Innovative “Soundbox” from Paytm

I am fascinated by new products. Yes, it is true that 80% of new products are not new and are at best ‘new wine in an old bottle’. They are new, improved versions to induce to the jaded buyer to rebuy the products. At best it is a weak appeal to the customers to get excited again akin to a sixty-year-old Indian hero prancing around in a ridiculous wig and with fluorescent clothes with a young lass who would be in his granddaughter age! 

But some products are new, and they are very much needed. One such product that caught my eye is the “Sound Box” from Paytm. It is a boon for the harried retailers, who are becoming more and more dependent on online payments and that through the omnipresent Paytm App. 

I watch with great astonishment when the twenty-somethings pay six rupees for their cup of tea using Paytm app. What would happen if the internet or Paytm suffer an outage? I am sure that the Indian economy will take a hit on Sensex fearing a massive spread of the Coronavirus causing havoc on world markets. 

Paytm synonymous with digital transactions in India. The app rose to popularity during the demonetisation phase in 2016. When a customer is trying to pay via his smartphone, there is a long, elaborate conversation with the retailer to share the QR code which the customer then scans and then wait till the payment is confirmed and the retailer gets a message. The SMS often doesn’t come instantly, and there’s an awkward silence till the time the SMS comes in.  

Both the customer and the retailer are impatient. In some cases, the customers claim that the payment is made and walk away. The retailer is hard-pressed to balance his concentration between tracking the digital payments and in serving his other customers. 

Paytm is looking to smoothen the payment process with a new smart device the ‘Soundbox’, It has a speaker with a SIM card slot attached that will act as a voice-activated POS (point-of-sale) machine for the retailer. The Soundbox will alert the retailer the payment is complete, instead of the retailer having to wait for an SMS on their smartphone. 

The Soundbox loudly announces the amount paid, thus relieving the retailer of the stress of tracking SMSes. A user will still have to scan the QR code on this device to make the payment. With the Soundbox, the retailers do not require another smartphone to accept Paytm transactions. 

INTERVIEW – Talent will get you in the door but it is Character that will keep you in the room – Ethiopian Journey – Part VI

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Two months passed and nothing happened. And then there was communication from Global Placements, I was called for the Interview. Unfortunately Dr.Vidyanath was not called. But being a good sport that he was, he wished me good luck.

I went to the hotel where the interviews were being conducted. I was called into the interview room. I was being interviewed for a University called Bahirdar University. Inside the room there were two Ethiopians and one Indian Professor (later I came to know that the Indian Professor was from OU College of Commerce and Business Management, Osmania university).

One of the Ethiopians welcomed me with a huge smile “Hello Dr. Aneel Ramis” he intoned. I recoiled “Sir, there is a mistake, I am not a PhD. I am still doing my research and have not even submitted my thesis”. The Vice President’s (equivalent to our Vice Chancellor) Eye brows shot up and knotted. He was worried. He took an application and showed it to me. “It says PhD here”. I took my own application and then I realized what had happened.

I had mentioned in my resume as “Pre PhD qualified”. Pre PhD is an exam which is like a qualifying examination that is important for the researcher to move forward to advanced research and for thesis submission. Pre PhD has two papers, research methodology and broad scope (the area of research). One needs to clear both the papers of the Pre PhD examination to progress into the next level of research. Apparently an employee of the ministry of Education, The federal government of Ethiopia thought I was a Doctorate and kept my application in the file that has only PhD candidates.

I explained the entire issue to the VP, Bahirdar University (BDU) and said “sorry for the mistake sir, and very glad to meet you. I will take leave now”. The VP of BDU was struggling with his emotions “Oh yes, oh Yes, we are supposed to only interview candidates with PhD qualification. But you are here and it was our mistake not to notice that you are not a PhD”. He added “anyhow, as you have come, we will do the interview”.

The interview went off in a breeze. The interview was conducted in a very friendly fashion. They seem to be impressed. They told me what the University would pay. The pay sounded adequate if not lavish. I nodded my head. The VP was telling me about the facilities provided in the contract “Your contract would be for two years. You would get free air tickets from Mumbai for you, your spouse and two of your children till they attain the age of eighteen. You would be given free accommodation”.

He added “So you just have to pay for your living expenses like food, groceries and electricity. You would be given all amenities like refrigerator, electric oven, beds, sofa sets and you simply have to come to Ethiopia with your clothes. Everything else is provided. Most items are very cheap in Ethiopia and your salary is totally repatriable (one can send back as much money back to India as they wish). Ethiopia is a very safe country. Indians are loved as most of them come to Ethiopia as teachers. I for example had a mathematics teacher and he was a great ”.

His eyes turned nostalgic, he was returning to his school days. He came back to the present with a shrug of his shoulders “There are possibilities of doing research, consultancy  and there could be chances of getting paid extra for taking extension classes” He explained to me that extension classes are classes  that are held in the evening and on Saturday and Sunday for working people. There are like our distance or part time courses.

