A Life Apart

Sing with your own voice

2008-03-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

One of the best and inspiring posts I have read on the net...though its a bit too long...

how to be creative

1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours.
3. Put the hours in.
4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
5. You are responsible for your own experience.
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
7. Keep your day job.
8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

Indian Embassy, first it messes then it fixes

2008-03-09T00:47:00.001-08:00

Two designers from our client Befree are planned to come to India on their yearly visit to meet producers and plan collections for next season. The girls applied for visa at the Indian consulate in St.Petersburg, Russia for a tourist visa, to avoid all the documentation for a business visa, and with the tons of russians coming to India its never any problem. Amazingly, after 10 days of waiting, on Friday 7th March (the girls are supposed to fly sunday 9th) the Indian consulate decided they needed more documents and asked them to come back and meet on tuesday the 11th with the documentation like hotel reservation etc(!). This is pretty strange and unusual as they didnt ask this documents before, and I have had atleast 5 business visitors in last 5 months from Russia who were never asked for such documents.
After trying to figure things out by explaning the real reason for their visit is business and not travel and also how important it is for trade etc etc...and trying best on Friday, the girls were asked to leave as the embassy was closed and matters could only be settled on Tuesday when they reopen.
Left with no choice, the girls almost postponed the trip, and I ended cancelling all the producer meetings I had scheduled with them.

On saturday 8th March - a holiday, out of the blue I get a call from some stranger in Russia, speaking in Indian english, asking who I was and if I knew two girls in Russia who were planning to come to India. Ofcourse, I do and tell him as much. He asks me details of my business and after feeling that the girls have genuine reason to go to India, albeit not for travel but for Business asks me to send a business Invitation ASAP as he wants to "not trouble two good girls who want to come to India and feels responsible to enable all possible trade between India and Russia".
Pretty AMAZING and most unusual!
The two designers and their boss, and I are still stunned on why the hell was the visa not granted in first place and how the hell did the guy from consulate call back on a holiday, and went out of his way to grant the visa.
Especially after having faced the rigid visa consulates of USA, UK, EU I wonder how much flexible the consular offices can be and enable better cooperation and experiences for individuals plannng to travel by taking more initiative and paying a bit more attention to individual cases!

World's youngest self-made billionaire is 23-year-old

2008-03-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

As per Forbes magazines' the new list of world's Billionaires and richest people,
"The world's youngest billionaire is 23-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, founder of social networking Web site Facebook. The magazine estimated his worth at $1.5 billion and said he is the youngest self-made billionaire to ever appear in the Forbes billionaire rankings"

Reminds me of a quote which was part of a friends email signature
"Every morning, I get up and look through the 'Forbes' list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work" --Robert Orben

Keep walking... and think Different

2008-03-01T02:08:00.000-08:00

Current mood and seeking inspiration....

Quality and Learning

2008-02-28T09:02:00.000-08:00

After a small one week break to attend a cousins wedding (and meet my folks and innumerable relatives) I came back to work, only to find another Quality claim from my Buyer. As I have written earlier, ensuring quality of goods whose production we are managing is part of our job and I /We are doing our best.. but its enevitable that something slips by. This time it was a beautiful knitted embroidered ladies top. We were breaking our backs and brains to ensure the delivery of this style in time and quality of the heavily sequinned embroidery.. and ended up not noticing some holes in the back and sleeves! Such a disaster, after such hardwork!.
After a pretty restless and dejected day, I figured out learnings I ought to print in bold letters and put in my office wall.
1. Chose the right garment for the right producers... guys specialising in High fashion woven styles for scandinavian markets cannot do embroidered knits, as much as producers specialising in mens cotton shirts are capable of doing womens chiffon dress! -- i just remember that we have two womens dresses running with producer specialising in womens handbags, and losing sleep over the thought of quality of production! But sometimes its unavoidable as we offer styles designed and developed by one producer to Buyer and once chosen its not ethical to take that style and give to another producer, just becuase we believe the second producer is better at such garments.
2. Try as far as possible, not to deliver goods under pressure. This is one golden rule, though very hard to avoid. Several times, the delivery dates of goods are overshot by producer and Buyer is restless to get the goods. So we as agents dont have enough time to check the goods properly and with a calm mind.
3. Get more experienced and more patient professional dedicated to quality. As i am currently juggling various roles of managing, marketing, and checking quality... its not an easy job and somethings better be left to professionals... though it could be expensive, it will hopefully pay off in the long run!

