Update 1: 2022 – The EV Year?

We are fairly in 2023 now. There was a question I posed in early 2022 “2022 – The EV Year?”, Let me try to pragmatically answer this question over this blog post.

First lets just rewind on how the 2022 year passed by:

  1. Russia – Ukraine war – this escalated the energy prices and left the fuel prices soaring high. This also derailed the global supplies for major raw materials etc.
  2. Micro Chip shortage – as Ukraine is a major supplier for rare metals e.g. palladium & neon gas, etc. this disrupted the supply chain for chips. This added to the woes of Auto Manufacturers.
  3. Zero Covid Policy of China – this kept on creating a lot of supply chain issues and hiccups in the overall global scenario. Battery materials supplies hampered for major part of H1.

These points were revisited to highlight one fact that over all the first 3~4 months of 2022 were lost in getting these basics right and yet the EV industry leaped through one of the best years in its history in India.

2-WHEELER:

EV companies made their highest Monthly sales in OCT 22.

Currently it is hovering around 5~6 % of the total sales but is surely catching up. Also, currently there are no major Bike offering in EV. I wont be surprised if this number goes to 10~15% by H2 2023.

Also, the bigger players also have lately entered the space aggressively. Hero launching VIDA – A new brand for EV Scooters. Along the way while the parts supplies get rationalized the sales will pick up.

Bajaj will be investing INR. 750 Cr in FY 2023 for manufacturing EV’s and Premium bikes. This is the highest investment in single fiscal ever by Bajaj.

In the recent Auto Expo – 2023 there were a lot of companies that launched 2 & 3 wheeler in EV.

3-WHEELER:

According to the VAHAN Dashboard (Govt website for Vehicle data) in Passenger segment EV penetration has been above 60% for last 6 months, in Cargo segment it has been above 35% for last 6 months. This puts EV in a very strong presence of around 55~58% of the overall 3-Wheeler sales.

Tube Investment launched a new EV Brand – MONTRA for their 3-Wheeler, TVS and Piaggio already have a offering. Mahindra Treo would sell approx. 80~100K EV 3-wheeler in 2022.

PASSENGER CAR:

TATA MOTORS: They are leading the EV Pass car market with a boom

In 2021 they just had one product in EV the Nexon and now they have Nexon, Tigor, Taigo and plan to launch Punch, Altroz and Harrier as well in the coming Days. They launched Nexon EV Max with 430 kms range and 0-80% battery charging in less than  60 minutes.

They want 50% of their car sales to be from EV by 2030.

Amidst the resistance to acceptance due to range anxiety, charging infra issues, cost of cars etc. the competition seems heating up as for the first time we see price reduction announcement. Also the welcome part is Passenger Car range now starts with 8.50 Lakhs (introductory price) Tiago EV.

Mahindra XUV 400 Vs Nexon EV Max

Refer below the advertisement from Tata – the novelty sales strategy is now changing to value proposition sells has also picked up.

Morris Garages: (MG)

MG has inched this game a bit higher with slue of launches in AUTO EXPO – 23. All the vehicles they launched are production models and they just need to develop the components in India to be production ready.

They also announced an EV SUV around 15 Lakh price tag – this seems to me a very aggressive strategy.

Mahindra:

Mahindra’s also want to have the share of the PIE.

Refer the below Advertise from them teasing the already established – NEXON EV.

EV Components:

Quite a few companies are trying to explore India as a hub for EV components manufacturing as well. Renault, Toyota, etc. have already announced the plan for the same.

The Auto Expo 23 was filled with almost every booth with one or the other EV component.

CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE:

India currently has around 2500 charging station, highest @ 550 ~600 in Maharashtra and least in Tripura.

There are more than approx. 30 + charging infra players, who claim to have installed more than 50 charging stations in India. So the charging stations are increasing strongly along the length and width of India.

With this we could say 2022 has seen a good traction in Electrification. It could have been way better had there not been any external events which had momentarily derailed the EV Train. Coming months and actions from the segments leaders in this space will be interesting to watch.

So to wrap up this update, over all even though the speed of in EV adoption might not be visible to the general eye, it seems that a lot of water is flowing below the bridge. Its like the growth curve which is straight line until it goes parabolic.

Do share your views in comments below and Stay tuned to this blog for more such updates.

Take Charge of your Life

The world is fast moving and changing and thus changing are the work ways. Perceptions are changing as well. Perceptions of success, wealth, power, achievements, etc. are now completely different from what they were a few years back. I never remember asking my friends their school names and then guessing their social status / never was the weekend spent the measure of coolness / never was the brands of clothes the mark of one’s stature or vehicle or home the sign of wealth.

It all started with the Industrial Revolution. The world as we knew moved from contentment to greed, from satisfaction to extravagance, from all of us to me, from joint families to nuclear ones. Don’t get me wrong – I am not against progress, and I am also not touting the point of restraining self or companies.

 The point I am making here is that somewhere in between all this progress we left charge of our own free will or life and ceded this control to the world. I am trying to pull your attention to the following facts:

A Study in 2016 showed that 43% of people with skewed BMI (Body Mass Index) are prone to the following:

  1. 30% with diabetic risk, 
  2. 30% with hypertension risk and 
  3. 46% high on stress. 

This number is about 30% higher than a survey that it conducted in 2014 with a sample size of 30,000. 

Imagine today’s numbers post COVID – 19.

I hope with the above-mentioned statistics – I have given enough of a loud shout out for some of you to ask, “What can we do now?”

I am no medical practitioner or healer or a spiritual Guru. But I am a firm believer that life is very simple, and we are the ones who complicate it. So, without much ado, let me give you my 5-point plan to take charge of your own life.

So, before we jump into this, the first and foremost is to have a frame of mind that is positive and patient. People say, “Expectations are always the root cause of misery”. I have an extra word to add to this – UNDUE. “Undue expectations are the root cause of all misery.”

If I always think negative and am expecting my life to always throw a positive surprise, the outcome is misery. If I walk for 10 mins / day and expect the weight machine to show wonders in one month, the outcome is misery. It is very important to have a patient and positive mindset. Results will only follow if the actions persist.

The 5 Points to take charge of your life are as follows:

HEALTH

In the world we live today – there are no free lunches. We are all traders. We trade one commodity for another. Commodities that we trade are Health, Money, Time, Power, Happiness, Independence, etc. Some trade their time for money, others trade their extra time for extra money. Some trade their health for money, then eventually trade money for health. The successful trader is the one who can earn more than he gives.

