The toughest HR decisions!

Greatest innovations, biggest corporate disasters and exemplary success tales have one thing in common – they all are born out of someone’s life’s toughest decisions. Professionally, it is about the lives of the people of the organisation, where the HR is often perceived as either an angel or Satan.r

Despite such a crucial role – that directly impacts the bottom line and thus productivity – interestingly, HR’s role as a decision-maker is largely undermined. It is usually not the initiator, and is perceived to be a support function to the decision-making authority or leadership. Where HR has become a crucial business driver, such as in leading organisations like IBM (where it has a strong voice), it has set several milestones. The organisation tries to synchronise its HR policies with the internal and external stimuli. However, companies can reserve a seat for HR at the table and value its decisions only after the relationship between HR and the ‘tangibles’ is well understood by them.

Focused HR plans and policies are a result of well-rounded discussions within an organisation, involving all the stakeholder. Such decisions enhance the core competencies and development of people, ultimately leading to the company’s growth. Today, a company cannot progress as long as it ignores the human capital. Still getting the best talent on board alone cannot serve any good till good decisions are in place to best utilise their skills and keep them engaged. Click here to read more..

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No spring yet for Arab trade unions

On January 5, 2008, protests erupted in the southern region of Gafsa in Tunisia after the state-owned Phosphate Company announced the results of the recruitment competition, which was widely seen as fraudulent and rigged. The unlucky candidates who failed to secure employment at the factory as well as the representatives from the National Labour Union, the Union Generale des Travailleurs Tunisiens (UGTT) claimed that

the firm’s selection process was opaque and nepotistic. The demonstrations rapidly spread to include local residents as well as the relatives of miners injured or killed while working at the company. The government brutally cracked down on the protestors, leading to the death of two and imprisonment and torture of 300 others. Families of activists reported harassment by the authorities.

Tunisia is one of the countries with abysmal record of labour rights, but the Gafsa protests are indicative of restrictions on labour organisations throughout the region. In fact some West Asian countries do not even have formal labour rights such as the right to strike or form unions. While West Asia is not unique in its suppression of workers’ rights, the region’s robust authoritarian regimes make restrictions on labour organisation particularly severe by comparison to other regions. Click here to read more..

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The right perspective

In a fast-growing corporate arena, it is essential that HR professionals adapt themselves to the changing demands of management, break away from traditional strategies and experiment with innovative methods and practices, to lay down the foundation of a productive workplace, said experts at the Annual HR Conclave organised by IIPM on August 11, 2012 at Hyderabad.

The conclave aimed at presenting the views of some of the eminent experts on ‘Competencies of a Successful HR Professional in Today’s Changing Scenario’. The conclave also saw a good participation of representatives from HSBC, Yes Bank, Rofus, Perfect Relations, Diebold, Google, The Golkonda Hotel, ManpowerGroup, Deloitte, GMR, Winzest, CBay, Netzworke, Shore Infotech and Dupont, to name some.

Mr. Debasis Chatterji, CEO, Netxcell Ltd, said that development of competencies for various functions of HR helps the management of an organisation with strategy execution. He also focused on business operations and how to be a good business partner, locally and globally.

Mr. Venkatesh Palabatla, chief HRO, GMR Group, emphasised on how to develop competencies to reduce cost of operations without losing talent. Ms. Rajita Singh, head HR, Broadridge Financial Solutions, focused mainly on how HR professionals should attain, retain and motivate employees. She also threw light on some new and innovative ideas that many organisations are incorporating today to motivate their employees. Click here to read more...

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Training to be a life-long student

All the top achievers I know are life-long learners, looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they are not learning, they are not growing... not moving toward excellence, said Denis Waitley, one of America’s most respected authors, keynote lecturers and productivity consultants on high-performance human achievement.

Today’s highly competitive economy and business environment characterised by worldwide competition has influenced modern corporations in profound ways. Progressive organisations must achieve higher standards of productivity, quality, and effectiveness in order to survive, grow and excel in the new environment. Companies must adapt or change their business strategies to take into account the new realities of intense global and domestic competition. Corporate cultures, many of which were formed in a regulated monopolistic environment (for instance, Indian public sector) must be retooled for successfully facing the challenges of new environment.

