DABANGG – Positioning, Segmentation and Re-positioning

Some fundamentals first....all products have a certain lifecycle and the same can vary ie increase if re-positioned, re-packaged, else the same would die a natural death. Eg. Pantene, Lux, Pepsi and even Colgate are the brands which had to go through this phase for survival amidst stiff competition from new players in the segment. Even a giant like State Bank of India has to pass through this phase given the stiff competition from young banks like ICICI, HDFC, AXIS etc. You keep seeing Bank of Baroda, Union Bank etc changing their branding, positioning, logos etc. Al Ries and Jack Trout - the management gurus have shared some great cases on Positioning from the international perspective.

Some products do not require the same and are always a hit – eg. Maggi, Thumsup etc. The same yellow package and snacky branding for the former and the same simple black cola drink with a thumsup logo emphasizing on strongness or ‘’dum’’ positioning for the latter which still keeps the same alive and any tweak in the perception or positioning of the same could be fatal.

Now, taking this fundamental to our Bollywood – Not all actors are like Shahrukh Khan or Aamir Khan who could play a college kid as successfully at an age of 40 as successfully at an age of 20. Anil Kapoor still can play a young guy as compared to the old stooping Jackie Shroff. But all are not lucky enough like the Maggi or Thumsup to have a strong intrinsic brand value within. Many actors are smart or foresightful enough to understand their product life cycles and shif their positioning – like Akshay Kumar moving from action towards Comedy, where his peer Sunil Shetty still got tagged as an action hero and died his natural death. Diversification is not an answer, but complete shift in the positioning is. Look at Amitabh Bachchan. He too failed miserably trying to woo actresses post Agneepath in movies like Indrajeet, etc. He died almost a natural death till he repositioned himself as a different product like a senior police inspector in Khakhi or a senior role player in Black etc. And he changed his segmentation from the Big Screen to Television (KBC). Re-positioning and segmentation saved the Big B.

The Biggest example is Rajnikanth. He knew well in advance in his career (post Hum) that he does not want to die a natural death like his counterparts like Mithun, Govinda (He still lived longer, due to his niche), Jackie Shroff or Rishi Kapoor. He made his style a strength and his silly stunts of popping a cigarette, or his sunglasses or similar unhumanly possible stunts became his strengths and the brand relived post repositioning with super hits in the South and even International markets with movies like “Sivaji-the Boss” and now, the forthcoming “Robot’’.

Well, following the same principles of management, here comes Salman Khan with DABANGG ! (*) Sallu knows well that he is almost on the wrong side of the age so he cant do the college kids role.
Sallu knows that he is a little naughty one or not so serious one to get considered as a “cause-for-actor image” like Aamir, Ajay etc.
(*) He has his SWOT analysis in mind, knows his strength and what roles he can do well with.
He has experimented and tasted failures in his recent tries like Yuvraj, Veer, Hello, God Tussi Great Ho and many recent ones.
(*) He knows his competitors like Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan in the young genres and the inevitables like SRK, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn (btw, these also have shelf lives).
(*) And more important, he knows his segment – The rural India…sounds different ? But, that’s the fact. Not just youngistan and young girls crazy after his body and attitude are his audience. This will be proved with Dabangg with a release around the eid and the rural segment targeted.

Well, quickly on the movie DABANGG – well since theres not much to write – Dabangg is a good movie for Salman Fans and gives you a treat of a Rajnikant flick. First, the meaning of Dabangg - Dabangg means someone who’s power is dominated on everything. Most of the time, this term is used in UP, Bihar. Eg. “Raja Bhaiyya ek Dabang neta hain”. This way people in the area show respect for the person. Its like “Todu aadmi, Pahuncha hua khiladi or Stud-Champ” etc. Those who are Dabangg are never afraid of anything/anybody. They do whatever they want to do.

Keeping your brain aside, it is a generic time-pass with some Rajni & Matrix like fight stunts, a couple of good scores, some good dialogues and a fresh Sonakshi Sinha who seems promising (a good launch pad with Salman and with more efforts could be a good competition to the young genere' like Sonam Kapoor, Genelia DSouza etc). With almost no storyline at all and complete wastage of talents like Arbaaz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar and even Om Puri, Dabangg is a story of a corrupt cop Chulbul Pandey and his tiff with the local politician-gunda Chhedilal played well by Sonu Sood. Good and honest efforts by Salman Khan, Sonu Sood and a refreshing Sonakshi. For a change a Cop wins against the Politician in UP scenario (though must be close to Gangajals, Omakaras and Gulals of the world…but no closeby…actually a different product altogether with not much UPism in it)

The movie would do good given (1) the Segment (Rural markets; Tere Naam was a Super hit), (2) the timing (Eid, Ganeshotsav, Weekend) and (3) even in the Metros the game of first 3 days especially Holidays will help gain the scores for the movie with the first show at 10 in the morning houseful ! The attitude would be “3 days holiday – atleast lets go and watch the Salman flick !” Don’t go by any great ratings as Taran Adarsh and Masands of the worlds are all fixed. From a movie perspective (story, screenplay, direction etc) its 2/5 and from just entertainment perspective 3.5/5 !

Nothing to take away from the movie - a time pass Masala movie - equal to Singh is King, Hey Baby and much better than Khatta Meetha, Tashan…..Am sure this will be a better performer at the Box office than the recent flops of Salman like Yuvraj, Wanted, Veer, Hello, God Tussi Great Ho …. It’s a good decision Salman, to go on Ranji track and repositioning your brand and segment rather than choosing a dead end like Sunny Deols and Sunil Shettys of the world…and thanks for making me revisit the strategic fundamentals of Positioning, Segmentation and Re-positioning !

Kalmadi should be sacked and Indians should note 3 points !

As the CAG report emerges this evening, Suresh Kalmadi’s crime gets formally endorsed (Don’t understand why the F*#$ were we waiting for this, when every day we are seeing multiple proofs of frauds and scams worth Rs 2000 Crs in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) which are of huge budgets of Rs 11494 Crs (ref TOI headlines dtd. August 10, 2010) which is Public money – your and mine tax money (I just paid some more tax on July 30, 2010! And it pinches !)

TOI carried Headlines news in its Front pages for a week as below :

August 6, 2010 – Despite denials of shady Games contracts, heads begin to roll. Flower pots worth Rs 30 crs…
August 7, 2010 – OC had hand in all big deals
August 8, 2010- Kalmadi says – ready for judicial probe and would not quit as 40 days left for the game.
August 9, 2010- Kalmadi cleared payment for AM deal which he claimed he had never heard of. (Documents exposed)
August 10, 2010- Indian Medalists at CWG to get raw deal
August 11, 2010 – TOI forgot the issue in awe of the full page BigBazaar Ad;)
August 12, 2010- Key investors in top CWG supplier have fictitious village addresses. Got hockey turf contract at twice the market rate, lawn bowls at 8 times.

Despite all this, do not understand the heights of shamefulness of Kalmadi that he is still having balls to stand up and not resign and the as usual gayish stand of Manmohan Singh’s government to sit silent on this matter for so long ! This evening, post the CAG report, Arnab in Times Now was triggering the issue of Kalmadi to be sacked or stepping down..seconded by all the panelists from Sitaram Yechuri, Vinod Mehta, Kirti Azad etc. But, when I look at one resigning or being sacked, it gives me a feel of ridiculousness and mockery as the same joker lies underground for a while and springs back equally or more powerful…forgot Chhagan Bhujbal & the Telgi scam ? and today Bhujbal is the king once again, forgot RR Patil and his stupid comment on 26/11 ? and today he is back into the chair…its mockery and lets not discuss sacking or resigning for that matter ! There are many such examples….

I ridicule Subrata Roy Sahara (don’t say that he too has some hand or involvement, but he is not a patriot for sure to think about the country and advice the citizen and media to hold back the issue till the games are over.) I ridicule Sahara for even bothering to waste time convincing media and people.

