Category Archives: 1-By Laksh

All these articles are from Laksh’s desk

1-By Laksh, Books, Etc., Management

‘Panchatantra’ and its worldly wisdom

The Panchatantra is a collection of Indian fables, each fable taking the style of an allegory.The original text in Sanskrit is a mixture of prose and verse, with the stories contained in one of five frame stories. The introduction, which acts as an encompassing frame for the entire work, attributes the tales to a learned Brahmin called Vishnu Sharma, who used these stories to teach worldly wisdom to the three uninterested and dull-witted sons of a king.

Panchatantra means “five tantras” or ‘Five formulas’ and is divided into five sections of stories– “Loss of Friends,” “Winning of Friends,” “Crows and Owls,” “Loss of Gains,” and “Ill-considered Action.”  The Panchatantra may have been written down as early as the second century BC, and numerous versions spread to Persia in the sixth century and to Europe during the middle ages. A German version in 1481, for example, was one of the earliest printed books.

Vishnu Sharma crafts a new world with the help of animal characters to create interest among his disciples and then uses a serialised, story-within-story approach to sustain it. He presents the means to achieve the the worldly wealth and pleasures. He extols the value of the worldly things unlike other fables like Jatakas.

But given the Hindu tradition of Kaama-Artha-Dharma-Mokasha (Desire, Money, Dharma and Salvation), and the to-be-king background of his disciples, he achives his goal in helping them to put their feet firmly first in the materialistic plane, thus laying the basic foundation for the young disciples to make their way up.

Written centuries ago and that too for youngsters, suprisingly, this book offers a lot to even to the grown ups in terms of understanding the human nature.

If you do not have the patience to read one of its English translations, you could always feast on the numerous Amar Chitra Katha comics.

Related links
Wikipedia
 Panchantantra by Penguin
 Amar Chitra Katha

1-By Laksh, Enterprise, IT

Al Capone and Business Intelligence

If you saw the movie ‘The Untouchables’ one thing that strikes
you about Mr.Al Capone, apart from his base ball bat, is his
penchant for data about his business, ala business intelligence.

In the movie, he begins his day with a hot breakfast served
along with a newspaper(historic data) and a ledger
statement (transaction data). He lights a cigar if the news is
to his liking and flashes a smile, and when it is not, it is time
to thump a few skulls in the next board room meeting. Infact,
Brian De Palma shot the most elaborate board-room-violence
scene ever and Robert De Neiro does not disappoint with his
base ball bat.

This isn’t an article about mastering the art of violence, so,
let’s come back to business intelligence. Let’s talk about data
and the accuracy of it.

One of the big challenges of a business intelligence system is
the collection of data and the authenticity of the same. What if
you crunched the wrong data or worse still, acted on the same.
In the case of Al Capone, it would have been simple, his bat talks
and one of his cronies bites the dust, and the law enforcement
force would rejoice. But in a business scenario, it’s different. It
could result in a loss of a reputation that has been built over the
years painstakingly.

So how to ensure data accuracy and integrity?

1) Make the data entry simple, with mostly numeric type, at the
worker/field level. Capture what you ‘must’ at field level, and
what you ‘should’ as you move up the organization.

2) ‘Time freeze’ the data entry at all levels. Link performance
appraisal to data reporting

3) Data should lead to action at all levels. No available data?
Production halts.

4) Remove redundancy. Capture data only once.

5) Common lingo for internal reporting. Put in place performance
measures based Reporting.

A good business intelligence software should provide all of the
above. And when you have such a solution, there is no need to
spill blood like Al Capone…infact, all business violence could
be pre-empted, in a Minority Reportesque way:-)

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

The Angrez

There is something about Hyderabad which every Hyderabadi feels strongly about and misses its flavor, specially when he is away. There could be many things contributing to this unique flavor…Biryani, irani chai, Charminar, the inimitable slang with which every word is served, being some of them.

‘The Angrez’ does a good a job of presenting as many things as possible and showcases the Hyderabadi flavor. Infact, it does such a good job that it becomes difficult to enjoy the entire movie, if you are not a die-hard Hyderabadi yourself.

Now, to analyse the story or the discuss the craft of the film would be a gross injustice to the spirit of this film. However, there is enough material to keep you interested for the entire duration aided by adequate technique. There are good performances from the lead cast, with the ‘old city’ gang standing out.

Overall, it is a must see for every Hyderabadi.

And, if you take a leaf out of ‘Salim Pekhu’ ways, at the end of the movie, you will sure say ‘The hyderabadi flavor is so strong that you could smell the biryani and irani chai while watching ‘The Angrez’.’:-)

Final word: You will like it better if had no ‘Hyderabad Blues’ hangover.