2024 - An year that has gone by but will stay forever

Its been quite a few years since I did this, think about the year gone by and summarise my thoughts because all years remained the same and just the dates and calendars changed but this year was different...

January to March 

I have been brought up by a woman whose strength is unmatched, my Grandma..she has gone through all kinds of hardships in terms of finances but has always found a way to stay afloat and in all this at no point has she sought help from any relatives or siblings, she has taken care of the family with her head held high.. 

Even at 98 years, she was a proud woman and more importantly, a very very independent woman, her life motto always was that she wouldn't need help from anyone..She stayed fit, managed her diet, was always mobile to ensure her muscles and bones were strong..She had a sharp cognitive ability at 98 years.. 

Whatever I am today or for that matter our entire family is because of her, she ensured all her kids were able to stand on their own feet and the next generation(her grandkids) are all extremely successful and leading a comfortable life..no one would even know that their parents and grandparents couldn't afford 3 meals a day everyday and this strong woman at times has stitched baskets in record time to put food on the table for the night.. 

Her memory started fading late last year and she had a fall in December 2023 where she had to go through a hip replacement surgery, the Orthopedic surgeon was apprehensive when I consulted him but when he saw her, he was absolutely sure that she would be able to go through the procedure and would be well. She got the surgery done and was able to be on her feet 3rd day itself. At 98 years, she wasn't getting younger although her mind would think otherwise, the age factors started showing. I ensured we had a caretaker, what she could never take would have been someone saying they helped her..That would have killed her spirits so thankful to God and of course Ajji we could afford a good caretaker and they really did take care of her well. 

But on March 4th, she breathed her last..I had been to office and then had to step out to run some errands. Came back around 9 0 clock, she saw me and around 11 pm she passed away.. 

From the day I was born to this day, she has always been in my life and she has been my life, but now for the rest of my life I need to live with the fact that she wouldn't be around physically.  She was educated only till 1st standard as she lost her mother early but she was a learned lady, she made a lot of attempt to understand what I was doing, she understood in her own way..irrespective she always was a cheer leader, she whole heartedly felt happy with whatever I did or achieved. Always proud of me or what I did..I would miss that genuine happiness from now on whenever I achieve something. 

Even to go through the rest of my life without her I would rely on the lessons she has taught me. I am forever Ajji's favourite grandson and she is forever my own, she is only mine too.. 

I can never express what I feel for her in words or in any form of emotion. 

Running Journey 

I have been a lazy person all my life, that hasn't changed much but then there were health triggers which made me take up walking around 8 years ago. Was a regular in that aspect, from 15 mins to 30 minutes then settled at 48 Minutes, 4 Km, 400 Kcal on my Fitbit as the target..need to achieve all these 3 in my everyday workout..I was always around 13- 14 minutes per km pace. 

Then started getting bored, so started doing 200 m of every km as a jog/run then added 200 m at the start and end of every km then increased to 300m every Km..Before I knew it, I started running the entire 4 Km huffing and puffing, then a health trigger worsened and pushed me to take things a little more seriously so went on low carb diet, IF, reversed diabetes and was told to atleast push myself to 10 Min per Km..started running/jogging and was able to do it and that changed to 9 min then 8 min..settled at 7 min per Km..Joined a lovely community called Fitness Capital and by then my speed was around higher 6 minutes. Thought it was impossible to do less than 6 Km unless you are a trained athlete but wanted to achieve this. Saw a few folks in the community do it regularly and was amazed, pushed myself to do it..strong sprints at the first and before I could know it was doing great, consistently doing less than 6 min per km..Loved it..had super fun pushing myself..used to enjoy my runs.. everyday target was 45Min and used to do 7 to 7.5Kms..Then settled to doing 7km every day..so 40-42Min everyday used to be my workout. Started focussing on other metrics such as VO2 Max, Heart Rate zones..wanted to do Z2 training or atleast push myself to run at a Zone down. I used to regularly run which was Z4/Z5..So had to push myself to run at Z3/Z2. Started focussing on these metrics and lost pace, stopped enjoying my runs. No matter how much I pushed I was not able to get a good pace..VO2 Max went up, Zones became lesser..Then slowly started getting the pace back. Now a lot better runner, pace is not everything in my runs now although running faster gives a high, can't say I consistently would close less than 6Min per KM but it happens often, one thing I know is, its a natural thing, I wake up and go running, I don't know when it will be faster when it will be little slower and I give in to that. 2025 my goal is to not worry about pace and enjoy my runs. 

