tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-304980792024-03-07T11:15:03.390+05:30meBecause I have a bloody opinion on everything!ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-17488071378923900302012-06-12T15:23:00.000+05:302012-06-12T15:28:32.632+05:30Connected OnBoard<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Have read it and heard it. Now I can claim to have personally tested it - On board WiFi, courtesy Emirates.<br />
<br />
Speed is good enough, charges are dear.<br />
However to start with, at USD 5 for 30 MB I think its a fair price for emergency usage.<br />
<br />
Now that we have Wifi and phones working at 35000 feet, what next?</div>ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-40146022693339654892011-04-09T12:11:00.006+05:302011-04-09T14:22:25.459+05:30Conversations with strangersWhen we were all kids, we were taught to not speak to strangers because they could be dangerous(they could have kidnapped us). We all took it so much by heart that most of us don't do it for the rest of our lives.<br /><br />I somehow find it a tad interesting talking to strangers for no specific reasons. Strangers can sometimes talk about things we otherwise do not think about or sometimes just a random conversation which can leave a good taste in your mouth or may just leave you thinking.<br /><br />Today morning I stopped at a traffic signal. Next to me stops an auto rickshaw.<br /><br />Autowala: Where is the number JK from?<br />me: Jammu and Kashmir<br />AW: Hmmm(with a broad smile, kind of astonished and a cloud popping over his head, where is J&K on the Indian map etc.)..pause<br />AW: what model is this car?<br />me: 88 model<br />AW: hmmm(even more astonished. Another cloud above his head - thinking what was his age when it was 1988), very good car..always keep it..<br />me: thanks..<br /><br />He and I both left smiling.<br /><br />Not all strange conversations can be short and sweet. But, I guess to have a few we need to try more often.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-55532216816178098182011-04-05T16:06:00.003+05:302011-04-05T17:02:46.322+05:307032When was the last time you set a goal for yourself, chased it hard and had the pleasure of achieving it. It was great to Sachin Tendulkar in that state on Saturday night - it took him 22 years to achieve his life's goal of winning CWC.<br /><br />I have been trying to setup a goal for my self for the last few quarters and at the end of every quarter it remains untouched, not started.<br /><br />This time I thought to pen it down here to see if I can come back 3 months later and hopefully see the goal achieved.<br /><br />Code named 7032. This would be a big and tough goal to achieve in 3 months. However, the tougher the goal is the more is the joy of achieving it.<br /><br />So let's see..ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-46786093662817410862011-03-16T12:11:00.002+05:302011-03-16T12:15:50.461+05:30Customer serviceLast week while flying Delhi-Jammu, I bought a toy for my niece on the airport and gave it to her. However, policeman stopped my brother on the boarding gate as the toy did not have a tag. I had already thrown the bill by then. Helpless i just took over the toy back to put in my bag as I was flying next flight.<br /><br />One of the Indigo ground staff on the boarding gate noticing this, assured us to carry on to the shuttle bus and mentioned it will take him just one minute. Thereafter he took the toy, ran back to the scanning machine, got a tag, got it scanned, got it stamped and got the toy back for the baby before the bus left from the boarding gate. Now that's a lot of effort for good customer care and is worthy of appreciation.<br /><br />Who says, there is not much budget airlines can do to differentiate!ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-79572664975345227172011-02-26T09:34:00.005+05:302011-02-26T10:15:20.946+05:30Airtel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-f53rI4-WeC264WzocdsArjcJrrubTCg-zk1x1e4W4uoubzHjQfxRmWDICwcDfVKxjedTZaU3_KjyTn-ECSeDf2GcKv1DBEDUS7yzdN_NeGpybBhbOK98hGI4C_COJGyk7_b/s1600/Airtel_logo.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-f53rI4-WeC264WzocdsArjcJrrubTCg-zk1x1e4W4uoubzHjQfxRmWDICwcDfVKxjedTZaU3_KjyTn-ECSeDf2GcKv1DBEDUS7yzdN_NeGpybBhbOK98hGI4C_COJGyk7_b/s200/Airtel_logo.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577844992111303250" /></a><br />There were a couple of different names I was thinking for this post but either they would have been too long or only touching upon one of the aspects of change in airtel. So I stuck to what is this post all about.<br /><br />A few months ago, when airtel changed it's logo I made a very foolish argument. My argument was - the logo lacks any creativity. It is almost like an inverse image of the Vodafone logo and this when Vodafone is airtel's biggest competitor at it's home ground - India.<br /><br />This according to me was a loss of vision and differentiation and reduced focus due to it's immediate and major focus on Africa and widening the foot print. <br /><br />Honestly, I knew my arguments were good fun for a water cooler discussion and did not make any real business sense to begin with.<br /><br />With so many veterans and top managers at work from airtel and agencies this wasn't a school project. It was part of a Rs 300 crore marketing campaign airtel was to take on for its expansion to Africa and 3G roll out.<br /><br />However, looks like the worsened logo and theme tune were signs of what was to come from airtel in future. How airtel has changed in last few months in it's network, service and marketing quality now makes me think - may be I said something right while I was giving <span style="font-style:italic;">gyan</span>.<br /><br />In the last few days some things that happened which make airtel look weaker than ever before.<br /><br />- While sitting in my Bangalore office I got an SMS 'welcome to Airtel Chennai, enjoy great roaming rates'<br />- On requesting the Re. 1, one-time missed call alert, I got the first SMS for thanking me that we have received request and charged you, I never got the SMS with actual missed call details.<br />- I have had more call drops than ever before in the last so many years.<br />- I get 'number is invalid' response for calling numbers that I call every day and a few attempts later it starts working. It's the first time it's happening despite using airtel for over 5 years now.<br />- My friend requested for number porting to airtel. While the first request was rejected by VF due to billing problems, the second request did not even fetch a response from airtel.<br />- But since he did submit his documents in the first request, even though he does not have an active connection with airtel yet, last night he received an original hard copy of a zero rupee bill. Yes, it has his name printed and has bill amount 0 - while he is still happy and active on Voda.<br /><br />Many of the above are not bad customer care or kind of bad reviews you will find on mouthshut.com, they are plain vanilla mistakes on customer focus and ensuring quality.<br /><br />Not to forget their campaigns on number portability, 3G, DTH, VAS service have become more lackluster than ever before.<br /><br />Being one of the ardent loyalists of airtel for ages it feels sad to see it loosing its qualities that led it to reach the heights it stands today.