Comprehending the situation David Ashton and Alan Felstead, faculty Cardiff School of Social Sciences, have said, “Regard the investment by an organisation in the skills of employees as a ‘litmus test’ for a change in the way they are managed. Learning and development carries the prospect of unleashing the potential that lies within all people, which allows employees to contribute their best, thereby becoming the best team leaders in their respective organisation.” Click here to read more..

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Empower youth to scale greater height

In the 1970s, population explosion was considered detrimental to the growth of the country battling with meagre resources (read capital). The family planning drive, spearheaded by Sanjay Gandhi, was astonishingly supported by the middle class of that decade. That the drive led to the downfall of the Indira Gandhi government is another story.

Ironically, today, when the population of this country has doubled from what it was in 1970s (61.3 crore in 1975), it is being considered a boon. Piles of reports from the best consultancy firms in the world, including the often-quoted BCG report on BRIC, puts India in a special list of nations poised to leapfrog into the league of economic superpowers soon. The emphasis is increasingly on the growing young population.

One study quoted by Ruchir Sharma in his book, Breakout Nations, says that the average age of an Indian would be 29 years by 2020. Compare it with that of China (37) and Europe (49), clearly the mood of the nation and youth here is upbeat.

To cruise into the league of superpowers, it is not sufficient for India to just have the staggering population. The country needs to provide the right opportunities in education and impart the right skill sets to youth. The key to this growth is an educated mass. While the literacy rate may be close to 70 per cent in the country, the number of people who can actually read, write, add and subtract is abysmally low. Lack of teachers and inability to reach out to these millions (at an estimated 600 million people with less than 25 years of age) is going to burst this dream if something is not done quickly. Click here to read more...

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Tough time calls for smart decisions. When the global recession struck India, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)took a look at its hr policies and practices to attract talent with optimum cost utilisation

In 2009, the global economy grappled with the most severe economic shock. The defaults on subprime mortgages (home loan defaults) led to recession in the U.S. which significantly affected Indian IT companies, TCS being one of them. U.S. clients took a cautious approach and postponed all outsourced projects, which led to financial crunch.

The biggest challenge for TCS in this economic downturn was to survive and remain competitive. The attrition rate recorded in TCS during this time was at 12.6 per cent in comparison to IT services attrition rate at 10.8 per cent. With rising manpower requirements due to heavy lay-offs, TCS was increasingly hiring non-technical science graduates, which posed a challenge for HR trainers to bring them on a common platform with other employees.

As the recession unfolded, it created the need for HR to take a fresh look at traditional models. Traditional model of HR focuses on administrative functions: benefits, compensation benchmarking, dispute resolution, employee grievance, and performance review and rules compliance. It was the time for management to understand the actual needs of the employees and the employers, and strike a balance, redesign the new roles of HR as per the need of company objectives and market environment.

So, what was the mantra adopted by the HR to ensure the company strategy and people strategy are in sync to create employee value proposition? Read more...

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Effective communication by the business and HR collectively works the best towards damage control or mitigating a negative.

While recruiting during a turnaround, HR should be honest and transparent with the candidates on the key concerns within the organisation and what exactly the company is expecting from them. It has been noticed that, if handled well, the organisation can find appropriate people who find handling turnaround situations a great challenge and satisfying as a career opportunity. They can truly help organisations deliver.

Q. How can the HR best respond to the change in management during a turnaround as also when there is an external agency/person involved to set the mathematics right?
A. As there is no established rapport and trust that people have with the new management, HR can act as a bridge between the employees and the new management. Therefore, the responsibility of the department increases manifold.

Ensuring alignment between the new management and the business and people needs is the key to success and HR is best poised to deliver on this front.

Q. Please share with us a turnaround that has inspired you.
A. It was a situation when we had to turn around a company through a management change.

The new team had been hired, the top existing team had to be fired. The challenge was to ensure no unplanned people exit and integration of the team in the shortest time possible to ensure business transformation. The first part of the exercise was completed in a day. The jolt was absorbed and reduced through continuous daily communication over a fortnight, independently with the old and new teams and jointly with them. We ensured the induction and orientation of the new management and the team were handled by existing business teams and the HR department. After two months of the change, we conducted a trust building intervention with an external faculty. The communication on any people issue continued for six months, with lesser frequency with the time lapse.