Also 2024, I had registered for a HM which I thought was never possible for myself, can a guy who struggled to climb 3 floors at a stretch will be able to run for 3 hours or even walk..nah..impossible is what I thought but since I was in my running high wanted to do a few timed runs, did about 3 10k runs I the year, Wipro run was another I wanted to do but they had 5K tor HM and no 10K, so the FC community which has a lot of HM and even FM runners said my training and consistency is good enough to run a HM, one of them even offered me to work with me to prepare for HM. So registered but kept pushing the preparation, there was a sense of fear of failure. Then one day, started mid day at 11am and ran my first HM. Felt good and then told myself that I am not doing this again, so was thinking of downgrading HM to 10K cos Wipro by then had opened 10K too but then had a US trip and would have landed probably a day before or on the day of the run or even worse would have been in US. So let it be and didn't downgrade. Came back to India 6 days before the race day, 2 weeks in NY meant early morning runs were short 5Km and couple of lovely 10Ks in Prospect Park and Central Park were done. So very less mileage and was extremely jet lagged. So there was no hope of me running the HM, still went and collected the t shirt and BIB. Told the FC group that wouldn't be doing it this time, slept but somehow woke up at 4:30 am..pushed myself back to sleep, started visualising me running the HM, at 5:20 AM just woke up, freshened up and told my security to drop me..Was there by 5:50 am. Ran to the venue and said, let's do it. No targets, no force to complete too. So started running and before I knew it, had ran my first HM..There was a sense of accomplishment, felt extremely good all this after having 1.5 litres of water and juices after the finish line, I was literally dehydrated and zoned out at finish line. Did it and did it well, my target initially when I registered was best case to be done within 2.5Hours, I had completed my first timed HM at 2 Hours 19 Minutes...I still feel high thinking about it :) 

2025, just want to enjoy running, not worry about pace or metrics. Just want to have fun running. 

Professional Journey 

6th year at Drinkprime, love the vision of the company. We want to ensure safe drinking water to entire India at affordable pricing. Love my job and it's a very fulfilling experience, lovely bunch of folks. Along with this, there is Versatiletech. This phase of VT, I was very clear that I would only be the Business owner and team would run the show. Thats what was happening but then there was a lot of politics at play from the ground team of the client. Internal team found it rough and then there was a visit to the US for 2 weeks, spent the first 10 days understanding the people, work culture etc there. 11th day I had a meeting with the CEO, 30 minute meeting and was able to articulate challenges, acknowledged where improvements from our side was needed, what changes would be done. After that meeting, began taking actions. Focus moved from delivering work and not at all talking to proving to people. Brought in discipline, brought in a colleague who knows how to inculcate discipline better than me. She took the reins, the leaders were happy to be able to focus on work than people. Delivered amazing results in the next 45 days and the team is back on track and looking forward to more progress and success in 2025. 

Personal Journey 

I am a very reserved person, it's tough for myself to open up and mainly to make new friends. The year was a lot different, made a lot of new friends from the Thindi Capital Community, its liberating to be yourself around people and happiness is finding such people. 

Reality of Banking and Fintech experience

 

Sunday, 15^th August 2021, I had gone shopping for electronics for my farmhouse, I used my American Express credit card for paying for them. I usually have a habit of paying off my credit card immediately after using it. So, while I was waiting for a table at the restaurant, I opened the Cred app to pay off my Amex credit card. Since it was a high value transaction, I had to pay via net banking instead of the UPI method I usually use. 

Here is where my set of problems started 

 

1.     CRED allows directly to pay only via net banking and not via debit card 

2.     So I tried to pay via IDFC net banking and the net banking interface/integration of IDFC is probably the worst among most banks in India 

3.     I entered the credentials and yes it was wrong in the first attempt due to bad interface, I again tried to enter the correct password and it went through.

4.     By then, CRED declared the transaction failed and bank debited the money.

5.     I immediately called the bank, they said if the transaction failed it should return in 24 hours or 5-7 days. 

6.     I tried to check with CRED to ensure money is not stuck in their authorization queue, CRED bot said the money was not received as the transaction failed. 