<br /><br />No wonder as <a href="http://www.mnp-india.com/mobile-operators/mnp-offers/47-gain-from-your-new-mobile-operator">data</a> shows, it is no longer leading the race and is managing to be at the end.<br /><br />Would be interesting to see if it can do some magic again to be back in the race and lead the pack.<br /><br />Till then 'Express Yourself'ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-59590662387257823622010-12-28T01:08:00.003+05:302010-12-28T01:55:29.890+05:30Aptitude vs AttitudeA couple of years ago I had written <a href="http://ankur-writes.blogspot.com/2007/06/hard-work-or-intelligence.html">this</a>. It was about hard work vs intelligence. I am still unable to answer this question convincingly enough to myself. <br /><br />Rephrasing the question this time, what is easier to change - Aptitude or Attitude?<br /><br />At that time, my thought was driven from peer comparison, from people who were working with me in similar profiles and observing them in two shades - hard working but not so smart and vice versa.<br /><br />I still face the same question for people in my team. There are those who are smart and intelligent but lack that element of ownership and then there are those who are the most dedicated ones but short on smartness, a factor that could make a big difference to their results. Of course there are those who are somewhere in between too.<br /><br />I think while hard work and dedication is a lot about attitude; smart, clever and intelligence are qualities driven out of aptitude. Challenge seems to be, which one is easy to imbibe, mentor and infuse into others. The intelligent ones are often not the keener ones, because they are the so called clever ones. On the other hand those who are working hard and trying their best, you can only guide them to act smarter, but picking up the smart things requires you to be smart in the first place.<br /><br />Thus the basic question remains, what is easier to change in someone - attitude or aptitude? How do we go about doing it?ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-38470946162453416012010-12-22T14:56:00.003+05:302010-12-22T15:16:51.267+05:30Profit sharingWhy don't organizations do profit sharing with employees like they do with share holders in the form of dividends. Aren't employees share holders too of a different form?<br /><br />May be organizations should take out some portion of profit to be doled out as dividend to employees. Each one would get in proportion of their salaries. Of course this would be apart from the Variable pays and bonus etc. Since that also depends on the roles of each person.<br /><br />Quarterly, half yearly or yearly could be debated though. This could make people look at the organization as a whole and not just team, unit, function etc.<br /><br />Yeah, top management could ask - when company makes losses? Well they do cut jobs and reduce salaries or don't give any hikes in such times. So why not, do it the same with profits too.<br /><br />Imagine, 3% of profits of next quarter distributed among employees. May not be a big sum but still not bad.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-33743836137483259722010-12-18T20:25:00.004+05:302010-12-18T20:46:45.679+05:30Open feedbackDo you think there are some good people in your organization and some so unwanted people. On top of that the unwanted are more prevalent than those better ones. How do you share your feedback for these people on a platform for their supervisor, his/her supervisor and HR to see it all. Obviously, you can't put that up on the intranet notice board.<br /><br />How about, an open feedback system. Just log-in and search for the fellow colleague and share your feedback. Could be on a certain scale or just plain subjective description. Like may be an over all rating or detailed rating on certain traits expected from their jobs. Well, it could increase the scope of performance review, although it could have it's challenges too.<br /><br />There could be of course some checks added, to ensure a more sane system, unlike a Face book group where every one bashes every one else. <br /><br />- You may not be allowed to provide feedback for people 2 levels above you. I guess somehow we always see very little of those people and assume too much in framing our understanding. Hence, barred from putting those assumed understandings on <br />paper.<br />- You must have worked with your fellow colleague for minimum X number of days or have had certain valuable amount of interaction to be able to provide the feedback.<br />- Feedback will be viewable only to supervisor, reviewer and HR.<br />- It could also be kept anonymous to all except HR. So that it can be revealed only in critical cases.<br />- This could have certain weight in the over all appraisal scores of an individual.<br />- And of course a complex algorithm to convert the feedback into scores by identifying keywords from feedback provided with predefined scores for such key words.<br /><br />Though it may sound so much like a cliche process again, but imagine kicking the butts of those unwanted people, on the system and actually letting the feedback translate into some action(may be).<br /><br />Till then may be only cribbing helps.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-17401401357593680622010-11-14T15:18:00.003+05:302010-11-14T16:24:09.660+05:30Experimenting SmartphonesSmartphones are all over the place - nothing new. They have been so for years now. You may have one too or may be planning to buy one. But, did you use it for a few days before buying it? <br /><br />Before you buy an iPhone or HTC Android or a Blackberry for that matter, don't you want to use it for a few days before you finally swipe your card for that big, fat sum of more than 25K. It could just make you so much more confident about your decision to buy that very smart phone which you plan to flaunt in front of your friends, family and coleagues. You may have seen your friend's phone or even used for a few hours but that would have only given you a few hours of feel and may be tried a few popular features that you have read and heard. But, what about feeling the size fitting in your pocket, experiencing the battery life, varying touch senstivity of different phones, using the app stores and much more.<br /><br />So what if I offer you the phone for a few days before you buy for a small rental fee? Would you pay?<br /><br />Let's assume you come over, ask me for an iPhone, I swipe your credit card and block the card for the iPhone price and give you the phone for a week. You keep it, use it and make a decision. If you do not like it and return it, I will charge you Rs. 500(hyppthetical amount). if you like it and buy, I will not charge you anything? If you do not return, anyways the credit card will be charged as soon as 7 days are completed.<br /><br />Now, if you do not like it and return it and want to try HTC HD2, then I keep that Rs 500 and take the iPhone back and give you HTC and we repeat the remaining cycle. If you are too thorough in your decision making, you could even repeat this over and over again for a few more weeks.<br /><br />You would end up using these phones for a few days each for Rs. 500 and be much more sure few weeks down the line, which one you want to buy. Now purchase it and see the difference it makes to your blood pressure during those few seconds when you see your card's magnetic tape passing through the iron machine charging you hundreds of rupees every few milliseconds.