Tag: South India

Customer service

SFLeave a comment

I’m fresh back from delivering a workshop on engaging employees as a responsible business here in London.

We hung out with swans

We covered the usual stuff including issues related to quality, services, customer satisfaction and empowering employees to innovate.

I find a message waiting for me.

It’s from the cycle shop in Mysore. I’d left my main cycle to be fixed.

They’ve written to tell me that they’ve installed the wrong part which affects/reduces the performance of the cycle gears by one third.

Why have they written to tell me instead of just fixing it?

In my view… free consultancy…. it’s pretty clear what the options are….

1….Do it again, this time with the correct part.

2….Replace with the original part and give back to me as it was.

This sort of thing is common in India but I can’t say that I can really understand it. How is it that the supplier didn’t supply the correct part? Did the cycle shop order the wrong part and did they not check before they installed it? Why haven’t they just solved the problem? Do they expect me to take it back like this?

It reminds me of the case of the Chinese Oil….

I’d ordered Tung or China Oil to treat our new Rosewood chairs and sofa. The seller was in Delhi who would arrange delivery. It didn’t arrive.

Me: where’s my oil?

Seller: it’s with the transporter sir.

Me: where’s my oil?

Transporter: we can deliver the container sir but there’s no oil in it, it’s leaked.

I’ll not bore you with the whole story. Suffice to say. ‘The it’s not my fault guv’ wasn’t accepted. The seller and transporter sorted out responsibility between themselves. It was eventually delivered.

I’ve placed trust in people and they are accountable to deliver what they’ve promised. Any problems, well it’s up to them to sort it out, if necessary to apportion responsibility. Hopefully we all learn from our mistakes and improve for the future and the business continues to thrive and survive. From it I also know who to trust, maybe.

What’s so difficult about that?

For some reason my Indian friends just accept this poor service and don’t challenge. In that case how will anything ever change?

Banana Republic 3

SFLeave a comment

Phew

The attempt to allow a party (BJP) to establish a Government (in Karnataka) without an overall majority denying the opportunity to a coalition of other parties (Congress and JDS) fails

The BJP ‘Chief Minister’ (Yeddyurappa) resigns.

“Much of the credit for this Congress-JD(S) victory goes to the Supreme Court, which overturned Vala’s [the state a Governor, with a role like the British Queen] decision to allow the Yeddyurappa government 15 days time to prove its majority. The governor’s decision was surprising, as Yeddyurappa himself had reportedly asked for only one week.

In a rare display of promptness, the Congress-JD(S) combine left no stone unturned, moving the Supreme Court twice – first by challenging the governor’s decision to call Yeddyurappa to form the government and then again to get the nomination of the controversial pro tem speaker, K.G. Bopaiah, reversed. They also moved their MLAs around frequently and built public opinion against the alleged bribery attempts !by the BJP.”

Full article here

Real Message From Karnataka Floor Test is That Modi, Shah Are Not Invincible

Check the article here

So what can we take away from all this?

It’s not a Banana Republic?

The opposition seems to have got its act together to collaborate and to challenge the the BJP machine. Let’s hope it can continue that same energy and effectiveness in Government. It shows how best to beat BJP in next year’s national elections so it has national significance.

The robust institutions, in this case the Supreme Court as a brake on the BJP juggernaut.

That was all a couple of weeks ago. The ‘dynamic duo’ of Congress and JDS in coalition are now creating a Government.

The ministers are appointed and we wait with baited breath for some coherent Governance aka serving the people 😉 just look at the list above. The caste of each minister is listed and therefore just shows what the issues are. Many people vote according to community aka caste. Now there are arguments from individual ministers and communities that their ministerial responsibilities are not good enough! Good enough for what? Serving the community? Making a difference? Leaving a lasting legacy? Probably not …. if the comments of friends and neighbours are anything to go by it’s whether it creates enough of an opportunity to make money.

The lessons for elsewhere.

Let’s not be smug. This sort of shenanigans is found the world over, admittedly with cultural variations.

The Donaldness in the US is also testing the rules to the absolute limit, some would say clearly stepping over, bashing through or stomping on them, nepotism is just one of many examples. It might indicate that the rules and the institutions that ensure action and accountability aren’t quite working to ensure a ‘fair’ and robust system.

On the other side of the ‘big pond.’

In the chaos that once had an Empire, yes the disunited kingdom (UK) did once have an Empire. I’m not supporting colonialism just pointing out that there may have been at least one point in the past when they could actually manage something. Now they clearly can’t organise a party in a Brexit micro brewery.

Wherever in the world we’ve lost sight of the real focus. All this should not be about party, power at whatever cost or manic pursuit of dogma or money. Surely is should be about doing the best for all its people.

I can feel the innocence and naivety oozing from my every pore. 😉

Ruby

SFLeave a comment

Street dog Update

Ruby was first adopted as a puppy by one of the neighbours. I asked them to deal with her skin problem when it first arose. But they first neglected it then threw her out when it became a real problem.

Ruby disappeared.

She reappeared last week in a sorry state. We’ve always been friends so today once she’d appeared during the day, I managed to catch her.

Here’s the rest of today’s adventure.

Vasanth and I took her in the auto

. She stunk! But settled in quite quickly. Our destination was PFA – People for Animals. Right over the otherside of Mysore. It’s a great place, we know them well 🙂

I left a donation. The vet will fix her and neuter her. I’ll check how she is when I get back from the UK in August. We can’t have her because of Lucie and she’s unlikely to get adopted. So, she’ll be let back into the street where she was found (it’s the law) we’ll adopt her from a distance.