Let us understand 3 things now :

Point 1 : PROTECT THE IMAGE OF INDIA : Whenever I have kept meeting investors abroad, they have been showing immense confidence in India, more than that of China or any other BRIC Country…primarily because of our demographics, DNAs and stable and better image of the government. Else India always had a reputation of being a corrupt country (Lets us accept the fact that we are…. I don’t want to go negative on the branding of the country as the readers of this blog belong to various countries and origins, but since majority of you are Indians, don’t mind sharing that its still easy in the country to do any level and intensity of crime and roam free and even win an election post that and rule the country too…..look at Satyam and Ramalingam Raju for an instance…

So coming back to the point, since only 40 days are left and the whole world is coming to India for CWG, it is important to sack Kalmadi and all relevant officials involved and revamp the whole board else the focus of Media would be more on the scam, scamsters rather than the game as each day a new skeleton would pop out of the box and the world would carry back the wrong image of India and because of handful of corrupts we all would suffer, right from entering another country to doing business with them, all would see us with a sight of suspicion. Media has done its job and no one (Subrata Roy or others) can stop them as they are bringing out facts, but dammage control is required with revamping the whole administration and the government giving confidence to us and the world that no one is indispensible and irreplacable and India has more qualified and experience people to run the show much well and much clean...net net, without Kalamadi and team... the show can go on..

Point 2 : ITS TIME WE WAKE UP AND LEARN TO REACT IN OUR OWN WAYS : India is one of the most literate country – I agree to it and the figures say so….but there is a difference between Literate and Literacy….We are literate but lack literacy….complicated ? Let me put a perspective….We are literate means educated and academically strong, but when it comes to literacy, we lack literacy ….literacy of what is happening around, what has happened and what are our duties….Indian memory is short and we believe in Chalta hai attitude…. We pay tax and we spend 5 minutes to crib about such issues, be it IPL corruption, Satyam Scam, or be it CWG….it is a gossip and time pass topic for us over a cutting chai and we immediately forget it…and when it comes to doing our duty, we fail…we never stand for injustice (I am generalising and not being specific that all do so), push back the corrupt officer for asking for bribe, rather we encourage as we are getting late to work and shelling out a hundred rupee note is simpler and the biggest point we crib about politicians….today we crib about Congress and tomorrow we may crib about the BJP….but most of us don’t even bother to go out and vote ….look at South Mumbai which contributes around 18% of the countries TAX, only 40% people bother to vote…rest take Holidays, enjoy movies and have Page 3 parties on an Election day which is just another Holiday ! This needs to change.

Point 3 : SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO FRONT : Last point…. When I had been to Pune in 2000-2002, Kalmadi was a huge name there…. As Huge as Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra ! But if you go to Pune today you will not even hear K of Kalmadi. Even the paan-waala knows that Kalmadi has shifted towards sports where he makes more Money. Same is the story of almost all the heads of such associations (rich associations which are better on a cost benefit analysis than a city or even a state) are people not belonging to that field. What does Sharad Pawar understand of cricket ? Does Kalmadi even know how many games are there in CWG? Even Lalit Modi would not know what is “Manka dead”, and we have such people heading these bodies…. Where would passion, feeling or push come of one would not even understand the game and well, if you say they are good administrators, please give me a break....our IAS/bureaucrats are much better to do that or even someone from a common walk like Nandan Nilekani, N.Narayan Moorthy, Deepak Parekh, KV Kamath with fair credentials could be identifed to take this responsibility, if we feel Gavaskar, PT Usha, Milkha Singhs of the world are just sports men and incompetent for this job !. Well, or it should be a mix body comprising of specialists, administrators and if required (you cant do without because of various reasons) politicians. But all these should not be politicized. I dont know how much of this could a common man like me or you contol, but am sure somewhere down the line, this would make an impact !

Coming back to Kalmadi….but India, we are loosing confidence !! For us Kasab and Kalmadi are similar, (besides their last names starting with K;)…there are for similarities (1) Both played with Country and countrymens trust and money (2) Both are standing untouched today and god knows till when ? But one things is proven now…unlike the perception, the enemy is not next to us or in our neighbours, it is right there in our house and we meet him every time we tolerate or encourage corruption and contribute in building another Kalmadi !

And sincerely hope, that the Media (compliments for the initiative) and citizen like us with our own capacities and ways are able to throw out this Kalmadi in the next 24 hours and other Kalmadis in our daily lives !

Bharat Bandh- Only a Performance Appraisal of the Opposition

Sipping my filter coffee, stretching my legs on my bean bag - at 10 AM on a Monday morning – sounds surprising ? Well, its July 5, 2010, a nationwide strike- Bharat Bandh called by the Opposition parties -13 parties like BJP, Shiv Sena, Left front etc to protest against the inflation, price hike, high commodity costs and fuel price hikes. Well, sitting at home - don’t want to risk going out and have a stone pelted at my car for being over-loyal to my work, especially when the office is almost empty.

Back to the topic, if u ask me, Bandh is not an answer to get the prices in control. But the estimation is that the government would budge off in pressure of the opposition, which is 100% unlikely and if that happens that will be a victory of the opposition. UPA Government may reduce some prices next week, as they have been doing pre-elections to fool the short visioned voters, the would not be deemed under the so called opposition pressure. Bandh, to me is a wastage of productivity and loss of precious manhours but well, if my tax money is going to give me what the UPA government is giving, why not sit, relax and enjoy a holiday instead !

Having been born and broughtup on Bengal, I could claim myself as one of the most experienced writer on Bandh’s. In Calcutta, almost 1 to 2 days of a month even today are passed off as a holiday due to some strike or the other… those also went upto 10-11 days in a month with slogans of Inqellab Zindabad echoing in the streets, Chakka Jam (Flattened tyres / held tyres) of Buses and Trains and also seeing burning buses and private vehicles was a common sight there. When I see Bandh’s in Mumbai, they seem so docile and low lying comparatively. Well, one should not be inspirational on this front atleast.

Well, back to the Bharat Bandh – from being a unconstitutional means of demonstrating against a cause this is more of a Performance appraisal of the opposition political parties. To give you a background, all parties have National Heads, State Heads, City Heads, Area Heads, Ward Heads and so on…Well, the State Heads of Opposition parties are under the performance pressure to do well and their fate, future role depends on today. Today evening will decide, how long will Nitin Gadkari stay as a BJP President - for 1 year of 4 more years. Today evening will decide who is stronger Shiv Sena or MNS and where the Marathi vote should go.

Now, a better example in a laymans terms. Mr. A is the head of X Opposition party in North Mumbai (Goregaon, Malad, Borivli, Virar, etc) and Mr. B is the head of Central-Thane region of the same party. Mr. A and his team in North Mumbai by the day end have ensured that (1) All shops are closed (2) There are no auto rickshaws and taxis on the floor (3) There are 5 trains stopped (4) There are 10 dharnas (Protest sit outs) outside the government offices. Mr. B ensured 1,2,3,4 and (5) also his men are seen in Media channels slapping some train commuters (You can see even on TV one clipping this morning) (6) There is a lathicharge on the activists and (7) 2 of their senior leaders have been arrested in full glare of media. Take a guess, will Mr. A be rated higher or B ? Ofcourse, undoubtedly, Mr. B and he is sure shot the party’s favorite candidate for being nominated as the Party chief for Mumbai or getting an MP ticket. Well, this is nothing but a Performance appraisal, PMS or Rating as you would call in your HR parlances.

To add on, Media plays a critical role. If a certain party has a good networking, they would carry along most of the channel guys for their event or action plan (for eg. Rail roko- stop the train, Fire the Bus etc). What do you think, is media so smart that they will be covering the whole city and would genuinely come across all of these ? Well, so the winner today is the one who is able to showcase more of his/her performance on the TV and Print media. And that’s the “Visibility or Perception” factor which you may find in the organizations where along with performance the same is required to excel. Here, the raters are not just the party bosses but also the junta !

