Coversations between 2020 and 2021 !!

 In Singam franchise of movies, Director Hari came up with new Heroines in every movie and had a story (?? ) to tell. Audience just had to assume the storytelling, similarly assume two characters called Mr.2020 and Mr.2021 which I have created exclusive for this blog. Here we go

 Mr.2020: Hi, How are you 2021 ?

 Mr.2021: I am doing kind of okay ..still couldn’t come out of the shock you 2020 had to offer

 

Mr.2020: I gave you lot of rest, lots of family time, much needed break from regular routine but still you complain ?

Mr.2021: When we Work from Home for one day/week that was nice but working from home right throughout the year was a nightmare

Mr.2020: Well just to rephrase the words – when you do household chores one day in a week it makes you feel better but when you share the workload with your better half right throughout the year it makes you feel overwhelming. Am I not right ?

Mr.2021: In a way that’s right but not exactly right

Mr.2020: Stop right there …Don’t talk like Kamal  ..be crisp like Mani Ratnam

 

Mr.2021: You didn’t have any marriages but now look at the mahals which are overflowing with bookings, caterers were sleeping last year and now they don’t get time to sleep, Photographers were taking pictures of themselves and their better halves last year and this year they had to upgrade their hard disk space

Mr.2020: When you have lots of marriages to attend you complain, when you have less events to attend you still end up complaining …don’t you think complaining has been a constant factor irrespective of the situation? We have just started 2021 ..now wait for the house warming, ear piercing, naming and betrothal functions to follow.

 

Mr.2021: You were too relaxing ...had no commitments

Mr.2020: Just because of lockdown things did not come to a standstill – Some of the Businesses still had to run, schools and corporate were forced to open on virtual platforms, Governments had to run quickly and efficiently, Bankers had to work on limited resources, whole Healthcare sector were on their toes and while everyone were inside the doors praying for pandemic to end families of doctors were praying for their own safety

 

Mr.2021: Talking about Healthcare sector, Yes they had huge role to play but why is vaccination taking too long ?

Mr.2020: Nothing will happen overnight, Thank god vaccine is not like fast food where it can be prepared and served immediately. It has to go through a rigorous exercise. Be happy if you have taken one but being vaccinated is by no means you are in safe zone. 

 Mr.2021: I see Corona as a reason for Hospitals to charge exorbitant rates, do you agree ?

Mr.2020: You have two choices - you can keep saying this as a layman or just reflect over what is going on. After Corona running a Hospital is becoming a very challenging task and to provide good medical care there are way too many factors to look into. First and foremost there is shortage on Physicians on some pockets, then supplies such as PPE Kit and Surgical masks has become mandatory not just for doctors but for everyone associated in a Hospital, Cleanliness and Sanitation has taken lots of importance, 24/7 care is need for elderly patients especially if their oxygen level is dripping which again requires manpower, Drug makers are in heavy demand since there is huge demand on Indian drugs in overseas market and with shortage on API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) from China market drug makers are forced to increase price on most of the Indian drugs. All this translates to $$$ and that is why Hospitals charge more these days. Moreover just like how Supply-demand scenario works in Onion price the same principle is applicable here too ....all VIPs and parents whose kids have settled abroad want to get admitted in Hospitals as they feel that is more safe environment than being at home and this in turn creates a demand. 

Mr.2021: Being inside one roof creates lots of arguments with family ?

Mr.2020: This is the time you have to look examples like Actor Vijayakumar and Mr.Karunanidhi; Apart from jokes it is incredible how they ran the family amidst the chaotic atmosphere that may prevail.

 

Mr.2021: Don’t you think Nature were harsh on people?

Mr.2020: Absolutely No, Nature gave so many warnings which we ignored so it took rest by itself – air got purified, no noise pollution, water pollution came down etc.,

 

Mr.2021: What is Corona upto ? I still don’t see light end of the tunnel

Mr.2020: Well you will not unless people are more disciplined. Tamil nadu will not get to see true picture till Elections. Not even one political party complain on the crowds that gather for their respective meetings because everyone does not follow social distancing. Look at Mr.Kamalhaasan who is knowledgeable and knows what he talks but even he does not follow safety precautions.

Mr.2021: Oh No …..again recliner chair, Work From Home, kids atrocities, wife as neelambari ??

Mr.2020: Yes sir …..back to Britannia biscuits, loading washing machine with clothes, refilling the ever ending cereals box, Prime-Hotstar movie watching etc.,

 

Mr.2021: I have learned some new things in the recent past, can you guess ?

Mr.2020: By now you know how to operate washing machines, you know where is mixie repair shop, you know to live without cinema theatres and finally got to know phone number of your own spouse/family member.

 

Mr.2022: Enna pa anga Sound ……My calendar is already getting booked from January to May 2022 from previous years spillover …..

Next Blog: C-A-S-T-E 

TN Politics - Big Players !!

 Let us look into some of the big players who are part of this coming Election. 

Vanathi Srinivasan Vs. Kamal haasan @ Coimbatore South

This is definitely a high profile contest since BJP bargained hard for this seat with ADMK and Mr.S.P Velumani who is the current MLA from Thondamuthur has done a decent job strengthening ADMK's position in Coimbatore region. All this makes Advocate cum Politician Vanathi Srinivasan mam a good contender. Mam attended one of our Rotary meetings and was super impressed with the way she handled QA session from public. Audience just grilled her with questions (mostly against BJP) which was even embarrassment for the hosts but the way she handled the questions I realized she will make it big one day. Kamal will his celebrity status, support from youth and literate society should win and that will earn him a debut seat in TN Assembly. The next few weeks are going to be a dream run for Kamal fans since he will make all his fans proud and known for different getups he may even sport Lee jeans and Under Armour T shirt for assembly sessions. 

