If two Tamil speaking persons start conversing, there is a 99% possibility that within 90 seconds the conversation would hover around Kannada Prasad.

Corollary:

If at least one of the above two persons happen to be readers of Kumudam Reporter, the conversation would further cover the interview of Kannada Prasad (Kumudam Reporter dtd. 01/03/2007 – available online) where the business guru (?!) has discussed his success story, business model, pricing plan, confidentiality issues, resource hiring strategies and have left elaborate hints about his key staff members/contractors and clientele.

There was something that kept bothering me while reading through this book while preparing for PMP examination. Every 2 pages the author of the book keeps mentioning something like ‘If you don’t do it this way, you will fail the exam’, ‘If you don’t get this right, you’ll find it real tough’, ‘You thought this will be a cakewalk?’ etc. I am not sure who she is trying to scare. Agreed that it is a tough examination and the author is a well recognised expert in the subject, but the way she tries to instill the sense of fear, it gives a feeling that she had thought that she was writing the book for Class X students and not for Managers with some experience. These days whenever I open the book, automatically I scan for these ‘poochaandi’ messages. Doesn’t speak well about the success of the author’s approach, does it?

Recently I had the good fortune of talking with a call centre staff based at Hyderabad in India. Find below some excerpts from the conversation.

He: Thank you for calling *****.

….

He: Can you spell your last name please, sir?

Me: S for Sugar, A for Alpha, ….. T for Tiger

He: Pardon me sir.. What was the last letter?

Me: It is T. T for Tiger.

He: I am sorry. I don’t get that at all.

Me: It is T – the letter after S – S as in Sugar.

He: Is it L for Laser, sir?

Me: Can’t you get the letter T? T as in Tiger.

He: Sorry.. what?

Me: Do you know Tiger? The animal that will roar like “urrrrrr. urrrrr” (roaring sound)

He: Oh.. it is T? Got it sir. How can I help you?

Only recently I heard about Umbrollys – the compay that owns and operates Umbrella Vending Machine at prominent places in London. Though I haven’t seen or used one, I heard that it is getting more and more popular. Priced at £2 per umbrella, these machines would be really handy if they get installed at many places especially when you never know when the sky would cry in UK. While Umbrollys seem to operate in UK, US and Canadian markets, one Uport seems to have launched the same product in Singapore.

Though the product (umbrella) is quite old, the way it is sold is quite novel and I think this model will be replicated in other markets as well, if not already. Thinking about the Indian market, how many products are being sold through vending machines there? As far as I could remember, I don’t recall seeing that many automatic vending machines at public places in India. But then, I have been away from home for quite a while now and things might have undergone a sea change during this time.

Many of us would have been forgetful at times. We would have left behind keys, wallet, watch, pens and so many things, which we were meant to carry. But, ever seen a person who forgot his trousers when he went to office? Yes. Trousers. You heard it right.

A high ranking manager who is the boss of my friend, used to pedal all the way to work from home wearing cycling shorts covering about 15 miles. Arriving at work, he would have a good shower, switch to his formals before heading to his desk. This has been his routine for several years until one fine day when he opened up his bag only to find that he forgot to bring his trousers. He could have returned home with his wet shorts on, but as Murphy’s Law would strike, he had a very important meeting that morning which he can’t afford to skip. That shocked man stood in the shower room for several minutes before finding someone whom he beseeched to drive to the nearest shop and buy him a pair of trousers. That was the last day he cycled to work.

In our office, there is a book shelf commonly known as ‘Charity Shelf’. The concept behind that is – if you have got any used book that you no longer need you may put it in the shelf. At the same time, if you find any book in the shelf that you want, pick up the book and drop some money – whatever you feel that is worth – into a box nearby. The amount collected in the box will go towards charity. Cool idea, huh?

While it is interesting to observe the reading habits of your colleagues, I have found several wonderful books on varied topics, whose condition would be as good as new. In the last 1.5 years, I have bought so many of them that my unread collection is growing like anything as it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to find time to read those books. Added to the already huge collection, I asked my folks to buy some Tamil books in the recent Book Fair at Chennai and that will be arriving soon. Now, I really miss my train journeys to work.