"Ek PROBLEM Hain"

In this article, I would like to discuss one particular trend about India which the world respects it for and the role which the word ‘problem’ seems to have played in it. I am talking about amazing feats which have been achieved by Indians in the field of Information Technology all across the globe today. In ways more than one, Indians today provide most of the solutions when it comes to complex mathematical, analytical and numerical challenges, IT being one such supreme example.

There are countless examples to substantiate the above. General Electronics has set-up the largest research centre in Bangalore, forty percent of the 500 biggest companies have their back offices in India and many employees in places such as NASA, Microsoft, Intel and IBM are Indians. Vinod Khosla, the founder of Sun Microsystems, Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail fame and Vinod Dham, the person who created the Pentium chip are all Indians. We also know about the achievements of the homegrown IT companies such as Infosys founded by Narayana Murthy, Wipro by Azim Premji, TCS and many others. The stories about Indian accomplishments in this sector are countless.

There was been numerous studies done in the past to try and understand the reasons behind this seemingly inherent Indian skill. Most of them have covered the important factors such as how we have traditionally been a nation of people with a deep sense of understanding and application of mathematics and analysis. The Indus Valley and Harappa Civilization made extensive use of measurements for length, mass and time. They were amongst the first to generate standards for weights and measurement and it is also true that these cities could not have been constructed without the knowledge of geometry. Then we had mathematicians like Aryabhatta I (from the fifth century AD), Brahmagupta (from the sixth century AD), Mahavira (from the ninth century AD) and Bhaskara (from the twelth century AD) whose contribution to mathematics and astrology cannot be overemphasized.

Another significant reason was the initiative taken by the government during the initial years post independence. The early leaders (Jawaharlal Nehru in particular) who had a clear focus and made substantial investments in the field of higher and technical education and institutions such as the IITs, the REC and several others came into existence/ started to flourish. During the initial Five Year plans, as much as one quarter of the education development budget was spent on technical education.

A great influence on the Indian minds was also fashioned by the opportunities which started opening up post liberalization initiatives taken by the government in early nineties. People from small towns as well as cities saw examples of others making getting well-paid jobs across the world with an engineering degree and likewise. In a country of scarcity and limited opportunities which India had always been, there was suddenly a burst of prospects. People saw examples of kids getting packages with a starting monthly salary which was more than the annual salary of the parents. A strong sense of possibility emerged and it led to an increase in aspiration as well as effort in the hearts of millions.

While each of the above factors are indeed true and have played a dominant role in the progress of the Indian IT and software industry, there is another unique language trait, popularly used in everyday lingo which I wanted to explore in this article. My discussion here is about the manner of usage and the prevalence of the word ‘problem’ in India.

Ever since I was in school and even later in college, I remember that most of the questions in the mathematics text book were labeled as ‘problems’ and not merely as ‘questions’. Even when it came to subjects such as Physics and Chemistry, there used to be a combination of ‘questions’ and ‘problems’. It was customary with the teachers for these subjects to leave the classroom with ten ‘problems’ to solve after having shared one example. Even the question papers during the examinations used to glaringly challenge us to work on ‘problems’ while for other subjects they would remain merely as questions. There were text books with hundreds of problems while for other subjects there were stories to read and essays to write.

What is interesting to note here is that almost all subjects would label ‘questions’ as ‘questions’ or use a neutral approach by using Roman Numerals, alphabets or just numbers. However, when it came to subjects such as Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry our lives would magically be doomed with ‘problems’.

One possible inference we can draw from such nomenclature is the fact that these subjects traditionally occupied a status which was different from others in the minds of its teachers. While a study in other subjects would result in questions which were to be replied to, when it came to numerical and analytical subjects, there were problems which required deep thinking and a methodical approach to arrive at a solution. While other subjects had material which could be memorized and recreated, these subjects required application of concepts taught in a completely new scenario during the examination. In some way, though not always vocally, the teachers in these areas of study attached a greater amount of importance to these subjects over others.

It is also interesting to note that as we grow up, we continue using the word ‘problem’ as a part of our everyday life. As we grow older and more responsible, we feel that we are in a life stage where we need to prove our real worth and make use of all the knowledge and experience gathered during the ‘brahmacharya’ or the learning years of our life. It is at this time, when we move into the so called ‘real’ world that we face challenges most often completely unique from what we have known in the past. And, during such a period, we once again resort to the usage of the word ‘problem’ whenever there is a daunting task at hand. We say that once we get a better paying job, all our ‘problems’ will get resolved; my boss seems to have some real ‘problem’ with me which I am not able to understand; the ‘problem’ with this client is that they don’t have money; the crux of the ‘problem is; ‘Dost, ek problem hain, koi solution bol’, etc.

