Sunday's are days when you want traffic free roads. I got on the road on a Sunday (for one of my "weekend chores") to find myself in the midst of thick traffic. Perhaps, there are many like me who expect empty roads on Sunday. It seemed like all of us like minded souls were getting on the same roads at the same time.
When you are stuck in traffic, fiddling on the radio knobs is a natural impulse. An announcement on a local station caught my attention. The "Tata Nano" was about to celebrate its launch anniversary. Wow! Wasn't that a proud moment for us? India was entering a bastion, dominated by US, European and Japanese car makers. As I waited for the traffic to clear, I started reminiscing ! My mind raced back to when my family bought our first car!
Our first car was a second hand 1967 Fiat which we bought in 1973. In those days, you had predominantly a choice of either Ambassador or Fiat. For some reason, our car was always referred to as "Italian Fiat". I never could understand - after all Fiat was an Italian company, so why add Italian as a prefix? But, it seems that cars before 1972 or so were built with Italian parts and hence the prefix. The parts of these cars were not readily available in the market. Being a second hand car, it came with its bag of troubles. I have many memories of spending Sunday mornings going with my dad to various mechanics to get our car fixed. There was always a problem. Yet, we all loved the car and had great fun on many family outings. Including "out of station" trips to Pune. The Khandala Ghat was a challenge and on such trips our car more than lived up to its reputation of breakdowns!
Much later we had an Ambassador! It was no match to the Fiat in terms of looks and style. It wasn't the sleekest of cars. And after a while you just had to get used to the noise level in an Ambassador. The engine whrrrr, the door noises and the clunky gears ! But there was a huge plus. The car ran and ran and ran! Easy to maintain - it rarely use to breakdown. And if it did, almost any roadside mechanic could fix it.
With the launch of Maruti, everything changed. There was choice, variety and competition. The Tata's launched Indica and soon a number of global auto giants discovered India. The last two decades has seen a phenomenal growth in this Industry and I think the Nano is one of the high points.
As I was engrossed in my thoughts, I realized that the traffic had indeed moved. We had in fact moved almost 100 meters in 20 minutes. There was progress! As I glanced out of the window, I noticed the neighboring car. It was a BMW ! As I eyed it with envy, I realized that there are so many cars now being launched in the "luxury" segment. When will we solve our traffic woes, so that these and other cars will find a place on the road?
Mumbai has traditionally held its place amongst Indian cities to be one of the best in public transport. People of Mumbai relied on suburban trains and BEST buses to commute. Most development in fact took place near or around the suburban tracks. It extended till Virar on the West and Karjat/Kasara on the Central line. A lot of that has changed in the past 20 years. New cars were launched and suburbs also grew "wider" with rickshaws crawling all over. Every political party measured its success based on number of "flyovers" that got inaugurated during its tenure. Indeed, we had some remarkable progress. Till 2000, we had less than 10 flyovers. I believe we are now approaching 50 and several more are planned or being constructed. During this period though, we lost our edge on Public Transport. No matter how many flyovers get built, only superior public transport can solve our problems.
There is hope, with the Metro, Monorail and many other public transport projects launched. Hopefully, these will get completed fast enough and Mumbai will regain its superior public transport.
Honk ! Honk ! The traffic had started moving and the BMW wallah had zipped far ahead. Well, I better get going before it jams again !
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
People and Technology
Saturday morning is for finishing 'all those things that you were supposed to have got done a while back, but you never did'. For us men, our better half usually has a ready list to remind us. In my case, this list is quite long and my dear wife does not hesitate to keep reminding me. On this particular Saturday, I decided to pick the most menial of the tasks from this list - to go to the bank and collect a Fixed Deposit Renewal receipt.
As I walked in the Bank (we are their customers for over 20 years now!), I was pleasantly surprised. I was visiting them after a long time - doing most of my banking tasks online or through the ATM. The bank had a completely new look! Gone were the old bulky steel desks and bulky chairs. The old noisemaking fans - (which were usually cleaned with a frequency of about once in a decade!) were replaced by cool noiseless split A/Cs. The bright lighting, the wood panels, the sleek marble floor and of course the flat paneled screen with a desktop on every table - wow! Was this the same leading nationalised bank ? What a transformation!
Or so I thought!
I went to the lady at the desk and told her that I had come to just collect my FDR renewal receipt. To my surprise, instead of clicking on the keyboard in front of her, she pulled out what looked like a thick register with all sorts of noting. Next few minutes went through a fairly elaborate "manual" process of tracing the document. During this time, the sleek flat screen panel on her desk was in "sleep" mode - lying untouched. I suggested that perhaps she look me up in the system. "Do you know your account number ? " . "No !". That's it ! I could sense that I was fast being branded as a "irresponsible" customer - who neither could give reference of the FDR, nor could remember the account number etc. Somehow, I was beginning to sound apologetic, despite being a customer of this bank.
At that point, I decided to make yet another attempt to get her to use the system. "But I remember my name, will that help?", I suggested !!. She stared at me blankly. I had no idea what to make of this. Was she considering my suggestion ? Or would I be hit with that unused keyboard on her desk. I waited in anticipation.
Suddenly, almost like a war cry she called her colleague. "This man does not know his account number" ! I was embarrassed. Now everybody in the branch was staring at me, as I started looking for the nearest escape route out of that place. Instantly, her collegue - a young and very confident girl appeared on the scene. I could instantly sense that she was probably the "super user", the "online help" or the "Miss Google" of this branch. I felt relieved as she moved the mouse and the screen came out of its slumber. Finally, my document was traced and I was off.
