Rural India – what it needs besides income generation

I don’t know if there is an index like Rural Improvement Index – RII or Ri2 index. I am also not aware of any Indian or state government agency tracking these metrics and taking corrective actions for a sustainable and happy living.

This index needs to define the following metrics and is published as a score of x/10. The coordinating agency must work with individual government initiatives addressing these important aspects rural population and rural India. The mass migration of rural youths migrating to bigger towns and cities must be arrested for a better balance of opportunities and economic progress.

*Health – Reach, infra and affordability

*Education – Relevance, Vocational curriculum and affordability

*Jobs – New jobs, employability and geo relevance

*Entrepreneurship – growth areas, financial assistance and mentorship

*Governance – People friendly, optimal resource utilization, Merit focused

*Sustainability – Preservation of wet lands, water sources and forests

Perspectives – there is no right or wrong.

It is all about perspectives that shape the opinions of people. Every action or complaint has two versions of perspective – one of the doer and the other of the onlooker. The justifications of action or complaint determine if the action was right or wrong.

Example: an interesting forward in my WA feed. Source unknown. But beautifully put across….

One Story, Two Perspectives

A famous book writer sat in his study. He took out his pen and began to write:

“Last year, I had surgery to remove gallstones. I was bedridden for a long time.

In the same year, I turned 60 and was retired … quitting a company that I loved so much. I had to leave the job I’ve been doing for 35 years.

That same year I was abandoned by my beloved mother who passed away.

Then, still in the same year, my son failed his final medical exam because of a car accident. Repair costs from the car damage marked the peak of bad luck last year.”

At the end he wrote:
“What, what a bad year!”

The writer’s wife entered the room and found her husband who was sad and pensive. From behind, the wife saw the husband’s writing. Slowly she backed away and left the room.

15 minutes later she came back in and put down a piece of paper with the following words:

“Last year, my husband finally managed to get rid of his gallbladder which had been making his stomach hurt for years.

That same year, I am grateful that my husband was able to retire in a healthy and happy state of mind & body. I thank God he was given the opportunity to work and earn for 35 years to support our family.

Now, my husband can spend more of his time writing, which has always been his hobby.

In the same year, my 95 year old mother-in-law, without any pain, returned to God in peace.

And still in the same year, God protected our son from harm in a terrible car accident. Our car was seriously damaged by the accident, but my son survived without any serious injuries.”

In the last sentence his wife wrote:
“Last year was a year full of extraordinary blessings from God, and we spent it full of wonder and gratitude.”

The writer smiled with emotion, and warm tears flowed down his cheeks. He was grateful for a different point of view for every event he had gone through the past year. A different perspective of the same events now made him joyful.

Dear Family and Friends, in this life we must understand that it is not happiness or joy that makes us grateful. It is gratitude that makes us happy/joyful! Let’s practise seeing events from a positive point of view and keep envy away from our hearts.

”We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Abraham Lincoln

Good to re-read this piece even though you may have read it before.

Have a nice day 😊😊😊

Image courtesy: Silaii.com

How much enough is enough?

We keep multiplying wealth all the time. It is very rare that people don’t have this habit. We always feel so insecure in both our career and profession, we tend to think far ahead about us and our children. Additionally we have the fear that our life is unstable as countries go to war, calamities strike nature, people protest and diseases are on the rise.

Many of us have heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that has 5 stages starting from Psychological needs followed by safety, love & belonging, esteem and self-actualisation needs. But over the years researchers added another need as you could see from this below research report.

“In the time since Maslow published his original paper, his idea that we go through five specific stages hasn’t always been supported by research. In a 2011 study of human needs across cultures, researchers Louis Tay and Ed Diener looked at data from over 60,000 participants in over 120 different countries. They assessed six needs similar to Maslow’s: basic needs (similar to physiological needs), safety, love, pride and respect (similar to esteem needs), mastery, and autonomy. They found meeting these needs was indeed linked to well-being. In particular, having basic needs met was linked to people’s overall assessment of their lives, and feeling positive emotions was linked to meeting the needs of feeling loved and respected.”

When all these needs are taken of,what makes people to accumulate wealth more than they need in their life time or in the life time of next generations. We used to hear in villages about wealthy people that they have accumulated wealth for 7 generations.

In a country like India where per capita income is not as high as some western countries, the income doesn’t get distributed to the needy or there are no avenues to make that per capita income higher. We don’t have to follow communist mind set to distribute wealth equally but resources cannot be cornered by people who are already wealthy and they have to be made available to every citizen rather than the super rich ( businessmen, politicians etc) going on the crazy path of wealth accumulation.

To get back to the topic’ enough is enough’, how do we develop a mind to say No to further wealth creation. Will that erode our confidence or create a sense of contentment? Will the mind refuse entitlement and let go to others? Will it diminish our superiority in the society? Will it make us less powerful and authoritative?