When analyzed deeply, we find a lot of evidence which suggests that we attach the word ‘problem’ to tasks which are of importance as well as require mental and emotional effort to resolve. When we use this word, there is a sudden flash of memory from the sub-conscious reminding us about the enormous effort we used to put-in to overcome similar daunting situations at a very tender age. Any situation to which this word gets attached, assumes a sudden sense of seriousness and urgency in the same way in which we would break our heads to complete ten problem assignments in school.

Coming back to the success of the IT and software industry in India, which depends on a work force of people with superior numerical and analytical skills amongst others, one cannot undermine the importance of the factors such as our brilliance with these subjects in our past, the efforts put in the government to develop these areas of study and also the burst of opportunities in this industry. However, maybe in a small secretive manner, there is a significant role which language (especially the word problem) has played by adding a sense of importance and urgency to these areas of study.

http://twitter.com/srahula

Facebook: Humara Kal, Humara Aaj

The other day, I got this opportunity to introduce Facebook to a friend of mine who had been a registered user for a long time but never active. What started as an effort to introduce Facebook to a lapser ended up being an inquiry into the reasons for the acceptance of this site amongst millions across the country. And yes, it also led to that person being converted into a Facebook loyalist.

To understand this phenomenon, I would start with the period when online chatting had started in India. The youth, especially in smaller cities and towns discovered Chat Rooms for the first time and it created quite a stir in their lives. Cyber café’s mushroomed and people started understanding the utility of this magical weapon. Suddenly, there was an alternative method of talking to the son who had gone abroad to study, see the face of the grandchild and make calls to US at relatively dirt cheap rates. Suddenly, there was a new medium where relationships could be formed. Suddenly, there were a whole bunch of boys trying to act like men with women (or supposedly women) from distant lands.

And then, came in the world of social networking. The early days saw people confused in many ways with this new mechanism and its merits. There was a period where batch-mates found each other, people competed about the number of friends in each one’s list, boys saw pictures of girls and sent Friendship Requests (sometimes without a message and at times writing in a minimum of five thousand characters about how their meeting online is divine and destined by the powers of the heaven). Today, there seems to be a greater amount of maturity in the understanding and the usage of these sites. As people matured in their usage, they started off with self-regulations along with creating acceptable practices which are now commonly understood and followed.

My discussion is not so much about the evolution of this medium. It is more about the underlying cultural reasons which I feel are somewhat reasonably crucial towards the acceptance of this format in India. Even while trying to attempt this, I would try and limit myself to my second love in the social networking world i.e. Facebook.

The first interesting aspect of Facebook is the whole chaos in the aesthetically beautiful pages and a seemingly orderly world. A few clicks would open the world to endless number of friends from the pages of history, windows which would keep showing new faces amongst your list of friends, a home page where there are as many things happening as it would in any typical Indian market place, a profile page where you feel like being dragged in and out of conversations just like it happens in the festival of Holi or during the dances in a wedding, bright pictures about the adventures of the known and unknown, a constant desire to do something in a place where many are active and popular, and so on.

What is interesting to note here, is that this chaos does in more than one way reflect our style of existence. As Indians, we have always hated processes and guidelines and embraced and thrived in a world of chaos. We seem to have almost perfected this method of existence over time. There has been a long history of under-delivery by the people in power in the country and we have always had to strive for even the basic requirements like food, water and shelter. Even the other day, when a building collapsed, over a hundred of the current occupants were stranded without any support from the government and left without a roof on their heads. We have been through a long period of licensing and quotas and in certain sectors it still exists, there is barely a concept of stating the MRPs in traditional retail, we need to wait for months to start a new business, own a phone, get the delivery of a car, etc. We would usually have to pass currency under the table, flash notes at signals, innovate methods to cheat during examinations and when caught, find brokers to get the mark-sheets altered. The list is endless. There was never a single perfect method or process and somewhere we have never completely wanted one. We seemed to thrive in a world of chaos, randomness and uncertainty. The world of Facebook, with so many events happening at such a rapid pace, gives us a feeling similar to that chaos which we have grown up with. It does scare us initially but later provides us with the satisfaction of being in a place where we truly belong.

