Horn 'OK' Please

‘Horn “OK” Please’, ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’, ‘Buri Nazar Wale - Tera Muh Kala’, ‘Stop Signal’, etc are some of the iconic truck graffiti that has become a part of Indian road culture.

Sadly the most iconic of them, the ‘Horn OK Please’ has been singled out by the Maharashtra State Transport Commissioner’s office as a culprit for the incessant and unnecessary honking that we indulge in and as such, has been banned from the rear of all trucks……

Seriously - is this the caliber of a transport commissioner’s office in framing policies to tackle a menace of such mammoth proportions? Ban an iconic slogan? That’s all?

And first of all, is it the right reason that this august body has identified as the culprit for honking? Is this the reason we honk? Because we see a slogan written in front of us on a truck?

I know we are dumb, but that dumb? In that case we should NOT be honking in ‘No Honking’ zones, or for that matter we should not be smoking either, where such signs are displayed in a more visible and intimidation manner. Everything would be hunky dory.

Is this the simple solution to such a large social problem, when honking seems to have been ingrained to be our birth right, where we live under the impression that the louder we honk the more audible we will be, when we live under the misguided assumption that a mere press on the horn button will melt away the bottleneck in front of us and also the traffic, when we firmly believe in the miraculous powers of a horn that will restart a stalled car in front of us, or will instantly teach the learner in his vehicle to drive expertly in an instant and move out of our way.

Does the transport commissioner even realize that current deplorable state of the Indian traffic (in)discipline and road sense is also largely a part of their department’s doing. That a systematic apathy in enforcement from their end – which incidentally is their main job – has resulted in a culture of absolute disregard for their breed. No one and I mean NO one takes these jokers seriously on the road, as they are identified as the most visible embodiment of the bribe culture.

But that’s just one part of the whole problem.

We honk because we do not consider displaying patience on the road to be a virtue. When drivers squeeze in their cars in every available nook and corner in a jam in their attempt to beat their other brethren and arrive just a millisecond earlier than them. Can the commissioner enforce disciplined lane driving no matter how bad the jam?

We honk because we are disgusted by the portly memsahib, alighting in the middle of the road, right in front of her shop, in her own sweet time, with no sensitivity to the fact that there is a pile up behind her on the narrow road. Seriously why can’t she – assuming that she is more educated than her driver – instruct him to pull up on to the curb and then alight? Can the honorable commissioner ban people from stopping where they please? Can he educate drivers on such civic senses through a total overhaul of the Driving License Issuance procedure and system? NO he can’t because these are mammoth tasks, and he seriously does not have any inclination to bring about any social changes, Sorry that’s not in his KRA and certainly not on his ‘Job role’. Let someone else do the dirty job.

We honk when we see a green light and then a group of pedestrians trying to cross the road – in total disregard to their red light and certainly in no regard to their life, because for them, it’s an attitude issue – which says that ‘You-as-a-driver-are-responsible-for-my-safety-and-I-am-not-concerned-and-that-crossing-the-road-anywhere-anytime-&-anyhow-is-my-right…..!!! Can the honorable commissioner ensure that traffic crossings are kept free and drivers are accorded their right of way. Can jay-walking be banned? Can the driver also be accorded her rights?

We honk when we are suddenly confronted by a car sneaking in to change lanes and trying to enter my lane in an effort to be one up on the toll booth.

Or when a share-auto driver, in a desperate bid to outrace his rivals, weaves in and out of traffic and even trespasses or encroaches into my lane, forcing me to duck to the left…..Can Mr. Commissioner, have the guts to take on the Auto unions to either ask their drivers to shape up of face severe penalty including stripping away of their permits and licenses? No he doesn’t.

We honk out in sheer despair when we are faced with a bottleneck in the road that arises out of an unplanned and faulty design in the carriageway that prevents seamless travel. Can some gutsy, logical and visionary commissioner liaison with the road departments and insist on having a say in changing the way in which we design roadways, crossings, intersections, and signaling? 

We honk, when on large intersection, we are faced with a barrage of vehicles immediately starting from the other end, while we struggle to just scrape through. It’s indeed befuddling how signals of the other lane come on immediately after one lane has turned red without any time gap. A time gap, which will ensure that the intersection is cleared of all backlog and is perfectly and safely clear, before the next lane is given permission to cross? Is this rocket science or just pure non application of common sense, when incidentally this is a perfectly valid norm all over the world? Can the commissioner ask the programmers of these traffic lights to look into this simple matter?