<br /><br />Why don't you take a 3 question survey here <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KFCZ5H9">Purchasing SmartPhones</a><br />and share your thoughts.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-77904498358986501412010-09-24T20:36:00.006+05:302010-09-24T21:29:37.237+05:30FreezeYou would have seen those thriller movies, where suddenly everyone around you freezes. What if you are in the middle?<br /><br />A few days ago, while I was with my coleague on one of he Metro stations here, he pointed and I noticed - everyone slowing down.<br /><br />While we were still walking noticing carefully what is happening, a few seconds later everyone froze. By now I already had goose bumps, thinking about all those horror movies where some evil happens after every one freezes.<br /><br />In seconds, every one was frozen where ever they were. On stairs, near ATMs, tickets counters, on the entrance, police men, ticket vendors, public - all.<br /><br />We both decided to slow down and stop as well, because we did not want us to be noticed by those evil forces which might be looking for human with moving flesh and blood. Our Eyes still ticking left and right trying to see where are those ghosts who have cursed this evil to all these people except us.<br /><br />We heard some music over us - too low to be heard clearly. With our antennas now trying their best to catch this sound and figure out what it is, I thought may be pide piper was calling.<br /><br />A few seconds more while we were still trying to decode this background music. Life resumed like ever before. <br /><br />It was 6 pm in the evening and giving it a little more thought, we realized it was the national anthem.<br /><br />Horror apart, I think it is a good idea to run national anthem at 6 in the evening at all public places - railways stations, airports, bus stops and all else. At least everyone comes together for those 20-30 seconds and pauses. Every one does get nation on their mind, which we all seem to ignore otherwise. Could be one step to bring the nation closer and together.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-86818863322058441952010-09-18T21:05:00.010+05:302010-09-19T13:06:27.513+05:30Some times it happensWedneday evening 7 pm I left for KL Airport like I have left before for the 8:55 pm flight. I know it's a bit a late, but sometimes it happens. I was hoping to be lucky like I have been a few times before. This was not to be one of those times. Reached airport at 9:15 having struggled and juggled through the traffic. Even though I did not want to go to the check-in counter, I still checked once to make sure I am not lucky - I was not.<br /><br />Went down to the ticket counter to get the next morning ticket. I got 1547 token number, 1536 was running. I felt comfortable, after all it was just 10 people. Comfort was short lived. 30 mins gone and it was still 1540. At last at 11 pm, I get a shot at the counter. Well only a shot, the not so polite lady on the counter tells me - debit cards not accepted. Yes, the same debit card using which I bought my previous ticket on-line. But, no means no. Credit card already running over limit, I had no choice but to withdraw cash. My hard earned turn to get my ticket disappears. I go out looking for cash. No, not begging, i mean withdraw cash from ATM. With my prepaid travel card running on 0 balance I used my personal debit card to withdraw cash. Even though first ATM did not work, second did. I finally get a ticket for myself. By this time there was a brit guy hung with me, who was passing by KL for first time and is willing to just follow my plans for the night to stay in any near by hotel due to lack of any other information. As if I was a local.<br /><br />With my limited knowledge I head to <a href="http://www.tunehotels.com/">Tune hotels</a> opposite to airport. These are similar to AirAsia - low cost. So I thought it would be good to experience these. But, I was late here too. No rooms! The girl on the counter, politer than the ticket girl, shows me a room next to the counter, where I could try my luck. In my search for a good night sleep, I take a shot at that option as well. To find that the hotel is about 25 minutes away by Taxi. The brit chickened out in fear of going away from the Airport. I braved my heart. This girl asked me for 100 Malaysian Ringitts for a back and forth Taxi drive between airport and hotel. But, did not accept any card either. Being 12:15 by now I agree. I step out of the room and use the ATM machine in front of me. But, by now this ATM machine had joined hands with other forces up aginst me. It declined both my debit cards. Searching my bag I pull out my last 100USD and ask the lady for an exchange. She directed me to the coffee shop. With my last 400 odd Ringitts and hotel rent to be paid, I chicken out too and walk back to airport.<br /><br />To make some calls to update people about my missed flight and late arrival next day, I recalled those boxes hanging on the walls called payphones. I did not have a choice having lost my personal SIM and not having a local number. Bought a prepaid card to make the call. The instruction said, 'insert with the chip facing down' and I followed. But, the stupid box did not follow. After struggling to make calls for next 20 mins, i call for expert help from the shopkeeper who sold me the pre-paid card. He came in and turned the card over and dialled. It started rininging. You see prior experience helps over theoretical knowledge. It was a caller tune playing. First time I liked caller tunes, because they were like a hope to me that something is working. Only for 10 seconds! Caller tone stoped and no voice from other side. I call a few more times for that 10 second happiness. But then practice and patience both paid after 30 minutes of mission pay fone. At last at 1 in the night I finally connect for whole lot of 3 minutes and run out of balance - after all the ledendry 'pay phone' was not cheap enough. I give up and go looking for space for the rest of the night.<br /><br />McDonalds - my supporter at all times, supported me for the whole night as well. After my laptop ran out of battery I changed my seat to find one near the socket. A few more like me were hanging around the <em>powerful</em> place. Opposite to me, a Korean girl, diagonally on adjacent table, a Malaysian dude and opposite to him and next to my table, an Indonesian girl.<br /><br />While I continued working through my night, killing my time with some weekly reports, updates and boring document reviews, the girl next to my table was not able to figure how to power her laptop with non-matching pins of her powerplug. I helped her with a spare converter I had. A few hours later I see the Malaysian dude even adding that the girl in facebook, not that the girl was a babe for me to feel jealous of him. As a friendly gesture he asked me too if I was present on facebook. I could only answer politely "yes, but I do not use often". As a token of thanks for sharing that conveter, this girl gave me and that Malaysian guy a Belgian chocolate each. That too not the small ones, big ones like those Bourneville's we find in India and asked where I was from. 