Thoughts From A Busy Mind

A subscription service for diapers...?

2011-12-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

Was thinking.. is it a good idea to start a subscription service for Diapers.. You know like a brand say Huggies could start an offer by which every week a set amount of Diapers will be delivered to the homes of subscribers.. What I am told is Diapers are a big expense.. and if the diaper people can give up some of their margins, they may be able to lock in assured demand from customers. The customers on their part will get a regular supply.. from what I know babies are slow at being potty trained. Chalo.. Am done for the day.. off to sleep! G'nite!

Psst... Kelloggs. Want a new market?

2011-12-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

I have a suggestion for Kelloggs.. the breakfast cereal brand. I am doing this out of goodwill, cause I do like their products although I find them a bit on the expensive side. But they are tasty and nutritious and I see Kelloggs roosting in my house for some time to come...
The Kelloggs ads show that they are focussed on 2 main markets 1. Womens nutrition and the kids nutrition markets. But there is one promising market which I think they are missing out on. It is the young working adults market. This is the market consisting of young men and women who have just entered the workforce. Many of them stay away from home and are not yet married. They stay with other friends and no one in this setup is interested in cooking breakfast. Of course breakfast is not a optional meal (like evening snacks) - so they will end up either having breakfast cooked by the maid or will eat out. I feel this TG will take to Kelloggs offering easily if it is presented correctly to them. I think so for the following reasons:
1. This age group is very concerned about the way they look - and corn flakes/oats/ wheat flakes offer a high energy non fatenning alternative to gorging on parathas, idlis or vada pavs at the neighborhood snack counter
2. It is actually cheaper to have a bowl of cornflakes and milk every day than have your breakfast (even at the local udipi joint). Dont trust me, just do the math and see for yourself
3. Many of these TGs tend to buy and consume in bulk. So when one friend in a flat brings this home, the others will devour it (virtually at any time - including at 1 AM at night). This would drive faster consumption.

The only thing Kelloggs needs to do is convince them that this is the 'Kewl' thing to do... Just show a young succesful fellow eating a bowl of conrflakes and then get hit on by voluptious females.. the job is done! (Dont guys ever want anything else... obviously not, what am I thinking!! ;) )

Kelloggs - if you are reading this - i need my royalty (or at the very least a very lucrative job offer :P)
- Gg

On Reality...

2011-10-30T04:15:00.001-07:00

I was reading this wonderful book called 'Phantoms in the Brain' written by a neurologist. Although no one in their right mind will call it a light read, it did manage to hold my interest till I finished the book - and considering the nature of the topic I would think the writer has done quite a commendable job indeed. The book gives a very interesting perspective on the inner workings of our brains. It deals with such heavy concepts as what is reality? What is the nature of the self? Where do our thoughts come from etc etc
The single biggest takeaway i had from the book was how fragile is the concept which we call 'reality'. To most of us, reality is something so obvious. It is just the way things are.. and everyone else who doesn't see how these things are has no business being around - he/she is just wasting precious Oxygen. We actually have words like 'crazy', 'mad' for people who do not share our understanding of the world. But as the book shows all it takes is a few circuits in our brains to come loose and what is most obvious to everyone else would become completely incomprehensible to us. Sample these cases for e.g. people who have had injuries to certain parts of their brain have trouble telling which body parts are theirs (the disorder has some arcane name - i forget what it is). These people when shown their own arm will honestly claim that the arm actually belongs to their brother! That is reality to them.... you cannot convince them otherwise. Or consider the peculiar case of people with phantom limbs. Apparently, when people loose their limbs due to amputation etc the brain simply refuses to accept that the limb is no longer there - it will continue to think that the arm or leg is still attached to the body when even the patient's eyes can see that there is nothing attached to the stump on their shoulder. To make it worse, some of these patients suffer from intense pain in these phantom limbs. Try telling these patients that the pain is not real. The point is that our reality is nothing but certain inferences which our brain makes to ensure our continued survival in the world. Sometimes, these inferences can be wrong but we would have absolutely no way to tell. That is what makes this so scary!
As scary as that thought is, the book drove home one point quite strongly. That even if we have fully functional brains, we should still not be sure of whatever we think is the reality. Cause, there is simply no such thing. There is only perception. And if you can change your perception, you can change your reality.
This has enormous implications for our day to day working also. I have many times come across colleagues with whom I am unable to make any headway on solving some basic issues. They just don't seem to 'understand'. I wonder how someone can be so pigheaded and not see the obvious 'reality' in front of them. What makes the problem seem so difficult is that both of us are convinced we are right in dealing with the reality in front of us. But if either of us understood that we are fighting because our perceptions differ i would imagine it would be easier to negotiate and arrive at a solution. The reason is that it is easier to change our perspective - but not what we call reality. It is also easier to accept that the other person has a different perspective but we cannot accept that the other someone has a different reality altogether!
So, what I have figured out is that there is no such thing called 'Absolute Reality' in the world at all. It is only our collective perceptions. Whatever agrees with the perception of the maximum number of people becomes the reality - for everyone else also. And perceptions can change en masse and almost instantly.
e.g.: Before the ipad the 'reality' was that there was no market for tablet computers. Microsoft, HP, Acer had all tried and failed. And then Apple came along. Was Apple able to change reality and suddenly create a market for tablets? I think the answer is that Apple changed peoples perspectives about a tablet (and what it could do and how sexy it was) and when perspective changed, the reality changed overnight.
History has enough examples of well designed product that simply would not sell. No matter how much the pioneer tried, he could not convince the customers to give his product a shot. To him, he seemed to be doing everything right but still - no results. Why might this be so? Because his 'reality' and those of his customers was completely different (i.e. his perspective was at odds with the majority of his would be customers). He needed to accept that and either force the customers to change their perspectives so that his reality became their reality or change the product so that it became compliant with the perceived reality of his would be customers. And once this was done - Voila! we have a winner on our hands!
So I will keep this in mind the next time I run into some idiot who has trouble seeing things my way :)
Well - this is enough for today... Gotta go and make some tea... Stay tuned in for more!
- Gg

