tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193263602024-03-08T06:35:57.747+05:30Learnings From IndiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-61616545582458835142011-05-27T20:57:00.011+05:302011-05-27T21:18:07.310+05:30Finally E-learning Begins in India – with a Bang!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-c_vdasIj3IXY1LUohGEZH8zIKDrVjiylMDBXF9W4jqEKIeWW0PN7_ISZvz6Ekwa_ntvV5r0yknmWqRb7Nauwna-cezxb9kdX1aOCiItIOTyA1_4LHoiASh9Un2LoAJw9Uy_/s1600/asim_chowdhury_e-learning_india.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-c_vdasIj3IXY1LUohGEZH8zIKDrVjiylMDBXF9W4jqEKIeWW0PN7_ISZvz6Ekwa_ntvV5r0yknmWqRb7Nauwna-cezxb9kdX1aOCiItIOTyA1_4LHoiASh9Un2LoAJw9Uy_/s320/asim_chowdhury_e-learning_india.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">May, 2011 seems to be the beginning of a new era for Indian e-learning. With several companies and organizations announcing e-learning initiatives India is poised to address the gaps that have long existed in this part of the world. </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The e-learning era appears to have finally dawned in <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">India</country-region></place>. From being a largely outward looking industry, where Indian companies primarily served as a service provider for clients in US and <place w:st="on">Europe</place>, Indian companies are becoming inward looking – a clear reversal of trend. Leading this transformation are several Indian companies that have lined up with some very innovative offerings.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This month Educomp </span><a href="http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/educomp-great-lakes-to-invest-rs-150-cr-in-e-learning/134294/on"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">announced</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that it has joined hands with Great Lakes Institute of Management to provide e-learning education. The two partners are poised to invest around Rs 150 crores (15 million USD) in the next five years and the duo are planning to roll out e-learning management courses which will cost about 10 percent of the cost that a student spends in the regular courses. Sify meanwhile is </span><a href="http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/%E2%80%98we-are-looking-at-acquisitions-in-managed-services%E2%80%99-sify-chairman"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">planning to introduce</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a learning management system in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">India</place></country-region> and they already have a couple of customers who are interested in its products.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At a corporate level <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Harvard Business Publishings (HBP) is <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-07/india-business/29519768_1_e-learning-mobile-devices-indian-managers">planning to begin e-learning</a> for Indian managers this year. The courseware will be delivered through the </span>mobile platform. Close on it’s heal are <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">other institutes like the Wharton's Executive Education Division that have also shown a keen interest in beginning such initiatives for the Indian manager.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even iProf, which claims to be India’s first and largest e-learning superstore for IIT, CAT, PMT and other high-stakes tests on tablet computers, </span><a href="http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Kaplan-Ventures-invests-in-iProf/5152488033"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">has announced </span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">an investment by Kaplan Ventures to enable the iProf platform to offer test preparation in GMAT and GRE, two exams required for admissions to most competitive U.S. business or graduate schools.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Indian NGO sector too is not far behind and many have already begun using e-learning for furthering the cause of education for the marginalized and the disadvantaged sections of the society. Smile foundation of Ahmedabad has </span><a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report_e-learning-centre-a-stepping-stone-to-success-for-poor-youth-in-ahmedabad_1542073"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">begun a innovative program</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> called the Twin e-learning Programme (STeP) which is designed to offer job-oriented skills to youth from the less privileged sections of society living in urban slums and peripheral rural areas.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang; mso-fareast-language: KO;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Kolkata, a Jesuit-run media center is </span><a href="http://www.cathnewsindia.com/2011/05/06/media-center-promotes-e-learning/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">promoting e-learning in schools</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> using audio-visual material in a bid to make lessons more interesting. Called Chitrabani, the center, named began its Bichitra Pathsala (innovative school) a year ago.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang; mso-fareast-language: KO;">With so many different e-earning initiatives in the country, the service-driven mindset is rapidly getting replaced with an innovation-driven mindset. This however, brings forth a new challenge of gathering next level e-learning professionals who possess strong grounding in innovation. What it also requires is the need for the industry to enrich itself by drawing in the academic fraternity which has for long been kept out of the commercially-driven service industry.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the government level, IGNOU, <country-region w:st="on">India</country-region>’s largest Open University, has </span><a href="http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=9097"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">announced the details</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> of the virtual university for Africa after the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised such an institution in May, 2011, at a summit in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Addis Ababa</city>, <country-region w:st="on">Ethiopia</country-region></place>. The Pan-African E-learning Network of IGNOU will be devised as a robust e-learning network that will go a long way in alleviating the needs of African nations.</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-24212312974273318732010-11-11T13:22:00.004+05:302010-11-11T15:51:14.375+05:30Will it be a Transformative Agent?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGnU9BZ3GZyUIHoQq2UKla3qgN0dJZJbh8jcReLE2U8MgKeFtU5PKm3nrup_pnAMilGxvkvjWoByF_utER1dVs3UpDkVwBOlzRgyuhyphenhyphenN06W9AzNzJbh-WQNT4V8clAS4FQZNk/s1600/aadhar.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 134px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 81px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538199649218364642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGnU9BZ3GZyUIHoQq2UKla3qgN0dJZJbh8jcReLE2U8MgKeFtU5PKm3nrup_pnAMilGxvkvjWoByF_utER1dVs3UpDkVwBOlzRgyuhyphenhyphenN06W9AzNzJbh-WQNT4V8clAS4FQZNk/s400/aadhar.JPG" /></a> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Nandan Nilekani led UID project appears to be a gigantic step forward in arresting identity frauds and duplication in India. The UID project, it is believed, will bring Indians at par with the European citizens by offering them a social identity number that can be useful to launch social welfare schemes launched and prevent the role of middlemen or political groups that siphon off the money. Here's </span><a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleId=4541"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>Nandan Nilekani's interview</strong></span> </span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">that throws light on the nuances of the UID project.</span><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-20102222050388813302010-09-18T04:17:00.004+05:302010-09-18T04:26:48.824+05:30My Research Visit to Europe<span style="font-family:verdana;">Dear Friends,<br /><br />I have been selected by the European Research, funded by the European Union, to visit Germany and other European countries to undertake a study on my area of doctoral research which is on the New Media and the Internet. In September and October I will be in Potsdam, Germany. I will pen down my everyday experience in Europe, as a traveller. You can read these writeups at </span><a href="http://www.asimineurope.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#ff0000;"><strong>www.asimineurope.blogspot.com</strong></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />AC</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-17742919728264315132010-09-18T03:26:00.005+05:302011-05-18T10:14:55.375+05:30Its a Time to Change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Dear Friends,<br />
<br />