'India' I said. She said "oh you know 3 Idiots, very very good. I think very intelligent". I answer, yes I know with a smile as if I directed and produced. Then she said "and Slumdog millionaire". I say yes again, hoping she is not going to ask another one now. Finally picking her bags up, she said "and Aisswarya Rai, very very beautiful".<br /><br />Finally at 7 in the morning with a few coca colas gulped, time arrived for me to not miss the flight now and I reach the check-in counter. Even though the day was over, some things did not seem to have changed - attitude of electronic devices on the airport against me. Check-in counter girl tells me, my credit card was declined for this ticket so payment not done. Yeah, you read up there that I paid cash to AirAsia. I said the same to her too. But, her system does not agree. Well her supervisor's did. I guess all systems wanted to have their say.<br /><br />At last I get a boading pass, hop the plane and fall asleep to wake up when it landed again.<br /><br />Thank God, it happens only sometimes.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-11214447149896684352010-09-11T18:46:00.006+05:302010-09-11T19:28:23.565+05:30Cable ambulance<span style="font-family:arial;">Last time I saw an ambulance stuck in the usual traffic jam, I felt a bit uneasy. I think most of us do. While we all do understand that we should give space to these holy vehicles carrying people between life and death, I think the traffic on the road is chaotic enough to not let us do that even if wished.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">So while I felt uneasy, I also got this weird sounding idea - government should plan and work on cable ambulance. Something similar to cable cars that run between two mountains or as we have in amusement parks. While these could be easier & cheaper to lay than laying new roads or flyovers, these could be dedicated to medical emergencies only, making it faster and easier to make it to hospitals, bypassing traffic hassles.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">These could have small stops every 100 to 500 meteres, for 2-4 people to hop over and help patients get on and off it, making it practical I guess.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">May be some association or roganization needs to do some research about how much investment would be required for setting this up.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">If someone's thinking why should we re-invent the wheel when no one in the developed countries have done this. I guess because none of them have to adjust so many people in as much space as we are doing and we will never have as much space on our roads as they have and we have no choice but to re-invent the wheel our way. </span>ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-48307768810539071942010-09-05T11:32:00.010+05:302010-09-11T18:53:15.979+05:301-Device - IISo in case someone did not have the patience to go through the previous post because it was too lengthy and difficult to imagine.<br /><br />Have a look at the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7_mOdi3O5E&feature=player_embedded">this interface</a> and you could understand what the 1-Device could be like.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-62883123271170131502010-08-12T18:24:00.003+05:302010-08-13T09:23:44.873+05:30The 1-DeviceRecently I was discussing with my brother about mobile phones, applications and more on mobile phones(handsets in particular). That's when we were talking about what were the big leaps that happened in mobile space in last few years which changed the industry every few years - more on tehcnology front and not precisely commercial steps.<br /><br />Considering the start of the road, when we got pocket sized mobile phones and excluding the history of evolution of mobile phones before that, some things which we thought could be considered as the big leaps were:<br /><br />- Color screens. Gave birth to mobile gaming industry. Otherwise there were only snakes all over.<br />- Cameras in your mobile phone lead to so many sting operation.<br />- Touch screens. It's all about touching today.<br />- Blackberry and push email on the go.<br />- iPhone and the app store. Touch screen, multimedia, smart phone all in one. Applications is what is making everyone crazy today.<br />- Android and the opensource mobile OS. You design your phone.<br /><br />So then came the question, what would be the next big leap from here!<br /><br />I think next we would need something like a folding screen mobile phone, which could be unfolded into a laptop where we would need it. Even though iPad was an attempt to bring phone and notebooks together, but then it serves none of the two. Neither can I carry it in my pocket nor I can replace it with my laptop.<br /><br />Let's call it, The '1Device'.<br />So this 1Device has to be something which I can carry in my pocket like I carry my mobile phone today. Then I reach the destination - let's say my workplace and I pull it out of my pocket, put it on table, unfold it's multiple layers, stretch it and I have my 14/17" notebook like I have today at my workplace.<br /><br />I think the 1Device could be the next big leap.<br />What's your take, whats the next big leap?ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-85406888528948049872010-05-15T02:46:00.002+05:302010-05-15T03:00:24.342+05:30How small is the world?VERY. <br /><br />I stepped out of my KL office today evening and was approaching the near my mono rail station when I felt an Indian lady walking besides me on the foot path. <br /><br />I glanced once to see like I do for every Indian walking near by. I felt I had seen the face some where and turned back again, and now I was sure I knew the face. I stopped to make sure and realized it was one of my friends from the previous company whom I had never met since I left the company. She was as shocked to see me as I was to see her in Jalan P Ramlee, KL, which is no where related to either of us.<br /><br />But, it was amazing to have met some one after a long time in such an unexpected place. It has made me think a few hundred times since then - the world is really a small place, something I had never though before. <br /><br />And for icing on the cake, when I reach Bangalore in the night and call my room mate to tell this - he says he already knows this. Just in about 8 hours. Well that's Social networking though, but its made the world a smaller place too.<br /><br />So while Thomas Friedman wrote - The world is Flat. Its time for the next book - The smaller world.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-70211748205152567982010-03-03T23:33:00.002+05:302010-03-03T23:41:15.653+05:30Consistency galoreHow do you measure someone's consistency? You make them do the same task again and again and monitor the outcome. If the the outcome is more or less same everytime, you consider the person to be consistent. <br /><br />In case you are thinking what could be the task - I say, write CAT every year. Why ? because I write it every year. Here is the consistency part of it - I have now appeared in CAT for 6 times in a row(not a small feat). How many people do you know, who have done the same? I am pretty liberal and I assume may be a few. But, how many people among that score the same percentile year after year - same 2 digit figure. I have done that and now I ask you again how many people you know who have done that?