Defining Moment: Tata acquires Corus.

India has finally arrived on the global scene. And this was signified in a big way. Last week, Tata Steel acquired Corus- a British company, almost thrice as big as itself- in a bidding war with Brazil's CSN. The money that the Tatas will pay for the deal is a mind boggling $11.5 bil, making it by far the biggest acquisition by an Indian company ever.

What is note worthy here is the confidence and gumption which the Tatas and all the bankers backing them showed in the bidding war. Though many feel that the price paid is much more than what Corus deserved, the Tatas feel that their bet will pay off in the long run.

This acquisition, one of the many feathers in Tata group chairman Ratan Tata's cap, makes Tata Steel the 5th largest steel company in the world and 2nd largest in Europe. A remarkable achievement for a company which made an extremely humble beginning more than 100 years ago.

We must however not forget that the Indian attack on global companies started some time back itself. Just to name a few big ones-- Suzlon acquired Hansen Transmissions to become a global player in wind energy; Pharma major Ranbaxy took over Terapia; ONGC picked up several oil fields abroad. These are just to mention a few. Many more took place and many are in the pipeline.

We Indians can now proudly declare that our business lives up to the best in the world. Everyone believes that the best is still yet to come- what with the economy booming, more and more investors are coming forward to fund our companies. Add to this, the confidence of our business leaders is at an all time high and they are now more eager to leap forward than ever before.

World, beware - Here we come!!

The curse of being a Software Engineer

Last weekend, there was an occasion at a relative's place which I had to attend. I say, I 'had to' cos I normally avoid get togethers and not without reason. I believe they are just a platform for people to waste time gossiping about others. However, due to parental pressure, I had to attend this one.

As soon as I set foot at my relative's place, one of my mother's cousins smiled at me. Instantly, I knew that trouble was round the corner. She rushed towards me with a few people behind her. Then she started introducing me to the people around her.

Now, I don't have any problem with people introducing me; Just with the way it is done. They mention my name and immediately start off saying that I am a software engineer in such and such a company (which would naturally mean that I am an extraordinarily intelligent guy!) and the person who introduces me also drops a hint or two regarding my salary!!

I have also observed a common pattern in the people who are asked to undergo the misery of knowing me. If the person is middle aged, he sees me as a villain. He thinks that I am one of those criminals who installs computers at every possible place and hence cause job cuts for people like him!! Alternately, if the person is in his teens, he sees some Nobel prize winner in me and starts dreaming about himself in my position!!

In the days when I had just started working, all this made me proud. It made me feel really important. But as days passed by, this attitude of my relatives started irritating me to no end. Nowadays, whenever someone introduces me, I yearn to hear my father's name, or to know how the person is related to me. But alas, people are more worried about the future of IT companies! Interestingly, people talk of marrying off their daughter to me just on the basis of I working in a software company. To my misery though, the girls don't even give me a second look. Your daughter wants much more, my dear prospective father-in-law!!

Nowadays, I have observed one more interesting feature, given that there is at least 1 software engineer per family. People are now aware of the names of a few software companies. And they compare us depending on the company for which we work!

This is precisely the reason why given a chance I would skip any gathering, specially of my relatives. God knows when these people will understand that software engineers are also normal people who work for a living; In fact, we would work much more than most of the others and accomplish much less. I can take a bet that given a chance, most of the software engineers would opt for an alternate career. And, the so called big pay (which is not so big, after all)- well, it is the only take away for doing such continuous mindless work and inviting so many health problems due to our couch potato life style...

Looking back at 2006... And looking ahead.

The last year, for me, was a testing one in many ways. It was a very happening year with more failures than successes. Not that I expected it to be different. After a disastrous 2005, arguably the worst of my life, in which there were questions raised about me by my closest of friends, I could not expect the moon. So, in 06, the challenge was to overcome the debacle of 05 and regain the confidence of all people who had doubts about me. To a large extent, I must say I have succeeded in doing it.

On personal front, the 1st half was a disaster. I lost a person whom I had believed that I would not live to lose. However, after months of despair, I finally managed to come out of it to an extent in the 2nd half. Though I lost the friend, I realised I learnt a lot from the episode. I hope to carry these valuable lessons throughout my life. Things dramatically improved in the 2nd half of last year. This was mainly because I started studying very seriously for B-school entrance exams. Though the exams themselves didn't go entirely as expected, I am still satisfied. Studying for the exams reignited my enthu and helped in the other aspects of my life as well. I made many new friends and got closer to existing ones. Another very pleasant development was, I started to teach. I am thoroughly enjoying my new role as a teacher.

The professional front last year was a sea of changes. I had 3 manager changes-- does not mean no one likes to keep me. Just that people moved on, one of them a great manager. Add to this, my mentor and team lead also moved on. All this put a lot of pressure and responsibility on my shoulders. Still, I feel that I have managed to keep my head above water, though barely. Another very good development was, my friendships at office improved. To be precise, two of my colleagues, became really close to me. We share a great rapport and have very similar thoughts and interests. They have become my de facto guides at office.

There were plenty of disappointments too-- I regret that I could not read more. I read less than half a dozen books the whole year. Also, I could not write as much as I wished. I could have done my exams and managed many situations a lot better...

All in all, an average but an important year. Simply because I could have sunk into deeper shit. But, the turn around has happened and I am happy for it. I hope to carry the same momentum into 2007. There are several things I want to do this year... A few of them are:

--Take some time out for some social contribution. I really want to this.
--Learn a music instrument, preferably the piano (This has been on the list for more than 5 years now!)
--Read, read and read!!
--Write more often.
--Continue to teach.