Is it worth being a billionaire and having no relatives or having amazing health but no money to survive? Both these are extreme examples, but life falls somewhere in between. To maintain your overall health (you will know why I said overall in the coming few sentences), work through the following queries.

The best thing is to have the following checklist:

  1. Do I get at least 1 hour / day for walking or Jog? – Physical Exercise.
  2. Do I get at least 4 hours / week for family – strictly no gadgets / No distractions? – Emotional Exercise.
  3. Do I get at least 30 minutes / day for reading or 3 hours / week? – Mental Exercise.

If the answer to the above queries is Yes – keep up with the same routine. If the answer is No, then make the necessary amends.

It is not only important to have physical strength, the life demands your best on all front Physical, Mental and Emotional.

To maintain or make changes, the second point is very astute and that is:

DISCIPLINE

This is key. Your mind, habits, other people, etc. will always try to pull you away from this course. The arguments will be many – Its just this one time / do it for me for this one time / you have been doing this for years, how can one change so fast? and another millions of excuses. All of these are just the mental inertia at play. You do not move if you get stuck with all of these. The only thing that you need to do is – “Do It.”

Just Get Up and Show Up and every time you do this, all the above voices in your mind start getting feeble and all of this becomes a small habit. Once you repeatedly fall into this habit, it becomes your lifestyle.

Discipline looks like a big demon with a long stick in its hands, but believe me, it’s your best friend. Once you tame this giant, you can be on roll to success in whatever you choose to do.

What doing does to your mental attitude is to make it positive. These small results make your mind look at the activity in a positive frame. This helps you to keep doing it. Eventually, your mind starts reinforcing the advantages of the activity and the inertia is converted into activity.

But does this happen in moments? No. you have to give it time, and that’s our next point.

TIME

Time, they say is the Best Healer. The context of this statement is different, but the result is proven. Any activity that you plan to master needs time. And time means not just hours but hours of undivided attention. Intelligence or skill are just tools, what really makes a huge difference to the results is time.

The number of times you practice an activity, makes you better in that. A Pilot is valued for the time he has flied a plane – Flying Hours they call it. Wine is valued by the time it has been shelved after it was brewed.

Time is an amazing leveler. Whether you are Prime Minister of India or President of the US or a clerk in a bank, everyone gets the same 24 hours every morning. We all get the gift of 24 hours every midnight.  Now what we do in this time is completely at our own discretion.

Sure, some of the things need their own time: sleep – 8 hours / day, chores – 2 hours / day, food – 2 hours / day, work for money 8~10 hours / day. So, what’s left now is approximately 2 hours / day and approximately 12 ~24 hours at the weekend (depending on 5 or 6 days / week). So, it is 24 hours / week for the 6-day job and 36 hours / week for the 5 day / week job.

What makes the biggest difference in life is this – 24 ~ 36 hours / week. How do we spend it? I am sure the answers are relaxing, enjoying yourself with family, traveling, etc. but do we really do these all 52 weeks / year? No. Right? The majority of this time is wasted lazing on the couch surfing the TV / browsing the web without any focus / social media, umpteen other distractions.

If you intend to take charge of life, put a discipline into this 24 ~36 hours / week. Read 2 to 5 hours on any subject of your interest. If you do this every week, within a year you will be in the top 5% of experts on that subject. Learn life skill, Cooking, Stocks, Painting, Writing, anything that you love doing. If you keep practicing this skill, it can then be converted to a side income going ahead. This relieves you from the stress of working for money. Even if you do not want to convert this into money, it will change your perspective on life, and you will feel more satisfied and complete.

Spend some more hours with your kids. They teach us a lot about attitude, life, approach. It also helps build children’s mindset and instill values in them.

I agree that not every time is it going to be easy with this kind of a timetable, you will want to cheat or waver from the plan. That’s OK. The intention is not to have a mechanized life. The intention is to put content into the hollow hours to have a more fulfilling life.

Hope you are with me on the above 3 points. The above points are driven by our actions and activities, but are we the only one who’s in control of our lives? Maybe not and there are others as well.

Many other aspects have the handle to drive us crazy in our lives, my next point is to be grateful for the life itself.

GRATEFULNESS

What is gratefulness? Gratefulness is being thankful. Thankful for having a healthy life, healthy family, good job ( at certain times, even having a job itself.), a fair enough income.

Why gratefulness?

Can you be happy if one of your family members is not keeping well? Or you have financial issues? Or your kids are not doing well in their lives? Or everything else is good but you are born in a war-torn country? No. Right?

All these have the potential to drive you crazy even when all other puzzle pieces are in place. Correct?

What does gratefulness do?

The most important advantage is gratefulness keeps you leveled. It keeps you from being blinded that life will keep on being a cakewalk and there will be no hindrances. Every time you feel grateful about something, it also highlights the risks. How?

For example: you say, “I am grateful that today I have a healthy life.” This says tomorrow you may not have a healthy life. Unknowingly, you get your mind prepped for an unseen calamity. This keeps your stress in check.

Also, it keeps you kind to people around you, who may not be as blessed as you are. You remain empathetic towards society.

Finally, whatever you do, there are always chinks in the armor. No one, absolutely no one, has a picture-perfect life. This brings me to my last point in the quest of taking control and that is let – go.

LET – GO (ATTITUDE)

As ironic as it may sound with the title of this write-up, it is true. You need to practice the attitude of let – go.

I am not recommending surrendering; I only mean choosing your battles. Do not fight everything, fight where the cause is bigger, bigger than your ego, bigger than your biases, bigger than your judgement. No one is always right, but if people are fighting to prove they are right than the righteousness of their purpose, just let – go.

Let – go when the fight is taking the best of you & making you bad. Let – go when the burden of being right is greater than a sound sleep at night. Let – go when consuming will do more harm than avoiding. Sometimes, letting – go is being in control. So, take charge and let – go.

Hope my 5 Point – Take charge strategy is useful to you. I would like to hear from you if there are any other points I should include in this. Or any other aspect that I may have overlooked. Do write in comments and I will be happy to react.