Officially Delhi

2008-02-20T04:47:00.000-08:00

Its been close to 3 months since I/We as NGS closed out Mumbai and moved to Delhi. As I am operating still from home, I keep telling the producers that our office is in Mumbai but are shifting to delhi. Well, thats done and I can now say We WORK FROM Delhi. I have just signed up for a cool office Near Nehru Place in Kalkaji.
Next step, is to get a smart Merchandiser cum Quality incharge.

Most entrepreneurs when they start are a one man company working from home.. but then they slowly and steadily grow. Then comes the classic challenge. The problem I see for an entrepreneur is from running the business himself to being able to develop employees who can takeover and manage. This is a critical step and very important, as it can make or break a company (almost), on the positive side it involves switching from spending 90% of your time managing tactical operations to getting atleast 50% of the time free to invest into Strategic issues...while the employee(s) takes care of the operations... also if capable the employee(s) will add his talent to your strategy to make you/your company stronger...and on the negative side the customers could lose their personal contact with you and could be mishandled by the employee. I think its also why most times, a company started by 2 or 3 partners has a better success rate than by one individual. As one partner takes care of operations -- getting the delivery done or coding and debugging that software program ..while the other can look out at how to shape up business, target marketing and create expansion strategy. Several times, a business started by an individual remains a one man show... as he/she grows comfortable with a certain status-quo where he has a set number of buyers/customers and he is not able to transition them to an employee and go look for new ones. Its sometimes ..inertia..while others it could be an individuals ability ..or sometimes even luck.

Stop being a wimp

2008-02-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

Stop being a wimp and do some god damn marketing!
Motto of the month :)
The last statement of the last post was really ..silly

Italian

2008-02-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

I am already half in love with Italian cinema after watching, Cinema Paradiso. one of my first ever International movie (besides hollywood) ever, some 4 years ago. After a long time, some events have conjured up to lead me much more deeper not only into italian cinema, but italy itself. I was having an emotional low, and switched on the Oscar winning "Mediterraneo" (my 3rd after Malena) ... and the first dialogue is ...."in times like these escape is the only way to stay alive...and to continue dreaming". (HENRY LOBORIT)! I am beginning to dream about new horizons.. but feeling hesitant... its been a while!

Living the life of a businessman!

2008-02-09T20:43:00.001-08:00

Work on sundays.. !!! weekend of in midweek!

A quote which always inspires me

2008-02-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people

-- George Bernard Shaw

Quality of Fashion Clothing

2008-02-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

Quality is a term which has always fascinated me. Beginning with the book Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintenance (where I found the simplest and most sensible definition, Quality means "peace of mind"). Since joining the business, I have been undertaking quality inspections to check the Fitting, colors, styling etc of the Fashion Clothes that we produce... its been close to 2 years and I still feel uncomfortable the day I need to go to a factory to check the packed goods.

I feel its a big challenge to understand the styling of the garment, especially when you make everything from a Woman's Evening Dress to simple cotton shirt. Each garment has its own aspects which defines its style. We usually start with the standard Measurement charts that we receive from the Buyer which sets out how much the length, heigh, width of skirt, armhole, bust, full body etc should be. Though these measuremnts can help you make a pattern, its just not easy to measure the same dimensions once the Garment is done by laying them flat on a table. Unfortunately, in India there are very few Girls/women working in garment factories (most stitching is done by men, as opposed to women in China, Russia, France etc) , even if there is a woman she probably never has and never will wear the kind of dress we make. Below is a picture of a dress we make, next to the way an indian woman is dressed.

If we had some Girls in the factory, it would just be easy to chose girls in different sizes, ask them to try on a few pieces and see how they fit. Since there are no girls, we try the second best option which is to put them on dummies. Several times though the piece might look fine on a dummy and bad on a lady, thats becuase when as an inspector you put the Garment on dummy you can adjust it as you like, but on a girl the garment just has a natural way of fitting which cant easily be messed with.

