Ceat, Shoppers Stop and Godrej Rebranding stories

Three very big Indian brands have gone for a makeover. Godrej, Shopper's Stop and Ceat. Before I get into a long rhetoric on these individually, I think except Godrej, Shopper's Stop and Ceat have got it wrong.

Godrej Industries Ltd.
Godrej has added colors to it age old logo. Shoppers' Stop and Ceat have completely changed their looks. Also, Shoppers' Stop says "Change is Good" and Ceat says "Change is here". I wonder if both these have been created by same team?


Godrej the behemoth that sells everything from shoe polish to animal feed to almirahs to locks to lavish food for rich to real estate to a lot of things unimaginable has got a new look. They did not do anything drastic. They retained their logo. Added some animation, color and jazz to it. As a customer I love what they have done. For me I have grown up in house where we had tons of Godrej almirahs and locks and for me Godrej means trust. Is the new look enhancing that? No it does not but it gives me a sense that owners are trying to reinvent the old company and are committed about it. And since And are they doing it because a Godrej Properties is planning to come with its IPO?


Shoppers Stop
Coming on to Shopper's Stop, its is a chain of premium retail megastores. They sell clothes, accessories and other fancy things that riches and the great Indian middle class buys. In fact they are amongst the first players in Indian retail industry to have experimented with large format stores and organized retailing. Their earlier logo and identity was very classy by Indian standards and for the last 10 odd years that logo has been itched in the minds of the customers. It had everything a premium brand's logo should have - curves, stars, symmetry. It was very very appealing.The new logo is anything but premium and yet is a good piece of work on a stand alone basis. But moment you compare it with older logo (and comparison is inevitable), it looks dull. It looks like someone has stepped back in time. To start with it is plain text in a font that can be used by anyone and everyone. A plain text logo could have been good if you added colors, gradients or other elements to break the clutter (hint Godrej). But that too is missing. I think they wanted more serious and elegant look for the brand and the logo has failed to deliver that. I would say this was created by an amateur designer trying random text layouts.

I have no clue what warranted the need for a change in logo. I understand that Shoppers' Stop is coming up with an IPO but did it require a change in look?


Ceat Tyres
Ceat is one of the oldest tyre manufactures in the country. Its a publicly traded company and although I have not had any interactions with their business (never purchased a ceat product), have heard a lot about them. The new logo looks like a half baked pie. Its like work in progress and first time I saw it, I could not relate it to the type manufacturer. When I read the headline, that was the time I realized that it was ceat they were talking about.

As a customer and as an observer, I like their earlier logo better. It had a meaning to it. I could see a rhino and I could conjure an image of a vehicle running on a ceat tyre negotiating hard curves. The new look might also have a road (the E looks like a road with a divider) but it fails to conjure any kind of imagery. Is there a trend in design houses to move towards plain text fonts with minimal use of colors? Or both Shoppers Stop and Ceat have been done by the same agency with a Creative Decision Maker believing that plain text is good and we should talk about change to go along with that?



Its often said an organization is as good as the decision makers it has. I dont really think design teams for both Shoppers Stop and Ceat have done their homework and tried to design a contemporary look. And they should consider the fact that people do not buy products or services. They buy and consume brands. And brand is something that makes the decision process for the consumer simpler. Not more complex by creating conflicting images in their minds.

Design, Advertising and financial markets may sound very different but there is indeed some kind of a relationship. Any more IPOs or redesigns coming up .. ?

P.S.: All the comments are not from an aesthetic point of view. I am hardly a person who has good design sense. I am talking from the perspective of a customer. I have tried to think how would a customer feel when he is interacting with a brand that is supposed to be premium.

All three companies trade on the stock exchanges and I own certain number of shares of Godrej Industries ltd. I might or might not choose to buy/sell these shares.

And I just realized that I am indeed passionate about brands and way consumers think abut brands. As a very good friend would say .. "Aha" moment of the day !