Though none of us bother much, we may criticize or even call them fools, but sorry we are not their audiences, we are the 60% who wishes to be absent of go on a vacation while going to vote – so they care a shit about your and my views ! Their TGA (Target Audience) is the rest 40% - Lower and Lower middle class who would by being impressed or afraid come to vote for. They would also themselves with family step put with the parties. (some may claim they are the worst hit, but who is not?) And that’s the politics of India.

Well, its just 11:30AM and here is the interim report card (guess what will be the status by the evening)
Bandh is so called very successful ! Successful on all the performance appraisal and rating parameters like – Most Flights cancelled, Airport stranded. Public transport and private vehicles almost out of roads, shops shut across all states. Thousands activists /protestors arrested. Schools, colleges, markets shut. Offices Empty !!

• Kolkata and Bengal shut as usual.(Left ruled)
• Kerala, AP also shut as the opposition strongest (Left and TDP)
• Delhi – the centre so full focus of the opposition.
• UP – Lucknow - Lathicharged and Power hoses (water charge)
• Bihar- Patna badly effected.
• Mumbai – Major protests, roads empty, no taxis, autos, trains blocked, buses stoned and broken in Worli and Vakola, Private Cars of oversmart people pelted and hit.
• Pune- 26 buses broken. Shiv Sena, BJP leading the fray across Mumbai and Maharashtra
• Leaders of Opposition- the big names like Kirit Somaiyya, Sardar Tara Singh, Vinod Tawde (BJP) Abu Azmi (SP), Chandra Babu Naidu (TDP, Hyderabad) (they have become heros and will be released at night- cool, that’s the Law and Order in India )

India is a country with a thin margin between the Government and the Opposition (all put together) and hence the bandh has to be successful and for the opposition , this is possibly the last few chances for their power show (shakti pradarshan) The bandh so far is super successful but is this the answer to reduce the price hikes ? I leave it upon you to answer (if you are a voter, then you have right to question this, else not)

Today, the total Opposition – the rightist, the leftists, are together for the bandh- the question is where were they, when the same could have been taken up in the Lok Sabha by a motion bill by the representatives of the citizen. But, the question is would they have got this visibility ? And if by any chance, the government reduces any prices post the Bandh (if Murli Deora and colleagues have been delivered their respective suitcases) – that will be the icing on their cakes.

Well, let me leave it upon the representatives you and I have chosen, if in case you have also chosen one…. I have plans for some cool beer, a sumptuous lunch, an afternoon nap, and evening movie or some teen-patti / poker at friends’ on a Monday !!! (unlike Calcutta, cant play cricket on the highway)


Picture Courtesy - bengalnews.blospot.com and Suresh

My Name is Khan – A Win-Win Strategy for 3 Parties

My Name is Khan will be more famous in the History not for the content or the great acting of SRK-Kajol or the sensitive topic, but merely for the Controversy around it with the Shiv Sena's protest against Shah rukh Khan this Pro-Pakistani players approach in the IPL

Today, the Cub turned young Tiger woke up and roared – at the right time with right data. The man is non other than RAJ THACKERAY who speaks the fact so true which neither the accused nor the media has an answer to. Was thinking since last few days, where did Raj Thackeray vanish amidst the re-hijacked Marathi Maanus and Mumbaikar Issue raised by the so-dead-now alive Uncle Bal Thackeray Re-Hijacked as in it was erstwhile the agenda of Shiv Sena to play around the vote bank with Marathi Card, which was successfully hijacked by much dynamic and young nephew of Bala Saheb Raj who proved the same by data in the last 2 elections. And again the agenda is Re-Hijacked by the Uncle. One thing is simply clear – Caste and Creed are the only productive cards for Victory in Indian Politics. Development is some strange new word in the dictionary of Indian Politicians.

This is for the first time Raj spoke about his rival party’s protests against the movie. This as well as some more facts can open eyes of the Citizen and as a Marketing Strategies, I would refer the whole controversy around the Movie as a Win-Win Situation for 3 Parties. The Shiv-Sena, SRK and the Congress-NCP Government. The only party left out this time is Raj and his MNS and hence we hear him. (Pls Refer - http://ibnlive.in.com/news/why-slam-srk-and-spare-big-b-raj-asks-shiv-sena/1099743.html?utm_source=IBNLive_11feb10_MCDB_110210&utm_medium=mailer )

Raj’s point is very clear, which helps open the eyes of the Indian Citizen on the whole issue. The point is simple. “Such a noise is made over Shah Rukh Khan for this one statement of his. But no one is saying anything about Amitabh Bachchan singing poetry with Pakistanis for a newspaper,” said Raj at a press conference in Mumbai. “They are demanding an apology from Khan for his remarks on Pakistani players. But Bachchan was seen a couple of days ago sharing the dais with Pakistani artistes and reciting poems. If Khan has to apologise, then why not Bachchan."

This is a hard fact and I agree with Raj atleast for this. Some brief analysis on the 3 beneficiaries of the whole Controversy (1) Shiv-Sena and Bal Thackeray (2) SRK (3) Congress-NCP Government.

(1) Beneficiary 1 : Uncle Bal Thackeray who was almost a written off case as good as a Jyoti Basu, who most Calcuttans abused to the core, but when he died, all paid homage to, - Bala Saheb has all of a sudden come into limelight. The base is the Marathi Vote Bank and the existence (hindi- astitva) of Shiv Sena in front of the growing strong MNS of Raj Thackeray. Since 2-3 years, no one wrote or quoted Bal Thackeray so seriously except his own party run paper Saamna. And todays TOI is all praises about the man quoting that all from various walks of life come to Bal Thackeray to seek his divine blessings.

Well, nothing is wrong from their perspective. Any party will need some strategy to regain its lost vote bank and it is their job. This controversy will help get them some mileage as each of the 1500 arrested Shiv Sainiks who would have spent 3-4 nights in the lock up will be almost like a small semi demi god in their chawls and areas when they go back. They will be garlanded and welcome and will gain more popularity as much as Bhagat Singh gained to become like a martyr and fight for his cause. Each Sainik will get a new lease of life, a refreshed vote bank and this will help in the time to come.

(2) Beneficiary 2 : Bollywood Baadshah SRK- Well, I highly respect this guy not exactly for his acting, but for his marketing and branding skills and this could be the best possible way to outshine much stronger competitors around. That is the difference between Sachin Tendulkar and SRK. The former, sleeps on the floor and touches the feet of Uncle Bal and the latter squeezes the complete mileage out of the situation before doing so. The common factor is that possibly both sleep.

Now, coming to SRK – One fact is a mystery as per Raj and all of us too – will tweet SRK on this and am sure he will reply back with some convincing answer- that’s his skill. The Mystery is if SRK is backing the participation of Pakistani cricketers in the IPL, why did he not select Pakistani cricketers for his Kolkata Knightriders team.

The cast and crew of "My Name is Khan" are attending its premiere in Abu Dhabi and later head to Europe for a screening at the Berlin film festival. Well, one more fact that Raj missed out and may be some of us is that (1) the movie of Rs 50 Crs, bought by the Fox group for Rs 90 Crs- My Name is Khan is going to make ONLY Rs 10 Crs from Mumbai – That is hardly 10% - so why would some one be so bothered over it – but well, the publicity out of the controversy can make the Mumbai contribution Rs. 6 Crs, but the other places would make up or may be gross much more than expected due to the whole controversy.

A good strategy SRK- to overpower the recent fame of Competitors - Aamir Khan (3 idiots) or even Amitabh Bachchan (even at this age,he keeps on doing anything to be there) or Sachin Tendulkar even Rahul Gandhi (if he sees him a peers from any angle). Atleast I see this a little positive as compared to others who have always bowed down and said sorry... Good stand SRK, atleast from a Citizens view.

(3) Beneficiary 3 : The Congress-NCP led government, where in CM Ashok Chavan and RR Patils Home Ministry has arrested 1500 Shiv Sainiks and warned 50 Middle level leaders (what do you mean by warn ??) and are assuring the Citizen of Mumbai full security and support just to fool us, where on the otherside, their own leaders like Sharad Pawar (NCP Head), DY Patil (Congress past few days to seek good wishes and blessings.strong man, educationist, now the Governor of Tripura), have been visiting Bala Saheb over the past few days to seek good wishes and blessings.

