Where the individual feels Independent!
Where News is not fake
And opinion is not biased;
Where no temple, mosque, Gurdwara or Church,
feels the need to use loudspeakers,
to practice their faith;
Where no one retiring from constitutional position,
feels the need to voice concerns for,
safety of people following a particular religion;
Where no government asks you,
who your ancestors were,
and no one feels victimized,
because of his or her religion, race, creed or caste;
Where the government exudes responsibility,
for actions it takes, for data it collects,
for policies it pursues
and statements its officials give;
Where policy is proactive, and;
who your ancestors were,
and no one feels victimized,
because of his or her religion, race, creed or caste;
Where the government exudes responsibility,
for actions it takes, for data it collects,
for policies it pursues
and statements its officials give;
Where policy is proactive, and;
infants do not need to die,
to jolt government machinery into action;
Where no one supports a leader,
who refuses to sing the 'National Song',
because his religion doesn't permit it;
Where political discourse is not limited,
By narrow party ideologies;
Where leaders do not get votes,
because of their caste;
Where no one supports a terrorist,
and a soldiers death is not conditional to,
whether the party you supported is in power or not;
Where the constitution is upheld,
over and above any other text;
Where the nation's interest is,
the first and foremost concern of every citizen.
Into that heaven of independence,
My Father, let my country awake!
Into that heaven of independence,
My Father, let my country awake!
The above poem is based on the lines of "Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo" aka "Where the mind is without Fear" by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The text however is completely based on events of the past few days which leads us to question the meaning of independence.
The intent is to highlight the truth of our times, 70 years after independence, and should not be construed to be an the attempt to plagiarize or make a parody of the original piece. Gurudev is a revered figure in literature, philosophy and national pride.
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The intent is to highlight the truth of our times, 70 years after independence, and should not be construed to be an the attempt to plagiarize or make a parody of the original piece. Gurudev is a revered figure in literature, philosophy and national pride.
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Dots that never connected
Vivek Kumar Agrawal was retiring today, leaving behind an illustrious career at Coal India Limited and a model career path for his subordinates to look forward to. VK Sir, as he was called, was the poster boy of what PSU corporate executive should be - astute in his dealings, non-controversial decisions, well read from all worlds - VK would be able to recite lines from Munshi Premchand's novels as effortlessly as he would quote Phillip Kotler's management philosophies.
Yet, VK was wondering if he had indeed taken the right decisions since he left his father's home 35 years ago. VK was the youngest of 3 brothers born in a typical 'Agrawal' family in Allahabad, the family had been living in the "holy" city for generations - at least as many generations VK had heard about! And they were even typical in their commercial engagement - his father like his grandfather and great grandfather ran a Kirana store in the city. VK's brothers, the eldest almost 12 years older, were regular contributors at the shop ever since VK remembers.
VK had a razor sharp mind, just like his brothers, but he was quite different from them in other ways. VK loved reading, whether it was books, the morning newspaper, or even a pamphlet. In hindsight, he borrowed this quality from his father - who was an avid reader himself. In fact, as VK reflected on his upbringing, his life was a reflection of his father's dreams.
Ful Kumar Agrawal or Agrawal Saab as he was known in the locality, was deeply influenced in his growing up years by the Indian freedom struggle. While he could not involve himself into the deliberations, he idolized leaders like Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru who hailed from Allahabad. The incident of lathi charge on a peaceful protest by Lala Lajpat Rai and subsequent death of Lalaji left a deep imprint on him. He was just 21 then, married with his first child on its way; had it been a few years earlier Agrawaal Saab would have plunged into the freedom movement himself.
The longing to get involved with the freedom movement, never fulfilled in reality, pushed him to follow it by reading about it. He read almost all works of Lalaji and other leaders, even regularly scoured nationalist newspapers and had a collection of all the paper cuttings from 1920s all the way till independence. After independence and with advancing age and worry about taking care of his family, his fire to read slowly perished, though he would occasionally find solace in reading the daily newspaper and in later years, books by spiritual leaders like Swami Vivekananda.
For the young VK however, the collection of books and newspaper cuttings kept by Agrawal Saab in the attic, became the first tryst with 'voracious' reading. Agrawal Saab was also impressed by his youngest son's ability to be more involved in studies than the family business. Over years, his impression of VK's studious nature grew enough so that he not only prodded him to study harder, he made sure that unlike his elder brothers, VK was never asked to help in the Kirana shop unless he wanted to.
VK was the first in their family to get admission into an Engineering course and that too to the prestigious Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College. At MNREC, VK not only outshined with academic excellence, he also learnt and demonstrated venerable management skills - the prodigal skills of managing money were anyway inherent in him being a 'Baniya'! In the last year of his degree, VK was a key student volunteer involved with setting up an industrial estate with 69 sheds within the college. These were also days when he got nicknamed as VK by his friends, a name which stayed with him for the rest of his life.
Soon VK joined Coal India as an Engineer trainee at the Ranchi township, this was a juncture where everyone, including his brothers, felt proud of VK - he was the ideal boy who's example would be quoted to every younger kid in the locality. Soon VK was married and started rising in his career at Coal India. He would however also remain involved with family's finances. Being the most educated of his Sons, Agrawal Saab would often consult VK on the expansion of the family's estate. The one shop had already been split into two by the time VK left for Coal India, but later, in fact on the insistence of VK, one of his elder brothers opened a new garment shop in a different part of the city which soon prospered.
Agrawal Saab was again impressed by VK's ability to suggest the right outcomes. Even though the youngest, VK could think strategically and long term, unlike his elder sons who continued to be mired by the day to day vagaries of business. Every time, he would meet VK, he would ask how he was doing in his job and prod him on questions of returning back to Allahabad and start his own business.
