Rise from Ashes !!!

You have been running miles into the concrete jungle along with the herd, with a blindfold on your eyes. One day, you realize that you have stopped hearing those voices around you. You open your blindfold just to find yourself standing on a cross-road, tired, all confused, when it looks like you have lost your way, you can not even turn and run back, you have to take a path, and at that cross-road, at that point, you suddenly realize that you are in pain, some deep pain. You look back at old times and think what actually have led you here. You have been into worldly ties, those inconsequential worries, earthly desires and human emotions. You have simply been tied up with urgent & important, and so you have let your life direct you, where in you realize now that it should have been the other way round. You have been simply ‘existing’ and no where actually ‘living’. Life was directing you to ‘exist’. You think hard and try to catch some breath, but you find yourself choking. You realize that you have always wanted someone to direct you. You recognize that you have turned up a slave. A slave to destiny, a slave to luxury, a slave to your job, a slave to your emotions, a slave to relationships, a slave to this world and a slave to existence. You suddenly realize that you have always existed in a fake world of your own, holding up some of the fake beliefs, considering yourself as a self sufficient superior person, full with complacency and that entire bloated ego.



Now, as you find yourself at cross-road, you realize that you can not change the path you have left behind. Then you think why you are here, at this cross-road. You could have kept running and ‘existing’ with that blindfold on, but you chose to stop and think. Why? Just to find that the answer is within you. It is that one last spark of hope left in you and those distant dreams, and that have deliberately forced you to take this breather. That one wish of being self-sufficient and self-reliant has given you this chance. At this point if you feel sad, and find it difficult to come out of the past, take a break. Take a pause, you really need to unwind few things and events of your life. Don’t ever start over with that burden in your heart. Immerse yourself completely in those precedent events of your life, feel the pain, and then feel more pain. Engross that deadly sting deep within and when this pain will reach the brink, and when you will burn to ashes, only then you will be free. You will be free from pain, from fear, from all the apprehensions, leaving behind just the learnings from the past. Treasure that wisdom; gather yourself; collect those ashes and ‘rise from ashes’ again, towards that dreamed of land, rise this time to direct your ‘life’, rise to ‘Fly’, to ‘Live’.



Many people come across such situations in their lifetime, and they should not overlook them, as William Shakespeare rightly said “There is tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries; on such a full sea we are now afloat; and we must take the current the clouds folding and unfolding beyond the horizon. when it serves, or lose our ventures”

