Jaago re! the online initiative of Tata tea, that started off with a bang.

I was initially extremely happy & on the recommendation of a couple of friends signed up with enthusiasm in December.

Impressive is the only word I could describe the initial experience. The details were entered, form printed; information of dates etc. was prompt, being emailed, text.

Finally, the ground realities - Tried calling up the versova election office where vague postal address was given. The numbers were disconnected (probably bill not paid by the election officer). The reason of wanting to call instead of going personally was the expectation built up; metro work stopping/diverting vehicular traffic on an already One way. After a week or so, managed to get through - ” Bhavans College ke baaju mein, kisiko bhi puuncho”.

Off I went, vehicular traffic made it impossible to park, so back again.

A couple of a days later went in a Rik. A Q extending all the way back….After some 45 minutes, when my turn came, I was informed that this window catered to Versova 165 whereas I had to go to Versova 164. Hot, tired & having to go another place, I left.

Today March 17, 2009 went all geared up, dressed casually, carrying a Cap, in a rickshaw.

Saw the outside, people sitting……

After being shunted a couple of times; managed to get in the line at the correct window. There were a dozen & half people ahead of me, most of them carrying a sheaf/bunch of forms to my 2 forms:) Upon asking, I was told that they organized the forms in proper order & helped people (brokers or party workers in simple terms). After nearly an hour of standing in the heat, reached the window, with just one person in front of me; who had some 50 forms. And there was a discussion going on - “Date barobar nahi hai”; “School leaving certificate nahi hai”; “Ration Card mein Zaheer likha hai, idhar Zaheeda hai” - made one think whether the people named on the forms exist or not.

Finally a compromise was reached, when the party worker said - “Aap form acknowledge kar lo” mein yeh sab leke aata hoon! AND I am like WTF……

Anyway, MY TURN…..the gentleman gets up & disappears…….whilst I am just looking at the window & inside……

The long Q behind me starts shouting at me - “Where is he?; When is he coming?; What happened? etc” Anger & humor both hit me at the same time - I mean, how am I supposed to know….or answer any of these.

Finally I asked the other gentleman who was sitting on the table behind the window to get a sarcastic answer - “Aapke samne toh gaya hai! Insaan hai, thak jaata hai:) Great in just 1.30 min of work he is tired & we are supposed to stand outside in the sun:)

So, he returns, looks at my forms & informs me - these won’t work. Yeh sab internet wallah form nahi jalega. Politely & humorously utilizing my entire vocabulary of Marathi (25-30 word & 5 sentences) manage to understand the following:

1) Jaago re forms are for our use & not Election Office.

2)  If you wish, you can attach 1 photograph on the form & 1 photograph on the other form (which they give) & submit.

3) You need to have a Pan Card or Driving Licence copy attached.

4) You need to have a Ration Card copy with your name or Passport Copy with your name for address proof.

DUH! DUH! Why both??? Pan Card & Driving Licence do not have complete address so the other is required! But If Ration Card is there, then why? - Names are unclear on the ration card:)

5) AND then you need to get a COPY of VOTERS CARD from any one in your building/society; since then only it become easy for them….

6) After all this you need to get all this attested by a Special Executive Magistrate - helpfully, if you do not have then they are sitting outside also!!!!

If nobody in the building or society does not have a Voters Card; then you cannot vote!!!!

So any way, returned after an enlightening 4 hours spent there. During this time was also tweeting this information, where in my friend @TusharG has the following advice

@anaggh The best way to get on to the Voters list is to go to Tehsildar’s office spend 30 min and walk out with list of requirements.

(Sure but it is not likely to be different than what this guy has given me)

@anaggh Next best go to your MLA, Corporator or MP’s office and ask them to help enrole you, no hassles.

(@TusharG Even worse, The F…..s are never available)

@anaggh Worst thing Jagore is doing is they arn’t informing that those who register after 1st Jan 2009 will not be alowed to vote in this election. They may not be able to vote in the Assembly elections later this year.

It is surprising to see Jaago re! claiming 450711 awakened all india & some 105000 approx awakened in Mumbai with the target of 1 billion votes —— something is not working somewhere.

So there ends the story - Will keep this updated!!! In the meantime enjoy the photographs as well as the form!!!!

Related Websites : MumbaiVotes; Praja; Agni; NO Criminals

I am sure, Gandhiji must be smiling his gentle smile up in the heavens.

Just imagine the kind of difference he made for Capitalists during Recession.

Orkut, Chirkut, Facebook, all the social media gurus, bloggers (including yours truly) climbed on the band wagon to write about him - thereby leading to free content, advertisements, subscriptions & what have you.

Debates, calls made money for the phone companies.