Its been a momentous journey with all of you. Its been about 5 years that I started blogging on issues related to e-learning. And all these years e-learning has also evolved, aquiring new forms and new avatars, each better than before. The issues that plagiarized the e-learning world have lessened, if not eliminated, to a considerable degree. The blog too had to evolve and shed its narrow focus on e-learning and embrace a much broader field of discussion. Henceforth, I will blog on broader issues that relate to the EDUCATION (e-learning/training) and MANAGEMENT (leadership/strategy/Human Resource). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Expanding the nature of this blog was essential because of the interconnectedness of these various forms. I have also replaced the now obsolete title band of this blog which is given below: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Historically this blog began as fun and then slowly acquired a serious tone. And it has also set a few benchmarks in the Indian blogosphere. No wonder the discourses in this blog has been dissected and deliberated by a whole generation of bloggers in India and abroad. The blog's critical writeups have also rattled a few quarters, annoyed countless and jerked up an equal number from their slumber. I can promise that I will continue to lay before you a platter of dishes that are not served in the industry. I shall continue to serve as the alternate voice. Hope you will enjoy the journey further.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Cheers,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">AC</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518006638948213010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3R16OUwkoXRLWChjahzeFQ1IPR6lZLQQgK1YjOlUCnfYK2al1pwt58nQPGAKr11oyxb3Ks4XFKsN4LycHjLgYkczXrz_Wq-ndHqnGCIClvayjM_bkFygcfe_mcUnUKb7HcR9V/s400/e-learning_1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 96px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 428px;" /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-86063632649879242782010-02-19T09:08:00.013+05:302010-02-19T10:59:14.882+05:30On Leadership and Pseudo-Leadership<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_geyPJmHtK7-C5I5QQtKDnKhDXMLHfHLoNpqgCKeQzReQ4hD2_FVE63E81VJ-lS_YukptmElc37BiNJLD2U67ObMgj54MvsdzilZjVZhmjoihpo5u1VCgdE5HsHfwDhWBBm8/s1600-h/leadership.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439794615252440930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 353px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_geyPJmHtK7-C5I5QQtKDnKhDXMLHfHLoNpqgCKeQzReQ4hD2_FVE63E81VJ-lS_YukptmElc37BiNJLD2U67ObMgj54MvsdzilZjVZhmjoihpo5u1VCgdE5HsHfwDhWBBm8/s400/leadership.jpg" border="0" /></a> <p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>No other word in human history has been so frivolously used and misused as the word “Leader”. In India an excessive use of the word evokes strong resentment amongst the educated and sensible largesse. Petty that for most Indians every well-dressed man, every English-speaking guy and every Merc that rolls signifies leadership. We are naive in the sense in which we assume leadership to be so ephemeral, so easy coming. We take their supremacy for granted.</strong> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">In India, the term “leader” evokes a visual image of a politician-like figure perched on high pedestal with thousands of creepy followers beneath, shoving one another for space. In Indian businesses "leaders" seek to provoke the image of a Nobel-laureate like stalwart whose leadership is all about English suits, elegant appearance and fancy mouthings. Day in and out images of these Indian businessmen pops out of shabby magazines and websites eulogising them as heroes, whose actions or history are rarely questioned. The story is somewhat like the seemingly-decent Aggarwalji of Haldiram whose real brand and business ethics became evident when he was charged for the ruthless murder of a poor roadside vendor in Kolkata. Perhaps it was a stroke of bad luck that brand Haldiram wiped it goodwill off the marketplace in one stroke. Its history now stands questioned.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Deliberations on leadership over the years has been pretty shaky. Human Resource departments of countless manufacturing plants in India have dwelled on this catchy term because it captures the popular imagination. What is left untalked is the real essence of leadership. The debate continues...</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">For the politically correct folks, leaders like Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods and N. D. Tiwari continue to ride high on leadership metrics. For the non-political gentry these names are best relegated to oblivion. Their stories are perhaps best examples of the private image eating into the public. Bill Clinton was hailed as a great economist, orator and statesman until his petty affair with a White House intern shook the conscience of every American citizen and made him into a no-man. Tiger Woods, admired as the greatest golfer of our times, met a similar fate when his unholy liaisons with prostitutes became public. Back in India, N. D. Tiwari, a veteran Congress leader, faced a humiliatory exit when he was allegedly filmed romping with prostitutes, even while his age and stature as constitutional head of an Indian state weighed heavily.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">The true leaders of our times in India are undoubtedly the thought-leaders and silent implementers who do not pride in any long sedans or oodles of artificial mass following. Such individuals, hidden from the gaze of the popular media and the international fraternity, can be found in unusual places. With the true spark of leadership within their hearts these silent leaders are felt, not by their dresses but by the way they devote themselves for countless ways in which they serve those around them and the society. Unlike the millionaire who rides past you in a Merc and gives you a shrill feeling of poverty or downtrodden-ness, true leaders in India remain positioned amongst the masses, in silence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Yet it is equally true that there are millionaires in India like JRD Tata, Ratan Tata, Narayan Murthy and their ilk who have set new benchmarks of leadership, not by their razzmatazz but by being balanced individuals -- both in their personal and the professional realm. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Its time to do a little introspection and recognize true leaders. It’s time to shun the mediatized images of leadership popping out of television sets or magazine covers. Perhaps its time to realize that real leaders are ones who are utterly honest and dedicated to improving the lives of others, in small steps and in subtle ways. True leadership perhaps is more visible in the enthusiastic soldier who guards our borders, the housewife who toils relentlessly or the brother, friend and neighbour who never shies away from being just and humane.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">What our self-proclaimed leaders of the political and the corporate world have failed to learn is that true essence of leadership borrows from a pure intent, humility and honesty. After all what’s a leader who claims to be educated in the best of universities in the world, flaunts enormous wealth but mistreats and misleads others with almost the same fervour. They are perhaps best seen as museum pieces, jokers to be looked down and benchmarked as social misfits. The one fitting response that may do justice to the fragile ego of such men and women is to emulate the style in the India movie, Three Idiots, and proclaim “<strong>Jahapanah Tussi Great Ho</strong>! and sign off.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-17651860601850116942008-11-20T11:31:00.029+05:302010-02-19T09:30:39.032+05:30Recession in India: Carried or Created?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyodPHbPNrWETNIOsObiZ7jsfefHU4OaHw23n5rgXc91hCIZXQGcm2fzU2nVkVZYtDi7px93Y_ekPz9zqfWbBkQAsa6J8jEnKYfH56ZbrIpygSnEpGc1xsdK3w5IsTPLlYfpm/s1600-h/recession.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270666522349559186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 450px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 290px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyodPHbPNrWETNIOsObiZ7jsfefHU4OaHw23n5rgXc91hCIZXQGcm2fzU2nVkVZYtDi7px93Y_ekPz9zqfWbBkQAsa6J8jEnKYfH56ZbrIpygSnEpGc1xsdK3w5IsTPLlYfpm/s400/recession.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">For the global media recession appears to be the central theme. Most writings dwell on flat market statistics, often failing to highlight alternate opinions -- in particular on the fundamentals questions that naturally arise for economies like that in India. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In India, recession is yet another opportunity for journos and localized 'experts' with myopic vision to talk about -- even if their opinion is nothing but a unworthy emulation of popular opinion. Thank you Sir, I am enriched! Your objective is fulfilled.<br /><br />For me, information sharing is about a quest to gather the holistic framework, to capture sensible alternate views that allude our understanding. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWrso9ZlAC1JwkMFhbOvcS8fxj77FmXVUJDNiyWyOr2E62iqyVRAyttGy3jCgeCpIvjwrWS11VuMSrp02SXtGoCZ_l72KnED6ERTj8psEh2RRXkGK53kT-tl08dAdMfVQbR-R/s1600-h/vivek+kumar+sharma.JPG"></a>My quest for a knowledge on the fundamentals forced me to meet <em>Mr Vivek Kumar Sharma</em>, <em>Group Head - Strategic Business of the Ashok Minda Group</em>, at Noida. No wonder for a scholar like me Mr Vivek remains a treat -- given his rare acumen to sniff what others ignore. His is an opinion that remains unhindered by the sundry voices that clutter our mental landscape. Here's the perspective that emerged from my discussion with him -- between sips of strong coffee.