Some Beer Stats

Source: Rediff/2-Apr-07/BS

Beer is gaining more popularity in some of the non-traditional beer markets in North India like Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Sales in Rajasthan catapulted by 43 per cent in 2006 to 72.13 lakh cases from the 50.39 lakh cases sold in 2005. Sales in Delhi increased by 15 per cent last year to 58.50 lakh cases from the 50.89 lakh cases sold in 2005.
Beer consumption in Uttar Pradesh also increased by 21 per cent in 2006, from 37.52 lakh cases in 2005 to 45.38 lakh cases. Similarly, beer sales registered a growth of 33 per cent in Karnataka and 16 per cent in Orissa during the last year.
"In the last two years, the states of Haryana and Punjab reduced the duties and license fee for outlets from about Rs 50,000 to Rs 10,000 and to Rs 2 lakh for a comprehensive licence, resulting in less prices for beer from about Rs 70 to Rs 45 per bottle. This caused a market growth of above 400 per cent in these two states in the last two years" noted Sundeep Kumar, director of SABMiller India and an office bearer of All India Brewers Association.
Tamil Nadu became the second largest beer consuming state in 2006, overtaking Maharashtra. TN sold 135.37 lakh cases in 2006 with a growth rate of 38 per cent over the previous year.
Compared to this, Maharashtra had sales of 129.38 lakh cases sold with only a growth rate of 14 per cent in last year, as against 113.67 lakh cases sold in 2005.
Andhra Pradesh still remains the largest beer selling state in the country. However, sales in AP went down slightly by one per cent in 2006 to 180.95 lakh cases from the 182.84 lakh cases sold in 2005.
Sales of beer in India is estimated to grow by 15 per cent during this year, estimate industry experts. About 999.14 lakh cases of beer was sold alone in January this year, growing by 31 per cent from the January 2006 sales figures of 762.73 lakh cases.
The national consumption of beer was 1043.12 lakh cases in 2006, an increase of about 17 per cent from the 894.75 lakh cases in 2005. Adult youths constitute 49 per cent of beer consumers in India, and this has increased by 6 per cent in 2006 compared to the previous year, according to the data compiled by AIBA.
The Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) plus domestic beer market is mainly controlled by the United Breweries and SABMiller groups, which together account for about 25 breweries under their fold. Breweries like Mohan Meakins, Mount Shivalik, Yuksom Breweries, Devan Modern Breweries and Asia Pacific Breweries together control nearly 18 per cent of the domestic market share.
With the entry of global beer majors like Heineken, Anheuser-Busch and other players who plan to launch their products in India, beer consumption in the country is set to catapult in future.
Industry sources complain that most of the states are yet to implement the draft alcohol policy recommendation of reduction in duties on beer from about 42 per cent to 35 per cent, in line with global standards.
Most Indian states currently impose about eight forms of taxes on beer - excise duty, bottling fee, import duty, franchise fee, export duty, sales tax, vend fee and permit fee.
Many states are also yet to consider other recommendations to promote consumption of drinks containing moderate forms of alcohol like beer and wine by implementing uniform MRP, removal of interstate levies, sanctioning of retail outlets for a fixed fee on a long term basis instead of the auction system etc.
Another demand is to allow sales in malls and super markets and enforce bottle deposit system like in the case of cold drinks.

Indian Auto Ancillary - Feb 07

Source: http://www.rediff.com/

Dtd: 22^nd Feb 07

Indian Auto Ancillary

Key Positives

Huge potential: Global auto components market is worth over US$ 1 trillion and, considering India's market size, which is just 0.8% of the total market size, there exists tremendous growth opportunity for the domestic auto players to exploit. Having said that, the benefits will vary for Indian companies. We believe that players that have demonstrated their technical competence and have developed necessary scale are likely to benefit from global outsourcing opportunities. To give an example, around 75% of the total exports were to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) or TIER-1 players in 2006 as compared to around 35% in early 1990s.

More than cost arbitrage: Due to cost related pressures on global auto players and Tier-1 suppliers, a lot of them have started outsourcing components from low cost countries like India, China and some of the Latin American and ASEAN countries. However, the technical capabilities of the Indian players have given them the edge in high precision and critical activities. The industry, which exported components worth over US$ 1.8 bn in 2005, is projected to grow at an impressive CAGR of 34% between 2005 and 2014. It is expected that the total exports will touch US$ 25 bn by 2014.

Learning from the MNCs: The entry of global players such as Ford, GM, Toyota and Honda into the Indian market has allowed the Indian manufacturers to work with these players on global production, quality and delivery systems. It has also helped the global players to see for themselves the evolution of many auto components manufacturers and they are therefore now entrusting them (Indian companies) with more work.

IT advantage: Thanks to the country's IT advantage, the industry is capable of becoming a full-fledged service provider (research, design, development, testing) to global OEMs and thus score over other low cost countries like China. This, combined with low cost quality manpower strengthens our stand in the global arena.

Key Negatives

Lacking economies of scale: Despite being around 60 years old, the domestic auto ancillary industry is even behind countries like South Korea, Brazil and Mexico in terms of production and sales, thus depriving it the benefit of economies of scale. This makes it difficult for companies to invest extensively in R&D and development, a key competitive tool in the global market. Apart from this, the industry is highly fragmented, which also restricts the Indian players to develop scale (except for few players). Currently there are around 500 players (organised sector), which when compared to the total turnover of the industry indicates the fragmented nature of the same.

