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Friday, September 3, 2010

Are CEOs of Private Sector Companies as Precious as They Are Made Out to be?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/ or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/. To procure the printed bound book containing these sensitive stories, write to: prodcons@prodcons.com)

CEOs of Private Sector Companies Alone Don't Achieve; So There Is No Need to Pay Them Obnoxiously and Obscenely High Salaries

It is beyond comprehension why CEOs of private sector companies should draw terribly and vulgarly high salaries not only as compared to other employees of these organizations at different levels but also as compared to the very next level of executives who also take up lots of responsibilities and contribute towards the success of that organization.

Many organizations in public or government sectors and NGOs do pretty decently despite the fact that the chairmen and CEOs of public sector profit making huge conglomerates, CEOs of the states, judges, governmental bureaucrats etc get paid just about marginally more than the other senior employees or even the other employees. Then, what is so great about the CEOs of private sector organizations?

And it is not that after paying astronomically high salaries, all the CEOs run their companies effectively or ethically. Many of them still remain as corrupt and greedy as they could be despite getting large sums of legitimate money.

It is high time that the shareholders of the private sector companies should wake up and start exercising more control over the board of directors of their companies in order to regulate the emoluments of the CEO they appoint.

Read our new blog feature: Do This Today

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Is This the Right Way for the Banks to Make Money?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/ or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

Banks Should Provide Information to Clients

When you open an account (whichever type) in the bank, you are advised to maintain a minimum balance amount in that particular account.

Over a period of time, two things happen. First the bank changes the minimum balance amount to a higher level and does not inform you about it.

Secondly, your actual balance may fall below the prescribed minimum balance and the bank does not inform about it to you.

And in both the cases without informing you and without your knowledge, the bank debits a fat penalty amount from your existing balance every quarter and your money starts getting depleted and many times you do not even know about it.

When you notice such a leak in your account and meet the bank manager, he or she shows you the rule book and fixes the entire responsibility on you. You are the client or customer and because of you and your money the bank runs its business and despite it, you get such a rude and rough treatment from banks. When you request them to waive off the penalty, he/she raise hands in helplessness. You may argue that you have other accounts in the same bank and you have fixed deposits in the same bank and together your money with the bank is at far higher level than the prescribed bank balance for a specific account. Yet, the bank does not help in many cases for reversals of the debits already made.

Banks make money for doing nothing- for doing no work. Is it on? Definitely not. They should inform their clients on both the types of changes that impact the accounts of it's clients well in time.

Read our new blog feature: Do This Today

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Leaders of the World, What Are You Managing if You Could Not Manage Your Spouse?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/ or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

Perhaps, They Are Not Worthy Human Beings After All

Generally, people marry after considerable thinking. They think lots about the person they decide to marry. They meet the possible marriageable candidates pretty frequently, they date a lot, try to know the would be spouse inside out. So, in short, they marry with open eyes with a person who fits into their scheme of things. At the time of marriage, the selection of the candidate seems perfect.

And, perhaps, the wiser people of the world must be doing it much better; after all are they not wiser? That's why they become and get publicized as very successful, popular, well known, celebrities and great as far as the public domain is concerned (what they do to or with their spouse, we do not know as yet since that is not known and does not get publicized).

These great people get applauded in public, their photographs flash on the TV screens and news papers day in and day out as they are the leaders in science, technology, medicine, politics, films and sports etc. They are painted as icons. Many of them get crowned with the most prestigious rewards and titles. In short, the public is made to believe that they are the people who know how to lead and how to manage effectively and efficiently.

And then, many of them fail miserably in leading and managing their own spouse and marriage back at their homes. They end up in nasty divorce(s). While on one hand they are painted as leading and managing the masses in science, technology, medicine, politics, films and sports etc, the truth of life is that many of them could not even manage and lead one single individual- their spouse and a single event- their marriage. What a contradiction?

The facts will tell you that many of them have divorced their spouses of very long years of association and togetherness in marriage. Many of them have divorced even their those devoted spouses who served and loved them in their serious sicknesses. Many of these people have produced children who they know would feel traumatized by their separation and divorce. Do all of these considerations not affect them when they can not lead and manage their own married life?

These facts offer a vast field of research in human behavior, psychology, management and leadership.

However, one thing is pretty conclusive- perhaps they are not worthy human beings after all despite all the hoopla created around them by the interested parties.