--And many more...

Happy New Year

Here's wishing all of you a Very Happy and a Rocking New Year. May 2007 fulfill all your dreams and bring you loads of happiness.

The Rush for Retail

If you are one of those who follow business news closely, you would have realized by now that the most happening thing in India at the moment is Retail. Almost everyone, quite literally, has evinced interest in the booming Indian retailing industry and feel that organised retail is the way forward for future.

To mention a few: Reliance group has extensive plans to enter the Retail industry in a big way. The Tatas are also underway. Existing players like Pantaloon (with their Big Bazaar brand) etc are firming up for the stiff competition by having their own expansion plans. But the one that takes the cake is the alliance of Sunil Mittal's Wal-Mart. This move is said to be a masterstroke from Sunil Mittal.

But, why is everyone so interested in Indian retail? The answer seems pretty simple. Indian retail market is worth a mammoth 350 billion dollars. But only a paltry 20% of this is organised retail. The rest of the market is still with the small and medium roadside vendors. Herein lies the opportunity for growth. If anyone can capture even 5% of this market share, he will be having a 14-15 billion dollar Mcap. It is this money that is luring the whos-who of world retail to India.

However exciting these big numbers may seem, organised retail has its own set of problems. Firstly, crores of Indian families have small roadside shops and that is their bread and butter. Now with the big players planning to have so much coverage, these small players will be virtually wiped out from the scene. For the time being, this may be the case for only the vendors in big metros. But with the kind of money that is set to flow in, organised retail will soon enter small towns as well. What will happen to these vendors? People who had lived respectably till now by doing fairly good business, may be forced to do menial jobs for a living. Can the government do something to help these small shopkeepers? We need to wait and watch; However, at the moment, the future seems bleak.

There exists another not so obvious, but an equally dangerous problem. The retail segment is the last part in the customer supply chain. By this, I mean, it is the retail sector which is in direct contact with the customer. Therefore, anybody who is a major player in the retail industry will have the potential to control the country's economy. Now, the critical question arises-- Should we allow a foreign player to control our country's Last Mile, as it is referred to? This is a sensitive issue which needs to be addressed with due diligence.

Hence, organised retail, seemingly attractive at the first glance has more than its share of problems. We would be better off in solving them before the retail boom kicks in.

Why do I teach?

If you have read my previous posts, you would have known by now that I teach in a school. Not of any relevance, but I do.

Recently, one of my relatives (An itchy guy, who constantly tries to undermine the opposite party) asked me-- "How are you qualified to teach? When professional teachers are struggling to produce results, what can an amateur like you do"?

I kept quite for a moment. His argument was valid. Then, I said, "I intend to teach values to my students along with the subject. They have enough sources to pick up the academic knowledge. However, in today's self centered world, there are not many places to turn to for values. That's what I intend to teach my students".

The guy did not seem all that pleased. He growled, and said something in Kannada which roughly translates to-- "So, you claim to be a sea of virtues, huh"?

I had my reply ready this time, "No, I am not all that good at it. That's why I intend to teach them. I become a teacher simply by the virtue of the number of mistakes I commit. What better way to teach than having a live example of an ignorant person? One easily learns when one can understand clearly, the consequences of not learning".

My relative was puzzled. He took a long time to comprehend the meaning. Later he nodded his head vaguely. I could not decipher the meaning, nor was I inclined to. Someone else waved at me. Thanking God for providing me an escape, I moved on.

Development: The double edged sword.

Yep, I am back. Had taken a pretty long break... My hands were itching :). I am out of touch. Please forgive me if I am a bit rusty.

Yesterday, I was watching a popular news channel. It was unfolding the Singur controversy. For people who have missed it, Singur is a rural town in West Bengal where the Tatas want to set up their famed '1 Lac' car plant. The controversy is over the land. Farmers are not ready to forgo their land, but the state government is adamant to acquire it and hand it over to the Tatas. Violent protests have ensued and the town is facing a law and order problem.

As I explained to my mother, who was also watching the news along with me, I realised that this problem was not just specific to Singur, but it related to the whole country. Every developmental project has problems pertaining to land. The problems may be wide ranging-- From complaints of acquiring excess land to paltry compensation to compensation not reaching the deserving, etc etc.

But I realised these problems were only the tip of the iceberg. They can be solved through various means. But I feel the bigger problem is of a different kind. It is the scarcity of land itself. What will happen when every possible piece of land is industrialised? What next? What will happen to agriculture sector which employs more than 75% of our population? Where will the farmers go? Most important of all- What will we eat? All kinds of food we consume comes directly or indirectly from the farms. What will happen when farmer ceases to exist? I wonder whether that will be the beginning of the end.

The above mentioned scenario may seem a little far fetched for our generation. But it is bound to happen in some time if the same trend continues. The pace at which industries are growing is phenomenal. This acceleration of growth is partly due to farmers' dismay over their economic condition. The government's poor support system and low income forces them to sell their land and look for alternate employment. This leads to ills like mass migration and selective population explosion.

The solution? Well, I am not very sure. The way out may be to slow down on other sectors and develop and support agriculture based industries. That way, we can reduce the disenchantment of farmers and keep them motivated. After all, the principal need is to survive.

My mother, though, had a simple solution. She said that all the illegal lands of politicians, if seized, would be enough to build more industries than ever required. How I wish that was possible.

In essence, development, without any doubt, is a double edged sword. If used recklessly, it can destroy mankind in just one swipe.