We did not have a single loss of client or a team member. The market share of the business improved dramatically within a year. The business works as a one-unit cohesive team. Read more...

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Sandeep Banerjee, Managing Director & CEO, Edenred India

.....Q. The youth today wants the best. What are the challenges you see for organisations here?
A. According to a UNICEF 2011 report, India is one of the youngest nations in terms of demographics. With globalisation and MNC entrants in India, youngsters are becoming global citizens. Today’s youth values communication, job enrichment, career and succession planning, over increase in compensation. Firms too realise hikes can be easily replaced by competitors and intangible benefits is the differentiating factor.

Q. What do you expect from HR?
A. I expect the basics with reference to HR operations, as routine elements of the HR function needs to be ensured. HR needs to start contributing more meaningfully to sense people issues proactively. The key points here are feeling the pain, emotionally connecting, getting to the root of discordant behaviours, aligning with the leadership team towards finding enduring solutions and effectively executing for enduring business impact and organisational and cultural transformation.

Q. How can the HR needs be best communicated to the CEO?
A. There is no substitute to in person conversations with facts and data. Trust and transparency between the duo, along with the rest of the leadership team, is the main determinant of free and fair communication, thus leading to quicker response times. Read more..



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Burning Indian roads on Korean wheels!

What is Hyundai India’s marketing chief doing to ward off competitive eyes? Or is he only bothered about giving his best shot and not worrying about the pack? By Pawan Chabra

Arvind Saxena
Director – Sales & Marketing, Hyundai Motor India

Arvind Saxena is one of those individuals, who have seen the Indian automobile industry being built brick by brick. With a rich experience of 25 years in the industry, Saxena, who is currently the Director of Sales & Marketing division at Hyundai Motor India, has been spearheading the company’s branding and sales efforts for the past five years. After he majored in mechanical engineering from the Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, Allahabad, he got enrolled in the MBA degree course at Lucknow University. Saxena started his career with Escorts as a Management Trainee in the Sales & Marketing department. Realising his capabilities at an early stage, he was handed over control of Escorts’ auto business in Bihar after just a couple of months into his training at the company. Recalling those days, he says, “It was actually the best assignment that has ever been given to me.” After a successful stint of nine years at Escorts, he moved to Bajaj Auto as a Regional Marketing Manager for the company. He was put in charge of the company’s marketing operations in the Eastern and Northern region of the country. Saxena also has a long list of achievements to share, and they have all been result-driven performances. After a short stint at Bajaj, he joined Maruti Suzuki, where he worked for ten long years. He quickly rose up the hierarchy and was spearheading Maruti Suzuki’s all-India sales force (in the capacity of Chief General Manager – Sales) before he joined Hyundai in November 2005, where he was allocated the task to manage sales and marketing operations at the all-India level.

While at Maruti, he ensured that the company maintained its #1 spot in the Indian market. From there, he jumped ship to the #2 Hyundai, which was then and still is, chipping-away at the leader’s market share day in and day out. So how is Saxena taking this change of side? Is there a sudden antagonism towards all in the Maruti camp? Disagrees Saxena, “There is always a sense of competitiveness, but even today, I have close friends at Maruti. But when you are at the marketplace you are definitely competing with each other.” But one fact which he cannot deny is that a lot has changed for Hyundai since he joined the company. And it comes in the name of heightened competition. Though Hyundai continued to play the right cards by banking on the Indian small car segment (which has always attracted maximum volumes in the industry), competition has grown by the day. In recent years, players like GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan et al, have moved into the small car category to make the most of the opportunity at hand. But Saxena disagrees on this front as well. He boldly dismisses any worry, as he says, “The market has expanded well over the past few years, with many product launches happening in the small car segment. But Hyundai has also done very well. Five years back our market share stood at 17%, and despite competition rising, our market share today is close to 20%, which more or less describes how well we have been doing.” Numbers surely prove his point.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Kasab appeals death sentence

The lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left 166 dead has approached th Supreme Court asking for his death sentence to be overturned.