Read our new feature at: (Do This Today) http://do-this-today.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 28, 2010

Is Our System of Justice Really Just?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/ or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

The Bhopal Tragedy Makes Us Think and Act on This issue

The way the worst industrial disaster at Bhopal, India created by the irresponsible managers of Union Carbide of the world was handled shows the worst face of all of those who were connected with it inside the company and outside the company.

In a way it amounted to deliberate attempt to kill more than 25000 people and making millions of people disabled in various degrees for generations. It was deliberate because every manager who was responsible for upkeep of the plant knew about the dangerous most outcome in case of an accident in the defective plant. So it was like committing calculated murder of such a huge number of people.

This act cannot be equated to carelessness or a small crime for which the commensurate penalty in justice is pittance, normally.

It's time to revise the concept of what is a big crime and what should be commensurate sentence for committing it. The existing thinking on it is absolutely wrong and obsolete.

The bigness of an act of crime should be decided based on the end results of committing that crime. And the justice will lie in deciding the sentence commensurate with the heinousness or monstrosity of that crime.

It's high time to think and act quickly.

Read our new feature at: (Do This Today) http://do-this-today.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 7, 2010

Do We Really Elect the Right People in Democracy?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

Money Backed Election Model is the Culprit in Corrupt Democracy

If democracy is the government of people, by people and for people, then I wonder if it is happening in any democracy any where in the world.

Elections are being fought by the political parties and its people on the basis of massive money pools created by the smart alecks- huge sums of the money largely extracted from the obscenely rich corporate bodies and such others. And obviously they throw this money at the prospective politician as their smart investments with the assurance of highest possible returns on these investments.

Then, elections are fought using such unimaginably large sums of money by the people who can afford to do so. What happens to those other more deserving candidates with no money of their own or with no dirty skills of squandering the money of others? The electorate is totally deprived of these better candidates and democracy suffers hugely.

When the contesting candidates get elected by using the money provided by the corporations and other rich bodies, they work only in favor of the corporations and the rich people and totally neglect rest of the people of the country.

Therefore, remove the money from the election scenarios. The elections should be fought without money. I suggest a following model:

  1. Any citizen of the country should be eligible to contest democratic elections. Some minimum and maximum age and educational qualification should be imposed.
  2. The candidate offering himself/herself to get elected must not have any criminal record or he/she should not have any criminal proceeding going on against him/her at the time of going through the election process.
  3. Every candidate will have to submit a detailed bio-data with their photographs to the body that organizes and administers the entire election process.
  4. This body will publish the bio-data of the candidates at governmental expenditure in the media. This will account for only marginal additional expenditure on government's total election budget.
  5. The candidates will not canvass. Their bio-data are available with the public now.
  6. The voters will be able to see and study these detailed bio-data of the candidates contesting the election and they will decide whom to vote based on their merits.
  7. The voters will vote on the appointed day.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Does Knowledge Brilliance Has Any Correlation with Achieving Power, Money and Fame?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

Correlation between Knowledge Brilliance and Achieving Power, Money and Fame Hardly Exists

The comments here are based on just about general observations; it does not have any statistically correct research base. So, take them with a pinch of salt. But frankly what is written here is vastly true.

The observations pertain mainly to the developing countries who have yet to mature a lot in terms of professionalism, meritocracy and discipline.

In such countries success of people in terms of gaining power, money and fame is inversely proportional to the knowledge brilliance one achieves through school and college education and self study. Read on further to understand this phenomenon.

Many of the first few top rankers in the schools, colleges and universities are terrifically brilliant. They really are terrific brains though branded as nerds and also geeks. They try to achieve excellence in their knowledge and come out with flying colors in the screening examinations used for admissions in the reputed engineering and medical colleges. Those streams of engineering and medicine are invariably the first choice or preference of these fundamentally brilliant few (They are the real backbone of progress in developed or advanced countries, though not necessarily in the developing nations). We will call them Type 1.

The ones who cannot achieve such academic excellence and have not developed their cerebral powers to that extent settle for other courses; courses other than engineering and medicine. We will call them Type 2.

Many of the students drop out even before reaching this stage. They are pretty duffers as far as the learning in the class rooms goes but many of them are very good in sports and games like football, cricket, tennis etc. They start concentrating on playing these games. We will call them Type 3.

Then some start emerging as political leaders right during the school and college days. They get elected as general secretaries and presidents of the college unions etc. They are worldly wise, cunning, the popular types, political and slow on any kind of value structure and generally poor at academics. We will call them Type 4.