<br /><br />With CAT scores out on Sunday, if there was one percentile I was not expecting to score it was X. There is only 1/100 probability of scoring X. the probability of scoring the same X 2 times is 1/10,000. Ok now coming to the point - scoring that same percentile X in 4 out of 6 times in CAT is 4/6 and in percentile is 1/10,00,00,000. Thats better than six sigma. Becuase the probability of error in 6 sigma is 1/10,00,000. So is scoring the same percentile in CAT 4 times is more difficult to achieve than six sigma ?<br /><br />Anyways, what ever the case be? In case you know me then I can challenge that you dont know any one else who has done the same, so be proud of your self that you know me.<br /><br />And in case if you do know someone who has scored same percentile in CAT for 4 times then please drop me his/her email ID - would like to go out on a drink with him/her and discuss how and why CAT format should be totally re-done.<br /><br />Enough of CAT posts. May be next time I will write on something better.<br /><br />Boosted by CAT performance consistency, I will apply to Toyota soon to rescue them from their recent quality issues due to which they had to re-call thousands of cars.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-9349361015927717052010-02-02T00:43:00.007+05:302010-02-02T01:00:21.280+05:30Who earns it?Why does he get so much salary man ?? Who ?? There is a different guy in contention every time in the canteen!! So I just recalled what I said in my 2 minutes of gyan session at Peco's on that day(yeah after all gyan become more gyani after 2 pitchers of beer).<br /><br />2 important factors for that high salary are D&D(no no, not Do not Disturb), but - Deserve and Demand.<br /><br />To get high slaraies in the long run, one must deserve it and then demand it. Those who demand it but do not deserve it, get spikes only in short term but that does not sustain for long term.<br /><br />Those who deserve it but do not demand it assuming some day god will smile on them and shower them with his benevolence, do not get it either. Once in a while someone may just show good gesture at them but again sustaining it needs that demand.<br /><br />And then those who neither deserve nor demand it, well hard luck for them. But, then I think such people should be respected for understanding that they do not deserve it :).<br /><br />So if you deserve it then demand it. Because you have to earn it, like Cadbury Bournville.<br />What the heck?ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-31389753180683235842010-01-03T15:39:00.003+05:302010-01-03T15:43:45.337+05:30Happy and HealthyThe new year frenzy is over now as the end of the winter break comes to an end today. Last 10 days have been very much like the school days winter break since 4 working days with very little work were squeezed between 2 long weekends.<br /><br />Now, the time is to be back to work and start the new year like every year. <br />The motto for this year is - Be happy and stay healthy and be Good.<br /><br />Wish you a very happy new year.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-32876918652989428812009-11-30T23:56:00.003+05:302009-12-01T00:44:53.109+05:30e-CATWe have e-tax, e-governance, e-commerce and so many 'e's that IIMs decided to join the race and create their own electronic version of the age old Common Admissions Test.<br /><br />As usual I was there for my annual affair with CAT. Though it was my nth time(6th to be more precise), it was going to be different - CAT has become Computer based test. I had my share of fun in today's exam(the real reason why I still write CAT - It's not just admissions anymore, it's fun). <br /><br />Got up at 6 to leave at 7. But it was to start at 10. So why so early? Because the Big BOSS(IIMs) had asked to reach 2 hours in advance. Infact they mentioned entry denial in case we reach later than 1:30 hours in advance of the test start. Well they were right - the amount of complexity they had put up for such a simple test did demand so much of time.<br /><br />On making it to the hall, there was a queue at the main gate of the institute adjacent to the wall starting from the gate and going about 15 meters. It reminded me of my 'making of a passport' days, when I used to go and queue outside the passport office early in the morning. At the door, the security guard asked me to leave my weapons at the door(pen, pencil etc.). Ok, I recalled they did mention somewhere online that we would be provided with ammunition on the warfront and no need carrying the weight - I just wanted to make sure. After walking in, passed through a hall where a ppt was running explaining the CAT rules - not sure who was it for - there was no one in the hall! Going 1 floor downwards reached the door of the computer lab. Now it was time to check-in(yes that was the terminology used by IIMs). The check in security diligently collected all stuff from my pockets, including keys, wallets and sealed in a polythene as if these were some confiscated drugs. At last got a seat. But, it was still 8:15. <br /><br />Now the real prometric stunts began. Each candidate was invited 1 by 1 and asked to submit finger prints of right and left index finger 3 times. Got photographed by that 1.3 megapixel web cam and landed back to my seat. After the invigilator entered some 2 unique usernames and passwords(what the hell were they for - no idea), the exam finally began. 2 options came up on the screen - "tutorial" ad "start the test". Wow - a tutorial at the begining of the test. The idea sounded good but no instruction. No information on what the candidates should do. I decied to skip the tutorial and start with the exam. Soon after I begin, the invigilator mentioned, please do not click on 'quit' button on your screen otherwise your paper will end and nothing can be done. I jut wondered why did the option exist during the exam if it had no purpose. Actually none, because one could not even click quit and go home. You would still need to be there till the last man standing has finished exam. To my surprsie, as soon as I clicked on 'start the test' it throws first question - no instructions, no idea about how many questions in all , how many sections, score per questions, negavtive marking. Nothing! I guess IIMs were so busy organizing the computer labs and card boardsbetween adjacent PCs that they forgot these details. 2:15 hours later with the answer of the last question on my rough sheet i looked up and it showed - time up! I realized how good were the old paper sheets. No one could have stopped me from marking that answer.<br /><br />After all the magic from IIMs, the screen shows - your results will be aviable on 22nd January. What ?? So much in the name of hi tech stuff and still 45 days for results, like those board exam results. If they were to take 45 days for the results, I wonder what was the whole pupose of this e-CAT??<br /><br />Was it really a need or just a drama? Was it a gift from NIIT and Prometric(the test makers) to CAT with other unknown gifts to the CAT committee?? Was it a need to copy GMAT without copying the quality of education provided by GMAT schools. Or was it just a 'go green' initiative from the IIMs? Were the quality of students not good enough with the traditional CAT. Would love to hear from CAT team some day.