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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.

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.

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 15^th 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.”

Technology’s Evolution: Past, Present, and Future Insights

If we try to take the overview of where we were at the start of 21^st Century to where we are now and where we would be by mid of 21^st Century. I anticipate a phenomenal change. This 50 Years will be a giant leap for the mankind.

When we take an account in 2050 the world could be completely different from where we started around 2000.

Today we see following:

From Technology leadership for US and Europe the baton seems to be shifting East words to China.
From worlds super economies European countries are now leading the bankruptcy lists.
From a 3^rd world country India now is in Top 5 strongest global economies.
It seems India & China will be torchbearers to take the world forward from here on to 2050.

Let’s just jump in and take account of What was, What is & What could be.

IT: The Past: What Was

When we talk about 2000 the first thing that’s hits us is Y2K. Brief background for the uninitiated. All the software systems were written with only 2-digit nomination for year, e.g. 94, 95, etc. When 2000 arrived, there was a fear that the whole system will get a reset to “00” & the world as we know can have its Dooms Day. Indian IT companies came to the foray and they amended all the software systems to 4-digit nomination. This highlights 2 most important aspects: The advent and rise of Software Technology to the world along with advent and rise of India on global stage as reliable IT service provider.

Open AI to Buy Statsig for 11 Billion Dollars

By Mid-2000’s there was another Technology out burst the Internet which ended in a famous dot.com bubble but Internet stayed and ever since has been becoming more and more wide spread touching lives and shaping the new world.

IT: Today: What Is

If we compare the scenario midway to this 50 Years journey – both IT (computers & Internet) are integral parts of our lives and work. They control so much in today’s world that we might be pushed to stone age in case they cease to exist. Things that no one thought about in 2000’s like – Phones in pocket, international communications at finger tips with laptop & internet, OTT movies being streamed directly from cloud to your home, connected devices, purchases from the comfort of your couch, digital payments, and another 1000’s of features that we today just take for granted.

But, the evolution till date and what is about to come with new inventions like cloud, mobile connectivity, AI, etc. the world we are about to see will be very different and could be unrecognizable by 2050 for some one who being born today.

IT: Future: What could be

My expectation is that technology could jump to a point where the world could see redefinition of connectivity. We could see machines, buildings, cities, etc communicating with each other to make this world a better place. We could operate any system or device from anywhere in the world on a mass adoption level. We could see Robots guarding our streets, working on machines, and do all redundant jobs, AI (this is a big debatable issue) could be a game changer and will be instrumental in all decision makings whether its personal, institutional or governmental.

I am only limited by my imagination on what could be…

Manufacturing: Past: What was:

The early 2000’s saw emergence of another eastern country China as the World’s Factory. The accession to WTO opened a lot of products to be manufactured in China and supplied to the world and China did not blink they kept climbing the ladder and becoming a dominant force in Global Manufacturing supply chain.

This era also saw an emergence of low-cost cars – mass adoption of cars and evolution in manufacturing at scale. This was start of globalisation. European Union was launched with EURO as their currency. The complete global supply chains were rewritten. USA & Russia dominated in defence, Space & Economics, Europe in automotive, mechanisation & robotics.

Manufacturing: Today: What Is:

Today we see a bit different from yesteryears. The word is again getting polarised with China+1, Europe+1, etc. US wants their manufacturing jobs back. China has significantly leap frogged with “Dark Factories” & Robots on assembly lines. They are making a strong headway in Automotive and have taken European giants by storm. They are building high-tech cars, 3D Printed homes, Robots as service providers, cleaners, drone deliveries, etc.

They have wreaking havoc with “Debt Trap” on not so well doing economies like Sub-Saharan countries, Sri-Lanka, Pakistan, etc. All in all, China is dominating the manufacturing & technology landscape of today.

India by launching PLI & “Make in India” initiatives, US with “MAGA”, etc. are trying to gain back control from China to reduce the global dependence on the Dragon.