For VK however, his father's questions and interventions sounded uninformed or naive if not anachronistic. He felt that his father could not just see the world outside of the petty little business establishment he had seen. He often took his father around the Coal plant so that he could see the scale at which the plant operated and he would spend time describing his daily work to his father explaining the role he was playing in running the plant.
VK was on his way to becoming one of the youngest General Managers at Coal India. This time round, when his parents came to visit his family, his father got even more restless seeing the amount of time VK would spend in the office. VK had little time to attend to his parents - and he knew his father was feeling a little lonely. This time when his father brought up the question of moving back and starting a business of his own, VK got into explaining him about the hierarchy at Coal India and how he was rising very fast and that opening another Kirana Shop in Allahabad would be too small an enterprise for him.
Agrawal Saab was stunned at the response - he did retort that he never wanted VK to come back to the Kirana shop business, but to start something of a much larger scale and size which would benefit the city he hailed from. Nationalistic thoughts still prevailed in Agrawaal Saab even though he was too old to feel the heat of nationalism. VK cited reasons such as the inability of the private sector to take up projects at the scale like Coal plants or anything, and that was almost the end of the discussion. Agrawal Saab never brought up the topic again - he passed away a few years later.
After his father's demise and also given his rise in career and the time it consumed, VK's involvement in the family business reduced to almost nil. He did make a General Manager a few years later, but office politics and slow down in the Public Sector in general stunted his rise in subsequent years. He got transferred and while his overall stature kept growing, his career graph, in specific, plateaued out.
Given that his role in the family business was lost, VK also lost any de facto share he would have inherited in the family business. The ancestral house was already occupied by families of his brothers so he effectively lost out on any inheritance he could have received from the property. VK didn't mind - he had a handsome salary and the PSU lifestyle provided everything, a huge property to live in, decent education for his children and lifestyle which suited him. They had access to Clubs, movie theatres and shopping centres even in the remotest townships of Coal India. VK had two sons, one went on to graduate from NIT, Trichy and another completed his CA; life was running full and fulfilling.
What VK did not notice however was how his family, his brothers rather, had progressed in life. His brothers had expanded into multiple shops selling electronics and then took on dealerships of large electronics companies. While his sons toiled hard to crack competitive exams, his nephews had started working in the family business. By the time his elder son graduated from NIT, Trichy and got an offer from Infosys, his eldest nephew Aakash was on his way to opening a Honda automobile showroom in Allahabad and younger Simanth was laying out groundwork to open an Engineering college!
And then one day, in early 2002, the newspaper was awash with news of Bharti Airtel IPO. The paper had a detailed profile of Sunil Mittal, the founder. Sunil had started out as a cycle parts manufacturer in Ludhiana, moved into manufacturing push button phones and then suddenly catapulted into becoming a telecom operator when the government opened the sector for private players. That day, VK remembered his father's words - about going back to Allahabad and starting something of scale and size which would benefit the city he hailed from. He wondered if he would have taken heed of Agrawal Saab's words, he could have been someone like Sunil Bharti Mittal.
But alas, Sunil Mittal was the son of a politician, not that of just another Kirana shop owner from a non-descript background. But then he looked back at the commercial success of his brothers' sons and then compared what his academically illustrious sons had achieved till now. His elder son was working with Infosys and younger had just been selected to join PwC. But financially, they were both far from attaining independence while their elder cousins were running businesses worth crores.
Today when he retired with laurels and compliments from his superiors and juniors alike, VK looked back at the satisfying 35-year career at Coal India. The many achievements and the survival in spite of the PSU seeing few bad days. Personally, he had a great network and reputation among his circle of friends, fellows, colleagues and subordinates. He was well respected in his circle of influence. But was he financially where he could have been? But did financial success really mean anything without the kind of prestige his job got him? But again, could he have become an equally revered figure if he had started his own thing in his 30s while attaining financial success also? Would his children have had a better future? Should he suggest this to his children now? But being brought up in a typical PSU twonship culture, will they be happy doing a small business?
All these questions ran through VK's mind - the answers, of course, were lost in a disarray of dots that had never connected!
Contrasting futures - the suburb vs. the city
I grew up in a typical suburban home, single storied, lush garden around it. Whether it was the nostalgia of living that life or observation of lower cost of living in a small city, till recently I used to idolise that life, yearned to go back to it - until I started my research into sustainable living!
Until I started researching on what "sustainable" living is, I used to assume that since the cost of living in a small city is lower, hence lifestyle there is less wasteful. And on the surface, it indeed was so in India, until a few years back. Until 2010s, most small cities did not have huge malls - the usual evening hangout would be a park or a single screen theatre; roads were much less crowded and small cars would outnumber guzzlers (SUVs) by a quadruple if not more; people bought fruits & vegetables from small shops who'd get supplied by local farmers.
Metros or big cities, in contrast, had big malls, roads were clogged - one wasted more fuel idling at the traffic signal than driving around, SUVs & Sedans were more common; you'd buy daily grocery and vegetables from the supermarket where everything was packed with 3 layers of plastic etc. Other utilities like sewage management were bad in both small and big cities, but big cities generated much more garbage than smaller ones where people's habits (due to a lower standard of living) were less wasteful. Extending the same analogy between small cities vs. rural landscape - poverty and proximity to 'traditional' or agrarian lifestyle made village life look more sustainable or less wasteful.
However, two things changed circa 2010 - first, the govt started recognising that India was urbanising and govt programs started targeting upgradation of urban infrastructure. And given that govt schemes were based on population statistics, Metros got a much higher share of this spending.
