Open Letter to Mr Arvind Kejriwal...which Mr Modi should also read...

Well, Elections is the ultimate topic of discussion currently. Like anyone else, I also have clear opinion on Who should Win? & Who will Win?


Anyways, right now my interest is in antics being played out by our erstwhile (use of word intentional) crusader Mr Arvind Kejriwal....here is my attempt to reach Arvind through this open letter...and before he reads it, he is entitled to answers of two important questions...

Who Am I?

I am that typical middle class (and also middle aged :) )...well at mid thirties you can't really call yourself young....or can you ? :) ....voter, who so far really didn't bother much about exercising his franchise...partly due to political apathy, partly due to administrative hassles, and majorly due to "who cares about politics and politicians" attitude...If media reports are to be believed number of these new breed of voters is sizable..And I can see this happening around me...people who fit into above description are all around us...in our families..in our offices..among our friends..Lets call ourselves  Aam Voter if you like...what caused this change of mindset in Aam Voter is beyond the scope of this post....

Why Should You (Arvind) Read this letter?

Because, This Lok Sabha Elections, I am NOT voting for you and your party......

However...someone said....there is always a silver lining..and your silver lining is...Though I have decided to Vote for Mr Narendra Modi and his Party BJP (I chose to write name of PM nominee first and party later...for obvious reasons)....But should he NOT be able to deliver on his agenda post coming to office...and bring about that "CHANGE" ....all of us expect him to bring...then....you know what... "JANTA MAAF NAHI KAREGI".... :) ...So you need to hold your horses, revisit the basic philosophy on which AAP was born, and INTROSPECT... in the interim, may be...consolidate your outfit, train your troops...and wait...

So happy reading...


Dear Arvind,

Though I am not voting for you in Elections 2014, but I want you to know that, I still consider you a strong alternative for Elections 2019.
You should know that, with tremendous support from Aam Voters, you were able to write history in Delhi Assembly elections. While Lacs of Aam Voters voted for you in Delhi, equally great number of Aam voters supported you elsewhere, through donations and digital campaigning etc...

So while this Aam Voter Supported and voted for you wholeheartedly in Delhi, is Not willing to vote for you in LokSabha Elections for two reasons ---

Because this is National Election not state election...

We believe in strong and decisive leadership at the center...corruption is still a burning issue for us but, we can't afford to vote for a party which knows little beyond corruption. "Corruption free governance"  is just about basic hygiene expected from national leadership...There are other major deliverable from national leadership, which you and your crew are not equipped for at this stage.

• Analogy for students: Can you become a good scientist if you are good in maths but know nothing about physics & chemistry?
• Analogy for corporate types: Just being good in one subject makes you "subject matter specialist" , it doesn't make you a good Leader/CEO. 

Because we are disillusioned by You...

You promised, politics of change, but it seems, rather, politics is changing you.

To quote from one of my earlier blog .. "Power has Power to corrupt"

(Incidentally, I wrote this, when you were riding the anti corruption wave in the national capital, to mark my apprehension, about you changing the very ground you stood on, once in power)

• To begin with, your very decision to fight LokSabha elections, at such a large scale, less than one year into politics, smells more of "opportunism" than "nationalism".

• Just six months back, you wanted people's opinion on whether you should form "minority government" or not....how can we ever forget your SMS campaign...first ever such democratic initiative. But strangely you and your same team felt quite empowered to take decision on going national in such a short time.

• You claim, that you believe in "inclusive governance" hence gimmics like " sms opinion". Well we believe you but if we vote you to national platform, then god knows how many such SMS campagins we will have to participate in future. Democracy anyways has its own flaws as it believes in principle of "majority is always right", please don't complicate it any further, by involving ordinary citizens in decisions which you should be making.

• Do you really think your team had the bandwidth to scrutinize applications of aspiring AAP candidates and finalize candidates for more than 350 seats, in such short time, without compromising very fabric on which AAP was formed. And why do you think we should trust these candidates? just because you are saying so? You must be a person of great abilities if you think, you found 350 political novices, with God gifted talent to run the country.

•  Data on "Association of Democratic reforms" website claims, 16% of your candidates have "criminal cases" against them. I am sure you will have explanation for each one of them but so do BJP and Congress...so how do you think you are different ?

• Same data also suggests 43% of your candidates are "Crorepatis". So what happen to AAM Aadmi? How many of your voters you think are Crorepati? so who are you seeking votes from? Crorepatis? in comparison only 13% independents are Crorepatis. Of course I am not comparing you to BJP and Congress here, as you have always alleged them to be elitist. 

Lastly your decision to fight against Mr Modi from Varanasi, smells more of arrogance than anything else. Also are we reading too much into Mukhtar Ansari withdrawal from that seat? Anyways, in my humble opinion "Humility" is a virtue which a leader must have.

So if a leader must choose between arrogance and humility then what should he choose Mr Kejriwal?