The request by Ajmal Kasab had been filed via jail authorities in Mumbai, where he has been held since the attacks, and lodged with the secretary general of the court. He filed the appeal through the Arthur Road jail authorities.

Pakistani national Kasab, one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to Mumbai for nearly three days, was first convicted and sentenced by a trial court in the Indian commercial and entertainment capital in May 2010. The death sentence was confirmed by the state high court in February in the first failed appeal by the 23-year-old school drop-out from a poor farming area in Pakistan's Punjab state.

India has the death sentence for the "rarest of the rare" criminal offences and executions are uncommon. Kasab was found guilty of a string of offences including waging war against India, murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a trial at a maximum security prison court in Mumbai. During the trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eye-witness, CCTV and other evidence showing him opening fire and throwing grenades in the bloodiest episode of the November 26 attacks at Mumbai's main railway station.

A number of senior police officers, including the head of the Maharashtra state anti-terrorism squad, were killed as the gunmen fled the scene of carnage. Three luxury hotels, a popular tourist restaurant and a Jewish centre were also targeted by the other gunmen.

If the Supreme Court upholds the verdict and sentence, Kasab can appeal for clemency to the President as a last resort.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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ICC may scrap rotation policy for choosing presidents

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) system for appointing presidents is set to undergo a significant change with the world body planning to table a proposal to scrap the current rotation policy at its next annual general meeting of board members in Hong Kong on June 28. The move is likely to be opposed by Pakistan and Bangladesh, the two full members who are next in turn to nominate a president and vice-president, according to a cricket website. The proposal formed the main topic of discussion at an ICC governing committee meeting in Chennai last week.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is worried over this development and chief Ijaz Butt has even written a letter to the ICC on this issue, according to reports in the Pakistan media. PCB's fear is that this may be an attempt to sideline it at a time when Pakistan cricket is struggling to come to terms with one controversy after another. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Ahmed Mustafa Kamal told sections of the Pakistani media: "We want one cycle of the president rotation policy to be completed. Pakistan's Ehsan Mani already had a chance to be president and now we want one nominee from Bangladesh for the vice-president and then the president's post at the ICC."

Mani slams Pawar's policy

Former ICC chief Ehsan Mani has slammed the Sharad Pawar-led ICC's reported move to do away with the rotational policy for appointment of presidents after 2015, suggesting that India might have initiated it. Nine out of 10 Test playing nations have reportedly signed on the ICC's proposal to change the rotational policy and Mani termed it unusual.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Survival of the fittest?

When hunting is all they have done for generations, it is difficult to contemplate an alternate means of living overnight. Inasin Bai, an intrepid member of the hunting tribe of Pardhis brazenly questions, ‘what about us?’, now that hunting is banned...

We are a nomadic clan. For generations we were known as baheliyas and have been hunting to earn a living. We know no other skill. Living in the jungle has been a way of life for us. Tigers are like cats for us. We stay in the jungle and for days our men roam around the jungle and study the routes that the animals take, especially the tiger.

Tigers fetch us good money because the buyers are readily available. A lot of business comes from the crocs as well. But for killing them we use poisonous tablets. Once the men have hunted the animals, it is the women’s job to shave the skin off, to clean it and to look for a buyer at a good price. Till the time we are in the forest, we often feed on birds like bater (quails). Our kids have learnt to mimic the voice of the bird well, which it assumes as another bird’s call and also responds. This makes it easier for us to trace them and then we hunt them with a catapult. But now animals have to be protected and hunting has been made illegal. So suddenly our means of earning a living has become illegal. The rules are so strict that most of our men are in the jail. It has been three months that we have been ostracized from our community because we have stopped hunting in the hope that the government would provide us with an alternative. But now there seems to be no source of earning from the jungle. It seems like it will take long before anything is done for us. The money in the work they offer us isn’t enough and the work is tiresome too. If we don’t get enough food to survive, we would have no other option but to go back to the community and engage in hunting, which is no more legal. Everybody thinks that the count of tigers and other animals is falling, but we can’t die of hunger for them. I’m sure you would weigh human life more than that of an animal!....Continue

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In Delhi, people were swayed by Sheila Dikshit’s consistent track record on development, and simply ignored the BJP

In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – the creditable innings of Shivraj Chauhan and Raman Singh notwithstanding – the two were also partly helped by the Congress party’s internecine struggles and often outright negative campaigns. The party failed to project a united front, ignoring young leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia.

