Have Breakfast… or…Be Breakfast !!!

Who sells the largest number of cameras in India?

Your guess is likely to be Sony, Canon or Nikon. Answer is none of the above. The winner is Nokia whose main line of business in India is not cameras but cell phones.

Reason being cameras bundled with cell phones are outselling stand alone cameras. Now, what prevents the cell phone from replacing the camera outright? Nothing at all. One can only hope the Sonys and Canons are taking note.

Try this. Who is the biggest in music business in India? You think it is HMV Sa-Re-Ga-Ma? Sorry. The answer is Airtel. By selling caller tunes (that play for 30 seconds) Airtel makes more than what music companies make by selling music albums (that run for hours).

Incidentally Airtel is not in music business. It is the mobile service provider with the largest subscriber base in India. That sort of competitor is difficult to detect, even more difficult to beat (by the time you have identified him he has already gone past you). But if you imagine that Nokia and Bharti (Airtel's parent) are breathing easy you can't be farther from truth.

Nokia confessed that they all but missed the Smartphone bus. They admit that Apple's Iphone and Google's Android can make life difficult in future. But you never thought Google was a mobile company, did you? If these illustrations mean anything, there is a bigger game unfolding. It is not so much about mobile or music or camera or emails.

The "Mahabharata" (the great Indian epic battle) is about "what is tomorrow's personal digital device"? Will it be a souped up mobile or a palmtop with a telephone? All these are little wars that add up to that big battle. Hiding behind all these wars is a gem of a question – "who is my competitor?"

Once in a while, to intrigue my students I toss a question at them. It says "What Apple did to Sony, Sony did to Kodak, explain?" The smart ones get the answer almost immediately.

Sony defined its market as audio (music from the walkman). They never expected an IT company like Apple to encroach into their audio domain. Come to think of it, is it really surprising? Apple as a computer maker has both audio and video capabilities. So what made Sony think he won't compete on pure audio? "Elementary Watson". So also Kodak defined its business as film cameras, Sony defines its businesses as "digital."

In digital camera the two markets perfectly meshed. Kodak was torn between going digital and sacrificing money on camera film or staying with films and getting left behind in digital technology. Left undecided it lost in both. It had to. It did not ask the question "who is my competitor for tomorrow?"

The same was true for IBM whose mainframe revenue prevented it from seeing the PC. The same was true of Bill Gates who declared "internet is a fad!" and then turned around to bundle the browser with windows to bury Netscape. The point is not who is today's competitor. Today's competitor is obvious. Tomorrow's is not.

In 2008, who was the toughest competitor to British Airways in India? Singapore airlines? Better still, Indian airlines? Maybe, but there are better answers. There are competitors that can hurt all these airlines and others not mentioned. The answer is videoconferencing and telepresence services of HP and Cisco.

Travel dropped due to recession. Senior IT executives in India and abroad were compelled by their head quarters to use videoconferencing to shrink travel budget. So much so, that the mad scramble for American visas from Indian techies was nowhere in sight in 2008. (India has a quota of something like 65,000 visas to the U.S. They were going a-begging. Blame it on recession!). So far so good. But to think that the airlines will be back in business post recession is something I would not bet on. In short term yes. In long term a resounding no.

Remember, if there is one place where Newton's law of gravity is applicable besides physics it is in electronic hardware. Between 1977 and 1991 the prices of the now dead VCR (parent of Blue-Ray disc player) crashed to one-third of its original level in India. PC's price dropped from hundreds of thousands of rupees to tens of thousands. If this trend repeats then telepresence prices will also crash. Imagine the fate of airlines then. As it is not many are making money. Then it will surely be RIP!

India has two passions. Films and cricket. The two markets were distinctly different. So were the icons. The cricket gods were Sachin and Sehwag. The filmi gods were the Khans (Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and the other Khans who followed suit). That was, when cricket was fundamentally test cricket or at best 50 over cricket. Then came IPL and the two markets collapsed into one. IPL brought cricket down to 20 overs.

Suddenly an IPL match was reduced to the length of a 3 hour movie. Cricket became film's competitor. On the eve of IPL matches movie halls ran empty. Desperate multiplex owners requisitioned the rights for screening IPL matches at movie halls to hang on to the audience. If IPL were to become the mainstay of cricket, as it is likely to be, films have to sequence their releases so as not clash with IPL matches. As far as the audience is concerned both are what in India are called 3 hour "tamasha" (entertainment). Cricket season might push films out of the market.

