The Power of Seeking Help

This is not a life changing event, yet it is an eye opener for me.
My ego transmogrified from being a Tiger->Mouse->Tiger->Mouse in an interval of 30 minutes.

Here is the incident:

We were on a long drive for a short break from the daily life over a long weekend to Ooty. At Masinagudi, a small town before Ooty, the road was very narrow - not enough space for two vehicles to pass. I see an oncoming jeep and very cordially both of us (jeep and I) slowed down to almost standstill. As we were maneuvering past each other, I felt that I have gone way too left and the front left tyre is about to slip into a drain running along the road. I braked - and let my first "Tiger ego" take over.

Tiger Ego to Wife and Kids: Don't worry - just get out of the car - I know what to do. The kids and wife get out and I try a trick - and from just being at the edge of the drain, the front left tyre now  rests firmly in the drain.

Thankfully the Tiger disappeared - and Mouse ego came out: I need help. It feels so bad to seek help. But I did seek it - and help came pouring out.
There is a lorry driver, a jeep driver and few other bystanders ready to help. Maybe one incentive was that I was blocking the narrow road.
They didn't want to destroy the fibre bumper of my car - so instead of pushing it out by brute force - they jack up the sunken wheel. Go scavenging for boulders to put under the sunken wheel. In 30 minutes, the car is out. What I did during this while: Tried to converse in English and Hindi with a Tamil speaking guy to understand what the plan of action was - till someone told me - Sir, please start the car-> Cut right-> and no matter what do not let the car slide back.

The Car is out and So is the Tiger: I thank all the people around me - quite profusely - but my hand goes to my wallet -> Can I pay you something/anything? I ask.

To be turned back into a mouse the next instant: No Thanks is the reply - as the three of them put back the boulders they had borrowed from the fields nearby. As for me:

I remember the sanitized Team Building games demonstrating the "Power of Seeking Help" that I have played in outbound workshops. I remember reading articles on random acts of kindness. But experiencing it first hand - thankfully in just a minor incident - opens the door for seeking help.

I'm not concerned whether seeking help makes me a mouse or a tiger, what matters is that I need it - and there are many others out there who are kind enough to provide it.

And yes, the next time I see somebody stuck - maybe not even asking for help - I might still offer to help.

Carbon Detective: Toy Story

Did some weekly cleaning over the weekend for the kids' room. Apart from the usual tidying up I took stock of toys that can be given off and found an interesting pattern about my kids' interests, interested?
70% of toys are vehicles with cars being the most prefered ones. Most of the cars were non battery operated - and each one looked as if it had clocked upwards of 100,000 kilometers. Looks like money well spent. However, there were few almost brand new toys and few were battery operated as well.
Now, since every few weeks we end up buying a new toy for the kids', a visit from grandparents, aunts and uncles results in a windfall, any birthday party results in an exchange of toys and to top it all even Mac gives a toy, I shouldn't have been surprised at the real estate the toys occupy and their usage pattern! But I'm surprised and this is an investigation into:

• How big is the Indian Toy Industry
• What is its environmental footprint
• What are the alternatives if any for me to reduce my footprint of toys

Carbon Detective: Is there a right size?

Is there are right size for my carbon footprint? Let us see the current situation for the various countries. If per capita GDP is considered as one indicator of our progress, then there could be multiple paths and corresponding footprints.
Whichever path we take, there is no doubt about the starting point. We are at the bottom left corner of the graph and our per capita footprint is bound to increase. However, even today, for a similar per capita GDP, the per capita Carbon footprint could be very different across the nations. This tells us that though the per capita footprint is bound to increase, the path chosen and the corresponding footprint can be different.
The size of dot tells us that whether we wish it or not, the CO2 emissions from emerging economies like India will be under focus.
So, is there a right size for carbon footprint? There is definitely an appropriate size, a size that is also a function of the overall environment and time. The millenials will have to follow a different path than that followed by the Economies growing in 1900s.The governments are already busy checking the trade-offs required for a low carbon economy. It is a tough balancing act to shift right on the per capita GDP axis without going too high up on the per capita CO2 emission axis.

The primary footprint for me is as given per the adjoining graphic. Travel and electricity are the major components of the primary footprint while fuel for generator and cooking are mere toes, accounting for less than 10% of the footprint.
Before going into whether the size itself is good or bad, let us analyse the factors behind the size and identify the big ticket items for improvement.

Travel within City
I use a small car for travel within city and most of my daily kilometres are logged driving to office. On weekends the car is used for the weekly shopping and for fun and leisure. The question for me is whether I can reduce my footprint without having a major impact to my day to day life.
A decision table to help me weigh the alternatives for daily travel looks as follows:

Two days by bus and rest by car help me reduce my footprint due to travel within city by 25%. It gives me the most optimal combination of flexibility, comfort and utility. Public transport increases my travel time, but I’m able to utilise the time which earlier was spent in driving. Had the flexibility in timings not been important criteria, I would have gone for car pool on all days! It is not surprising that the greener choice is also the more economical alternative.

Carbon Detective: What is Carbon Footprint?

The fog is finally settling on the COP15 and I’m not sure if it ended up clearing or further muddling the burning issue of Global Warming. Some questions are nagging me - Is global warming an issue or not? Am I part of the solution if not the problem? How do I contribute?

