All in a Day's Life



He was leaving for office. Mumbai AC buses are really comfortable and he commutes by it often these days. He was little late today and therefore walked briskly towards the bus stop. And as soon as he reached there, the bus arrived. He boarded in hurry - unaware of the fact that he was getting up in a wrong bus today.

He got inside, automated doors closed and bus left off. He saw a Lady posing with the conductor. It looked like they wanted a pic together. He stopped at conductor for ticket. But gentleman who seemed to be capturing it told him to pass by saying shooting is in progress. "Ahh...some shoot for Movie or TV going on", he thought, "Keeps happening in Mumbai".

He took a seat in the half empty bus and observed all of it keenly. It then did not appear to him as a professional shoot as the gentleman was capturing it with a mobile camera. It was fun mood, He even saw passengers participating in the proceedings.

"Are they part of the crew." he mulled over.

Person sitting beside him did not seem to be one of them. So he asked, "You have any idea what's going on here.”

"Conductor is retiring. Today is old man's last working day" - was the reply.

He got even keener. He now noticed a packet of sweet, few flowers (say it bouquet) in conductor's hand. Conductor also shook hand with other passengers. Looked like they were daily commuters of this bus. One passenger gifted conductor a mobile handset. Conductor was now blushing.

It was conductor's facilitation going on...can you imagine!

He was pleasantly surprised to be witnessing it - A celebration of life in a running public transport bus. Touching!

The conductor returned to normal duty of ticketing as good numbers of passengers were boarded by then. Conductor approached him; he respectfully asked for Airoli ticket. He was told to catch the alternate bus with options provided. Only then did he realize that he had boarded the wrong bus.

 

“But it was worth it.” - He mumbled to himself as he got down.

Career Connection

This April was overwhelming. I got a chance to be part of MDI interview panel. The Occasion was GDPI assessment for MBA aspirants. It was one of those nice little moments in life, when you take a pause to let the pleasurable feeling sink in. Reasons were multifold – I was matching up professors to whom I had been student so far. Then, I was judging people who were apparently my alter ego in retrospect. And, I was playing a different role that day.

MDI has been my life’s that milestone which I’ve kept on touching time and again. I was introduced to this institute when desire to do MBA struck me. I came very close to fulfilling this desire with this B-school when I began my professional carrier and landed up in MDI as part of new joiner’s MDP program.  It was an instant link up and it became part of my B-school wish list. And no wonders I ended up doing my MBA from here few years later.

During Convocation, when we were clicking pictures around this thirty seven acre green Campus, we believed those to be the concluding moments with MDI. It’s a cycle where graduating batch clears the way for the incoming one. I, however, was finding it hard to bid adieu because of my long association with this place. And Last month, when I got the call to represent the panel, I knew that MDI connection is there to stay and it’s only going to evolve with time.

Hi Herbert, Is Adidas my Brand?

Dear Herbert,

Congratulations & Praises on robust quarterly result!

It pleases me as much as it does you as CEO. For some reasons, I always feel Adidas as my brand. I bought a pair of training shoes recently and no surprises that it was from the house of Adidas. Even rationally, it offered me better value proposition than other competing brands. Your apparels, shoes & accessories connect to me in a way that it becomes difficult to answer the dichotomy - Whether I fit into its style or it fits into mine?

Let me tell you that you have done a notable job since you assumed this position in 2001.

And when such association sustains for a decade, something becomes special about it. We get into selective attention tendency and look for the reason that makes us feel good about the brand to buttress the association. I had been in similar mode until yesterday. This is what I’ve transpired:

The chemicals used in your apparels are causing water toxication by nonylphenol (NP) -- a hormone-disrupting chemical.

I’d have snubbed it considering all-pervasive problem in the textile industry. But as I dig further, I find more reasons for not doing so. Your company ranks 2 in sportswear brand, leading in innovation and supply chain. You even boasted it in your Q2 announcement earlier this month. I’m afraid that the toxic cycle is inbuilt in the very supply chain excellence that you talk about. Worse, you run far behind in responding to the detox campaign by Greenpiece International. It has already inspired Nike and Puma to eliminate all toxic chemicals from supply chain by 2020.

I know that among these top 3 sportswear brands, you run little behind in profits, and only just from Puma – another German brand like yours. Does it compensate for your dilatoriness, so much so that you have not even disclosed the hazardous chemicals used in your supply chain.

Even with all my prejudices towards your company, now I think – Is Adidas my brand?