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>RECESSION IS GOOD FOR INDIA:</strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Recession is a boon for India, a corrective pause that seeks to lead Indian corporate towards becoming more matured and more experienced. The recession we witness in India today is more than just mundane market economics or capital flows. Perhaps it calls for a more holistic analysis of the fundamentals. Are our economists listening? Perhaps there aren't any.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Fundamentally, recession is absolutely normal for India. For a market that reeled under absymal and unstructured growth it offers us the rare opportunity to pause for a while and assess the situation -- forcing us to recede back and revist the fundamentals. Expecting a continous and unhindered growth is perhaps naive by all standards. Any growth should ideally be enriched with pauses and that's what the recession is helping us to do. Afterall who can account for the way every Tom, Dick and Harry was minting money round the corner, doing nothing substantial. Or the unjustifiable fat pay package of a funny group of corporate professionals with limited mindsets who fancied more about their high-flying lifestyle than the professional competencies they possessed. Somewhere someone has to account for this anomaly. Perhaps recession is the savior.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Its time we ward-off the Indian tendency of getting excited about everything and anything. So far Indian corporates were behaving like the dog that walked beneath the horse-driven cart, content that it was pulling a heavy carraige, much to the surprise of the onlooker who witnessed the horse slogging it out. With the carriage down, the dog lies battered -- its ambition still aspiring. Today much to the delight of all the arm-chaired pseudo-intellectuals in Indian corporates are nowhere to be seen predicting the vision of a great future ahead. Poor souls they never got their fundamentals correct. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Even before news of a global recession seeped in Indian shores companies have begun firing people and predicting a grim future. And as employees recede into a quagmire of depression, entrepreneurs and their able management stars are digging pits to hide -- from something not so visible in the horizon. What an irony!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Only a few months back Indian companies appeared to be in the pink of their health. Today they lie limping at the other extreme. Thrilling extremeties indeed. For many India was just about to replace the United States' economy but loo the train seems to be heading towards Somalia. What a pity! A few months back airline companies offered free tickets and treated ordinary passengers like the <em>Maharaja</em>. Today they report losses, inspite a reduction in tax and fuel prices and treat the Indian pasenger as an unwanted street dog waiting to hop in for a cheap ride. </span><br /><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>THE INCOMPETENT DRIVERS</strong><br />Indian buisiness is surely sentiment-driven. More so are its drivers -- the shaky entrepreneur and his equally shaky teams. Imagine a corporate culture smeared with jargons, of powerpoint presentations and stolen alien concepts that do not fit the industry. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">These corporate honchos have failed us. We all believed in their illogical philosophies. Little meat but too much sound. the ones who have failed us are a selective bunch of ill-equipped corporate gurus who hyped the sentiments because they benefitted. What else accounts for the countless mindless powerpoint presentations and the discomforting salary packages?</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Its time we questioned the obnoxious pay package of corporate team members in India. Instead of focussing on building a matured system and human capital corporate houses have been running a rat race to hire professionals with a fat pay package. Yet their competencies have never been questioned. These professionals usually remain content being stuck in day-to-day issues rather than growth-related value-laden work.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;">A better way out of this mess is to contain this trend and lay more emphasis on human capital -- on working out a balanced remuneration based on identified competencies. The money saved can go for building cash reserves for sustaining critical human resources for a longer period of time during recessions.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The anomaly in the remuneration in India is noticeable. In Europe, for example, the difference between the salary of the lowest employee and the highest paid employee is about 10 to 15 times, while in India the difference is about 400 to 500 times. Let's seriously think on this if at all we want to sustain the indian economy. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Its time entrepreneurs critically question these people at the helm of affairs. Afterall they have taken everyone for a ride for too long. What is required is an extra flair of competence to outwit vile professionals at the senior management.They depict what Vivek Kr. Sharma says, "<em>a seemingly strong mind embedded serious weakness</em>."</span> </p><br /><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong>SOME NEW PERSPECTIVES<br /></strong>Indian corporates do not analyze success from how things ought to be rather than whether corporate goals aligned with the personal objectives of a select few. Who cannot recall the scenario a few months back when investors from across the world were fed to the ill-conceived and smartly presented business scenarios. The common scene is most 5-star spots were that of the eager investor and the smartly dressed Indian who positioned himself as the next Bill Gates in the horizon. The gullible investor perhaps had little option but to shell out millions of bucks for projects that promised them tremendous returns.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">The recession could not have come at a better time. Its definately the time and an opportunity for entrepreneurs to understand that they need to check the people they trusted and benefitted the most. They need to understand that all management members are not Ratan Tatas, Azim Premjis or Narayan Murthy. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;">Recession or not organizations in India are poised to loose their strengths and empty their coffers even while trying to gain ground. For instance, in the absence of a matured competency matrix in most Indian companies, corporates are likely to retrench key people for the time being. This will appear to be beneficial in the cash-strapped businesses. However, as the market will pick up there will be a crazy run for rebuilding on the organization's strength. The result: employees who were retrenched are likely to return back at twice or thrice the salary at which they were thrown out.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>DIVINE INTERVENTION - FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC<br /></strong>For the general members of the public who are severely limited from comprehending the finer nuances or the economy and the myriad forces at play Mr Vivek Sharma offers a rather unusual argument:</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>As per our beliefs, "India have about 84 billions Gods and Goddesses. In a population of 1.2 billion odd Indians each Indian can stake claim to about 70 dedicated Gods and Goddesses. Market or no market there is no reason for us to worry. We will always find these Gods and Goddesses helping us out."</em> </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Perhaps our high-flying corporate honchos need such divine intervention...</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-91219201636211510972008-03-29T20:34:00.004+05:302010-02-19T09:32:29.933+05:30Forget E-learning, the System is Rotting at the Base!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4Ykn11wy_wyrKuNpFi0Zwsl32cy6zOKaQuKoLKYW_blpI6ZoNKDdbyma9JghApntPuw0r9_wPcvB3osYfSkKwHBUwDggxYJ3jplMWp4ExwmybISgVmOmUV_iWnf6pFQme0A7/s1600-h/12123.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183180276006591554" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 420px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 298px" height="298" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW4Ykn11wy_wyrKuNpFi0Zwsl32cy6zOKaQuKoLKYW_blpI6ZoNKDdbyma9JghApntPuw0r9_wPcvB3osYfSkKwHBUwDggxYJ3jplMWp4ExwmybISgVmOmUV_iWnf6pFQme0A7/s400/12123.jpg" width="415" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color:#990000;">E-learning sounds attractive, suggesting a gigantic leap onto an era of rapid and serious learning change. The psychological comfort it offers to educationists and upmarket teachers in India enables them to use these complexities of technology to raise the level of perception towards learning and education. Today its clear that there’s no rocket science in learning – the way it is made to appear.