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| Source: https://tradingeconomics.com/india/disposable-personal-income |
Parallel to this shift in India's landscape, my own study on the concept of sustainable living continued. Many articles, papers and solo thinking sessions later, (about 3 years ago) I converted to believing that a life in the city is more sustainable because a city promotes clustering and clustering reduces the amount of waste per person. Studies on American suburbs suggest that cost of laying drainage, sewage and even electric and road connections to individual houses or even a cluster of row-houses in suburbs is much higher on the economy and ecology than wiring / sewering up a 30 storied building in the dense city. Add to it virtual death of the personal transport thanks to dense tube/metro networks which inhabit developed cities like London, the city (especially clusterized metro city) is a far more sustainable habitat for humans.
A major positive side-effect a vertically built dense city infrastructure is that large swaths of land can be freed for vegetation and animals. Plus within the city, we can build gardens which can be maintained at a much lesser cost per person, unlike the suburban home where each one must maintain their own manicured lawn and tend to their plants. I live in one such locality in Mumbai and can bet that my lifestyle is greatly enhanced by living in a cluster than if I have a row-house in a far away suburb of Navi Mumbai or a small city like Baroda or Indore.
In short, from a kid who revels and defends the suburban lifestyle he grew up in, I was almost converted to a city (metro) dweller who vouches for more people to move to cities and metros and leave alone the countryside for the few humans who engage in Agriculture and nature - forests, farms and animals who deserve to live in them. American suburban life or European small cities and their suburbs started looking evil and wasteful - more importantly unsustainable for the 21st century; and Tokyo (Japan) like lifestyle, while a little claustrophobic, started looking the most logical way we humans should imagine our future.
However, my reverie has been broken recently - thanks to Elon Musk and his onslaught of energy efficient equipment from the Tesla car, to Tesla batteries - which allow suburban homes to survive off grid for weeks - to the most recent Solar Roof which promises to allow homes to completely disconnect from the grid!
More on this in the next post
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Tags:
Cities and Urbanization
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Socialism, Communism, Open Source and Browsers
I love Firefox and the Mozilla foundation - it was the beacon of innovation when Microsoft tried to kill it with repeated versions of its buggy Internet Explorer! If you were involved in software development or managing online products circa 2005-2008, you would know the nightmare it was to develop a website compatible with IE and its myriad of versions (IE6 was especially notorious)!
At that time, Firefox was our ray of hope, and I would have tried to evangelise almost every friend, family or client to ditch IE and embrace FF. With clients, however, the big problem was, Firefox was an Open Source software and the corporate world has a certain amount of scepticism towards this species of software. [Ironical because most of the largest software services in the world run on Operating Systems which are clones of Linux and most of the web's websites run on Apache - these two being probably the largest Open Source projects in the world!]
In spite of this, when I got this blog post from Mozilla (the non-profit which runs Firefox) in my mailbox, I got thinking about whether Open Source community is right in thinking that Software, where no one takes credit, is really the reason for the success of Open Source? I quote:
My doubts also emerge from the fact that while Firefox did help keep the hope alive during the dark period of 2000-2010 for browser innovation, the real clincher was Google supported Chrome browser.
Today most organisations - SMBs to MNC Enterprises use (or allow) the Chrome browser. Google did significant amount of (subtle) marketing to ensure that it was able to usurp the hegemony of Microsoft over the browser market since Chrome's launch in 2008. And these 'for profit' dollars poured into evangelising corporations probably helped sideline Internet Explorer.
As this chart shows, IE declined steadily once Chrome was launched, while Firefox's penetration levels have remained steady but not really grown much (proportionally) in the intervening years.
Mozilla Foundation is a great organisation - if you are concerned about your privacy, if you are someone who believes in rights of individuals over the state, if you want to keep the web open and secure - you should support them. Geeks and Intellectuals still use the Firefox browser more than they use Chrome. (I am not one of them, I use FF only on special purpose - bit the self-confessed Google fan that I am, Chrome is my mainstay).
Organisations like Mozilla need to exist so that if one day Google, even against its corporate motto, turns evil - we have a ray of hope. However, the example does set back the hope of the early 90s that Open Source will trump Proprietery software one day to create a truly "Free Software" world.
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At that time, Firefox was our ray of hope, and I would have tried to evangelise almost every friend, family or client to ditch IE and embrace FF. With clients, however, the big problem was, Firefox was an Open Source software and the corporate world has a certain amount of scepticism towards this species of software. [Ironical because most of the largest software services in the world run on Operating Systems which are clones of Linux and most of the web's websites run on Apache - these two being probably the largest Open Source projects in the world!]
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| Source: Netcraft Webserver survey 2017 |
My apartment building has a community garden. The building owner started it with a donation of raised beds and soil. What happened next amazes me to this day.Honestly, other philosophies that pride in "no-one, in particular, taking credit" (or Common Ownership) are Communism and Socialism. The concept of everyone contributing to the best of their abilities and being rewarded universally is very Marxist and the Chinese story notwithstanding, we've seen the model failing to deliver in the erstwhile USSR and several other communist colonies which broke down in mid-90s.
One day tools appeared, the next a shed to store them. Seeds were planted. Someone put up string trellises for tomatoes. No one took credit.
My doubts also emerge from the fact that while Firefox did help keep the hope alive during the dark period of 2000-2010 for browser innovation, the real clincher was Google supported Chrome browser.
Mozilla Foundation is a great organisation - if you are concerned about your privacy, if you are someone who believes in rights of individuals over the state, if you want to keep the web open and secure - you should support them. Geeks and Intellectuals still use the Firefox browser more than they use Chrome. (I am not one of them, I use FF only on special purpose - bit the self-confessed Google fan that I am, Chrome is my mainstay).
Organisations like Mozilla need to exist so that if one day Google, even against its corporate motto, turns evil - we have a ray of hope. However, the example does set back the hope of the early 90s that Open Source will trump Proprietery software one day to create a truly "Free Software" world.
