is between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. 

Average American consumes about seven kg of turkey per annum. Turkey is relatively cheap, being priced around USD 2.50 per kg. Like the broiler farms there are domesticated turkey farms in US. The wild turkey hunting has restrictions from 1991 as these were declining.

There is a tradition to present a turkey to American President for Thanksgiving Day Dinner. However as per one legend Abraham Lincoln’s son Ted requested his father to release the turkey, meant for the President’s Christmas dinner, back in the natural habitat as the turkey also has a right to live. President gave a presidential pardon to the turkey and was thus released. So when did the Presidential pardon for the turkey for Thanksgiving Day dinner start? It is reported to have started with President Truman, who released the bird in 1948 in his home state. JFK sent back the turkey to the farm from where it came. President Eisenhower and President Johnson actually ate the turkeys that were presented to them. Officially the Presidential pardon started with President Bush (senior) in Nov 1989.  What an irony of fate, on one side millions of turkeys get slaughtered for Thanksgiving Day and on the other hand on the same day a lucky one is released to live the remaining life (about ten years) without fear of being slaughtered.

Presidential pardon by President Bush (Senior)

Another highlight of Thanksgiving Day is Black Friday. The next day after the Thanksgiving Day is traditionally the first day of Christmas shopping. The idea generated in mid 1960’s in Philadelphia and the police called it as a Black Friday due to jammed streets and congested traffic. Retailers try hard to get additional footfall on Black Friday. Accountants gave another angle in 1980’s. They called Black Friday for the reason that those retailers who were in loss, for which my accountant friends use red ink, make profit on this day, for which black ink is used in account books. Thus turning red into black makes this a Black Friday. For online shopping from 2005, the first Monday after the Black Friday is termed as Cyber Monday. For both these days prices are slashed for limited number of products and it is a very common site to see long queues outside retail outlets. At times the disappointed customers who could not get the desired product due to limited quantity offered for sale is sold out, do get into arguments and fights. In good old days shops would remain closed on Thanksgiving Day and would have an early opening on Black Friday. The mad competition changed the picture. Wherever the local law permits even Walmart keeps outlets open on Thanksgiving Day and offers the deals. The early opening on Friday morning is a history now. It got shifted to Thursday/Friday midnight and now it’s on Thursday afternoons, if shops are not open on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. Strange are the ways of marketers. Research shows that early opening increases the footfall but not the revenue. Early opening of stores cannot generate surplus cash with spenders.

Customers lined up outside retail outlet

This strategy reminds me of campus interviews in Management schools in India. In the year 2000 many management colleges would have companies coming on the campus for recruitment in March onward for vacancies to be filled up by June. Over a period of time the campus visits started getting advanced and now we find campus interviews as early as September or October. Many companies force the students to join early and some colleges even permit the student to remain absent in the last semester. Both the employers and colleges make mockery of management education creating a half-baked product in job market with a hope that it will mature with the time. Not everyone really matures, it’s a tragic reality.

Back to Thanksgiving Day, it’s a great holiday to enjoy meeting relatives and friends, exchanging greetings, even if you don’t shop, which is relatively a low possibility. With so much of promotion going on, one always lands up buying something whether needed or otherwise. Whatever may be the event, be it Halloween or Thanksgiving Day or Christmas, the marketing companies will never miss out an opportunity to earn an extra buck, no complaints. After all it’s a mainstay for the economic growth. Happy Holidays and enjoy.

Source: Wikipedia for the pictures, published non-copyright material

Also read www.cookfictions.blogspot.com

Assassination Attempt

Every cold winter morning in this Nov 2013, when I log on to a particular website from India, I find a recommendation by the editor for some news related to Jawahar Lal Nehru. May be these goody goody  articles are to remember the first prime minister of India or may be to precondition the minds of gullible persons to vote for certain political parties in 2014 elections. This blog is not a political commentary. I would like to do that but not here. I also don’t want to comment on Nehru for various actions that he took. The pain of Nehruvian socialism that my aspiring generation has undergone in our prime days is unforgettable. His dividing India on linguistic basis, was another painful action for which we are still suffering, be it Belgaum or the recent Andhra Telangana rift and there are many more in the pipeline.

Nehru was charismatic leader. I liked the aristocracy that he had. One of his pictures, in the book that I had on his USSR visit, was showing him making a toast at a dinner party. It was so aristocratic that I still remember it even after nearly sixty years. Nehru’s pictures of horse riding, playing golf were also equally impressive. Among children Nehru was always projected as “Nehru Chacha”, who always had a red rose pinned to his majestic sherwani. As an individual his personality was adorable.