</span><br /><br />Look at the very core of the educational system in India -- it’s a pure mess. The basics are so intelligently sidelined through a fascinating technological garb that it confuses many a poor souls. For the Indian citizenry its a confusing realm as they try to make sense of traditional education and technology-aided. No other example can highlight this mess than the recent confusion surrounding Nursery admissions in the various schools of Delhi – India's national capital.<br /><br />It was a quite a drama in Delhi. Right under the nose of the central government and with the seemingly stringent norms spelt out by the Ganguly Commission, the schools blatantly ignored rules, bent admission procedures, fiddled with processes and led to a massive confusion of sorts. Yet very few voices could be heard against this. Perhaps the Indian citizenry remained immatured to be able to see through the flimsy system.<br /><br />Schools in Delhi had their own unique criteria for admission. Under the garb of the Ganguly Commission the admission formula was a mess – every school had its own unique system. Parents meanwhile remained thoroughly confused. There were ones who applied for their ward’s admission to as high as 35 schools, since they were not sure where they would get lucky. At the end of the ordeal almost all ended up in despair. They did not know what criteria were used to select students. When they demanded information they were shooed away like cattle. Information collected from several parents reveal a vicious nexus. Some suggested that it was the social status and wealth that defined the admission norm – for schools remained in the run to grab students whose parents were powerful enough to offer them indirect benefits – in cash or in kind.<br /><br />Amindst this chaos there were several hundreds of low-grade schools that attempted to position themselves as an alternative – showcasing such things as the airconditioned classroom, presence of a swimming pool and other so-called “world class standards”. Most of these schools also used the word ‘International’ as a prefix or suffix to suggest their new found avatar. A closer look suggests that they were nowhere near being international – even on the cleanliness front.<br /><br />The very premise in which everyone questions these schools is the fact that the land in which they were situated was handed over to them by the Government – since education is considered to be serving a noble cause. There were <a href="http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Nursery-admissions-Harried-parents-find-a-helpline-and-a-forum/279318/">countless news items </a>on the admission process in Delhi that questioned the credibility of admission and the response of the government. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The dramatics that unfolded and was spread over several days threw more questions than answers. It suggested how Indian education system remained eons behind global educational standards. It also forced many to question the veracity of the claims that most schools make about education – most of which was downright farcical. For scholars the situation offered a perfect ground for conducting research on education in third-world countries. Its perhaps interesting to see that why India produces very little leaders and researchers and more of salaried slaves who find solace in serving in a private or a government sector company that can guarantee them a decent lifestyle – nothing more nothing less. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-17863068758461472007-12-05T21:14:00.003+05:302010-02-23T14:55:36.089+05:30Indian companies need competent HR professionals<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6TIc6bmFWQ6tHZ7bkPSOJ2A0Wd-ol4bZvVpzb3LtHoi2jAw961X-JHizoImcFpo8m0W7nBDh_TOPCVPqJUIaO8P8HaRZzzmVSC0DSySccI-vbBV_Qn8nP90VVCFMnQmhbxsy/s1600-h/human_resources.jpg"></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggT1kej5peUoMvgYi2Mjqbf_hP-ky2buRiQ3Ev6rjudLePp6VJbbf-fEwptu38u1cd_ykWZaEqdqalsI8YjbdowKsyYoGou5lSnd4lS6YenGmy9YTlV3KHu7kD2eXvkBuwTDg/s1600-h/HR-final.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeFZOdG1IolSvGbQp_F06hNIEMcxYkr8AX0zbge8x5Zl1YfjDVZcd0cEVa4zg711-v-E7DMkGpx6An9LUTnZh3y17_5nPeV_mawzW5EjJVHga695omoIPScPZnrpOWmYK_aYh/s1600-h/HR-final.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141086066680667906" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="373" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeFZOdG1IolSvGbQp_F06hNIEMcxYkr8AX0zbge8x5Zl1YfjDVZcd0cEVa4zg711-v-E7DMkGpx6An9LUTnZh3y17_5nPeV_mawzW5EjJVHga695omoIPScPZnrpOWmYK_aYh/s400/HR-final.jpg" width="293" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Any wonder what the acronym HR means in India --"Human Resource," "Human Recruitment," "Human Relations" or what an employee recently coined "Humiliation Resource."<br /></span><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Any discussion on organizations is perhaps incomplete without pondering on its HR practices and HR health. Inspite a booming economy Indian companies have always grappled with HR issues that never seem to end. For many the high attrition rates are a direct indicator of any organizations HR health. After all its the HR Deptt. that is responsible for the fundamental "organizational culture." And the system appears to be worsening by the day.<br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">For experts high attrition rate symbolizes a heathy economy. Enormous opportunities, they say, are driving the youth to seek fatter salary packages. Companies, on the other hand, see attrition as the organization's inability to match the industry-standard salary packages. In essence both these perspectives are flawed at the very core.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The current issues of employee-retention is a fabulous creation of shabby HR practices -- a creation of ill-bred and half-baked HR professionals, most of whom owe their knowledge to C-grade run-of-the-mill institutes strewn across India. For most HR activity relates only to "Recruitments". </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Rising attrition rates is a direct reflection of the HR incompetency. HR Departments, for one, are now endowed with the skills, competency and knowledge to map individual needs and organizational goals -- a prerequisite while recruiting resources. Today very few Indian HR professionals appreciate the immense potential of on-demand training and e-learning. For them these are jargons that typically signify nothing. No wonder that HR Departments in Indian companies (barring a few well-structured companies) has now come to be seen as a very low-end and low-dignity assignment in the management spectrum.<br /></span><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#ff0000;"><strong>MAP YOUR ORGANIZATION'S HR HEALTH</strong></span><span style="color:#ff0000;"> ...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">To clearly understand how the HR is setting back your organization try answering the following questions:<br /></span><br /><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">1. Has your HR Department ever asked you to submit your training needs?</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">2. Did you ever meet a matured HR professional in your current company who has offered you matured and sensible personal advice?</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">3. Can your HR department put a box soliciting annonymous letters about the issues that concern employees?</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">4. How many HR professionals within your organization are employee-friendly?</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">5. Do you think that the HR department in your organization are spies of the senior management and cannot be trusted with personal information. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;">6. How many HR professionals in Indian companies have a good understanding of the company's line of business? </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;color:#000099;">7. Can you approach your HR Deptt. in case any conflicting situation with your immediate superior?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-58604119565664564572007-12-04T20:06:00.000+05:302007-12-05T15:27:14.111+05:30DUCKS, RABBITS & LEARNING<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-J_TSEadumXfvS9d9eBrfzdWNoJCqp60AJSWEBf98tUKEMXL_b7tssjOZ0V9BSWX3ebduLGVNAnNxqhcglUzZQfpKkrZaJHwq58BIPB2NdYumRdSBawQqCDAhzKN3Z68HurNj/s1600-h/zoo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140127094972751554" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 314px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 330px" height="342" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-J_TSEadumXfvS9d9eBrfzdWNoJCqp60AJSWEBf98tUKEMXL_b7tssjOZ0V9BSWX3ebduLGVNAnNxqhcglUzZQfpKkrZaJHwq58BIPB2NdYumRdSBawQqCDAhzKN3Z68HurNj/s400/zoo.jpg" width="331" border="0" /></a>I was immersed in the design of our organizational newsletter in this decrepit Advertising agency in South Delhi when I received a call on my mobile. The caller informed me about swimming ducks, a defiant pack of dogs, unruly pigeons, staring rabbits and colorful fishes. For a moment I tried to rationalize on what was more important for me – the saga of these creatures or my editing the newsletter. Surely the newsletter! But these tales too were not of lesser importance. They were from my 3 year old darling daughter who had just returned after her school trip to Bal Bhawan.<br /><br />That day evening I perched comfortably with my dearie daughter and listened to her experience in Bal Bhawan – so honestly captured and relayed. All along as Pakhi stood trying to narrate me what she saw I could sense how interesting learning can become if we were to remove the artificial garb of formalism and protocol that we endeavour it to wear.