Tags: IPO, Indian Financial Markets, Godrej, Ceat, Shopper's Stop, Retail, India, Design, Logo, Re-design, Advertising, Marketing, Branding.

Basic Human Needs - An Indian Perspective

I was reading this awesome text located here about Basic Human Needs. I am trying to draw parallels between that text and people in India as I know them.

The article says that there are 9 basic human needs. These are Security, Adventure, Freedom, Exchange, Power, Expansion, Acceptance, Community, Expression.

Following are my opinions and views on these 9.

Security - Most people I know tend to have this need. In fact if I can generalize things, most Indians would have a very high security needs.

For me, Security is not that big a deal.



Adventure - Again if I could generalize, most people would want to believe that they have high adventure needs, I dont think they really do have it.

And yes, I do have high adventure needs. And yes I have all positive aspects and a few negative aspects. Wow. This is accurate.

And I should not make friends with people with high needs of security.



Freedom - Again this is one of those things where people would want to believe that they have freedom but they dont really have it. They are cooking pre-cooked food.

As for me, I DO belong to the group of people who think they are free but they arent. We shall get into more details in subsequent posts.



Exchange - Yes, most people around me have high exchange needs. From things as mundane as recipes to things as involving as gossips, people do exchange things around me. But somehow we dont really make good employees. I think its because we are most bothered about "self" than the group.

Me, I think I have high exchange needs. I express them by participating in discussions etc. Actually, come to think of it, I have high recognition need rather than exchange need.



Power - People tend to think that they have high power needs but they lack initiative. Most of Indians around me tend to wait for orders. They love passing buck.

And I am also lazy. I dont think I have power needs but as I said, I have very high recognition need.



Expansion - I did not understand this one.



Acceptance - Very much. Most of the world around me has high acceptance needs. Probably can be attributed to the way we are raised in India. Every small achievement if praised and highlighted and as we grow up, we grow used to appreciation. We need acceptance for our efforts.

I also have high acceptance needs. I think acceptance and recognition go hand in hand.



Community - People say that Japanese have strong communities, I would say Indians have stronger communities. We might not be as loyal as Japanese but yes we tend to stick to our clans. We are still divided in Baniyas, Shudras, SCs, STs etc.

I personally want to break free of these communities but knowing myself it will be a difficult task.



Expression - I think I confused this one with exchange. I think people want to express themselves in India but because of way we are brought up (keep secrets within a family, women often dont have the opportunity to speak up etc), most of us dont express. Although when we start expressing, we can be very good at it.

I love the concept of expression. In fact one of the things that I want to do in life is to express myself. I have used images, text, videos in the past and I would love to experiment with other things.



Anyone wants to share their opinions?

What kind of blogger are you?

I have been blogging for over 4 years now. I have been asked why I blog numerous times. And obviously I have give piece of mind to all those people. I have also met and interacted with a lot of fellow bloggers and I have realized that there are basically 4 kinds of bloggers.

1. Conscious Bloggers: People who really want to make a difference – not only in societal context but also in terms of business, way people use technology and other things. They are very focused in their approach and make sure they are attuned with the latest in their respective industries. More often than not, they end up becoming an influential voices in their respective fields.


2. Copy Cats: Because having a blog is cool, there are people who want to be cool and who would want to follow fads, they blog. Most of these blogs are abandoned within a short span and end up contributing to the Internet Junk. The lesser said about these people, better it is. Saves times and energy and content on Internet


3. Money Mongers: People who want to make money using their blogs (inspired by TechCrunch and other such blogs). They would start by posting everything and anything under the sun. They would blatantly copy things from other popular bloggers and will submit their blogs to search engines and aggregators at a feverish pace. It is very unlikely that they would ever make money with their blogs and will end up frustrating themselves. Some who are smarter, would on the course realize that blogging with an objective of making money would not work and they change course and obviously end up successful.