Udayanidhi Stalin Vs. PMK's A.V.A Kassali @ Chepauk 

Since Udayanidhi is making his debut in Politics DMK wants to play as safe as possible by giving him a constituency which DMK can never lose and that is none other than Chepauk ....Answer is already out and he will be the winner. 

BJP's Khushbu Sundar vs DMK's Ezhilan @ Thousand Lights

Thousand Lights is basically a DMK bastion and MK Stalin scored hat trick here with three consecutive victories. Thousand lights is one area where we have people from all walks of life - upper, middle and lower class of people. This time both the contestants are new and contest is between a medical practitioner and a celebrity. Ezhilan is famous in the area due to his medical practice and Khushhu being given a chance to contest for first time (congress and DMK did not give her chance to contest) is definitely making her presence felt through aggressive campaigning. It could be a good contest but guess Ezhilan will win. 

ADMK's Kadambur Raju vs AMMK's TTV Dinakaran @ Kovilpatty

Minister Kadambur Raju has already won twice here and TTV Dinakaran contesting here makes this a good contest - basically TTV is eyeing for Mukkulathors, a community he belongs to. 

DMDK's Premelatha Vijayakanth vs PMK's Karthikeyan @ Vridachalam

DMDK and PMK are arch rivals and they both fight with respective Dravidian parties for seats. This time PMK has the upper hand since they had one great news go in their favor - TN government passed a bill to provide internal reservation of 10.5 % reservation to vanniyars few minutes before Election commission announced election date. PMK vote bank consists of Vanniyars and will play to their advantage. Premelatha wanted to contest from a place where Vijayakant won in 2011 and it will be interesting contest in Vridachalam. 

DMK's Mahesh Anbil Poyyamozhi vs ADMK's Kumar @ Thiruverambur 

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi is showing lot of promise and coming from IT background and being a youngster who is really hands on with his approach is winning lots of appreciation from locals; Kumar on the other hand has been working very closely in the Thiruverambur area, having won 2009 and 2014 elections and skipping 2019 elections sends a message to DMK how badly ADMK wants to capture this place by making Kumar contest against Mahesh. This area is basically the industry belt of Trichy which has got over 1000 registered MSME units where nearly 70% of the units are no more functioning. A good politician can tap the huge potential place has to offer. 

Buddy's Predictions:

*DMK has the upper hand 

*ADMK's alliance with BJP is making them less favorable (ADMK's governance overall has been pretty good )

*Since the election is a closely contested one, Postal votes will play a role on the final outcome. 

*Kamal's MNM will bag huge percentage of votes and will emerge as third biggest party in the state - next few weeks belongs to Kamal fans; As I said before torch will shine but how long is the question before battery is drained

*PMK will increase their vote percentage in the state

*NOTA may get more votes than many political parties which explains people's state of mind in this Corona period. 

My last and final post on TN Politics will be after the results are out in early May. 

Next Blog: Candid conversations between 2020 & 2021 

TN Politics - BJP vs Congress & Constituencies at a glance

 BJP vs Congress

BJP vs Congress is becoming more like comparing Virat Kohli to a district level cricket player. While BJP is gaining more ground and kind of saffronizing whole India Congress is losing teeth to even compete. Mr.Modi is not just a politician but a true leader since there has never been an instance in the past where a Prime Minister from India has got this much global recognition. One good thing with BJP is that they concentrate on building the party and on its bench strength - with demise of Vajpai, Sushma Swaraj, Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar in quick succession party did not go low instead they came up with emerging leaders in the form of Nirmala Sitaraman, Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur. Modi-Shah partnership is grooming many youngsters and they test waters with young guns and they always look out for results. Now coming to Congress party which is a much older party is literally in ICU state where they neither have senior leaders to lead from the front nor young guns to carry the party forward. Party not just lacks leadership but also direction and intent which are the reasons for the massive setbacks in 2014 and 2019 elections. Congress really didn't prove to be electorally appealing mainly because of its ambiguous and inconsistent formulation to the lowest rungs of the society. Just like how a dummy villain brings down the overall standard of a movie, a weak opposition party cannot play a pivotal role in a democracy. For a vibrant democracy we need a strong and effective opposition. Tamilnadu is one state which is tough nut to crack for both BJP and Congress - unless these parties tie up with Dravidian parties they cannot make any impact.

Let us look into some of the key constituencies in Tamil Nadu

Chennai

Chennai has been DMK's citadel and DMK has contributed much towards Chennai's growth especially during Maran times. Slowly ADMK is capturing Chennai but this time Kamal ji is going to split DMK and ADMK votes. I will not be surprised if MNM wins 1 or 2 constituencies in Chennai and vote percentage of DMK and ADMK will come down due to MNM.  Udayanidhi stalin contesting in Chepauk is a big decision and will be interesting to see how he fares up to the big ticket. 

Coimbatore

With Corona outbreak one thing that political parties have understood is concept of decentralization. Rather than relying everything on Chennai, people have started to look into tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Coimbatore is rightly called as Manchester of south India. City is heavily influenced by Information technology, Industrial growth in engineering and textile sectors. With Saravanampatty emerging as the new IT hub city is going from strength to strength. Coimbatore has been ADMK's fort and once again Kamal's MNM will split votes between DMK and ADMK. After Chennai there is plenty of youth crowd who will support Kamal in Coimbatore and he himself is contesting in the area is a good decision. 

Salem

If at all there is one place in Tamil Nadu that has shown significant growth in the recent past then that has to be Salem and all thanks to EPS. Being part of the defence corridor, promotion of IT emabled services, proposed Chennai-salem highway, Aerospace park in Salem-Namakkal corridor and inaugration of Livestock research centre Salem has undoubtedly going to go to ADMK. 