The last types are none of the above. You just do not notice them. They seem pretty insignificant- the quiet types, nothing spectacular about them in terms of getting any great grades in the examinations. Most people ignore them safely. They don't speak much but internally something definitely must be happening to them since many of them soon become escapists. Some of them, soon in their life, escape from homes under the garb of seeking solace, quiet and god. We will call them Type 5.

Now look at what happens after passage of a few years.

The Type 1 join a government sector, public sector or private sector organization as an engineer or a doctor at a comparatively junior level and need to work their way to climb a tall hierarchy before even thinking of becoming number 1 in the organization. Invariably they stop at number 2 of the organization at best if at all they climb up to that height. Number 1 position in government sector or a public sector company is invariably reserved for and occupied by a Type 2 and in private sector by the worthy or unworthy son or daughter of the promoters or owners of the company.

The Type 2 having failed to get admissions in good engineering or medical colleges try their hand at some other degrees etc and after graduation keep on attempting their luck in various civil services examinations conducted by the government. After succeeding in them in several attempts, they become the coveted bureaucrats in the government departments and ultimately become the bosses of Type 1. Type 2 thus have more power, more money than Type 1.

Type 3 keep on working out their energies on playing a game of cricket or football or tennis etc, particularly the money and fame making games. Some become very successful and become the national and international icons and bathe in unlimited money and fame. They also earn huge sums of money from the advertisers. They become the so called celebrities. The media pampers them lots and lots since they increase the money earning capacity of the media.

Type 4 join an important political party or start their own party. They contest the political and so called democratic elections, win and soon become a minister. The bureaucrats (the Type 2) report to them. Thus Type 4 become the bosses of Type 2 and Type 1. They wield tremendous power everywhere. They also become the so called celebrities. The media covers and dishes out all of their activities day in and day out. They have power and fame and they can make unimaginably high amount of money by several means.

Type 5 remain unknown and in oblivion for quite some time. And one fine day they emerge from somewhere and somehow as the god men. They start gaining popularity and soon they have millions of disciples. In fan following they beat them all; they beat all the other Types, from Type 1 to Type 4. They are showered tons of money by people and institutions of all sorts which is tax free. They exercise tremendous power and the media is also in their pocket. They become a very high order so called celebrity.

So, here ends the case of inversion.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Should the Child Labor Continue the Way It is Now?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

Ban the Child Labor Totally

As per numerous studies carried out by numerous agencies and people, millions of children (at least one child in 6 children) all over the world are engaged as child labor.

The children so engaged in work are exposed to health risks (including mental and emotional) or physical injury and cannot attend schools.

They are caught in various forms of labor in various workplaces of various industries and businesses like diamonds, chocolate, mining, fire crackers, hotels and restaurants, cinema and TV shows (as child artists or in reality shows), rag picking, and also in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities. The list is long.

They are being employed by the promoters of the companies, industrialists, businessmen, professional managers, anti social and criminal elements of the human society etc. In short, good, bad and ugly- all kinds of people employ them and exploit them. It's shame that even the so called good people
at all levels do it. It is real shame.

It is essential that the child labor should be banned totally. The culprits should be penalized so heavily that they should never be able to repeat that mistake.

If children are the future of the nations and this planet earth, then bring them up with lots of care- not by making them child labor.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

What to Do With Corporations Who Pollute Environment?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

Punish the Culprits So Severely that They Will Start Behaving or Stop Existing

The biggest culprits of all who pollute the environment in every thinkable and unthinkable way are today's industries and their bosses in the cooperate sector. They spoil the oceans and seas with oil spillages, rivers and sky with hazardous chemicals and with tons of such criminal activities. They undo everything that the nature took millions of years to build. And they do it all free of cost, they pay nothing to anyone for what they draw from the nature- it's day light robbery that no one takes cognizance of.

So we asked several groups of people to recommend the punishment to such criminal organizations and its people at the helm of their affairs and we got following responses which are being reproduced unedited:
  • Close such industries/companies.
  • If the law does not do it, the public should compel the culprit corporations to close down.
  • Punish the bosses of these erring corporations severely like life time imprisonment etc.
  • Ask them to make up for the loss of environment for which they are responsible.
  • Ask them to clean up the mess they have created.
  • Ask these companies to pay money to the public (as developmental funds with the government) for every thing these companies draw from the environment for their use.
  • Enforce very strict scrutiny (from environmental point of view) before allowing the industries to start operating.
  • Parade the top bosses in front of the people (the public) and ask them to apologise. Also ask them to repeat five times in front of the people that they would never ever commit such grave mischief.
  • Take a procession of these erring corporate bosses by seating them on the donkeys through the lanes and bye-lanes of the areas polluted by them.
  • Ask these companies to pay compensation to everyone who has been wrongly affected by their offenses of polluting the environment.
(If you have any more ideas, please put them in the comments).

