Go reclaim your readers says Ruski

Wikipedia

Ruskin Bond said in an interview, “India could soon be facing a predicament of having more writers than readers”.

The use of “Predicament” tells us the Padma Bhushan awardee foresees a difficult, unpleasant or embarrassing situation for the publishing industry which may impact the book sales. Watching him talk would have provided the opportunity to factor in his tonality along with the non-verbal cues to make a comprehensive sense of what the iconic writer meant when he said what he said.

This post is not so much about agreeing or disagreeing with his statement, as it is about my interpretation of the “Why” and “What” of the entire interview. Being the grand old man of Indian literature, he is at a vantage point to review the Indian literary scenario and hence not many will share the same perspective.

As hinted, I will not consider this comment in isolation but review it in conjunction with others from the same interview. He also stated "Publishing has come of age and more and more writers are making a good living out of it... But, I think with so many people writing now, there is a danger of having more writers than readers."

It is a legitimate concern directed towards the publishing houses with a clear advice that if they do not take the responsibility for quality of books they publish, they are at the danger of losing out on the readers. Do not just let anyone be a writer just because publishing is easy, do it based on the literary merits of the writers. 

Go reclaim your readers is the message!

I am not implying that Indian writers should not get the opportunity to publish their works but promote only those who meets the criteria.

There is a phenomenon in Bollywood where a super-duper hit movie is turned into a multi-million dollar franchise business. Every now and then, a complete nonsensical movie makes it big at the box office and we see them churning out even more nonsensical versions of the same. I wouldn’t care much if movie lovers knowingly sacrifice their valuable time watching those or a few young directors try to replicate such successes. All who think they can fly their cars or jump over a few blocks of buildings - Good luck to them!

However, the implications are radically different when writers with poor literary skills churn out one lousy novel after the other. This has negative impact on the society from every perspective. If someone get inspired by works, they have selected the wrong example and if they try to emulate their success… it is a bigger disaster!

It is Lose-Lose Situation for everyone.

I am not the only lone who resents this, there many more who share the feeling. I suggest that you follow this link to “Quora”, to review their reaction to the question “Why are novels by bestselling Indian authors so horrible?”

You will be amazed!

I am quite certain the same question arose in the mind of Mr. Bond many a times which lead to his advice, "Confidence in the language is a must. You should have something to say and be able to research on it well. Clarity is key."

The publishing house should take the responsibility to uphold the quality and look beyond earnings. If this is not checked now, we will be mere spectators as the reading habits of younger generations spiral southwards to oblivion.

…….and then there will be no readers!

The inspiring story of a Rural Woman

This story started at the local hair dressing salon last weekend where I went for my haircut. The person in charge was a man in his fifties and it was a one man show. After initial pleasantries I asked him, “Where are you from as you speak the Ganga kinare bhasha?” (The dialect associated with the banks of Ganges). I told him that the mithaas “sweetness” that Bhojpuri language has makes it standout from all other.

“I belong to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh” he announced and suggested I should listen to the dialect of Jaunpur to get a taste of real mithaas. The conversation went and so did the scissors, while I was in the quiet end of both. 

Learning I was from Kolkata, he revealed that during his younger days folks from his village traveled to Kolkata in search of fortune and some of his relative continue to live there after they made it real big. He then pondered “How is Kolkata it now?” Sensing  my discomfort, he confessed that people no longer head that way in search of their dreams. 

Though we both left for foreign shores in search of greener pastures, he believed there is no dearth of opportunities back home if one is willing to toil hard. He narrated few success stories of ordinary men and women from Uttar Pradesh.

I have found the story of Smt. Krishna Yadav extremely inspiring. The success of this illiterate rural women is breathtaking and also proves there are ample of opportunities in our country for those who try.

I was awestruck by the humility of a person who have managed to establish a successful business starting from scratch. A rural couple from Bulandshahr arrives at Delhi looking for a livelihood after the husband loses his job. They take to farming on other’s land, finding no other viable option. But when time came to sell their produce, the price was not good and stock remained unsold.

She embarked on the journey of making pickles with the leftover vegetables after getting trained by relevant agencies. With her hard work and vision she has established "Krishna pickle factory" which generate income for her family and employment for many rural women. They now produce Pickles, Jam, juices and whole lot of other products and she has evolved as true leader.

Aspee Foundation awarded L.M.Patel Farmer Award to Smt. Krishna Yadav. I suggest that you listen to the story in her own words in this video.  

But hers' is not an one off case, there are many such success stories across India and with strong will you too can add yours to this list!

Beagle, Sketching, Hobbies, et al

Puttush

A few months back we went to one of our friend’s house in Kolkata and were introduced to the newest member of their family. His name is Puttush and he a Beagle, six months of age at the time.

We instantly fell in love with Puttush as he was lively, intelligent and constantly vying for attention with his childlike attitude. The beagle is a breed of small hound, quite similar to larger foxhound in appearance and very popular pet due to its size, good temper and lack of inherited health problems.

Coming back, I promised myself that I shall make a sketch of his or give it an honest try at the least. For me sketching is therapeutic and dog portraiture is definitely fulfilling. After all dog is a man’s best friends and in the words of former French president Charles de Gaulle, “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”

Portraiture

I have more than a fair share of hobbies with stamp collection, blogging and sketching crying for attention as soon as I reach home. Hobbies are a great way to unwind after a stressful day at take our mind away from anything that bothersome. 

It is important to have a hobby and Drawing and sketching are great hobbies that can be done any time or place. Some of the useful benefits of this hobby are:

• Enhances creativity
• Improves memory
• Improves fine motor skills
• Improves mood
• Good way to relax
• Reduces stress
• Therapy for older adults
• Improves analytical skills

Thankfully I got some likeliness in the sketch!  