4P’s Analysis: iPhone – Apple

In the mobile world iPhone launch has been the pivotal moment. The phones world is divided in 2 era’s – before iPhone and After iPhone. Just imagine the first gen phones they looked like a silver brick with buttons on it and then came the iPhone. What we did with those bricks was to do voice calls, a few games, and a calendar. What we do now is host of activities. It has changed the way we access the world and the whole overload of information on it. There are more than 3 billion iPhones sold since its launch.

It’s not that no one had tried earlier, there was IBM with their Simon Device – Touch screen, email, To-Do, Fax, etc. but again the design was more like a brick and weight as well.

IBM’s SIMON & iPhone Gen 1

Just check out the following video to understand the few following things:

Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007:

Product: He introduces iPhone as 3 in 1 – a iPod + Phone + Internet Communicator.

Positioning: Smart and user-friendly design & Comparison between prevalent phones.

Promotion: Look at the way he sets the tone and then announces and ten launches the Product.

To get a bit more in specific details:

Product:

Innovation is one word that defines the Product strategy for iPhone. Apple invests a lot in R&D. This keeps them always ahead of the game in comparison with the competitors. iphone has always been the leader in its segment whether you talk about the touch screen or single slide button to silent a phone or a very high security on data. It has always been a strategy for the designers to bring out a very attractive feature that consumers have never dreamed about. This novelty value helps apple to attract and retain their customers. The loyalty of customers is so strong that you would see a mile long lines outside the mall to buy the new iphone on the launch of it.

Normally the Business schools teach you to find a problem that is pestering the customers, then find a solution to resolve this and Viola you are in business. But iPhone has always launched products which customers were not even expecting. No customer thought of a Touch Screen phone / iPod (instead of Walkman) / iMac.

These were absolute revolutionary products.

Promotion:

The promotion strategy as well is quite different, you would not see a common advertisement like its competitors. Apple focuses on a certain feature in a phone and keeps promoting the same. If you see the recent billboards – it pushes the idea that the images captured from iPhone are professional level. In-fact you do not see an iPhone on the hoarding. Earlier they had promoted the voice command “SIRI” or the email function a few years back. They have always refrained from bombarding ads / celebrity endorsements / high budget ad spends, etc.

In short Apple has always based their promotion strategy on “Focus on Value” rather than the product itself. They always advertised a feature (value). Another aspect they use for their promotion is voice of the customer. Their customers are their strongest Brand Ambassadors. Apple has one of the highest brand loyalties from existing customers, if you love Apple products there is a very small chance that you will leave the brand for other. This is enhanced now by many companies, remember the launch of FB Metaverse. Apple is also working on something similar – to keep the customers engaged in the ecosystem that these big brands create. This opens a plethora of possibilities and revenue streams for such organizations.

Positioning:

iPhone launched when Blackberry (BB) was the darling with all the corporates. BB provided the corporate employees with the email on the go. The sync with the handheld was the most amazing feature for which BB was a sole strong option. The BB positioning was for age group of 30-55 years. This went on for several years and then BB ventured to target the younger generation for their product. On the wake of this iPhone launched and they exactly nailed this shortcoming from BB. As a device the appeal of BB was not as unique and strong as was with iPhone.

According to Rubicon Consulting – around 2012, 3 Million iPhones activated by AT&T in US and around half of those customers were below 30 years of age. When they had strongly captured this blue ocean for BB, they went for the BB strong turf & launched the iPhone that can sync with MS Outlook on a PC. This move targeted to penetrate the core customer base of BB and today BB is seen nowhere while Apple holds around 15~20% market share of the global smart phone market

Do read this article for more details on market shares of the mobile market.

Pricing:

Apple has always used premium pricing strategy. Skimming Strategy – Pricing the product high, sacrificing mass sales for profitability. This helps keep high profits but also risks pirated products. To ensure the piracy problem Apple added a novelty value / pride of ownership angle. This has widely helped them to keep prices consistently high.

There had been legal battles that Apple purposely slows down older UI to push people to buy new variants of the iPhone but today we will park this strategy aside and focus on current scenario.

Apple has also successfully used the Decoy Pricing strategy. While launching the models keep the mid-level model at such a price that it makes the top end look value buy. Thus, the anticipation is to trick the customer mind into buying the expensive version and yet feeling he has got the value.

For more details on Pricing strategy read the following article:

To conclude, I would say that Apple has a revolutionary product, and they use aggressive pricing, smart positioning, and conservative promotion strategy.

2022 – The EV Year?

The way the traction is building in the EV space – it seems that 2022 will be a PIVOTAL Year for the same. OLA has already launched their vehicles with a huge Roar. They went even ahead and urged the entire two-wheeler Industry to go all electric by 2025.

Model wise Comparison for major players.

In July approx. 30~35% of all 3-Wheeler sold has been Electric.

With many new models launching / huge investments being announced / many new entrants throwing their hats in the rings – it seems that the EV market will be getting hotter over calendar year – 2022

HERO MOTORS:

  • HERO Motors has already installed 1650 charging stations and plans to increase these to 20,000 with in next 2 years.
  • Their study reveals that the EV sales increased strongly in areas where they have these stations. This is even when people charge their vehicles at home.

KINETIC GREEN:

  • They have sold 30,000 E – Rickshaws till date in Cargo Applications.
  • They Plan to invest approx. INR. 300 Cr in next 3~4 Years.

TATA GROUP:

  • TATA Motors launched Tigor Sedan in EV this month with following features:
  • Sub 10 Lakh Segment
  • Warranty for Battery & Motor – 8 Years / 160,000 Kms.
  • 0-60 Kms speed in less than 6 SEC.
  • Tigor Express T – @ 200 Kms range in single charge.

MURUGAPPA GROUP:

RETROFITTING KITS

INVESTMENTS IN EV SPACE

Refer the below table from Autocar PRO – on Investments raised by Indian EV Startups. This space has been buzzing with many companies raising huge money and the biggest being OLA.

Indian EV Startups – Funding Raised

E-Rickshaw Zones identified in Gurugram in APRIL.

So all in all it looks like we will be in interesting times in 2022, with EV taking the front stage. It will also be interesting to see how the established players take this challenge and how many of new companies survive the test of time.

Feel free to share your feed backs or any other interesting information in the comments below.

Top 5 Management Mistakes

We all look up to someone, to guide us, to give us directions and instructions when we are stuck. In our office we call them Managers or Management. Does this make them the holy grail? The pious people who are not prone to make any mistakes? Off course no, they too can make mistakes and below are a few, I have seen many of them, make.

