Pavlik & Karens - Not a Sex Story!!

The story of "Pavlik Morozov" was compulsorily taught in soviet schools and his portrait hung in every classroom. He was a communist martyr, a boy who informed on his father to the authorities for some criminal activity (hoarding grains as per another version) and so was killed by his family. The moral was two-fold: A hero always places the state above his family and that it's perfectly all right to snitch on family members if they don't follow government dictates.

 The western world always expressed horror on such leftist indoctrination, but are no strangers to such behaviour either. Right from the days of the Catholic inquisition in Europe to McCarthy's anti-communist witchunt in the 50s, to standing in long ques for signing-up to spy on terrorists (neighbours) after 9/11 in the US. 

Now, in the era of Corona Karens, people are self-righteously spying and snitching on others for lockdown or mask-rule violations "all for the good of the State". So stop blaming communists and pseudo-leftists, as McCarthy and Bush were republicans, while BoJo the Clown is a Tory. 

Remember there are Pavliks & Karens aplenty in every society, all it takes is a government that promotes a "snitch on your neighbour" policy.

Google Censorship - Great Barrington Declaration

Covid Censorship - Google is not showing the Great Barrington Declaration page in its searches. Though its facing flake in the news because a handful of its signatories are fake, the mass media conveniently ignores the long list of medical professionals and their expertise who signed the declaration.

The declaration was authored by Sunetra Gupta of the University of Oxford, Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, and Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University. Cosignatories, across disciplines ranging from epidemiology, biostatistics, and public health, through psychiatry and self-harm, to finance and human geography, include Sucharit Bhakdi, David Livermore, Angus Dalgleish, Mike Hulme, Michael Levitt, Jonas Ludvigsson, Yaz Gülnur Muradoğlu, David L. Katz, and Karol Sikora.

https://gbdeclaration.org

B-School Scam ...er...Spam

 I really miss the days when spam email comprised of various ways to enhance my manhood, slimming pills, fabulous business opportunities from Nigeria or even correspondence from Ayesha,  Gaddafi's (one time) gorgeous  daughter who once solicited my help in transferring her father's millions. 

As today, it's either legit Insurance companies offering to protect me or my 3-year unused car, Medical test labs trying to test my prostrates or check me for diabetes or Covid, but most of all it's the B-Schools both Indian and from overseas  offering me their fantastic and probably utterly diplomas to enhance my career or to avert a midlife crisis, for a hefty  fee of course, a student loan option included...

Vibrators stick to Thailand!

It is impossible to ignore the hottest topic of the Indian Automotive world which is the not-so-sudden exit of Harley Davidson from the Indian market. 

I wouldn't poke a hornet's nest discussing the bikes; if people spend their money on a 2-wheeled jackhammer or vibrator is purely their choice, but the company has had it share of gross failings in the country. 

From ignoring customer's grievances which led to a slew of lawsuits, to charging exorbitant price of spares and servicing to lacklustre overpriced entry models, it had been following a potholed path where brand image and fanboys weren't enough to make their Indian foray either stable or profitable. 

And yet, one undeniable fact staring us in the face is that neighbouring Thailand continues being their assembly and export hub for the entire ASEAN region. Though not privy to their internal doings and with any real contact left in the automotive sector, one thing that I can say for sure am confident it will be vouched by everyone who dealt with the Indian top management of premium or major MNC brands is that the all-pervading "Brand Arrogance + Personal Arrogance" is not a productive way of conducting affairs and is doomed to fail at some point, or at best just remain a commodity level player.

 #harleydavidson #India #MNC #thailand #asean

India's Jinxed Energy (Generating) Field

I was asked my opinion by a niche player in the renewable Energy sector about the viability of setting up a pilot unit with a Power Purchase Mode of operation in India. 

My reply was swift :"Don't touch the power generation sector In India with a barge pole unless you want to lose your investment, irrespective of what a hustler may have pitched or a government officer promised. But you may come in as equipment vendors, that to after ensuring that costs and profits are covered in the 80 % of the quoted price." 

Instead of wasting time on a long narrative describing the woes plaguing the sector from defaulting, corrupt DISCOMs( Power Distribution Companies) to how multi-million dollar investments are turning NPAs from the Mini and Micro Hydel Projects of the early 2000s to the Gas Turbine Thermal Stations from the Reliance Gas Bubble days, then the Wind Power generators who have lost their wind and now the solar industry on the threshold of folding like a house of cards: I just sent a few links of article from the recent years from the Indian pertaining to the current scenario in the power sector to help them make up their mind. Never heard from them again...talk about shooting your own foot...

No T-Shirt, No-Visiting Card

Been there, done that and got a T-Shirt!! 

Nepal's iconic backpacker's souvenir is the "NO-T Shirt" which started off as an optimistic but ineffectual attempt at keeping tourist touts and hustlers at bay during the "Dum maro Dum" Hippie Era. There is even a rip-off Varanasi version with the same words only with Hashish replaced with Ganja and an additional line "No Boat." As to why I remembered this piece of nostalgia from my long-past wandering days of my misspent youth, is the number of times I am forced to say NO!! Only not to touts and panhandlers, but loud-mouthed freeloaders hustling free service posing as potential clients or future partners.

In fact, I am seriously intending to print a similar message on the back of my Visiting Cards: NO-Free Consultancy, NO-Free Write-ups, NO-Free Concept Notes, NO-Free Market Overviews, NO-Free Service, NO-Free Visits, NO-Pun Intended!!

Not that I have any illusions it will shame them into offering to pay for my work, but it may at least inhibit them from making such demands outright. Hopefully, it will be a little more effective than the Nepali T-Shirt in getting the message across.

Got the pic via Whatapp so don't know whom to Credit!!

The Startup Incubation Sector- The Dice is loaded.

For over a year, I have wasted a tremendous amount of time and effort trying to get development funds from various startup programs, incubators, NGOs, Overseas agencies with almost zero results. I got at least 15 rejections for a development grant from India and overseas in one year.  Yes, my work is niche technology, but with no local or imported analogues, quite indispensable in defence sectors and tremendous social impact potential. So why the mass rejections?? At some point, I re-read all my applications to find out what's so wrong and after thorough introspection and revision of my presentations, write-ups, strategy and my product offering, dawned the realisation that most of these programs are a charade with the dice loaded against most applicants. 

They are like Facebook, which exists and profits only due to its users who are the free content providers. For almost all Startup funds and Incubators, their raison d'etre is to collect as many applicants as possible, conduct boot camps and training sessions(elevator pitch in local language) to justify their salaries which are usually paid either by a government agency or a private fund(much like the corporatized child-welfare NGOs).  And secondly to nitpick and choose those startups whose valuation can be bloated up as quickly as possible(mostly app-based service providing ecosystems) to be palmed off to larger investors pocketing their commission. 

Most Angel Investor's despite their name prefer Startups whose valuation can be ballooned at minimal cost to be palmed off to VCs under the "Bigger Fool" scheme.

At the other end of the spectrum are a couple of government funds, tied up in red tape and academia which clearly state that it can't be used for paying even basic sustenance to the innovators or inventors as a salary or stipend. Many private investors follow suit, offering only to support the development work but not salaries, or offer such a minuscule amount that only a fresh graduate living with parents or supported by a spouse would agree to such an arrangement. Their justification being they are not investing so that someone may live off their hard-earned money, completely ignoring the fact that in order to develop a product or business one must eat too.