Madurai

Madurai has also been ADMK's fort and 2011 and 2016 elections just shows that party has Madurai as its stronghold. AIIMS project not being started yet is a concern for Madurai residents especially since it has been two years since the foundation stone has been laid. But with Madurai-Tuticorin and Madurai-Coimbatore Industrial corridors, city will attract major business houses. ADMK should pretty much get hold of Madurai

Trichy 

Trichy has always been DMK's citadel and party always chooses Trichy to kick off proceedings before State elections. Mahesh Anbil Poyyamozhi is slowly but surely becoming a strong force in Tiruverambur area and he is one of DMK's promising candidates. City badly needs a good leader to take advantage of its geographical location. Sipcot Industrial park at Manapparai and renovation of Airport are some of the very few things that happened in Trichy. Last election DMK and ADMK almost got equal seats and with Thirunavakarusu as Trichy's MP who represent Congress it would be ideal if DMK can take over Trichy by that way they have members to represent both at State and Centre. 

Last week I said things are inclining towards with ADMK but with DMK's election manifesto which has over 500 promises they definitely did make a positive influence amongst voters. People are like even if 25% of the listed promises are made then that comes out to over 100 of them. Promises like 12 months of maternity leave, free government bus passes to women, one time financial assistance of 4000 INR to all ration card holders, reduction in fuel prices, LPG price, Aavin milk price all reached masses and suddenly all surveys are predicting DMK's victory.  

Next Blog: TN Politics - Big players !!

TN Politics - Parties at a glance !!

I would like to come up with series of four blogs on TN politics and in the first part would like to go over the Parties in General. I would like to go over the parties with SWOT analysis by that way we get a clear picture on some of the major parties. This election is the first one where stalwarts like Karunanidhi ayya and Jayalalitha mam are not present; They both had huge amount of experience and definitely had an impact at National level and some of Karunanidhi ayya’s moves in the past has fetched rich dividends for the state. While TN is cribbing about Jaya’s loss she was one iron lady who had to muster courage and kind of single handedly worked for the welfare of the state. 

DMK

For DMK, this is Do or die situation and with ten years out of power party is desperately looking to

reverse tables and the recently concluded Manadu in Trichy spanning across close to 300 acres,

parking for 400 acres and chairs being brought from Andra just endorses how badly they are

in need of victory.

Strength – Major political party in TN which has uncanny habit of extracting funds from centre, DMK won 23 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha Election, Support from minority communities

Weakness: Lack of leadership, lack of bench strength, DMK’s allies are not strong enough (Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League)

Opportunities: People of TN has this habit of shuffling between DMK and AIADMK and this may work towards DMK’s advantage as people may look out for change, MK Stalin comes with huge experience and is preferred candidate for CM post

Threats: Internal conflict within the party, party’s inability to contest all by itself in 234 constituencies, emergence of smaller parties 

AIADMK

I should say AIADMK has done fairly a decent job with good governance and is pretty much on the driver’s seat. The way party handled pandemic during March – June 2020 were incredible and definitely earned lot of respect from public. Chief Minister seems to be approachable and has definitely made lot of progress in upliftment of the state. 

Strength: There is no serious opposition for AIADMK is the ugly truth, Handling of pandemic, strong backing from BJP

Weakness: Being a puppet under BJP may work against the party in the long run, not having enough seats in the Lok sabha level hurts AIADMK

Opportunities: There is positive buzz on CM and if he can translate this buzz into the next five years then EPS will be a big force to reckon in Tamil nadu political circle 

Threats: TTV is definitely a threat to AIADMK and according to me he has good political acumen; Sasikala is out of the equation but she can create some noise at any time

MNM

With Karunanidhi ayya and Jayalalitha mam out of the race and Rajini opting out of politics and

with Vijayakanth not doing well in terms of health there cannot be a better time for Kamal ji to make

inroads in this election. I am super confident that MNM will bag good percentage of votes and may

even emerge as third biggest party in the state. 

Strength – Youth crowd and Thai kulam (women fraternity) support Kamalhaasan and Kamal may even end up winning in places like South Chennai, Coimbatore; Guy is smart and there is no doubt on it; People who badly want a change will opt for Kamalhaasan. Some of his interviews off late is like watching vintage Maniratnam classics and he is sure to get support from literate society.

Weakness: When a heroine is introduced into filmdom she does a heroine centric role and bags all awards with her performance but then she loses focuses after teaming up with commercial directors saying her role demanded skin show. I think this is going to be with the case for Kamal, he is going to make all people make a note of his party in this election and then join hands with parties in the name of allies and then his vision gets diluted. One other weakness for Kamal is people are curious to know who funds for his party operations? People also are skeptical if he cannot adjust with a lady under the institution of marriage how will he manage a state ?

Opportunities: Kamal has a vision and being street smart he may adopt institutional approach in politics and may inject fresh lease of life; 

Threats: As a small party it takes quite some time to climb up the ladder and his candidates can change minds and join opposition parties since power dictates where a candidate wants to join. 

Short Snippets from other parties:

*Personally I like TTV Dinakaran and if he is in the right place he can go places but as of now his party AMMK will not have much impact. Just like the way he handles media

*Sarathkumar’s All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi will make its presence felt in the state as they are teaming with Kamal’s MNM

*Pattaali Makkal Katchi is teaming with AIADMK and they made a smart move of requesting Vanniyar quota precondition

before the polls and now that AIADMK approved their request we may see PMK make its presence

felt as they would bag caste based votes

*Vijayakanth’s DMDK arch rival is PMK and since they have secured 23 seats it was asking atleast 23 seats to AIADMK and since AIADMK rejected the offer DMDK came out of the alliance and may most probably team up with Kamal's MNM

*Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Puthiya Tamilagam, Tamil Maanila congress all may have very minor role to play on the final output

*Seeman’s party is Naam Tamilar Katchi was constantly in the news criticizing Rajinikanth on his moves and now that Rajinikanth has

backed out Seeman and his party are no longer in the news. Classic example of negative publicity can

take you only certain distance and beyond that you have to prove your mettle.