4. Confused Souls: People who don’t know why they blog but they anyways do it. The idea is not to make money or to get famous. The idea is to find an audience for their thoughts. Only gratification comes in the way of comments from their friends and other random visitors that have stumbled onto these blogs. They often have interesting things to say but due to the lack of recognition, they are lost in the noise. They are like the needles in the haystack that if identified could be put to good use.

What kind of blogger are you?

Originally posted here.

Analyze vs Act

Yesterday I was reading The Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum and he talks about this interesting 1v1 dilemma. Act vs Analyze.

There are basically two kinds of people. People who analyze and people who act.

The ones who analyze things are in great demand. Most of managers, consultants, experts are generally the ones who analyze. They look at any situation with an analyzing mind, often use decision trees, rely on expertise and use tools to find solutions to the problems they are facing. Their motivation is to make a rational decision and they need an anchor to base their decision on. Ambiguity does not have any place in these decisions. They have created and live by terms like water-tight, rational decisions etc.

And then there is a second breed of people. People who act. They do. They are the ones who don't really understand, cant really explain and don't believe in analysis, research and other frivolities around decision-making. They claim that they just know when a thing is correct and when something is missing. They use words like gut feel, guess work, spur-of-the-moment, knew-it-all-along etc. These people are more likely to be sportsmen, entrepreneurs etc. who rather live on the edge than to wait in the conference rooms or meeting halls.

You could be someone who either acts or analyzes. There is nothing wrong on picking either. Its all about personal comfort (and breaking away from it).

Me, I have relied all my life on analysis. I think its about time I move on to action (wow a discovery... Action comes from Act).

Originally posted here.

Related list of 1v1s
- 1v1: Excellence vs Mediocrity
- 1v1: Expert vs Employee
- 1v1: Popular vs Pertinent

I ...

... want out !!!

Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan

Long time since I posted lyrics. Here is one.

Album: Mera Naam Joker
Singer: Mukesh
Lyrics:

Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan, Iske Siva Jaana Kahan
Ji Chahe Jab Humko Awaaz Do
Hum Hain Wahin Hum Thhe Jahan,
Apne Yahin Dono Jahan
Iske Siva Jana Kahan
Jeena Yahan ......

Yeh Mera Geet Jeevan Sangeet
Kal Bhi Koi Dohrayega
Jag Ko Hasane Bahrupiya
Roop Badal Phir Aayega
Swarg Yahin Nark Yahan
Iske Siva Jana Kahan
Jeena Yahan ......

Kal Khel Mein Hum Ho Na Ho
Gardish Mein Taare Rahenge Sada
Bhoolenge Hum Bhoologe Tum
Par Hum Tumhare Rahenge Sada
Rahenge Yahin Apne Nishan
Iske Siva Jana Kahan
Jeena Yahan ...

Credits for typing out the lyrics: HindiLyrix

Youtube vid link: Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan Video

Who ...

... do I share my grief with?

Guiding principles for a company

Symbionese Liberation Army was a terrorist organization based out of USA.

Their philosophy came from the seven principles of Kwanzaa (a seven-headed snake), with each head representing a principle. They are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).

I think all these are awesome principles to create a company on.

Human Thinking - Decision Making - Well Read Person

With this post I am starting another Label called Human Thinking. I will be writing on things that I think are applicable to human thinking - way we think and act (rather REACT) in certain situations. These would not be backed by any kind of research or data. These are just a collection of thoughts and my thumb rules.

This one is about people who are very well read and are supposedly looked upon by everyone else.

People who read a lot might be at an advantage in a lot of situations. But they are at some disadvantages at times.

For example, if they encounter a familiar situation, the first solution that comes to their mind intuitively is one that they are familiar with (because they have read things that are similar to those situations). This solution could be optimal, suboptimal and even non-applicable in a lot of cases. And this is where their disadvantages from reading a lot comes in.

People might think that by creating this section on my blog, I am limiting my OWN thinking.

Inspired from Prof. Ray Titus.

