Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri on 'THEY ARE COMING TO GET YOU – NOT ALIENS SILLY'

She is involved in training and development activities of the institute and heads a large team compromising both men and women.

Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri Dean - Center for Enterprise Management

Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri syas, "During the past few years I have trained thousands of senior executives and have consulted companies in India and abroad; one thing that has been universal is that employees expect a woman boss to play a more nurturing role. They may take a rough and tumble from a male boss but with a woman boss the issue of an ego clash shows up more frequently. It may take some more time before the surveys show up more encouraging trends but the reality is that today it's easier to be a woman boss as the roles are getting very transparent. I have incorporated many things from my personal experience. When I became a mom I wanted to work but had no time. So in my office I introduced flexi hours for new moms. I also felt that dads should share the responsibility of kids too. So every fortnight, dads get an off to spend time with their family. I also realised that women have better self esteem when they look and feel beautiful. So we conduct regular workshops in our office on dressing and make-up. This is an offbeat trend but being a woman boss you tend to bring these little nuances into the workplace there were doubts that I being a wife to a famous person (Rajita is married to Professor Arindam Chaudhuri) has made things easy for me. But with time all these notions were dispelled. I maintain a very goal oriented yet approachable stand for all my employees. There are moments of ego clashes in the office but I always try to keep a cool head and think of it as a generic problem and not a gender based issue.”

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Rough cut: Cinema under siege

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In an open letter, Iran’s most admired director asserts the right of independent filmmakers

Abbas Kiarostami
Iranian filmmaker and global ambassador

I am not sure whom I am writing to, but I do know why I’m writing it. I believe that under the circumstances it is important because two Iranian filmmakers, both of whom are vital to the Iranian wave of independent cinema, have been jailed. As a filmmaker of the same independent cinema, it has been years since I lost hope of screening my films in my country. By making my low-budget and personal films, it has also been years since I lost all hope of receiving any kind of aid or assistance from the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture, the custodian of Iranian cinema.

In order to make a living, I have turned to photography and use that income to make short and low-budget films. I don’t even object to their illegal reproduction and distribution because that is my only means of communicating with my own people.

Even if we choose to disregard the fact that for years now, the cinema administrators of the country, who constitute the main cultural body of the government, have differentiated between their own filmmakers and independent filmmakers, I am still of the opinion that they are oblivious of Iranian independent cinema. Filmmaking is not a crime. It is our sole means of making a living and thus not a choice, but a vital necessity.

I have found my own solutions to the problem. Independent of the conventional and customary support granted to the cinematic community at large, I make my own short and independent films with hopes of gaining some credit for the people I love and a name for the country I come from. Sometimes, that calls for the making of films beyond the borders of my country, which is ultimately not out of personal choice or taste.

However, others, like Jafar Panahi, have for years tried to summon official government support, exploring the same frustrating path, only to be confronted with the same closed doors. He too has for years held hopes of obtaining public screenings for his films and receiving official aid and assistance from the relevant governmental bodies. He still believes that based on the merit of his cinema and the acclaim they have brought the country, he can seek legal solutions to the problem. The Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture is directly responsible for what is happening to Panahi and his like. Any wrongdoing on his part, if there is any at all, is a direct result of the mismanagement of officials at the cinema department of the ministry and its inadequate policies which leaves no choice for a filmmaker other than to resort to means that jeopardise his situation as a filmmaker. He too makes a living through cinema. For him, too, filmmaking is a vital necessity. He needs to make himself heard and has the right to expect cinematic officials to facilitate the process, rather than become the major obstacles themselves. Perhaps officials at the ministry can not at present be of help in solving Panahi’s dilemma but they need to know that they are and have been responsible all these years, for the horrible consequences and unpleasant and anti-cultural reflections of such policies in the world media.

I may not be an advocate of Panahi’s radical and sensational methods but I do know that the cause for his plight is not a result of choice but a compulsion. He is paying for the conduct of officials who have for years closed all doors on him, leaving open small passages and dead ends. Panahi’s problem will eventually be solved but there are numerous young people who have chosen the art of cinema as their means of expression and careers.

This is where the duty of the government and the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture, as the government’s main cultural body, becomes even more critical, for they face a large group of Iranian youth who aim to work independently and away from complicated official procedures and existing prejudices.

Jafar Panahi and Mahmoud Rasoulof are two filmmakers of the Iranian independent cinema, a cinema that for the past quarter of a century has served as an essential cultural element in expanding the name of this country across the globe. They belong to an expanded world culture, and are a part of international cinematic culture. I wish for their immediate release from prison knowing that the impossible is possible. My heartfelt wish is that artists no longer be imprisoned in this country because of their art and that the independent and young Iranian cinema no longer faces obstacles, lack of support, attention and prejudice.