Competitive threats: Though Indian players have demonstrated their technical competencies, countries like China can spring in surprises in the long run considering the fact that with global auto players increasing their presence in China, the next logical step would be to rise up the value chain (high end auto ancillaries).

Increasing FTA: The growing number of FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) that are being signed by India with ASEAN countries is likely to hurt the domestic players as they pay a relatively higher excise duty of around 25% as compared to 1%-10% being paid by their ASEAN counterparts.

IT- Pluses and Minuses - Feb 07

Source: http://www.rediff.com/

Dtd: 22^nd Feb ‘07

IT

Key Positives

• Huge outsourcing potential: Offshoring has been well and truly accepted as a major strategic decision that can enhance the competitive advantages of global corporations. The value proposition of offshore development has been proved beyond doubt and as an industry, offshoring is still very much in the growth phase. Even among the global 1000 companies, the offshoring penetration levels are not that high. This is a significant point, since these are companies with IT budgets in the range of US$ 500 m to over US$ 1 bn. The global market share of Indian companies is also miniscule. Thus, these pointers are clear indications that there is plenty of room for the Indian software industry to grow, given the immense and untapped potential. Offshore outsourcing to India offers considerable economical benefits for those who are prepared to exploit the advantages of outsourcing.
• Moving up the value chain: Indian software companies are consistently broadening their portfolio of offerings and moving fast up the value chain. Given that traditional services, such as application development and maintenance (ADM), are getting commoditised, it is imperative for these companies to move higher up the value chain into areas like consulting, package implementation and systems integration. Not only will this help Indian companies get higher billing rates from their clients, it will also give them an opportunity to work closely with the top managements of client companies.
• Other positives: Among other positive factors for the Indian software industry, the major ones are large availability of talented manpower, cost advantage and geographical advantages (time-zone advantages). The companies involved in IT outsourcing in India provide high quality work, meeting international standards and complying with the ISO & SEI-CMM standards. Three out of every four SEI-CMM 5 companies worldwide are located in India.

Key Negatives

• High reliance on the US markets: The US market's share in India's software and services exports is fairly high, at around 60% to 65%. Even though it has come down a little during the last year but such a large degree of dependence on a single geographical location spells high risk for the Indian software sector. Over that, the backlash in the US against outsourcing of jobs to low-cost countries like India has raised some medium-term concerns for Indian software companies.
• Decreasing competitive advantages: Increasing competition from global technology majors has not only threatened the Indian IT industry's cost leadership, Indian software companies have also been made to face intense competition for talent. All these pressures mean flat billing rates and higher employee costs going forward. This is likely to affect margins and, consequently, the profitability of Indian companies. The BPO service providers have achieved maturity in practices like relationship management and knowledge management. They need to diversify to employee engagement, process improvement, recruitment, migration planning and workforce management. If this is not done, the IT companies could find maintaining the current client satisfaction level as challenging
• High rates of attrition: High attrition, especially in the middle and senior positions, continue to damage the performance of Indian software companies to a certain extent. The average industry rate is around 18% which when compared to other industries is on the higher side. The companies, in a bid to overcome high attrition rates, are recruiting science graduates and training them, which means higher training cost and loss of billable hours. Apart from competition for talent from MNC technology majors, internal factors like job dissatisfaction and higher aspirations (in case of BPO companies) have led to such high attrition rates in the Indian software sector

'Time'

'We ain't good for nothing... we were part of crowd then and we will be always...' I can hear someone whispering these words time and again...




It was around this time last year when we started thinking of taking that extra leap and of doing something Big of our own. We spent some good time on thinking and few extremely good ideas (not an exaggeration) clicked as well. But, we did nothing about them and we kept sleeping on them, just to witness other people building empires on them. Ideas, on which we were banking on yesterday but unfortunately didn't do anything about, are foundation of some companies today. It leaves you with mixed feelings – Bloated! That our ideas were really worth few dimes and that we were able to think and see the potential, but at the same time it is sad that we didn't execute them and now others are cashing on that first mover's advantage. Our ideas never moved over half a page of scribbled thoughts and we were not able to execute anything.