Inspite of the above limitations 90% of times we manage to get the Quality correct. And with my past experience I believe the times when the quality was right were the times when I looked at the garment on the dummy, made some measuremnts and felt some "peace of mind"... if my mind starts getting confused and restless, there is a problem with the garment. Unfortunately we do business in a country and industry where the Quality standards and understanding havs huge variations, so a typical day of checking would be 1 hr of checking and 6 hrs of explaining this confusion/restlessness in my mind to the producer.

Ofcourse, there have also been several instances where I chose to ignore this restlessness and ended up getting into trouble and having goods rejected. WHich leaves a big hole in your mind and pocket!

Stuff works

2008-02-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

That white dress the girl is wearing... was made by our company for this Brand.

Another one, this is pure silk.. and pure magic :)

A Steve Jobs Speech

2008-01-31T20:22:00.000-08:00

Too little too long

2008-01-31T10:13:00.000-08:00

I just realised, its been too long since i posted somehting and life has turned into a mess with too little in the way of accomplishment, too much in the way of squabbling, confusion, lazyness and most importantly missing a lot of inspiration to do some cool things....

So its time to write, record and inspire....

currently, settling down to life in delhi... up against a challenge of setting up an office here and hiring a staff, also hard pressed and restless to get a way out to go to europe for a year.. perhaps an MS or a good old AIESEC internship....dreaming of Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, Prague....
Life! Answer me, show me the way, god dammit! :)

Pursue your Dream!

2007-11-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

"I have the opportunity to race next year in the American Le Mans series in the United States, a key step towards my eventual dream of success in the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race," Drayson said in a letter to Brown.
"Unfortunately, it cannot be combined with the challenge of full time government office."

A British government minister has stepped down to follow his dream of becoming a race car driver.
Lord Drayson, Britain's defense procurement minister, is taking an indefinite leave of absence to compete in the American Le Mans series, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office said Wednesday.
In a letter to Brown, Drayson described the chance to compete as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" and "a key step towards my eventual dream of success in the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race."
News here and here

United Colors of

2007-11-06T07:06:00.000-08:00

United colors of delhi.

These following pics particularly strike me as the things to come and the future awaiting India.

Modern Malls, Multi colored races and children of mixed parentage... well finally its the your turn, Delhi?!

Thats Wiebka from Germany, Chipo from Zimbabwe and Vik from Delhi. Snap taken in the newly built Shopping mall in New Delhi.

Look up - make a choice

2007-11-06T04:31:00.000-08:00

Just remember that there are some people out there who are doing this..... so just buck up!

Someone is driving this great Indian auto rickshaw, unbelievable that this is found in the midst of the modern New Delhi next to the

BMWs, Landcruisers.

There is Stephen Duros who sets up lighting to shows such as these and travels half the world with the rock bands.

Brave new world.. a bit cold

2007-11-06T04:22:00.001-08:00

I am here, in New delhi now. I got a nice big flat in the suburbs. Its big and empty.
I look forward to making a home out of it.
But i feel mentally challenged, especially due to the cold.
I have been in crowded settlmeents before (Mumbai) but my new locality has an eerie combination of wide open spaces around innumerable 10-12 storeyed buildings. The spaces actually accentuate the concrete jungle. The people or rather the housing societies are all keen on making this a great plce to live. Every building has a garland of blinking lights, put up during Diwali - the festival of lights.
Ah fuck it!

100 responses in 2 days

2007-11-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

I posted a job opening with an Indian garments related website www.garmentsonly.com who offered me a trial posting; a couple of days ago.
(They have a good support team, which makes a brief call to check if the post is for real, collect any missing data and publish the post on their site. )
The post said, looking for merchandiser for the new office of NetworkGlobalSourcing to be opened shortly in New Delhi.
In 2 days I received over 120 applications and they are still coming.
Now I wonder if such a Position would exist in other countries, especially western europe (France/italy) and would attract so many responses to a rather new 1 year old buying house with no immediate brand recall.
What does it say abt the job market in India?