Simpu Sodhi - Bring back Simpu Singh

How about writing to Channel V and bringing back Simpu Singh? I am ready to create FB groups, Orkut communities, send out chain mails and file petitions online. I will do anything (virtual) to get him back.

For the uninitiated Simpu Sodhi is/was a Channel V character that they created way back in 2000 for their shows. It is modeled after a sikh teacher and he is simply awesome.

Simpu Sodhi is all you can want in a person. He is a grown up. He is a kid. He is charming. He is innocent. He is intelligent. He has a temper. He is sensitive towards cute school kids that look more like micelings... He is Simpu Sodhi. Like No Other.

PLEASE HELP ME GET BACK SIMPU SODHI. Can some marketing whiz help me promote the cause and get some media attention?

He certainly makes it to my list of favorite fictional characters that includes Homer Simpson (of Homer Simpson fame), Michael Corleone (of Godfather fame), Jack Bauer (of 24 fame) and Udham Singh (again Channel V).

My playlist on Youtube.



Links for Simpu Singh Sodhi fans
1. http://www.indianpad.com/story/208901
2. Youtube Playlist of Simpu Sodhi vids

Future of Blogging figured out !

My last few posts have been about future of War of Words and Thoughts. On way to office, I think I have figured out a way.

Here is a simple solution.

War of Words will be my personal blog where I talk about things that are personal to me. Things like I hate watching movies, I love watching cartoons, I want to meet Steve Jobs etc. These would be the things that no one else is interested in. These things matter to me and hence I blog kinds.

Thoughts would talk about things that I think passionately about and where I believe I can contribute. I would talk about technology, marketing, media, India, entrepreneurship, people, ideas and a whole lot of things that I would think and compile. Basically things on Thoughts would be useful for everyone. It is meant to be read by people. People would be able to make some sense of these posts and thus will contribute to their learning. This will also give me a good platform to showoff my prowess of these matters (which is obviously debatable). In one line, as management professionals would put it, will add value to them.

Obviously, if I get another brilliant idea, might throw this one out in the dustbin and move on.

Surprisingly, other people also seem to have the same issue (d_grailed for example). Financial community might interpret this as slowing own of Internet Addiction and might downgrade their ratings of technology stocks :D

Bomaby Quiz Club

Bombay has this quizzing club that meets every month and conducts quizzes for its members. Since quizzing happens to be a favorite pass-time, I thought I will try and see if it’s any good. And so I went to Bombay Quiz Club’s first quiz on Sunday.

There were some 35 odd people. The youngest was a student at an engineering college and the oldest was (I think) a retired professional. Most of the people seemed to know each other (probably because they have been meeting over a period of year) and few of them were past winners and finalists at various quizzes (Brand Equity Quiz, Adclub Mumbai Quiz etc).

Their format is also pretty cool. It encourages participation and it rules out good quizzers ganging up to take the fun out of quizzing. They randomly divide all participants in 8 teams and get on with the fun. The n00bs get to learn from the 1337s. Its that simple.

I must say that I was humbled and inspired at the same time by the whole experience. I always thought I was an above average quizzer and there I realized that I don’t even exist in the quizzing circles. The quality of questions and participation was really great. I would recommend any quizzing enthusiast to be a part of the club.

And yes, the place was offered by Pinstorm and its amazing how a small gesture like offering a place for quizzing can become a branding and advertising strategy. More on this later on Thoughts @ Work blog.

Future of War of Words

Few Facts First

1. No one reads your personal blog if your last name is not Hilton or Spears.

2. Even though people dont read your personal blog, it still hangs in the air (stays on the Internet) for everyone to see and read.

3. It still reveals a lot of things about you. Lot of them desirable (that you think, that you are honest, that you like straight-forward, that you love adventure sports) and lot of them undesirable (that you are old, that you are a MBA, that you are getting balder with each passing day, that you are still single and that you dont want to get married) etc.

As I have said earlier that I am thinking what to do with this blog (here and here), I will try to pen down the arguments against and for the decision.

