Chennai MRTS and surrounding land-use

This is a case-study of Chennai MRTS system's Chepauk station done in 2001. The purpose of the study was to identify issues that caused under-utilization of the MRTS system. The biggest reasons identified were the land-use pattern around the facility, lack of direct connectivity to the facility and lack of inter-modal transportation facilities. This study epitomizes the current land-use and environmental problems in Chennai, and provides a clue to sustainable development patterns in the city of Chennai.

Changing culture in India...

is this going the right way???

From the ground up...

http://www.sustainableworldarchitecture.com/

Enterprise v. Employment

Wal-Mart has certainly faced many darts for eating away mom and pop stores in small town America. The open capitalistic market led to the creation of a scale of business that enabled true 'economics of scale', and the result is that Wal-Mart has been able to sustain its profitability even while consistently providing goods at low prices to the market. From the consumer's perspective, it has been a dream come true, though it has come at the cost of the neighbor's business. Come to think of it, the neighbor would never have been able to provide the variety of goods and services at the same rate to be competitive with Wal-Mart. Is this economics of scale creating a pseudo socialism, or is it capitalism at its best?

Even though Wal-Mart may have cannibalized the mom and pop stores, what it has done to small town America is something that a neighborhood store can never provide. That is access to the national money market. By using profit sharing strategies for their employees, the company has provided opportunities for the employees to retire in greater wealth than they would if they had owned their own store. This access to a nationwide profit stream not only benefits the employees, it ensures that money reaches the small towns and enables economic development at the grass root levels.

The other positive aspect of this phenomenon is that goods no longer have to be pigeon-holed into specific markets based on geographic limitations, and true demand and supply logistics can balance the production economics of any product. In a way, it eases the burden on the environment and ecological imbalance in certain areas. The applicability of the concept is huge in terms of a developing country's grass roots market.

The imbalance in economic development between the rural and urban areas in developing countries is too apparent, causing a natural beeline towards the high pressure areas. While the biggest economic opportunities are concentrated in the urban areas, the rural areas resort to agriculture and small scale industries to make ends meet. The wealth generated from these products are low due to the vernacular market conditions, while the urban areas create products that have national or international markets, and hence have higher profit potential.

The centralized procurement system of Wal-Mart combined with the marketing potential created by a brand name opens out the market for locally produced goods to areas way beyond the geographical constraints of the local market. This strategy has multiple advantages as far as the small town producers are concerned - mitigates risks at the grass root level, increases profit potential and provides growth opportunities - thereby enabling sustainable development in the area.

Not only this, it also provides employment opportunities in spades in traditionally weak employment zones. And, with the wealth creation opportunities provided by profit sharing, this is a career path that can help sustain a substantial livelihood in non-urban areas in developing countries, hitherto unheard of. Majority of any developing country's population is still rural, and this majority still depends on agriculture and small scale cottage industries to provide a livelihood, with very little to no employment opportunities that can provide a comparable lifestyle to that available in a city. Moreover, urban jobs require a certain level of education which is still inaccessible to many rural areas. Migration to cities which seems a natural way out leads to unemployment issues, and the frustrated and dejected unemployed people resort to crime or are subject to abject poverty, detestable life in slums and lack of spirit in participating in the democratic process.

The biggest thing in common to most problems faced at the grass root level in a developing country is access to opportunity for development. It is not easily available, and the governments can only do so much as far as providing opportunities are concerned, due to the traditional paucity of funds and larger than manageable population to provide for. Political inertia and corruption may be cited as bigger reasons for this imbroglio. Whatever the reasons, the result is that a large majority of the population has to resort to self-employment to find a means of livelihood. Self-employment brings with it its own perils, and an extremely constrained market adds to the risks of operating a business.

This is where the dichotomy of enterprise v. employment springs up in the path of creating sustainable development. In an economy where enterprise is chosen for wealth creation and employment is chosen for sustained livelihood, a majority of the population that are not risk takers, or are not in a position to take a risk can thrive. In the developing countries where employment opportunities are low, however, the scenario is such that enterprise is seen as a means of survival while employment is seen as a means of sustained livelihood and small wealth creation. This distortion brings economic tensions and economic imbalance to the fore and hinders the progress of the development process.

Also, by increasing cash flow through traditionally poor communities, new markets and new consumers are being created, and in a capitalistic market, the higher the number of consumers, the higher the profit potential. Thus, by decentralizing economic opportunity away from the urban centers, nations can create an open market conducive to profitable businesses as well. Also, by enabling opportunities for social and cultural emancipation for the majority of the population, it creates an upbeat democracy that believes in the democratic process and creates stronger governments chosen for the right reasons.