Lots of questions arises in the Middle and Upper Middle class on the assurances of the CM and team to control the situation - this class ideally do not matter for the politicians as they are not the vote banks. The proof is despite the assurances of Police and the whole bandobast, the cinema and multiplex owners do not have faith in the system and have not been selling tickets. But yes, the Lower and lower-middle class is ga-ga over the superb guts of the Government to commit full security and safety. This class does not understand that its the Governments job and they get paid for it. The Government is gaining more confidence of the so called votebank, the masses.

Thanks Raj, intriguing me to write this piece post reading your pain point. But you should also remember that when you were a part of Shiv Sena years ago, you and your team also protested against Sanjay Dutt (For Khalnayak due to his TAT case ) , Aamir Khan (For Fanaa) and your Favourite Amitabh Bachchan for Shahenshah (during Bofors).

Strategies aside, I am looking forward to see My Name is Khan either today, tomorrow or whenever and am sure many of us would - We should not get surprised, if we see Aditya Thackeray, the young and creative Shivsainik – son of Uddhav Thackeray watching and enjoying My Name is Khan with close friends. And one more good news for the young lovers… feel free to express your love this valentine, as the Sainiks will be busy achieving their targets for My Name is Khan !

26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks - One year has passed !

As we near 26/11 Anniversary, there are a lot of thoughts coming to mind…ofcourse not at all on the “Spirit of Mumbai” – That is a farce word to camouflage the looser in us. The so-called “Spirit of Mumbai” was back on track just after a few hours of attack in Mumbai last year. This “Spirit” evaporates when Raj Thackeray tries to divide Mumbai…this “Spirit” evaporates when its time for the citizen to setp up, vote and create their own future – only 40% people turn out to vote, rest 60% sleeping (I should call them traitors if I could). I guess those 60% don’t have rights to complain or cry foul when something happens to them. Actually, the so-called “Spirit of Mumbai” exists in the person or the family which is not a victim….ask the victims family or near and dear ones, where is their “Spirit of Mumbai’? A city like Mumbai which provides such great opportunities to people can not have a Ganpat absent at work for a day – He will not be able to pay the school fees of his child, if Rameshbhai bunks office, he will loose the trading deal and will be unable to fund his daughters wedding, if Pankaj does not attend an important meeting at 9, his counterpart Vijay would bag all the attention and will get the promotion, not just that – even being 30 mins late, Vilas will loose his half day Salary – will not this keep up the “so-called Spirit of Mumbai “? It’s a no brainer… And well, the citizen are practical – of something is destined t happen it will not happen – even if you are at home…so run..

Well, a year has passed and if you look at the impact on the Civil Liberties, there is much- even in the US post 9/11- the civil liberties were impacted – so even in India- the society is going through a lot of pains of being scanned, harassed but for good, the state is spending huge monies on security devices and the Metal detector companies multiplying their profits – all is fine…we all can take this pain, but what is the result - The result is Zero !

(*) Today, anyone can again attack Mumbai from the coast or the land as we are yet not adequate. The terrorist does not come through the metal detectors or the malls, they are masterminds, much smarter than our Intelligence agencies and they will find better and safer ways to come and attack…who knows in Mumbai, if your own neighbor is a terrorist?
(*) Judicial system forms a part of Civil liberties and here we are offering more liberties to the culprits than the civilians – Afzal Guru is still enjoying after attacking the parliament and Kasab dares to ask for a favourite dish and our system cries hue and cry if Manu Sharma is pubbing in parole…. Please for God sake get serious !
(*) We have freedom of speech, religion but still a representative of public gets slapped for using the National language in the parliament much against his civil liberties and we talk of Civil liberties for the citizen.

Net-net, as we near the Anniversary of the 26/11 Attacks

1. Why was RR Patil asked to leave (erstwhile Home Minister for his remark of Terror attacks as in such big cities, such small things keep happening) and what has he done or what confidence has be build that he is again made the Home Minister ? It is a complete joke and ridiculing of the Civil liberties, but I don’t blame the politicians for this – it’s the 60% sleepers (non-voters) who have chosen this minster again – Congratulations and bear the heat now.
2. Why are only Motor bikers and Tourist Taxis checked in Search operations by police (Naka bandis) ? I have never been stopped in my private car except just once immediately post the attacks. Does it mean that Terrorist will not come in normal cars or bus ? Or the police is smart to know who is an easy target to harras ?
3. Why have the police and their search operations (naka bandis) totally disappeared post the recent elections in October ? Guess, Police have information that the Terrorists would not come post the elections or the farce visibility drive that the state is hard on security is over now post the elections and its time to mint money by catching drunken drivers – that’s where the money is.
4. Why are people still avoiding Metal detectors at Railway stations and police seeing silently and waiting for another attack ?
5. I just traveled a few days back and the security at the Airport is as strong as it should have been – why is the difference between the security seriousness of CSF and Mumbai Police. When I asked a police man – he ignored the fact and said, they are yet not equipped or trained for the same and when a Neta comes – they all become equipped and trained. He has a point – its frustrating to check each passerby knowing that you are not going to find anything.
6. Supposedly Security boats were bought for patrolling on the coast and understand that the same is not having any fuel – where is mine and your tax money going ?
7. Someone very rightly asked the MNS guys – where was Raj Thackeray during the attacks ? The same remains unanswered !
8. Some famous politician (forgetting the name, was it Narayan Rane ? – see how short sighted a Mumbaikar is) made public claims that the Politicians of Mumbai

NDTV 24X7 triggered the thought of sharing my views on the Subject by asking the avid bloggers on the Social Issues share their Views and Questions with Barkha Dutt, who would represent us on a Talk show, but there are many more questions and Mumbaikars will keep on asking, that’s the best we do – but finding answers ? I guess not many are really interested !!

TADOBA NATIONAL PARK - The Historic Battle !

Tigers chasing Sambar – The Baap of Kruger Scene - LIVE !
2 Tigers on Land and 2 Crocodiles in water await to kill the Sambar
Met the Chief Forest Officer, Thane Zone, Shree Bhagwan, IFS (Indian Forest Service Officer, equivalent to an IAS) – a few months back with connection to business. Myself being a wild life enthusiast got into some long drawn conversations which resulted in live experiences and future of the Wild Life in India shared quite passionately by Shree Bhagwan. I shared my poor perception of wild-life in Maharashtra purely on my experiences at Melghat Tiger Reserve, Chikaldhara and on the under developed Sanjay Gandhi National Park which has immense potential but no-one doing much about it, and the way Madhya Pradesh has projected its sanctuaries like Bandahvgarh, Kanha and Pench.

Shree Bhagwan differed with me saying that one should go to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (625 Sq. km), which is just 150 kms from Nagpur. Shree Bhagwan had headed Tadoba around 2003-2006 and he was passionate enough to show me some brilliant pictures of tigers and other animals there and I parked his views in my mind. We had discussions on my experiences of Wild life across India and South Africa and what can turn around the same in Maharashtra and the same was taken in positive spirit by Bhagwan ji and each point was given a logical reasoning and view which a layman can not have. The discussion with such a wild life lover and a passionate IFS official was very enriching and remained in my mind and months passed by.

One fine day, had plans to visit Nagpur and the thought lying in the corner of my mind lighted up. I communicated with Shree Bhagwan and he was kind enough to meet me and spend some time guiding and mentoring me on Tadoba-Andhari.