<br /><br />Learning about the way children learn offers us a great research opportunity. Few realize that the exact nature in which children learn, if captured and analyzed properly in the relevant cultural and socio-economic context, can be applied in various learning scenarios that are unique to India. The psychological inter-play of cognitive processing, the impact of the environment, the impact of language and the socio-cultural context is barely understood. In India, in the current format in which learning is being sold and bought, research often finds a backseat. The reasons for this abject rejection of research as foundation for the future can be seen as as an academic limitation or because such research is often considered tedious and not seen as providing overnight results. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />I believe that today or tomorrow we may need to take a serious call on this callousness towards "learning research". Though institutions such as the CBSE and the NGO sector have initiated steps in this directio, a research-based analytical mindset is still a far-cry in most institutions that deal with learning. Till then, we all will continue to read about what learning research was undertaken in which part of the world with what impact. Isn't it time we stopped such blatant emulation and address learning issues as they are –- contextually?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-89556423167723347762007-11-24T16:35:00.001+05:302010-06-09T18:08:52.551+05:30Cheats, Drama and Survival<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Folks, I am back!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVxMnlr-LYspB8EW1mEGX4Bxxe1eON9BYDaW9UQ2ed3eIignYi22WGkHegaqJiO3oMBgQPLO53uz3UzOQ7Uw9kYYtM2tVZ3SwdhXtIYBCyjM6ugWymg_JF7gvKiZdjcpKNgow/s1600-h/2222.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 318px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 322px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136393223384691634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVxMnlr-LYspB8EW1mEGX4Bxxe1eON9BYDaW9UQ2ed3eIignYi22WGkHegaqJiO3oMBgQPLO53uz3UzOQ7Uw9kYYtM2tVZ3SwdhXtIYBCyjM6ugWymg_JF7gvKiZdjcpKNgow/s400/2222.jpg" width="246" height="312" /></a>Its been several months now that I had disappeared from the bloggers realm as anxious readers tried contacting me over mails, over phones and what not. Well, the past few months have been exciting, not to mention the drama that was kicked off by one of my blog posts on fradulent organizations. I had to delete the post because of the painful and unfortunate events that ensued. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">My story on an institute that trains Air Hostesses was extremely honest. I had captured every small detail with the rigours of a perfect reporter. The writeup, as soon as it was posted, bought down the rankings of the institute -- putting my post much higher in rank in Google search. Almost a day later I received a call from the lady with whom I had interacted during the freelance work (amounting to Rs 25,000 that I was never paid). She informed me that she had left her job in the institute and was held almost captive in a location in South Delhi and was being threatened. She told me that unless I removed my post she would be tortured. Thereafter, I received a call from the Branding Director of the institute -- suave in communication but criminal in intent. He tried to entice me with pleasantries (the usual sweet talk of professionals in Delhi). When I disagreed he started using abusive language, almost sounding like a roadside goon. I kept quite. All the while he never talked of the money that his company owed me. He told me that he will ensure that he stops my blog and reduces its value. This he did, by posting several annonymous vulgar messages that suits his personality perfectly. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">By the end of the day too many people got involved in the drame -- 2 Vice-Presidents of the company I was working in, the top management of that air hostess training institute, a few journalists, 2 petty politicians and some friends. At my end I decided to pull down the blog post because the girl was begging mercy and the Vice Presidents wanted me to stay away from such petty thugs, who while calling themselves an institute are bereft of any credibility. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I personally drew two conclusion from the drama. One that most of these so-called brands in Delhi have a shadier side to their existence. And two, Frankfinn Air Hostess Academy remains the undisputed leader in Air Hostess training. Its far above, in terms of quality, than its desperate competitor.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-58138681135826180232007-06-19T21:05:00.000+05:302007-06-19T21:52:55.418+05:30Freelance Frauds: Delhi tops the List<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodaftntg_twNycgZ__ZV2lihmEBgVwgnk_u6O9CzquD7SdImgKDh0FeD977SvbA2yEEiUyUri5XXR7IuwFaZHOQSXvhyphenhyphenLnQxTFRRUR7ynj5daWio6kctUWO3M3p6mrNmNgMBy/s1600-h/fraud-delhi.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077800343608208930" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhodaftntg_twNycgZ__ZV2lihmEBgVwgnk_u6O9CzquD7SdImgKDh0FeD977SvbA2yEEiUyUri5XXR7IuwFaZHOQSXvhyphenhyphenLnQxTFRRUR7ynj5daWio6kctUWO3M3p6mrNmNgMBy/s400/fraud-delhi.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Have you ever been cheated in a project where your intellectual work was simply stolen? Was there a situation where the money promised to you in a freelance writing project was simply never delivered? Well, its far too common in Delhi -- perhaps one reason for people getting less and less attracted towards freelance assignments.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Most freelance assignment in Delhi drops in through a friend with lot of sweet talk and friendly gesture, something that is intended to override your demand for a contract paper. Common dialogues that drop from the proposer of the assignment when you seek a written agreement etc are, <em>Are Humari Aur Aapki relation alag Hai</em>," "<em>Aap to Mere Bhai Ho</em>," <em>Yeh Sale Fraud Companies Ne To Delhi Mein Sabka Naam Badnam Kar Rakha Hai.</em>" </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">And while you spend fuel and effort running around putting together parts of a great assignment, its often too late when you hear that the project was "shelved" for reasons unexplained or your english was simply "not upto the </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">mark." Even <a href="http://www.crime-research.org/news/30.01.2005/933/">programmers are not spared </a>from this ever-rising menace of frauds.<br /></span><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Content writing and research frauds in Delhi is in its all-time high. Even senior professionals with several years of experience often find themselves in the receiving end of such practices. Since the relationships usually does not come through hard paper contracts, freelance workers usually do not have the power to appeal before a labour court of take legal action.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">How do you identify credible companies from fradulent ones? Well, there is no single formula in which you can. Even job sites like <a href="http://www.naukri.com/">http://www.naukri.com/</a> and <a href="http://www.monster.com/">http://www.monster.com/</a> carry a advertisements of several of such fradulent freelance companies. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">My suggestion to all freelancers in Delhi is to undertake some research before undertaking any assignment. And the one best formula for succeeding in the game is to look at all these companies with skepticism -- that will keep you alert about where you are heading. And do not forget to sign a contract beforehand!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I will definately try to publish some amazing and true case studies of such fradulent cases in Delhi for seperating the wheat from the chalf.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-26105092138149238392007-05-31T19:40:00.000+05:302007-05-31T19:56:59.169+05:30Does the Ambience impact e-learning?<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0CA4lkNCQugh17K0dRlsWvz4gX11uwxLoHFGAnqyndIEuC0CT97ao9R_KuyxlOgtgNdT21Tu_ruHywAdHoaCIbBXxwEAp-lNbylvNSTYPWYo1IatCGIsFUHsBlN1VQc6lQni/s1600-h/Alps1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070727930783792642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="302" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0CA4lkNCQugh17K0dRlsWvz4gX11uwxLoHFGAnqyndIEuC0CT97ao9R_KuyxlOgtgNdT21Tu_ruHywAdHoaCIbBXxwEAp-lNbylvNSTYPWYo1IatCGIsFUHsBlN1VQc6lQni/s400/Alps1.jpg" width="434" border="0" /></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Oft my mind pondered whether e-learning as a profession was impacted by the ambience or not. Perhaps Yes.<br /><br />Unlike the regular software development work, e-learning requires a serene ambience, one that could steer the human mind to levels of utmost calm and well-being wherein it could blossom and relive the instructional designer of creative blockades.