We honk when we speed down a road with total disregard to anyone’s safety including our own, in an attempt to prove some point. Can the honorable commissioner enforce speed limits?

We honk in absolute frustration and contempt when we are faced with the prospect of spending the next 10 minutes in the extreme right, so called fast lane, on a highway, behind an overloaded truck, travelling at a speed of 20 kmph trying to overtake his brethren travelling at 15, when he has no right to block the lane with his misguided ambition. So can the commissioner/s influence the legislative authorities of this country to formulate laws to ban overloading, ban vintage and mechanically inefficient vehicles, and enforce MINIMUM speed limits on interstate highways through the use of appropriate prime movers? No he can’t do this either.

So he takes the easy way out. Ban an insignificant harmless slogan. Sheer tokenism, rather than take the bull by the horns and reform the system which has gone to the dogs.

So Mr. Commissioner / Legislator whatever. Next time you honk do let us know  if there was a truck with this slogan in front of you that prompted you to honk. Oops I forget - you don’t drive, you have a chauffeur and a car with a fancy beacon. How can you be expected to be abreast of the realities of life. !!!

Wake Up India.....

India Needs To Change

India needs to change – Now that’s a cliché. But there is no denying the fact.

But are we ready for it? Do we have it within us to execute a successful change-game successfully? Are we ready to take up its challenges? 

I have a couple of concerns. So let’s start with the basics.

Deliberate change usually starts with the realization, acceptance, and conviction, that change is required.

In the next step, Change then starts with a vision of the destination. The vision need not be crystal clear and course corrections are permitted.

A set of steps are then listed out which will achieve the visualized Change. These are called Initiatives.

And this is where the problem starts.

These Initiatives die out over a period of time and “Change” is the casualty. Things revert back to their original state.

The Initiatives remain as “Initiatives” only, and do not bring about the permanent change we had visualized.

In my opinion, success of any change initiative should be reflected in a changed Culture of the populace. Else the attempt to change is a failure.

The reason, is that we do not understand the 4 pillars essential to bring about a permanent change, which I personally believe, are empirical in nature – namely “Norms, Enforcement, Discipline & Culture” - in their respective order.

Norms:

After having articulated the vision of the change sought for, this is the process of setting the ground rules of the game that we will play within. Alternately called Laws, Limits, Standards, Codes, Do’s and Don’ts, Traditions, Customs, Boundaries, Religions, edict, statute, etc.

Norms need to be simple, fair and moreover all encompassing, if they have to be successful in most conceivable situations.

So In India do we have norms / laws that are contemporary, all encompassing and do we have standards set to world class levels? Maybe we do have norms. In some areas they are not contemporary. But we are nowhere up to world standards.

Enforcement:

This will be the process by which the norms once laid down will be – “Made to adhere to”.

This is the most important pillar, as on this, depends the success of the permanency of the initiative. Sadly it is also our weakest link. It co-exists with Disciplinary Action.

So ask yourself - Are our enforcement agencies doing a good job?  Are we afraid of a traffic cop – the most visible enforcement agent in society - and do you take him seriously? The answer is No.

Are they well equipped to discharge their duties? No. Neither by equipment nor by training. Again, the police are a sad example.

Are these agencies impartial, apolitical, corruption free and evoke trust in the hearts of the common populace? Sadly No again.

Discipline:

This is the state which is the results of an efficient Enforcement of the Norms. Ideally, it is that, by which the change initiative, shall be owned by the stake holder, even in the absence of an Enforcement agent. It is easier to obtain in a formal society (like a company, or the army) as compared to an informal one (like public places).

So are we a disciplined society? No way. The way we litter our streets or break traffic rules – is indicative of our society’s deficiency in this critical area.

Culture:

This is the last stage.

In our context, Culture is the percolation of an idea or an initiative to the next generation or batch of people without much questioning of its genesis. (For example a culture of punctuality - say in an organization. It doesn’t question why).

Building “Culture” should be, the culmination of any change Initiative. Else the effort to bring about the change remains a “Initiative” only.

So does our generation have a culture of cleanliness in our society and environment? Have our children inculcated the habit of consciously taking efforts to keep the society and environment clean? How confident are we, that their progeny will do a better job in this particular area? Not very confident are you?

So - Norms, Enforcement, Discipline & Culture.  You can’t miss a step if you want a successful Change.

Now, how many of us feel confident that, lets say “Swach Bharat” has its set of “Norms” spelt out to us and an “Enforcement” mechanism put in place, fully empowered to drive “Discipline” towards cleanliness in Indian Society which will continue long after we have gone as it will be engrained as a “Cultural” element in our children?