In Chhattisgarh too, the Congress was visibly divided between the VC Shukla, Moti Lal Vora and Ajit Jogi camps. While Jogi kept projecting himself as the chief ministerial candidate, the other Congress leaders continued to be in denial mode, confounding the electorate to no end. Slim as Congress chances were, Chief Minister Raman Singh’s promise of providing rice at Rs one per kg won for him the sobriquet of Chaval Baba. In an impoverished state like Chhattisgarh, such gestures count a great deal; and the Congress could find no effective counter to the popularity this had ensured. But if these upsets can for a moment be put aside, the polls do show that the scale – howsoever slightly – is at this point tilted in favour of Congress. And it also looks like the finals will be a real cliffhanger. The issues will be different no doubt, as too will be the protagonists. But what is almost certain is that smaller parties like the BSP will have a major say in determining the course of events.

Both Congress and BJP are gearing up for the Big Battle. While Congress has to put its house to order in some states, BJP wants to sharpen its attack on issues which it feels, might appeal to people in parliamentary elections. “People might not have found rising prices and terror a potent issue in the Assembly elections, but we will keep highlighting the government unwillingness for strident terror law, till either government accedes or people realise the need for such a law”, says BJP general secretary Arun Jaitely.

By announcing a hefty bail package, Congress is leaving no stone unturned to contain inflation, rising prices and combat economic recession. It has already reduced the repo rate and reverse repo rate, besides infusing the manufacturing sector by lowering cenvat. “People would have forgotten about inflation and price rise by General Election time,” said a senior Congress leader. But where all pundits have failed, such statements seem based on the recent euphoria. Reality may be different.....Continue

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Tribals put Reds on red alert

The tribal upsurge in West Bengal’s Jungle Mahal area is making the ruling CPI(M) lick dust, with people in Chhotopelia village of the now famous Lalgarh area surrounding a patrol party of the Central Reserve Police Force for more than seven hours through the night of December 8, till the district administration asked for forgiveness for “a breach of treaty”. The ‘treaty’ had been worked out on December 7, one point of which was precisely that villagers would have to be informed whenever police wanted to enter the forests or villages.

Again, this week itself, the vast Sarenga area in Bankura district, so far unaffected by the upsurge, saw a gathering of 2,500 tribals telling the administration that they would follow the Lalgarh path against police atrocity. Surprisingly, far away from Lalgarh, tribals in Balurghat, West Dinajpur district, submitted a 33-point charter of demands, which included immediate stopping of atrocities on tribals in the name of hunting for Maoists, and punishing those responsible for atrocities in Lalgarh. And in Nadia and Jalpaiguri district too, tribals are expressing solidarity with Lalgarh.

Almost a full month after the massive tribal unrest started in the Jungle Mahal area, the agitation had been suspended early this week after the leaders of the Committee’s Rail Roko call....Continue

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…not with standing the fact that many Pakistanis suspect the hands of their own establishment in one of the worst terror strikes anywhere, that is wha

Lashkar-e-Taiba or "Army of the Pious" was banned in Pakistan in 2002 but it continues to operate in Pakistan under the garb of a charity organisation, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Similarly, al-Qaeda and the Taliban, with strong footholds in Pakistan's Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), continue to pose grave threat to nascent democracy in the country. In the Swat valley, some 100 miles from the capital city Islamabad, at least eight people were killed and 40 others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a military check post on December 1. The intelligentsia in Pakistan is equally alarmed by developments following mayhem in Mumbai.

"The inhuman and callous attack in Mumbai is a great surprise to each and every Pakistani. When hopes were high that India and Pakistan relationship was going to be normalised, various routes between India and Pakistan were going to be opened, the trade between the two countries were on the verge of taking off, and the uselessness of military establishment was going to be a reality, this incident is a stab in the back of the people of Pakistan. I hope that the two governments will stop the blame game and rise above in the interest of common man and appreciate the new reality of a global village," said Dr Syed Haroon Ahmed, an eminent psychiatrist and president of Pakistan Association for Mental Health.