This is your responsibility and the ultimate meaning of your existence.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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A Pakistani in America

IIPM B-School Detail

As Shahid Husain makes a trip to America tinged with hope and apprehension, he brings a pleasing grab bag of a jumble of funny encounters, strange sights and what not

A couple of months ago, I mailed one of my political analyses published in The Sunday Indian to my FB friend Amy Lavenson to get her opinion about it. Interestingly, she invited me to deliver a “community lecture” in Olympia, WA. It was unbelievable! Always shy to face the audience, I thought she must be joking. Nevertheless, I asked her to send me a scanned invitation so that I could make it a part of my application for the US visa. The copy she mailed me said that she would bear the internal expenses. Now the question was who would bear the external expenses, that is, the air fare and boarding and lodging cost. That issue was also resolved when a college mate of mine said he would bear the cost. He too mailed me a scanned letter. My editor at The News, Talat Aslam, was kind enough to give me a recommendation letter.

Though unsure about getting the visa, I took an application form from the American Express and tried my level best to fill it in the stipulated time frame but failed. Repeated efforts bore no result. The US visa application is so cumbersome and detailed that I thought I would never be able to fill it properly. It’s loaded with minor details and silly questions such as “Are you a terrorist?” and so on. I sought help from a fellow journalist, named Maqbool, to fill it but he too failed. It took almost a fortnight to ultimately fill it with the help of a very fast typist at The Herald.

Having applied for the US visa online, I waited for an interview at the US Embassy in Islamabad. That meant an expenditure of another Rs 20,000 or so to go the Capital. I was short of money as usual and didn’t want to borrow from friends. Amazingly, I received a call that I would be interviewed at the US Consulate in Karachi. But an employee at the American Express was adamant that it was a computer error and that I would have to go to the US Embassy in Islamabad. However, I stuck to my guns.

I was pretty sure I would not get a US visa despite the fact that I have travelled to the UK and several other countries and always returned on time. I never had an urge to slip away or seek political asylum. Finally, I received a call from the American Express that I would be interviewed in Karachi. I was asked to reach the consulate at 9.30 am.


In the meanwhile, I rang Elizabeth O. Colton, Public Affairs Officer at the Consulate General of the USA, and told her that I had been invited by a couple of US colleges to deliver a lecture. She told me frankly that nobody could influence the visa officer and that all she could do was to write a line that she knew me.

My interview at the US consulate was brief. Finger prints were taken and then the visa officer, a man with stern looks, called me in.

“Why are you going to the US?” he asked me. “I have been invited by Amy Levinson to deliver a lecture,” said I.

“So you are going to Columbia, New York?” he asked. “No I am going to Olympia, Washington,” said I. “Sorry, I have some hearing problem,” he said, adding, “My sister graduated from Columbia, New York.”

“Is your wife accompanying you?” he asked. “No!” said I. “Where were you born?” he asked another question. “I was born in Karachi” was my reply. He paused for a moment and then handed me a coupon and told me I would receive a call from The American Express in a couple of days to collect my passport. “Have a nice trip!” said he.

Excited, I had informed almost all the friends that I was going to America to deliver a lecture. I received an e-mail from Dr. Ehtisham, a retired surgeon in the US, asking me to stay with him. He informed me that his house was merely two miles away from the Niagara Falls. Another friend who lives in New York invited me to stay with him. My old friend Zulekha Yusuf, who lives in Virginia, asked me to visit her home and said that she would organise a meeting of Pakistani Americans so that I could deliver a talk to them. She also wrote a very provocative message on FB saying, “What do you think of yourself?” I replied that I was a journalist with an experience of 36 years and recognised in India as well as Pakistan, and no more an activist of National Students Federation (NSF) whom anybody could use.

Interestingly, while I was chatting with an old friend who had sent me a letter saying he would bear my travelling and boarding cost, I was shocked when he said he knew Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman while I didn’t. I said I never wished to know big businessmen. He also asked me whether I was a member of the Communist Party of Pakistan. I said I was a group member during my student days and it was written on FB that I was a Marxist. I flatly told him I didn’t need his ticket. “What to do now?” I thought. “How to bear the travelling cost?” I decided to sell a piece of land that I owned at throwaway price.

