OBAMA in India, Michelle shines..

An excellent orator, a perfect charmer who truly came , saw and conquered. I watched his every detail whether it was his intelligent friendly interaction with students in Mumbai or his down to earth persona at Raj ghat . His respect for Mahatma Gandhi, acknowledging India's power and its place in United Nations, his praise of Indian culture and "Jai Hind" in Parliament touched every Indian heart and sentiments. After all his so much larger than life image of being US President, I felt I was more impressed and took notice of someone else's presence around him so strongly. it was Michelle Obama, his wife whose sensible, down-to-earth attributes made her shine more than Obama. Even on television I felt as if she was someone amongst us, I felt so connected when she merged so beautifully with common people. I myself got lot to learn about being more sensible and down-to-earth and will truly make efforts to be a good orator and more friendly in my interactions with others.

HACHI the dog : a symbol of faith,immortal love and devotion

A Richard Gere film based on a true story of an abandoned dog called Hachi. Hachi's dedication and soulful, selfless, immortal love for his master and Hachi in waiting for next 9 years till his own death for his already dead master is awesome and moves even the toughest heart, I am sure. This is one movie in my lifetime that I cannot watch again because it was most difficult for me to watch Hachi's loneliness and yet his never ending love and wait for his master. I actually cried and felt difficult in breathing and I was happy crying because it made me more humane, sensitive and understanding.

 It told me much about life that it's not about being with people for materialistic reasons but it's about being and waiting for our loved ones for no reason even if they are not coming back because if we love and care for someone we should be true to our own hearts. I am sure I am going to be more like Hachi and wait for my own people even if they abandon me or leave me. Its a film that changed my life, my thinking and I can say it made me man of big heart, a heart that holds love care for animals. I have a german shepherd Diego whose paws I took in my hand and promised him..I am going to walk with him till the end and beyond and nothing in this world will take me away from him as I know they feel, they search us too when we are lost.. movie is an eye opener, enlightening but reality is same too..

FRANCHISE SYSTEMS : WHY fails N falls

Everyday we all see many immature and mature brands getting into a franchise business without much study, preparations, infrastructure and work ethics. In last 10 years this system has become a craze and money making trend for every kind of businesses whether its a business empire worth 20 million or 20 billion.

Its food, clothing, healthcare, tourism or education, none of the markets escaped eyes of franchise systems. The speed by which its spreading , the same speed its failing too. exceptions of few successful systems do exist as exceptions are always there but studies and researches explains that there is a huge number of failures in the system. I myself went online for in depth study about franchise system's analysis and statistics based on real grounds. they are as follows:

" a financial theory which explains how best to organize relationships in which one party (the principal or franchisor) determines the work, which another party (the agent or franchisee) undertakes. Since the agent’s self-interest are in conflict with the principal’s self-interest, alignment of outcomes via contractual relationships is a key to mutual success."

"All that glitters isn’t gold in franchising. While franchising can be a successful means of expanding a distribution system its reliability in achieving success is certainly questionable. This is particularly true for emerging franchisors. In fact academic research has shown that as many as three-quarters of all new franchise systems cease franchising within 10 years of formation "

"characteristics of successful franchise systems:

1. New franchise systems which permit passive ownership of franchised outlets are more likely to fail
2. New franchise systems which require higher levels of franchisee cash involvement are less likely to fail
3. New franchise systems which require franchisees to have experience are less likely to fail
4. New franchise systems which are geographically concentrated are less likely to fail
5. New franchise systems which are more complex are more likely to fail
6. New franchise systems which employ master franchising are more likely to fail
7. New franchise systems which have higher levels of total investment are more likely to fail

The results of the study indicate that franchise systems founded between 1981 and 1983, which are structured to economize on agency costs, are more likely to survive than franchise systems which are not structured to economize on agency costs. This finding is important because the failure rate of franchise systems is high, with over 72 percent of the new franchise systems in the sample ceasing to franchise by 1995.

There are few simple reasons for franchisor failure:

1. Franchisors don’t treat the franchise relationship as an interdependent relationship where success at all levels in the organization is dependent on each party to the franchise agreement. Ignoring this fact causes franchisees to feel they’re treated like unappreciated employees, breaks down communications and ultimately fractions the system itself. This results in untimely royalty payments and focuses franchisor’s attention on collections and possible legal actions.

2. Too much of pressure and dictations suffocates the partner who feels trapped in a system where for a brand name his life becomes hell and thus to ventilate he or she goes to an extent of closing the business even at a cost of any kind of financial loss.

3. Franchisors, especially startups, whether out of necessity or overzealousness, use the practice of checkbook franchising. That’s the difference between selling a franchise and awarding a franchise. Just because a franchise candidate has the funds doesn’t mean he will be successful as a franchisee. Too many of these franchisees cause problems in all areas and affect the system as a whole resulting in closed units and legal problems. Both of which must be disclosed in disclosure documents that ultimately affects franchise sales.

In the end, franchisors experience reduced revenue streams in both royalties and franchise fees while increasing legal expenses. Once this cycle begins it’s extremely difficult to stop without drastic change.

RAWANDAN Genocide 1994

For long time I was a person who watched much of films related to science fiction and fantasy like Matrix and Lord of the rings. Hotel Rwanda was a turning point in my film watching. This movie made me shiver and it depicted something so terrible that can tear and melt even strongest of hearts. It made me understand so many things and gave me insight about films on war and tragedies of real life.

Its a film that cannot be told about instead its more about watching the film and getting the feel as how one feels when entrapped in a deadly civil war between two groups called Hutu and Tutsi. The 1972 mass-killings of Hutu by the Tutsi army and the 1994 killing of Tutsi by the Hutu population.

A film on a real life story where Hutu and Tutsi fought a civil war which wiped almost 20% (approx 800,000) of the country's population. Hutu's in govt, almost tried to absolutely wipe all of the Tutsi's and this in itself is so scary when its about mass murder of one large group. All this becomes more scary when Hutu's priority remained about killing Tutsi's children and infants so that there is no next generation.

"The true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda in 1994."

Hotel Rwanda taught me about one man's strength and will to save thousands of people, gave them hope in the darkest hour in his hotel, based on a real life story during the civil war. The manager who saved so many lives was himself a Hutu and I understand, what a courage and golden heart !

I later asked many people to watch this movie and in real it transforms one's soul towards a better humanity, love, strength and will power. It shows that revolutionary transformations are possible even by one man if one has that exceptional courage and desire to do so.

BIG dreams u follow, BIG dreams so hollow..Ohh

The world of brands, the world of dreams,
took me here, where my heart screams-
this is not what I ever dreamt,
the lust of name, the lust of fame,
everyday, each moment a game.

I have everything yet feels so locked,
rightest of path but seems so blocked.
human robots, the fake ones I resist,
still gets cheated by faces in the myst.

why the race? no fame I want to grace,
I want my god whom someday i'll face,
lost in the crowd with millions in a race,
that's not my world, that's not my grace.

The world of brands, the world of dreams,
took me here, where my heart screams-
this is not what I ever dreamt,
the lust of name, the lust of fame,
everyday, each moment is a game.