And then, the History followed..... We saw a breath taking scene, though post a long patient wait of 4 hours and the scene can be termed as a Baap of Kruger (No.1 National Park of the world). Usually, the scene of Tiger chasing a prey and killing is quite common – all would have seen on Discovery, but a situation, where 2 Tigers chasing a Sambar and the Sambar survives by jumping into the water, but unfortunately 2 Crocodiles await their prey and the battle goes on for 24 hours and finally makes the Headlines of The Times of India – Front page on 16th November 2009. I witnessed the same and was able to capture a 35 minutes live video of the battle and Star News and Star Maza took my Interview and the same along with my video which was broadcasted on the National television at Prime time 9:30 PM on 16th November (Attached the News video)

The World class battle of Kruger
The famous Battle of Kruger, which took place in South Africa’s Kruger National Park is one of the most widely-watched vidoes, after being posted on YouTube in 2007, it depicts how a buffalo calf, which is separated from its herd, survives a tug-of-war between a pride of lions and a few crocodiles. Soon after, the buffalo herd, in a stunning display of courage, regroups to rescue their young one, with full-grown members chasing away the lions.

The Rare Battle of Tadoba-Andhari
It was Telia Lake of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve where the battle went on for 24 hours on 13-14 Nov 2009
13 Nov : 6:30 AM : The poor Sambar (The Bigger deer species with long horns) was there grazing on the banks and suddenly 2 tigers attacked, but the sambar was lucky enough to run down the water and save its life, but it never knew that 2 crocodiles were awaiting their dinner ! The tigers went back, but were hiding in the bushes for the Sambar to come out. The Sambar struggled from the crocodiles who finally gave up and the Sambar came on the banks and the injured Sambar, unable to walk came out.
13 Nov : 5:30 PM : We sat in our jeeps (only 4-5 in the whole park, unlike 50 in Kanha) from 2 PM and at 5:30 PM saw the female tiger slowly coming out of the bushes and strategizing her secret moves to attack. She took the way from water and then the bushes and finally attached but was unlucky again. I was able to capture the whole live incident on my Sony Handicam with 2000X Zoom. 14 Nov : 6:30 AM : When we entered the park, the brave Sambar had already lost its battle in the night and the Tiger was enjoying its breakfast and the 24 hours long battle thus ended.

A Background on TADOBA :
Tadoba is Dry Deciduous Forest of Central India with lots of leafy bushes, meadows and Bamboo trees. There are 3 ranges – Moharali, Tadoba and Kolasa. Main area is Moharali which is close to Chandrapur – just 25 kms and there are other gates like Kolara gates and Navegaon gates which are much closer to Nagpur, if one is coming from Nagpur – saves an hour. The Park is a Tiger Project and claims that there are 40 Tigers in the park. Other animals include panther, bison, sloth bear, hyaena, jackal, wild dog, blue bull, sambhar, cheetal, barking deer, four-horned antelope, chinkara, hare, porcupine, langur etc. There is a variety of Birds – around 140 and reptiles and insects. One should not miss the huge Cob webs and Spiders in the jungles of Kolasa.

How to reach : This National Park is in the Nagpur-Chandrapur district, easily accessible with good roads – takes 2-2.5 hrs from Nagpur (directly to Kolara or Navegaon gate) or through Chandrapur to Mohrali gate.
Jeep Safari : The only developed area is Mohrali (25 kms from Chandrapur) or one can say commercial – around 6-20 jeeps enter this gate while other gates hardly get 2-3. This gives you a place with less tourists like BG and Kanha and once can also have a little leniency in terms of timings. The park opens to Jeep Safaris (from 6AM to 11AM and 2PM to 6PM). We were there for just 3 safaris (1 Morning and 2 evenings). There are not much jeeps and hence no unions which has its own merits and demerits.
Places to stay : There were foreigners but not as much as in MP and may be this is what is lacking for the development – lack of awareness, hence lesser footfalls, hence lesser business opportunities, hence lesser commercialization (eg. Not many good hotels to stay except MTDC, Saras and moderate rates -1200-1400 for AC rooms and Tiger Trails – around 5000. There are not much private hotels and resorts either. Eating restaurants are also limited to 2-3. Chandrapur is also a decent option to stay (Hotels Sidhartha, Hotel Kundan Plaza)
The People, Guides, Forest Officials : The place gives you a real upcountry feel as not much developed or commercialized like Kanha and Bandhavgarh. There are still some villages in the park area and yet to rehabilitated, so you may find some adivasi – tribals cycling or walking around which is not so common in BG and Kanha. The Guides and Forest systems are good and well trained, they have exchange programmes and trainings at BG and Kanha. Overall, the people are war, co-operative and simple. The Animal tracking is a bit different here - No calls of Cheetal or Monkeys over movements of the Tiger or No common tracking of the Tigers movement like pug marks by guides or jeep guys who would identify an area where tigers are frequenting and all would try the luck there, which in most probability helps see the tigers.
Coverage of entire ranges – There are 3 ranges. Drivers of Mohrali Range prefer staying around Mohrali only and usually avoid going too far to other ranges like Tadoba or Kolasa giving fake excuses that there are not much sighting etc and the first timers get fooled. The reason of this is to save fuel and efforts driving (they charge Rs. 1300 for each safari and if they make you sit at one place waiting for the animal they save the whole cost). Believe me, the best forest so far I have seen is the Kolasa, which beats even Kanha in terms of the feel of forest. It was just one jeep and the roads are much less travelled with absolutely bushy roads with just two tyre lanes and huge long bushes even on the middle of the road and lot of greenery. It gives you that irky feeling of what if the jeep breaks down here as there are no other jeeps or connectivity – Kolasa drive is a must and there are some points where one can sight animals, though we didn’t like – Kakadghat, Ambewadi, Shravani Zari etc.
Some Useful Numbers : Jeep Owners : Sameer Maji – 9325770530, Anil Tewade – 9579010493, (They can organize the stay etc without any charges) –Jeep Fees – Rs 1300 per safari; Guide Fee – Rs 100, Entry – Per Jeep – Rs 50, per Person – Rs 20. Forest Office – TADOBA – 07172 251414; Forest Officer Chandrapur – 0712 2528953/2552518/2765

My Views on TADOBA and Wild Life Tourism in Maharashtra :

Most of us think of beaches or hills or pilgrimage when we think of holidaying near our home – Mumbai, somewhere close for 2-4 days or a weekend trips. Wild Life which is a very exotic and upcoming tourism (Africa’s leading revenue making industry) – the problem is

(a) Indians have not really taken this sort of a tourism so seriously, though there is a niche segment. –(My mother says, why do you have to go to such deep forests and for so many days just to see tigers – you can go to the zoo – The mentality of Indian tourism is primarily Beaches, Hills and Pilgrimage no matter however crowded they are !) In this age when space tourism or Horror tourism (you are taken to real haunted places where you “may” encounter ghosts or spirits) are evolving, India should look beyond the typical holidaying and wild life is such an area where more foreigners come as compared to Goa ! Many Young Indians are getting into Adventure Tourism and that’s a good sign. And believe me - seeing a Tiger in its wilderness is a great feeling ! The Animal is a majestic one and the feeling of finding one your self is the most exciting part of the whole thing !
(b) The experience or value for time and money - of Wild Life tourism has to be better than what one gets in the routine holidaying and that is what South Africa and many National Parks like Kanha or Bandhavgarh have achieved. Maharashtra is way behind.
eg. Melghat (Chikaldhara, near Badnera Rly Station) was the saddest experience in wild life in Maharashtra, where could not see a small mouse in the forest, no regrets, but regrets over the poor attitude of the forest officials – the babu culture where they ridiculed the far claimed tiger project names by just a 30 minute safari on some jungle roads, where you literally don’t find any single insect, bird or animal and the guide had to be forcefully picked from home as no one in the village was willing to come unlike other places where the forest department has evolved the lives of local adivasis (tribals) bu uplifting them rehabilitating them and creating multiple job opportunities for them (guides, trekers, helpers, drives, jeep safari owners, restauranters and even employees of forest departments etc) despite of their illiteracy and lack of communication skills. If I could, would want the park to be delisted from being a Sanctuary but am told maybe the landscape of Chikaldhara is such hilly and terraineous unlike Kanha, BG. But in that case the place should not be promoted for tourism but should be maintained as a Core Area only.