Now don't tell me, you are going to run a SMS campaign to find answer ... :)

Also Please don't go on Dharna to protest against contents of this letter...

Yours Truly,

Aam Voter....

What's Up Business Managers/Leaders

Do you think Indian Managers/Leaders running corporate are any different from so called Daily wage workers?

And when I say Managers/Leaders...I mean right upto CEO/Chairman....

A daily wage earner earns by the day..hence lives.. and most importantly works...by the day..so we know, he doesn't have to worry about grand plans..big picture...vision...Well in case of corporate types..we may not be earning by the day...but work by the day? ..well may not be...But by the month...???....ah some certainly...may be in certain roles..industries...companies...Not All roles/industries/companies of course....

Work by the Quarter??? ....well certainly, you can now have a sizable number of roles/industries/companies....

Work by the Year???....grins..ear to ear...do we have almost all roles/industries/companies now? ...
So live by the day..earn by the month (also partly year..bonuses etc..)..and work by the Year..This is it..

Before I start inviting frowns..angry reactions...let me set the context..

Why do you think "WhatsApp is an American baby" and not an Indian? Google anyone? Facebook? ...ok Apple? ...how can i miss Apple...Steve Jobs devotee that I am known to be...

Well now start jumping on your seats...and dig out every little Indian connection, these mighty companies might have...talk about, how their top team is all Indian..IIM/IIT of course...after all No company of any significance can ever be built without an IIT/IIM connection..right? ....and also talk about how Mark Zuckerberg or Jan Koum...or Warren Buffet...all of them eat out of their Indian Leaders hands...


I find it kind of funny...how quickly Indian media and business journalists of repute are able to put together so called "India connection" story..the moment any International deal of any significance is announced..while conveniently missing out on a Big issue...Why are we not creating these modern business wonders?

Well creating a USD 100 Bn company (read Facebook) on the Internet...which neither manufactures anything..nor gives any service.. requires something...Vision..

Creating a mobile application...with less than 100 employees...and being able to sell it in 5 years, for USD 19 Bn...means a lot...and certainly requires something...Vision..


So what are we doing...are we comfortable playing second fiddle...i guess so..

And what do we lack?

Engineering/Technology talent?..I think we have plenty...

Creativity...again..we may lack institutional structure to encourage creativity..but talent we have plenty.

 Entrepreneurship...ah..there it is ..we certainly lack entrepreneurship culture..but then it is also a function of misplaced social/family values (social stigma with failed business ventures..typical parental middle class dream of son/daughter being a successful engineer/doctor/bureaucrat/academic etc )...and the fact that it emanates from a very weak social security system...Here I am again reminded of ..WhatsApp and Jan Koum..how he lived through state allowance for his mom and himself...What are the chances that Jan Koum would have called it quits if he was born in India and faced such survival crisis?...I will say pretty strong.. I am sure in Indian context, faced with such survival crisis he would have settled himself in a 9-6 job..How else could he have fed himself and his mother?... By that analogy i think..lot of Indian talent must be getting wasted playing second fiddle..may be third..fourth too...as you read this...

Vision...so back to where I started from..Vision is certainly not about working by the day..or month..or Year..in most cases, first casualty of sticking to your Vision is, short term results...with Indian Corporates and Managers aggressively chasing elusive Quarterly numbers, Vision is bound to be compromised..

I also find it quite amazing that how our entire business eco system is designed to reward short term results..
So you have most business managers jumping all over with latest Quarterly/Yearly results, claiming it to be a result of their grand strategy (of course only if it is better than last quarter/year....)...and often showing it off to prove how they have been better than their predecessor...i dare say, seldom,  means to achieve those superlative short term results could be at the cost of long term interest of the organization. But who is watching?

It is indeed no rocket science to figure out what we need..A solid business idea..a sound business model to implement the idea..Hiring right people to execute...and faith that you have done earlier 3 steps right... then lots of Patience...patience from investors/shareholders...patience from Leaders...

Acclaimed Historian and writer Ramachandra Guha in his book "Makers of Modern India" explains his rational for exclusion/inclusion in the coveted list of individuals who shaped the Indian Republic. He makes an interesting distinction between "Pure Intellectuals", those who wrote and spoke but did not, in a meaningful social sense, act And "Pure Activists" those who were men of action but may not have been much of a thinker...so, he argues to exclude both categories and include Only "Thinker-Activist".

I am wondering if we could apply this criteria on business leaders...Leaders who are thinkers (Visionary) and also men of action...Thinker-Activist Business Leaders so to say...

So are these people creating modern day businesses such as Steve Jobs...Jan Koum...examples of Thinker-Activist leadership? ...Goes without saying success depends on so many more variables..but could this be the key which differentiates Men from Boys of the corporate world...?

Time to leave you thinking while I put aside my Thinking cap and switch on my Action mode...After all its Sunday..and I have so many household chores to take care of... :)