Communication in today’s world is a Sorcerer’s stone; you may hit gold every time if you use this tool to perfection. Concise and crisp communication at all levels is the need of the hour. A lot of corporate companies, I have seen are losing ground on this. This keeps you miles away from the realistic situation.

At times managements are worried about issues and discuss at length in meetings. These issues actually did not crop up as someone took actions nobody knew about.  Or even complete reverse, an issue which was never discussed and crops up to lose a lot of valuable resources.

It’s advisable to have a crisp 15 min call / week with all levels and stake holders.

Managements should never refrain from communication, never shy away from interaction. Customers, employees, suppliers, labors, all this communication builds a sense of confidence and camaraderie towards the organization & its goal.

Solutions are always simple; our perception of the solution is complicated. There is a widely circulated story of a Soap Production line, many a times the soap box used to be dispatched empty. Multiple experts worked on this problem, fancy machines, X-Ray tech was all implemented to avoid the same. When a labor was asked to suggest a solution he simply put a table fan on the assembly line. Empty soap box was light and so used to fly away.  Solutions are always simple.

No one does this on purpose, but we all human beings are evolved, thinking that problems should have a difficult solution. And that’s the reason why the problems exist, in the first place. We need to satisfy our Pseudo Ego.

The Best thing for any management is to keep things as simple as possible. Instead of talking heavy jargon’s that do not make anyone understand the data being discussed; focus should be on conveying the information. The message about the ethics, strategy, expectations, directions, etc.  should reach deep down in the hierarchy of the organization. The onus is always on management to percolate these messages. This helps everyone contribute to one goal, else people work as per their perceptions of priorities.

It is always a tendency to think “let’s clean our house and then focus on the world”. But, this doesn’t come true always. Management should have a balanced approach towards inward and outward focus. Yes, it’s important to put the house in order, but how much time and energy to be spent on that, what time should you dedicate, what approach, how much resource, etc. are also issues to be looked into.  The organization should not lose the lead in the market to clean the house.

Any business thrives only on a thriving customer base. So, the major focus of any management should be Customers: their views, their expectations, their choices, their preferences. If you focus to deliver these, internal operations must automatically fall in place.

Managements often feel that they are in control of their business, without even setting the foot outside their elite glass cabins and corner offices. This is seldom true. There has to be an industry feedback system. Whether it comes from customers / suppliers / competitors / peers / colleagues, but interaction has to happen.

Only when you move in market meet your customers, suppliers, peers do you really get the feel of where the industry head & tail winds are.  Are your plans aligned to it or not? Is your organization ready for that, in that time frame? Is there a need of course correction?

Many a times, managers are driven with a concept of self-righteousness about their decisions. This is a classic trap many managers walk into. The key here is to understand the realities and facts rather than a blind faith on people or self.

It’s important to trust employees, but it is as well good, to check directly with the customers or subordinates. Whether the employee you trust is still in-line with them? Is he portraying the factual picture to you or just his perception of the same? I do not advocate distrusting your team members. But its always good to have a reality check.

This simple trick can save millions for organizations, which could be simply lost in focusing on a wrong market segment, wrong resource allocation, improper product launches, inappropriate capital investments, etc.

Decisions should be based only on facts and facts alone. A simple principle, to drive a profitable business.

Hope you agree with my point of view on the things Top Management (or for that matter any manager) should refrain from? I would like to know your views / any additional points you want to add to this list. Please feel free to comment below or write to me.

The Illusion of LOVE.

Jasmine picked up a ringing phone, it was from Dr. Chaddha’s clinic. They wanted to confirm her appointment today for 5:00 PM. Dr. Ravinder Chaddha was a very reputed Gynecologist and was one of the best in his field. He was about 40 or 42 years of age, well-built about 6 feet height, fair complexion, smiling face. Always treating his patients with high empathy and care. A friend had recommended him to Jasmine.

Jasmine was a bit skeptical while on her way to the clinic. She had not felt very comfortable on her last visit. she had her own apprehensions about the doctor, but his reputation was spotless for more than a decade. But somehow the way he looked at her, touched her, made her feel uncomfortable. Call it the woman’s hunch or intuition but she felt anxious while the doctor was around.

On reaching the clinic she found that there was no one at the reception and no one at the waiting lobby as well. She was nervous and had butterflies in her stomach. She peaked in and found that doctor was all alone. She knocked at the door and doctor welcomed her quite warmly. She calmed her nerves and went in. Doctor inquired about her travel and initiated other general discussions to comfort her. When she felt at ease doctor asked her about her issues. She apprehensively shared her troubles and doctor asked her to lie down on the inspection table. She hesitatingly did that.

While she was on table and the doctor was inspecting, she felt that there was an injection given to her and she got surprised and scared. She got up and asked the doctor what was happening, and doctor almost rejected any such thing happening. She was very angry and picked up her stuff to leave. She was just about to reach the door while she felt that everything was rotating around her, and she was unable to reach the door. She fell on the floor.

Jasmine was slowly gaining consciousness. She was feeling great pain in her abdomen. Her eyes were refusing to open, head was feeling heavy and hands had restricted movements. She was unable to grasp on what is happening to her. Where is she lying? Why is she suffering such gruesome pain in her private parts? When she opened her eyes completely and tried to remember what last had happened. She was in shock now; she knew doctor has done some thing bad. She got annoyed at her fears coming true. She cried a lot out of pain and for help, but it seemed no one was listening.

Jasmine remained tied and pinned to the bed and was in this condition for quite some time. No one had visited, no water or food, etc. Her daughter Riva’s face was floating in front of her eyes. Jasmine had never left her 5-year-old daughter alone. Her husband Karthik would be taking a good care of her but he would also be searching for her by now. She kept on shouting and crying but all was in vain.

Jasmine was cursing herself and her luck, she did not know how to react or what to do to get away from here. Every now and then she found Riva and Karthik in front of her, she felt like they were just their and Riva would jump on to her and Karthik would cuddle them both in his arms. He had promised he would never let them both get hurt.

She heard footsteps approaching her, she realized that her abductor would be coming to her. She did not know what to do and so she enacted being unconscious. She sensed the person coming closer to her, she felt his hand on her body, moving, pressing. The touch was making her feel mortified. She still pretended unconsciousness. The man said, he knew she was awake, and he had heard her screams. Her judgement was absolutely correct, it was the doctor. He now started to push himself on her, she kept begging of him to let her go. Doctor kept on thrusting himself on her, not bothering about her physical or mental pain. It was like he was a completely changed man. Devil could be a more appropriate word. He left her in pain, again.