Manufacturing: Future: What could be:

The key words for future of manufacturing are efficient, automation & diversified. My expectation is that the dependence on China will surely reduce. We will see emergence of newer countries like Brazil, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. doing good in this scenario. Over next 20~25 odd years, human might not be seen in factories, they will be run by robots and AI. Automotive would move to cleaner tech like EV, Hydrogen, etc. World will see a strong emergence of cleaner electricity as major power source moving away from fossils. I see, Self Drive Cars, Flying Cars, Drones, etc a mass adopted technologies from current concepts. Homes, Bridges, Rockets, etc. could be made with 3D Printing. Human Implants will be a reality, we might not need to carry a phone it could just be a sim implant.

I am only limited by my imagination on what could be…

Let’s move to the next big ticket which will change the future of mankind.

Space Technology: Past: What was:

Space has always been a huge area of interest and an opportunity to showcase once tech prowess. While the space technology war has been quite old between US, Russia, China. 2000’s was a revolutionary year with ISS – International Space Station. It marked continuous presence of humans in space. In the last 2 decades the major milestones achieved in Space Tech are, China’s manned craft capabilities, launch of SpaceX first private space research organisation, China’s own space station, India aggressively putting their own satellites INSAT in space. We saw advent of satellite TV, concept of Starlink, Moon exploratory missions, MARS missions, etc. the 2000’s decade has been foundation of Space Tech and has brought a lot of things like Material Innovation, advanced positioning systems, advanced communication systems, etc to mainstream.

Space challenges of 2000 – NASA

Space Technology: Present: What is:

In today’s scenario India and China have also taken huge leaps in space exploration. India’s Mars mission was an ultra-low-cost mission. India in a world first – also landed its rover on the dark side of moon. China has been first to land a rover on far side of moon. China also landed a rover on Mars becoming second country ahead of USA / Russia. SpaceX has successfully demonstrated the reuse of rockets for satellite propulsion, India’s Aditya mission is a study mission for the SUN. USA is working on Deep Space exploration, Space Station in moons orbit, space tourism, etc.

So, we are developing a lot of technologies and trying to expand the boundaries of known science and technologies.

Space Technology: Future: What could be:

Let me be candid here – I am limited by my imagination….. 🙂

I will not be surprised if we see, manned flights to Mars and beyond, if we see a huge network of satellites for communication, Supervision of world, lightning-fast satellite communications, colonisation in space, space tourism, AI playing a major role in assistance, much advanced materials with higher strength and lower weight. I would not be surprised if space travel becomes as normal as taking flights.

Exploring the deep space with telescopes. Orbital Hotels, colonies on Moon and Mars. Space station tourism.

So, to summarise this while the past for all Information Technology, Manufacturing & Space Tech was a strong foundation, present is quite progressive and we did come quite a long way, but, as it is always a hockey stick journey, I anticipate that the future progress for all three will be much faster over next 20~25 years.

I am not sure how many of us will live to see the world of tomorrow but it surely is bringing some very enigmatic changes.

Do let me know your views or if you think I missed any points in the comments box.

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5 Essential Life Skills for Success and Well-Being

In today’s cut throat world all of us are driven by success and each one of us wants to climb the corporate ladder to the top as fast as possible. Rightly so as the world is judging you by every minute, every second, every post and every story. The peer pressure in today’s world is the biggest killer – like it or not. While we all chase the so-called success, the bigger car, the bigger flat, club memberships, etc. we are unaware about the price we pay for being there and doing that.

While this mirage that we chase is illusive and can vanish with a blink of an eye. I suggest to build a more concrete foundation to remain afloat in today’s dynamic, ever-changing world. Here are a few virtues, I feel will help you build that foundation. While the list is not exhaustive, it can be a good starter.

PERSONAL FINANCE:

While finance play’s a major role in success, I am sure that many do not have an understanding of managing money. I have talked to many young, middle aged, Junior, Senior people in good positions and yet have no grip on how the money works. Unfortunately, this most important life skill is not taught in any formal university. I am not an expert in this domain but I am sharing my acquired knowledge on the same.

You be in any position, stage or elevation in your career, your savings or investments are the only reality. Not your CTC, not your bonuses, not your possessions. So, when you are in your hay days keep aggressively investing. I would only highlight points that you should be considering on personal finance to save yourself from the landmines.