*Vaiko’s MDMK is sure to give meme creators lot of work

As of today pendulum is sliding towards AIADMK

Next blog: BJP vs Congress, Elections & Constituencies 

Request to NRI

  Though this blog may be applicable to anyone reading my intent is to reach out to NRIs. For a NRI, request for donation back home may come from parents, siblings, Inlaws, friends, neighbours etc., and nature of the financial assistance may be for various reasons like Religious, Education, Marriage, Health, Environmental and Humanitarian basis (Need of clothes, construction of kitchen or rest room, old age home maintenance etc.,).End of the day it is hard earned money and NRI has the right to choose where he/she wants their funds to be directed. This is on top of the charity a NRI has to do locally on where they live. Since I have been on both the side of the spectrum I want to throw some light on areas where there is help needed in India which unfortunately doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

  I am not going to elaborate more on Religious and Education donations since these two are areas where people are well aware of the need and donors are equipped with more information. If you take temples for example, we have beautiful architecture with so much workmanship and in order to preserve culture and heritage we need to preserve our temples which demands so much of labor which in turn translates to funds. Also Education is one area people feel it will wipe away poverty of coming generations hence donate generously for Education purposes. These are areas where there is awareness in place.

 I would like to talk on two areas where there is help needed but unfortunately many times these are overlooked.

[1] Donations on Health: Health is wealth was merely a proverb in pre corona era but Corona has rewritten the rules and now Health is much more than wealth. 
If you take for Men some of the common Health issues and their costs are as follows (These are all ball park estimates and differs case to case based on age, comorbidities, gender, genes, Nature of the hospital, experience level of consultants, referrals, discounts, insurance coverage etc.,)

   (a) Heart issues: Open heart surgeries may be around 1.5 to 3 lakhs, In general heart surgeries may be around 1 to 2 lakhs
   (b) Kidney issues: Dialysis is around 2000, related surgery is around 15000, Kidney transplant is around 6 lakhs, Removing stone is anywhere between 60000 to 75000; Gall bladder stone surgeries are bit more and it costs around 1.5 to 2 lakhs
   (c) Cancer issues: Based on which stage patient goes as there are many packages based on case to case - it can start anywhere from 2 lakhs to 4/6/8 lakhs 
   (d) Stroke related ailments: It comes around 1 to 2 lakhs
   (e) Cataract surgeries: Anywhere between 20000 to 50000
   (f) Varicose related ailments: Surgery comes around 50000 to 80000

Common Health issues for women and its costs are as follows 

(a)    Breast Cancer: Based on which stage patient goes as there are many packages based on case to case - it can start anywhere from 2 lakhs to 4/6 lakhs
(b)    Thyroid: Mostly medication and consultation but if surgery is required then costs comes around 1 to 1.5 lakhs
(c)   Uterus removal: Beyond 45 years many may need this and costs comes around 60000 to 1 lakh
(d) Joint replacement: Ladies undergo this issue due to wear and tear of bones and it roughly costs 1.5 lakhs per leg and we are talking about 3 lakhs for 2 legs

Accidental injuries are common and based on the severity costs differs from case to case. 

 Now let us know about which group a particular beneficiary may belong to – Group A which comprises 25% of the population may go to Apollo Hospitals for treatment and if someone can afford to go to Apollo Hospitals then they may not need Health assistance from abroad so we can rule out this category. Group C which comprises of other 25% may visit Government hospitals for treatment and these days Government hospitals are much more equipped but still people always have second thoughts on their efficiency. People who get treated here fall under particular section and cost of treatment is zero (utilizing government schemes) with negligible expense for Blood work, lab results etc., so may not need assistance and we can rule out this category too. Group B which comprise of 50% are the ones who can neither go to Apollo nor visit Government Hospitals and they are the ones who approach NRIs for Assistance and this group forms major chunk of the people. 

 Now just for discussion let us take a person who has undergone a major Heart attack where Surgery has be done right away as per recommendation. Based on hospital, age, severity and other complications bill may come anywhere between 75000 to 2.5 lakhs (Discounts and Health insurance are not brought into the equation to make things simple). Let us take the average value which is around 1.25 lakhs; This person maybe salaried and may earn around 30K/month and with single breadwinner of the family this amount is a huge one considering the fact he is taking care of his kids education which extracts good part of your income. At this juncture the guy reaches out to NRI from his network circle. A guy who is a teenager gets funding for education but just imagine the person who underwent a surgery – His income is not much, does not have any backup from his parents/in laws, age is catching up and unexpected expense like these may eat up his savings which he had allocated for kids education and marriage. Banks may even give loan to a teenager citing education purpose (obviously may charge more interest if no collateral is provided) but a person who is in their mid 50’s banks do not even consider giving you loan. I would say person in their mid fifties badly need help. Kindly do not misunderstand that I am against educational assistance, in fact if you want to fix the root cause so that such instances does not happen in future then we got to help people who need educational assistance but the guy who is in his fifties does not have education for no fault of his since his parents stopped education for funding purpose. It is rude to ignore or question him and if he is hale and healthy then he can fulfil family commitments all by himself in whatever capacity. Health insurance is more prominent in corporate and people who can afford but many end up not having one. Personally I have seen many folks postponing surgeries citing cost reasons and stick with medication. 

 [2] Donation for Environmental purpose: Instances like Biden on his very first day at office as President signing back into Paris agreement, Narendra Modi during Climate Adaptation Summit 2021 stressing the importance of living in harmony with nature just reiterates how the World leaders see climate change and global warming. Infosys founder Narayana Murthy wrote a lovely letter to his Daughter and in the last paragraph he has mentioned "As you pursue your goals and live a contended life, remember that there is only one planet for us to live in and that planet is now becoming endangered. Remember that it is your responsibility to pass on this planet to Krishnaa in a better condition than you got it from us."  This pretty much summarizes the current scenario ....