While she was going through this agony only one thing kept her hopeful and that was her faith in Karthik and his love. Once while they were on a trip they were walking on roadside in the mountains and incidentally Jasmine slipped into a small valley along the road. He panicked so much that he jumped on the rocks to hold her from falling. He injured his ribs to save her from bruises. This was before they got married. Eight years into marriage but Karthik was still like the kid who loves his toys. Tears would roll on his cheeks, if jasmine got hurt / had small burns in kitchen.  She had all those moments floating in front of her eyes while she surrendered into the arms of sleep.

Karthik, though was feeling very worried, he thought that his wife would have been at work or could have been to a friend. But when it was more than 24 hours and no communication from her, he knew something was not right. He went and did a police complaint, but police asked him to wait for another day and then they would take some actions. Till that time, he kept calling all the known people to check for her. Some of her friend told her about her appointment with the Doctor. He kept calling the clinic and the calls went unanswered. He fed this information to police the next day.

Police checked up and found the receptionist at the clinic. She informed that Jasmine did have the appointment with the doctor, the last one of that day. But the nurse had left early that day, and no one was sure, whether Jasmine came or not. Doctor being out-of-town for a few days, so the clinic had been closed. Doctors mobile as well was not reachable. He used to take these kinds of vacations to stay away from the rush of life. The CCTV of the building showed Jasmine entering the building but not leaving, and doctor leaving the building in his car. But this was inconclusive.

Jasmine woke up next morning by the approaching footsteps, and Jasmine got petrified. She thought now what? But to her surprise the doctor had bought some food and medicines. He cleaned her with lot of care, made her upright, fed her. Jasmine was so shocked that she could not utter a word, she was hungry, so she ate. She was feeling dirty, so she got cleaned up. Her mind was numb she was unable to understand what was real, the monster who raped her or this Doctor who took care of her. He left without speaking a word but displayed his poise and care. Jasmine’s mind was still to come to terms with reality. While she got confused at her state of mind and body, she was unable to forget her angel daughter Riva.

Since Riva’s birth Karthik started being more caring and protective about both. While Jasmine was delivering, he stood all the while next to her, holding her hand in his. He cried like a baby holding Riva in his hands for the first time. He was very sensitive about Riva & Jasmine. Once while Riva had just learnt to walk and seemed lost in a mall, Karthik panicked so much that he was almost running around the mall, talking to all security guards and other people. Finally, she was found in one of the trail rooms. He almost did not sleep the whole night and kept blaming himself.

Jasmine thought she had a wonderful family and now she might never be able to see them. They all loved each other so much and could not live without each other. She gathered courage and started asking, the doctor to let her go, she knew he was listening. She pleaded him for her daughter and husband and tried to bring in the emotional angle, but the doctor did not respond. She was thinking what would Karthik be going through at this time and thinking this she surrendered to sleep.

With the CCTV footage it was amply clear and both Karthik and police were sure that Jasmine and the doctor got missing from the same time, but they did not know whether this is linked or coincidence. While the doctors schedule looked planned and there was nothing to doubt. Police came up with a theory that Jasmine might have an affair with doctor and so they both vanished at the same time in his car. So, CCTV captured doctor leaving the building but not Jasmine. Also, the CCTV did not clearly show whether Jasmine was there or not in the car, so the theory could just be flawed. The only way this could be verified was by talking to the doctor. Police promised to do their best and asked Karthik to stay put at his home. Karthik left from police station and went back home.

Riva had her questions for him, but he had no answers to them. He told her, a princess story and put her to bed after promising that her mother would return home by the time she wakes up. He knew that he had lied but what else could he do. He himself was so confused, and worried and multiple thoughts troubled him, what if Jasmine got kidnapped, killed. What if she had an accident and no one knew, what if police theory was correct and she had run away with the doctor. Karthik felt like all these thoughts are doing a devil’s dance in his mind and he was like a child who has seen a ghost.

Jasmine had almost lost her hope by now and was thinking that once doctor is done with his lust, what will he do to her? She was terrified with the thought that he could just inject her with poison and let her die. She would never ever be able to see Karthik or Riva ever again. Now she was getting terrified, while a thought came to her mind, what if she lets doctor do whatever he wants in return to letting her live, will he agree? What if she pretends to have fallen in his love and try to escape? She decided to take a practical approach, so she can live and take care of her princess and Karthik.

When the doctor arrived a few hours later, she was a completely changed women. She courteously started conversing with him. She made him feel that he was so lonely, and she would make him feel cared and loved. She tried to touch his heart. Doctor was very reluctant with this, but finally he let his guard down. He started having some long conversations, Jasmine was still restrained. He did not trust her completely but had started opening-up with her. Jasmine made love with him and kept hammering him with his loneliness and how she could be the game changer in his life. The only thing floating in Jasmines mind while doing this was, she had to get back alive to her family, Riva and Karthik.

The next day doctor, freed Jasmine. He had brought her a nice dress; he took her to the bedroom. Once she got dressed, he accepted his love for her, and she reciprocated the same. He asked Jasmine to love him with all her heart and that if she agrees he will take her home, but she will have to keep up the relationship. She agreed and made love with doctor. She made promises and agreed that if someone asks her about her 5 days absence, she will tell that it was mutual. She had a strong belief that Karthik will trust her and she had faith in his love.

Doctor recorded all this on video and showed it to Jasmine. If she tried to go to police or tell her husband about the truth, he will show them the video of her making love and accepting her relationship with him. Jasmine told him that he did not have to do all this and convinced him that she really loved him, but she now knew that she got trapped in her own trap. The only thing she got worried about now, was the safe return to her daughter Riva and Karthik, so she kept playing along.

After exploiting her for one more night, they both left for there homes. Doctor knew he was going to receive the police as soon as he hits town, so he made the love story public. Police informed Karthik of the same. A few hours later Jasmine came home and hugged Karthik tight, while crying like a baby. Karthik was standing like a statue, he got shocked with what police told him and how jasmine was reacting. He decided to give her chance to explain. She just kept crying and hugging Riva for next several hours and spoke nothing. Karthik kept asking her about what the police said or what is her part of the story, but she felt elated that she is back and feeling guilty of what she has traded to come back. She fell asleep while making Riva sleep.