Veteran journalist and peace activist MB Naqvi concurred. "Speculation about who organised the Mumbai outrage is useless. Both India and Pakistan are among the usual suspects. It is quite possible that Pakistan''s security establishment has decided to derail the Indo-Pak peace process and to keep the two at daggers drawn; it will suit its long-term purposes," he said.

The Mumbai carnage and subsequent developments have also alarmed the US government because war between India and Pakistan would mean diversion from the "war on terror", that is neither in the interest of the US nor the vast majority inhabiting South Asia.....Continue

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The renovation of the Jallianwala Bagh is drawing a lot of flak from veteran patriots, but the old order is yielding place to the new.

However, most of these protests have fallen on deaf ears. A public interest litigation filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 2008 was dismissed, and the initial stay given on the petition was vacated. The order of dismissal signed by Chief Justice TS Thakur and judge Surya Kant says: “If the Government, the Trust and the Managing Committee have put their heads together and conceived a plan intended to revitalise and preserve the Memorial (sic)for the future generations, we see no reason why the petitioner should find fault with the same, particularly in exercise of the extraordinary public interest writ jurisdiction of the court.”

The background goes like this. In 1923, the trust purchased land for the project from the Jallewala Sardars at a hiked-up price of Rs 5.65 lakh. The money was gathered by an international appeal for a memorial issued by Mahatma Gandhi. The British Government in India was keen to turn the Jallianwala Bagh into a cloth market so that all traces of the incident were wiped out. Nationalist leaders, however, formed a committee headed by Madan Mohan Malviya. The land was purchased from the Jallewala Sardars at a hiked up price of Rs 5.65 lakh.

The money was gathered by an international appeal for a memorial issued by Mahatma Gandhi. The upkeep of Jallianwala has been with a Mukherjee family of Bengal. S.C. Mukherjee, an associate of Malviya, was appointed the first secretary of the Trust. It subsequently went to his son and now to his grandson S. Mukherjee. A memorial designed by American architect Benjamin Polk was built on the site and inaugurated by the then-President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, on 13 April 1961, in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders.

A flame was later added to the site. However, the past few decades have seen the monument in neglect and decay with only a fraction of the people who come to the splendorous Golden Temple next doors visiting it. Interestingly, the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Committee is headed by the Prime Minister of the country. But in spite of the high profile management, the memorial suffered complete neglect during the past many decades.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Parties in Kerala are looking at this proposal from different angles. The news has certainly delighted LDF who had received Jamaat’s support in the last assembly elections. The Front has already busied itself in building up an alternative Muslim vote bank to counterbalance Muslim League, a constituent of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

In this regard, the only catch, so far, is People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Abdul Nasser al Madani, who was acquitted in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast case, aimed at eliminating BJP leader LK Advani. Right-wing National Development Front (NDF), known for its extremist Islamic views, attained influence and strength during the nine year-long incarceration of Madani, causing CPM and PDP grave worries. Till date, it gives PDP sleepless nights.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Lakhimpur Kheri, stands a lonely house… and here they say, an old tiger still roars

As an adult, Billy returned from the army after the second great war and moved to these lands bordering the forests of Dudhwa, hoping to make a living as a farmer. It was difficult because these lands were overrun by stray and wild ungulates, and yet Billy succeeded in running the farm in the lap of nature, sharing its bounties with the wild animals who frequented it. Around the same time, in the 1960s, he took up cudgels against the rather popular sport-hunting outfitters who organised trophy hunting expeditions for rich paying clients. Billy was almost single-handedly responsible for driving them out and having the government ban trophy hunting for good. In a way, he was atoning for the transgressions of his early days. And Dudhwa, especially its rare barasinghas, owe an invaluable debt to this man for dedicating his life to protecting the park from poachers, land grabbers, and securing the future of this deer.