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Animal Farm and the current political landscape of India
I've just finished reading The Animal Farm, and while it essentially describes conditions in USSR under Stalin just after the WW2, it can be generalised to any country or political setup a few years or cycles after a major change. It is not just a commentary on Communist or totalitarian regimes (or Stalin's period) alone, but also a general account of how every political system deteriorates over a period of time, after acquiring power.
In specific, I think, it starts applying to present day India, now that the BJP has occupied the top slot in the pecking order displacing the Congress firmly and has bolstered its position for a near sure victory in 2019 elections following the thumping victory in 4 of 5 State Assembly elections.
As the book prophesies, the current political order too is sure to corrupt as much as the previous UPA regime. This will happen probably in a decade or so of remaining the 'ruling class', tenably after Modi is replaced by another leader who forgets the days under the Congress misrule which they bitterly campaigned against in 2014 elections.
If one studies the pattern of 'Power Corrupts', and going by recent developments - such as the NDA's attempts to meddle with constitutional order (encroachment on powers of the judiciary, open disobedience to Judicial verdict in cases like Jallikattu & BCCI), always on attempts to eulogise right wing idols, and support to religious figureheads who propound religion or Vedas or other traditions as the source of Indianness instead of the Constitution, etc. - one perceives events similar to those described in the Book taking place in India (especially events after elevation of Napoleon as the dictator). The similarity in events or actual circumstances is of course a little far fetched, but the Animal Farm being fiction, one expects reality to be obviously milder and less pronounced.
To be sure, India has been through this pattern once, when Indira Gandhi imposed emergency after the 1971 military success emboldened her into thinking that she had absolute power. Democratic norms combined with strong opposition protests helped bring India back from the brink of dictatorial 'new master' eventuality.
Irrespective, reading the book set in motion questions of how we, as aware & awakened citizens, can make attempts to prevent India of today meeting a fate even remotely similar to fictional happenings depicted in the book. Another question which begs answers is how has USA which also rose from a revolution avoided the fate of USSR? Was it just because USA was based on capitalist ideals that its political class did not degenerate into becoming the 'new masters'?
In my view, there are two answers - both simultaneously being true. First, a just democratic order (unlike what is in place in present day Russia or Pakistan), clearly prevents a political class corrupted by power to stay in power - similar to how the Congress-led UPA was dethroned in 2014.
But second, and a precursor for the sustenance of a democratic order, is maintaining balance between judiciary & executive and independence of judicial & electoral institutions. For this to happen, all attempts to create any discord between the Judiciary & Executive must be thwarted, any attempt to weaken leadership or independence of Judicial & electoral bodies resisted, and foremost, attempts to undermine or alter the constitution need to be defeated.
One can see how the above 3 have been constantly practised in USA, and how all US citizens are always imbibed to consider the constitution as the greatest document ever and the Bill of Rights is reiterated at every political discourse. No religious text or tradition has ever been commanded to supersede the constitution or be the 'source' of Americanness.
This is one thing I see missing in India which I feel an urgency to start. A continued reiteration of faith and belief in the constitution as the supreme guiding force for all citizens, above any other ideology including religious texts and/or philosophical tenets like Communist or Nationalist ideologies.
The challenge for the next opposition (which I do hope will rise with the gradual decline of the Congress party) will be upholding the constitution, its ethos and citizens' belief in its ideals in face of neo-liberal, right wing capitalist order which currently has risen to power.
*Image Credit: http://www.wynghs.co.za/news/animal-farm-rehearsals-continue/
The challenge for the next opposition (which I do hope will rise with the gradual decline of the Congress party) will be upholding the constitution, its ethos and citizens' belief in its ideals in face of neo-liberal, right wing capitalist order which currently has risen to power.
*Image Credit: http://www.wynghs.co.za/news/animal-farm-rehearsals-continue/
Are we witnessing Modern day Mahabharat?
Chance and serendipity can often spring profound thoughts and insights; I experienced one such moment today. I was driving towards office and switched on the Radio. All India Radio FM Gold channel was broadcasting an audio re-run of the famed Mahabharat TV Serial.
Prologue: The episode was the last part (Anudyuta Parva) of Sabha Parva - after Pandavas lose their wealth, kingdom and respect in a gambling game and leave for their penance of 12 years Vanvaas & 1 year Agyaatvaas. In the scene after their exit, Vidur (the Prime Minister) visits the quarters of Patriarch Pitaamah Bhishm. Bhishm is cross with himself for not stopping the unethical gambling game which ultimately led to a public disrobing of his great grand daughter-in-law Draupadi.
During the episode, Bhishma utters a very insightful line -
This line rang a bell taking me back little more than two years when the Manmohan Singh government was facing widespread charges of graft and corruption, and Manmohan Singh claimed helplessness at the corruption charges making a point that he himself was clean and was being unfairly blamed for misdeeds his associates.
And then it suddenly dawned on me that the simile between Bhishm's and Manmohan Singh's predicament was not isolated but just the tip of a much larger metaphor for the political scene we've witnessed. Following are the other similes:
कà¤ी कà¤ी मनुष्य अपनी विवशता को अपना कर्तव्य मान लेता है|
[Meaning: Sometimes one assume one's helplessness to be his obligation.]
This line rang a bell taking me back little more than two years when the Manmohan Singh government was facing widespread charges of graft and corruption, and Manmohan Singh claimed helplessness at the corruption charges making a point that he himself was clean and was being unfairly blamed for misdeeds his associates.
And then it suddenly dawned on me that the simile between Bhishm's and Manmohan Singh's predicament was not isolated but just the tip of a much larger metaphor for the political scene we've witnessed. Following are the other similes:
- Manmohan Singh: Bhishm- the decrepit head of the ruling alliance, who has little power to execute his own decisions or even stop wrong decisions taken by the erring courtiers; but who nevertheless refuses to leave the side of the throne.