The next day, she woke up and Karthik was nowhere to be found. He has left for office and had left her a letter. He had accused her of adultery and asked for explanation. He had held her guilty for breaking his trust. He had accused her of being a bad mother. Surprised, she never thought of Karthik being so judgmental. She had faith in his love, there love. She tried calling him, but he did not answer. He avoided her. He came back home very late that night and that too drunk. Jasmine was never expecting this. She kept awake the whole night and waited for Karthik to wake up. In the morning, when he woke up, she faced him. She told him her part of the story, he was listening, but his disbelief was all over his face. She begged him to trust her, this is when he said that doctor has showed him the videos and all this fake tears and drama is of no use now. He just left.

Jasmine felt shattered, the man she loved so much got fooled by a 3 min video, the trust she put in him, the years of love and care, there daughter, all has vanished in thin air like a puff of smoke. She started thinking, was it ever real? Or was it just an illusion of love? She lost the strength in her feet and fell on ground. Her whole life was ruined. She felt like not living any more. She decided to jump of the terrace and end this agony once and for all. Just when all this havoc was going through her mind, Riva called for her, she came running to her with a bright smiling face and hugged her tight. It was like suddenly the sun shows up from the dark black clouds and changes the whole landscape. Jasmine was brought back to senses. She realized that she had been through this whole trouble to be with her princess. Though Karthik did not believe her, she must live for her lovely daughter.

She now decided that she is not going to let the doctor walk over this crime, and he will have to pay, she will make him pay. She knew this was not going to be easy and he is not going to just hand over the details to her so easily. She decided to trick him the same way he had tricked her. She told the doctor she wanted to meet him privately. Doctor was cautious but also a bit overconfident after all he had the video and he knew her husband believed it. He agreed to meet her in a hotel room. He said he will confirm her the room number once he has checked in, to remove the angle of foul play. She was more than ready.

At about 8:00 PM he called Jasmine to Hotel Angel room number 701. She was aware that this could be another trap for her. But now she was not worried as she had nothing to lose, after all she was dressed to kill. She went in, doctor was cautious, and he was weighing all his words and actions. She was very forthcoming, she had to catch the doctor pants down. She asked the doctor for drinks and he obliged. While the first two drinks the doctor still was skeptical, but she made him lose his guard by caressing him and kissing him. Females from any species could be very fierce when they are cornered.

With three drinks down, she tickled the right spots to make the doctor talk, she softly asked why did he abduct her, when he could have just asked her to love him, and doctor explained that he got fascinated with her beauty on the first look itself, he even fantasized about her. Now he was talking. She asked what the injection was, he used to make her unconscious and then take advantage of her. Slowly and carefully she made him accept all the wrong doings, also how he took that video and why. Once all of this was said, she called Karthik to the hotel room.

She told all to Karthik with the proof and that made him ashamed for not trusting her. Jasmine told him that this was not for earning his trust back, but to put things in perspective. She said she would be leaving the next day morning with Riva. Jasmine also realized that the feeling that Karthik had for her, what she thought as love was more possessiveness than love. Therefore, she thought that continuing with him will cause her and Riva more damage than good.

As to what could be done with the doctor, she left that call to Karthik. Jasmine also mentioned that no one knew he or jasmine or Karthik were in this hotel, no CCTV, no correct names, so it was all perfect. She hinted that she would have pushed him out of the window and with this much drink, no one can control himself. She left with tears in her eyes.

Power of Persuasion

This is a 5th Video from our video series – #Sales & #Marketing – The #Success Mantra. In this video we talk about How a sales and marketing person can leverage the Power Of #persuasion by following 5 Steps. This is an step by step guide in following:

1. How to turn the #apprehensions customer have to his confidence.

2. How to build rapport & #interpersonal relations.

3. How to persuade without being stalker.

PODCASTS

In this podcast we deal with the first aspect of Sales & Marketing. Customer Intimacy: We discuss about following: 1. How can you utilize this most potent tool to satisfy the customer needs & Organizations goals. 2. How can you work the ladder up for gaining the customer confidence for your brand / product.

This Podcast is about #SALES & #MARKETING. How one can utilize some basic steps or suggestions given here:

  1. To keep the #CUSTOMERS engaged.
  2. Keep customer loyalty & retention.
  3. Basics of #Market Mapping.

Facets of Personality – Communication: Effectiveness of Communication is the most important aspect in success, whether it is #corporate world or #life.

The Guardian Angel

Preeti had this special habit and emotional need to have a good cup of tea in the morning, with her loving husband Arun. She had made this as a ritual, waking up around 6:00 AM, getting ready and preparing tea. Arun however was a lazy starter of the day, he used to love being in bed as long as he can afford. Yet the pursuant Preeti used to always convince his presence at the table for tea. Arun as well would sacrifice his sleep a bit to see the glowing face and sparkling eyes of Preeti.

Both had married for almost 15 years now, yet the love was only growing. It was 15th marriage anniversary and Preeti was very excited, she was looking gorgeous with her new beautiful saree, hairs tied neatly on one side, the long earrings touching her smooth cheeks, just like what Arun loved. She had also planned a candle light dinner at home, and was waiting for Arun. The doorbell rang and she was happily surprised as it was early than the usual time of Arun. Preeti opened the door and she was let down a bit, as it was not Arun but Ritesh.

Ritesh, a smart, handsome young man, an IT Professional who worked at the same company where Preeti worked. He also stayed just in the adjacent society. Preeti used to share the ride with Ritesh.

Not expecting Ritesh – She was a bit irritated, but holding her feelings, she tried being courteous. Ritesh was carrying a bouquet of flower to wish her, on her anniversary. Though she was uncomfortable, she invited Ritesh in, offered him snacks. His energy was pushing Preeti’s discomfort out of the scene, his jokes and approach was making the atmosphere lively. After about an hour, he asked for permission to leave, Preeti was brought back to senses and she agreed. He left and she closed the door. She turned and found that Arun was standing in the balcony – she was taken aback.

She went to Arun and asked him when did he return? how long has it been? Arun mentioned her that she was so happy, he did not intend to interrupt the flow. She was feeling a bit guilty & she apologized for the same. Arun made her comfortable took her in his arms and soothed her.