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Can Human Beings Manage the Nature?

(Read the inside stories of the corporate sector in the form of short management case studies at: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com or http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/ or http://corporate-case-studies.blogspot.com/)

Human Being are Insignificant when Compared with the Nature

From time immemorial- perhaps for millions of years, human beings have been facing the onslaughts of the nature in the form of earth quakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, droughts, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes/twisters/whirlwinds, floods etc.

Even today, when human beings have started boasting of their several achievements, they are totally impotent and insignificant when facing the nature. Call all the Nobel prize winner scientists/authors/peace makers etc, all the top notch engineers, doctors, lawyers, economists and financial experts, the top hundred richest persons of the earth, the top most industrialists and businessmen, the top 500 companies (as decided by the Fortunes or the Forbes etc), all the presidents and prime ministers of all the countries, the popes, the shankaracharyas, the gurus, the mullahs, the imams, the dalai lamas etc of the world and pool them all together and ask them to save the humanity from the onslaughts of the nature's punishing activities listed earlier. We know the results well before even attempting to do so. They are incapable of controlling or managing the nature.

All of them have proved to be inconsequential and trivial entities when the world suffered from these earth quakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions etc recently or in the past. The same will be true for the future.

Let us accept that human beings are just about minor most players in the nature's vast game.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Who are Worse of the Two?


Both Kill in Millions

In every country and across the world everyone is aware of one type of people easily. These people create terror among the ordinary and innocent citizens of the countries and the world. They kill them by many means that are well known by now and they keep inventing new tricks by the day. Why they do so, it is still bit confusing. I wonder and doubt if they have to settle scores with the ordinary and innocent people- perhaps it may not be their objective. Perhaps their grouse may be against the people in power who they perceive as wrong doers or whatsoever. It will be wiser to deal with them directly and perhaps a few problems might start getting solved which they bother about.

In every country and across the world, there are second types of people as well who are not easily considered as killers of the people. But they do exactly that, day in and day out, pretty easily without creating any uproar. So no one easily notices them. Who are these people? These are the people who work in every organization including the government and also independently: they pollute environment, they produce spurious medicines, they provide dirty drinking water, they adulterate food, they facilitate creation of unemployment and force people to go hungry and shelter less and they do much more such harmful things- the list is endless. The people who adversely get affected and subsequently die either immediately or over a period of time by these acts are countless, perhaps more than the people who get killed by the acts of terror.

Both types of people kill people- both kill in abundance.

Who is worse of the two types?

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Can You Define Yor Own Religion?


Just Like Being Self-employed, You Can Have Your Own Religion as Defined by You

Refer to previous post of April 2, 2010.

A few more comments on the subject of "how sacrosanct are organized religions". It was discussed that they are as good as any other organization or corporation. As you change the organization where you worked earlier and join a new organization, everything changes for you as soon as you join a new organization. Same with organized religion. The god(s), god's representative, the commandments, rituals, rules, regulations, guide lines and current bosses (god men) are all religion specific. They are not absolutes and so not sacrosanct.

And so if you decide to be self employed and wish to be your own boss and so, you have freedom to choose another set of commandments or values and processes, similar freedom is available to you if you choose not to affiliate yourself with any particular organized religion. You can define your own sets of good values as per your studied decisions to lead your life (which is what a religion really is). The chosen values should not be harmful to anyone in the human society including yourself; rather they should be of benefit to everyone including yourself.

For example for a person who does not wish to attach himself or herself to any organized religion, he or she can be guided in his or her life by a very simple value like "Think, feel and do good to self and others". That one liner can be one's religion- religion can be that simple and yet, that much loaded.

(You may like to read "I Am Liberated" authored by the eminent Life Management and Corporate Management Guru Shyam Bhatawdekar at http://knol.google.com/k/i-am-liberated#)

Friday, April 2, 2010

Are Organized Religions Really Sacrosanct?


Everything Changes as One Converts into a New Organized Religion

In the previous post, the subject of religion and god men etc was just touched upon. Why not discuss a few more aspects of it?

In one life of a human being, he is likely to shift from one employer to other employer, migrate from one country to another country or relocate himself from one state to the other state of the same country etc. It is fairly normal.