<br /><br />My take - There was never a need for CAT to go online. Neither because it was ready nor because it helped it in any known sense. Neither it makes muh sense in India. Instead the money spent(rather wasted) on the whole IT infrastructure and prometric outsourcing could have been either saved and reduced from the application fee from 1400 to may be 1000 or 800 or the money could have been collected under a basket for scholarships. <br /><br />Here was another example how the teachers of the local and global curriculams copied a western(global) idea locally without much analysis on local needs.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-5387560244303705692009-04-11T10:39:00.010+05:302009-04-11T11:15:10.938+05:30Re-starting from KL<div>After blogging for close to 2 years it just ended abruptly when I shifted to Gurgaon as I did not have an internet connection at home. Today, when I visited my blog, I realized it's been precisely 1 year ever since I wrote my last post. I think these milestones like completion of 3 months, 1 year, 5 year, 100 years et al can be good occasions to re-think, re-vitalize and re-start.<br /><br />So here I am trying to re-start, this time from from KL(I started from Botswana in 2006). I reached KL(Malaysia) on Wednesday for work. So may be, I would have a few pics(this time from my mobile camera as I lost my Sony an year ago) and some stories to share. Hope to see you more often for the next few days while I am here. </div><div><br /></div><div>For now, my first view of petronas tower from hotel room. </div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1zkjR-YORAfYwGzNlPuKerGYGB6-NMB-AY1y4Poo1XVvaw_IeyI4SfmYbsfmwrtEkEw6oSQ5J30cv5HXkK5FdaHRkkgcGLlVjR9d9SqJLBRRD1Azer3NtATTPC9feP9dNnCU/s1600-h/11042009016.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1zkjR-YORAfYwGzNlPuKerGYGB6-NMB-AY1y4Poo1XVvaw_IeyI4SfmYbsfmwrtEkEw6oSQ5J30cv5HXkK5FdaHRkkgcGLlVjR9d9SqJLBRRD1Azer3NtATTPC9feP9dNnCU/s320/11042009016.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323305510193541794" /></a>ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-23997144031535886892008-04-10T16:53:00.033+05:302008-04-12T12:54:02.491+05:30IPL could be the next R-PowerNewspapers were splashed with its news, everyone was talking about it, the whole nation was following up every bit of information, every event was a record in itself- listing of Reliance Power. This is happening again and this time it is IPL -<strong>Indian Premier League</strong>.<br /><br />Could IPL be the next R-power? IPL is creating the same buzz before opening ceremony as Reliance power did before listing and it may also repeat the results after opening as R-power did.<br /><br />Anil Ambani used to call it the great Indian story so is Lalit Modi saying about IPL. Every one wanted a pie of R-power and corporates are having of IPL. Though the ordinary man (<em>aam admi</em>) does not have much to do this time around as they could do in case of R-power by applying for Rs. 100,000 worth of shares. But, everything will depend on this very <em>aam admi</em>(they have to watch it for it to be successful). While R-power made millions dream about earning a quick buck IPL is making the rich dream of becoming richer and it has already made a few not so rich Indian cricketers richer by a few crores.<br /><br />But, Why would IPL be the next R-power?<br /><br />T20 world cup was a great success and so is English Premier League. So BCCI (Lalit modi) decided to mix the two and come up with a winning formula. It indeed is a good idea but every idea has a right value and I think IPL is over valued in terms of the money being thrown around for everything from tournament sponsors to TV rights to buying players.<br /><br />IPL is a twenty-twenty tournament, which is all about cracking, blasting and lightning - hitting sixes and fours, scoring runs at breakneck pace. T20 world cup was successful for this very reason especially after Yuvi's (Yuraj Singh) 6 sixes in one over to Andrew Flintoff. EPL is about local clubs contesting against each other with international flavor and high standard of the sport. But, T20 world cup was also about nations competing, which IPL is not about and EPL is more about football with many more nationalities participating in the form of players which also is not the case with IPL.<br /><br /><strong>Nation vs. money</strong><br /><br />IPL will have teams comprising of people from different countries with different languages and different creed. Some of these players have been through recent brawls and will not have the same spirit towards each other that a national team has on the field. This will be an important factor and will reduce the intensity of the teams to win. On the other hand there will be players with long history of playing on the same side who will stand against each other. The question here is what bounds the team together, the feeling of belonging to the same nation or being paid by the same employer? Since money is the only reason for all these players to get together in the same team, they will not be able to perform the way these very players performed in T20 world cup. For some the performance appraisal pressure will not exist either because they are already standing at the end of their career. We may see matches as we have seen before that of India XI vs. World XI etc.<br /><br /><strong>Player combinations</strong><br /><br />The Indian public is much more emotional than that of many other nations. Now imagine Rahul Dravid and Misbah-ul-Haq celebrating Sachin's wicket when <a href="http://premierleaguecricket.in/articles/ipl-bangalore-royal-challengers/">Bangalore Royal Challengers</a> clash with the <a href="http://premierleaguecricket.in/articles/ipl-mumbai-indians/">Mumbai Indians</a>. This may not go very well with the crowd unless the batsmen and the bowler smile and laugh while being bowled or being hit for a six. In either case intensity of cricket will be down.<br /><br /><strong>Less cricket more bollywood</strong><br /><br />The organizers have already promised a lot of music and dance, which is also very much visible in team advertisements. But, do we not have enough of music and dance on Indian television? Adding more and more <em>masala</em> into the same dish does not make it more tasty! This <em>masala</em> may just make IPL another entertainment show and not a sporting event. Leaving the viewers with a bad taste.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Fans</strong><br /><br />I am a Sachin and Rahul fan. I shifted from Bangalore to Delhi a month back. So whom shall I support? Well there are many like me who will not have one team to cheer for and hope to win so we will follow the matches just to kill time while not doing anything else.<br /><br />So while I do not say that IPL will fail, I think IPL will not be a massive success or a run-away hit as expected. It will end up as just another event with respect to TV viewer ship! let us wait and watch on <a href="http://premierleaguecricket.in/ipl-schedule/">18th April</a>.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-28719087616036561742008-02-28T19:10:00.005+05:302008-02-28T19:40:21.051+05:30Sabbatical, before and after.Last Friday, I was off the pay-rolls of my firs job. Though I was happy to be moving on, there was a small element of sadness for leaving a job that was my first, one that gave me the taste of money that I could claim as mine. I also completed 2 years and 6 months on that very day. Though I did not sit down and reflect upon these years but I felt having come so far and only so far!