Or do you feel that it will remain just an initiative launched by someone? Wake Up India.

Make In India

Make in India has been launched with the major objective to focus on 25 sectors of the economy for job creation and skill enhancement. The initiative also aims at high quality standards and hopes to attract capital and technological investment in India.

But I have one fundamental question – and that is - Is Make in India just an initiative or do we mean to foster through it, a culture and spirit of entrepreneurship in our youth?

A culture that we hope will be a part of our permanent psyche. A culture that will hopefully make us the preferred designers, and manufacturers of globally competitive products, sought after for their insightful design, exemplary workmanship, uncompromising quality, competitive prices and finally delivered with a high degree of professional integrity….. A tall order…

So undoubtedly, my emphasis is on the youth rather than existing business houses. Because today’s startups will be tomorrows entrepreneurs. And remember, we are talking about creating a culture of entrepreneurship.

So to start with I think we should be introducing small courses on entrepreneurship in every vocational / every graduate level course in our colleges. Though there are almost 33 colleges offering them as a full fledges course but shouldn’t it be broken up into a smaller affordable module and disseminated all throughout the educational system? Tell them what it takes to start an enterprise, how to explore marketable ideas, how to plan for funding, how the government can help through various schemes, their paperwork, work ethic and culture, laws applicable to labor, taxation and environment and much more.

And then, what about the small entrepreneur? Whatever I have heard so far lists heavily towards the big business houses – FDI, Labor reforms, cheaper technology transfer, land acquisition for Public Partnership, etc. But in my opinion it’s also the small business enterprises that we need to look at - because it’s the individual entrepreneur who is left short-charged. Rarely does he receive good guidance and as such the startup ecosystem has long been criticized for lack of support and opportunities.

Small business operation in India has to be seen to be believed. Its carried out in ramshackle tin sheds, by lanes and alleys by a motley group of enterprising individuals, against all odds of unauthorized constructions, illegal electric connections, employing child labor / casual labor with no technical training, in filthy and inhospitable operating conditions but ironically providing livelihood to millions of people who come over from the villages in search of a living. These setups cater to the low fringes of the overall business, that is too small or uneconomical, or too specialized, for larger business houses and can include simple industries such as screen printing and chrome plating to complex industries such as die making which utilize state of the art CNC machines !!! Their products are used by the smallest manufacturing units in the country to the topmost multinationals. ( Yes, the fancy chrome plated knobs on your washing machines come from an alley in Jogeshwari in Mumbai.). And finally, their transactions are usually in cash, compliance and adherence to various laws of the land - minimal and managerial bandwidth nonexistent. They are fortunate to last a generation.

Their turnover or contribution to the Indian economy, their employment potential, and most importantly, their crucial support to our low cost structure has never been accurately measured and perhaps will never be. Yet, they form and important and integral part of our manufacturing ecosystem of the business pipeline.*

·         It is estimated that they contribute approximately 40 per cent of India's domestic production, almost 50 per cent of total exports and 45  per cent of industrial employment. More importantly, they are the second largest employers of manpower, after agriculture.

So to start with, imagine if they had access to reasonable funding, formal recognition and access to government subsidy and incentives, legal access to reasonably priced power, and access to reasonably skilled manpower, and most importantly, a formal connection with the industry so as to make them visible to the industrial world, how much it would help their cause?     

Let’s take another scenario where an educated aspiring person wishes to set up a unit.

To start with, his start-up needs precise and clear information as to what is the regulatory framework applicable to him and his business venture, what all licenses, permits, approvals, and certifications are necessary for him – along with the time frame for obtaining the above. Sadly these are quite ambiguous or widely spread out / not consolidated.

Subsidies and incentives schemes applicable from the state or central government are not prominently visible in the public domain.
So what does he do? He engages the services of some agents thriving about in the labyrinths of the ministerial corridors.

So - can we have this so called single window operation real fast? A strong network local counselor can do the job. They can be the single window operators armed with all the information, forms and procedures and can even charge a nominal fee. 

Large corporations enjoy various finance options and liberal credit terms on account of their scale, networks, and extreme leverage. The young start up on the other hand enjoys a higher interest rate on account of low bargaining power, negligible or limited access to collateral and his being perceived as a high risk.   

Can we have interest rates at some subsidized levels for giving the required boost to this lowest tier of the countries’ industries and moreover a credit policy for SME that is uniform across all lenders rather than restricted to just a few government agencies? With limited or no support from families, this would be the single most important motivator to the youth who wishes to spread his wings.