Reasons against shutting down

1. 4 years of effort (first post ever here)

2. Emotional attachment (even though no one else reads this, I write because I want to write and I like venting out whatever I think is relevant to me).

3. Very strong identity (Google for Saurabh Garg and this is amongst the first results).

Reasons for shutting down

1. 4 years of effort - with every passing day this 4 years is growing and would be more difficult to shut tomorrow.

2. Very strong identity - I started this when I was a student. Today I am looking at creating businesses. Every new contact I make in the real world would search for me on the Internet. And they see this blog - which is a good thing but does not talk about my work and other professional interest areas. One way to go about this is to brand this as a personal blog and move on (this is a good idea - I will do this right away).

So basically there is only one strong reason for me even thinking about shutting this blog. Point to ponder is that is it that big that I shut this down (wow three "that"s in six words - a new world record?). Will keep on adding points and thoughts to this. And come to think about it, this could be an interesting personal marketing and branding problem.

How about selling this on ebay? May be I get few interesting bids and money can motivate me to finally end this? Any offers from any generous people around?

More Rational thoughts on the reservation policy in India

The last piece I wrote was an emotional outburst. This is more rational argument on reservations. I shall try to figure out the impact of reservations, thoughts on what could have been done and finally is there any hope?

Ok why reservations in the first place?
Reservation was the card played by the VP Singh govt. when they decreed for the first time that India needs reservations to help the lower castes. Some people credit their win at the centre to this card only. Obviously its a thing of past and no one can say what really happened. After-all history is written by people who win the battles.

I am not saying that reservations is a card that is played when you want to elections. You actually want to help the backward classes. You are motivated by general upliftment of the country.

Is it really going to help?
I have my doubts. These doubts are based on following observations.

1. I don't have numbers but I am told that at engineering colleges of repute (not the ones that are opened in small homes on outskirts of Bangalore), the candidates admitted from reserved classes don't pass at all. Most of them flunk in first and second year and stop studying thereon.


2. Then a lot of seats for reserved categories are filled with people getting less than 10% marks. End of the day education is about quality of students and maturity of interactions between them. If there are 53% people from general categories and average scores of 80, and 47% of people with average scores of 20, what kind of discussions are we talking about?


3. There seats remain empty because there aren't enough applications in the first place to grant admission to people belonging to reserved categories. If an institute can intake 100 students and it has to start a course with 80 students only because we could not find enough people to take reserved seats, aren't we depriving other students of an opportunity to study?

Obviously I don't have numbers to prove or reject these claims. Can someone help me with this?

To end this chapter (if I may say), honestly I don't think that reserving more seats is going to help. They should rather try to find out why do people from these classes perform this bad in the first place. Is there a flaw in the primary education system? Is it because they assume that education for them is going to be easy and hence no need to put in effort?

What will be the impact and what could be possible outcomes?
Impacts would be many-fold. For the students that avail this opportunity, students that are now deprived and the country itself.

1. Reservations means that only the best from the education system get into quality higher institutions. What happens to people who were average? They would have to settle for below average education. And because of this, they would miss the opportunity that could have transformed them from average to exceptional.


2. This also means that general quality of education will come down. Not because people from reserved categories cant perform or they lack intelligence. But because they are not equipped to face higher education. Mind you a person can be intelligent and ill-equipped at the same time.


3. Brain-drain might be back. And with a bang. I can already foresee a lot of talented budding doctors, engineers leaving the country in search of a place where their talent is respected. Not their castes.


4. All the hoopla about FDI and India's growth story might be in for a rude shock. If I was Microsoft or Google or Suzuki for that matter, I would not want to set shop in India because I know that finding good people would be tough and costly. It would also mean that business environment is unconducive. And once the growth story stops, then its a debate for another day if the country would grow or not.