Mr Peaceful

2007-11-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

I am currently stuck in a limbo, homeless. I have vacated my Mumbai flat and despatched all the furniture etc to the Delhi flat with a (un)Professional Mover and Packer and flew down to delhi next day, only to find that the truck wil arrive not in 2 days as promised but 4 days. Besides, the flat I have leased out in NEw Delhi is still being painted/renovated. So much for INdian punctuality.
Being left unexpectedly homeless, I arrived in the great Main Bazaar of New DElhi, home to most of the back-packers and karma seekers of the world to lease out a cheap hotel.
This is an unusual place for an indian to seek a hotel. Common, every indian surely must have an uncle, nephew, acquaintance or someone in the great family who is living or knows someone living in delhi who can offer to put you up (?!).
Its also difficult for Indians to open up conversations with the other backpackers, as usually the indians around them are trying to sell something or cheat or mug them.
So owing to this strange situation, I have been staying rather calm and keeping to myself in the last couple of days, even while having dinner in the rooftop restaurant in the hotel i am staying. The manager seems to have taken a pity on me and tried to open a conversation by asking where I was from etc. Mumbai. The next thing he says " You seem to be a rather peaceful person sir, what brings you here?" almost bumped me. I have been called many things, but peaceful is not exactly anywere close.

Circle of Comfort

2007-10-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, the only thing which can define a successful person is the extent of his comfort zone. Most people start living in a city/working for a company/have a certain work profile and over a period of time, they become comfortable in it. No matter if they were happy or unsatisfied with it in the beginning.
But more often than not there comes a time, once you have grown used to this zone; you are given an opportunity or a need arises which will make you go out of this zone, do a new kind of work, move to a different city. On the outward it looks great to have the change, but as it comes closer you start becoming uneasy, distraught and wish to keep the status quo.
You have reached a comfort zone. The longer you stay in it, the more difficult to move.
Some people just give that chance up, some manage to drag themselves through to the otherside while the others embrace the change.

I think I am in one of those situations now, moving from Mumbai to Delhi. When I initially moved here, i gave myself 2 months to get out.. now its over 2.5 years and I am still here. Whats surprising is the mental block I am facing in moving to Delhi. But then I have set some things in motion and its not possible to stop the move.
I used to think I am one of those guys who can embrace change and are always ready to explore new places. But ALas I note, the comfort zone has caught up on me.

Several entrepreneurs I read about are people who when they hit a wall, or are run down; have the ability to pick up and start back from zero. Put themselves back from a 10/100 ppl company in a comfortable office to a single person company run from a garage like room.
I am going back there, and have been finding flimsy excuses to get back into the comfort zone. In reply this is the email I got from my partner who left me to my devices and moved to china to startover.
Vikram, here is the route map for you:-
- check the the resumers for ppl in delhi we are having
- search for new ones- invite ppl for interview
- select one
- be a good boss
- start calculating financial validity of your business ideas, it might help

First Direct Sales Experience

2007-10-25T05:43:00.001-07:00

In the process of moving to Delhi from Mumbai, I realised have a whole load of dress samples which are duplicates are defects or extra productions. As India is not really a country for European dresses such as ones sold by Mango and Zaara, we werent able to dispose these off to local retailers.
For the first time today, I am trying to show these to the AIESEC Trainees and retail to them directly. I am not really sure how many trainees will even turnup. There was just one email inviting the trainees to the show.
I have seen several retails sales experiences where people put up their whole stalls and nobody ever shows up. Being in their shoes is one of my big nightmares, but then its part of the whole sales thing.

Mumbai to Delhi

2007-10-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

We are shifting our business from Mumbai to Delhi.
Essentially, I am going to have to go back to Zero and start from scratch here.
Spent the last 1 week looking for flats in Delhi where I could operate from... After roaming all of south delhi, i figure Dwarka (at the end of delhi) is the only place suitable to accept my type of requirements. Young single male, needing a decent double BR flat where Foreign trainees male and female can share and work.
Delhi is so bloody conservative, that no one allows a girl and boy to share a flat unless they are engaged or married. On top of it, the lease should be a Company Lease only given to professionals working with big MNCs, no business men allowed.

I guess that even reflects the nature of Delhi Vs Dwarka. Dwarka is the new housing societies built in the last 5 years at the west end of Delhi close to Airport. Its somwhere between Delhi and Gurgaon, in geography and culture.
While I am terrified at the prospect of moving to Dwarka, which is rather far (20 kms) from all the happening places in Delhi, i have little choice. But this is part of the path I have chosen.
So heres to Entrepreneurship.. and heres to a new start!