Build a 3-month salary as your contingency fund. This is the first priority, your safety net.
Take a Term Insurance & Health Insurance at the earliest. At early stage this looks to be wastage but I personally believe that safety should be an important priority. In today’s world a simple hospitalisation could need lakhs and that derails your progress.
Do not fall prey to quick rich schemes, speculative trading, lottery, etc. Wealth is made with calculated risk; blunders are made when you rush to take risks.
Keep focus on your needs – question 3 times for any buy which is more than 10% of your monthly salary. I do not advice to be a miser but surely practice discretion.
Never go beyond 30% of monthly salary for Total EMI’s even if the eligibility is 55+%. This will keep you in safe zone for any mishaps. Life is very uncertain; it hits when it’s least anticipated.

This is not an exhaustive list and if you have any additions, please feel free to share in the comments box.

HEALTH:

Though this comes second in my list, its not the second priority. One should always keep health as the outmost priority. And by health I do not only mean physical, this should cover physical, mental, social, etc. while discussing with quite some professionals I realised that stress is rapidly becoming a buzz word. Whether it is because of job timings or politics at work or peer pressure, the reasons are many but result is one Burn Out. Now we might not be able to dodge these issues but we can surely find a way through them to safe guard our mental sanctity. Now I am aware that there is no One size fits all solution to this. But let’s have a look at a few pointers that work for me in managing myself.

Try keeping yourself away from one-to-one comparison. E.g. He and I were at same level now look at him / he was my junior in some company and now he is at this position / he owns a penthouse or specific brand car or his kid’s study in ivy league college or he has expensive club membership. All these are just pressure builders. No one knows the other person’s journey yet everyone just compares start to current situation. Refrain from the same and you will be very happy. There are no free lunches – if you achieved something you surely sacrificed something. I strongly believe that Life is a Great Leveller.
Learn to say NO. Very often the reasons of our own anxiety are our own decisions. Do not expect life to be fair – it’s not. You have to figure out your priorities and say NO to what does not fall in that list. We keeping saying yes to all some times motivated by the raise or promotion, sometimes driven by the fear of losing the job or any other vulnerability. But future is very uncertain. You can only control present so do that. Do what needs to be done today.
Keep some time for Self-Growth & Family. Learn from kids, they are always happy when they are doing things that they love, with people they like. Human needs are very similar. Prioritise family time and self-time. Even a small walk in the park with your partner or best friend relieves the tension of entire week. A small chat with some one you love to talk to will refresh you. Find things that Re-Charge you and the keep repeating them.
Another action that breeds stress is living too much in Past or Future. Refrain from the same. A study by Cornell University suggests 85% of things we worry about never happen in real life. You also can not change the past. So, take one step at a time and stay in present. If you analyse your past, you will find only regrets. Remember the famous dialogue of Morpheus from Matrix Reloaded when they come out from meeting the trafficker of information Merovingian “Whatever happened, happened and could not have happened any other way”. Trust the Universe.
Remember “Action Defeats Stress & Anxiety. Stress & anxiety feed on lethargy”. So, stay active. Whenever you feel that you are getting stressed or anxious, pick yourself up and go for a run or walk or hit the gym or play with kids, etc. Do some activity – this will keep you healthy both physically and mentally.

SKILLS:

We all get paid for the skills we attain over life time, not for the degrees or positions or possessions. We all are paid for what value we bring to table. Whether its job or business or any other engagement. Way of payment can vary, the currency could be money or attention or respect or etc. but if you do not add value, you will be sidelined. What is important is staying relevant in current times.

As you age and move up the ladder, the best skill you can attain is to Unlearn & Relearn. World is changing fast and it is a lot of work to stay abreast if you carry the baggage of your old thoughts, old ways, and rudimentary thinking. Get rid of what does not suit today’s requirements, make space for new, learn what keeps you aligned with today’s world.
Study the people in positions you want to be in. Their job responsibilities, demands of their jobs, there skills, there schedules and try working along those lines. Learn what you do not know, unlearn whatever is not needed. Often times when we look from below, we feel the jobs at the top are quite easy, but its not that way. As they say “Heavy lies the head that wears the crown”. Respect the position – you cannot achieve what you despise, instead grow your knowledge, attain the needed skills, be worthy without the title and it will come to you.
Normally we have a habit to cursing the younger generations but that has not helped. It did not help when we were the younger generation and it will not help even today. So, get used to the norm of new replacing the old. Be the guide you never had, to this young generation. You have your skills they have their agility. Try channelling this in the right direction. Be the mentor not the Boss. The Organisations will crave you and your colleagues will love you. It does not take much effort to understand others and align accordingly.

