Isn't gender Equality a Reality?

I am the daughter of a bengali mother who dared to take mathematics (instead of arts, which was the trend among her peers) as a subject of honors in graduation, in the late 1970s. I am the progeny of a bengali engineer father who never differentiated between his son and daughter. I was made to believe from the early nineties of the 20th century that men and women are equal. But, here i stand a decade into the 21st century and a colleague tells me that the philosophy of gender equality is Utopia.

Where is Empathy?

Happy Holi to all reading my post. The festival of colours pretty unique to India is a much-awaited occassion for most youngsters and families.

During my school days this was the most exciting festival for me as well. Time to go crazy with loads of colours, freedom to wet friends with coloured water & loads of sweets from elders for putting a bit of colour on them.

But down the years the charm has slowly passed away. Why?

Leaders across Public and Private

Ever since my introduction to the corporate world, I have been wondering or rather wanting to compare how running a private organisation is different from running a government. Some differences are evident, i.e. government has much bigger targets especially when it comes to running a nation as large as India. Also, here the stakeholders are the citizens of the nation & since lives are moulded by government's decisions the responsibility of the ones running a government are higher than one running a private holding. (Not saying that the ones with responsibility always live up to it or are more talented)

The fact that there is a lot of resemblance in the act of governance and running a business, became further clear, when I read about Nandan Nilekani being offered the role of chairman in the Unique Identity Authority of India. Creating unique identity for each and every citizen of a 1.14bn+ population is not only ambitious but one of the biggest challenges. Ofcourse, once the challenge is attained, hopefully governments will be able to address a number of loopholes existing in various systems & sectors.

Power of Consumers

Till a few years back conversations in marketing were B2B & B2C, today social media has enabled C2B (Consumer to Business) and C2C (Consumer to Consumer) conversations.
Consumers now play a major influence in how & what a company communicates across all media.

Some of the key tools are active consumer forums and most known Twitter, FB and the likes.

Fast Forward Generation

Few days back I had a chance to meet an industrialist who made it to the top all by herself. She obliged us by letting us know the story to the top. It was a story of hard-work, patience, insight and much more.

I wouldn't name the industrialist but I would definitely say that she has made something out of her life. She and her husband worked together to build an empire of their own and she didn't hesitate to mention the mansion like house across the beach was the dessert she deserved after 25 years of dedication to their business.

Questions posed on a rainy day!

"Monsoon is the best season in Mumbai" chirped a colleague on a rainy afternoon in July'08. I was just a month old in the city and had seen no other season but monsoon. Truthfully speaking I wasn't enjoying it one bit. Too much mud, water and mess due to rains is all I had in mind.
July'09 I updated my status in network "Love for monsoons is infectious". My non-Mumbaiya friends inquired whats so infectious about it? I harped the same old reason my colleague had given. The weather is coolest during this time of the year and I am simply loving it. Plus, I added my new place on the 11th floor gives me a magnificent view of the rains across the nearby mountains and the inlet of the sea. Secretly, though I am not quite all happy about the rains in Mumbai. Am not saying that the rain gods should shower less in Mumbai.

Test Blog

I have frequently thought of renewing my habit of writing a diary. Till my graduation days when i had minimal access to the net I used to literally pen down my feelings in a diary. First I had to struggle to pen it down and then struggle to hide it.

Of course blogging can't actually be termed as a e-diary. It is accessible to all and when I blog I would be penning my opinions about more social and generic causes or thoughts.

I am completely out of habit of writing anything which is not related to work. Lets see how it works out :)

Best of luck to me.....