- Sonia Gandhi: Dhritrashtra - the (actual) head of state who above the nation's welfare wants his/her progeny's welfare. Love and affection towards their progeny make them take decisions which their own discretion^ tells them not to take.
- Pawan Bansal / A Raja / Kanimozhi / Kalmadi etc : Shakuni - the malevolent 'relatives' of the Crown prince who used the Crown prince's ambition for the kingdom combined with his lack of objectivity to their own personal advantage.
- Jairam Ramesh / AK Antony: Kripacharya & Dronacharya - members of court who have no choice but to fight from the side of the throne, irrespective and in spite of their intellect.
- Pranab Mukherjee / P. Chidambaram: Vidur - the intelligent minister(s) of the state who acknowledging their inability to stop the wrongdoing, just steer clear of controversy and keep their own side clean.
- Rahul Gandhi: Duryodhana - The Crown prince who feels that his birth (and not his ability) entitles him to the throne; who is ready to go to any length to get the throne and yet lacks any ability to even execute a sinister plan which he devices.
- India: Draupadi - the daughter in law who's ripped off in front of the whole world for a feud which she was neither an instigator of nor was directly a party to.
Thankfully for India, the sovereign is no longer a monarch who hazards the fortune of the people for a family feud, but the people themselves who decided well in time that we don't need another Kurukshetra and changed power much before a whole war would ensue!
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^ Discretion is a literal translation - the apt word which came to my mind was विवेक in Hindi
^ Discretion is a literal translation - the apt word which came to my mind was विवेक in Hindi
Learning from 11 years in KPMG
I quit my job at KPMG one year ago - 22 January 2016 was my last day with the firm. As I reflect back on that day, it felt more like a graduation day! The eerie mix of nostalgia, excitement, anxiety and blues of missing your friends.It is only when we give up what we have is when we can embrace the new!
KPMG was not just my first job but also a place where I learnt everything that I represent professionally. KPMG is one of the institutions I deeply respect and love – and relationships I have built here will stay with me for my lifetime. In my entrepreneurial career as well, I am often reminded more of all the great things I have learnt over my 11 years in KPMG.
An year gone by, I realize these learnings have stayed with me and apply equally to the world outside KPMG. Almost all would apply to those working in role of (internal or external) consultants but several are generic and can be applied across professions. I have tried to change the text so that the learnings sound generic.
PS: I also plan to write a series of posts on how I became an entrepreneur and my journey as an entrepreneur until now. But may be it is too early to start writing about this because I am yet to settle and prove myself in the entrepreneurial world - may be some would follow in time.Here go, my 11 learnings from 11 years in KPMG!
1. Live the values
Most large corporations, especially MNCs have a set of values or priciples estabished by the founders or over a period of time. These values define the organization, its purpose and its 'moral compass'. Living values is the best way to ensure you never go wrong in making decisions, communicating your views and living your professional life as a whole. During my 11 years, there was no better feeling to me than telling a client that we are confident of something because these are KPMG’s values and this is how we work or that we cannot do something for them because it is not in line with our values!2. One Team
But it doesn’t end there – yes, we all crib sometimes about problems with Admin, Finance and HR, but in the end we are all one firm – Support teams take as much pride in working for their company as client facing staff does. Over my tenure, one belief which has always stayed with me is that if I am ever stranded, I can just call upon my “KPMG citizenship” to bail me out of any situation. That feeling indeed is something I will have to live without!
3. Take Pride
I cannot stress this one enough! Pride is everything – how you look when you turn up for a meeting, how your document looks when it reaches the client’s mailbox, how you speak, what you do at the client site ... We all need to be extremely conscious that we represent our organizations and everything we do defines them as much as they define us! We are the face of our firm, every report, every document, every email from you carries similar prestige as those from Directors. So take pride and an equal amount of diligence in making them.4. Remain connected within and without
As we specialize we will get divided into smaller specialized work groups – remember they are work groups not relationship groups for you. And if you plan to rely on networking with clients, your internal networks must be strong and across organizational divisions. Ensure you know others in and outside your department, function, city, even country if you can! Even extend that network to past colleagues.5. Never say no to work
Not because, you’ll upset that boss who sits in your appraisal, but simply because the more you work, the more you learn. This statement is especially true for consultants. Every engagement I’ve worked on has been a learning and has helped me in future work.6. Practice Networking
Many of us think that networking is done by sales teams or bosses to get business; a very narrow view of the value of networking. Networking is sitting in the cafeteria with colleagues, often those outside your department, networking is helping someone do their tax submissions, networking is helping a client with finding a restaurant to take his wife/girlfriend to. And it is best done without expectation of returns. Finally, only if you have practiced networking within your organizaion will you be able to do it outside effectively.I have heard many ‘post-appraisal’ discussions when people feel that others who make themselves ‘visible’ are given undue advantage. While I believe the system is fairer than we imagine, nevertheless, if it does favour those who are better networked, it doesn’t do any injustice. If you can’t network internally with your peers and superiors – how do you expect to do this outside the organization? Internal networking builds a habit which makes external networking natural!
7. Don't ignore life
We have all burnt mid-night oil and that’s not what I am asking you to say no to! But remember if you got to work hard, party harder and live a great life – health is possibly one thing you need. I realized this more as I grew older, and I really wish someone had told me this earlier. I started a regular regimen quite late in my life and trust me the later you start the more difficult it becomes to maintain discipline. Make sure you ‘exercise’ your body and mind equally well on a regular basis along with putting in long hours at work.While work life balance might be a chimera in consulting, and it's a personal preference to maintain it, ignoring life may be the worst thing for your career. Don’t let the saying “Life is what happens to you when you are busy doing other things” become true for yourself!