Tadoba was great experience but luck factor was also strong. But Tadoba speaks of the future of Wild Life in Maharashtra and the scene sighted above is a challenge to all the national parks where tourists could see such a scene at all !

Bandhav Garh, Kanha, Pench in Madhya Pradesh or Ranthambhore in Rajasthan or even Jim Corbett have created a brand of theirs that attract tourists. Not that they have assured or 100% probability of sighting (Have know many who have spend days in the park with futile efforts to sight a tiger), but the awareness is so strong (through media, word of mouth etc) and the commercialization is strong (Good lodging, boarding, infrastructure, roads, security etc), that people visit these parks. Besides being Commercial, they provide great hospitality and service as they know that their house runs on the same – Right from Hotels, government officials to locals and that is one more reason. The distance or reachability is also discounted. BG or Kanha are the most difficult to reach parks in terms of airport and rail connectivity (eg. To go to BG from Mumbai, one has to go by train to Katni or by flight to Jabalpur and travel by bad roads for 3-4 hours, but still lots of people come – lots of foreigners come as these places are becoming brands and the government plays a major role. The same happens if this Industry is taken seriously or the Department of Forest has some strong weight in the respective State. Or the last way is, if the Minister is a strong person with a vision and passion and a will to change things. The New Forest Minister, Maharshtra, Shri. Patangrao Kadam is known for his administrative skills and the way he has mould the education industry and I sincerely hope and appeal to the Hon. Minister to help evolve the Wild Life Industry in Maharashtra. And hope to have more IFS officers like Shree Bhagwan who have given their lives for forests and wildlife and on whose names there are villages (In Tadoba, people have renamed their village as Bhagwanpur as the IFS Officer had rehabilitated the tribals and had helped them evolve in lives and had helped the Forest evolve as a valuable park.

Maharashtra is usually known for Beaches, Hills and Pilgrimage, but Wild Life is also abundant here. Tadoba, Melghat and Pench (One portion is in MP and other in Maharashtra) and even Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai – these can be developed and promoted very well and can attract good tourists as well as revenue to the state. Hope the state looks beyond Electricity, Sugarcane and Commerce !

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES - Waste of Vote unless you have seen them work !

Just came back home post doing my duty of a responsible citizen – voting for the assembly elections. Was amazed to see some candidates with signs like “pressure cooker”, “diamond ring”, “car”, cricket bat” and “whistle” asking the citizen to punch on their symbols. Had heard about even symbols like gas cylinder, sewing machine, brush, cupboard, torch, table, cot, candle, iron, hat, ceiling fan, television, coat, electric pole and camera. We might ridicule these, but if a foreigner sees Lotus, Hand, Railway Engine, Cycle of an Elephant he will see it no differently than the gas cylinder, pressure cooker or a ceiling fan.

If you read todays Times of India (13 Oct 2009) you will find that more than 50% of the candidates (1820 out of 3559) are Independent candidates, which was just 14% in 2004. Now the question is why is there such a steep rise in the Independent candidates ? The thought around the same is as below.

Had heard some senior corporatizens talking about increasing independent candidates which is good as they might be unbiased or uncorrupted and one should vote for them or give them a chance. There is a point, but take an example of Meera Sanyal of ABN Amro who stood and lost from South Mumbai seat in 2009 elections or for that matter an example of Mallika Sarabhai who stood against Advani or even stalwarts like IAS Chandrashekhar, Capt. Gopinath of Deccan taking their plunge as independents and loosing miserably, forget the unknown common man of India who stands as an independent candidate.

Well, let us agree to the fact that with 60% middle class and upper class sitting at home enjoying a holiday – watching movie, playing golf or having a pre-diwali get together one can never expect candidates like Meera Sanyals and other independants to win as it is the masses who go out to vote. Agree to ANOTHER SCHOOL of thought which says that why should I vote for a “Film Star” like Govinda or a Personal Secretary of a Politician ? and there it follows what happened in the corporation elections in Juhu in 2007 when Adolf D’souza with Candle as a voting symbol won from a prestigious Juhu constituency slapping the candidates of the leading parties hard on face. But these are exceptions and are valid in smaller elections like chosing the local corporators but definitely not the MP or MLA, where the constituency span is comparatively huge. One always looks at either the party or the personal record of serving the society or the area where the candidates are seeking votes.

Many politicians who are denied tickets by their home party and do not want to switch to the opposition often stand as independants and also win…. Can look at examples of Buta Singh or even George Fernandes, there are many. Many stalwarts entered Parliament unaffiliated to any party in India’s early years, including Minoo Masani, V.K. Krishna Menon, and J.B. Kripalani. Later, Purushottam Mavlankar was elected twice from Gujarat. Maneka Gandhi, too, has won as an independent. Well, if one studies these candidates they had some background and also had put in their efforts into serving the society or by participating in public life in their own way and not for just a short time but for a considerable time.

People object to independents for 4 reasons. (1) that they can’t win. (2) that they take away votes from a more winnable, but not necessarily more competent candidate, even if the best way to describe such candidates is that they represent “the lesser evil”. (3) independent members of Parliament (MPs) cannot be effective without party machinery. (4) they would be hostage to their constituents’ agenda. A recent news article dated May 20, 2009 14:59 IST (refer http://election.rediff.com/report/2009/may/20/loksabhapoll-most-independent-candidates-lost-polls.htm) clearly states that 99.75% independent candidates lost LS polls.

Well, if there is a consistency data then also why do independents stand is the only question I am sure you would be thinking of. Having some close links, the underlying answer which we as citizen might not aware could be as below :

No Ramlal who is a mere tailor earning Rs 800/- a month have political vision or an urge to change India. No Nandu, who is the secretary of the local Ganesh Mandal have the funds to campaign and gain support for himself and No Ganpat, the auto-rickshaw driver has his reach beyond his chawl that he can see any chance to win. Some have a reasoning that it is to get some fame, but why would one put his self respect at stake where he know he is going to loose and will not even manage to get more than 200 votes.

The reason is simple, if you see the Big 70mm Maharashtra Picture in a Silver Screen size. As per the political analysts, many argue that MNS is backed by Congress-NCP to break the Sena-BJP Vote bank. What stops Sena-BJP or NCP-Cong or any political party to promote some Ramlals, Nandu and Ganpats where they see the opposition strong- atleast they would break away some votes of the opposition, thus making way for the prospect, their candidates. It is no secret formula, even the common man at the chai stall is heard talking on these lines....The second school of thought is that look at the reality shows thesedays- why would a mother give away her baby to Rakhee Sawant to mishandle in the Reality Show – Pati, Patni aur Woh ? For Money or for Fame – there can be no other option. Why would a family come to the reality show- Sach ka Saamna and break their relationships by divulging the dark secrets where the wife has slept with the neighbour – that too on the National television – again 2 reasons – Money or Fame.

In the case of Independents also – there can be the same 2 reasons – Money or Fame. Fame is not that important but money is. Ganpat knows that in the rest of his life which is 10 years @ Rs 800/-pm, he is going to make Rs 9,60,000/- and if he is offered Rs 5,00,000/- he would stand for the elections as the short fame would help him earn Rs 1000/-pm instead of Rs 800/-pm. One also speculated that like in the Sales Structure of products, they too have Slab structure where 500-1000 Votes gets him Rs 1 Lac, 1000-2000 Votes gets him Rs 3 Lac, 2000-5000 Votes gets him Rs 5 lacs and so on and less than 500 votes NIL. And ofcourse some basic expenses and small amount of Deposit covered.

But, as I write this, many would still be voting for Independents who could be friends or for a so-called incumbency or need of change, but am sure the results would show. Am sure out of 1800 Independents, we may see some winners too, but am sure they would have put in a lot of efforts and hard work in their areas and the voters would know it. The only appeal was to alert fellow citizens not to vote just for voting and because you don’t like A and don’t want B to come to power. Just think, analyse and act. At the end of it the beneficiary is you and the sufferer too !

