Of Labels & Love !!!

All the females who are conversant with the art of shopping will agree to the fact that shopping does give us all a high. Just what the alcohol does to our brain. Sale, no-sale, online, offline, exhibitions or fairs, all seem to call out our names the minute we try to curb our instinct to indulge ourselves. ZARA, Mango, Aldo, Nine West, Kimaya, Versace, DKNY, Charles & Keith, Lush, La Senza; the names sound like the most melodious song that one can ever listen to.

Apart from the shopping list mentioned above, a female also needs to take care of the products and brands that keep her going on a daily basis. Products like shampoos, conditioners, grocery items, fruits and vegetables. Though most of us like shopping from former list, one can't do without the items in the latter. What is it with shopping and women, men may ask. Why is it that the entire female fraternity never gets tired of shopping? Why is it that the world actually seem like a better place when we shop? Why do shoes make us happy? And why do men crib about women shopping?

Women across the globe want to lay their hands on the best of things. The best of cars, the best of clothes, the best of lingerie, the best of cuisines, the best of grocery items, the best of soaps, the best of shoes and the best of whatever I can't think of right now. Did I forget something? I guess yes. I will come back to that.

Two weeks back, while shopping at a sale at ZARA, one could find women snatching clothes from one another. The minute one kept the piece of clothing, the other one was ready to pounce on that in an attempt to make it hers. See how the ownership cycle works here. Now let's have a look at another scenario. While shopping for apples that very evening at a very fancy store full of fancy looking chicks, I replaced a rotten apple with a better one and the lady standing next to me, also shopping for apples didn't even look at that because I had already kept it back. And now if I tell you that it was the same lady who was moving around snatching clothes at ZARA, already tried by other females and who did not even bother looking at the already replaced apple, you would ask me what's my problem. And to that I would say, Hold On!!

Brands attract us. Bigger the better. Higher the price, higher is our desirability level. Higher the desirability quotient of the brand/product, higher is our desirability factor for that same brand/product. With limitless possibilities of brands/products, we always look for something that is appealing, attractive, glitzy or glam (whatever works for you), only in my possession and hard to be imitated. Brands like Lee, Spykar, Numero Uno, Levis', Tresmode, Paparika, Tata, Maruti help solve the purpose but all of us love investing in an LBD by Armani or a Louis Vuitton bag or a Tiffany ring or an S-class Mercedes Benz. All in an attempt to look good, feel good, and make others feel good about us (if it works that ways).

All of this was not an attempt to give tips on shopping nor am I an expert in the shopping lists of females. A lot of raised eyebrows and frowns are bound to come my way when I say what I am about to say.

Men like brands make us feel good about ourselves. A little complementing here and there, the small acts of chivalry, dinner dates and romantic Sunday lunches are bound to sweep most females off their feet. Just like shopping induces elation, men do the same. Some are always in stock and some choose to go off the shelf as soon as they are launched in the market. Some like a Louis Vuitton are high valued and priced high, whereas some like an Esbeda bag are not everyone's cuppa tea. We all at some point in time have invested in dresses and shoes thinking we would get to wear them some day. We invest our time and emotions in men thinking it might work some day. But just like the dress never fits and the shoes crack open, men too either crack you down or you find a brand that suits your needs better.

Some men are like the flesh and blood equivalent of a DKNY dress.You know it’s not your style, but it’s right there, so you try it on anyway. While a man well suited to your needs is like a Prada bag. He is an investment which you love to flaunt, love to carry around and love to love. It might not go well with all your dresses but who cares? It's after all a Prada which not everyone can boast of.

(P.S: Year after year all the women are only in search of the two L's - Labels and love !! .)

Business Environment !!

For an organization to grow, the CEO of the company has to necessarily focus on four aspects of a business: Marketing, Finance, Human Resource, Operations & IT. Over-analyzing one aspect and undermining the other aspect usually makes the company go for a toss. With an over estimation of its own success, the company falters at the underlining principle on which all businesses work: "Profit Maximization." Though most companies in such situations follow a turnaround strategy, it might or might not work for all the businesses.
Its like a system crash, you know you need to reboot but sometimes you need to back up and invest in a new system.

Just like any business would have its vision statement, the vision for our own life is to be happy and scatter happiness to close to us. A perfect balancing act, though tough, is not impossible to maintain. Each aspect of the business has to be given due share of importance for it to leverage on the other. When parents, like venture capitalists invest in us, they hope that the business that is us ends up becoming a profit making entity. Their support to us is a source of funding which is low risk and offers maximum returns. When the business is new to the market, it is usually not very cautious about the people it recruits for its operations. It relies on the expertise that it has gained till date and the qualifications of the people who appear for the recruitment, which at this stage is not a very tough process. A few people come with an emotional baggage or a vision which is in tune with ours, a few come up with a lot of enthusiasm and zeal to take the relationship to next level which usually fades away, a few list down false qualifications in order to win our trust and then later let us down, a few of them come through referrals and the other few appear for the interview because they have nowhere else to go.