Why I didnt Blog... and why i intend to start again

2010-06-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

I have been a thinker and a dreamer for as long as I can remember. I am also a perfectionist but that is the perfection I expect from others and have no intention of supplying it myself :) What I like best is to be left alone to think and dream till I get bored of it and seek out human company. The range of topics that interest me are truly diverse. This is also reflected in my reading interests which covers Economics, business affairs, human affairs, biographies, philosophical, contemprory, classics... I often ponder serious questions such as 'Does God Really Exist' - I think most probably not, What should be the role of government in civil society?, Why do we buy the kind of stuff we buy? As you can see when you have time to think and no intention of acting on anything you may choose to meditate about whatever catches your fancy :)
Now for such a prolific idler one expects that it would be fairly easy to blog, right? After all, blogging is just writing down your thoughts one thought-sequence at a time. After all, what to write is the major problem for most people but for me the content comes naturally - it is the taking the effort to put it down which is such a big challenge. Also, knowing the person I am I refuse to do stuff unless I see some use for myself in it. If 10 people guarantee me that they will read my blog every week and promise to think better of me for my blogging I might still do it. But doing favors to strangers by telling them about myself is not my idea of spending leisure time!
So then the question is 'Why am I writing this?'. Well its probably because I wish to put some structure to my thinking and blogging (or indeed writing of any sort) requires you to do precisely that. The challenge I am facing now is what to and what not to say here, what is the order in which I should queue up all these indisciplined thoughts in my head and also holding
back some information to reveal in my next post. Chalo, I am bored now... Till I come back again.. Adios! :)

Unfair!!

2007-05-22T12:38:00.001-07:00

Life here is just so unfair! They give you the best profs, they teach you the most interesting subjects, they surround you with the an amazing peer group but they give you no time to enjoy any of it... :(
Life at the ISB has begun to feel more like a series of misses than an adventure. No matter where I am or what i am doing, I always have this nagging feeling that I am missing out on something important. Just to give a small example, i am thoroughly enthralled by economics, marketing and statistics but I just have no time to get into the depths of these subjects because there is always some commitment or the other calling out to me. it is so frustrating! Feels like being at an all you can eat five star buffet with a constrictor stuck in my mouth. I think all this running around is going to get to me sooner or later. I am trying to do too many things paralelly and its driving me nuts. I dont remember when was the last time I lazed around doing nothing. Make no mistake I am thoroughly enjoying the ride, but I just wish they would let me catch my breath every once in a while...
Here's to hoping my stamina improves real good real quickly!

Good Night and Good Luck!!

2007-05-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hmm.. Its almost 2 in the morning and I still haven't slept. Not that I got too much of a shut eye in the past 24 hours. we had our mid-terms this morning and for the past week almost everyday I have been at the LRC (considering the disaster that my eco paper was, how much marginal benefit I derived from every extra hour spent there is quite questionable :) )
Anyways, I celebrated my relatively less workload today by watching movies. yes, i saw 2 of them in a span of 6 hours and they were both completely worth it.
About 6 of us from Section B plus two visitors arranged for the screening of the movie 'Lock Stock and two smoking barrels'. We turned of the lights, pumped up the volume and enjoyed the flick. Although the absence of any popcorn and refreshments was disappointing, the movie itself was complete paisa vasool! It is some sort of a cross between a comedy and a thriller. Some people felt that it started out slow but I enjoyed every bit of it. The language was abusive and there was lots of blood and gore on display to be sure but still i think the movie had style.. and generous doses of it! :)
I decided to come back to my room early and after raking up my telephone bills considerably, I was thinking about turning in for the night when my eye fell on the other movie I had in my bag: 'Good Night and Good Luck'. It is a very short movie... barely an hour and a half long. But it is yet another of those masterpieces by George Clooney. The movie is set in the early days of the television when the media was still finding its feet. The issue was the prosecution of the communists and the McCarthyism that was sweeping through America at the time.
I sometimes quite like these period movies (and period novels for that matter). It takes me to a completely different time altogether. It is always interesting to see how the ideas which we deem ordinary now were once considered heretical and to understand the struggles that took place to shape our world as it is today. The movie has some fantastic performances by Clooney (who underplays his part wonderfully) and the guy who plays Ed Murrow (Sorry, I forgot his name). The movie has some very fine dialogues that compellingly bring out Murrows intellect and the ideas that he stands for. Sample these for example :
When asked why he wanted to take sides when his job as a reporter was merely to remain neutral, he replies to his colleague,
"I am sorry Phil, but I cannot believe that both sides of an issue will always be right!"
Also "It is possible for television to inspire and to educate but the audience must be willing to get inspired and educated. Else television is just a box with wires and lights."
chalo.. I am off to sleep.. plan to go swimming tomorrow. Let's see how that works out...

Here I am...

2006-12-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

Of late a lot of my friends had been bugging me to start a blog. Frankly, for the life of me I couldnt imagine what I would say or to whom on a public medium like a blog. But then a few months back Tami finally came up with a coherent sentence that almost redeemed the time wasted in his company ;) Ritesh said that the blog would, if nothing else, serve as a snapshot of Gaurav as he was at 25. And that got me hooked! If I live till 60 (not likely considering the number of people i have ravaged with my PJ's) wont it be fun looking back to see how I came to be dependant on public charity??
So on this auspicious note... I begin my cyber-existence...