Wal-Mart may not be everyone's favorite store, but the potential the concept creates for sustainable development in developing countries is huge. By providing opportunities for the right mix of enterprise v. employment through a demand-supply process rather than a political process, it is capitalism at its very best providing for social, cultural and economic development at the grass roots.

The bell curve

Diversity in human society is not a racial phenomenon. It is more a product of the human sixth sense, response to stimuli. Even within a single person’s response mechanism there is enough diversity to be plotted on a bell curve. At the end of the day, life is a bell curve and any claims of success can be represented by a measurement. There is power in numbers, and the bell curve represents that. What would be apparent through plotting the journey of a lifetime on a bell curve is that the flanges on the left and flanges on the right would be freak shows, more a factor of acting out of the skin or acting out of the mind. The remaining curve represents the true thought process behind the achievement. Self-discipline, technique and personal organization governs the shape of the bell, be it a person’s life, a sports career, a company or a country.

Put in business parlance, diversity in the performance of the company is a given, given the myriad stimuli of the myriad people who make things happen. The left and right flanges can be again counted as freak shows that cannot be mathematically modeled, or brought under disciplinary rules. The rest of the curve represents the process, and the people that can be influenced by the process. The success of a company can then be modeled by the success of the process in place. Assuming the right side of the curve to be greater than the left side of the curve, if the bell curve tends to the right, progress is being made and the company and its people are moving in the right direction. If the bell curve tends to the left, the process needs to be revisited. This may seem like a mathematical representation of the scientific theory of management, but, the difference is that this is not a static production goals theory but a measure of sustainable development of the company. It is more a measure of the opportunities provided within the company’s framework for sustainable development. The more the tendency towards sustainable development, the more the bell curve would tend to the right.

For the progress of an individual, a society, a company or a country, sustainable development is the key. Sustainable development is defined as ‘providing opportunity for simultaneous and continuous economic, environmental and cultural development over generations’. For the sake of this discussion, with the scope limited to one lifetime, the words ‘over generations’ can be substituted with ‘in diverse conditions’. The 80-20 rule is synonymous with the bell-curve philosophy, and with a sustainable process, the 80% ratio is being influenced. The better the self-discipline, technique and personal organization, the better would be the influence and control on 80% of situations faced in life. The better the processes in a company, the better would be the influence and control over 80% of the success achieved by the company.

In conclusion, success can be measured in mathematical terms, the numbers tell a story, and the story is that of a sustainable practice represented in the form of a bell curve.

Indian Economy, Indian Society and Indian Cricket...

There is a deep correlation between the Indian economy, the current trends of the Indian society and Indian cricket. Instant gratification, and not long term goals, is the governing principle, and sadly, the quality of the product is affected in each case.

In the desperate need for new heroes we hype the hell out of initial sparks…. Look at Indian cinema…. It took Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth years of hard work to be named super stars….. But, today, it takes one hit film to be named a super star... What is Dhanush doing these days, apart from living in the shadow of Rajinikanth??? His one or two hit films seem a distant memory to all the crap thats on show these days...

Cricket is the same thing…….. One good series, and you are the next Sunil Gavaskar….. did we not say that of SS Das? Does anyone remember him now?

Be it the economy or our cricket, we seem to be banking on natural talent and sparks of glory to put us on the remarkable trend we are seeing recently.... cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar are a gift... someone like Rahul Dravid is our Godsend message... If we can concentrate on processes and religiously stick to sustainable practices to attain long term goals, we can build a great colossus in the midst of talented genii like Sachin Tendulkar....

The watchword in India should be 'Sustainability'.. Infrastructure is expensive and human resources are invaluable... building the two so that every generation have their Vishys, Kapils, Azhars, Sachins, Souravs (for his flamboyant captaincy) and most importantly the Dravids, Kumbles and Gavaskars endlessly should be the answer to most of the issues.... the former being the list of flair players and the latter being the method players…

There is an identity crisis in India right now, and the sooner India wakes up to this fact, the better it is going to be for all concerned. It is imperative that a long term plan be put in place, with milestones identified and the country work towards it as a whole... This is a critical period in the development of the country and indeed in the survival of the human race, and India has a critical role in this puzzle.

The Indian economy needs to get over the economic growth fad and invest into economic development, put otherwise, it needs to make sure that the economy expands not through a couple of sectors but achieves more inclusive growth from all sectors. Indian cricket needs to get over making money thru TV rights and build the product up to standards. Indian cinema, well well well... the lesser said about that, the better... The identity crisis is so apparent in the kind of movies that are box office hits!!! Whats more to say to that??? For all this to happen, the political fabric needs to be revisited, especially at the local government level, and widespread awareness campaigns need to be launched to educate everyone on the perils of the current trends in Indian society.