We always lived in whims and fancies, dreaming that within one year we will be having something of our own. Now, as I look back I see myself standing exactly where I was one year back, may be just some toddler steps ahead, but not worth a mention. I am still standing there, as if waiting for someone to show us the way, with no movement, no business plan, no research, and no ground work. Just standing with some 'raw' ideas and keeping me occupied with urgent & important of day to day life and finding no time to live my dreams, to build my ideas...




Well, no one to blame, I think that is what makes us a crowd, many people can have great ideas. Just let your mind free and you can visualize miracles happening.. but, when it comes to execution only few succeed. And there ain’t no guru mantra for being successful - all you need is some plan, focus and 'extreme execution', but no wonder these words are far beyond jotted alphabets. Everyone knows the mantra but following is a challenge.. to keep yourself on the track is difficult and to keep moving on that track is the only thing that counts. We keep thinking and dreaming and others Execute.. then we move on, in search of next idea.. Bingo! We get one and again we only dream, and again someone else Executes..



No doubt we were having some very promising ideas but we were never consistent in our thinking and we were never 'focused' in our approach. Our lethargy and delusion of 'urgent' & 'important' killed us and we are dying every day to it.. giving our last bit of flesh to the most lethal & extreme executioner (& assassin) in time - 'Time'




‘Yeah, we ain’t good for nothing…’




- Silent Saint




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Dedicating a song from Pink Floyd that suits every bit to our situation.
‘Time’ – Pink Floyd


Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town

Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.





Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.

You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.





So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking

Racing around to come up behind you again.

The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.





Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.

Plans that either come to nought or half a page of scribbled lines

Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way

The time is gone, the song is over,

Thought I'd something more to say.





Home, home again.

I like to be here when I can.

When I come home cold and tired

It's good to warm my bones beside the fire.

Far away across the field

The tolling of the iron bell

Calls the faithful to their knees

To hear the softly spoken magic spells.



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The Green Mile...

Yesterday I saw this movie ‘The Green Mile’ and last few minutes of it touches you completely. John Coffey (Michael Clark Duncan) who has got the powers of faith healing is on a death sentence for the crime which he has not done. He is blessed with powers of faith healing and can help people to come out of pain they are suffering from. Towards the end, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) – a prison guard on Death row, asks him whether he can do anything for John, and John asks him to give up all the worries about him. Here is the conversation which they had in movie in this touching sequence –

Paul Edgecomb: On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That is was my job? My job?
John Coffey: You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin' and worryin', I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?
Paul Edgecomb: Yes, John. I think I can

Movie is certainly worth a watch...

And she made me cry...

It was on 12th Nov. '06, Sunday morning, when she came around 11AM and at that time I was organizing few things at my home. She started cleaning the house then she might have felt something.. She asked me to prepare some tea for myself. I told her, 'Paal ille' (I don't have milk). She said, 'Okay, give me money and I will get it'.. Then she asked me whether I have got anything to cook and if I would like to have Maggi as well.. I thought for a while.. ‘Hmm.. Okay’ and handed over some money to her. I was bit surprised and was thinking why she is doing all that. She got all the things from local kirana shop and when she was leaving around 11.30 she told me to go and have tea and maggi. She said, ‘It's already 11.30 and you haven't had anything.. 'po.. po' (Go) and with these two words she left. And it was only after 2 minutes of numbness when I realized that I was still standing at door.. surprised and overwhelmed. Sometimes we don't value their worth and crib when they don't come to work and when they ask for Diwali bonus, but I was moved to see such a generous & motherly gesture.. These small things make difference. She cared for me when some of my so called close friends don't even have time & will to ask whether I am 'Dead' or 'Alive'.