Look at the products that vanished from India in the last 20 years. When did you last see a black and white movie? When did you last use a fountain pen? When did you last type on a typewriter? The answer for all the above is "I don't remember!" For some time there was a mild substitute for the typewriter called electronic typewriter that had limited memory. Then came the computer and mowed them all. Today most technologically challenged guys like me use the computer as an upgraded typewriter. Typewriters per se are nowhere to be seen.

One last illustration. 20 years back what were Indians using to wake them up in the morning? The answer is "alarm clock." The alarm clock was a monster made of mechanical springs. It had to be physically keyed every day to keep it running. It made so much noise by way of alarm, that it woke you up and the rest of the colony. Then came quartz clocks which were sleeker. They were much more gentle though still quaintly called "alarms." What do we use today for waking up in the morning? Cell phone! An entire industry of clocks disappeared without warning thanks to cell phones. Big watch companies like Titan were the losers. You never know in which bush your competitor is hiding!

On a lighter vein, who are the competitors for authors? Joke spewing machines? (Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, himself a Pole, tagged a Polish joke telling machine to a telephone much to the mirth of Silicon Valley). Or will the competition be story telling robots? Future is scary! The boss of an IT company once said something interesting about the animal called competition. He said "Have breakfast …or…. be breakfast"! That sums it up rather neatly.

—Dr. Y. L. R. Moorthi is a professor at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. He is an M.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and a post graduate in management from IIM, Bangalore

Woh Teen Din

Please give me some comment after reading this; I want to understand the perspectives on how people think about narcos.


First day, it was 9am on a Sunday morning, me usually enjoying the precious sleep of the weekend which is a rarity, since sleep is something which I do only occasionally. My friend cum colleague buzzed me to invite for a party on the occasion of his already surpassed Birthday(the cake cutting types). I was tentative to go, but went; since there were some new people I would meet, which generally excites me. I love meeting new people and giving them some gyan on life and showing them how much I knew about philosophy.

1pm borrowed car from dad and zoomed 25 km to meet new people, and not for the birthday party for which I was invited. Met old nostalgic friends of my colleague who had travelled all the way from Chennai to celebrate the birthday of their chamiya(that’s what they called him during college). Had a couple of beers and had to return home to meet people who had come for an alliance. Birthday boy insisted me to stay but I had to go so left @ 6 promising to return back by 10.

11pm, came back to chamiya’s place after getting caught by a cop and paying him 200 bucks. Started bantering with friends of chamiya, interesting guys one from Shillong and another from Madhya Pradesh both different in all aspects, learnt one thing that people from Shillong are born guitarists.

12:30 midnight, still bantering... suddenly there was a banging sound on the door, figured out to be the yo-guy in chamiya's room. Always lost, confused but very nice guy but, was completely lost in the world of narcos. Everybody in the room was neglecting him because of this habit, I started a conversation with him which made him come in and we had a couple of hours of brainwashing chat. Explained the ill effects of narcos which he should have already known being in the mid 20's, we made him realize how important his life is for his loved ones. He pledged to quit after some long brain wash session which made us happy.

Second day, 9AM woke up and rushed to office. Finished the day’s work by 5, left to Chamiya's room again where we planned to go to Hard Rock Cafe one of the best Pubs of Bangalore. Enjoyed the place which was like an ancient museum with different guitars owned by Rock stars earlier.

11:45pm, Just returned from Hard Rock Cafe to Chamiya's room to drop him back and rushing for home, The Yo-guy called on me and explained about how he spent his day without taking a single dose, and how my suggestions has helped him overcome the desire. I was really happy for him and felt proud on myself and my skills to convince even such people.

Third day, 10am, at my office, met chamiya who was also explaining about how his roommate was turning out to be good, how he will not neglect him anymore, we both were very happy for him.

10:45am, Chamiya comes to me and says the yo-guy is not responding and the other roommate is rushing him to hospital. We too rushed to the hospital to figure out that he is no more. A man who was well learned, earning handsome money, with almost 2 thirds of his life left to enjoy has just passed away. God please give strength to his loved ones to bear this loss.

This news made me feel guilty, I don’t know if I had not persuaded him to quit he would have still been alive.

One more young life lost with no cause achieved makes me feel a bit scary, why are people knowingly getting into things which can take their lives, are they thinking about people around them? What kind of temporary ecstasy are they looking for and at what cost? This feeling is giving me strength to fight with people who take narcos only for a temporary enjoyment... Is it worth it...?

Letter to Bapuji from Gen X

Letter to Bapuji from Gen X

Dear Gandhiji,



You left us 62 years ago. If you were still around, you would have been 140 years old. However, we have not forgotten you. You are on every banknote and most stamps. There are many statues of you. Prestigious roads in almost every city are named after you. Our politicians try to model themselves on you. They wear the fabric you promoted, they quote you at every instance, they've got a photograph of you in their office and some even eat and live like you. There are books, TV programmes and movies about you. Seriously, you'd be impressed at how much we still adore you.