My personal feeling is Corona is just revenge from nature towards mankind for being greedy. Flora and Fauna should coexist but in the name of Economic Liberalization we are just destroying everything and then we cry hell broke loose. Just look around and notice number of earthquakes happening around the world, soil erosion is happening as more and more number of trees are destroyed, we are losing forestland very quickly and if we lose forests then we lose wild habitats too, sea is contaminated by dumping all waste and fisheries are running a huge risk of being exploited, bird species is coming down drastically due to 4G/5G network antennas, water bodies like lakes, ponds and rivers are not maintained and groundwater level goes way too low etc., Environmental consequences of reduction in green cover has been wide ranging right from increase in air pollution, ground water depletion, frequent flooding and overall rise in temperature. Places like Chennai, Bangalore are becoming concrete jungles and according to Asthma allergy resource centre more young kids are showing asthmatic symptoms than ever before. I would like to consider Environmental projects like taking singles in a cricket match, it may not be fancy like hitting fours and sixers but taking singles and rotating strikes play a crucial role in final output of the match. Similarly environmental projects like planting trees, preserving natural water bodies like lakes, rain water conservation, Tapping energy efficient projects like Solar installation all are very important. So when a NRI is approached for these projects it may not appear as attractive or in other words as significant like other streams (You may tend to think paying semester fees is much more important than planting a tree whose benefit is realized only after 20 years). If everyone tend to think the same way we all may have jobs but may not have an environment to live for future generation. So not just back home in India even in the place they reside a NRI has to look into Environmental projects much more seriously and our mantra should be to live in harmony with nature.

   I have just highlighted these two areas to provide more awareness and if this is going to make you reflect more then I will consider my purpose of coming up with this blog is served. Once again I am not against donations on particular streams, it is your hard earned money and you have every right to direct where you want. As we strive to parent our kids by giving them good education we as a society and community should also come together to create a better environment in whatever capacity we can.

Customer Service

   A customer is considered as a god for any business for reasons known and customer service is taken very seriously these days even in a very small business. Losing one good customer can make a huge impact especially if the business is in its early stages. During team meetings, owners/managers who run the day to day operations stress the importance of customer service and even run loyalty programmes to retain customers and constantly strive to get feedback from customers just to make sure service level is satisfactory. Customer service in India has grown leaps and bounds and nice to see professional attitude from Businesses. These days I see staff in Hotels/Hospitals with uniform dress for customers to identify the staff, Toll free number/feedback form to register feedbacks, automated call to register complaints, Courteous staff who had undergone some Training on how to handle Customers from all walks of life, Training on communication skills for staff who are customer facing etc., Tier 1 city differs from Tier 2 and based on the city we may see service level varying and I would like to bring one example on how customer service works in Tier 2 or 3 level cities.

     Let us take a Family restaurant in a place like Tanjore – assume a big group consisting of 20 people who have decided to have dinner together. Group consists of babies, toddlers, teenagers, aunts, uncles and Grandparents – server who is going to take care of the group realizes this is a great opportunity to show his hospitality skills. His calculation runs like if the group stays for 1-2 hours then the bill may come close to 10,000 INR and seeing how affluent people are they may tip me 500 so he is all excited and pumped up. To start with group starts ordering Soups and starters – baby is cranky and parents realize they need server’s help at times to make funny faces, kids wanted tomato sauce to the extent we don’t know whether ketchup is a main dish or a condiment. Server realizing this brought the entire bottle to the table and next set of dishes include Naan, Ceylon parotta, romali roti, chapathi etc., along with side dishes are ordered and served. Uncle while reaching out to one of the dishes spills Navaratna kurma by mistake and server remembers owner’s golden words “Go out of the box to help your customer” and immediately offers to replace the dish at no extra cost which makes Uncle blush like a new bridegroom. Granny while having malai kofta realizes it is too spicy and wants something to be done else she may not end up having her favorite koftas – Server recollects another set of golden words “Be friendly with our customers” and immediately offers granny that malai kofta will be reworked to make it less spicy. Aunty is in her diet hence feels butter naan is too buttery (Note the point my Honor – Aunty expected BUTTER naan to be without Butter) and once again server realizes customer service is the key and replaced the dish much to the delight of aunty who seems to glow much better than Kohinoor diamond. Server did an outstanding job and one ritual which every server should learn these days is to take a family picture which he did and Uncle paid him 500 as tip which the server accepted happily.

     Now all this is good but there is other side to it – customers who visit the shop on frequent basis were not treated the same way since as per Server he knows whatever service he does to the regular visitors all he is going to be paid is only 20 as tip; Also some of the inventory like Ketchup may run out of stock and server has to say no to some customers; They may have extra ketchup bottles in store room but that maybe locked since stocks are taken out only on need basis. Also lots of redo work makes the cook busier which increases waiting time for other customers. So long story short customer service is in abundance for some customers at the cost of few customers; The 20 members group may not come again since it was a family get together that may happen rarely but the frequent visitors who has the habit of coming regularly may stop coming due to the poor service. For an owner this is a blow and something which he cannot spot unless he is on top of this; Owner’s words on Customer service is cleverly misused by his employees and that is why some owners are afraid to give free hand to their staff as far as customer service since they are aware of the fact staff may play it to their advantage. Just apply my blog on any given business in a Tier 2 city and you will be able to relate to what I am saying and once again not everyone does this but because of selected few whole group comes under the radar.

Humanity at its best – P Subramanian sir (Shanthi Gears); Dr.Shanta mam (Adyar Cancer institute)

  I would like to talk about two people from Tamil Nadu who recently passed away but the amount of social service these people did will forever be etched in people’s memory for decades. Normally I write stuff based on what I know but for this blog I had to go and read few articles in Internet since they completely did everything behind the scenes away from shutterbugs. In a world of Granite kalvettu where people want their name to be imprinted for anything and everything here are two people who believed service has to be selfless and uncompromising and thereby set great standards when it comes

to Hospitality and Healthcare sector respectively. Let us know more about these two personalities.