As I came out of the branch, it got me thinking. How are people adopting as we deploy technology ? Or is it that we have made it complicated ! Maybe both. I am sure the lady at the desk must have been a very competent and accomplished employee of the bank. But as the bank management advertises and proudly declares their "computerised:" branches, how much attention goes to the people transformation ?
There is a very rapid proliferation of technology. The next generation is growing up with it and is very comfortable using it. Many from our generation and the previous generation find this change too fast.
As more adapt and the next generation moves in, hopefully, we will change our ways and our established paradigms. We need that change, so that we can truly benefit from the technology around us.
As I walked in the Bank (we are their customers for over 20 years now!), I was pleasantly surprised. I was visiting them after a long time - doing most of my banking tasks online or through the ATM. The bank had a completely new look! Gone were the old bulky steel desks and bulky chairs. The old noisemaking fans - (which were usually cleaned with a frequency of about once in a decade!) were replaced by cool noiseless split A/Cs. The bright lighting, the wood panels, the sleek marble floor and of course the flat paneled screen with a desktop on every table - wow! Was this the same leading nationalised bank ? What a transformation!
Or so I thought!
I went to the lady at the desk and told her that I had come to just collect my FDR renewal receipt. To my surprise, instead of clicking on the keyboard in front of her, she pulled out what looked like a thick register with all sorts of noting. Next few minutes went through a fairly elaborate "manual" process of tracing the document. During this time, the sleek flat screen panel on her desk was in "sleep" mode - lying untouched. I suggested that perhaps she look me up in the system. "Do you know your account number ? " . "No !". That's it ! I could sense that I was fast being branded as a "irresponsible" customer - who neither could give reference of the FDR, nor could remember the account number etc. Somehow, I was beginning to sound apologetic, despite being a customer of this bank.
At that point, I decided to make yet another attempt to get her to use the system. "But I remember my name, will that help?", I suggested !!. She stared at me blankly. I had no idea what to make of this. Was she considering my suggestion ? Or would I be hit with that unused keyboard on her desk. I waited in anticipation.
Suddenly, almost like a war cry she called her colleague. "This man does not know his account number" ! I was embarrassed. Now everybody in the branch was staring at me, as I started looking for the nearest escape route out of that place. Instantly, her collegue - a young and very confident girl appeared on the scene. I could instantly sense that she was probably the "super user", the "online help" or the "Miss Google" of this branch. I felt relieved as she moved the mouse and the screen came out of its slumber. Finally, my document was traced and I was off.
As I came out of the branch, it got me thinking. How are people adopting as we deploy technology ? Or is it that we have made it complicated ! Maybe both. I am sure the lady at the desk must have been a very competent and accomplished employee of the bank. But as the bank management advertises and proudly declares their "computerised:" branches, how much attention goes to the people transformation ?
There is a very rapid proliferation of technology. The next generation is growing up with it and is very comfortable using it. Many from our generation and the previous generation find this change too fast.
As more adapt and the next generation moves in, hopefully, we will change our ways and our established paradigms. We need that change, so that we can truly benefit from the technology around us.
Monday, March 8, 2010
My First Blog : Some thoughts on Social Networking
This is my frst blog post. Having read many blogs, I think this is a great way to get your thoughts out to world. I also felt that I should rekindle my writing skills. ... Oh well ... atleast "test" my writing skills.
Over the past year or so, I have been at social networking. What started as "let me try it out" has now matured to a point that it is now part of my daily routine. I must confess that my daughter (in her mid teens - and therefore like her peers - a "Guru" of social networking) initiated me into this field.
Not voluntarily though !
It all started when I challenged the need for her to be glued to the internet. After ignoring me many times, she briefly tried to explain Facebook. I got her to give me a crash course on Facebook camaflouging my parental need to "police" her internet activities. Ofcourse, she saw through all of this and instantly de-listed me from her "friends" list.
Facebook was followed by Linkedin, Orkut and now I am on to it !!!! Can't wait to get home and get on to these sites - much to the dismay of my wife !! But then, there are high school friends, college buddies , ex-colleagues and new friends to catch up with!!
Social Networking to me is a boon. Like everything else in life, this too needs moderation. But I think it is reconnecting people. And it is opening our minds. Only on this forum we find the young and the not so young (hmmm !) mingle their thoughts, ideas, feelings, likes and dislikes. "Geography is History", because you soon realize that people all over the world connect - through these thoughts and feelings !!!!
OH ! What a great feeling !
Over the past year or so, I have been at social networking. What started as "let me try it out" has now matured to a point that it is now part of my daily routine. I must confess that my daughter (in her mid teens - and therefore like her peers - a "Guru" of social networking) initiated me into this field.
Not voluntarily though !
It all started when I challenged the need for her to be glued to the internet. After ignoring me many times, she briefly tried to explain Facebook. I got her to give me a crash course on Facebook camaflouging my parental need to "police" her internet activities. Ofcourse, she saw through all of this and instantly de-listed me from her "friends" list.
Facebook was followed by Linkedin, Orkut and now I am on to it !!!! Can't wait to get home and get on to these sites - much to the dismay of my wife !! But then, there are high school friends, college buddies , ex-colleagues and new friends to catch up with!!
Social Networking to me is a boon. Like everything else in life, this too needs moderation. But I think it is reconnecting people. And it is opening our minds. Only on this forum we find the young and the not so young (hmmm !) mingle their thoughts, ideas, feelings, likes and dislikes. "Geography is History", because you soon realize that people all over the world connect - through these thoughts and feelings !!!!
OH ! What a great feeling !
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