Is there a way to help backward classes?
Getting a reservation done at under-graduate level does not guarantee that the life standard would improve. This move might create a large work force that is unemployable. And this would bring in more frustration. You are educated and cant find a job. From personal experience, I know for a fact that there is no feeling worse than that.

So what can we do to change things for people who have been oppressed? To start with I think we need to change the way they live. A child learns as much from his parents as from his surroundings. How about taking a cue from Madarsas and Gurukuls and replicate this in mainstream? These are the places where gurus preach and teach kids about virtues of life. Make them aware of the world around them. If we cant provide quality education to these kids at formative stages of their lives, how about making the system unconventional.

I used to work with an NGO called Pratham and they used this concept really beautifully. They would take a community and teach all the underprivileged children there. Mind you - underprivileged, not the reserved category. And they did it very well. That model runs on a self-sustaining model and is awesome. Can share more details if someone is interested in knowing more about it.

What can be done to mark protest against this move?

1. How about getting talking to all bloggers to write about it? At least the ones with reach like Mutiny, DesiCritics etc.?


2. Can this be a topic for blogathon? Anyone from their team listening/reading?


3. Help YFE and other forums with online propaganda and marketing.


4. Make an online task force and spam news websites with comments, thoughts and opinions. And make these quality comments so that they have to raise it on their prime-times. Knowing Indian media, they would anyways do anything to hike their TRPs.


5. I am strongly against any kind of mass agitations that stops the normal functioning of the country. I voiced my opinions on the medico strikes, batti bandhs etc. I think I was wrong when I took that stand and I need to change. Now I am neutral to it. Is there a strong case of a mass agitation?

I am simply out of ideas. Can someone please put forth more thoughts so that we can actually do something constructive rather than just debating? Another peril of Indian education system is that we start debates and never finish things. Lets come forward with solutions rather than talking about things.

To end this on a light note, I was thinking about way forward for people who advocate reservation

1. Just education is no point. We need to reserve places on the buses also. How about roads? Special clubs for reserved categories. Does someone remember 'Dogs and Indians not allowed' posters? How about 'dogs and unreserved not allowed' posters? Come to think of it, this could be an awesome article.


2. Now that we have reservations for SC, ST, OBC, how about talking about reservations on the basis of religion? region? height of a person. Imagine - we only accept applications from people who are 5 feet 7 inches and weight 150 KGs.


3. How about creating small states for every simgle category that you can identify and then ruling over them? Who wants 29 states. Lets split India into 19043 states all with homogeneous people. There could be a state for people who are bald and have Sharma as their surnames. Oops what about ladies then? Will they marry inter-caste, inter-state? Will these be approved?

Please understand that views submitted are personal only and might be flawed. Please help me see the correct picture.

Crossposted

Thoughts on entrepreneurship

I was reading this presentation made by Axis Holding's Kuntal Shah at VCCircle's event at Pune.

One of the slides had this quote ...

I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon…if I can. I seek opportunity…not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole; I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say: This, with God’s help, I have done. All this is what it means to be an entrepreneur.

Although I dont agree with God part but I couldn't have said this better. And re-affirmed my belief in entrepreneurship. Something to cheer up post reservation news.

Reservations in India - A reality now

Rediff.com says that Supreme Court of India has given its nod to 27 percent reservation to the OBCs. They have excluded the creamy layer from the reservation and they have said that this reservation would be periodically reviewed.

I have only one thought on my mind. Why did I ever study? All I could have done was wait for this day to come, get a fake certificate by paying a babu some 500 bucks, score less than average on JEE or CAT, get into the best educational institution in India, get a fat pay packet and live happily ever after.

I understand that we are a democratic country and we have to win elections, we have to divide the voters and win the electorate and we have to create a fuss on our "national son" not joining the cabinet. But want about the future of the nation? Aren't these educational institutes supposed to nurture the talent for tomorrow? Are we going to run the nation with engineers and managers and doctors who are below average?

