Wanted Candidate #16: Smart, genial young person willing to take harsh criticism and mental torture with a Smile.
Wanted Candidate #43: Intelligent MBA with multiple skills. Should have the ability to fax, e-mail, staple, Xerox and make a good cup of coffee.
Wanted Candidate #54: Young and friendless man with no life, willing to spend all weekends and holidays at work.
Wanted Candidate #35: Executive Assistant from a rich family who wants to work for experience and not money.
Wanted Candidate #76: An optimist who always looks at the bright side of getting a 5% increment.
Wanted Candidate #24: Mr. Trustworthy, who can always be relied upon to hear other colleagues’ grievances and report them straight to the boss.
Wanted Candidate #19: Professional with excellent communication skills. Should be able to say just the right things to please the management.
Wanted Candidate #32: Eager professional more than ready to take on extra workload including the boss’.
Wanted Candidate #63: Young, English speaking executive with a talent of looking interested when faced with hours and hours of lecture.
Wanted Candidate #22: A problem solver. Who can efficiently clean up the mess his boss might land himself into.
Wanted Candidate #85: Ph.D. with a giving personality when it comes to passing on the credit to the boss.
I went to Necklace road for dinner with friends on Saturday. The newly laid road looked so nice. There were no potholes, the lanes were painted, and driving on the road was a pleasure. I thought this must be some new technology, as this road looks really good. This thought (new road laying technology) was on my mind, as I went walking in to the restaurant.
It was only much later on the walk back to the parking lot after dinner that it struck me. It has been so long since the roads were good in Hyderabad that I had become unfamiliar with good roads. So unfamiliar and not used to it – that I think of new technology for something as mundane as tarred roads! Probably will help you understand the degree of change in the public infrastructure in the past few years.
Four years back, I had gone to Bangalore seen the public infrastructure and could not help but feel proud – Hyderabad was different. The roads in Hyderabad then were good, things got done (workers swept from mid night to early hours of the day and still do even today) Very unlike Bangalore.
Back then, my friend worked in an MNC in Bangalore, the building was good. However, the road outside was not paved. I incessantly teased him about it. In order to get to Whitefield, you had to get over a bridge that had only 2 lanes (for both sides of traffic). They said there is a plan to expand the road. However, the land belongs to the Indian Railways and it has been delayed for the past 5 years. I remember telling a hundred people after my visit from Bangalore, how proud I was to be from Hyderabad. Things get done here, this is the best city to live in India.
However, things are different now. It is a pale shadow of its past. Infrastructure has crumbled, legislations help special interests instead of everyone, corruption has increased, administration efficiency has decreased. There is more show and less substance. Smartness on big picture is replaced with Cleverness on small things. Greed dominates, professionalism and work ethic have taken several steps back. The trajectory of the developments is not even flat – it is downwards!
Engineering Degree Holders Everywhere, But Very Few Are Capable And Employable!
Imagine being marooned on a boat at sea without fresh water, there is ‘water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink’. Similarly, the mushrooming of ‘education industry’ is turning out lot of degree holders but very few are employable.
Colleges offering professional degrees have grown like weeds. The weeds grow quickly and add to the greenery. They look good. However, just like weeds hinder the growth of crops, many of these private professional colleges have prevented a solid educational foundation for the youth of Andhra Pradesh.
Last year, about 1.8 lakh engineering and MCA students completed their education. Not even a small fraction of them have got jobs. The job market is so disappointing that many students just stopped looking for jobs. Fresh graduates no longer enroll for computer courses to enable them to get jobs. Computer training institutes are not seeing enough people enroll.
When someone does an engineering or MCA it is a one-way route. You cannot really get out of that field into another field. Honestly, how many pharmaceutical companies will hire a BTech Civil Engineer as pharma salesperson. Or how many retail companies will hire BE (Computers) as Customer Service officer. However, if the same person had done a BA or BCom they would not have an issue with either a pharma sales job or the retail customer service job. A couple of years later, they can always do an MBA or MCA and change their careers and be a productive and responsible members of the society.
Over the past decade, with the increase of engineering seats from 4,000 to about 2 lakhs - every Yelliah, Mallama and Ramulu can get a seat in Engineering. The student and family feels great - like they did for those who graduated last year. I am doing Engineering or my son will be an Engineer. A parent might have thought – my son’s life will be ‘settled’. Well that was till last year!
The quality of education and the talent levels of those admitted are so low for 98% of all these engineering students that they may be condemned to a life of misery. Their career prospects or chance of a well paying professional job no better than someone who does an Unani or Ayurveda Medicine degree from some unrecognized institute.
The Satyam saga may ultimately affect a few thousands familites– that too only temporarily! However, the epedemic growth of higher education colleges has destroyed or will destroy the future of lakhs of lower and middle-income families. There are so many of them who have taken loans, sold possessions and made many sacrifices in the hope that their kids will be well settled.