Respected P Subramanian Sir:
  Subramanian sir finished his studies in PSG college and established a firm in Coimbatore to manufacture gears in the year 1969. With steady growth the company got into stock exchange in the year 1986 and it was the third largest player in India in the gear manufacturing sector. Later the company was acquired by Murugappa group of companies and sir started to concentrate on social and philanthropic activities through Shanthi social service. Foundation runs a canteen, hospital and a pharmacy. Canteen provides free food for set of people every day and also food at nominal price for others; hospital and pharmacy were run not for profits but to benefit poor and downtrodden. Foundation also runs a Petrol pump where it sells petrol based on the price it arrived and only when old stock is consumed it revises price based on the new rate. Apart from this the foundation runs Blood bank, diagnostic centre, eye care centre and LPG crematorium. Personally I have heard very good reviews about the food served in his canteen and also the affordable rates the pharmacy offers for its customers. Also few thousands of people benefit from canteen every day and cleanliness is something that is given  lots of importance. Sometime in the past when I was roaming around in T nagar, Chennai during Summer I saw a mud pot with drinking water and there was a flex board much bigger than the pot on top of it to mention who sponsored the water. In such a world all the philanthropic activities mentioned above happened when people did not even know the face of the donor and only when he died people got to see his face.

Respected V Shanta mam:
   Shanta mam was the Chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute and one of India’s senior Oncologist. Mam was one of the pioneers in cancer care making it affordable for patients. Shanta mam is the grand niece of CV Raman sir and after completing her school education she took up Medicine as her profession. She completed MBBS in Madras Medical college followed by DGO in 1952 and MD in Obstetrics and Gynecology. In 1954, Muthulakshmi Reddy was the first woman medical graduate of  India and she along with Women’s India association founded first cancer institute and Shanta mam  joined as a medical officer. Right from being Medical officer to Chairperson mam has seen the Cancer institute grow to phenomenal heights. Mam dedicated her life for poor and needy and lived in the Hospital premises throughout her life so that she can be available for patients round the clock. Just to name some of the major achievements from the institute – Duty exemption for cancer drugs, free travel for cancer patients in Trains and buses, Start of pediatric oncology unit and she was India’s first Pediatric Oncologist. I believe awards such as Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan got honored since she got those awards. She dedicated 60 years of medical service studying the disease,  prevention of the disease, creation of specialists and scientists in different aspects of oncologic sciences. She was on the WHO advisory committee on Cancer, convenor of the state advisory board and member of many ICMR committees. Many screening centres were setup in different parts of Tamil nadu and she just reiterates the fact that if people come early then cancer can be cured and wanted to dispel fear amongst public when it comes to the disease. According to news reports she did not want any final rituals to be performed instead wished her ashes should be sprinkled all over the institute.
 

    I wish I knew more about these wonderful people when they were alive as I would have loved to have  a conversation with them. It is absolutely surprising to know that they never wanted to hog the  limelight and always want their work to overshadow any sort of advertisement they get through their work. We can find people who does social service but doing selfless service without being in the limelight and with hardly any media coverage speaks volumes regarding their personality. World needs more such people and through this blog I have paid my tribute to these two great souls. 

                                                          My pranams to both of them ......

Evergreen Tamil movie Dialogues !!

 Going back to our past and reminiscing things we have enjoyed is a wonderful feeling and this happens whenever we see our old albums. One such thing is some of my favorite tamil movie dialogues which I have enjoyed in the past which still bring a curve in my face when I watch these. The dialogue writers who wrote these in those days would have never dreamt that their dialogues are going to be evergreen. These dialogues are very simple and something that happens next door and that is why it reached people. Let me go over five such dialogues; There are two conditions before you can relate to the following dialogues - you watch Tamil films, you were born in 80's and peak of your childwood were in 90's . 

Interview scene in Thillu Mullu: Thalaivar as Aiyampettai Arivudainambi Kaliyaperumal Chandran and Thengai Srinivasan as Sriramachandramurthy were absolutely brilliant; Direction by KB sir and dialogues by Visu just complimented each other - it had Intelligence, humour, sarcasm, political affiars, philosophy, modesty, humbleness, Patriotism, Economics etc., No matter how many times you watch you always enjoy

En Pondatty Ooruku Poita in Agni Nakshatram:  Janagaraj sends off his wife Thangamani to his In laws place for delivery and expresses disappointment but as soon as the bus leaves he goes about shouting his wife left ....I have seen many of my friends as well as their spouses relate to this scene and even the Tamil Diaspora abroad is no exception ..somehow people are reminded of this dialogue when their wife visits Inlaws place. Maniratnam being categorized as a multiplex director penned this one and one of those dialogues which had a huge reach among Tamil audience. 

Ek Gaon me ek Kisan Raghu Thaata in Endru poi Naalai Vaa: Trust me this is one line which made everyone in Tamil nadu speak Hindi. Everytime when a Tamil guy tries to learn a new language and makes mistakes reading a line then immediately they are taken back to this dialogue. Pampering by grand mother is another aspect in the scene which again depicts slice of life in those days. Bhagyaraj should be given credit for this epic scene. 

Car reverse scene in Aan paavam: In many occasions such as my initial driving classes in India, my new driving classes in Kansas with my roomate, whenever I thought driving for friends I am always reminded of this scene especially while taking reverse. Though the joke may fall into mokkai category but nevertheless it brought smile for the audience. Pandiarajan at his best with simple natural humour with no double meaning dialogues. "Nee mattum engammava katalam naan ungammava katta kudatha" is another epic dialogue and sheer simplicity did wonders. 