And for the Independent Candidates – please put in some years of social service in your area- create some visibility of your work – and then go asking for votes –and then I assure you that even if your Election symbol is “Chappal” (shoe) or “Lota” (tumbler-which people in rural India still carry for washing their shits) people would vote for you and you would win - else thesedays, the citizen be it the literate junta or an illeterate junta - are getting smarter - they will not even let Amitabh Bachchan as an Independent Candidate win !

Prepaid Taxis at Mumbai Airport on a looting spree !

Yesterday (4th Oct), I arrived from Delhi to Mumbai at the Mumbai Airport - Chatrapati Shivaji Domestic Airport and proceeded to the PRE-PAID TAXI Counter in the Departure section and got myself a Pre-Paid Taxi booked by paying the designated fare plus Rs 10 Service Charges. This is a good service initiated by “Domestic Airport Pre-paid Taxi Service” especially better for foreigners who were forced to pay exhorbitant monies for cabs – I remember a cabbie asking me for Rs. 500 for a distance of Rs 60/- some years back and I said “bahargaon ka nahin hoon…ch***** banata hai?” (I am not from outstation, I belong to here and don’t try to fool me) and then he came half price and I had to bargain further as no cab was willing to travel by meter. I saw foreigners paying Rs. 700 for Airport-Juhu ride instead of Rs 110 and there was no process or system to stop this money exhorting act of the taxi-drivers. Thanks that the Pre-paid taxi system was introduced in Mumbai that faulty metered taxis and arrogant taxi drivers charging exhorbitant prices finally ceased to exist, though some might yet argue that private taxi’s like Meru and Mega Cab (022-44224422) are better and professional than these Unionized yellow black Fiat taxis of Mumbai.

While booking the cab at the counter – I was asked – do you have any bags and since I had only strolleys (60 cms X 40 cms) which we carry for week long holidays, I said no and they guy cut a receipt of taxi fare and service charges and no luggage charges, which are Rs 10 per bag of 70 cmsX50 cms (Pls see the scanned copy of the Receipt - circled area). Many fellow passengers with small kids and families declared these similar strolleys as bags, when they were asked “kitna bag hain” (how many bags do you have?) and the pre-paid counter guys added Rs 10 to each and billed them, which they conveniently paid.

When I moved out, I was directed to a cab by the private security agency (GIC) person and the taxi driver post seeing the receipt refused to move as he said I had 3 strolleys/trolleys and the receipt should have 3 luggages – ie. Rs. 30 more. I argued that all the bags are much smaller than the HUGE – 70cmsX50cms bags and hence I do not have to pay the luggage charges. He asked me to come with him to the pre-paid counter and I refused and asked him to get the manager of the “Domestic Airport Pre-paid Taxi Service” – The officer who cut the receipt came and said I will have to pay luggage charges and when I asked him to get the measure-tape and measure the size and threw some big names, he was scared and asked his manager to intervene. Being a Sunday, I was free and fighting for human rights is a passion and hence waited for the manager. Till the time Cops came and were quite supportive and literally screwed the Cabbies for refusing to go. Let me acknowledge the support of the constable Mr. Nalawade and his Senior colleague who acknowledge the behaviors of cabbies asking for extra money from the customers and since customers are in hurry and Rs. 20-30 is not a big deal, they silently pay up. Time is more important than money, but if you see collectively, which I saw- almost every 7 out of 10 passengers, depending on their outlook were charged 2-3 luggage charges and these 20-30 ruppees does not matter – had it been a Monday morning, even I might have paid, to reach early to office rather than saving a few bucks.

The manager came and he also tried telling that I have to pay luggage charges and when the cops also saw on the receipt explaining the bag size (70cmsX50cms), they cornered the manager and the manager asked the taxi driver to go without the luggage charges.

The taxi drivers in frustration were trying to explain that they have to wait for 7-8 hours in queue and there is a nexus wherein the extra money for luggage is shared between the taxi drivers, the union and the service agency which is roughly – Rs 1 Crore as per rough estimate and back of the envelope calculations ( Rs 86 lacs as per the rough calculation- 1700 taxis X 70% = 1190 X Rs. 20= Rs 23800 per day X 365 days = Rs. 86,87000/=)

In this age of RTI and empowerment of knowledge the key, in my small way, I want to help all fellow passengers understand the concept of luggage, which no one bothers to look at as the quantum of amount is small – The rule (on the receipt) says that any BIG BAG of more that 70cmsX50cms size only. The taxi drivers can not charge for any bag smaller than this and not even for Big hand-bags – however bulky they are or even cartons which are small. Since there is no weight system in India, the taxi drivers and the private authorities – hand in gloves are trying to make bug bucks – and the concept remains subjective – but it is clearly written in black and white on your Pre-Paid vouchers that the Luggage charges are for Bags above 70 cms X50 cms– though small for each one of us individually, but imagine these 20-30 bucks can buy food for a poor family.

Hope this helps all understand and fight for their rights and was quite happy to see the Mumbai Airport Police supportive to the customers. One can look for the cops around the area as the GIC Private Security guys are useless as they also get tips for positioning the taxis ahead. One can call Airport Police Station on 26156315 /09 or even a toll free number 1800 2099 596. (I tried calling all these numbers before writing on this article and they pick up calls). Understand that these 20-30 bucks are no big deal but the attitude to give in to corruption is a big deal and all of us talk about changing India all the while, when it is in our own hands – in our own small ways ! And yes – let us stop such unionized cabbies and agencies spoiling the name of our Mumbai and India right from the first step one enters the land !

RACISM - The Slow Poisoning !

Human Rights being a close topic to my heart, my cousin Rajvir gave me a DVD of “AMERICAN HISTORY X” which I just saw. This was based on our discussion a while back on one of my friends being mugged in the South Africa by some localites and the recent racist attacks in Australia. One of us commented on the blacks as the spoilers with a past family incident of a group of blacks looting my cousin brother’s departmental shop in the US some years back. This movie was a touching one, clarifying the actual situation in the US and the fundamentals of racism to an extent that triggered me to write this piece.

Before we get into Racism, a summary of this 1998 American film directed by Tony Kaye – The film tells the story of two brothers, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) and Daniel "Danny" Vinyard (Edward Furlong) of Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California. Both are extremely bright and charismatic students, and Derek is drawn into the neo-Nazi movement after their father, a firefighter, is murdered by a black drug dealer while trying to put out a fire in a South Central neighborhood. There is one Doctor who promotes anti-black activities and entices young whites to join. The gang commits acts of intimidation, such as damaging a store owned by a Korean and challenging basketball games against groups of black players, in order to win the basketball court as turf. One night while Derek is with his girlfriend, he kills two black gang members trying to steal his truck, and is sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

In prison Derek joins the Aryan Brotherhood – the White prisoners lobby, but has differences over the group's friendly dealings with a Mexican gang. When he voices these opinions, he is quickly shut down by the other white supremacists, so Derek chooses to not associate with them any more and is beaten and raped in the showers. It is while working in the prison laundry room that Derek gradually becomes friends with a black inmate named Lamont (Guy Torry).

The story shows how Danny is influenced by his older brother's actions and ideology and how Derek, now radically changed by his experience in confinement, tries to prevent his brother from going down the same path. The movie is a hard one and also violent at some points, but leaves one with a one liner well said in the movie – “Life is too short to get pissed.”

WHAT IS RACISM ?

Although the term Racism usually denotes race-based prejudice, violence, discrimination, or oppression, the term can also have varying and hotly contested definitions. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each racial group possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another racial group or racial groups. The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular racial group, and that it is also the prejudice based on such a belief. The Macquarie Dictionary defines racism as: "the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others." One can find a good content around the fundamentals of racism on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism but if I were to define Racism, here it would go – An activity or action or a reaction for the benefit of an individual, community or a group by demeaning any other individual, community or a group is Racism. Racism is an action as well a reaction to an action. What our Indian colleagues are facing in India might be a reaction of something wrong done with them, maybe a threat of loosing out to our people in terms of success in jobs and life. Many brand Muslims as Terrorists which is absolutely wrong and racist thought, but that might be a reaction of 9/11 or 11/26 any multiple such incidents creating top of the mind recall as we marketing strategists would call.