<br /><br />My conversations with some instructional designers in Genpact and NIIT have helped me understand the deeper workings of the human mind to a greater extent – in the way the ambience and the surroundings impinge on performance. Many professionals who undertake onsite visits in the US and Europe have displayed significant levels of enthusiasm, that perhaps was absent when they were squeezed inside a concrete building with little scope for cognitive boosterism.<br /><br />Whatever be the conditional theories of the human mind and the feelings therein, I feel the following pictures will surely transfer instructional designers to an ethereal realm of calmness. These are the pictures from Austria and the Alps mountain range…</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_H1QeWcrltkk64OKOB-T1phuLQcv4Kru757lPUSWL4JkJKaZzX11QZBc8T20zOmhJ3m1M5J-RnWHz6EEoG0pWNbLRPvv9pONt8XHAfdQGYFvzgx7paVVRLXH-oW_9raLAS-Kz/s1600-h/austria14.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtaOIkGbxkIbrwsNbsv6VWLtZs56D8KspTmDZ0BW9wMXDWONFdRaK33NxSqAEKu0xanvHChHK_QFRhrCKj-MkkTkYU8ofJ6HN3veb8ziGp3kqrrzS0yIi_yEffVzeqCsFGM5K/s1600-h/austria4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070729751849926178" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 378px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px" height="124" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtaOIkGbxkIbrwsNbsv6VWLtZs56D8KspTmDZ0BW9wMXDWONFdRaK33NxSqAEKu0xanvHChHK_QFRhrCKj-MkkTkYU8ofJ6HN3veb8ziGp3kqrrzS0yIi_yEffVzeqCsFGM5K/s400/austria4.jpg" width="244" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uR0uuLGhETNocJlEy2OGx2oVNSCbfW45uicWP8Bp11x7GuIiiwR5fLyVqkahzBrcf7OSuTj1N8xwVakWjBHInycYdy_4hppqyQSFlTlCZFXinn9EfTyBMbUXRdQm2aqhZWG_/s1600-h/austria3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070730404684955186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 379px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" height="138" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7uR0uuLGhETNocJlEy2OGx2oVNSCbfW45uicWP8Bp11x7GuIiiwR5fLyVqkahzBrcf7OSuTj1N8xwVakWjBHInycYdy_4hppqyQSFlTlCZFXinn9EfTyBMbUXRdQm2aqhZWG_/s400/austria3.jpg" width="283" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-29666599399477575102007-05-18T18:56:00.000+05:302007-05-21T15:07:47.826+05:30Hey! Is the E-learning Boom Round the Corner?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWN7PaVvWPPpV1XjRJ7-z0W2MkDPKHgkO4aMO0UpJhfb9sV-uqX_JhYntxu64xu0EKCluuyNj9xEsUMPl1nawct7gzYmj3v3pnRf0kqg1zNJvH3eA7mhrVic-GKyLJHiLWLKDi/s1600-h/111.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5065896401813437938" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="389" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWN7PaVvWPPpV1XjRJ7-z0W2MkDPKHgkO4aMO0UpJhfb9sV-uqX_JhYntxu64xu0EKCluuyNj9xEsUMPl1nawct7gzYmj3v3pnRf0kqg1zNJvH3eA7mhrVic-GKyLJHiLWLKDi/s400/111.JPG" width="440" border="0" /></a> <div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtFFsi7Nf8GGHsoL3Vz-d8MwK1knAo7QPdxl9zZ97Fn3lfpq92XibJJUs9VpulgDFV9_ggnuHi-bfB1d6-jSbT5kXyUoq64U_zDMi5BkEPblMJOF1j1E_uQBTb702HkeQ60_S/s1600-h/victory.gif"></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWN7PaVvWPPpV1XjRJ7-z0W2MkDPKHgkO4aMO0UpJhfb9sV-uqX_JhYntxu64xu0EKCluuyNj9xEsUMPl1nawct7gzYmj3v3pnRf0kqg1zNJvH3eA7mhrVic-GKyLJHiLWLKDi/s1600-h/111.JPG"></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Its interesting to see how the Indian mainstream media occasionally dabbles with features on e-learning. Surprisingly, for more than a decade now reporters continue to file the same generic stories on e-learning over and over again. A common theme in most of these stories is about the e-learning boom that's just "round the corner." Such themes were interesting a decade back. Now they sound monotonous and give the impression that e-learning as a profession has made no stride. Perhaps this has more to do with the poor breed of technology journalists in India whose sense of journalism is to COPY PASTE stories from old sources and give them a slight twist.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The latest article is filed by <a href="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070425/jobs/main1.htm">The Tribune</a> and even in TOI's <a href="http://www.timesascent.in/index.aspx?page=article§id=1&contentid=20070123141940453629b89e8&pageno=1">Ascent </a>that dwells on the same stale theme. And as if that was not sufficient senior industry <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?leftnm=1&subLeft=2&chklogin=N&amp;amp;amp;autono=284593&tab=r">professionals</a> too have jumped in the fray with their bit of stale soothsaying. <p><p></span></p></div><div><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Its time we spare the media channels! Its time we allowed e-learning to speak for itself. Isn't it in poor taste to use rhetoric, cathy phrases and soothsaying to promote the field of e-learning? The time for such frills are passe and its time that journalists and industry professionals stop singing the same stale song over and over again. Let the newcomers in e-learning not be awed with such features and interviews that do little service by way of informing readers. At best these shoddy writeups just fill newspaper space and generate hype for e-learning companies eager to earn the tag of a "leader."</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-43081812057592301562007-05-10T21:45:00.000+05:302007-05-19T13:20:35.847+05:30Train Journey through Pristine Nature<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Only yesterday I browsed through my collection of pictures. In a forlorn folder inside my computer I found some pictures of the train route between Silchar and Lumding (in Assam). The train route was constructed around 1900 by the Bristishers, although the Indian government is trying to convert this meter gauge into broad gauge.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The train journey between Lumding and Silchar is one of its kind largely because it has not been commercialized and hyped. Enroute lies Jatinga, a village famous for the mystery of birds committing suicide in hordes -- a phenomenon yet to be explained. Ornithologists have been flocking to this place to study the phenomenon. The area is rich in a variety of orchids & plants species such as Blue Vandas (a lovely sky blue orchid) -- the only one of its kinds in the world. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A friend had sent me these pictures. And I learn that this is the train route on which Sharukh Khan shot his famous <em>Chaiya Chaiya</em> song for the film Dil Se. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-70827093979169503832007-05-10T21:24:00.000+05:302007-05-11T15:12:36.326+05:30<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYawXdXvQzCucVO0aZF1azdQY6w_C7OQD7Q6ntJNI2CrLL2CbGtT-dcA1WIP3Bli0wjZx51VIs0r2mhILrzWUKOHwhxI_EtXBxPoU3yM6Lg6Z5ut76XbaeqGa2jR3y9O-oz29G/s1600-h/rainbow+enroute.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5063236173092711138" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYawXdXvQzCucVO0aZF1azdQY6w_C7OQD7Q6ntJNI2CrLL2CbGtT-dcA1WIP3Bli0wjZx51VIs0r2mhILrzWUKOHwhxI_EtXBxPoU3yM6Lg6Z5ut76XbaeqGa2jR3y9O-oz29G/s400/rainbow+enroute.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-46477630960045027762007-05-10T21:22:00.000+05:302007-05-11T15:13:34.464+05:30<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSuxN-HbTEWRcmuJoB3_gQgaJE0HBISPSwwiyOe8Wlt9xXH3qAYFHGu68-6Xl6GN04HT-VaisnpX-xz80b3UXSHEt4mhjAu2TgzNMQ6F6p-TLvHPsA53bqgNwEF-lTnwFRPid/s1600-h/over+the+bridge.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5063236435085716210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSuxN-HbTEWRcmuJoB3_gQgaJE0HBISPSwwiyOe8Wlt9xXH3qAYFHGu68-6Xl6GN04HT-VaisnpX-xz80b3UXSHEt4mhjAu2TgzNMQ6F6p-TLvHPsA53bqgNwEF-lTnwFRPid/s400/over+the+bridge.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-23989502259118927702007-05-10T21:20:00.000+05:302007-05-10T21:22:03.010+05:30<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQpfBSvm33TnfdJ3FsmIYzhe4mBB0kVtSdABPcWAolvJ250__MQynpNUNJ0e8T4-WzeQ-KpEXzOe-38S2IPY3U7o-g07f3HHpyS6V60IQvVbXkAdRpL48lHur3yxBRo5VkxFF/s1600-h/Boila+Bridge.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5062960303048321714" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQpfBSvm33TnfdJ3FsmIYzhe4mBB0kVtSdABPcWAolvJ250__MQynpNUNJ0e8T4-WzeQ-KpEXzOe-38S2IPY3U7o-g07f3HHpyS6V60IQvVbXkAdRpL48lHur3yxBRo5VkxFF/s400/Boila+Bridge.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-90905217175413851972007-05-10T21:18:00.000+05:302007-05-11T15:14:39.842+05:30<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sxGuTG3kY0fjhkQlC5gXi_b3URSsl277NWcsXalfbUczfPWhtbto25grWBznUD96zm-qCw_CylDEhAgPA1GHUza-CkhMLYXMN6rL7T_cDJHaSfQ49jZH9lxu4XtqtjWIm13x/s1600-h/view+from+Halflong+circuit-house.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5063236718553557762" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sxGuTG3kY0fjhkQlC5gXi_b3URSsl277NWcsXalfbUczfPWhtbto25grWBznUD96zm-qCw_CylDEhAgPA1GHUza-CkhMLYXMN6rL7T_cDJHaSfQ49jZH9lxu4XtqtjWIm13x/s400/view+from+Halflong+circuit-house.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFJYQBGKNHCgNUaXWsJzxmSGhZUtKTEI5yiU5dPzMP_kkXOgZbzDAx1aYDozdv2OBxWebxoPA2ZuMaTI-pM7_e3QxeVXxu6SfI_QTmYAg6okSbv9oJlBxMCod1dfsHQAkj9L7/s1600-h/view+from+Circuit+House.jpg"></a><span style="font-family:courier new;color:#3366ff;">View from Halflong circuit house</span><br /><br /><div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-58764985416842901432007-05-10T20:31:00.000+05:302007-05-11T15:15:44.486+05:30<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XMCS04AoiRr9Ypy0_TpNaavDslu2ESoMoi6JZ_9P-6OGzsNXoJZJKam2XYu7_SkqzXL6P5R4jP281tNYUAxDnguTYBCvhCHZlj61S4ax7s8zlbeU6Lgl0gW9r-x2It7vDxXj/s1600-h/barak-valley-express.