When he changes his employer, his professional association gets cut off from his previous company and a fresh association with the new company starts. He is asked to forget the values, culture, rules and regulations and bosses of the previous employer and follow the new sets of values, culture, rules and regulations and bosses etc as prescribed by the new employer. If he has to join the new company, he better start following them.

Same thing happens when a person migrates from one state to the other state or from one country to the other country. He is asked to demonstrate his allegiance to the country or state of immigration and cut off his allegiance to the previous country or state if he wishes to become an integral part of the new country or state. He better start following all the constitutional provisions only of the new country or state.

Something similar happens for those people who convert from their existing organized religion to another organized religion. Each organized religion has its own god or gods or god's representative(s), its own sets of commandments, its own rituals, it own places of worship and its own current bosses (god men) etc. Just like when one changes his job from one organization to the other organization and he is supposed to follow everything of the new organization and forget everything of the old organization, in case of conversion from one organized religion to other organized religion, one is supposed to inherit all the new sets of things described earlier and forget the old ones.

So, is there anything sacrosanct whether it is god or gods or god's representative(s), commandments or values, rituals, guidelines, rules or regulations, places and locations of religious routines etc? Nothing seems sacrosanct.

That's why many people who get self employed and become their own bosses, they define yet new sets of values, culture, guidelines, rule and regulations for themselves.

Same way a person who does not wish to affiliate with any organized religion may define his own religion and its commandments and other things etc.

Doesn't that sound pretty logical?

Does Any Man Need to be Put on Pedestal?


God Men Are Just One More Set of People Satisfying Your Some Needs

Lately a significant number of so called god men have been suspected to have committed various crimes- many of these crimes have been categorized as abuse of children or women etc. They might be committing other crimes too which have not been discussed with the same intensity as yet. These god men affiliate themselves with various organized religions and their outfits all over the world. Many run their own privately held outfits in comparatively small ways and small sizes.

These god men deserve to be tried as seriously as any other criminals are tried in the legal courts of law and due justice be meted out to them.

Do not put any god man on the pedestal- irrespective of his or her current degree of importance or hierarchical position in his or her outfit.

All the religious outfits whether organized or privately held are just like any other professional businesses, organizations or governments. The businesses, various kinds of other organizations and governments satisfy the numerous needs of human beings. For example, we have whole lot of companies or industries producing various products and services as needed by the people, we have hospitals and doctors etc fulfilling the health care needs of people, schools, universities and teachers satisfy people's need of acquiring knowledge, cinema and its actors meet people's entertainment needs etc.

Same way, the various religious outfits whether organized or privately run, whether big or small have been created and made to flourish like any other professional organization to satisfy those specific needs that can only be satisfied by these religious setups. They too have to recruit employees and managers at different levels with different skills to run their show and to meet people's needs. However, the people who do not have the types of needs that are catered to by these religious setups and their so called god men, do not normally visit these religious outfits or confer with their employees or managers (i.e. the god men).

So treat these setups and their employees and managers just the way you treat any other organization and their people. And just the way you will find some people committing crimes in every organization or in their private positions and will subject them on the legal trials, do the same with these so called god men too. Nothing more, nothing less.

Never put anyone on the pedestal- whosoever he or she may be.

Just treat everyone as a normal person- whosoever he or she may be, whatever position he or she may hold, howsoever rich or poor he or she may be, howsoever popular he or she may be. After all everyone is made of the same flesh and blood; no one is inferior and no one is superior. Period.

When it comes to justice, everyone is on par with each other; they are all on the same level ground.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Making Mountain out of Molehill Again?


Art of Turning Insignificance into Significance

In the commentary dated March 29, 2010 on these pages, an example of "why is significance made significant" was quoted.

In continuation, the same theme was repeated in action just about a few days ago too. It has become habit of particularly those human beings who have totally lost their sensitivities. Mainly many of these are the people in politics, media, business and cinema.

In this case, another popular actor of Indian Hindi movies attended a function of total insignificance (mainly the actors are invited as crowd pullers). The function was: inauguration of part of a bridge that was already inaugurated some time ago- what was the need of inaugurating it again? (Frankly, a totally avoidable wasteful affair).

Now a huge controversy with sophisticated gimmick was designed and constructed around it as to why the said actor was invited and by whom because some other faction of the organizers of this inauguration circus were opposed to inviting him because of some cockeyed reasons. The television and news media added fuel to fire by filling up their entire 24 hours of some 3 to 4 days to entice the gullible viewers or readers (the TV and newspapers just refuse to allow any other alternatives on their offerings on such occasions or opportunities), increasing their TRP ratings and amassing huge revenues from the advertisers; advertisers in turn finding a great chance to brainwash larger audience in favor of their products to increase their earnings.