8. A consultant is half scientist half celebrity
Note I didn't include salesman, doctor, investment banker, janitor etc in the list. Consulting is an abused term, but rightly o because consultants are manfridays for their clients, but for ourselves we need to think ourselves as scientists – those who seek insights; and celebrities – those who can baulk in limelight gracefully. Making it simple – it is not sufficient to know your subject, it is also important to articulate it well so that the client appreciates your knowledge. Similarly, it's ok to fake knowledge it sometimes, but make sure you utilise the next available opportunity to research enough on your subject so as not to look like a fool in the next meeting. If you do these two, you will never need to “Sell” your services!9. Turn up at the client site as often as you can
It may be a great feeling to be around friends in office – but nothing in professional life is more rewarding than being at the client site. I inherently am a bad networker – with people and clients – my basic nature is that of a shy reticent individual. But during my consulting days with KPMG, I always preferred being at client sites and this helped me become the opposite.At the same time, even though I didn’t ‘network’ intentionally with so many clients but just seeing me turn up at their office every day, week, month – made them know me better and helped me build a relationship with them. When there were days I only had office work to do, I still preferred doing it sitting at a client office – being with my project team members and in front of the client rather than sitting in the office.
10. Invest in yourself
Similar to not ignoring life, but related to more to growing as a professional. It may be a great feeling to be called an expert on a particular subject, but in the ever-changing world of today – your status will not stay for long. Make sure you are watchful of whether or not you are growing as a professional and keep investing in yourself. The best part about being a consultant is that the firm will support, reward and even pay you for investing in yourself. And unlike clients who can hire you if they don't have the right skills, you can't hire someone else to do your job!11. Never bcc
True to one of the values I imbibed in KPMG (we are open and honest in our communications); Bcc is an enemy of this! If you ever feel like ‘I don’t want to clutter his/her mailbox with the replies” – please forward that mail to them separately than doing a Bcc..
Personalization is against Privacy - but is it a threat to mankind's existence?
The Economist argues in this article how online services which provide for personalised services are breaching some age-old notions of privacy.
Google mines the data it collects from users for two purposes. One is to improve the user experience, making its various online services more personal, useful and rewarding for the individual—and thereby increasing their popularity. The other purpose is to provide better targeted information for advertisers.The above is a foregone conclusion - we all are ignoring the looming fear of privacy invasion for the convenience that online services give us. In fact, after much brouhaha about the US NSA snooping over a vast majority of the world (incl. politicians in other countries), not much seems to have changed in the world perception given how social media platforms (hosted in US data centers and subject to US laws) have snowballed into world's largest corporations.
That is fine for the vast majority of internet users, who are happy to trade a measure of privacy for the convenience. However, most people (though not all) stop short of blurting out more intimate details about their private lives.
Even so, all those innocuous bits of self-revelation can be pieced together, jig-saw fashion, by intelligent algorithms. Throw in the digital paper-trails stashed in Google searches and Amazon purchases, and things can begin to get a little scary.
However, another concern is now coming up which is not so much about someone knowing about the underwear brand I wear (which wouldn't really be very devastating), but about me NOT knowing what I don't know.
One of the foundational principles of democracy - which underpins other more explicit principles like freedom of speech or freedom of practising one's religion - is the freedom and the right to have access to unfettered information. One of the reasons North Korea and even China are castigated by proponents freedom is because of the conditions imposed by these regimes on the flow of information to their citizens.
Recent studies have shown that excessive personalization of say our Facebook feeds or WhatsApp Group based news which we receive, makes us as blind to other perspectives as may be people of a restrictive or oppressed regime.
The information we take in is so personalized that we’re blind to other perspectives. Thats why Trump was a surprisehttps://t.co/MtN8np3jHE— Nikhil Kulkarni (@kulkarninikhil) November 10, 2016
No wonder that religious preachers, right wing activists and even divisive religion based military group like the ISIS find Social Media a good source of recruiting volunteers!
Activist Eli Pariser who has coined the term Filter Bubble argues that "while we might think of the internet as an impartial, universal library with Google serving as a superhuman Dewey decimal system, it’s remarkably, and perhaps pathologically, individualised". Another article by Rohit Prasad of MDI, Gurgaon, in India, argues that -
"The institution of paid search raises barriers to entry for firms that do not have the required marketing budgets and that apart from paid search which is quite evidently non-neutral, the paradigm of neutral search itself is being questioned as anti-competition"This is still quite benign as it only attacks the laissez-faire economy principles of the free market, but he also adds that -
"the use of personalization rules in serving search returns implies that we get to see what the search engine thinks we would like based on surfing information it has gathered about any people, rather than some ‘objective’ listing"Veterans of journalism - the fourth pillar of a democracy - agree with this sentiment. As Rich Jaroslovsky, the chief journalist at SmartNews, puts it - "Excessive personalization creates a rabbit hole ... you never discover anything that you didn't know already and your world view gets narrower .. and ultimately leads people to feel dissatisfied" (Source: futureof.news)
- The Internet is entering every sphere of our lives - from 'where to buy a house' to 'which route to take for the morning commute to office. If personalised technology makes us take biased decisions, it may be impacting our whole life! Further, it may be preventing us from benefits of serendipity by forcing us to take the beaten path, dumbing us down or killing that chance we have to be more creative!
- Internet penetration is increasing at an exponential pace and hence more people are being subjected to decision making assisted or influenced by Social Media. Whether it is about the route on your daily commute or who should be your President or Prime Minister; all of us are being subjected to filter bubbles while contributing to these decisions. The ubiquity of internet means that we are at a greater risk of making a collective mistake in making decisions!