During all these days, I wrote a hypothesis on relationship between Nature and Man, and showed it to well-known psychiatrist Prof. S. Haroon Ahmed and to my classmate at the University of Karachi, Dr. Kaneez Fatima-Shad who is now an eminent scientist and professor of molecular medicine and drug research at Dr. Punjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research at the University of Karachi. Both approved it.

I will elaborate it in 4-chapters, 100 pages book after I get a break. I am also likely to present the hypothesis at John Hopkins University.

My wife Nasreen Fatima, an ex-computer programmer and now a house wife, said she had heard visitors were passed naked through a machine. I said I didn’t care if the Americans passed visitors through the screening machine naked since it’s too hot these days and I felt angry due to perspiration. She said “Aap to ajeeb batein karte hein (You talk strangely)”. I asked her if she wanted to go to America. “Bhar mein jaye America. Mein to kabhi nahin jaongi (To Hell with America. I would never go there),” was her reply.

My friend Imran Ayub who works for the Dawn newspaper said, “Shahid bhai just leave your clothes near the screening machine and run on the airport naked and we will get a juicy news item in the New York Times reading ‘a naked Muslim terrorist arrested at JFK Airport’, and we will lift the story.”

Shahid Husain

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

Brands and companies that wish to succeed in the emerging rural market need to employ strategies which allow them to be a part of the consumer’s daily life...

India is fast becoming an emerging market with an estimated 150 million strong middle-class consumers. Stretching across the length and breadth of the subcontinent it has long fascinated domestic as well as multinational corporations around the globe. In fact, now the dream is blazing brighter than ever as the Indian rural market is displaying a marked inclination towards consumerism, outpacing the urban market in its ever increasing demand for an array of products and services.

The basic surge in the demand for consumer products is not anymore confined to the people with high levels of income. Even those who appear to be less privileged buy and use such products. Significantly, most of the purchases are made from the households’ own income. Higher purchases schemes and loan account for only around 10% of the rural buying. As a result, like all other mediums of communication, activation and experiential marketing has also seen a massive surge in opportunities in the emerging Indian rural market, as brands now have to increasingly rely on consumer – brand experience to capture mind share against extremely strong local products.

In a market where life revolves around deep rooted community values, joint families and social customs, a pertinent question pops up: Does one size fits all or does one needs to make specific strategies to target emerging Indian consumer? Our emerging consumer is not the savvy “I know it all” of the metro as yet. Yes, as in almost all other media for activation too – it’s different strokes for different folks!

For marketers in the last decade, making space in this emerging consumer market has been fairly simple. The famous video on wheels road shows, the branded smaller trucks, and the likes have done endless rounds, season after season for almost every product. However, in the last few years India has truly evolved with the TV, movies with their endorsements and even the electronic medium has seeped into the rural fabric. They know their brands and have opinions. So, is the ‘song and dance’ or the ‘show them a movie at night’ is really all it will take now?

The time is ripe for focused and relevant messaging and activations that build relationships. To appreciate and understand the emerging consumer’s decision making process one needs to understand the culture of ‘emerging India.’ The social structure of this TG is built around the immediate family, local business community, regular meetings at mandirs, community participation in festivals, et al. Hence, this impacts the entry points to consumer’s life where his purchase decisions are heavily influenced by someone close/trusted like family members, friends or even local dealers/agents, and of course if the product drives aspiration. Interestingly, rural youth is slowly evolving as the ‘opinion leader’ in influencing brand and product decision in a market that was swayed by village elders for centuries. When building a brand in rural India, word-of-mouth is a huge motivator. Initiatives like participation at community events such as annual melas, haats and street theater, continue to generate awareness and influence buying decisions.

Comparatively evolved involvement with schools, sponsoring sports teams or clubs, adopting associations, and building associations with panchayats create a positive word-of-mouth. A plan which activates word-of-mouth goes a long way in forging a longer lasting relationship. A case in point is Dabur Chyawanprash with the objective to reach out to mothers through kids to make them aware of the importance of Chyawanprash in their children’s everyday life. A unique concept of ‘Androoni Shakti Choonauti’ for the kids was conceptualised promoting the brand across schools. Post an interactive session and a product audio visual, letters were sent to mothers including a slogan contest and discount coupon. In fact, in select markets over a lakh students translating roughly into the same numbers of households were contacted. With a 50% response the brand was not only able to build a significant relationship with the consumers but also add on to the numbers. Certainly activating emerging India is all about having different strokes for different folks!

Ambika Sharma is the National Head of Jagran Solutions, which in 2009 won 23 awards at the 10th PMAA event at Singapore

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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