Mr.Chandramouli in Mouvna Raagam: Modern day directors have defined romantic scene should possess Lee jeans, U neck T shirt, gucci watch, Coffee day, foreign locales etc., but they forget that romantic scene doesn't need any of these ...Look at the Mr.Chandramouli scene from Mouvna Raagam - sheer brilliance from Mani Ratnam. Revathi comes with a simple dress as a middle class girl, Karthik is uber cool with his body language and dialogues and then comes Revathi's dad who is a middle class retired bank manager. The way in which Revathi reacts after spotting her father in Coffee shop by biting her nails, way in which her Dad is confused talking to Karthik and way in which Karthik makes Revathi's dad believe that they know each other and finally when Revathi is relieved her dad went, she splashes water to Karthik with a water jug with Raja sir's BGM in the background.....Zoom in close up shots of hero and heroine where eyes talk each other ...This is Romance ......

As you can see all five scenes are pretty simple and believe that was the reason people liked so much even these days ...Recently saw a movie Chi la Sow (Telugu movie) and just loved it as the movie was pretty simple and it was just hero and heroine doing all the talking and both of them had just one costume throughout the movie. Best part was heroine appeared in pimples and there is even a dialogue in the movie about her pimples ...when movie dialogues carry slice of life audience tend to relate and enjoy even more and believe the dialogues I mentioned above are just part and parcel of everyday life and that is way these dialogues have been evergreen even after few decades. 

மூர்த்தி சின்னதானாலும் கீர்த்தி பெரியது - One rupee coin !!

When I think about one rupee coin – few things come to my mind like ottrai ruba yesteryear chartbuster song from Sneha, coin used for Toss during a cricket game, one rupee used to buy Boomer/mango bite/éclairs/chiclets etc., during childhood. I think significance of the coin has not come down even in this Swiggy/Uber era though the monetary value seems to be very negligible. I found prominence of one rupee coin very much great in following contexts. 

Gift of 101/501/1001/2001:

   When someone gifts 100 then it ends with ‘0’ which signifies the end but when someone gifts 101 then it ends with ‘1’ which signifies the beginning. Basically it denotes the receiver to have more in his/her life from the donor. Also giving 100 or 500 makes the number divisible whereas 101 or 501 makes the amount indivisible thereby signifying good wishes, good luck and blessings remain indivisible between donor and receiver. This is all the belief system in a diverse country like India and many believe it and few discard saying this is all superstitious stuff. But the point I want to bring is one rupee coin is very much sought after and have seen host get good amount of one rupee coins from bank before a function so that he can use it whenever need arises.

Pangali and one rupee:

  I don’t think I need to elaborate importance of Pangalis in tamil culture as they form the backbone of relative circle. Any event whether a wedding or funeral their physical presence is mandatory as it adds so much value to proceedings in Hindu culture. In Nagarathar marriages pangalis have the habit of gifting one rupee per family to the couple and one of the pangalis take the lead and record the pangalis in their circle in a notebook. If you take a deeper look this procedure is a fantastic one and our ancestors did this just to make sure there should not be any complexity amongst pangalis as we may have one person owning a Publicly traded company and another person who may have a meager salary. In fact I heard it used to be 25 paise and since 25 paise coins are no longer in practice they have switched over to the lowest denomination ‘One rupee’. Once again the role of one rupee coin is significant though the monetary value may say otherwise.

One rupee coin in Forehead: I am not sure whether this custom is a common practice in every community but in some parts of Tamil nadu it is a ritual to place one rupee coin in forehead of the person who is deceased. From what I heard and understood it sends a message to the visitors that when you leave this world you don't even take a single one rupee coin leaving behind all your wealth and possessions. So whether you own a cul-de-sac in Beverly Hills, LA or a villa in Raja annamalaipuram,Chennai end of the day you don't even take one rupee with you. Once again the point is significance of the one rupee coin.

So one could be be from Ratan Tata family or from a humble background, Dark/Fair, Tall/short but at the end of the day you should make a positive influence in the society you live in. Salt is inexpensive in nature but without salt you cannot have food. From the pictures I see Lord Kasi Viswanathar is small in size but it attracts devotees all over the globe and it is considered one of the sacred shrines. Hence we should not judge the worth of a person by their size, This boils down to the famous tamil proverb மூர்த்தி சின்னதானாலும் கீர்த்தி பெரியது and one rupee coin is a fitting example to this proverb. 

Similarity between Cauvery water, TASMAC & H1B Visa

    I see a trend in three of these – ‘Cauvery water’, ‘TASMAC’ and ‘H1B Visa’; It may sound weird but there is a similarity with these three ongoing and never ending issues. Politics is the underlying reason for these never ending issues but end of the day it all boils down to $$$$. Rules are rewritten in the name of laws, Governments change, new regulation/act appear, New teams are formed in the name of committee, Court comes up with a decision but still nothing changes and problem remain the same and more importantly people are made scapegoats. Let me go one by one. 

Cauvery Issue 

Right from my childwood I see this issue coming up, Karnataka and Tamil nadu governments fight over water and when one demands, a series of events happen like Transportation is halted between two states, tension arises as naysayers target tamil people in Karnataka, Tamil movie screening is stopped in Bangalore, Rajini is questioned to raise voice, Tomato prices go up in TN as Bangalore Thakali no longer comes to TN, Centre is pressurized to show support and Central government forms a High profile committee to work on the issue and then slowly news loses its steam before it becomes flash news once again in few months.  