The Friendly Beagle with His Portrait

Beware of the Megaphone

Social Media Interaction

The “Internet is a great leveler “in more than one ways. While internet has provided the framework for a small-town store be a global business house, it also empowered every customer irrespective of their economic or social standings. Today everyone has a Megaphone.

Trust doesn’t come easy and it is particularly difficult when transaction is over the internet. We invariably fallback on experiences people like us had earlier. Today consumer does thorough research before they make a buying decision, they also leave online review and ratings to help others. Word-of-mouth has expanded beyond a customer’s immediate friends and family. As online transactions become increasingly common, consumer-generated feedback is hard to ignore these days.

During the pre-social media days, an out of town customer at any hotel, restaurant or shop had only so much importance – it was seller’s market then. Now every customer is important even if the likelihood of their return is low. If somebody’s had a negative experience, they now have a megaphone to go out and tell millions of people.  

Similar to online retail, hospitality sector too has got intertwined with the social media for conducting their businesses. Today they need to promote, communicate and stay relevant via all the available social media platforms.

Although 90% of hotels have their Facebook pages, there is a disconnect somewhere in the system. Whereas for 87% of potential customers an appropriate management response to bad review improves their impression of a hotel, a meagre 32% of hotels respond to guest reviews, negative or positive.

Ratings and feedback foster mutual respect between two parties. Sincere hotel management would typically invest time to monitor the social media (Facebook, Trip Advisor etc.) and respond to any review of their property – either to thank the reviewer or apologize.

This acts like insurance – it doesn’t guarantee new customer, but helps form losing one. Researchers claim that valuing feedback has positive effects on perceived quality.

My request to everyone is leave a verified feedback about your recent experience about a service or product and help others to make an informed decision. Please use your megaphone! 

Internet is a great leveler

Photo Reference

Would you agree that "Internet is a great leveler?" Probably you do not have much of a choice! The proliferation of the Internet has created an environment where anyone can reap the benefits of the opportunities provided by globalization.

There are no “barriers” anymore as anyone from anywhere can start with an online business without geographical considerations. The only requirement is expertise in the core area and a great business model. On the other hand everyone can refer to reviews and recommendation and make informed decision.

The internet unarguably is the game changer but limited to internet in many regions is a cause for concern.

Traditionally for a business, promoting the product or services to the world has been a challenge. Now “Digital Marketing” has opened up the horizon to everyone who had dreams of advertising. It’s affordable, it's easy and potential customers could be reached through targeted campaigns via social media.

Skeptics like me would refer to this particular dialogue from Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”.

"If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches and poor men’s cottages princes' palaces."

However, this doesn't mean that one shouldn't try, but be cautions that it will not be easy. Potential customers will invariably head online for review and ratings. They will research and compare shops before they make any buying decision. A home business will therefore be compared and measured against the highest standard.

So the secret is to  do is to find ways to build great relationships with online customers and let them know they are appreciated and the relationship is valued.

an act of thinking

"Thinking is to man what flying is to birds. Don't follow the examples of the chicken when you could be a lark." - Albert Einstein

Dear Ms BOT

Google driven impression of Bot

As I sat with my hands folded engrossed in my thoughts, I detected mild symptoms of the illness known as “writer’s Block”. I told myself that it cannot be true because Seth Godin says that no such thing exist. Writer's block is a myth. Can I defy him? Probably not!

"Maybe it is a starting cue that I was looking for to start my next post."

I in fact had a few Ideas that could be converted to posts, like we always do most of the times. This "fingers off the keypad" phase ensued because it was difficult to find the right "balance between Benefit and Effort". Ones that could be put together with very little effort did not look worth the time spent while those which qualify wasn’t worth the effort involved. A “catch 22” moment!

Then I received an email from the desk of Ms. R of a blogging portal. It was quite similar in style to the memos that are often used in the corporate world. I was about to toss it into the bin but had second thoughts since it was addressed to me by my name. The content was generic with all the potential to be a spam but customized by addressing it to me by my name. A personal touch to penetrate my spam filter.

Then it struck to me that it’s quite possible that the Ms. R is actually a BOT and to confirm it I replied back and my assumption was confirmed soon. I am glad that I read it as this gave me the opportunity to communicate with a BOT… a new first for my book of records!

I agreed with myself to disagree with the opening statement of the mail which read “it is crazy most of us have not achieved the dream successes we always envisioned for ourselves”. It’s actually a bit weird to  disagree or even communicate with a BOT.

Keeping an eye on the future, I took the strategic decision to practice conversing with AI. This also provided me an opportunity to breakout from the catch 22.

If one is curious to know, why would I disagree with a statement that appears to be quite true, I would be tempted to question “how many of us can define what success means to one’s own self?”

Is your success comparative or is it absolute!

Sometime others perceive you as a successful person while you are uneasy where you stand and dream of going somewhere else. “I deserve to be there”, you keep telling yourself and your perception cannot be further off from them who consider you successful. Sometime the reverse of this is also true!

There are situations where people carry along a “kangaroo career aspiration” while doing well as a teacher/doctor/banker/engineer etc. They dream to be standing in another podium having reached the pinnacle as an artist or writer or someone else. They bask in that glory signing autographs, getting photographed, giving speeches … albeit “the MongeriLal” syndrome.

Human being could be different in thousands of mutually exclusive ways but “day dreaming is our common language as a species.” There is nothing wrong in such behavior therefore, as long as this dreams are not associated with “dream successes” as referred by Ms. BOT.

Success is the attitude towards continuous self- improvement and in my reality remaining happy during the journey is as important as the celebration at the destination.  

Success, therefore is a way of life.