Its not just the US ten years back, but also India since centuries witnessing Racism and doing absolutely negligible to curb it. Below is some analysis on the same and certain actionables which can help the society at large. Racism is like chicken and egg story in a little different perspective. You can not kill and egg because there are chickens around to lay more eggs and you can not kill a chicken as there are enough eggs to create these chickens. What one can do is reduce the eggs and chickens – on a lighter note somebody rightly said – Go vegetarian !!

RACISM IN INDIA

India perhaps is not the victim of Racism but to an extent mother of racism too, there are many mothers though. Its hypocrisy to crib about our Indian students being victims to the recent Racist attacks in Australia or Shilpa Shetty being a victim of racism in the UK’s Big Brother Show by Jade Goody or the latest being SRK being detained at the US Airport recently or Imran Hashmi being denied a flat in Mumbai because of being a Muslim. There are enough evidences on the first one, but there is a huge chance the rest three examples might be real cases or also publicity stunts or overhyped claims – Its hypocrisy to crib about the same when we ourselves call our North East brother and sisters as “Chinki’s” or “Nepali”- even the Mizoram Chief Minister recently shared the same feelings in an International conference in July 2009- damn it – they are equal Indians….and we are the ones who is building another Al-Qaida or an LTTE within India by such negligence, soon we would see a Kashmir like situation where our brothers would feel more comfortable of becoming Chinese.

Its is ridiculous when most of Indians even today classify any fellow Indian living below the Tropic of Cancer as “Madrasi” – Its just illiteracy or rather failure of the education system in India which taught me some illogical subject called “Trigonometry” in school which I have never used or will use in life, instead of teaching “Ethincity” which could have defined our fellow brothers below the Tropic of Cancer as “Malayali”, “Tamil”, “Kanadiga” and so on…. Instead of calling them “Madrasi”. Living in Mumbai for more than 10 years, I still don’t understand why Non-Marathis in their local lingo or slang call every Maharashtrian a “Ghati” !!! This is racism or a seed to it and this is purely a failure on part of the Education system in India.

Well, its not today, but since the time of Kings ruling India that we had Un-touchable as a species in India and they even exist today. We flush in a lot of money after so many causes right from Health, Education etc but when it comes to Equality, we do not hear much – sometimes it feels atleast Mayawati is doing some good for Dalits even if people say she has a personal agenda – who does not have these days!

If one reads the recent newspaper (Times of India –September 2, 2009, Pg1 and Pg13), it shows the shameless side of India wherein the Government in the state of Rajasthan has instructed the Bureaucrats – the highest strata of India Civil Citizens – Indian Administrative Services Officers to stand up when an MP or an MLA (Public elected representative) comes. This ridicules the whole system and the essence of Racism at the highest order.

RACIST VIEWS ABOUT OUR MUSLIM BROTHERS IN INDIA- COMPARISON WITH TERRORISTS

Ofcourse as a Marketing Strategist, I would agree that if you keep on hearing every day that praying to this deity results in this or drinking water empty stomach is good, you start believing in the same – its nothing but “belief” which comes from repeated triggers, data points and repeated trends – the “belief” becomes “belief” – how weak or strong is a factor of “personal feeling multiplied by number of triggers touched”. The same has happened for our Muslim fellow citizen – 9/11 in the US, 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts, The Black Tuesday Train blasts, 11/26 Gate of India attack added with reports on the D-Gang and perception of Pakistan, Kashmir etc has created a wrong image of every Muslim being a terrorist. Here, some one would hold Media and Politicians responsible, politicians to an extent of our Independence fighters with basic disconnect of letting India divide on Religion, which itself is a debatable topic. But, net net, such repeated events create a perception which overshadows and outnumbers one of Hindu Terrorist attacks and who can change this – the Media, Politicians and us. Some one rightly quoted – that “All Terrorists are not Muslims- the assassinator of Mahatma Gandi was a Maharastrian, the killer of Indira Gandhi was a Sikh and the killer of Rajiv Gandhi were LTTE – so one can not brand Muslims as terrors, but data has to change to change the perception and it is a collective process. Imagine, to top on it, our own ministers claiming that India knew about the 11/26 Terror Attacks in Mumbai shows how things could be hand-in-glows, but such important statements are buried and what remains are such perceptions which are racist and harmful to the society as a whole.

RACISM IN MUMBAI

Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has been in headlines offlate for racist attacks on North Indians. This was not the first type of such a racist attack in Mumbai. South Indians and Gujarati community has been on the point long back. The reason for the North Indian attacks by Raj Thackerey’s MNS Party has been analysed by analyst as a political move. The reason is somewhat reasonable from Mr. Thackerey’s perspective where everyday 10000 people from UP & Bihar come into Mumbai. But naturally, they use the infrastructure and make a living also at times chipping into the livings of the local maharashtrians. There are job quotas already for localites and the jobs the so called “North Indians” do would never be doable as per the dignity of a Maharashtrian. Asked commonly, a maharashtrian would refuse to milk cows, drive a cab, launder the clothes. These jobs are largely done by the North Indians in Mumbai. Similarly, most waiters and cooks in Mumbai are from East India- Bengali and Oriyas. Well, it’s a matter of an eco system – who fits in fits in and who doesn’t doesn’t. But, any political party, especially a new one, would need an agenda and it was a successful agenda, but the same resulted in disharmony and racism at the ground levels. The strategy at the top is different and the repercussions on the grounds are different, which is a known fact and that creates the gap here. I always think of why no one thinks of the Illegal Bangladeshis immigrants in Mumbai who could cause terror too or the illegal local urban poor increasing the slums and encroaching lands in Mumbai – guess this segment might be sensitive from a votebank perspective versus the former which has its own niche.

RACISM ON INDIANS IN OTHER COUNTRIES

When there is so much of Racism within India, how much do we speak of the same outside. But the fact remains, the same is a huge concern with more than 14 attacks in a period of 30 days on Indian students in Australia.

We would have heard of racism against our fellow Indians in the US, Middle East, UK etc, but this time, the frequent series of racist attacks and the role of Media has somewhat helped us notice and feel the heat more.

Just guaranteeing the victims of racism in Australia some seats in colleges in India or the foreign minister wasting the tax payers money to go to Australia does not solve the purpose. Though there have been political acknowledgements and regrets on both sides – the same is not justified. Ofcourse, various students groups and associations have come out and protested and that is the way out to begin with. The Indian High commissioner should have been thrown out long back, but guess no one dares to or no one is really concerned.

It is not just Indians who are victims here. It’s the worldwide phenomenon where people are classified as BLACKS (Primarily from Africa), BROWNS (Asians), YELLOWS (Chinese) who are seen as lower strata as compared to the WHITES (British, Americans). My work has helped me visit many countries and have friends from various ethnicities and castes. They on a personal note have spoken about their insecurities from Asians, who are perceived to be aggressive, go-getters and smarter lots with cheaper cost, who can snatch their breads. Infact, racism is something, which exist almost everywhere – not just amongst foreigners but within their own people too – for eg. One of my friend had diverse views on Jews. Similarly, there were huge differences in the Christians – Roman Catholics and Protestants.

We need to agree that universally, the Eco system is something which can not be changed entirely or overnight (there always would be a higher and lower strata in the society), but definitely things can be better for all. Somehow, Australian attacks have given us a clue to look at racism in a different view

(1) by coming out in unity, without any political backdrop, but as citizen like in Australia.
(2) by creating more awareness on ethnicity and culture right at the ground levels. Here, media would play a big role.
(3) To remind the relevant authorities as citizens about their duties on Racism control and Human rights. Also working along with agencies and organizations (NGOs) by sparing some of our time and energy towards this cause.
(4) Treat a lower strata person with equal respect and dignity (servant, cab driver, beggar, urchins, call centre cold callers etc)
(5) The movie “American History X” left me with a single line learning which I would repeat – Life is too short to get pissed !