Media had a field day for a while when there were no news around….so some jobs were saved for a couple of months.

Principles, Values were/are being heavily debated, so probably some more jobs would be saved since some employers would want to be considered gandhian.

AND just like the reality shows…..post acquisition of the items by Mr. Mallaya….who did not/does not claim to be gandhian follower, so on & forth (enough has been written about him already) there are a lot of text messages floating around….

Sushmay, Dilip, Ashwin, Suresh, Ian, Manny, Vijay, Deepak, Anil, Mohan & many others have been contributing to the coffers of Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, etc.

Gandhi hated liquor his whole life, but liquor king brought his memories back to India. What a contribution from people who drink alcohol. Three cheers

Gandhiji advocated Prohibition, But we needed a liquor baron to bring back his things to India! JAI HO for the craziest place on earth!! 02 Oct NOW KINGFISHER DAY

Dr. Vijay Mallya should now lead a “Malt March to Sabarmati Ashram to lift prohibition in Gujarat. JAI HO!

Gandhiji hated liquor for whole life. But liquor king brought gandhi memories back to India. What a contribution of our people who drink. Thanks for drinking…..Sar uthake peeo.

After Mallaya’s heroic rescue of India’s honor, 2nd October will no longer be a dry day…..:)

Besides the coffers filling in, it was interesting to see the creativity, communication skills employed & at least this year he shall be remembered for more days!!!

Also how does it matter what business Mr. Mallaya is???? Personally I did not hear/see any of the so call principled, gandhian hypocrites trying anything remotely…..maybe I am not privy to such things; maybe they sponsored Mallaya….one does not know.

But this one conveys my thoughts clearly

Indians want Gandhiji’s valuables, But not his VALUES

And Bapu has the last laugh:) after all NALAYAK BETA HI KAAM AATA HAI..!

For the past 35 - 40 years, except in schools, text books & government offices, MKG; Gandhiji; Bapu; Father of the nation either remained in textbooks, songs, walls & part time teachings.

In the school, text book had chapters devoted to history of independence, teachings of bapu, values, which neither the teachers acknowledged nor students remembered after the bell signaling the period was over.

The songs were practiced & sung during the assembly, a week before republic day; independence day or 2nd October & then forgotten.

The book sellers made merry every year.

The portraits hung on every wall of the government offices made many a painter, photographer, frame maker wealthy. A lot of good, bad & evil was conducted beneath his eyes, which accepted everything, just as it probably did when alive.

Whatever the reasons, government, relatives, friends, foes, well wishers fought over his meager possessions, not giving a damn whether he would have approved of it or not.

Then OTIS struck…….All of a sudden, everyone who had forgotten him, relegated him to the background for 350 days in a year started acknowledging him, his worth, claiming that they were following his principles, values ready to bring back his possessions back to India!!!

In the heat of the moment, money was pledged, collected, social activism armchair, online, offline gathered momentum (hey, I was also a part of it, but for no other reason than a friend Tushar’s passion).

Some people raised questions, relevant, irrelevant…..

Why did we not plan?
Why does the government not intervene?
What purpose would it serve?

so on & on……..

But watching from the sidelines, Bapu was laughing at all these hypocrites……because he never believed in keeping his possessions close to his chest, remember he gave all of it away.

Unfortunately, nobody asked him but he would have said ” Vijay, save your money - either do good with it or keep enjoying life, but do not waste it on my possessions”

The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than be saved by criticism

Opening my Linkedin homepage & saw Mohit Nigam asking the question - Why every Retail Group wish to take the opportunity of recession to reduce their manpower instead of uniting team to fight with vigor to grow his organisation?

My take on this -

Playing the Devil’s advocate here - What would you prefer? shutting down the business finally due to financial losses or at least continuing with less people who are happy for the time being.

But there is a chicken & egg situation here. Sometimes the Top Down & sometimes the Bottom Up is what creates the problem.

E.G. Whilst launching the Business Model during good times, it is the top who at times forces an extremely optimistic view, leading to projected high growth thereby leading to over recruitment (maybe more than 20% also) reasons being cited - as varied as training takes time; competition shall take them away; we are very  aggressive. AND sometimes it the front level managers who think/are on a fast growth (not realizing that whatever goes up comes down - maybe faster at times) want to impress, consolidate, rise in their position project the future as Rosy….till the thorns hit.

Here it is also a fact that during recession, why do employees get more conscientious of their duties, time & are willing to go the extra mile WHEREAS earlier the same employees would be extremely insistent on a host of things.

So it cannot be a blanket statement - There are Bad Apples on both sides & this has to be kept in mind.

It is an Immutable Law in business that words are words, explanations are explanation, promises are promises- But Only Perfomance is Reality..

Posted via email from anaggh’s posterous