Lucie was of course very put out and jealous, as you can see. But where is Billi?

Will it, won’t it?

SFLeave a comment

The bet is on! Each year we have a lovely array of Brahma Kamla flowers.

Here’s the buds.

Manjula reckons they will not flower before I leave on Monday. I believe they will. The wager is 1000rs.

Here’s what it will look like

The nest is bare

SFLeave a comment

Where have they gone?

Its an incredible job giving birth, raising your children, being there for them, setting them up with the right skills, having to let go, being there to support whilst pushing them to be independent… its difficult to get the balance right.

There are so many risks

 

The fledglings have flown

yes, our latest guests have left home.

It was not an easy process, as you might imagine.

Mum and Dad found a great place to nest, in a hanging basket under the driveway roof. It was so quiet at the beginning (were they ever here?) so much so we thought they were being neglectful but the eggs were hatched and three fledglings made their appearance.

DSC02975

One seemed to be a tad bigger than the others, the BIG BROTHER

 

 

Today however, just a few days later, has been really hectic.

They flew the nest and ended up all around the drive. We’re using the term ‘fly’ a little liberally, it was in fits and starts… but they were moving and perching……

DSC02992

 

It did help us realise what a relatively safe place it is and thats maybe why we’ve actually had THREE nests here this season.

Nevertheless in the chaos in the drive there was one fledgling missing and the parents (and us were frantically looking).

 

they are still hungry guys

But the lost one was found

The parents managed to corral them, get them perched and fed, on one of the plants behind the chair near the front gate!

Where they still are.

sorry about the standard of the photos, can’t quite get a great shot, there are three there

Manjula

SFLeave a comment

I’ve been toying with the idea of having a portrait painted of the beautiful Manjula. Fact is I’m trying to work out if I can afford it. As part of the process I’ve pulled together a few of the photos taken of Manjula over the years, they’re mainly my photos but there are some crackers taken by friends.

 

Occasionally someone or something else gets a look in…..

 

 

and there’s even more here

Manjula caught me doing this earlier and has no idea about the portrait. it occured to us that she’s had hundreds of photos tasken in the nine years that we’ve known each other and to her knowledge just a handful in the thrity six years beforehand.

If I decide to go ahead with the portrait, I’ll send the link to the photos to the artist (my daughter-in-laws sister) who will use them, not to copy but to help her create something that reflects the real person but also emerges from her artistic insights!

Water

SF2 Comments

We all need water, obviously.

Lucie has a regular stop in a ‘paddling pool’ at a neighbours house. Jains in particular will leave out water and food for cows, birds and dogs.

One of our big problems locally is there just isn’t enough water for drinking or agriculture, let alone industry. So you’d think we’d be a tad more careful with it? Nah….. The re is a massive dispute with the neighbouring state. The Kaveri river passes through Karnataka (our state) before reaching Tamil Nadu, there’s insufficient water so do we find a way to share the problem? Nah, we’re first in the queue so we take what we want. This is a worldwide problem, look anywhere: California, Australia, wherever, same problem.

What is is about us? We know the problems, we know we need to act but do we, not in any significant or meaningful way. As highlighted in this insightful book our empires collapse for many different reasons but almost always because we do t recognise what’s at the end of our collective noses and do something about it.

Water is of course a massive problem around the world.

Same here in Mysore.

Close to where we live new borewells are being drilled because that house needs it, of course. Let’s look after our own.

So who cares?

Banana Republic 2

SFLeave a comment

It gets worse.

So to remind you. The BJP who got the largest number of seats has been given by the Governor (BJP) fifteen days (now shortened after the intervention of the Supreme Court) until today? To demonstrate on the floor of the house that they have an overall majority, (which they didn’t get at the election so they will have to poach Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to increase their numbers).

Are you still awake?

Now the president (BJP) , remember he’s supposed to be independent and above politics has appointed a temporary speaker (chair of proceedings) also, you’ve guessed it, from the BJP. This is completely against protocol as it’s usually the senior most MLA that gets the role but he’s Congress so that won’t do, will it? The newish speaker has been in the job before who was censured by the Supreme Court for his….. partiality in a previous situation, involving the same main character Yeddyurappa and corruption.

You seriously couldn’t make this up,

More here

In despair, I’m turning away from this soap opera of unbelievableness to some light entertainment.

Coconut palms

SFLeave a comment

The two lovely palms in our drive whose tops form a backdrop for our rooftop garden have been removed by the owner of our house. I’ve managed to hold off the inevitable for a year or two. I’ve used every argument you might imagine, to no avail.

THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR THEM TO GO.

So is this…. Idiocy? Stupidity? No it’s probably not those things.

You might see this as a gross over-reaction on my part and maybe it is. It does in my view reflect something that diminishes all our societies. There are at least two key issues. The first is about the ‘trees’ themselves.

DSC02692

Looking around our area, where beautiful trees are regularly chopped (I’m the one that will go out and challenge, when I see it happening, credibility gone there then) where people dump rubbish (another key question for our guests will be covered on the blog) on the road verges, its a mess, one eyesore after another. You’d think it’s lack of awareness of environmental issues or appreciating what is beautiful. It is those things and it’s depressing.

Its also impractical. Trees are useful they provide amenity. They help freshen our air, create oxygen and now we’ve realised, a week after the carnage we’ve experienced here it provides well needed shade to reduce the temperature and make life bearable in the heat of the summer.

Yes the giving has gone.