However, there are things that won't make you feel proud. The India you spent all your life making free, is far from free. True, the white guys are gone. But there are still millions of poor people. In 60 years, we are still among the poorest nations on earth. This lack of money leads to a lot of problems in healthcare, infrastructure and education. In education, for instance, many children still don't go to a good school. Those who do, don't get into good colleges. And those who go to college, don't get good jobs. We need to get rich, and fast. Not only to make more schools and colleges, but also because most Indian problems are linked to lack of money. Yet, it is considered un-Indian to think that way. The young generation, which thinks like that, is considered materialistic and greedy. The older generation takes the moral high ground - slowness in work is termed patience, non-stop discussion and no action is called careful consideration and lack of improvement in standards of living is countered with claims about the need to live with austerity. And yes, in many cases politicians who speak like this claim to be your fanboys.

The younger generation wishes you could come down for one day and clarify these points. Is progress un-Indian? Is change bad? Is a desire to see my country as rich as some other nations materialistic? Is getting things done fast impatience? If you blessed our purpose of making a developed India, the job would become so much easier.

The young generation needs you down here for something else too. We have a new battle here, just like the one you fought with the British. The enemy is not so clear like it was in your case - the white people. Our enemy is the old school of thought, or rather the people who defend the old school of thought. They do this in the name of antique Indian policies, culture and values. You could help identify this enemy more clearly. Many people who are at the helm of affairs now have served India for decades, maybe with good intentions. But obviously, they don't want to accept they screwed up. We wish they would though and we'd have a national day of shame. It won't be easy, but from there we can make a new beginning. But they won't, for they are in power. And to defend themselves and their ways, they don't mind crushing the aspirations, ideas and talent of an entire generation.

Yes, there is a lot of talk of India being a young nation and youth power. However, youth power is the biggest myth going around India right now. Of course, youth has spending power - we can buy enough SIM cards, sneakers and fizzy drinks to keep many MNCs in business. But we do not have the power to change things. Can the youth get a new college opened? Can the youth ask the government to give tax incentives to MNCs to relocate jobs to smaller towns? No way. We are wooed, used but seldom heard. If you came down, you could unite us. You used religious festivals as social events and propagated your cause. You understood that people need entertainment to bind them. Perhaps, we could integrate colleges in the same way, link all colleges - maybe for their annual festivals - and the message of change could be channelled through them. We have amazing technology such as the Internet now.

You would use it so well. If the youth unites, there could actually be youth power.

With our purpose blessed, enemy identified and youth united - we could take the first steps towards the new Indian revolution. After all, China had one, and only after that, did they get on the path of true progress.

But if it is not feasible for you to come back, we'll have to try to bring about change ourselves. If we can be inspired to do that, we can say we have not forgotten you and understand the meaning of your birthday. We hope you had a good one up there!

Lots of love,
the younger generation
(also known as Youngistan, Gen X, Gen Next and Gen Y depending on the brand you're talking about)

By Chetan Bhagat

RECESSION...but life goes on

Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has.



Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come... life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full... sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.



The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support... The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed... The first cry... the first steps... the first word... the first kiss... all of your child... The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you... The first award... the first public appreciation... the first stage performance... And the list is endless... Experiences, with timeless memory... No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never.


So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.


Time will pass... economy will revive... currency will soon be in current... and in all this; I don't want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences... If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.

Make a statement with the way you live your life: How I feel has nothing to do with how much I have.

Kannada Barutha??

Shared by one of my friends Ananth.

Namaskaara..... Geleyarey....!

"Kannada Barutha??"

Aaaah! I am sure most of you in Bangalore would have heard this, but what is "kannada barutha?" here it goes. Bangalore the IT capital of India, the silicon city and now a Metro city opened its gates to almost all kinds of people. Very evidently the recent poll census proved that there are only 47% of original inhabitants in Bangalore/bengaluru. The life style of the city has seen a gradual change with Pizza Corners replacing MTR's, classy eat out's replacing "Vidyarthi Bhavans" and flashy pub's replacing all our "Mahalakshmi wine shops".