Today, their kids employability is a question mark. However, in order to get those degrees they borrowed lakhs of rupees. The chance of the kids repaying the loans with a well paying job are not very promising. Not for this year, but for a long time into the future.
With lakhs of low quality students being admitted into professional courses – there is a possibility that the current education policy has destroyed the future of an entire generation who may have been better of doing ITI / Polytechnic diplomas or a regular BA, BSc, BCom degree. Such degrees might have helped them find a honest and stable technician or service jobs that would have been better matched to their abilities.
The only good thing about the current recession is that it may compell many parents to really think hard before admitting their ‘not so smart kid’ into a low quality college offering professional degree. A degree from such a college has little value in the job market. Even NASSCOM publicly admits that only 25% of the engineering graduates are employable! That was a few years ago, before the vast increase in new professional engineering colleges.
Ego helps some champions to achieve more, to set higher standards - they do not settle for anything less than excellence. However, in case of Big B – it is a constant craving for privileges, entitlements and attention. And a nasty habit of belittling others achievements.
Big B declined Bill Clinton’s invitation to join the Clinton Global Initiative(CGI). No issue with that, he could have said a "No, thank you" privately. But not Mr. Big B who derided the invitation publicly and said why should “I sing and dance…” or “travel to a foreign land to lend cause to a foreign initiative, patronized and guided by a foreigner, for his benefit.”
For God’s sake the Clinton Global Initiative does projects in 150 countries. A Foreign company called Dow Chemicals has committed to Rs.140 crores to help create community water systems in India to help provide safe drinking water for 1.1 crore people in rural India. The Clinton Global Initiative is about creating projects of your own choosings in your own neighborhood to suit your strengths and capabilities.
Well what can you expect from Big B. Maybe because it is required to make Commitments to Action in the Clinton Global Initiative– concrete, measurable steps towards improving lives. Otherwise, they are not invited again! Well that is maybe what scared our Big B. He could not just do some ‘dancing and singing’ and get away. He needed to do something meaningful. If Big B really cared for Mumbai and terrorism - he could have made a commitment to do something about it and make an impact. Instead he made a very careless comment and sought to indulge the auto / taxi wallahs of Lucknow and many star struck housewives looking for ways to idle away their time.
Recently, he said something stupid about ‘Slumdog millionaire’ a couple of days after it got the Golden Globe Awards.
Big B cannot think beyond his village pond, even if we put him in the Indian ocean. I know ten times more desi fans of Jackie Chan in Hyderabad, than all the ‘white’ fans of Big B in even a large city like New York.
I have seen people say some Indian actresses look ‘Hot’. But never met anyone who said he watches Indian films. I have seen movie theatres flocked with thousands of Indians for a hit Indian movie. But never saw one white family or a even a group of ‘two’ white people (on their own – not tagging along with an Indian group) come to watch a popular Bollywood movies.
They have mentioned seeing a Indian movie song and surprised by the colors of the dresses or the raunchyness / craziness of the dances. But never seen anyone who said, I like Indian movies and cannot live without seeing one every other month. Or have any white person ask me ”Hey, any good Indian movies you would recommend?”
The situation is entire different with Indian food. Every part of USA has Indian restaurants. And many white people geniunely relish Indian food. They are clear what they want to order and why they like a ‘Chicken Tikka masala’ or ‘Naan’. In a business meeting, I once came across someone who was crazy about Muligatawny soup and was surprised that I did not know what it was though I had lived in South India. Turned out later that the ‘Muligatawny soup’ was a fancy name for ‘Sambar’ (yes, of Idli Sambar fame!!)
So wake up Mr. Big B. Just understand that appealing to every low class Bihari, UP, Rajasthani and Haryanvi is one thing. It is another thing to appeal to an international audience. I know your ego hurts after all the ego massaging you get from million and millions of low IQ fans of yours. I don’t think people who are more refined and more intelligent will be as blatant with their adulation for you.
Yes, you are the North Indian Champion. Not even a National Champion. Not sure how many villagers in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu will know you. And be humble and realize that there are some Olympic champions.
In a previous post, I had mentioned that "big name" realty companies are fringe players.
Realty is a fragmented market. That means there are several thousands of companies that serve the demand in the industry. No player has a market share that is considered significant as compared to the overall size of the market. This is how the real estate market was in India and will remain as such. So stop chasing the "big name" realty firms – they are good with propaganda and want to make you believe these dozen companies construct every single home or every single good home in India. There could be nothing farther than the truth!