COMMUNICATION:

Humans become the most dominant species on earth due to communication. But in current times its more imperative to hone and sharpen this skill. While there can be a completely new blog on communication, its types, its impacts etc. But here I will just focus on communication in broader sense. While I will not delve in the written communication as reading will help you in getting it better, I would like to focus on inter-personal communication.

You may be a genius but if you are unable to have a conversation with others, you will be left to dry. So, make yourself conversant with ways of interactions with others. Conversations at different level have to be different, you can not discuss same topics with kids as you do with teenagers or your age people or the elderly. So just focus on following aspects:

Be conversant of the current events – you do not need to follow the same to the T. But be conversant. Whether its Cricket or Wimbledon or Politics or Geo-Politics, stay abreast with latest happenings.
Conversation is best when it happens at the level of the one you are having it with. If its kids, it should be as it happens between to kids, when it is with the Business Leader it should be like two business leaders are talking.
3 aspects are very important in interpersonal communication. Topic, Expectations, Responsibility. Communication should always address these. What is topic of discussion, what are your and others’ expectations and finally what is the action plan with responsibility and timeline.
Communication has to be assertive and all encompassing. It should address everyone involved & their needs in the communication.

You can surely have some more points in this and I would love to hear them in the comments box. Please feel free to add your experiences.

Last but not the least

GIVE BACK:

We all take a lot from others, our society, our relatives, mother earth, etc. but we often postpone our give back. Focus on your contributions to all of these. Whether its your time or monetary or influence, etc. in whatever way you can give back you should. Even the smallest act of kindness like donating the old toys to road side dwellers or donating groceries to an old age home or spending time with the elderly in a park, etc. whatever suits you will be welcome. World is drifting apart due to technology and speed of lives; we tend to forget that we also will grow old and we also would be in need of support. So, while you can contribute – do so. It also keeps you light and humbled. We always feel our troubles are bigger than the world, this gives you an opportunity to know other people and their struggles up close. This will also bring you calm and you might just start appreciating what you have.

So, just to reflect on what we discussed: to have a wholesome life one can focus on remaining healthy physically and mentally, attaining requisite skills to stay relevant, have strong control on the personal finances, work on bettering the communication and practice giveback.

Hope this article helps you improve your quality of life.

Please do comment on what impact this has had on your life.

Addressing Road Safety Challenges in India

On the eve of the day when 2 souls had to leave this world by the way of road accidents in Pune. While this is almost a daily incident now a days in almost all major cities. While our (so called) Undying Spirits push us to move forward in lives, thinking this won’t happen to me. But today my mind delved into the problem and possible solutions to this.

I am sure nothing new might come up than what we all already know. But I would attempt to push the envelope one more time.

We need to value LIFE.

I feel in India we are doing miserably on this point. Lives lost on road / terror attack / Game celebrations / factory and we feel it for minutes and then we move on, like it never happened or will never happen again. And then it happens again after a few weeks. May be this is because we are second most populous country of the world. This has numbed us towards the human life. We need to value human lives more.

If this thought is not nurtured, we will never design our roads / safety / systems & processes to not harm or to save human lives.

We need stronger permanent solutions not stop gap arrangements.

Now a days there is a trend for quick fix for all most all problems and we all take it as solution. It’s like a solution in guise of a temporary action. Like it’s fashion now a days of building speed breakers whenever accidents happen. Fire someone or ask for resignations. Announce a compensation or job offer or some other tangible handout. Everyone feels good that action happened and no one actually goes to understand whether it is a pattern or one of incidence.