Nehru and trademark Rose

The security that is seen today for political leaders and at the airports was not imaginable till 1980. I have seen motorcades with leaders shaking hands with their supporters. Security was not lax, but was not needed in that period. I would like to share an incidence of 1955.  Not many persons may know that there was an assassination attempt on Nehru in Nagpur. As a child I was a witness to the incidence. This incident dates back to March 1955. I was a primary student of Somalwar High School, Ramdas Peth, Nagpur. In the first week of March during the prayer time students were informed that Nehru Chacha is visiting Nagpur and we have to greet him when his motorcade passes on Wardha Road, not very far off from our school. Wardha Road was also called as Jail Road in those days as Nagpur Central Jail is also situated on the same road. This road connects airport in south to Raj Bhavan in north, where Nehru was to stay during his Nagpur visit. Janata Chowk, the junction of road passing over my school to the east and Wardha Road was less than a kilometer from my school and was midway between my home and school. I understand that this place is now called as Lokmat Chowk. Wardha Road was a part of NH6, and considering the traffic in those days the width of 60 feet was adequate. There were no pavements but some kachcha road on both the sides of the road. We were supposed to form a single line and stand facing the road with flags in our hand. We were instructed to wave the flags and shout “Chacha Nehru Zindabad”. We practiced this almost for a week. Finally on March 12^th, 1955, we were ready to greet “Chacha Nehru”. There were no school uniforms in those days but we were asked to come in a white shirt and a khaki half pant that almost every student had in those days of Nehruvian socialism, being the most affordable. For few other students the possession of Khaki half pant was due to allegiance of their parents to RSS, of course of their parents as we were too small to understand political ideologies of RSS or Congress.

That morning we marched in a single file from our school. We made a brief halt at Caltex petrol pump that situated little away from Wardha Road on the opposite side of a small factory manufacturing industrial spades; we called it as “Phavadyacha Karkhana”. We had to wait there as police had to block the traffic, so that we can occupy our positions on the road at the junction. A police jeep sounding siren zoomed past on the Wardha Road. Immediately few whistles were blown, smartly dressed policemen took their positions and traffic was blocked. We were led to the junction by our teachers ensuring the flags were held properly and instructions were given as to when to shout the slogans.

It was bright sunny morning and it was brighter for us as we were facing east. In few minutes two smartly dressed policemen, riding motorcycles one on the right side of the road and another on the left were seen approaching from south towards us. That was the indication that “Chacha Nehru” was coming. I strained my eyes to see a white car little behind the “Daroga”, vernacular synonym for the policeman who were riding the motorcycles. The car was approaching at very slow speed. As the car came further I could see Nehru standing in the rear open car in the center and greeting the waiting public waving his both hands. He was in white sherwani with his trademark red rose. We were instructed to shout the slogan and wave the flags. We were certainly excited to see someone whom we had so far seen only in pictures, in print media. No TVs in that era. The motorcade came nearer. The policemen on the motorcycles crossed us and suddenly there was some commotion just opposite me. On the other side of the road, I saw a man pushing a cycle rickshaw northwards on the road, through the crowd that was watching Nehru. His rickshaw breached the crowd and rolled over the road. He managed it so well that the motorcycles had crossed and there was enough space between them and Nehru’s car. The rickshaw rolled and hit the car in the front. Driver applied the brakes; Nehru’s hands came down on the back of driver’s seat to balance himself. In the meantime the man who pushed the rickshaw came running towards the car, stood on the foot board behind the driver’s seat, grabbed Nehru’s Sherwani near the neck with one hand and raised another to attack Nehru with knife that he was holding. Nehru was surprised, he tried to resist. In the meantime the Daroga riding the motorcycle on the right side sprinted towards the assailant and overpowered him. I was watching the entire episode with wide open eyes and awe. I was in no position to scream, I was flabbergasted. I realized the gravity of situation when I heard my schoolmate screaming and crying. Our teachers were trying to pacify us and cordon off the area due to the commotion. Police from the van that was following Nehru rushed and cleared the area. The attacker was hauled to the van and the motorcade resumed its journey. Nehru looked composed and continued waving to his admirers.

We returned to the school to continue with our classes, but everyone was really disturbed.