Everything sounded nice. I piped in “sir, what about air conditioning, would the University provide air conditioners too”. The VP guffawed “Don’t worry sir, the entire country is air conditioned. Trust me, you will never use air-conditioners. Not even ceiling fans are needed. You will wish some times that you are back in Hyderabad, which is so warm and sunny”. I didn’t get what he meant, but let it go. Dilli bahut door hai – meaning that nothing is final – as yet. The interview got over. I thanked the panel for their valuable time and left.  

Foerign Teaching Assignment - To go or Not to go - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post - 5.

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Two years slipped off and before we knew, 2002 set in. Promotions in CBIT were a long drawn process as it had huge faculty strength and out of turn promotions were unheard of. One needs to be patient and if all the stars in the celestial world line up in our favour, one might get a promotion! There are cases of faculty who joined as Assistant Professors and have retired as Senior Grade Associate Professors! That is one promotion in over 30 years of service!

We at School of Management Studies (SMS) were facing the same dilemma. SMS had many young Assistant Professors and I was the 3^rd senior most among them. At the head of the pile was Dr. M. Kasi Reddy a CBIT veteran, who joined in the year 1984 and was the senior most among us. Next in line was Dr.Vidyanath and he too was a worthy candidate for an Associate Professor promotion.

There was excitement in the air. The Press notification for promotions was out. Dr.M.Kasi Reddy and Dr.Vidyanath applied. Dr.P.Narayana Reddy asked me to apply. I was reluctant as I did not have a PhD degree at that time. He advised me to apply as I had ten years industrial experience and told me that it might be considered.

So I took a Rs 100/- Demand Draft and applied. I was not even called for the interview. Dr.Vidyanath was called for the Interview but was not offered an Associate Professorship and Dr.M.Kasi Reddy was called, interviewed and given a post of Associate Professor.

As I was not expecting anything I took the issue on its own merit. It was water off a duck’s back. It did not matter. But somehow Dr.Vidyanath was deeply hurt. He felt that at least he merited counseling by the management as to why his candidature was rejected. But alas, it was not forth coming.

Dr.Vidyanath started applying to reputed institutes, universities and for foreign assignments. I was not very interested but as our rooms were adjacent to each other, Dr.Vidyanath told me where he was applying and I always gave him a patient hearing.

CBIT was very far away from the city and our life line was the CBIT staff bus. The staff bus left the campus at 1610 and would drop me at Banjara Hills by around 1700 hours. Sometimes I used to thumb a ride with Dr.Vidyanath who had a LML Vespa scooter. It was great fun riding pillion with Dr.Vidyanath.

PEDA campus, Bahirdar University, Bahirdar.

On that fateful day which was incidentally my birthday (23^rd April) I tagged along with Dr.Vidyanath.  Dr.Vidyanath drove down to a placement agency, Global Placements at Somajiguda, Raj Bhavan Road. The place was buzzing with activity. Many aspirants were queuing up. I was told that it was the last day to apply for faculty positions at government universities in Ethiopia.

I sat in a sofa and waited for Dr.Vidyanath to finish his process of applying.  I grabbed the attention of the CEO of Global Placements who was watching me from his glass paned office. May be I was the only guy looked bored and not very interested!  He called me in “young man, what are you doing?” “Nothing, I was waiting for my friend to finish off the application process”.

I think the confidence in my voice shook him. He shot back “are you not interested in a foreign assignment?” “why not, but I have no idea about Ethiopia’ was the casual answer. The owner was at his wits end, he was exasperated “Young man, Ethiopia is a great place to go and work. The applications are being sought for faculty positions in Government Universities. These are new universities and they want the best faculty available. These positions are sponsored by a fund created by UN Development Project specially created to uplift educational standards in the horn of Africa. Foreign teaching experience is highly coveted and adds lot of weight to the resume. Why don’t you apply?” “I don’t have a bio-data ready” “I suppose you can go and get it by 1700 hours, if it is not a big bother” He was getting tired of me and getting sarcastic too.

At this point of time I let it go, he was getting touchy. I went back to my residence in  Banjara hills rustled up my resume and got out one of my photographs, dusted it, pasted it on the resume attached the requisite certificates,  went back to Global Placements and submitted my application. I had fresh memory of applying and not getting called for an interview (what happened at CBIT!).  No Big deal. 

CBIT, Gandipet, Jo Piya Gandipet Ka Paani, woh Hogaya Hyderabadi! - Ethiopian Journey - Post no - 4.

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CBIT in the late nineties was a beautiful place. The Minute we left Lunger House, there was lush green fields everywhere. Artillery centre maintained the locality after Lunger House in a pristine condition and after the military area there was a small village like Narsinghi and after Narsinghi were lush fields again till CBIT campus.

Adjoining CBIT, Gandipet  is a small village Kokapet. It had many small land holdings. Even till the 2001-2002 one could drive off the road and enter into agricultural fields full of crops about to be harvested. There were water ponds and birds chirping everywhere and lots of hay stacks to lie and relax. It was a place that me and Y. Srinivasa Rao used to frequent. But it was a paradise that was being threatened.  