As far as on road safety is concerned, I have been proponent of banning 3-wheelers for years now. I love their usability & affordability and I have nothing against them. But the same advantage manoeuvrability is now becoming a menace. Same with 2 Wheelers. But you may argue that this will be a big pain for many people – yes that’s correct. But desperate times need desperate measures. We need some very serious changes on Road related issues.

And that is exactly why I propose a strong public transport and good roads. If government provides efficient public transport and good condition roads no one would want to drive 2 wheelers. A public – private partnership should be explored in this and with a cap on charges.

e.g: I was surprised to read that Tokyo had same territorial area as Bangalore. Population of Tokyo is 3X that or Bangalore. Looking at current situation in Bangalore – in Tokyo no one should be able to live, yet it thrives. Tokyo has one of the worlds best Metros. Metros there make approx. 3~4 crore trips / day while Namma Metro is tuck at around 6~6.5 Lac trips / day.

Civic sense.

Not all fingers point towards others. We as people also need to slow down a bit. Access where are we going so hurriedly? Why so much road rage? What do we do by saving those 5 minutes and risking lives on road? Is that phone call so important to twist your neck and talk on road? I guess it’s in fact quite ridiculous the way we behave. For this we need stricter license rules. Higher penalties. Stronger laws. Again, a very unpopular step but we need to understand and inculcate that Driving is a Privilege not Right. But before this there needs to be accountability. For road conditions / for better transport / for better infrastructure. Administration and people both have to play there part or else we keep losing precious lives for most stupid reasons.

Last but not least.

We need our startups to find real world solutions rather than food delivery apps.

Food delivery startups sure have generated quite some employment. But they also have increased traffic and also put the anxiety on commuters due to lower delivery times. No one is dying if grocery does not get delivered in less than 10 mins.

Why no startup is working to make an integrated grid using AI and cameras / drones to find traffic bottlenecks / accident prone areas / areas where maximum traffic violation happens and redesign roads so people need not break the rules.

Why are they not working on solution on better routes / better public transport / better locations for bridges etc to predict and prevent jams.

If we as a society remain fully driven by money and not actual issues troubling us, we can never move from developing to a developed economy.

I feel developed economy is not just GDP or Per Capita, it’s a mindset.

It’s a state of harmony between commercial, social and personal wellbeing.

To sum up the article, I feel we need to awake to the fact that roads are increasingly becoming dangerous due to our own bad civic sense, no regard to rules and regulations and unwanted rush along with administrations lethargy to address issues with permanent solutions instead of quick fix, no inclination to enhancing public transport or diligent focus on creating and maintaining good infrastructure. The need of the hour is to accept our mistakes and embrace the tough decisions for our and future generations benefits.

In case you feel to add any points or any solutions, please feel free to share the same in comments box.

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India vs China: The Startup Ecosystem Debate

Currently there is a roaring debate on startup ecosystem of India Vs China. This photo was already doing rounds in social media but what added the fuel to the fire is our commerce minister discussing this in the Startup Mahakumbh. He took a deep dig on our startups and mentioned that what we are doing is “entrepreneurship” and “not startup”.

Please click on the image to view the video

There has been divided response on the social media, while some suggest that at least some one has accepted the dire situation and raised a concern there are others who point out that government needs to pitch in for the success of their deep tech startups.

One of the founders of a semiconductor startup took to reddit platform responding to Mr. Goyals remarks as follows:

“We are a semiconductor startup. Started in 2018. Stopped wasting our time trying to get Indian clients—private sector, government or defense,” he wrote. He described the procurement process as discouraging and non-committal, citing repeated instances where officials responded to proposals with statements like: “You build it, then we’ll decide,” or “We won’t buy—go find whether there is a market for this.”

Semiconductor founder hits back at Piyush Goyal’s ‘ice cream or chips’ remark

The point he made was who would fund these deep tech research without the visibility of returns from the same? Who would invest the time and energy in something which might or might not click? In any business the most important part is visibility of returns, path to success.

Another perspective to counter the Commerce Minister

We all understand that world we knew is fast perishing and there is a paradigm shift awaiting at the horizon. New Leaders will be those who wield the Technology. In current scenario it seems that China has left whole world behind. Whether it is Automotives (dominated by Europeans) or Aerospace & Defence (dominated by US) or manufacturing (dominated by Japan) or any other field. While there is merit to both these arguments what’s important is to find a way to tread this path.