Garret Hardin had given an influential concept of "Tragedy of Commons" way back in 1968. The article discusses how common resources get used, misused and what could be the means to utilise these common resources. It advocates “Mutual Coercion” or legally binding behaviour as one solution. However, that is beyond my area of influence. So what can I do?

One solution to reduce misuse is by being pro-social: By being more engaged in sustainable behaviour. This solution of course implies that I cut down my use of common resources, while my neighbour needn’t! Scriptures tell me that I must be happy and content in what I have. I should be happy drinking water off the tap, and not grudge the neighbour’s bottled water sourced from the Alps. However I’m living in the times of “neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride” and aspirational products are part of the market we live in. There is no running away from these products and the fact that my neighbours will also own them. But can I adjust these aspirations? What if by adjusting them, I gain? It might not be only philanthropy, but might bestow significant personal gains.

Before getting into all this, let me first understand the carbon footprint, its significance and is there a “right size” that fits me? Carbon footprint can be for an individual, a product, an organization or a country. There are many definitions of Carbon Footprint and we will use the following for this article:
Carbon Footprint = Primary Footprint + Secondary Footprint

Where:
Primary Footprint = Green house gas (GHG) emissions from direct burning of fossil fuels. This includes electricity used at home and fuel used for cooking, operating generators and in transportation.
Secondary Footprint = GHG emissions due to the products I use. The emissions associated with the manufacture, transport and breakdown of these products.

Thus carbon footprint can be a good size to know, but unlike my shoe size, calculating it is not an exact number. It does not cover all aspects like water consumed and air polluted but nevertheless it is a good tool to start the green journey.

Organised Retail: No Smile within a Mile

Its that time of the week when I have to go for the weekly grocery and vegetable shopping, and NO I'm not going to the Supermarket anymore..
I had enough of moments of truth and finally the truth has dawned that I'm not good enough to enjoy the benefits of organized retail.
The "moment of truth" in service marketing parlance is described as the moment when the service triad composed of the Consumer, the serving personnel and the service organization meet. In organized retail, the experiences I had with the truthful moments were never great, but I stubbornly trudged along from one outlet to the other - expectant that some day I will have a truly enjoyable moment.
Imagine a typical scenario:
It is Sunday morning, and I get ready for the trip. I collect the cloth bags (yes, we are trying to reduce our plastic dependance), the list is safely tucked in the pocket and the kids are secured on the back seat as we drive down to the supermarket.
The first hurdle is to find a parking slot. The store is big, but the designated parking slots are too few - and even on the Sunday morning they are full. We poke our noses into side streets and quickly occupy the one slot free.
Next hurdle is getting the empty cloth bags inside. The mighty security gurads are programmed to reject any bags from going inside. If we are lucky we might be allowed with the bags - else we might escape with a simple admonishment that bags need to be deposited at the entrance, to be collected later while the billing is in progress.
It has been half an hour since we entered this wonderland. Our trolley is half empty(we are optimistic people you know), to accomodate the planned items from the list which is still safely tucked in my pocket, as all of us have been stuffing the trolley with things that we don't need.
I refer to the list and ask one of the attendants where a particular item is stacked. It is always a dangerous question. It triggers a chain reaction where the query gets transferred from one attendant to the other and after a considerable delay the response could be don't know, don't care or it is out of stock.
Another dangerous question could be: "Do you have a fresher stock"? This typically happens with perishable items - with warning like "best within 15 days". In cases when the 15th day happens to be tomorrow, expect no sympathy from the attendant - come on you could still consume the item within today. Do you have to really trouble them with such silly questions as : do you have a fresher stock!
The trolleys are full with 70 percent of the planned items bought and we are in the final lap - just the billing is pending. The queue is long, some of the counters are closed, but attendants could have been the receptionist of a clinic for all you know. Typically they were the only ones in the service industry who could get away by being rude. Your appointment should come in 10mts from now, where 10 mts instead of being earth minutes are typically those of Pluto. (http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/day_night/activities/nightlife.shtml)
Coming back to retail - the attendants don't care - selling is NOT their job - they have a role: receptionist, customer care, billing, stacking - thats all - but who sells??
So, now I have come back to my friendly neighbourhood mom and pop store. The store does not have AC, it is not sparkingly clean - but it has a person behind a counter and not a role.
It has a person who acknowledges that I exist, who tries to make small talk - who at least tries to help and pretends to listen when I crib.

Something common between Brand and Religion

What?? The title looks absurd.
I had two completely free days - no not really - but then got bored of assignments, and normal routine work. They say Empty mind is Devils workshop - and we all know Devil wears Prada - and Prada is a well known brand - so one thing lead to the other and ended up spending time in Library and reading about brands.

Came across this book: "Sonic Branding" by Daniel Jackson.
The book discusses, Brand in general and Sonic branding in particular.
Like the way the author has brought out the concept of Brand.

So what is common between religion and brand (no offences meant to religion).
It is the belief of the follower that is important.
The book says:
Brand is Belief.
Belief comes when believers put in their emotional capital.
Hence, Brand is like religion. E.g Christianity- initially the evangelists had to struggle to get the converts – but once converts had bought in the idea – they became the ambassadors.
Now consider the e.g. of Coke and McDonalds.
What is coke – just a normal thirst quencher – like sprite, Dr. peppers, Thums UP. But if you look around – Coke stands for American spirit. It is “the original thing”. And getting coke in a country means that American culture has arrived.
Similarly MaC…