Anyone Listening...?

Through the open glass windows I can hear the gardeners, housekeeping staffs chatting incessantly while going through their routine. The words wading through the air... Everyone has so much to say, so much to express, so much to tell…and everyone needs those few ears to listen and at times few eyes to read.

Everyone seeks those eyes and ears near and far, in the real world and in the virtual one and for different motives. People share and express to impress; to make people happy, jealous, angry, scared and even sad; to build friends, relationships, image and brands; to inform, educate, declare, opine, propagandize, boast, coax, invite,  propose and dispose.

But as much we care for those ears and eyes that do not belong to us and yet whom we desperately seek, those ‘senses’ may not always care for us. This dilemma is what makes people socialize and engage.

Lending ears and eyes to spoken and written words is a powerful way to engage with those who are valuable and worthy to be won.

Leaders and managers in formal and informal settings, remember, engagement many times is not about what you have to say; it’s more about whether you can read and listen to what people have to say and reading their motives. Build your story on that and then you will have their ears and eyes.

'Bhakti' and Misplaced Devotion

Two images published in a leading daily just a day back caught my attention. They were different images but had a remarkable common connection.

Image 1 was of a strong political leader hailing from a Southern State descending on a airstrip in her helicopter. All her party leaders stood with folded hands while the helicopter is still in air about to touch base.

Image 2 was of a yesteryear Bollywood star turned politician and his wife. The image showed the wife at the feet of her husband and the caption read Mrs. 'S' worshiping her husband before he goes to file his nomination.

Did you see a common connection between these images? I saw 'Bhakti' a common connection between them.This misplaced 'Bhakti;' has been somehow become a part of our culture and it has taken its own toll on our society.

This 'Bhakti' for politicians has resulted in blind, almost fanatic followership. Hence the emergence of self-proclaimed saviours sometimes in the name of religion, sometimes in the name of caste and sometimes in the name of region. As India goes into its general elections in a couple of days, here is hoping that we do not vote out of 'Bhakti'; instead vote in the most deserving candidate to the parliament.

This 'Bhakti' in family has meant that the husband is regarded as the incarnation of God. 'Pati-Parmeshwar' meaning 'my husband is my God' has been told as a dictum to the girls and women in this country. Result has been a huge gender imbalance in families and societies that has not augured well for either sexes.

This 'Bhakti' in religion has meant that we have made demigods out of people. Every village, every town in India has its own spiritual 'Guru'. A majority of them have been alleged from time to time of land-grabbing, black magic, sexual misconduct etc. But the 'Bhakti' of the blind followers has been such that either no criminal proceedings have been initiated against these demigods or they have blocked the police and administration against taking any action.

This 'Bhakti' in organizations has meant that focus has been on compliance, reflexive obedience and keeping status-quo since that keeps everyone 'happy'. It is not 'safe' to 'differ' in such organizations, no conflict, no new ideas, no innovation and servility to the core.

'Bhakti' can only be towards the almighty, the creator, the God. Any other 'Bhakti' will only have disastrous impact, breeding incompetence, sycophancy and corruption.

Refrain from 'Bhakti' to build truly engaging families, societies, organizations and nations.

Saheb, TV aur Ghulam

Most daily soaps dished out on Indian television are so downright abysmal in terms of quality. I mean how they can make something so insane and devoid of rationality! At home however I am a ‘passive’ viewer with not even a remote access to the remote during primetime. So resigned to fate, I watch the junk.

In one of the soaps a character playing the role of an entrepreneur-father, overjoyed by the occasion of his son’s birthday orders over phone to his manager to suspend all work and put all employees to work of finding out the best video games and toys in the market for gifting his son. This one scene that caught my attention cannot be shrugged away as just one-off ‘idiot box’ stuff.

One of my acquaintances working in a mid-sized company in a western U.P. town told me once that be it a celebration or mourning in his Chairman's family, they all have to be present  on 'location' and are assigned some or the other work. Refusal to take such responsibilities or no-show shall automatically mean dismissal.

Welcome to traditional sub-continent firms! Employees can be put to personal work and that is considered to be a matter of right. The ‘Saheb’ culture still remains especially in the non-metro India and person serving the ‘Saheb’ is only treated as ‘ghulam’.

Soaps can be of some use after all. So maybe it may be a good idea to watch some, for amongst the crap there may be occasional insights. By the way I have even started to like some!

UnFair treatment of Fairness Creams

Aamir Khan has joined Amitabh Bachchan in the Bollywood Celebrity Brand-Bashing Club. While Amitabh did the unthinkable of pulling down a brand he once endorsed, Aamir recently criticized celebrities who endorsed products like fairness creams.

Is everyone entitled for a personal opinion? Yes, but then attacking  brands that has been legally allowed to operate in a land, with no provocation, calls for a motive on the part of the brand-basher. 

Amitabh called Pepsi 'poison' after his contract was over with the brand or say after Pepsi did not go for a fresh contract with Big B! Should he then return all the money that he received from Pepsi for endorsing the brand or should he apologize and take personal accountability for all those who consumed Pepsi for all those years when he was singing praises of Pepsi. In all likelihood he will do neither. 

Aamir finds fault with those who endorse fairness creams. If there is a company that manufactures this product and if there are people who want to consume the same, what is Aamir's problem? People who are using fairness creams are well aware of the uses and disuses of the product. They consume it at their own risk and for their own drives. In fact data suggests that fairness cream market is slowing down in India. According to numbers from research firm Nielsen, the fairness cream market has slowed down in value terms and shrunk in volume terms over the past few quarters. 

Ok! there are some who think Aamir or someone should tell consumers what to consume and what not to buy. No wonder we believe so much in regulation! It is like telling a person who can afford a Nano to buy a higher end car because Nano does not have air bags. Now if that person can afford only a Nano and is ready to bear the risk of owning that car, then why should anyone crib? 

"Please Aamir and Amitabh, gives us a break! We know what to do with our lives. Get a life and stop thinking that we cannot decide for ourselves." 

May be all this Aamir rantings are for promoting the latest edition of his program. Then perhaps it is fair to ask him why does he endorses a program whose philanthropic partner is a foundation whose associated company has been shown no-Reliance and asked some very serious questions by a 'common man' party! 

"Just a suggestion, Aamir, consider doing one episode of your program on these questions of Reliance."

Both Aamir and Amitabh seem to be on a personal brand and image building mission. There is nothing wrong with that except that they chose to do so at the cost of other brands. 

Engagement to a brand, organization or issue calls for free thinking and free market thinking. Let people and markets rule. Personal agendas can wait.