From Startups perspective: following points are important and need intervention.

What support can governments (state and central) offer to startups. We need a proper plan and execution for the same.
India has a done a commendable job jumping from 142 (in 2014) to 63 (in 2020) but what ahead of that. New businesses still struggle with basic support and regulatory hurdles.
Deep Tech surely will need significant initial capital and the product lifecycle will be longer. This is where they expect a handholding. There has to be a funding charter for these Deep Tech. Clear identification of areas, clearly defined economic zones, strategies, etc.
Post the product readiness what is important is market acceptance. There is a need of governments adopting the newer tech products in their ecosystem to boost this initial resistance.

From Governments Perspective: following points are important and need resolution.

While we can always point fingers what’s also important is inclination of the industry towards R&D. If we take even the biggest of the Organizations in India, the focus on R&D has been abysmal. India R&D expenditure is roughly 1/10^th that of China or US. On GDP scale its just 0.65% while in US and China its well above 2~3% (on there scale of GDP) even a small country like Israel does @ 5% of GDP. Majority of this comes from Public Sector. Private sector lags completely in this. In US and China private sector does the major weightlifting.
We have a very strong domestic markets for Automotive, Clothes, Electronics, mobile phones. Name any private sector company who built a world class product in India in last several years. Even the 2-Wheeler companies that boast of exports do so in third world countries. There is no aspiration to become a globally renowned product. The focus of Indian corporates has been returns & this needs to change.
Look at the Indian IT sector. For last 2 / 3 decades we are happy being the service providers (cheap labour) to the world. why have so called IT giants never tried to build a product? What are the R&D budgets of these mammoth companies? And if they will not invest in R&D who will and who should?
Now when we look at the pharma industry that is an appreciable picture. They spend significant amounts in R&D. Do pain stacking research for years and as a fruit, they hold almost 40% of the US generic medicine market. Other industries need to take a lesson from these companies.

To conclude, I suppose both the Industry and Governments have to work closely, hand-in-hand to change this scenario for the greater good. Industry needs to be braver and more adventurous while governments need to support this adventure and ensure they have a strong ground for this.

These are a few pointers that I could think of, but I would surely love to hear your perspective on this topic. So please do contribute your views in the comments below.

Ola and Uber: Unpacking the Ride-Hailing Crisis in India

We all were used to good comfortable rides in Ola & Uber. The convenience, safety, AC, comfort, etc. all in all it was a dream come true about 8~10 years back. Majority of customers shifted from extorting Auto-Rickshaws to these Cabs. As a cherry on top, you need not plan the trip or hold the taxi for day it was a point-to-point connectivity. This looked like and amazing Win-Win model for all, Drivers, Customers & the company. So, what has gone wrong in last 3~4 years that all the pieces of this amazing puzzle are falling apart.

Let’s deep dive to understand. For context let’s start from the very Start.

India was primarily an Auto commute economy, so majority of people used to use Auto rikshaw / Tuk Tuk as the means for last mile connectivity. For the more privileged or corporate people there was always some neighbouring travel agency, who took cab bookings. This was a very unorganised market, with lot of third-party transactions where reliability was always a problem. Then came the era of Radio Taxis (booking cabs on call centre). This was efficient but needed advance planning.

In this scenario emerged 2 companies who had a very organised structure and gave a very strong alternative to above options. Advantage they offered:

Clean Cabs with friendly driver.
You had a voice with cab and driver rating.
Point-to-Point connectivity, almost instantly.
All this at reasonable prices.

Indian consumers were elated that at last someone addressed their pain.

What was in it for Drivers:

Freedom from Job – Own business, they were now completely on their own. They could decide their daily income / time to work / take leaves whenever they needed.
Incentives and good strong income.
Respectable option to blue collar jobs and problems with those jobs. Overtime etc.

So, what was company gaining out of this:

They provided a platform to bridge the gap between customers and service providers and charged a fee for the same.