7.     I didn’t get the credit back to my account, since there was no other way to reach out to CRED other than bot, I posted on twitter. Got a response requesting details of the transaction. 

8.     They confirmed that transaction didn’t come through and it’s not with them, I need to check with my bank. 

9.     Tuesday evening, I get a call saying, there was confusion, and the money was indeed stuck with CRED. They told me that they will instantly refund if I set up my instant refund account (nice one to get bank account details). I set it up while on the call, the agent said he has done the transfer and it should be credited in about 2 hours if not immediately. 

10.  Wednesday morning and nothing in my account yet, so I DMed them and no response, I checked with the bank, and they said they have no information. 

11.  Thursday went on a twitter rant, finally get a DM saying this is the UTR and I need to check with my bank. When I gave the UTR to my bank, they said it doesn’t match the RTGS/NEFT UTR format. Again, tried my luck via twitter, after half a day of struggle and tagging Kunal, RBI, talking about taking legal route, I get a response via DM that the UTR is from payment gateway, and I should wait for the credit to my bank then they will send me the UTR. 

 

 

Here are the issues with CRED 

1.     When a company deals with financial transactions, not having a customer care number/email and leaving the customers at the mercy of bots. This is by far the worst customer experience 

2.     When the money is stuck in the middle, it is important to give clear information to the customer. 

3.     The CRED faltered so many times, initially saying transaction failed and no way they have the money, second saying they have the money, and they will instantly refund and money will be credited immediately, third we have refunded but it takes 5-7 days. How can such conflicting information be given? 

 

My question to CRED is simple, how does someone deal with the fact that they are paying their credit card bill on the last day and the money gets stuck. Imagine the financial loss for the person. I don’t think the anxiety of hard-earned money getting stuck is worth any CRED coins at all. 

People who run apps that deal with money need to a lot more empathetic and responsible. This shows that every company treats its users as commodities. I am sorry but the brand voice or PR angle versus the reality are way apart. The brand talks about building trust, they call everyone cheaters and want to show if there are any hidden charges etc but they have no accountability or responsibility towards their users. 

 

I am not the one to say, I will never use the app etc but I hope they really fix these things, I could afford my money getting stuck for a week or so but not sure if many people would be able to afford that. 

 

 

 #CRED #Banking #Fintech #CX

 

Musings of a Cluttered and Restless Mind

Over the past few months, the world is going through an unprecedented situation, how long this situation persists is something no amount of intelligent human brain or technology is able to predict. But what we can absolutely predict is that the world will not be the same anymore. The biggest revival would be needed in the economic front, although everyone is predicting doomsday I have a contrarian view especially for India. 

I haven't seen a biggest economic opportunity present itself to India and for it to evolve and stamp its authority as a super power. The general perception of India is that we lack innovation, the reason I feel we lack innovation is globalization. Although globalization has a lot of benefits one of the biggest demerits is collective and incremental innovation, what i mean to say is when there is a solution that is present to a problem you stop thinking and improvise on the solution. With his pandemic, more and more borders will get closed and localization will be the need of the hour. 

The biggest challenge lies in whether India will be able to make use of the opportunity.  The 3 key factors would be the government, the leaders or the entrepreneurs and the human capital. If we have to look at the sectors that would be attributing to India’s rise, they would be manufacturing,  IT services, innovations and consumer goods.Right now , Electricity, Internet and Convenience has become the quintessential needs of a human being as opposed to just the Roti Kapda Makaan. 

Never before have we seen the dependency of the other countries on India both in terms of supply and demand. Post this Pandemic, we would see a lot of countries struggle to come back on its limbs because they are either dependent for their materials (manufacturing) on China and their business on the USA and Europe. India being the second largest market in the world we can and absolutely should focus on being self sufficient. So how do we do it? This is where the government plays an important role in collecting the demand and supply within the country. Stronger policy push (Make in India) is needed to nudge the businesses to take hard calls and start looking within. 