Author in 1955

I returned home after the school and described the entire incidence to my parents and siblings, who had already heard the same from neighbours and on radio. However my account was most significant for them being actual witness to what they had heard. Next day the newspapers carried te news in details. I was told that the attacker’s name was Baburao Chakole, who did this just to get publicity and for no political motives. The inspector who overpowered Baburao was attached to Sitabuldi Police Station and his surname was Quin, I don’t remember his first name (if anyone knows, please mention in the comments below).

Days went by; I grew up but could never forget the incidence. I might not have endorsed Nehru’s political ideology or policies, but I admired him for his personality, his aristocracy and calmness that he had after the assassination attempt. I doubt if India would ever have that kind of aristocratic, charismatic leader? His positioning in various segments was perfect, more so in 0-15 age group as Chacha. With 2014 election round the corner will some of the leaders reposition themselves?

I hate cooking - Read at New blog from the author

Halloween and It's Economic Impact

Halloween is a tradition in western world, with its roots in the Christianity. Halloween is the first day of the three days of triduum of all hallows also known as Hallowmass. This triduum, religious observance of three days starts with Halloween (All Hallows Eve) on Oct 31^st and concludes with All Soul’s Day on Nov 2^nd. The 1st day of Nov is All Saint’s Day. Halloween is also celebrated as harvest season in Celtic region of Europe.

Halloween is one of the most important events in the US. The typical celebration is trick or treat, children who visit your house are to be given candies else they play pranks. Costumes and costume parties are important part of the Halloween. Pumpkin carving is another important activity in this celebration. Haunted attractions in Halloween are for thrill and to scare. Age is no bar but largely it’s the children who participate the most. Many of the holidays in US are on Fridays or Mondays to enjoy long weekends. Some of the days are celebrated on a particular day in the month not on the date like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Not many ‘days’ that are celebrated on a particular date but Halloween is one of them that’s always on Oct 31^st, just like the Chrtistmas on Dec 25th. However the communities, schools have Halloween parade or party on preceding Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. Schools also have some celebrations and parades on Oct 31^st.

Pumpkin farm with witches and black cats

Pumpkins have great importance during this period. Every decoration in showcases has pumpkins. In restaurants pumpkins takes over other routine cuisine. One gets right from pumpkin soup to pumpkin ice cream. And of course the main course is full of pumpkin, pumpkin and pumpkin. The orange coulor of pumpkin dominates everywhere. Farmers growing pumpkins are the happiest lot.

I tend to compare this period with Sarva Pitri Amavasya (सर्व पितृ अमावस्या last day of Shraddh श्राद्ध fortnight) in India as far respects are to be paid to departed souls and to Holi in terms trick or treat and costumes. Here colours of Holi are replaced with costumes. Decorations of the houses reminds of Diwali, but for the fact that these decorations are haunted/horror based. All festivities come with great business opportunities. I wrote a blog Marketing Significancs of Shravan in July 2011. I got reminded of that when I saw the marketing activities for Halloween in USA.  

Costumes for sale

Any taker for 59.99 plus Taxes

Celebrations have some rituals. These rituals are from belief  (in Sanskrit shraddhā श्रद्धा). There is a thin line that divides faith and blind faith, as these are mostly religion based. It’s best not to touch them. UNICEF an organ of United Nations Organization collects donations on Halloween Day to support the children from poorer nations. Traditions are followed, departed souls are respected and no one has challenged UNICEF as to why they believe in Halloween. It should be left to individuals to decide what they should believe or not believe. However in India certain elements want to encroach on individual religious practices and sentiments. They pronounce themselves as crusaders for abolition of blind faith. As far as an individual causes no trouble or harm to the society and has some faith or a blind faith, others need not worry. In India these so called champions attacks the poor Hindus for reposing certain faiths or blind faiths. They have a lobby. Ghosts demons, souls all have a mention in every religion, Christianity and Islam included, yet only Hindus are targeted by these groups. Someone observes a fast, someone doesn’t drink water, someone remains absent from meat and alcohol, how can one pass a judgment? What one calls as a faith may be a blind faith for others, it’s subjective. Leave it alone as long as it is not a threat to the society.