I am not saying even for a minute that OBCs cant perform as well as regular people. These castes and creeds were made in ancient India because of the way country was ruled. This in my opinion should have been abolished by the constitution in the first place. All I am trying to say is that because of the reservation, many deserving candidates would now have to go for alternative careers.

Also wouldn't this incident set up precedents for every other group of people? Currently it is MNS in Maharashtra that is talking about reservation on the basis of region. There are certain groups that are asking fore reservation on the basis of religion. Tomorrow every tom dick and harry would want a reservation because they are different. What if I get 10,000 supporters and since I am bald, I demand reservations for bald people? And what if we start granting these reservations, a day shall come when majority of population that falls under "regular", "non-reserved" category would be fighting for 10 seats. May be they can then demand reservation for "unreserved" category. Arent we dividing the country ourselves? Aren't we doing what East India Company did to us?

And what about all those hate crimes that would now happen? I can already see these institutions polarizing in two sects. One from the reserved categories and one from unreserved. What about the poor unfortunate students that will have to face the brunt of the entire political drama?

Whatever has happened is unfortunate. There are other better ways to help OBCs reach a good living standard than reservations. I had high hopes on the Supreme Court of India. They have proved correct in the past but this time, at least in my opinion, they have made a mistake. No amount of argument would now dissuade me from speaking against education system in India.

I am so sorry to have voted for a govt. that took this step and I feel cheated right now.

Author took all the entrance tests that a school kid can take after his 12th class examinations. Got through one test to join a course at Delhi University. Took two years to get respectable enough score at CAT to reach MDI Gurgaon and now would preach that there is no point in pursuing formal education in India.

His other posts on reservation and education system in India are here, here, here, here and here.

Bomaby Quiz Club

Bombay Quiz Club has announced their new season and I will be there.

Its at 3 PM on 13th April at Bandra. Anyone coming?

More details on their blog.

Crossposted from Thoughts.

Thoughts on Rat Race

I know its a rat race. Everyone knows that its a rat race but sad truth is that there is no escaping this rat race. Everyone has to run just to survive. This is where that thing about survival of the fittest come in. You have to make sure you dont fall behind lest you get killed by the next racer or are eliminated automatically.

Second why this rat race in the first place? I think the answer is in economics. Resources are limited and number of people who want to claim them are innumerable. This mismatch between the demand and supply causes people to act rationally and think about their benefit. Their survival. Their evolution. And hence the rat race to outsmart other mortals and get access to limited resources.

4th April 1983

What happened on 4th April 1983?
Bill Gates and Paul Allen inked Microsoft Corporation.

Quote on Indian Consumers

The average Indian consumer is growing. The urban world is driven by aspiration, quality and value in that order, while the rural world is driven by the same factors in a different order – value, aspiration and quality. It’s funny they want the same things in different ways.

Shivkumar is chief executive officer, Nokia

Taken from AgencyFaqs.com

Official Blog

saurabhgarg.com/thoughts is now live. Check it out.

List of Google's April Fool's Day pranks

Google's April Fool's Day pranks is an awesome way to get free PR. Google creates a small application around search and then they release on the Internet. And all this is done with as much fan-fare and secrecy as an actual product.

They have played a lot if interesting pranks over the years and no wonder the entire world waits and watches what they would do this year. What is amazing is that even though people expect them to do things on 1st April, they still manage to come up with something that can surprise the world.

Lessons for companies? Start small things like April Fool's Day pranks that can grow bigger with time and people will actually look forward to reading about it. And all these things count in the end. Especially for a small and a growing company.

List of Google April Fool's Day pranks over the years
1. gDay with MATE
2. Google Romance
3. Virgin and Google's Virgile
4. Gmail Paper
5. Google Mentalplex
6. PigeonRank
7. GoogleGulp
8. Google TISP

Did I miss something?

Crossposted

s4ur4bh wiki launched

I have finally launched a wiki where I would compile my thoughts.

Please check it out and share your thoughts.

Link to s4ur4bh.pbwiki.com