Prima Facie this looks very rosy, so where did the problems start. To know this let’s understand the business model of Ola and Uber.

Any platform needs 2 main constituents Customer and Seller. Now at the start you will have to lure both of them on your platforms. Why lure? Because there is already a system existent and you are proposing a new one, change needs a catalyst. So, these platform companies follow this broad business model:

Bait: So, to lure the customers and sellers, they throw the bait. Discounts, Incentives, high margins, etc. At this step all platform business lose cash (in financial terms this is called Cash Burn).
Network: In this step the current customers and sellers influence / aspire other customers and sellers. This is called customer acquisition strategy. At this step as well the cash burn is continuing.
Stabilising: Once there is good activity and strong customer base and sellers are added, what starts happening is old existing systems collapse and both customers and sellers rely more on this new system. You become addictive to this way and this becomes the new normal. This is the time of reduced incentives, reduced discounts, etc. but your comfort still pushes you to use this system.
Monetize: This is commercial step where the platform starts dictating the terms. Now you feel trapped but are left with no major choices as rest of the ecosystem is already dead. Now you remain stuck and platforms can now milk you for profits. They have supreme control on entire process. This is where comes Surge Pricing, all your home / office rides are costlier, odd times or odd locations pick up or drops become costlier. None of this extra income generated goes to driver (may be a small percentage) all is pocketed by platform.

Now that we understand the business model, you would have guessed what happened to Auto rikshaw and private travel agents and call cabs. They slowly died due to no business or joined the Ola Uber bandwagon. Customers shifted to Ola Uber as it was very convenient, book a cab from comfort of your home or Office and cab will be at your door steps in less than 10 Mins.

Now let’s see what went wrong in all this:

Many people under the influence of other drivers joined Ola and Uber even leaving their Jobs for extra money and independence. But once they started pushing down driver income what happened was Loans, Cabs, expenses all started creating issues for drivers & in this trouble COVID hit.
Due this autocratic behaviour of both, post COVID no major drivers joined them back.
Customers were already facing issues as now the cabs were not all clean, drivers were not all civilised, ACs were not working. Due to low income only bad cabs and bad drivers remained with Ola & Uber.
Now since Ola Uber had less drivers and for customers there was no major option demand was high – They could not focus on quality of cabs. Quality went spiralling down.
Drivers used to cancel rides / ask for cash / just did not turn up. Especially in North and South India.
This also hit the reliability of these cabs & customers started searching for alternatives. Price was still not an issue but reliability and service was becoming a pain.

In this some smart people started new ventures whether it is all electric taxis like BLU / GrEL / iNDrive etc, or some call centre kind of services like SAVAARI / Carbazar / BroomBoom etc. providing reliable and clean experience.

These above options are helpful for preplanned activities. As far as instant cab bookings are concerned the piece of convenience is still on OLA Uber side. But customers are now smart and they are picking and choosing service providers.

So, what could have these Ride Hailing platforms done better, I suppose:

This business depends on both the consumer and cab drivers. So, to sustain they should find a Win-Win solution. They need to be customer centric while having a strong eye to vehicle owners’ profitability. A transparent charging mechanism could be a great start.
As platform fees – they should charge fixed fees per trip to vehicle owners. To monetize they can go with slab wise incentive on monthly revenue generated by Cab owners.
They need to make cab drivers accountable for cancelling the rides and also take that ownership. It cant happen that you take 25~30% of the charges and 0% of accountability.
Focus should be on Cabs Quality, cleanliness, safety, driver etiquettes, availability & no cancellations. Customers need a reliable solution and this should take care of that.

So as a wrap up following seem to be primary reasons why I think Ola Uber are having a tough time:

Unreliable & Unclean cabs deteriorating the overall experience.
Autocratic behaviour and monopolistic push towards drivers.
Utter negligence to the Quality.
Transparent pricing, better quality of cars and service could turn the tables back in there favour

If you feel there could be more ways or ideas that could make this better for us do feel free to share your views or ideas in comment box below. Also if you have any suggestions / comments do share..

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The Future of EVs: Trends and Insights for 2025

Though many have already written the Obituary of the EV era. Come 2025 and things are looking exciting in this space. I would like to bring your attention to these facts which are actually pointing otherwise.