Manufacturing - Although we depend on China highly for manufacturing India is not far behind in revolutionizing and being self sufficient in manufacturing. Our current manufacturing infrastructure needs to start looking to produce more and more stuff that is needed by the Indian industries. This is where we need leaders who can motivate a lot of people to join the manufacturing revolution in India. Every person who is part of this revolution will have the same dignity as a software engineer sitting in an AC office.There should be economic parity to bridge the gap. Government needs to infuse capital and protect the industry via new labour laws which removes the fear for both the employers and the workers against all the anarchic burden of the older labour laws, they  should be done away with. 

IT Industry - IT services is the industry that helped the world stand up and take notice of India. This is the time where IT services have a huge potential for exponential growth, Although we need to depend on other countries for the business to flow. IT services should shred the cost factor being the only differentiator and take a new form where quality, efficiency, automation, innovation takes the center stage. This is the right time for us to make use of the employable human capital that India had exported to all the countries to be given the opportunity to help IT services reach a higher standard. A lot of Indians will come back due to the economic downturn and India needs to make use of this talent. 

Manufacturing needs to be revolutionized by the big players as it needs a lot of machinery set up and land etc. 

IT Industry needs to be reshaped by the new age entrepreneurs. 

All in all, I see a huge potential for India to move towards becoming the economic superpower. It's all in our hands. 

Key Mentions  - Cari who is a good friend hosts the show and it actually triggered a lot of thoughts after the early morning walk https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/bharatvaarta/id1501417442?i=1000470493503 

Good Byes and Adieus - No more See You Soons

January 2015, completed 8 years of professional journey and 5 of those years as an entrepreneur. When i look back on the learning and experience i feel very privileged to have met the people i have met and encountered the experiences and circumstances i have. These years are no less than a roller coaster ride with no safety belts. The beginning of 2015 has been a total new experience and it makes me think that i don't belong to this generation of thought or may be this is a new learning for me.

I have always been proud of my team because i hand pick folks who have the right attitude and character and grow their skills. They have always performed and been with the organisation through thick and thin. I also have been very vocal about my organisation having a very enviable attrition rate.
And, all of this changed with few folks leaving the organisation in the early 2015 and i was struck with the reality yet again in life, change is the only constant and being attached to something/someone will never help. The resignations hurt not because they cannot be replaced but the way they happened. The timing of them was what affected me a lot because it did pull me back on my growth plans. The growth will have to wait because we need to settle down and ensure that nothing changed in terms of operations to the client. Amidst all this i have learnt a lot of things, some very painful and some very insightful ones.

• Business should be run as a business and emotions should always be kept on check. I have everyday thought more about employees and their growth, have to confess at times more than i have thought about my family and friends. I sense a responsibly to the growth of my employees in every aspect be it financially, career growth etc. The hard truth is not all employees understand that and in fact they don't even realise that. 
• Careers i have seen before had stages as Fresher ->Learner->Hard Worker->Performer->Responsible->Confident but now the stages have changed to Fresher->Learner->Confident->Over Confident and Arrogance.  Fail to understand the transition and also how quickly they happen.
•  Everything on the net would always be written in favour of employees because they are a bigger number, all articles such as 'Love your Job and not your company' etc. Unfortunately when employees are happy making articles such as these employers are busy thinking about the growth of the very employees :-) 
• Favor - Most folks after getting a new offer consider that all the years they were doing favour to the company, wonder what pay checks were meant for. 
• Rules - The very rules that have protected them when they were part of the company becomes a burden while leaving the organisation. 
• Respect - The respect factor is a very interesting one, it remains when the organisation bends its rules to accommodate all requests but when asked to follow what was promised during hiring it becomes a big problem and organisation doesn't care about its employees :-)

Trust is something very very precious and delicate, the actions of some employees affects an employer so bad that he/she will start doubting their own self but as an employer this should never be shown outside because it affects the morale of few employees who still have the respect and look up to the employer. 

As an employer and with the team i have, i am willing to trust again, get hurt again and pick myself up again because in all these if i am able to help the growth of even one employee then i would consider myself lucky and happy. 

From a practical stand point, you need to trust the core team because a one man/woman cannot sail a ship, it always has to be a team. 

In diversity is when you find the truest of accomplices, with all that was going around there was just one IM that actually ignited the spark back and that was from one of the employees who just said 'we are definitely by your side'. The next morning i was to my own self because everyday i work to help such characters grow and see to it they reach the top of the World. 