<br /><br />I am already 4 days into my sabbatical and I am really liking it!(unfortunately my so called sabbatical will last only 2 weeks). There is so much more time to read 2 full newspaper, read books, practice music, follow stock markets, write blogs and more.<br /><br />One side effect of a sabbatical of my kind is - I have not taken bath for the last 3 days. I guess this side effect is locational as it did not create problems in Bangalore weather but survival with this in the north India may not be feasible. If god wishes then may be I will take one tomorrow and may be come back with another post - more meaningful.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-47348160810013658692008-02-13T16:35:00.009+05:302008-02-15T15:33:49.446+05:30B-Schools and the ranking maniaIn India, B-school rankings often get published around September as applications start rolling out at that time. So when <a href="http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2007/09/outlook-bschool-rankings-2007.html">Outlook</a> and others came out with their rankings in September I thought of expressing my own take on the same but as usual missed like I miss on so many other occassions. Last week there was news of <a href="http://www.isb.edu/isb/index.html">ISB, Hyderabad</a> appearing at #20 in global rankings and as always <a href="http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2008/01/congratulations-isb.html">blogs</a>, newspapers like <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/ISB_ranks_20th_in_FTs_top_B-school_list/articleshow/2738912.cms">ToI</a>, <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/02/03235819/Why-ISB8217s-global-ranking.html">mint</a> and <a href="http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/jul/04inter.htm">portals</a> all were flooded with this news. So I thought, why should I be left behind in writing about this frenzied B-school rankings(this is why I say I am just another mortal).<br /><br />First of all I think B-school rankings should not be taken by their face value and instead should be used as a resource for data they provide.<br /><br />Though many people have started believing that these rankings are all crap but I think they do offer some value though not in terms of the rank they assign to institutes but in terms of information they provide in the process of arriving at the rank. If, you go through the methodology of every ranking you will feel their are factors that help one institute over the other. Magazines are often blamed for being biased in setting up those parameters in order to skew the rankings. But, any ranking will have parameters and any amount of parameters will always be in favour of one or other participating members. So why exactly blame those rankings? Instead students should actually come up with their own rankings based on their own order of preference.<br /><br />Here is my wish list of parameters that I expect magazines to publish and consider while compiling the rankings.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Growth in salary of alumnus over a period of 0-5-10 years of period.</span><br /></span></span>Average salary, highest salary and information like that is already taken into consideration. But, today anyone with an MBA degree from any institute is walking out with a handsome package of 4-5 lacs/annum. Fairly good students are getting above 8. But, when the wheel will slow down the first to face the heat would be the bottom layer of students who managed a job today because of the surging economy. A B-school's worth in terms of real value addition to its alumni and industry preparedness would surface only in long run.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Career growth of alumnus over similar periods.</span><br /></span></span>Now, if we were to measure only salary growth over the long run then those placed with huge organizations with stronger brand value or better work quality would rank lower than those placed with some of the smaller unpopular companies just because they shell out bigger sums to fill in for their other weakness. Sometime monotonous work is offered along with better pay cheque and there is no growth either. So an individual choosing a high growth career over high salary career should at least stand at par if not more than the other way.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Diversity quotient of the last 3 batches.</span><br /></span></span>More and more is being written about how institutes are trying to have a mix of students in their batch in order to have a more heterogeneous pool of potential managers/leaders as this stimulates diversified thinking. But, having 1 candidate from arts, science and medical each, a few from commerce and rest engineers is not a heterogeneous batch. Only if there could be a diversity quotient to find out how much hetero a batch really is?<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Average input score of last 3-5 batches.</span><br /></span></span>Institutes accepting applications based on scores of various entrance tests can also list average scores of their last 3-5 selected batches. This will inform if quality of input students is improving or its the other way. There is a catch here though - with increasing number of candidates year after year, if an institutes invites same number of candidates as it invited the previous year, the percentile of the last invited application would be higher.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Average experience of the last 3 batches.</span><br /></span></span>As experience is increasingly becoming important during the course of Business education and placements. It would be interesting if institutes provide data on no. of experienced candidates, average experience and average salary of experienced candidates before and after. <a href="http://www.isb.edu/KnowISb/quickfacts.shtml">ISB provides this data</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Average experience of the faculty in industry and as faculty.</span><br /></span></span>Now getting over my obsession of the selected candidates. Having huge number of faculty is easy but the tough task lies in having sufficient number of good quality faculty. Quality is always subjective but still basic criteria - qualifications, total teaching experience, total industry experience and research papers published etc. could be a good starting point for assessing<br />overall faculty quality.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Entrepreneurship(E)</span></span><br />This is another cliche which everyone is using obsessively. But, it can still be judged more rationally. E quotient of a B-school could comprise of star-ups coming out of schools, initiatives from institute etc. E.g. what percentage of the graduating batch opted out of the placement process to start something of their own. Though this may be attributed to students and not institute but institute initiatives like <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/IIMs_go-it-alone_gang_gets_a_helping_hand/articleshow/1732826.cms">IIM-A's</a> followed by IIM-Indore's similar action contribute a lot.<br /><br />There can be many more things that one can look into while opting for admissions depending upon personal priorities. Do share if you think of any.