I always teach my students of International Business that faith, beliefs, superstitions have a great potential for business. Chinese trader and manufacturers become rich when India celebrates, Ganapati festival or Diwali. Most of items needed for decoration come from China. Faith, rituals and religious practices of Indians is a business opportunity for Chinese. Celebrations in any part of the world have an economic angle. Halloween has a great impact on American economy. The business reported last year for Halloween was nearly USD 8.00 billion. This year it is expected to be USD 7.00 billion. The drop of USD 1.00 billion is attributed to slowdown and shutdown of US government for few days in this October. But we really don’t know, the business may be higher than estimates. There has been a constant growth in the Halloween related business. It has grown from USD 3.29 billion in 2005 to USD 8.00 billion in 2012, a phenomenal growth even in the so called recession. Of the USD 8.00 billion spent last year USD 2.33 billion was spent on the Halloween Candy and USD 2.87 was expenditure on Halloween Costumes. Decorations had a share of USD 2.33 billion and the greeting cards could net USD 0.59 billion in competition with free e-cards and texting on BBM, WhatsApp etc. Remember these are all direct expenses. Indirect expenses are not accounted. Chinese must have been happy to supply variety of products and the local government is happy to collect taxes. The rituals have generated the income.

Crooner and children in costumes

There is month long horror movies schedule on TV channels. Serials like Walking Dead top the TRP charts. Haunted places, haunted hotels are in great demand. One finds lots of advertisements for haunted hotels. Malls have special activities to attract the customers. They conduct programmes and event particularly for children, like pumpkin carving, face painting, singing and dancing.

Pumpkin painting for children in a mall

Parents and Children in a mall

Homes are decorated with pumpkin lamps and with haunted look. Halloween parties are a big attraction as everyone comes in Halloween costume. Artificial skulls, bones are in great demand. A local cake shop in Princeton had an offer of a free skull on order of thee dozens of cupcakes, needless to mentions that many of these cakes had pumpkin. People dress up in Halloween costumes and go to the work place, have fun, enjoy the thrill and scare. It’s a great atmosphere. I only wish no self-advocated reformist group comes forward and demands a ban on these celebrations. Enjoy the festivals and rituals, it’s a binding force for the society.

Cause of Poverty

On Jun 2, 2013 I posted a blog Nurturing Laziness. Recently I saw a comment. This post is in response to all the comments that further my belief that nothing should be given free or be subsidized  Anything that comes free loses its value. One has to work and achieve. To deserve and to desire are two different aspects. One may dream but that dream has to be a function of ones efforts and not just wishful thinking. To work and earn, to buy the food is a priority and the very act of turning this priority in to non-priority takes away the incentive, the desire to work. Empty stomachs will work better if work is made available. Food subsidy is a form of charity for selected group. Charities are generally counterproductive. Their main beneficiaries are not the intended recipients, but the givers. May be it’s a vote bank politics. Frankly, the idea of charity itself is corrupting to both parties in the transaction and that is bad for a nation. I would once again like to emphasize that the programs that are specifically designed to teach an individual to fish, rather than to just hand out fish are essential. Conduct the programs that teach job skills.

Nurturing Laziness was posted much before government came out with ordinance to offer food at subsidized rates to those below the poverty line. Unfortunately for India just 33% population above the poverty line will have to shoulder the responsibility to feed those who are below the poverty line. It’s sad, in many ways. How come a country has over two third of its population below the poverty line even after 66 years of independence? Who should take the responsibility for this? I have no idea of numbers of 1947, that would tell us if there is any percentage increase in the poverty figures, but one thing is certain that today in absolute numbers we nearly have twice the Indian population of 1947 below the poverty line. I try to find answer to a simple, why are we still poor as a nation. One question but there are hundreds of answers. I firmly believe that in most cases poverty if not a function of bad luck. It may be so for those who are born with physical or mental disabilities, but largely not for others.

We as a nation have failed to have disciplined ourselves. Discipline needs training, efforts, restrains, motivation and willingness. If anyone of these is missing then we are not on the track. Singapore is an excellent example of a disciplined nation. American President’s daughters get a ticket from police for alcohol-related misdemeanors or Queen Elizabeth’s grandson fights a war in Afghanistan are actualities from developed nations. We do see an element of discipline and national character in this. Discipline eliminates poverty. Poverty is simply a sign of bad habits. It’s a sign of a lack of self-discipline. Laziness causes distress or pain to those who are not willing to learn skills that can get them right jobs. Poverty is a sign of having no self-respect. In the vast majority of cases, those who suffer from poverty are not victims of anything other than their own bad habits (smoking, drinking and drugs included).