In the morning, Preeti found herself in bed. What she could only remember was some great moments shared with Ritesh and a blank evening with Arun. She was unable to recall what happened after she went into the arms of Arun and closed her eyes with tears rolling down the cheek. She got up surprised to see it was 9:00 AM and she was all alone at home. She got up, got ready and saw a few missed calls from Ritesh, she quickly guessed, the same was to go to the office as they shared the ride. It was already 10:30 AM, so she guessed, that Ritesh would have already reached office, so she rushed to the office, hiring a cab.

On reaching she got greeted by others with a smirk, Preeti felt that, odd. She went to Ritesh’s desk and apologized, he shrugged it off. Rather he tried to pull her leg, asking what did she do with Arun last night, as she looked tired? She laughingly neglected the questions and moved on to her desk.

That evening it was time to go back home, after a tired day. Preeti tried calling Arun a few times but there was no response. Preeti and Ritesh started back home and were having a casual chat, the radio was playing “Pal Pal dil ke paas tum rehte hon” and this took her on a trail in past. This was Arun’s favorite song & he used to sing it for her, now and then. She was wondering on where, those wonderful days got lost? Why is it that she feels so stressed and tired by the end of each day? Why is it that she tends to forget Arun each day while on work and then evenings look vacant without him? She had some very compelling questions and no answers to them. She was so engrossed in her own web that Ritesh kept on talking and she did not even listen. It was her drop point and she got off the car. They shared good byes and Ritesh asked whether he should go with her to home as it was late, but she refused and left for her home.

On reaching home, Preeti found Arun in kitchen, cooking their dinner. She was furious on him for not connecting with her for all day long. He got on his knees and apologized. Took her hand and pushed her to wash room for a hot water bath. Once she was back he served her steam Rice with her favorite Thai curry. This brought a smile on her face and she had now lost her anger. Both of them had a great evening together, they kept chatting and she felt mesmerized.

She got up next morning with the cell phone ring from Ritesh. She got ready hastily and rushed to office thinking the great evening spend yesterday. She was also surprised to have not found Arun at home but she thought he would have left for his office.

Ritesh seemed very happy today, his happiness was making him a bit belligerent and he was not driving as his usual self. He was a bit more casual and punchy. He started racing the car and to their surprise, on came an old woman from one of the lanes. In an attempt to not hit her, Ritesh swinged the steering and the car banged into a parked truck. When Ritesh came to his senses he realized that Preeti had been hurt badly, while he was mildly hurt. He stopped the Taxi and moved her to hospital, she was still unconscious.

Doctors started the preliminary treatment and asked Ritesh to get Preeti’s relatives. He checked with office colleagues and no one really knew any relatives of Preeti. None had ever met any one or seen her with anyone. The only information everyone had was, that she had a husband by name Arun. But no one had the contact details of Arun. He also tried to get the details of her relatives from her society or the landlord, but mobile numbers were not in service. He left the message for Arun to get in touch with him on urgent basis.

Ritesh was now really surprised at how could this be? Can someone be so mysterious in today’s world of social media? How can one know a person for years and yet they remain unknown? He went back the memory lane and realized that he as well has never seen her with her husband or any one else at her home. He now had no alternative than to wait for her consciousness to return.

It took one whole day for her to come to consciousness, Ritesh was praying this all time. Once she became conscious he went to her and apologized for her condition. She was still not very conscious but kept on asking for Arun. Ritesh asked her to share the contact details and she asked him to get the mobile. She opened the phone and dialed Arun’s number and it did not connect. They tried several times and yet there was no connection. Ritesh asked Preeti for the company details where Arun worked, she shared the name.

Ritesh called the company and as the office had closed for the day, there was no response. He thought he will catch Arun at home and so he rushed back to Preeti’s home, but there was no one at the home. He waited and inquired but no one saw anyone enter or leave. Now Ritesh was really getting irritated at Arun. Preeti had been missing for almost two days and even after leaving so many messages with different people Arun had not contacted him.

Ritesh went to Arun’s office the next morning and inquired about him. To his surprise he came to know that, no one named Arun worked there. This was shocking. He lost his temper and was shouting at the receptionist. A man passing heard the names Arun and Preeti and inquired. He was Raj an old employee of the company. He said that there was a man named Arun working in this company, he also happen to have a wife by same name Preeti, but he had died in an accident about two years ago. Both Preeti and Arun were riding a bike and were hit by a speeding truck on highway and Arun lost his life. Preeti was pregnant and she also lost her child. She was quite shocked and went into complete silence.

Her parents took her back to himachal where they belonged. Ritesh’s mind was now numb. He was not being able to decide on whether both these Preeti’s, the one in his life and one in Raj’s story are same or different? Can this be so complicated or is it just a coincidence?

He asked Raj for a photo of Arun or Preeti. Raj said he can check with HR if they have a file photo. HR shared the photo and it was same Arun as seen in photos at Preeti’s home and her mobile. Ritesh was now absolutely stunned at this turn of events. His mind was unable to comprehend what exactly was happening? Did Preeti knew about this and faked a person for this long? Is she negating the fact that Arun is no more? Has she lost her mind? But how can a women so seemingly calm and composed, be mentally disturbed?

Getting some more details from them Ritesh got in touch with her parents, called and explained them the situation. Her father said that they do not respect any relationship with Preeti now. She is as good as dead for them. He tried to understand in details why her father was so skeptical about Preeti? Her father explained him that, Preeti had been very silent since Arun’s death. They tried to cheer her up and bring her to normal life but she never responded. She remained alone and kept on talking to herself. Even the Psychologist was unable to help her as she behaved erratically. To make it better we decided to re-marry her, she agreed and then ran away from her marriage. Since that day we have never contacted her and we do not care if she is alive or dead. He banged the phone and disconnected.

Now Ritesh was really anxious and wanted to know everything. His anxiety and questions could be put to rest only by one person – Preeti.

Ritesh rushed to hospital to meet with Preeti. When he reached there and told Preeti that Arun was found nowhere, she laughed and said “you have just missed him?” She mentioned Arun was here all night taking care of her and probably that is why he could not find Arun at home or office. Ritesh was short of words now and decided to hold on till she gets better and out of hospital and then take this topic for discussion.