But when I ask him of his legacy, he seems unsure. “Democracy will kill the tiger. There are just too many of us and soon these forest too will have to go. What can you do?”, he says. I’m saddened to hear him say that. I was hoping that he, more than anyone else would hold out defiant hope. After all, isn’t he the most decorated conservationist in the world, having won awards and appreciation from all quarters and corners and isn’t he the man who poachers still fear? And isn’t he the man who has repeatedly achieved the impossible, whether it be protecting a forgotten landscape from eternal destruction or be it successfully returning hand reared leopards and tigers back to the wild. “What can I do? I’m an old man now. Everybody I know is gone. I’m just waiting for the end. Soon, I’ll be gone too… and so would the forests.” I must’ve looked crestfallen, and I was. Though physically much taller, I felt dwarfed by the majesty and aura of the man. I must’ve seemed like a sad little boy who’s had his last shred of hope wrenched away from his hopeful heart. The affectionate old man seemed to take pity on the little boy sitting across him and his eyes softened… “I haven’t given up yet. I might be old but I’m not going to quit. I’m still working hard… I can’t give up the fight.” There’s fire burning in that belly yet… the old tiger roars still… ....Continue

Decentralisation has done more harm than good to India….

Likewise, even though law and order remains a state subject, wherein the states continue to fight against the formation of a central law enforcement agency, these very state bodies literally seem to destroy policing in their respective regions. They have not only kept the force subservient to the polity’s dictums, but have also created lack of amenities, training, low remuneration and defunct intelligence machineries, contributing to create a demotivated force that repeatedly fail to perform duties proficiently. Be it hooliganism in Mumbai, riots in Orissa and Karnataka or relentless terror attacks across India, the states seem to remain clueless of any appropriate actions. Its only when things go absolutely out of control that they seek help from the Center. Similarly, agriculture, being a state subject, remains shackled till date. The sector not only faces complete lack of capital investments but also sees relentless suicides of debt-ridden farmers.

Today's identity politics (and the resultant violence) is a residue of the aspirations of regional political parties, trying to consolidate their regional vote banks with utter disregard to national integrity. A strong central government, with more discretionary powers, would have perhaps created a far better India than what it is today. Nothing can be worse than witnessing terror rattling India when foreigners are mistreated in s Goa, or when non-Marathas are beaten up in Maharashtra. The Union Government, knowing that law and order is but a state subjects, chooses to remain a mute spectator; and it seems it shall remain so that even if this fallacy someday destroys the very concept of India, disintegrating it altogether.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Karnataka State Cricket Association

He has been bowling for India continuously for 18 years. To sustain and to be successful for a long time in a team, one must cope with different kind of pressures. The generation after Anil also has to cope up with the pressure in both forms of the game – the traditional test format and modern limited over format. The two formats demand different modus operandi while bowling. Adapting to the two forms of the game is not easy and the fact that Anil has done it perfectly proves he is one of greatest players India has ever produced.

Wherever he played, whatever may be the condition, he played for Team India. He is a complete team person. Imagine a bowler coming in with his jaw strapped, or 11 stitches to his non-bowling hand. That’s determination personified. I once told him that bowling from a short run-up would put heavy pressure on his shoulder. He changed his bowling style and adopted his own run up in later stages. He is a great learner of the game. There are two types of players – one who quits the game finding it boring; another, who continues to play just for the sake of playing. But Anil stands apart, as mentioned before – he never entered the field unless he thought he was 100 per cent fit to play. I respect his decision to say 'Good bye' to international cricket. I do not think a player who played for the country even when he was injured and led the team towards victory will take a wrong decision.

Coming to the other part, Anil and his gentle approach to everything – no matter whether it is professional or personal – always caught my attention. I have neither seen him losing patience nor ever speaking aloud. There were times where I advised him when he was down. He lent his ears attentively to me and took in passionately whatever I said. Though I am not active in cricket, he is still in touch with me; he occasionally comes to my home for dinner and, of course, he invites our family over as well. He is a true gentleman. Anil is a great ambassador of cricket and the nation. He is a great inspiration and a good friend, whose smiling face never fades. None can fill the vacuum he leaves behind. Gems like Anil come but once in eons. Team India was lucky to have had the services of this rare gentle gem. ...Continue

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