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5063236989136497426" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XMCS04AoiRr9Ypy0_TpNaavDslu2ESoMoi6JZ_9P-6OGzsNXoJZJKam2XYu7_SkqzXL6P5R4jP281tNYUAxDnguTYBCvhCHZlj61S4ax7s8zlbeU6Lgl0gW9r-x2It7vDxXj/s400/barak-valley-express.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVIrPW_LNB8ny5yW6QDpWWWh0USsnZN1wK_wsVrwdV8N7Fl01eaHdYKoQCKznEf_nF6NU0E5sRdTZrhxU7RZ9DRGWJB-rPmobsCKwp1Yuskgfr0yoMZjAECeLMqUfSZsDuYkk/s1600-h/barak-valley-express.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Curvy Railway bridge near Halflong</span> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-480343912027962972007-05-04T16:51:00.000+05:302007-05-04T18:33:03.031+05:30In Delhi, it’s the Dead End for E-Learning<div><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUvuJk3jUTH4dLX-D_L08ZMgo7-V5L0kDmKvTnTSOWEZyvxa58cVVCqj_vlYnfvkIsks5YXmMSB4Qwb-NGzlCVO9T_geS3nkS0rfkzQdJZZGVwKfH1S8nl7jK5C2ENr8ShfgX/s1600-h/111.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5060679048348920434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUvuJk3jUTH4dLX-D_L08ZMgo7-V5L0kDmKvTnTSOWEZyvxa58cVVCqj_vlYnfvkIsks5YXmMSB4Qwb-NGzlCVO9T_geS3nkS0rfkzQdJZZGVwKfH1S8nl7jK5C2ENr8ShfgX/s320/111.JPG" border="0" /></a>Delhi, India’s capital, never ceases to baffle me. For the sheer amount of grandeur and ostentation the city has emerged to offer a delusive contentment for professionals -– the latest in e-learning. The industry that once trumpeted a revolution or sorts is now beset with myriad issues – skeptic clients, dwindling market-space, and disenchanted resources. Professionals with several years of experience can be seen running from pillar to post -- trying to locate that honest employer, the workplace of their dreams.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">E-learning companies in Delhi and NCR have hit a dead end, or so it appears. Jobs that were once clamoring for attention have suddenly disappeared forcing professionals to get stuck in the rut of their current assignments, in companies that once promised them the world. Amidst stories of disenchantment and dream-shattered there are many who are now seriously pensive about continuing a career in e-learning. Websites like </span><a href="http://www.naukri.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">www.naukri.com</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a href="http://www.jobsahead.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">www.jobsahead.com</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> now carry ads of small e-learning players positioned in disheveled locales offering paltry remuneration packages. While many smart clients have backed off from outsourcing e-learning projects to North-Indian observers believe many more will follow suit. Amidst this shaky situation some players continue to function with an unusual calm -– the lull before the storm!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Strangely for a city of its size a slight shrugging-off and the impact can be seen everywhere. Towards mid-2006 Brainvisa, a Pune-based e-learning company suddenly called off its development center in Noida. This resulted in a sudden overflow of Instructional Designers all over the region. Like a flock of aliens they crowded other e-learning companies only to be despised, or worse, employed at a lower salary than what they were drawing at Brainvisa. For many it was lesson learnt hard – they should have resisted the allurement of the fat package offered by Brainvisa. Quick come quick go.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Given the shape of e-learning in Delhi and the NCR region one cannot help but wonder whether we have over-sung the outsourcing song. Its time we learnt a few lessons. A better idea for e-learning professionals is to hone their skills beyond e-learning -– in technical writing, journalism and related areas. And if you are employed in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad it makes tremendous sense to ward-off offers from e-learning companies in the North. Its time we prepared for the worst!</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-17165526053186051872007-04-11T16:16:00.000+05:302007-04-16T20:48:50.445+05:30Shedding off that spurious Flab<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTE-mnfUglBqMDG18lNuHbstRNui7pSypUO2GzE5uf10TajlIJKF1aYRd8NxkgsvDFl-oiUtuxSFxKTb09D7_H5ofDrMM6nW3Le3AdAeZGmigPu9ZLt_onscvE2UM-7-jgxiLw/s1600-h/batsman-india.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5052120450301308530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 284px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 333px" height="320" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTE-mnfUglBqMDG18lNuHbstRNui7pSypUO2GzE5uf10TajlIJKF1aYRd8NxkgsvDFl-oiUtuxSFxKTb09D7_H5ofDrMM6nW3Le3AdAeZGmigPu9ZLt_onscvE2UM-7-jgxiLw/s320/batsman-india.JPG" width="284" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The shameful ouster of the Indian cricket team from the world cup has the entire nation running for cover – a classic case of Indians and Indianness. Die-hard fans now satiate themselves with shoddy family soaps, the wayward discussions in pan shops are irrelevant, and advertisers have disappeared in a whiff. And just when I thought the euphoria was over, I found myself inundated in superficial and irritating media bickering -- allegations and counter-allegations, cricketers’ analysis, Chappell versus Tendulkar. Add to it the audacity of the BCCI and hoards of publicity-hungry ex-cricketers who spared no efforts in analyzing this and that. Indians just won’t give up. Today the enigma applies to almost all fields of Indians' endeavour.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A similar rut thrives in e-learning, the Indian software industry and almost all Indian ventures. Forget the generous picture of a resurgent India (as portrayed by the media and soothsayers). A closer look and most Indian IT and e-learning companies appear to be wading through a virtual ocean of issues – mismanagement, lack of employee welfare, unethical claims – some true some false – and the over-zealous media that faces a severe dearth of intellectual food. For a global Indian (thanks to the Internet), the dramatics is far too boring and I find fail to consume it with a sense of extreme optimism. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">India’s much-hyped teamwork — like our infamous cricket team – has always been shaky and questionable by all standards. Stories of differences are far too common than stories of concerted accomplishments, of teamwork — Infosys' are an exception while Reliances' are the norm. Our value system and traits, it appears, is being carried over in far too many areas. Consider the facts that cry for attention. Barring the few top leaders most Indian companies have an attrition rates ranging from 40% to 75%, although they claim otherwise. In places like Delhi small groups of unsuccessful professionals have got together in decrepit South Delhi locations claiming to be the next big leaders in e-learning. All the while the government machinery, the infrastructure, the police, the law and order, and the social system remain entangled in the quagmire of deficiency. Yet we proclaim ourselves as emerging power in the world — our inflated egos overriding our shabby performance. Rationality and logic are words that we Indians can do without.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Our exit from the world cup carries symbolic connotations for the larger issues that confront us today. So while the Sehwags and Yuvrajs have been forced by circumstances to shed off their now infamous and intolerable boisterous flab, the Indian software industry should follow suit. Its time the offshoring and outsourcing industry wake up and arrest its unprofessional flab — the unethical promises, the shady under-table deals, the overstatements, and the dubious commitments that are announced before international clients. For now Indian cricket appears to be a dead animal or so — as it appears. And its pretty much possible that the 'overhyped' outsourcing industry too face a similar shameful exit from the global IT arena. And once it happens we naive Indians can help little but witness another bout of ‘Indian’ dramatics featuring allegations, counter-allegations and opprobrium. Isn't it time we shed our infamous “Indianness” — traits that have done us no good so far.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-66793093361546441762007-02-14T15:25:00.000+05:302007-02-14T15:42:29.743+05:30Of Project Managers and Staged Shows<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6UZkCkLR7IV8pBZhX_5mGBdHUa1l2MZpK6Qd_Dxf7ZJUsYTR_OBnTwrqipXX8ORB3zbcYgIxDhoNDkOQu0n1-9S7CoKRhNrF-iF3LUmY6EMKVbypTg4N4g6VmLJHdapFbYW1/s1600-h/2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5031326761086304386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="200" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6UZkCkLR7IV8pBZhX_5mGBdHUa1l2MZpK6Qd_Dxf7ZJUsYTR_OBnTwrqipXX8ORB3zbcYgIxDhoNDkOQu0n1-9S7CoKRhNrF-iF3LUmY6EMKVbypTg4N4g6VmLJHdapFbYW1/s320/2.JPG" width="213" border="0" /></a>Days back I received an email from an acquaintance based in Mumbai. He informed me that he has joined as a PM in an e-learning company. To quote him verbatim, “I am having a gala time as a PM. The only thing I need to do here is to squeeze timelines so that we get the most out of these silly IDs and graphic designers.”