Cricket – Once a sport, once a gentleman’s game

I have been an avid follower of Cricket right from the tender age of 7-8 years when the sport for me just meant to hit the ball and then on learnt the finer aspects of the game by following many forms of competitive cricket played by different teams including the English County, Ranji matches, local tennis ball cricket etc. I have followed more cricket than have played the game that is, if you don’t count the various video, computer and mobile games though ☺
What drew me into the game was the thinking needed for the game and not many people would understand the aesthetics of the game. The game is played more on working out a batsman, handling the bowler and manipulating and manoeuvring the field. Execution, which is playing the game is as important as planning for the game. 
And I was lucky to have been watching cricket in the era of many great talents and gentlemen likes of Sachin, Kumble, Dravid, Pollock, Aravinda De Silva, Murali, Kallis, Ambrose, Lara, Mark Waugh, Richie Richardson, Gavin Larsen, Stephen Flemming, Laxman, Gilchrist etc played the game. Then there were the not so gentlemen who played the game with sheer aggression not just in their game such as Ponting, Steve Waugh, Ganguly, Warne, Cairns, Donald, Franklyn Rose, Ranatunga, Akram, Waqar etc. 
These guys added to the flavor and excitement to cricket without ever needing the catalysts such as cheer leaders or sponsorship deals for every catch taken or every boundary hit. There was no need for the game to be shortened. In fact people wanted the 5 day games to last longer because there was purity in the completion, unpredictability was dependent on players ability not to give up and a bit of luck and now we have IPL. 

I always believe that smartest and most intelligent people are greedy and can stoop to any levels for their selfish gains and such a problem attacked the game of Cricket too.  There was hunger to capitalize on the passion of the people for the game, different groups were formed. Game became a mere means of money and entertainment. The greed became insatiable, wanted it to reach many other unexplored countries and compete with Football, Basketball etc . And in the process, a lot of changes happened to the game, trimmed down to a mere hitting the ball as far as possible phenomenon. Game that started as timeless shortened to a sport of 2-3 hours per game. It totally doesn’t make sense for a team of 22 players where at a time it’s just a couple of people being active participants can be completed in a matter of minutes but hey, people have no time, they like the shortened version. It drew many people away from the game, people wanted more Test matches and didn’t bother much about T20 and so the administrators of the game started reducing Test matches and we cricket lovers had to resort to IPL, Thanks to some of our icons being part of the tournament. 
There are many positives about IPL which probably the marketing team of IPL and cricket bloggers have extensively covered such a money for cricketers, chance for youngsters rubbing shoulders with legends, opportunities etc.  But there are many more negatives to the IPL, money being perceived in a wrong sense, young cricket minds drifting away from cricket to being page 3 celebs, fixing, average talent which should be supported and nourished further getting big bucks and in the process being obsolete after a couple of seasons etc. 

This post was triggered by the growing predictably unpredictable matches of the IPL, taking one such match Mumbai Vs Rajasthan last league match of 2014 IPL. The first half of the tournament had clear positions of the team but then most of the remaining matches would have rendered useless so all probability and combinations came to play, we need these teams to win these matches to compete for the top 4 and so all matches became very interesting, the top 3 team making all the necessary experimentation to lose the matches, the top 2 teams suitably losing few games to keep the battle for the top spot open. All ingredients of an entertainment series when you have TRPs coming down. Sport is meant to be unpredictable and battle of talents, but when you take that away then what you are providing is sheer entertainment. 
The scenario for Mumbai was to beat Rajasthan with certain stipulation for them to qualify to the top 4. If Mumbai players did this then would have been very exciting but when many people predicted what could be the scenario that happens is kind of unbelievable in the wrong sense. 

• Qualifiers were never in Mumbai in the first place but then the Qualifiers get moved to Mumbai so we need a Mumbai team to get the crowd.
• Rajasthan is almost the least hated team of the IPL and underdogs so none will suspect fixing especially after 3 players were arrested last year. 
• Watson plays a shambolic innings. I have not seen him play so defensively even in Test cricket. 
• Watson is not a great captain but his bowling changes and decisions, come on man it was for all to see. 
• Big signing player should be showcased else who will be paying big bucks next year.