Days passed and Ritesh took complete care of Preeti, may it be feeding her or helping her to walk or making her hair. Preeti still felt that Arun was around, but she also realized that Ritesh was always there to help her. Almost in last few days at the hospital Preeti complained that Arun is spending very less time with her now, Ritesh understood that she is remembering Arun less now. The scenario was still quite complicated as Ritesh had to pretend that he also saw Arun. In all of this Ritesh found that Preeti has taken a special place in his heart. He was in love with Preeti, but now came the biggest task, to make Preeti aware to the fact that Arun was no more and then try winning her heart.

Ritesh gathered the courage and started dropping hints about Arun’s absence. He used to hint at how about if Arun was not there? He used to refer Preeti as his wife, in casual way. She got to be a bit irritated but now was getting used to it.

It was time to take Preeti home and Ritesh had made all the arrangements for the same. On the way back Ritesh softly informed her that Arun is no more in her life. She was furious and cursed him for such a joke, he kept reminding her of that the incidences when she felt Arun’s presence were all her imagination. She was fighting with him for a few minutes and then felt heart broken. All her energy and anger drained off in tears. She surrendered to the fate and went into silence. Ritesh took her home, made her comfortable. He then made her tea & assured her that he will take care of her, for life. He tried to make her very comfortable and left after putting her to sleep.

Next morning, knowing that Preeti likes a hot cup of tea in the morning reached her home, but no one opened the door. He kept ringing her and banging th door, all in vain. He then broke through the door in the house to find Preeti dead in the balcony with a cup of tea, a letter besides her that said,

“Ritesh thanks a lot for being my guardian angel you are a gem of a person. I would have loved to be with you but I can not breach Arun’s trust hence I am leaving with him. Forgive me.”

FUTURISTIC SKILLS: DATA SCIENCE

“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine.”

– Peter Sondergaard of Gartner Research.

The world we will live in tomorrow will be significantly different from what we live in today. I would not be surprised if the house maid gets replaced by a robot or your newspaper gets replaced with a tablet based online news or the chauffeur gets replaced by a self-drive car or your assistant would be your cell phone / laptop. The list of jobs which will eventually get replaced by Technology can go on. We have already seen the move from call centre operator to a IVR format. Visits to Bank branches have reduced.

This change is happening relentlessly. Even right now while you are reading this article, some one somewhere in this world is getting replaced by technical advancements.

Today more than any time earlier the distinctions between the different domains are vanishing. Mechanics is merging with Electronics to form Mechatronics. Doctors are coding the software’s that will give medical advice / Lawyer’s will code software’s to give legal advice.

I do not mean to scare you with this thought. With the advent of new Technology there will also be advent of new Skill Sets that will be in demand. To name a few:

  1. Data Science.
  2. Artificial Intelligence.
  3. Mechatronics.
  4. Supply Chain Management.

The list here as well is long, though it is debatable whether the human intervention / need will increase of decrease? But still there will be some strong skill sets which will increase in demand.

In this series of Futuristic Skills, I will take you through a few skills, I suppose will form the back bone of the future job markets. To start we will discuss first about DATA SCIENCE. So let’s dive-in:

Wikipedia defines Data Science as: An inter-disciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and insights from many structural and unstructured data. Data science is related to data mining, machine learning and big data.

So just to simplify the same, we are all aware that we are drowning in data today. We have far more data available compared to time for analyzing, processing or scrutinizing the same. Data Science is a field which uses algorithms (computer programs) along with some statistical models to give you what you are looking for in a data.

Kind of Finding a needle in haystack.

Imagine

How does a Mall around the corner decide on which products to keep for sale? / Which products to be placed at which location?

How does Tesla decide on how to market their cars?

How does Amazon / Flipkart decide on where to keep stocks of which products?

How does a bank decide the location of their ATM’s

All of the above are examples of Data Analysis. They gather data of there customers / orders / Target audiences, then they analyse the same with cost of marketing / stock / location, then they arrive at a winning proposition of Low Cost to High Conversion and implement the idea.

This basically is what Data Science is all about.

Let’s start to understand a bit more in details:

DATA: Data is a Raw Information. Where does this data come from? It is collected all around us, every moment. Example:

  1. When apply for a job, you give your preference for a City, domain, years of experience, educational qualification, etc.
  2. When you buy a product / cell phone card, you give out your address, birth date, alternate no, etc.
  3. On Social media platforms, we unknowingly disclose our Birthdates / Anniversaries / Kids Birthdates / names / Age / Travel locations / Political preferences, etc.
  4. Now a days there are umpteen online Quizzes’ – which celebrity do you look like? / What house will you live in? / How will then older you look like?
  5. There is umpteen data collection avenues.

All of this is Unstructured Data – In its Raw form no one can make any major use of it. But when you structure the same data, it can be of amazing use. We will see this in details in our case study further.

SCIENCE: So utilizing this unstructured data and using some scientific and logical steps – we can form a string of statements, which can be used to define Business Strategies.

So what are the steps in Data Science:

  1. Configure the correct question.
  2. Compile the Raw Data post processing & cleaning.
  3. Primary Data investigation.
  4. Scan the Data with one or more Models and Algorithms.
  5. Derive results using the Data Science techniques of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence & Statistical Models.
  6. Discuss and improve on results with stake holders feedback.

CASE STUDY: Let’s take a very simple case study for the Data Science:

  1. Question to be answered: Target Customer for Old Age Medical Services.
  2. Compile Raw Data: Hire 10 People who collect the following data by visiting all household in a certain defined area.
    • People in Household.
    • Their age
    • Any Ailments – e.g Diabetes / High BP / Low BP / etc.
  3. Primary Data Investigation: You sort all those houses that have Older people living.
  4. Scan the Data with Models: Then you apply Specific Age / Disease criteria to find your Target Homes.
  5. AI: You feed these Nos to your Auto SMS / whats app messages service and keep pushing notifications / Advertises of your Services.
  6. Compiling the results of your 1 Month / 3 Months response you again fine tune the above process.

I hope that I was able to bring clarity to you on the topic of Data Science. I will take on a new topic for the next article on the series of Futuristic Skills.

Do let me know in comments below in case you need any more information / have some thing more to add to this topic.

If you want to know more on the subject and courses that you can do, please check the following links:

EDUCATIONAL REFERENCES: Please find the links for more articles and courses.

Upgrad: PG Diploma Course from IIT B  

Simplilearn: PG Diploma Course with IBM  

Edureka: Article & Courses

Udacity: Courses on Data Science