<br /><br />Till now if you stuck with this post then I really admire your patience.<br /><br />P.S I was missing from the writing scene for nearly 3 weeks now. But, with this post things will start rolling again.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-22471384982445822912008-01-25T08:33:00.000+05:302008-01-25T08:50:57.038+05:30Weight accumulationNo, I am not talking about weight gain or loss. I am writing about the limited weight that we can carry on air travel.<br /><br />Different airlines have different limits. While Air Deccan did not increase it from 15 to 20 kg even after becoming Deccan some others let u carry a 20 Kg of maximum. Business class travelers have it 25 Kg (in some airlines).<br /><br />Why not accumulate it?<br /><br />Now coming to the point of accumulating it. More often than not during my travel(especially traveling home) I carry way beyond that paltry 15-20 kg cap. Then I go requesting, insisting and citing instances where I was waived off a few Kilo grams last time and all that. But, once in a while I carry only a hand bag too. Now, if an airline could actually create a loyalty card where I could accumulate the unused check in luggage weight, how great it would be. Just as the last time I traveled by Deccan I checked in only 5 kg. I would have been so tempted to travel by Deccan if the remaining 10 could be used again in near future and letting me carry 25 kg next time. Most of the premier airlines like Jet airways, Kingfisher and Indian airlines do have loyalty pro grammes where by customers do get freebies for enrolling and then accumulating free miles. What they cannot accumulate is unused weight limits. I would definitely become a loyal customer to an airline that could offer me something like that. In fact most of the Indian people traveling to or from their native would be delighted by this as they have to carry lot of <span style="font-style: italic;">ghar ka khana</span> etc.<br /><br />Benefits:<br /><br />1. Loyalty could substantially improve for family customers as families often tend to carry more average weight.<br /><br />2. This could be a great differentiator for an airline in the highly cluttered aviation sector.<br /><br />3. It could be a great feature to advertise.<br /><br />Limitations<br /><br />There would be a possibility of having passengers once in a while who would come with 200kgs of luggage smug smile on face and their membership card in pocket. Keeping air safety in mind the airlines may not be able to permit that and keeping the loyalty pro gramme in mind they may not be able to say no to the passenger either.<br /><br />But, if the accumulated weight would lapse on a regular basis like half yearly or so then there could be way out.<br /><br />Well, till when something like this does not come up, I can only think of requesting, insisting or finally giving up and paying more.ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30498079.post-37386006643997939402008-01-15T15:58:00.000+05:302008-01-21T00:29:42.086+05:30Mumbai Airport<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtdY5Gvg0OMJhhoG2wCg7tPYb9rK-HXN9wE4WbdhTHmodVKAvviJ-ZgMvqxawR7HhRsBcAyvZgmNCKptcGM0WHUzPqwvwq7NtU8MIX6tFRO3WbbdXKOG9SY8iDPNKOHxwLRW4/s1600-h/IMG_0041.jpg"><img dragover="true" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtdY5Gvg0OMJhhoG2wCg7tPYb9rK-HXN9wE4WbdhTHmodVKAvviJ-ZgMvqxawR7HhRsBcAyvZgmNCKptcGM0WHUzPqwvwq7NtU8MIX6tFRO3WbbdXKOG9SY8iDPNKOHxwLRW4/s200/IMG_0041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157273279340141474" border="0" /></a>Last weekend(extended weekend) I was in Mumbai just for a break. Being from Bangalore entering the arrival terminal on Mumbai airport almost felt as if I had traveled a few seas across and reached another country.<br /><br />No exaggeration! Just look at the help desk in pink, orange and white. It looks better than a privately run internet cafe.<br /><br />The amount of space available is so huge it raised the question in mind - where was all this space till now?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZf6Ca2zYbX93h97UMNglp9BkceFV0KAtRAJpiU50E8xy9nTMmkVEfFQ8badh22q_8fFhhN7Czo3beuOCWxaTIuDCOvTMoYzJ3nPftc_y0-sHPQfBBGDvxcHIigugzmkzkk8cC/s1600-h/IMG_0043.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZf6Ca2zYbX93h97UMNglp9BkceFV0KAtRAJpiU50E8xy9nTMmkVEfFQ8badh22q_8fFhhN7Czo3beuOCWxaTIuDCOvTMoYzJ3nPftc_y0-sHPQfBBGDvxcHIigugzmkzkk8cC/s200/IMG_0043.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157275259320064962" border="0" /></a>Ofcourse <a href="http://www.gmrgroup.co.in/">GMR</a>(builder of the new mumbai airport) is spending a good time, effort and space to make the travelers realize what it has done. But, it is only adding to the looks of the airport.I do not have pictures of departure longue with me but that was equally good.<br /><br />Like a few other international airports they have come-up with their own magazine too - 'Mumbai touchdown'.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMH3k_1-DP2gXyrRigbUiNuQIoS73gua96VrDsUi8RLXaTHMEBobzbFkV713US5iT-06wGhcTeNJIrvnbyTyAgW2W3KkX-f2NK644jBuoWNbTkkRibjoO0DR3H-BfGprVO0xPI/s1600-h/IMG_0042.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMH3k_1-DP2gXyrRigbUiNuQIoS73gua96VrDsUi8RLXaTHMEBobzbFkV713US5iT-06wGhcTeNJIrvnbyTyAgW2W3KkX-f2NK644jBuoWNbTkkRibjoO0DR3H-BfGprVO0xPI/s200/IMG_0042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157274967262288818" border="0" /></a>Did you ever see a feedback form drop box on any of the Indian airports? Well, I have seen one on Chennai international departure terminal and it was being used properly to dispose of small litter like chewing gum wrappers, shopping bills etc.<br /><br />Visiting the Mumbai airport after 1.5 years I was highly impressed to see all this and decided to fill the feedback form with positive comments. My cousin with me picked up the Hindi form, which was tough to understand with so much of pure Hindi(its disappointing though that we in India find it difficult to understand Hindi). Well you think who reads all the feedbacks, don't you ? To my surprise someone seems to be doing that as I received an SMS from 'MUMBAI ARPT' thanking me for the feedback.<br /><br />Message - <span style="font-style: italic;">Thank you for your feedback. It will help us continually improve passenger experiences at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. *Empowered by Moveo systems* </span>Some advertisement there at the end.<br /><br />But, so much gesture by an airport - to enter my phone number into the system, only to send me an automated message is commendable. For the rest I can show only this. Yes, again from the same airport.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNn3NTRpIB9LEjl7iojYGUybNqvJ9Pao3-zy4HP69UWhrzz4QZFyl7vqugXj8LETYfntjdRvefzfjIGvNayRgzIxXTmePEI27fVTrx9iNhI7NMhyphenhyphen8kfNcnV8GKxt2jRNcqlAzU/s1600-h/IMG_0044.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 378px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNn3NTRpIB9LEjl7iojYGUybNqvJ9Pao3-zy4HP69UWhrzz4QZFyl7vqugXj8LETYfntjdRvefzfjIGvNayRgzIxXTmePEI27fVTrx9iNhI7NMhyphenhyphen8kfNcnV8GKxt2jRNcqlAzU/s320/IMG_0044.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157281225029639122" border="0" /></a>ankurghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14585848328409507571noreply@blogger.com6