"Change is inevitable" from the days of BEML, HAL and BHEL to INFOSYS, WIPRO; Bangalore has a new look now on the world map. Gone are the days where a typical Sunday for any bangalorean was a nice romantic walk on the pavements of "LALBAGH...", "rave idli and coffee.." at the nearest yet old looking MTR and a wonderful Annavra film either at Santosh or central 'talkies'. Today's Bangalore is deluged in traffic, stress and pressure,
Saturday nights without beer is desolate and a Sunday without a visit to either a nearest spa or health clinic is schlocky!! The gandhibazar's are now AC cooled super markets, majestic is now replaced by ultra modern and diversified Brigade road, sri cauvery coffee joint is now Coffee days and "Bhagyalakshmi coffee adda.. is now barista. With globalisation and more retail market the city will definitely see more forceful changes.


Have all these changed our language? Kannada the local language of Bangalore is supposed to be one of the most meaningful languages, it also has an unique script as compared to its other counterparts; but how many percentage of people really use Kannada in Bangalore now? The figures are staggering, only 37% of people speak Kannada in the state's capital, for rest it is only "Kannada barutha?"


Any normal guy starts with this sentence "Kannada barutha?" while talking to other person, people confirm before they speak the language. You want to ask an address in Bangalore? Or reply to a question then English is the most preferred language other than Hindi. It's a famous fact that two kannidagas in an IT company always talk in a neutral language!! Even the vendors and shop keepers are channeled with this new wave, the moment when you step in any shop in Bangalore, you are always asked "Kannada barutha?" or the entire conversation takes place in non Kannada languages. People have lost the confidence of speaking in the local language and more over speaking Kannada on the streets of "M.G road "or "kormangala" is substandard.


Shopping malls in the city have been completely banned from using Kannada, not a forced one but definitely an adapted one. One has to confirm that the other person knows the language before he starts using any language. "ondu glass beer" is a insult when it comes to any decorous pub in Bangalore. "Swalpa menu card kodthira..??" has been replaced by "Can I have the menu card please...?"


Just to hit some facts, marathi is still the largest and common speaking language in mumbai even though mumbai has the highest no of inhabitants. Telugu is a practised ritual in yet another IT HUB Hyderabad. When it comes to tamil nadu, beware you can be alive either if you are a fan of rajnikanth or you know tamil. Malyalam runs in the blood of every mallu be it Kuwait, Dubai or any hospital; but when it comes to Kannada it isalways "kannada barutha?" and next is "namaskara."


I am neither a Kannada activist nor do I run any Kannada supporting organization, I am just a plebeian who just love the language. Globalisation is the trend and modernisation is the mantra but at the cost the language? Sounds no logic.. Is speaking Kannada down market? The answer has to be found within oneself. Next time when you hear "kannada barutha?" you just remember that "kannada runs in your blood.."

BEING IN TWENTIES - SOMETHING

Awesome one: Shared by one of my friends Pawan,

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. Share this to your twenty-something friends... maybe it will help someone feel like they aren't alone in their state of confusion...

We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."

Shame on BCCI !!!

Two greats retiring in the same series, I hope you know who I am talking about. Greats who have carried the torch of Indian Cricket for over a decade now. Taking retirement in the same series will be a sudden loss and it will take a lot of time to fill their boots.

First of all talking about Ganguly, Respectful exit is what he had deserved but the rich and powerful BCCI entangled in all kinds of politics ruined his career. He was first removed from captaincy then from the team, But Ganguly was not the one who would be boggled down by this. He proved that if a man wills he can break the shackles of money and politics. He returned to gain much more respect.

Secondly, Kumble a man of honour, a man of true sportsman spirit. 19 years and not a single controversy. Astonishing isn't it. There is nobody in the entire BCCI who can point fingers on him. Always given 100% sometimes with success and sometimes without. Feels really bad to hear him retiring.

BCCI, the governing cricket body of India rather cricket screwing body of India are planning to retire the greats, there is no objection on retiring them but why all at once? why in a way that will put anybody to shame. These seniors deserve some respect give them that.

On top of all that, there is media which believes in cooking up stories and sensationalizing them. Some of them being so cheap that i feel ashamed to even mention them. AAJ TAK is one of the channels which belives in this policy. Have they forgotten what the journalism school had taught them? I would be really interested in knowing the education backgroud of the people running the show @ AAJ TAK. Keeping the criticism on sensationalising aside, They should atleast respect people who have done so much for cricket in the country.

A real bad day for Indian cricket where the players are being treated as scapegoats of the politics around money rich BCCI. Please spare the cricketers atleast for the sake of the SPIRIT OF CRICKET which is feeding your children's stomach rather your expensive cars fuels.
I salute SAURAV GANGULY and ANIL KUMBLE for the entertainment they have provided and the level of cricket they have exhibited. GOD please make some more cricketers like these from your factory so that we dont lose the game of cricket.