- In the last few years, as the propensity of political leaders to take tough decisions has reduced and the trend of referendums has gained traction. The United Kingdom (who's Westminster model is a template for democracy in several countries), has witnessed two referendums in recent past - one on Scotland remaining a part of the UK and another on UK leaving the EU. As technology - electronic voting et. al. - makes it easier to conduct elections; direct democracy might become the norm. Some low population countries like Switzerland are already making the switch. This makes over personalised social media even scarier as biases may influence specific political decisions not just personal decision or choice of leader.
- In a world where we are heading towards making some very crucial decisions regarding climate change or future of robotics or spacefaring - combined with point #3, biases influenced by narrow social media networks and incomprehensibly tested personalization algorithms (technology), we might just take a wrong decision which may have far reaching impact on future generations and the very existence of mankind!
It is high time philosophers, futurists, technologists, activists, politicians and even common people started exploring the dangers of personalized Social Media and devised ways to counter it!
Rupee Note & Coin Trivia
- Currency notes are issued by the Reserve Bank of India but Coins are issued by the Government of India.
- As a result. coins in possession of RBI are considered assets of RBI compared to Notes which are liabilities. And the distribution of Coins is undertaken by RBI only as an agent of the Government.
- Another ramification of this is that when you hold a Currency Note, you merely hold the RBI Governor's promise to pay you, but when you hold a coin, you actually hold an asset just like Gold or equity.
- Last, while you can use Re. 1 coins to pay any value i.e. if you had 1 crore coins, you could buy a house by using them, but Coins up to 50 paisa are called “small coins” and can only be used to pay up to a maximum value of Rs 10. So much for the 'chillar' (loose change) in our kiddie 'gullaks' (piggy bank)!
Image Credit: Pixabay
Are you sharing sensitive information over WhatsApp?
Note: This post of cross-posted from www.yaksas.in; while I am a participant in the discussion quoted below, but sincere thanks are due to Uday Mittal for compiling this into a blog post and publishing online.
The other day I participated in an interesting discussion. The discussion took place in an information privacy forum comprised of professionals from various industries. The topic of discussion was Legal ramifications of sharing screenshots of a conversation held on messengers such as WhatsApp, Hike, Telegram etc. (We’ll take WhatsApp as an example).
Point(s) of Discussion
I initiated the discussion with the following questions:
If an individual forwards a screenshot of a WhatsApp group conversation to another individual outside that group; will such sharing be considered:
- Invasion of privacy of the members of the WhatsApp group?
- Punishable against provision IT Act section 43 (unauthorized sharing of computer data) or 43A (sharing of personal information without permission from the data owner)
Arguments
Uday offered the following views:If sharing screenshots of WhatsApp messages is punishable, then by that logic forwarding audio and video files involving other people, who are not part of that particular conversation or group, should also be punishable, as such an act may hamper the privacy of the said individuals.
In my opinion, an individual won’t be punishable under section 43A as it applies to “body corporate” or an association of individuals engaged in commercial or professional activities. Having said that, it may apply to WhatsApp Inc for failure to take appropriate steps to protect SPDI. However, since it’s a US based company they would be governed by the US laws (please correct me if I am wrong). Besides, they have mentioned it in their Privacy Policy and Terms of Service that their platform may not be used for infringing privacy of others.
Following is an excerpt from their Terms and Conditions page:
“Legal and Acceptable Use. You must access and use our Services only for legal, authorized, and acceptable purposes. You will not use (or assist others in using) our Services in ways that: (a) violate, misappropriate, or infringe the rights of WhatsApp, our users, or others, including privacy, publicity, intellectual property, or other proprietary rights; (b) are illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, intimidating, harassing, hateful, racially, or ethnically offensive, or instigate or encourage conduct that would be illegal, or otherwise inappropriate, including promoting violent crimes; (c) involve publishing falsehoods, misrepresentations, or misleading statements; (d) impersonate someone; (e) involve sending illegal or impermissible communications such as bulk messaging, auto-messaging, auto-dialing, and the like; or (f) involve any non-personal use of our Services unless otherwise authorized by us.”
Following is an excerpt from their Privacy Policy page:
“Your Contacts and Others. Users with whom you communicate may store or reshare your information (including your phone number or messages) with others on and off our Services. You can use your Services settings and the block feature in our Services to manage the users of our Services with whom you communicate and certain information you share.”
Technically speaking, the moment when a user press the button to send a message, it implies that they are willing to share that information with the individual or group they are interacting with. The moment that message lands on other user’s device they become the owner of that information and should have the right to use it as they wish (unless the message is classified according to a mutually agreed classification scheme, which isn’t the case normally). Since they are not accessing this data in an unauthorized manner and the device on which that data resides in that moment, is in their ownership, they should not be punishable under section 43 as well.
The response was quite succinct and while I agreed with it reluctantly; I had further points to make:
I agree that application of section 43 on grounds of unauthorised sharing of computer data is questionable. But 43A is applicable to both body corporate and persons in India as per this clarification.
Also, basis the above explanation it effectively means that even though WhatsApp groups are restricted to few individuals; posting any messages on WhatsApp is as good as publishing them publicly (because others in the group can share them freely without any fear of litigation from you!).
This is quite counter-intuitive because WhatsApp tries its best to protect your information even from Govt. snooping by encrypting it! And on the other hand, just by posting something on WhatsApp, one is opening it up for potential public disclosure!
Thus, the discussion reached a point of an impasse. The responsibility to resolve it was then assigned to Cyber Law experts, within the group.
The Verdict
This is where Ms Soumya Patnaik, a Cyber Law Practitioner, stepped up and resolved the dilemma with her comprehensive explanation of applicability of relevant sections of the IT Act, 2000:
Section 43 of IT Act
Applicable Law
Section 43 of the IT Act makes unauthorized access and misuse of computer, computer system or network, or any data or information stored on such network/resource punishable.