Another aspect of Facebook, worth considering is the display of the complete name along with a good looking or an attitude defining or want-to-be-like-this profile picture (in most cases). Now, while this allows people to know the person they are getting networked with, it also provides them with the complete freedom to segregate them on the basis of some mental stereotype. Not many people create groups within their list of friends, but they do create mental segments of people whom they would look up to, people to be avoided, people to be seen interacting with, people whose posts need to be commented on, people whose comments need to be replied to, etc. We have always been a nation where the first thing a person normally hears on uttering the full name is question to confirm the caste or religion or place of birth. We understand the family background by accents and dressing sense. We visit or stay away from areas which are meant for certain ‘kinds’ of people. We have always been a society where there are different roles defined to different sections of people with little overlapping. In the case of chat, there were normally alias instead of the actual name. When it comes to Facebook, with the help of names and profile picture, our desire to stereotype people and our guesses about what they would be like, just gets stronger.

The Live Feeds page or the home page on Facebook also plays a role larger than providing an update about what people are up to. We are a nation of people hungry constantly for information from the world around us. There was a time when the ruler would send his messenger to announce his decisions across the city and beyond. The Panchayats still sit in many villages where information is shared and decisions on important matters arrived. The famous ‘adda’ from Bengal, the ‘sutta’ at the ‘tapri’ and the ‘kaif (slang for café) in Hyderabad; are all answers to this same desire in one way. There are still many towns where people wait for the newspaper which arrives the next day if not in the afternoon on the same day. Not to mention the ‘Chitralekha’ for the Gujrati community which would usually arrive a month after being published. Women would wait for the ‘bai’ to come in and share the gossip about the neighbour and fathers would normally ask the watchman the whereabouts of the kids. The desire to know all that happens in our surrounding is so overpowering that it is like second nature to many of us. This page on Facebook, not only meets this desire but also makes it relevant since it comes from the people we know. The beauty is that while it comes from within the network, it is not restricted to information about people but it also shows their greater interests and likes.

Another very strong Indian trait is that of having an opinion about everything. So while the Live Feeds sections powers the availability of information, the option to ‘Like’ (agreement), ‘Comment’ (my opinion) and ‘Share’ (gossip with others) takes it to the next level. It provides us with the ability to voice our opinion on the subject that is being discussed.

What Facebook also provides us with is social currency and a barometer about our standing in society. While it gets more and more difficult for people to participate in the society around them with the pressures of the modern work culture, Facebook is one mechanism, which has come to their rescue in a big way. As I had mentioned in one of my previous articles (The Traditional Indian Social Networking - http://advertisinginsight.blogspot.com/2010/11/traditional-indian-social-networking.html) I would like to re-iterate here that in India a person is usually identified as being a part of the family in which he was born and not in isolation. The number of people one knew was the social currency he owned. The number of people who knew him was a manner in which is social standing was determined. Facebook is an answer to this need of our country to be able to create our own identity in the society. We do this with the help of the number of people present on our lists, the groups that we are identified with, the people we usually interact with, the communities we belong to, the events we attend, the pictures of places we have visited just like many others, etc. Facebook has almost become a real society for us in the virtual world of today.

And last but not the least, Facebook does provide amateur writer like me with an audience. While I get thrilled by the kind of comments and feedback I receive, my blog rarely gets even a single visitor. Don’t really mind it as long as Facebook is present. :)

http://twitter.com/srahula

Special thanks to Pritesh Angane for his inputs on the subject.

The Modern yet Traditional Manager

Welcome to the new generation of Personal Relationship Managers – a term commonly used for those employees dealing with anything between 10 to 200 or even more consumers/ business relationships on a day to day basis. Many of us have either had some brush or been in the above (or similar) role in the past. My discussion here is about this term which is has now become so common without getting into any judgmental undertones about them as professionals.

There was a time, when we used to depend on a ‘Sharma Ji’ or a ‘Gupta Ji’ for simple to complicated service related requirements. They were usually the ones who would join an organization to spend their entire lifetime there. At times they were really efficient and at times exact opposite. However, they were people whom we had known for a long period of time and had a relationship with. We would not think twice before going to them for any kind of work. Most of our interactions with them would not be limited to work. They loved talking as much as we did and conversations would include anything and everything under the sun. What mattered was the fact that a relationship was being developed and the person could be banked upon in times of need.

When we look at how things have changed around us today one observation is that we rarely remember the names of these people who continue to play an important role in our lives. Our relationship is now with a place-holder instead of a person, which gets filled by different people over time. There is rarely a constant and with opportunities opening up in the country, the rate of such transfers is faster than ever before. What is interesting to note here is that the act of being into a relationship with a specific individual has been converted into a role which a person performs. From a time where relationships with specific individuals used to be everlasting it has now reached a stage where it is completely replaceable.