It is not only we develop this attitude of ‘enough is enough’ but inculcate it to younger generations because they are the ones who are poised to create a world that is peaceful and orderly.

‘Enough is enough’ needs to go deep rooted in our minds.

#enoughisenough

#wealthdistribution

#hierarchyofneeds

* https://www.thoughtco.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4582571

Is Gen Z an easily manipulated group?

Recent incidents of protests and vandalism across the world in educational campuses, and the numerous rallies, hate speeches, social media posts, and interviews provide ample evidence to support this view.

Obviously, they are not the only ones who stand for justice, yet they take the law into their hands and indulge in activities that put their own community and people’s lives at risk, in addition to damaging public and commercial properties.

They may have justifications for expressing their anger and disapproval but arson, riots, vandalism, and taking lives are not the means of achieving their objectives. If they feel that is the only way to draw attention, then they are sadly mistaken. The public’s ire turns against them, and they become groups that do not attract any sympathy for their causes, however just they may be.

Gen Z has the power to change corrupt and people-unfriendly governments, and they must use it properly for the right cause. Gen Z could do wonders in science and scientific innovations when they channelise their focus and knowledge.

Scientific prowess needs to take over the management mindset

Not a correct statement, one would think.

Let us think about the Indian context. We spend 0.64% of GDP on R&D. This speaks volumes of our apathy towards deep research, innovation and IP creation. We are no way comparable to China, Japan, US and Israel.

We are so engrossed in creating managers for today and tomorrow but have failed to recognise the fact that science is a fundamental factor to succeed as a nation or a super power. We have had enough of managers and let us focus / spend more on science and scientific efforts. Young minds have to be prepared towards research and innovation for the future. Academicians and parents have a responsibility to encourage students to opt for science curricula.

Thankfully the crave for Information technology engineers have vaned in the last few years at the engineering institutes and attention is turning towards more enrolment in core engineering and science subjects.

Corporates on the other hand are not spending enough on science or creating / supporting more scientific bodies that propel R&D efforts to a different level to compete with other superpowers.

We have progressed well in space and defence technologies but going slow on medical research, agricultural research, live stock research, health care research etc. Government bodies like CSIR, DRDO, ICMR, ICAR, NRDC, NIBMG have to step up on the pedal with the support of big corporates.

The whole world has moved towards AI and lacking in fundamental research and R&D initiatives will only retard our adoption to AI in every sphere of industrial automation and innovation.

Our habits are shaped by corporates

Frequently, younger generations caution us that our diets lack sufficient protein, which can compromise our muscle and bone health, causing premature aging.

Nonetheless, our eating habits are shaped by corporate entities seeking to promote their products. Surveys, often unsupported by credible health organizations, exaggerate mineral deficiencies in our diets. These findings benefit Ready-to-Eat and Food Supplement manufacturers, who exploit our concerns to boost sales.

The trend of kitchenless homes and the abundance of dining establishments threaten our tradition of home-cooked meals. Although our eating habits may seem to have changed, we are, in fact, consuming the same traditional foods.

The fashion industry has skillfully engineered our preferences, creating a cycle of consumption fueled by emotional appeals. It is vital to scrutinize advertisements and surveys, recognizing the potential for manipulation.

Surviving is not the same as Succeeding

You have been at a place for many years and always lament that you are not getting noticed. At the same time, you also see some of your colleagues who have been with you for a long time get the boot. You wonder what is this and why you are not pushed to the exit.

Managers hunt for associates who are warming the seats with no real hunger to meet the timelines and not being creative to solve problems. It is not out of sympathy you did not get pushed to the exit but inadvertently you may have shown sparkles of brilliance or hard work at times and that have helped you in good stead.

Are you happy at what you are doing and feeling you are just surviving?

This is the question that comes to the minds of many and they are at cross roads where to go and what to do.

Survival doesn’t take you anywhere in your career and it makes you to blunt all your skills. One needs to be at the top of the game to remain relevant in the organisation. Sharpening the skills, adding more to your skill set and a lot of self motivation helps you to get noticed and that is the sure way to move up. If you are finding it hard to self-motivate and mend the flaws in your system do seek a good mentor to nudge you to be always sharp and to possess a mindset to seize opportunities.

The bottom line is never be content with surviving each day. It requires a huge commitment and consistently hard work to succeed.

Survival blunts the skills, Success sharpen them!

Without ‘U’, sUccess never happens.

The Tariff Trades

A tariff negotiation is like a ping pong game. The more spin and force you use, the more will be the counter actions.

Global trade today is similar to the barter trade between countries. A country imports goods that it cannot make. The same country exports goods that it has in abundance. In olden days it used to be ‘goods for goods’ based on a notional value and that’s how trade had flourished over the centuries. Today tariff on goods of another country is used by countries as a tool to buy their goods.

Let us look at what governments want. They want the best possible landed prices for their products to make them affordable to the consuming public. In a tariff game, you want to import what is not available or could not be made within the country.