The essential parts of this contravention therefore are:
- There must be a computer/computer system/computer network/ computer resource;
- Such computer must be owned by, or under the control of a person; and
- The person (alleged offender here), must have gained access to such computer or any data/ information stored on such computer without the permission of the owner (or possessor) of such computer, network or resource.
Contextual Application
In the present context, person “A” is transferring or sending messages and albeit “personal information” of his own accord, to person “B”. Therefore, even though “B” transfers the information or message to a third party, the same does not involve any unauthorised access to data/information. Thus, from the context of Section 43, there has been no contravention on the part of B.
Section 43A of the IT Act
Applicable Law
As per Section 43A, any body corporate who is possessing, dealing or handling any sensitive personal data or information (“SPDI”) in a computer resource which it owns, controls or operates, and is negligent in implementing and maintaining reasonable security practices and procedures and thereby causes wrongful loss or gain to any person, such body corporate would be liable to damages by way of compensation to the affected person.
The Section clearly defines “body corporate” to mean “any company, including a firm, sole proprietorship or other association of individuals engaged in commercial or professional activities.”
The Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (“Privacy Rules”) have been formulated under Section 43A of the IT Act, and therefore, may not, and cannot be read separately from Section 43A.
As per the Privacy Rules, SPDI is a certain category of personal information that includes: (a) password; (b) financial information; (c) physical, physiological and mental health condition; (d) sexual orientation; (e) medical records and history; (f) biometric information; (g) any detail relating to these categories. Therefore, as you would note, SPDI forms a much narrower category than the broader category of ‘personal information’. What Section 43A and the Privacy Rules deal with, are in fact, SPDI, and not the broader category of ‘personal information’.
Further, on a review of the Privacy Rules, you would observe that the onus rests on the body corporate that is collecting such SPDI, or handling such SPDI, to obtain “consent” of the data subject. It then requires the body corporate to also inform the data subject of the purpose for which such information is being collected, how it will be used, who it will be transferred, how and where it will be stored, etc.
Now, in a situation where the data subject volunteers to give out information (even if it is SPDI), to a body corporate or any other person, the provisions that require the body corporate to obtain prior consent, etc., are entirely defeated. The only other provision that would apply in this case may be the onus to maintain reasonable security practices and procedures, and to not transfer it to a third party, without consent.
The notification referred above does mention “any person”, but the intent of the notification is not to defeat Section 43A (which clearly applies to bodies corporate only). Even if we do agree with your argument that the onus under Section 43A applies to bodies corporate as well as individual persons, I am not sure of the practical enforcement of the obligations as against individuals. How does an individual like you and I maintain ‘reasonable security practices and procedures’ and further, for what purpose is such an individual collecting someone else’s SPDI like financial information, etc.?
Also, please note that clarifications are in the nature of administrative directions and cannot override the provisions of a statute, in this case, Section 43A of the IT Act (which clearly refers to bodies corporate alone).
Contextual Application
In this case:
- It is very unlikely that the information being transferred amounts to SPDI;
- The very fact that the information is being voluntarily transferred to another person over a WhatsApp group defeats the requirement of prior consent; and
- The parties involved here are individuals and not bodies corporate.
Section 72A of the IT Act
Applicable Law
This brings us to Section 72A of the IT Act, which states as follows:
“Save as otherwise provided in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, any person including an intermediary who, while providing services under the terms of lawful contract, has secured access to any material containing personal information about another person, with the intent to cause, or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or wrongful gain, discloses, without the consent of the person concerned, or in breach of a lawful contract, such material to any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine which may extend to Rs. 3 lakh, or with both.”
Present Context
In my opinion, this would be the relevant provision in the present context. Assuming a friend has shared certain personal information (this could be any personal information, and not just SPDI) with you, and you share it without your friend’s consent, with a third party, you may be punishable under Section 72A.
Even then, the operative words here are: (a) with the intent to cause; or (b) knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss of wrongful gain.
Therefore, unless it can be proved that you had such intent, or that any prudent/reasonable person would know that such sharing would cause wrongful loss to your friend, you would still not be punishable under this provision.
Situational Example
Shreya’s friend Sonakshi, is a lawyer. Sonakshi had sent a picture of her visiting card (which contained her name, address, contact number and email id) to Shreya, over WhatsApp. Shreya has another friend, Soumya. Soumya needs a lawyer and seeks Shreya’s help. Shreya, albeit well-meaningly, shares the image of Sonakshi’s visiting card, with Soumya. Soumya’s phone gets hacked, and Sonakshi’s personal information is now in the hands of the hacker, who has started stalking and harassing Sonakshi. In this case, would Shreya be liable under Section 72A, because she shared the information with Soumya, without Sonakshi’s consent? Unlikely, since:
- At the time of sharing the information, she did not intend to cause any wrongful loss to Sonakshi; and
- No reasonable person could have anticipated that Soumya’s phone would get hacked and Sonakshi’s personal details would be with the hacker who would eventually stalk and harass her.
Conclusion
In the words of Ms Patnaik:
Under our current privacy regime, I think we are safe. Section 72A is applicable in case of disclosure under a lawful contract. Therefore, where personal messages are being shared, on strict interpretation, it is unlikely to trigger Section 72A [this point was also highlighted by Mr. Sharma]. However, of course, we should try to not share other’s information, images, messages, etc. with third parties, without their consent. If the information is even remotely SPDI, such as health related information, we should definitely not publish it!
Finally, WhatsApp is pretty much like Facebook actually, or any other social medium, and anyone sharing personal information on it should just beware that it is being published all over.
Do you agree with the verdict? Would you like to appeal against it? Leave your arguments in the comments section and let's keep the discussion going.
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