   Since Cauvery water is a high profile issue it becomes a major topic for governments during campaigning and every party promises to find a solution in their election manifesto. Kauvery is basically a perennial river that originates in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and finally merges in Bay of Bengal. Tamil Nadu depends on the water for its Agriculture and drinking needs. Key issue is unlike rivers in the North which originates through Glaciers, Kauvery is a monsoon fed river line. Therefore poor monsoon forces Karnataka government to release less water which in turn affects Agriculture badly in Tamil Nadu. Karnataka also says since River originates in its territory it is entitled to use the way as it wishes and state also argued that it is not bound by any agreements signed during the British era thereby immensely affecting Tamil Nadu which relies quite a bit on ‘Agricultural economy’. Bangalore’s Global status and its influence to attract global investors and city’s glorious run during SM Krishna tenure as silicon valley of India and phenomenal rise and expansion of real estate markets made its argument very clear on why they don’t want to release more water to TN. Water dispute tribunal was setup to address this issue and requested Karnataka to release a set amount of water every year but Karnataka couldn’t release it over the years citing poor rainfall and also its demand of water for Drinking needs. After lots of back and forth cat and mouse game Supreme Court finally made its verdict saying Karnataka will release 14.75 TMC lesser water to Tamil Nadu making the equation 177.25 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu.  Now I believe Tamilnadu Government through various measures has brought enough water to TN but whether we have arrived at a permanent solution still remain a question mark. 

Politics 

Elections play a major role in how things unfold – Tamil Nadu election, Karnataka election and Central government formation and timing of these elections influence the final output. It is tough nut to crack for either BJP or Congress on its own to get into Tamil Nadu and hence they have to tie up with DMK or ADMK in order to make their presence felt in the state. Since BJP and Congress cannot make inroads in Tamil nadu it is advantage Karnataka and centre inclines towards local government in Karnataka if they favor the centre. End of the day politics, power and money has the final say and poor farmers just keep protesting with no fruitful result.  

TASMAC 

TASMAC stands for Tamil nadu State marketing Corporation Limited is a wholly owned by government of Tamil nadu and is a company incorporated by Companies act. TASMAC takes over the wholesale and retail vending of alcoholic beverages in the state and also controls the Indian made Foreign Liquor trade in the state. Turnover in 1983 (the year it was incorportated) was 183 crore rupees – Yes you read that right ‘183 crores in 1983’ and has an annual revenue of growth of around 20% every year. Though it may not be morally right to take TASMAC as an example to understand operations but still if you want to understand how to efficiently run a Supply chain then TASMAC may be a good one to do a case study. It procures stock from 11 manufacturers in the state (Distilleries) and has 7 breweries on top of that for Beers. There are 43 depots spread across the state and they in turn distribute to the local stores. Apart from the huge revenue from Taxes, organization also collects money through licenses to run bars in its retail outlets. There is also huge increase as far as consumption of alcohol and for poor person who is tired physically after an intense day at work, 250 ml of alcohol at an affordable place through a TASMAC store sounds too good a deal. Since poor cannot afford to visit bars the bitter truth is liquor is an inexpensive way to spend his hard earned money. The worst part is TASMAC stores location are all over the city and sets a bad example for kids especially during festive times like Diwali, New year etc., It is even more bad for ladies living in and around the store and feel very sorry for them. DMK criticizes ADMK regarding TASMAC and vice versa but the ugly truth is any party who is ruling enjoys so much of money (I would say money earned effortlessly) through TASMAC. According to me TASMAC is here to say and will continue its glorious run in the state. 

H1B Visa 

People may say whatever about USA but the crowd that stands in US consulate, Chennai always paints a colorful picture when you look from Gemini flyover. For those of you who doesn't have any clue what does H1B visa mean - it is a very common work visa for Non-immigrants and gateway between student visa (F1) and becoming a permanent Resident in USA. Immigration is always a huge topic for Republicans and Democrats since there is so much at stake for both the parties. 

Now let me go over the amount of money involved for a Non immigrant from the time he/she land in US and become a Green card Holder - on an average it takes 10 years with so many factors to consider before one can become a Green card holder. I am going to skip amount of money needed for education since money put on education goes to University. After one finishes studies one has to apply for OPT (Optional practical training) which involves few hundred dollars. Then one has to renew which again involves $$$, then one switch to a company where they sponsor H1B visa which easily costs around 4-6k $$$ from start to finish including attorney fees; People may get 1/2/3 years and there is renewal charges too; On an average people work 4 years in a company and when one switches from one company to another company there is again 4-6 K involved. Since people are Non-immigrants they may be forced to travel home country once in 1-2 years and people pay Visa stamping charges (around 13000 INR for one individual). Now to further add up the numbers when people get married spouses become dependent and come under dependent visa (H4 visa); At some point individual has to start Green card filing which involves as many as 3 stages and it roughly costs 15000 USD for a couple for filing which includes employee as well as employer expenses. With Visa renewal, Green card filling, H1 transfer filing, EAD renewal, Dependent(s), filing, Stamping charges it easily comes around 40000 to 60000 USD per family to get their Green card. Every year there are around 80000 to 85000 H1B visa gets filled up. On top of this there is still L1 visa, B1/B2 visa , Investor visa etc., With the growing number of people who want to migrate to US it just sets the cash registers ringing big time for US government. Immigration is one area where USA make quite a lot of money. 

Indians are so calculative that they avail the 2$ coupon they received through mail to buy Kellogg's corn flakes in Costco for the next 4 months. When people are so particular about 2$ but still end up spending 40-60 grant (may not be entirely from their pocket since it involved employer expenses too) then that talks about how much people make. People see immigration expense just as an investment since they believe they can easily make up the money spent on Immigration. 

Now do you see a trend with these three :

[1] Cauvery water is in demand and issue is politicized and fetches government Power and money

[2] TASMAC outlets are in demand and acts as a huge revenue generation for Government 

[3] H1B visa is one of the most sought after visa and since government realizes this they make use of the program to extract funds from Non immigrants 

So whether it is BJP/Congress or DMK/ADMK or Republicans/Democrats once there is a demand from public then governments will just continue to make money at the same time continue to make false promises to public saying problem will be fixed.