Giving free food or necessities of life will deprive of the motivation to achieve higher goals. Endowing groups, or individuals, because they happen to have so called bad luck culminating in poverty, or those who are perpetual losers, is actually immoral. I happened to read a Jew philosopher Maimonide’s “Eight Levels of Charity”, the great philosopher and thinker has different ideas about helping people. Top on his list is to support a fellow Jew by endowing him with a gift or loan, or by entering into a partnership with him, or finding employment for him, in order to strengthen his hand until he need no longer be dependent upon others. No wonder a small country like Israel is so strong and self-sufficient. One need not depend upon the government to provide everything. It is bad for developing nation and also for the developed nations. We have seen what’s happening in EU, in country like Greece. The “Obamacare” and resultant shutdown of American government from Oct1, 2013 is not a good sign. People have come to believe that an instrument of coercion, the state, has to take care of them. This is possible if country has large natural resources and these are so large that the state has not even to tax the subjects. Few Middle East countries can do that but not others. If government has to provide then government has to generate revenue and the easiest way is to tax those above poverty line. Wealth creates wealth, taking away wealth by means of taxes results in slowdown of wealth creation. Taxation is always a debatable issue in any country. All that is needed is rationality. A small number of poor can be supported by large number of rich subjects, not like India where 33% population has to bear the burden of feeding 67% population who may lack further motivation to work. This will diminish the pool of workers, production will suffer and soon the 67% will soon swell to 76% and even more. The farmers will not get due price for their produce as subsidized food is available. This will sway the farmers from agriculture and will finally lead to drop in agriculture production. We are playing with fire that is likely to be out of control.

I would refrain from any political commentary, even though it is a root cause for indiscipline and the resultant effects. India has to mature, understand the importance of discipline. On the front of inculcating discipline we are a big failure. Simple things like obeying traffic rules (remember these are for our own safety), following schedules and appointments, punctuality etc. have lost their meaning. Nearly 55 years back, I had to compete with 120 students to get selected in NCC. We took pride being the cadets and later on NCO’s. Twice a week we had parade at Kasturchand Park ground in Nagpur and it was a spectacular site. Bypassers would pause and watch the parade. While in college I continued to be in NCC, for a year in Engineers and later on in Infantry. My fellow cadets were from engineering and other professional colleges. Those five years in NCC made us tough, more disciplined. Today I hardly find any existence of NCC. There is overall apathy among the students to join NCC. It is so unfortunate that there are many vacancies in our armed forces and very few really seem to be interested to join the armed forces that demands discipline and integrity. On the other hand there is a huge rush to join police force and state civil services, which have questionable credentials. Why should one opt to be a policeman rather than a Jawan? Both are in the service of the nation, but discipline, honesty and integrity levels are so different. I don’t think much needs to be written on this. There is no substitute for discipline and it has to spread like virus.

We are losing out fast. China has already trapped us from all side, be it Pakistan (POK and Gwadar) or Mayanmar or Sri Lanka (Hambantota port). Our supremacy over the Indian Ocean is gone. We had great opportunity in last decade to be a super power. Former American President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinsky in his book, Strategic Vision – America and Crisis of Global Power published in 2010 has recognized India as complicated mixture of democratic self-governance, massive social injustice, economic dynamism and widespread political corruption. Three years down the line after the book was published many changes have taken place in India. Major scams have surfaced, politics has further corrupted, social injustice against women and children is on rise, democratic principles are being misused – supporting criminals in politics, No RTI for political parties are recent example. The high flying economic development is nose diving with no one in position or not willing to control. On the top of this subsidized food is to be supplied to over two third population of the country, that’s going to add further misery to the crumbling economy. We need to have fiscal discipline. Time has come to wake up, take a stock of the situation and take certain harsh decisions. Subsidized food has to go. Socialism has limitations. One of the major problems of socialism is corruption. It finds its roots and flourishes in socialistic regimens. Even the Russian President has been vocal on this. On the official web portal of the Russian President, a message was posted on Sep 10, 2009 which acknowledged that corruption has debilitated Russia. The message further states, Quote ”Until today this erosion has been due to excessive government pressure in many significant aspects of economic and other social activities” Unquote. Can we learn something from this?

I am aware that I drifted from my comments about subsidized food. I standby with my statement that nothing should be given free or at a price that is almost free. This is a multifaceted issue and cannot be looked in isolation. Each aspect is to be looked into with diligence. There is a gap between truth and belief that needs to be understood and bridged. Let there be a better tomorrow.