Power constitutes to almost 12 to 20% of the cost of a part. Availability of uninterrupted and reasonably priced power is the backbone for the survival of any industrial venture and also for their competitiveness. Sadly this is an area of neglect and again, the startups are at a disadvantage when compared to large corporations, who have guaranteed access the local grid or in some cases to captive power where ever permitted. And why are we forgetting the immense potential for entrepreneurship in rural India for Agricultural industries? The power situation is dismissal in rural India with over 300 million Indian citizens - one third of India's rural population - having no access to frequent electricity or intermittent and unreliable availability. 400 million Indians lose electricity access during blackouts. In short just 52.5% of rural households have access to electricity. How can the youths of our villages even dream of setting up any unit if there is no power? 

So - can we have an attractive tariff structure and guarantee uninterrupted and quality power supply all 365 days of the year?

Escalating realty rates in city hubs are driving business to the fringes of all cities. Private developers are buying up tracts of land and building industrial parks. What is the legal sanctity of these units?

So - can some governmental agency certify them for the purpose they are being sold? It would go a long way in instilling confidence in the buyers.

These new areas being developed on the fringes suffer from one another major drawback. Affordable transport connectivity – which in India is the last to catch up.

Can we have some amount of planned development for our expanding industrial hubs which takes in to account this critical factor.

Startups are unknown to the business ecosystem. Name and goodwill, so critical for repeat business is nonexistent.  Budgets are scarce for marketing and awareness creating activities. They undoubtedly need a helping hand. They need business to survive.

Can the Government help? Can the industry itself help? The various trade associations need to play an important part in nurturing startups. Or can companies help aspiring employees who show entrepreneurial ambitions, to start their own setups by introducing them as direct vendors or tier two / three vendors? Imagine the goodwill and loyalty such young employees would command.

So how do we drive, foster and sustain a culture of entrepreneurship in the youths of the country rather than resort to just an initiative limited to slogans, speeches, brand endorsements and advertisement campaigns - is something that we need to think fast and implement even faster. The youth is simply waiting. 

Bans - The New Norms of Living In India.

Ban seems to be the flavor of the day….

Do you want to ban an author? Yes we can do it. Do you want to ban a film? Yessir. What about jeans or skirts or bikinis? Yes we can out-source the job to our Khap Panchayats and they will throw in a mobile ban for girls for free. The list is endless. The thought process is warped. And the element of logic is conspicuously missing.

The latest item on the banned list is the film on the horrific rape in Delhi .
But first of all, what is curious is the serious divide on this topic between the rulers and the ruled.
It only amplifies the serious gap in thought process of the two.

This ban implies an intolerant and non introspective mind set of our community.

Banning the film after it had been approved by the ministry as well as authorities of Tihar Jail signals and erratic political mindset that can at the slightest provocation or excuse renegade on its sovereign promises.

It also implies that the process of giving approvals is not sound enough, is questionable, and that authorities can wake up any time in the future and makes fresh demands that were not spelt out earlier.

Moreover, going by the variety of items being banned or suggested to be banned by various irrelevant organizations, range from jeans, skirts and bikinis, to beef, liquor, films, authors, etc – the list seems to be endless and lacks any pattern.

And then, the reasons of the ban are as erratic as the products themselves.
Beef is on religious sentiments, Skirts, Jeans and Bikinis are on cultural sentiments, films are on the image that we project to the world, Authors such as Perumal on religious sentiments, Liquor on social reasons, cuss words in films on their influence in society, and then, on and off there have been rumblings even of the ban of Diesel cars as they are perceived to be more polluting….

One can understand bans on reasons of safety, non compliance of norms, environment or health issues etc but erratic, frivolous and subjective issues are hard to understand.

The geographical spread of these bans is also mind-blowing. The law of sale and consumption of beef is varied across parts of the country.
Liquor is banned in 5 states but permitted in the rest of the country.
So, an item is somehow treated differently in different parts of the country? I know we take pride in our cultural diversity but seriously…..is’nt this going too far?
“What bad for the goose is bad for the gander theory” apparently falls flat in this country.

Going by past examples of the various bans imposed in this country, including to the ban on Green piece activist's visit to England, this latest ban on of the film, only reinforces the understanding that historically, the Indian political environment is erratic, capricious and not trust worthy.
India therefore, is a hypocrisy masquerading as a democracy as rightly said by Pathikrit Sen Gupta, of the Hindustan Times.

Lets look forward to a pseudo secular motely society fetered in regressive norms.....