<br /><br />That didn’t surprise to me, largely because I had sensed this trend about a year back. The issue of squeezed timelines is not usually done by the outsourcing client but by the Project Managers within. The logic is simple – squeezing the timeline reduces development costs for the company and adds a feather in the PM’s cap that can be converted to a higher annual increment.<br /><br />Consider the statistics (lent by a senior ID from Genpact). About 2 years back the average number of frames that IDs were required to churn out daily was 12-15. This number has now shot to 20-25 even while the salaries have not seen an increment by that rate. So even while clients throw a deadline of say 15 days, the project manager reduces this to 7 days even while the client is billed on the actual effort of 15 days, and maybe more.<br /><br />Project Managers are also instructed by the management to escalate fictitious issues for IDs and GDs so that the conditions become conducive for them to leave the company. With an annual increment of an average of 25% companies discover that certain resources are a liability and their replacements can come at a lower remuneration package. However, for individuals who redefine themselves and are capable of shouldering higher responsibilities are not axed.<br /><br />Even as you see those flashy growth figures of Indian e-learning companies, the underlying politics weigh far too heavily on the employee’s careers. For some rational and far-sighted ones e-learning today has come to be a makeshift arrangement, a platform, to launch their actual careers. Perhaps they see the e-learning as closely resembling the BPOs where numbers matter more than the grey matter. Is it this coldness that makes software professionals giggle at ‘e-learning?’ Who knows – the answer is best left unanswered.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-88065303922194110102007-02-12T14:08:00.000+05:302007-02-12T14:40:33.891+05:30The 8 hour shift that never is<div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujtHBXX65aHBDCicyMpRvwrw9bjJZpilF9_JOyRUH4pKuDS5WC4h7YATdLsjY6yT8zlYVTSgVSXA-9tdPfc4L4hfBrt06hGXD0e37kGqe3CFahed5ZbXh3KlFKIS9eEL5TLHz/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030572504699584626" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 263px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 228px" height="208" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujtHBXX65aHBDCicyMpRvwrw9bjJZpilF9_JOyRUH4pKuDS5WC4h7YATdLsjY6yT8zlYVTSgVSXA-9tdPfc4L4hfBrt06hGXD0e37kGqe3CFahed5ZbXh3KlFKIS9eEL5TLHz/s320/3.jpg" width="244" border="0" /></a>There's more to the 8-hour stumper, the number of hours an e-learning professional spends in office. For most Indian companies the 8-hour mantra remains a pleasing jargon -- to be uttered by sweet-mouthed and 'cute' HR executives (the bait). And it just cannot be practiced. After all 'we are a family'. Surely they are!</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Cleverly hidden inside this practice of extended work hours lies a hidden agenda, a vile lucidity that transcends beyond mere rhetorics. For most Indians in the e-learning industry the salary they earn is not for an 8-hour job, 5 days a week, its for delivering more. After all such long and extended hours of work deliver nothing except gimmicks in the form of shabby food and the pride to travel in a so-called cab.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Time-centric employee politics has some to be the mainstay of most Indian e-learning companies in India today. Its not uncommon to witness IDs and graphic designers spending sleepless nights over courses, endlessly. They hope that after this one project, this last effort they will be able to return home on time. And even as such hope remain chained within the deepest realms of cognition, e-learning professionals register a whole range of health related issues.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Perhaps its too early for the industry and too early for us to witness strong non-nonsense e-learning professionals who are qualitative and assertive to the core. Perhaps it the clients to be blamed who ride on an ill-conceived value of outsourcing -- cost. Till then IDs and Graphic Designers have to carry on with that 12-14 hour shift. What they loose in the process is a decent human life, a desire to give quality time for themselves and their families, and live a life of contentment. Are e-learning employees humans?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-1170404581831496762007-02-02T13:52:00.000+05:302007-02-05T16:02:40.743+05:30Global players in as Indian institutes sleep<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Even as India's <em>desi</em> Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) gets crowded with more and more so-called intellectuals, the wider needs of the Indian student community will now be met by </span><a href="http://www.indianewengland.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&amp;amp;amp;amp;mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=27184752FF7C43459480C081377163CA"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Cambridge College</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. With a strategically located center in Mumbai Cambridge College spell that their mission is to "to provide academically excellent, time-efficient and cost-effective higher education for a diverse population of working adults for whom those opportunities may have been limited or </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">denied." </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The college also has plans to open a school in Delhi, and eventually an entire campus in India. The method by which students will earn their degrees is an adaptive blended learning model. The system was developed by Nishikant Sonwalkar, currently the Vice-President of the Center for Adaptive Learning and Programs at Cambridge College. Sonwalkar researched on the model at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he had been the principal Educational architect.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Amidst such moves one cannot help but wonder what value does institutions like IGNOU bring for the student commnuity. Consider the fact that most course material of IGNOU stand outdated and useless. The only one service that the institution has done till date is to serve as a platform for Indian scholars who have got a wide area to tread and satiate their urge of self-promotion.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326360.post-1170071528878232312007-01-29T17:15:00.000+05:302007-02-01T14:51:19.400+05:30Shape up with Rapid E-learning!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7446/1910/1600/933760/1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 307px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 232px" height="181" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7446/1910/320/205234/1.jpg" width="253" border="0" /></a>Recall the number of encounters you have had with an uncouth and obnoxious Indian government employee –- in railway stations, airports, banks, government offices etc. Were you ever left feeling dejected and cheated? Were you showered with expletives and attitude? Given the current standards, YES! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Most government workers in India today, inspite their tasting the fruits of globalization, remain localized –- unprofessional in every sense of the word. For example, in India's national capital 2 out of three citizens I meet report of harrasment, racism, inhuman treatment and unprofessionalism meted out by a govt. employee -- postman, policeman, bank clerk, municipality counseller, booking clerk, and worst, peons. And they have nowhere to go. As tales of some of the most </span><a href="http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=796"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">horrendous racial discrimination </span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">makes inroads into the public realm, one cannot help but remain concerned about the lop-sided development. The rut appears to be eating out our senses. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">With claims of being one of the world’s ancient civilizations, our government officials exemplify otherwise. Clearly no evolution is visible in sight and action. Even with the noted Right to Information (RTI) Act</span> the difference in <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">workplace attitude and approach is a mirage. As one Indian citizen recently noted "I feel India is fast receding into a chaotic nation with public work culture and attitude registering the lowest performance in the world. The government machinery just does not seem to work."<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Perhaps e-learning has a solution here largely because t</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">raining a mammoth government work-force with basic workplace skills through traditional instructor-led training would require tremendous effort -- something that the government cannot afford. Ideally, the government should firm-up mandatory training laws for all departments, and better still, map training to the appraisal system. E-learning can help inject order in government servants. Its time Indians inward-feed some of those e-learning courses that they develop for a global clientele. And the Indian government should be the first customers -- if they aren't they surely are determined to take the nation back in time to devastation.<br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2