Our attender at SMS was from Kokapet. From a small sleepy town Kokapet it suddenly was in lime light first due to the emergence of CBIT and later due to the steep rise in real-estate prices in and around Hyderabad. The real estate sharks smelt an opportunity. They zeroed in on Kokapet and suddenly the marginal farmers started getting unbelievable offers for their meager land holding of 1 and two acres of land. The prices went through the roof.

Many enterprising owners sold their land at astronomical prices and that is where the troubles started. Most of them used to subsistence farming techniques and did not know any other trade. Some of them worked in CBIT as attenders in offices and in the various laboratories. The sudden riches hit them hard.

Our attender was morosely staring at the ground. I asked him “Hey, what happened?”. “Sir” he replied “the real estate boom is a curse. Earlier we were happily growing palakura (spinach) and we were happy and contented.

Now my dad has become a drunkard, my brother picked up a mistress and that is not the end sir. I recently bought a red Maruti 800 and parked it in front of my house. My buffalo not liking the car kicked it so hard that it had to be towed away for repairs”.

I was thunder struck, how grippingly had this attender explained the sudden rush of riches! His small universe has crashed. He and his community have been corrupted and his innocence has been lost forever. He is plagued with new problems whose depth he can’t even fathom!

Once at CBIT I was conducting some mock interviews. One of my pet questions is “if you are offered a job in Timbuktu, would you accept the offer?” Most students would get stumped by the question. First of all they do not know what or where is Timbuktu. They struggle to answer.  Timbuktu is a popular slang word used very often in the corporate world. “Oh any place including Timbuktu, transfer me to Timbuktu etc".  It is any location inconveniently far away, the middle of nowhere.

Surprise of surprises there is actually a place called Timbuktu. It is Timbuktu also spelt as Tinbuktu, Timbuctoo and Timbuktoo and it is an ancient city in Mali, situated 20 km (12 mi) north of the Niger river.  It is a place that is very hot and to be very frank not a place where many desire to work.

When thrown this question, many students appear stunned, they give vague answers, many refuse to answer, some refuse to go to Timbuktu and some even say that they would ask their parents before they give an answer. All the above answers are wrong.

I expect post graduate students to take decisions on their own and instantaneously. There is no time to lose. There is another guy waiting to snap at the offer. The ideal answers are “Yes I would like to consider the offer, I would be glad to work anywhere in the world, I am mobile and willing to go”. 

The answer that all interviewers love is “I am ready. Here is my passport. It you give me a ticket I am willing to fly tomorrow”. Bang on, you bagged yourself a nice juicy Job! 

Chaithanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) – a name to reckon with! - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post no - 2.

Chaithanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) – a name to reckon with!

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January 1^st of 2000 came and went. Nothing new happened. No earth shattering events. The world did not end. I was not very sure whether Poornima was happy or sad!  It was business as usual. All of us slipped back into our own very mundane and regular work schedule. Class Preparation, classwork, assignments, tests, paper corrections, declaring the results and so on. Time was slipping away.

Chaithanya Bharathi institute of Technology, CBIT as it was popularly called was one of the first privately managed engineering colleges in the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh. Due to its premier status it attracted bright students and equally bright and competent faculty. 

Located at Gandipet it was the dream destination of young engineering aspirants who wanted to carve themselves a name in the field of Engineering. As a well thought our strategy CBIT added Management education to the array of educational services that it provides. School of Management studies (SMS) as it was popularly called was established in the year 1996 and I was offered a faculty position at SMS in the year 1997.

CBIT alumni have excelled in many fields. Envious of their success one student from another engineering college had once commented “You CBIT GUYS! You are so many in California that the area that you reside should be called CBIT Avenue”.

Shekhar Kammula remains one of CBIT’s favorite son. A mechanical engineer by profession, Sekhar Kammula is an ace director who immortalized CBIT throughout the world with his movie “Happy days (2007)”.

CBIT’s principal at that time was Prof Ramachandra Reddy. Prof Ramachandra Reddy was a stickler for rules and behaviour. Impeccable and nattily dressed Prof Ramachandra Reddy would indulge in his daily routine that the students feared – the beat!

The beat would commence at 0940 hours and he along with some other faculty members, would slowly go around the campus and catch errant students who were bunking the classes. Under graduate students of B.Tech would run helter and skelter the minute they saw Prof Ramachandra Reddy. If they were caught, they had it. They were made to stand in front of the principal’s office, their ID card was confiscated and their parents would be called and informed about their ward’s behaviour.

But our Post graduate students of MBA were made of sterner stuff. They would retreat deeper and deeper into CBIT (CBIT’s campus was spread over 100 acres). But Prof Ramachandra Reddy had a very dogged determination. He would pursue them and it was a cat and a mouse game. One day when I was part of the beat, Prof Ramachandra Reddy cornered three or four students in their lair, the canteen.

Prof Ramachandra Reddy indignantly demanded “why the hell are you not in the class?” One of the Post Graduate girl students, Shyamala responds nonchalantly “I am a MBA student”. As if it is birth right of MBA students not to attend classes! The flippant answer caught Prof Ramachandra Reddy completely off guard. Of course the student was suitably counseled later on, but the sheer audacity of the answer blew my mind away.