All OEM’s (even the laggards) have started becoming active in the EV Space. E.g.: Bajaj, M&M, Honda, etc.
While I was traveling on few highways in Maharashtra, I saw public charging stations almost at every 120~150 Kms.
Recent vehicles are getting launched at higher battery ranges and quicker charging times.
Prices of Vehicles are coming to closer parity of the ICE (internal combustion engine) competitors. E.g: Honda launched ACTIVA near 1 Lac / M&M new EV’s launched near SUVs like Creta / Seltos / XUV / Harrier.

When we scratch the surface and dig deeper. We understand that on the surface it looks calm and silent but beneath the water is flowing fast and rigorously.

It would not be prudent to assume that we might not have an EV future. EV is the Future, and if not, how will you explain the following:

Conservative OEMs like Bajaj and Honda – who have always criticized the EV Vehicles are coming up with strong offerings. If there is no future, why are they even investing into development of the same.

“Most of the new EV brands have come to us to sell themselves” says Bajaj Auto’s Rakesh Sharma. Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto, talks to Autocar Professional.

So, they are seeing a consolidation kicking in and consolidation also marks pricing power.

2. You would be seeing charging stations popping out in your neighborhood / enroute. Who do you think is investing in putting up the charging stations? Would there be so many amateur businesses people? Who would invest throughout the land where we know that there is no opportunity? If they are putting their hard-earned money. They surely know better and more so when you see multiple people across the geography doing the same.

Click on the links below for more information.

India saw 9X increase in charging stations in last 2 years.

EV Charging stations – Maharashtra.

3. All recent launches whether it was M&M / TATA etc. are committing to 400~500 + Kms Range on a full charge and this is a significant range. Almost all major cars in India have tanks that could just do the same. So, the Range Anxiety issue one parameter is taken care of the Range. The second is ease of availability and time to recharge in comparison with fossil fuel. For this point 2 is already in process. To add to this OEMs are also coming up with innovative solutions like Battery Swapping and Fast Charging. M&M has claimed that their new vehicles can be charged from 20~80% in less than 20 Mins with a 140W charger. So, I see that its not far off. This range anxiety issue will also be the devil in the past.

4. Another hurdle we all thought was higher prices compared the conventional competitors. With the MG-JSW launching a BAAS (Battery as a Service) Model. Where you do not pay upfront for the battery but as per your usage. This will also bring battery prices going down significantly. A report from Goldman Sachs says battery prices can fall by 50% by 2026. This could just make an EV car cheaper than ICE Cars. ICE cars might fail to challenge the rise of EV adoption.

Earlier the customers had quite a limited choice. But now you have a plethora of options from Tata, New kid on the block M&M has some stunning cars, MG-JSW plan to launch 5 New cars in 2025. Maruti showcased its EVitara (Brezza based EV), Hyundai is showcased Creta in Bharat Mobility. Hyundai also planning to launch Inster (based on Exter platform). Honda has announced an EV Vehicle next year, VW – M&M JV could push VW to launch some EV Models.

25 ~26 New cars were launched or showcased in Bharat Mobility.

All in all to summarize, the times are going to be exciting in 2025~26. I would suggest do not be in a hurry to write down the EV’s just about yet. Give it some rope and we might just be amazed.

What are your views? I would love to hear from you – so just drop your comments or questions in comments box below.

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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:

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.
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.
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:

30% with diabetic risk,
30% with hypertension risk and
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:

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

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:

TUBE INVESTMENT Plans to launch a E – 3-Wheeler by March 2022.
CARBORUNDUM UNIVERSAL has confirmed that they have already acquired the Li-Ion Technology from Indian Space Research Organization – ISRO.

RETROFITTING KITS

In 50K – a Hyderabad based startup converts IC Engine Rickshaws to EV.
- Batteries are swappable, Owner pays only for energy used not the Battery.
- 40-50% reduction in operating costs.
- They are also working with OEM’s to use there batteries and swapping station.
- Pune based company Northway Motors launches a Retrofitting Kit for MARUTI Desire and TATA Ace vehicles.

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.

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.

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