A country cannot make a product or produce an agricultural commodity overnight as many factors come into play – raw materials, skilled labour, technology or weather. No company wants to get into that segment that has high dependency on these factors and has a long period of ROI. Businesses weigh pros and cons and take decisions that are viable in their balance sheets. Nationality sentiments do not play any part unless they do business for charity.

If a country does not remain in a comfort zone of imports and exports with another country , it evaluates alternate markets for their country made products or help the local manufacturers to make their products that are competitively priced for exports.

Better sense starts prevailing when the industry bodies caution the governments on tariff rates that impact the local market and purchasing power of people.

Let us not forget that it is the people who finally determine the tariff rates because they only know how much is there in their wallets. Governments must listen to them to keep the vote bank intact.

A news item says ‘ Americans are going to pay each $ 1200 extra annually once the new tariff comes into effect’

#tariffwar

#tradewar

An Indian IT major is cutting down 12000 jobs soon

This is a major business news item that impacts the sentiments of the bourses as well as the IT outsourcing industry. We are used to seeing similar headlines from multinationals of Bay Area, NA but this news coming out of TxS is a shocker as we haven’t heard such a mass retrenchment in Indian tech / IT industry.

The impact of new emerging technologies, more so AI, is being felt in a big way across the entire industry spectrum not limited to IT industry alone. The technology is rapidly forcing organisations to have a fresh look at what would be the downside of their business with the focus now being solely on how to keep the workforce employable and billable.

Re-skilling is inevitable both for the employers and employees as they need to co-exist in an environment that is changing faster than that was anticipated a few years ago.

Bain projects that India’s AI industry will generate 2.3 million jobs by 2027. However, the talent pool is estimated to reach just 1.2 million—leaving over a million positions to be filled through upskilling and training initiatives. Specialists with 10-12 years of experience in Java or Python are no longer needed and young engineers with AI skills are much preferred.

More skills are turning out to be redundant and that’s where the IT organisations are grappled with a dilemma of whether to lay-off associates or not. The most impacted areas is Infrastructure maintenance ( due to organisations moving to cloud), BPO (more automations are happening here) and mushrooming GCCs that have taken away the work from traditional IT companies.

Well, the bell is tied around the cat by TxS and it will definitely be followed by other majors. Another interesting phenomenon is that the retrenchment is aimed at senior and middle management cadres (meaning managers and senior managers) who are always hands-off from technology. Re-skilling them is a tough call as the cost of retaining them is huge. The bottom of the workforce pyramid is going to be still broader as the salary of middle or a senior manager takes care of more new juniors.

There is also a heavy pressure on organisations relying on IT outsourcing to Indian majors especially from NA, Canada and Europe. They too have an agenda to cut IT infra, application and outsourcing costs drastically as their business is also facing the shift in tech trends.

Once the darling of the bourses is on the verge of a big shake-up and the industries’ cutting down on new hires and the serving associates will hugely impact the unemployment scenario besides those passing out of engineering colleges. The recruitment model revolves around hiring young, self-taught engineers — even before they graduate.The entire educational supply chain would need a revamp to adjust with the changing tech trends.

#techtrends

#ai

#layoff

Separation – Voluntary & Involuntary

Separation from an organisation,once served for long, is an emotional act. But it is an action of one’s own volition that is planned for many months and executed. There is no remorse or pain when such a decision is taken.

Involuntary separation, meaning termination of employment , is the most painful and scary action for an individual who is so naive in not anticipating it. He or she has been so dumb and failed to notice the clues from a reporting manager or a trusted colleague.

If that day arrives, how does one react to it?

Would you go though all job postings on portals and click ‘ Apply now’ button? It doesn’t work with most recruiters as they are always flooded with such applications.

Would you activate your known network and ask for a referral? You will be asked many questions as to why you lost the job? Embarrassing questions that you may have to answer.

Would you think of your own start-up? Yes, if you have a good bank balance and have a wet towel wrapped around your tummy for some time. High risk. Your dependents also need to survive.

Would you choose a company that is willing to take you but at a much lower salary? No, it would take years or even decade to rebalance your spends with earnings.

One of the better ways is to market ‘YOU’ as a brand rather than an individual looking for any job.

Make the best use of the time ‘ in between jobs’, to aggressively self-market your visibility, competence and credentials.
Be active in social media like LinkedIn, professional forums and groups. Contribute your worth by sharing your experiences and competencies.
Take time to attend technical and professional workshops that enhance your resume.
Work on your resume to make it more attractive by engaging a good coach.
Seek mentorship / guidance and other renowned experts who may recommend you to their contacts.
Don’t rely on your old network or colleagues for a job and it is better to work with new influential contacts. Known contacts may invariably speak not in glowing terms about you but rather lowly. More harm than good.

Don’t take up ‘a’ job in a hurry but buy your time to land on a job that is worth waiting for. Exude confidence, that is a sure shot way to create opportunities for you.

THE PULSE by Sivakumar Gopal