Yes I am alleging fixing of the game. But bigger question is not if it’s, true it’s just that who all are involved. 
I had spoken of the same scenario and how it would unfold to half a dozen people 10-12 days ago, the only change in my narration was Pollard and not Anderson. Either I am Nostradamus or that is one hell of a coincidence for the impossible to happen. 
Cricket is reduced to entertainment thanks to some buffoons and IPL. 
IPL is good entertainment but for it taking away the spirit of the game and unpredictability and competition is a bit too much for a Cricket fan to take. 
WWE and IPL are no different, both very well scripted reality shows.

The story of a Kid and a Toy

It was the time when the kid had just learnt walking, parents dreamt of big steps the kid may take in life. Kid felt happy to be on its own feet, excited at being able to see world on its feet. In the process of learning to talk, it could just mumble few words but parents did understand what the kid meant. Parents were happy to take the kid for a walk, the kid was happy. On one of those walks, kid saw a toy in the store. It instantly got attached to it, it wasn't the most attractive in the world nor was the most popular but kid loved it the moment it saw it. The toy became special for the kid. It wanted it, it mumbled, parents didn't understand, it cried, shopkeeper saw it but didn't bother. The kid tried to explain it to the parents but in vain, kid was helpless, restless. It didn't give up, learnt to speak just to explain it to the parents. Kid learnt fast and was able to explain the request to the parents. Parents were surprised, they loved the kid but were not willing to pamper it. They were not going to buy unless they felt it is right for the kid, alas first challenge for the kid. The parents weren't too keen on buying the toy. The kid cried, whined all in vain. Kid had only one thing in mind, it wanted the toy, it learnt to live in the best possible way. Parents loved everything the kid did, it was perfect and a kid anyone would love to have. Kid had built an unspoken relationship with the toy, parents were unaware and so was the shopkeeper. Kid longed to see toy express, kid knew the toy liked the kid. Kid grew up and the soft spoken request became scream. The parents saw the want becoming need, they cared about nothing than the happiness of their kid. They decided to get the toy for the kid, they went to the shop. They didn't like the way shopkeeper projected himself, they didn't like the company toys had but they too saw the toy the way seen by the kid. They liked it, they accepted it. The ignored the behavior of the shopkeeper, ignored the arrogance of the co-owner. All this showed the love for their kid. Kid saw the love and was happy, he was happy more for the toy, he always dreamt of sharing the home with the toy, his parents love, grandma's warmth. Shopkeeper wanted sometime to give the toy, kid was willing to wait as it understood it isn't easy for the toy to leave the place of its existence. A week later shopkeeper informed the kid they were not willing to part away with the toy, kid couldn't bear it. Tried everything it possibly could to get the toy like it had from the day it saw the toy, was ready to fight the world for it. Shopkeeper and co-owner were adamant, kid had no choice but to give the news to parents, kid was shattered, crying uncontrollably, parents were panicked and hurt. They were helpless, their anger at the shop increased, they couldn't bear their kid being hurt. They promised to buy better toy little could they feel the attachment kid had for the toy. Kid missed the toy, tried to forget but couldn't. Toy interacted with the kid in a way none could see none could understand, it asked the kid to take it away. Kid was not willing to, he wanted to take the toy with dignity, parents had always taught the kid ethics and not to snatch away anything. Kid wanted to take the toy away but couldn't. In the meanwhile, shopkeeper decided to find a suitable owner to the toy, the toy had given up. Kid knew nothing of it and still didn't know the reason for shopkeeper not giving the toy to it.

Time was running out for the kid, it knew there were many kids wanting the toy but it thought the toy would wait till the kid fixed the world but time was running out for the toy too.

The time came when the toy found a owner, shopkeeper had made the decision, all the kid expected was the toy to talk. Toy to talk and kid knew the World would listen if the toy would talk but it didn't and kid had lost the toy. World changed for the kid but for how long only time would tell. Will the kid ever become happy? Will the kid ever want another toy? Will the kid want anything so passionately ever? Will the kid follow the right path always?

My Witty Brain at work :-)

http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/life/10-indianisms-652344

It is time these get included in the English Language else i will protest by fasting like 'years back' protest against corruption which will include recently 'passing out' students.
If English doesn't 'do the needful' and 'revert back' the protest will go 'out of station'. They can 'do one thing' and we can 'order for pizzas' and 'discuss about' the issue.I am 'preponing' my 'big sleep' to get these words into English.