The recruitment process is a very strong brand building exercise for an organization. For now, it will be known to the world by the choice of its employees. Some willing to put in all the effort required to keep the operations up and going, a few would resign midway because of the pressure of handling the problems of the organization and the job simultaneously does not attract them, a few will always look for better opportunities and there would be a few who would secretly hope for the company to go down. It is now that the organization realizes its potential and after a few & frequent turbulent times, what is it that has helped the company still maintain a foothold in the market. This is when the recruitment process gets tougher. And it is at this stage that a few brands choose to fade away. It is also at this time that the company learns how much to invest in its employees and whether the investment should be in terms of functional benefits or emotional benefits.

IT is the backbone of any organization. For the functions of an organization to run smoothly without disruption, it is important that the organization invests in a good IT system but should also not forget that it is the person who runs the technology and not vice-versa. Sometimes, in an attempt to be technologically advanced, we become so dependent on the systems that it becomes difficult to function without its presence. In our lives also, there are people who would come as viruses that they would do nothing but corrupt the system and lead it to crash. Just like the company invests in a sophisticated anti virus, we all need that one best friend who helps us get back on track, functioning. One cannot repair a system that is destroyed but for a system that crashes, one can always format and reboot. Difficult but not impossible.

For a company to have a strong presence in the market, it is imperative that it does an internal and external environment analysis. One has to be aware of its own strengths and weaknesses to have a head start on the opportunities and threats that the company faces. Investors do not usually invest in companies which have volatile stocks. An emotionally disturbed person is oh-so unattractive and will rarely find takers. Indulgence in CSR and PR activities does get an organization laurels. But none of these should be a hindrance for an organization for the fulfillment of its primary motive of 'Profit Maximization.' Because no business exists for charity and no person lives for social service.

Organizations who do well are a result of a lot of hard work, dedication and sincerity by its owner. There are times when one needs to take tough decisions and sell off a non profit making unit and there would also be times when one would need to overlook another organization operating in the industry and take it over. Investments should be made after a lot of analysis and its always advisable to gather support from investors who would like to invest for a longer duration of time.

A very famous quote by Donald Trump says, "In business, I’ve discovered that my purpose is to do my best to my utmost ability every day. That’s my standard. I learned early in my life that I had high standards."

(P.S: The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous.)
(Akhil, Thanks for helping me reboot sooner !! )

A Wishing Well !!

Another year, a new start, a new beginning, a new life (supposedly), handful of changes (good ones, fingers crossed), end of sorrows, a time to rejoice and a time for resolutions. This was just a quick glance at a few things that our heart desires with the passage of an year. I wish, I wish and I wish some more.

People like me, people like you and the ones who I did not include in the two lists wait for an entire year to start all over again, to give a new direction to our so called monotonous lives, to start living a life which they have dreamt of, to get off and get moving. A few like me would always resolve to shed off those extra kilos and restrain from shopping binges and a few like you would resolve to leave your jobs and move to better ones, tell that one person how much he/she means to him/her, the other few would resolve to spend some more quality time with their families, travel more, read more, get married, save more, work hard, give up smoking and drinking and a lot of other things that they failed to accomplish during the last year.

That gets me to thinking and asking the one question that we never want to answer. What has changed overnight? Except for the fact that we all get drunk on the last day of the year and resolve never to drink again. Except for the fact that we come home late in the night with parents sleeping and resolve to spend more quality time with them, but from tomorrow. Except for the fact we all party till the wee hours of morning and get our credit cards go crazy and resolve to save more from the very next day. Except for the fact that we just lied to someone about our where-abouts in an attempt to avoid them and we resolve to tell someone else how much he/she means to us, so that by the time this year ends, we would resolve to never lie again. Except for the fact that nothing except the day, the date and the year on the calendar has changed.

If you would not do it today, you will never do it tomorrow or ever. How can one lie today and resolve not to lie tomorrow? How can one eat a packet full of chips tonight and resolve to give up eating them tomorrow morning (12 in the midnight to be precise). How can one pretend to be incapable of thinking today and start to think the very next morning? How can one not live today or now and plans on living the very next day or for moment?

Weaving a dream world is what we humans are capable of. Fulfillment of those dreams rests either in the hands of God/fate or someone with a magical wand who will make things happen for us. Its only this realization in humans; the presence of a magical wand, the hand of an angel which stops them from doing all they can, from wishing all they want to and making them come true for as many times as possible.

With endless possibilities of reaching the shore, a sailor chooses but one way; to flow with the direction of the wind. Fate, a four letter word, a word very close to our hearts, a word we never cease to give up on, a word we rests our lives on, a word which has more meaning than life itself, a word which is hard for us to term it as 'just a word.'

An advent of new year, the beginning of a new calendar does not change anything but the dates on the sheets of thick paper. But waking up on the first day of the new year does make us realise that we need to make our lives better. I am again not an advocate on how to start your day today. All I know is that waking up each morning should be a motivation enough for us to make each day, each hour, each minute and each moment of our life count.

Life is an adventure. Some plan to take on it today and some of us wait for an entire year for the adventure to begin.
I would like to quote Samuel Johnson here. Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified.

(P.S: You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know!!)