Also, it is true that the concept of ‘Relationship Manager’ finds a large amount of acceptance in India today. Had we been missing the personal touch and warmth of ‘Sharma Ji & Co.’ we would not have accepted this new definition easily. However, it is interesting to find several people who swear by their relationship managers these days.

If we try and look a little beyond the obvious, there is an interesting point to note here. The term ‘relationship manager’ is very similar to the kind of people we are today i.e. ‘modern yet traditional’. The word ‘relationship’ takes care of our traditional dislike for transactional based functional method of working. At the same time the word ‘modern’ adds the touch of professionalism, knowledge and skills, experience and expertise to the person.

With the influence of media, mobility and money we are getting better exposed, lonelier and more demanding. While our expectation from such professions increases; we are still somewhere rooted in our traditions of the past. We want the modern but not at the cost of doing away with the past. This I feel is one of the key reasons for this term becoming a part or our language today.

A ‘saree’ is not just a garment but a rope used by the society

Yesterday, on my way back from the office in a bus, I saw a couple on a motorbike speeding past. The guy was dressed in loose Tees and a pair of jeans and the girl behind him in a traditional Indian ‘saree’. It is a common sight in most parts of the country even today and it somehow sparked a desire for me to look a little deeper to probe if there is anything about the society and culture that we can understand from this.

Sitting sideways is something which we would see in very few countries around the world and it gets necessitated most often because of the kind of garment which is worn. In this case the garment being a ‘saree’. Sitting in this position puts the woman into a world where she has to play a role of double balancing. The first: balancing herself on the seat in a direction perpendicular to the motion of the bike. The second: balancing herself with the bike itself which moves ahead on two wheels. Obviously, it is not an easy task and we have seen them struggle and juggle while in this position. However, most of them are able to perfect this skill – at times with a little help by holding the person in the front. The pros even manage to tuck one kid between the two seats and one on the lap. And, the great Indian family is all set in motion in no time.

What it forced me to think is as follows:

At one level, the ‘saree’ is a traditional Indian garment which has added to the overall sensuality and appeal of women. At a deeper level to me it appears like a rope which is used by the society to tie-up women multiple times, to restrict their movement and also punish them in a manner in which they are forced to perform under physically difficult conditions. Most young women struggle while wearing it and often take the help of others who are more adept at this skill – usually a mother, sister or friend. After wearing it, they find it difficult to walk around with it and also to manage the household chores and responsibilities. In one way, it limits their movement within a secured known boundary. History and family traditions have glorified the ‘saree’ to such an extent that women feel a sense of achievement on being able to carry out household work (however difficult the ‘saree’ makes it for them).

To understand the position of the motorcycle and the scooter in the history of the country is also important here. These vehicles opened up the world to common people who had traditionally been dependant on completely undependable means of public transport. However, what is interesting to note here is that this weapon towards extended geographic exploration and physical convenience had been limited to the men in the society. Women have usually been limited to occupying the rear seat either in the capacity of a daughter, sister or a wife. Whenever a girl was spotted as a pillion with anyone else, it would raise eyebrows and she would be given a lecture on socially acceptable behavior.

What is also interesting to observe here is that whenever the woman got a chance to sit in the pillion, she was expected to play a similar role which the ‘saree’ would make her play at home – that of balancing between the odds managing not only herself but also the family. While the woman struggled herself on this rear seat, there was usually a ‘Bittu’ who would be sitting between the couple and a ‘Guddi’ with a bottle of milk on her lap. She was expected not only to carry out the extreme acrobatic act of double balancing on the rear seat but also ensure the same for the kids. In a nutshell, she was expected to manage the family (‘meri family’ – a term commonly used by men to describe a collection which consisted of his wife and kids) rather than being able to enjoy the thrills of travel.

Today, with the society moving ahead and greater amount of sensitivity prevalent towards the needs and desires of women, there are several changes visible. One such phenomenon is the introduction of the mini-scooters aka ‘scootys’. The manner in which it impacts the society and the lives of women is multifold. It has removed the restriction of the wearing specific kinds of clothes which are required for driving. Women today drive ‘scootys’ even with ‘sarees’. This has also brought the women from the rear seat onto the front seat. It has not only provided them convenience and discovery, but also opened up a world of possibilities for them.

http://twitter.com/srahula