After 3 to 4 days of creating this huge business of turning insignificance into significance and looting large sums of money, the interested parties phased out the hoopla and withdrew themselves cunningly. General public was left with the illusion of being fed with some very important national philosophy of great order. And to confirm that illusion, the media was still busy organizing serious debates and discussions on this subject but only as a hangover or only as a side dish and squeezing out the remaining juice.

Tons of national and natural or environmental resources of the planet earth were wasted on this insignificance. Who is bothered in any way?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

How to Measure Popularity of So Called Leaders and Celebrities the Easy Way?


Use Shoe and Flower (Instead of Elaborate Questionnaires)

Sometime ago a news item with its audio visual became pretty popular all over the world. Someone, during a well guarded press conference, had thrown a shoe at a political leader of a big country perhaps to express his disliking of the so called leader and celebrity.

These methods of showing dislike of a person in powerful position has been employed by the general public in different parts of the world a number of times in the past too. Perhaps, instead of throwing a shoe, they might have used other substitutes like a rotten egg etc.

So the agencies conducting the opinion surveys or popularity polls can take a clue from these instances and work out an easier way to carry out such surveys.

Take a life size cutout of the person whose popularity one wishes to ascertain. Place it in front of the demographically and statistically selected respondents, give each of them a shoe and a flower and ask them to throw either the shoe or the flower at the cutout of the subject.

Count the shoes thrown at the cutout as well as the flowers thrown at the cutout. Calculate the percentages. You can then infer the popularity of the so called leader or celebrity, write a long thesis and publicize it all over the place (whatever worth the popularity polls are, any way).

Monday, March 29, 2010

Why Is Insignificance Made Significant?


Open Your Mouth with Responsibility

A few weeks ago, a popular actor of Hindi movies of India spoke something, regretting about non-selection of even a single Pakistani cricket player in the teams auctioned by a cricketing event organization of India though it's another matter that the actor had full freedom to induct Pakistani players in the team he himself owns. So, logically there was no need to open his mouth. Yet, this is an example of a compulsive talker !! But then they say everything is fair in love, war and democracy (though strictly not in the same order).

So, first the actor opened his mouth and then as a reaction, a political party opened its mouth followed by another political party etc. And then all the television channels (damn difficult to keep their count) and the entire news media opened their mouths. And all of them started speaking a lot and thereafter shouting a lot. This talking and shouting by so may mouths consumed tons of national and environmental or natural resources and tax payers' money (ultimately pocketed by these few smart businessmen- finally it's all about commerce and ruthless marketing).

This is called the art of converting insignificance into significance (and gaining lots of mileage and making easy profits).

But then this kind of indulgence is too expensive for a poor nation like India where more than 80% people live below international poverty norms.

And finally why were the multi millions of rupees (Indian currency) of tax payers' money spent in just one half day on providing a governmental security to an actor? If he is free to speak, he is free to arrange his own security too.

The corollary: the same as in the earlier blog post with this sentiment "remove the governmental security to everyone." If implemented, it might result in people opening their mouths proactively with lots of responsibility saving tons of national and natural or environmental resources of the planet earth.

Who are Responsible for These Deaths?


Remove the Security Cover of All the Politicians

Today 39 innocent people got killed in blasts at two Moscow metro stations.

This is not the first and the singular mishap. It looks like as if it is becoming a norm.

Who are responsible for such deaths?

The obvious answer will be: apparently those who planned and executed the blasts.

But on deeper thinking, you will come to the conclusion that the primary responsibility squarely falls on those people who hold now and held in the past, material political positions in numerous nations from time to time and who, by their dim witted thinking and actions, motivated by their greed and selfishness, created and spread disgruntlement and hurt in a large majority of human beings.

These people holding material power positions never get killed in such blasts because they are cozily protected by the machinery and the security which are heavily financed by the tax payers many of whom though fall victim to these blasts since they are not protected the same way.

Remove this cozy protection machinery and security given to these political people and then let us see how many people volunteer to become the so called leaders of the masses. Good people, those who are non-corrupt and so, fearless may still opt for it.

And then the same political people will start behaving with greater responsibilities and will think, communicate, negotiate and act more prudently.

The blast and killings might reduce significantly.