Realty is also a local market. The price of housing and the demand supply are mostly determined at a local level. Though macro factors affect the pricing, it doesn't affect each real estate market uniformly. The state of the industry supporting the employment of the local population has a big impact on the pricing on that city or neighborhood. If there are very few developments in a neighborhood, then due to the supply bottlenecks, the pricing of the existing homes in that neighborhood may be high. Similarly, an oversupply of homes in a neighborhood causes a price reduction (as seen today in Nizampet opp. JNTU Kukatpally).
The "big name" realty firms use their almost total control of media and public relationships to create negative impressions about small firms – quality of construction is not good, they will not be able to survive, quality of material is suspect etc. However, the truth is that housing will be fragmented. There will be good, average and bad realty firms. This will be irrespective of the size of the firm.
A home is a big ticket purchase – you need to assess a property properly and make the right choices. You are not buying a cup of tea for Rs.5/- that you can shrug off and walk away in case you don’t like it how it tastes. You will have to live in that home for a long time and possibly an entire lifetime. A good choice will mostly likely take a lot of hardwork, patience and analysis. So be prepared for it! Having the right frame of mind and expectation wins half the battle!
As outlined beautifully in the book ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, a good businessman needs good advisors. One of them will be a good, professionally certified accountant. When someone is starting a business, you will most likely not need a full time accountant. Also not sure if a good accountant, well versed in the skills and practices would join a new business. So most likely you will lean on finding a professional accountant. Most of them have an advanced professional degree.
A degree, however, does not mean that person is competent. Accounting, first and foremost, needs an attitude. If the person is not good with organizing systems definition and compliance, he, in my opinion, cannot be a good accountant. The person should also endeavor to do accounts to ensure the fall benefits from tax and statutory authorities that are available within law.
An accountant for a startup can play a key role in ensuring compliance with financial laws. In this role, he can advise the client on implications. By ensuring proper filing of forms, adequate record keeping and storing of transactions, they play a key role in helping the owners focus on the business, i.e. find and keep customers.
Well kept records and financials help the business person from getting overly involved in the highly time consuming accounting process. Also, various statutory organizations require reports, data and impose submission of forms. A good accountant can help take this load of the business man. This may look trivial, but bear in mind that the first year or two in business means a lot of work and sleep deprivation. Studies have shown that the setup years of a new business is equal to having new born child in the family.
By now you know how accountants can help take the routine but important activities of your plate. However, finding a good accountant is not easy. The following will help you -
Most good accountants have modest but well maintained offices. They are not shabby and they are not fancy. They have staff that is disciplined and follow procedures. Good accountants are well organized and will understand the value of your time and handle things quickly and efficiently.
I was motivated to write this note after seeing a very unpleasant experience faced by a close friend while dealing with an unprofessional chartered accountant in India. That experience motivated me to write this article. Hope you find this useful and you have good luck in finding an accountant who lets you focus on building your business.
Want to develop a spondilitis condition?
Then drive through this stretch - JNTU to Chandanagar on the Mumbai National Highway. It is not a road, it is a test track build for thoroughly evaluating the Land Rover All terrain and Multi Purpose vehicles before a crazy African Jungle expedition.
Overall, the quality of roads in Hyderabad has deteriorated very badly. In my opinion, from around early 90’s to a few years back Hyderabad had the best roads for a city in India. Now it is going back to the horrible 80’s. Though I was a small kid I could not help but notice that every time Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi visited Hyderabad, the roads they traveled on would be recarpeted (even if it was the third time that year). While the rest of the roads continued to be neglected and badly potholed.
In the last 3-4 months, some roads are being re-laid (maybe because the elections are getting closer). However, this is very adhoc and not need based. Roads in Hyderabad seem to be classified into 2 kinds - VIP roads for the 'masters' and I guess the rest are for the ‘slaves’. The slaves have to travel on the badly potholed roads for committing the crime of paying taxes to fill in the coffers of the government run by the VIPs.
This can be best seen in Panjagutta. The road from Begumpet to Road No. 1 and 3 Banjara Hills is well carpetted. The Raj Bhavan road is also very good. However, Panjagutta to Saradhi Studios is badly potholed. I have been watching the steady deterioration of this road for the past 2 years.
The “prized jewel” (worst patch of road) of GHMC is a small stretch of road underneath the flyover at Panjagutta X Roads. Since the Kukatpally- Dilsuknagar is the lifeline road of the city through which about 10 lakh people travel everyday. There must be some very “intelligent” reason known only to the city administrators for not properly maintaining this road (a full six months after the flyover is completed).
If this trend continues it will not be surprise if it takes 4 hours to travel from Panjagutta to Shamshabad airport. As I painfully went through 2 kms of obstacle race on the JNTU to Chandanagar road, I could not help but thinking. GHMC is not able to maintain the current roads in the city. How will they manage once the city fully expands into Greater Hyderabad! Think about that!
