By Jaisurya Das
Ladies and Gentleman, Welcome back to Dear MxM!
This may sound strange but I do think it important to compliment the government agencies and departments for  their efforts and this is exactly what I am doing today. Yes, it’s a first time for me too.
Pune’s roads are far from comfortable any longer, in fact they pretty much
resemble the surface of the moon. Well no, I haven’t been there, but Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did vouch for this terrain!
Backbreaking commute it’s been post the first few spells of rain, and
as expected, the city woke up to a revolution of sorts with every media
vehicle in town plastering their pages with these craters and horror stories of what it’s doing to everyone. All of this is true, every bit of it.
What is also true is that the Helpine set up by the PMC ( Pune Municipal Corporation ) works! This was put into place recently to hear complaints from citizens and action urgent repairs to roads.
As always me and my curious self decided to try this and was pleasantly
surprised to hear a pleasant female voice who offered to hear my grouse. She spoke English, took my phone number and the road details. She was quick to inform me quite confidently at that on how the concerned engineer from the PMC will call me within the day to get details and action the work. I left it at that. I was impressed already.
As luck would have it, I did get a call from the engineer in one hour flat
informing me that this particular road was managed by the PWD (Public Works Department) and hence out of bounds for PMC. He promised however to inform the PWD about this road.
You have to give it to Kunal Kumar (Commissioner – PMC) for this initiative.
It’s a different matter that this departmental red tape couldn’t be severed and the PMC and the PWD and whoever else do not work together..
Give the man credit. He is actually listening to the on-ground emotion, be it roads, water or sanitation. He seems to be trying hard to have the PMC streamline these concerns. Long long way to go am sure, but this is certainly a good beginning, Mr Commissioner!
We probably need a dozen Kunal Kumars before there is a perceptible difference in the way we live in our city, but that’s not in our control.
Or is it? Maybe it’s just about publicly acknowledging good work by the government. For some strange reason, we hate complimenting good work and effort when it comes to these folks.
Unfortunately for most of us, criticism runs in the bloodstream. Â Time for transfusion I would imagine.
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On that promising note of change, i take you straight to questions from our readers for this week all the way from Coimbatore, Lucknow and Delhi.
Read on my friends..
Successive generations in my family have been into sales, and so I am also expected to get into sales. But i don’t want to. I want to join an ad agency as a visualiser. Some in my family think I should get my head examined. That’s an unfair comment. How do I convince that I am not on the wrong path?
Yes that’s really unfair. You ought to get your head and tail examined! Okay, jokes apart, I completely see your point.
A family legacy in a trade does help but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have no other options with respect to your career..
I strongly believe that all of us are born with unique traits and strengths that often get buried thanks to society and family pressures. Some of us however were lucky to have been left on our own to dive into mistakes and to learn to jump out of them in the nick of time.
I know this sounds like a stuck record, but craft will find its space!
If you believe you have what it takes to be a great visualiser, listen to your heart and work towards that.
Do remember though that every craft needs to be painstakingly built on and no one is born legendary. Success is a science. Interest and passion alone cant get you anywhere. It’s a long mile to walk and each step takes acumen and effort.
Flaunt your craft and soon it will gain acceptance if it deserves the merit you believe it has.
All the best, to you my friend.
Is it advisable to get into a start-up quitting the job in hand ? Do you have to give the venture your hundred percent?
To be honest, am not too sure what the dilemma is all about. If it’s about how much you need to give in terms of effort to a startup then my answer is 150 percent.
Startups need passion, belief and immense faith in the promoters for it to make sense for anyone. People who join startups are a different breed and for them its about learning and experiencing the ups and downs of a fledgling company..
Somewhere in the midst of this madness, the passionate find their love… Maybe it’s the work, the freedom, the people, the environment or just the headiness of innovation and belief in the ventures success.
I wouldn’t advise this move unless you have implicit confidence in your ability to stay focussed when left alone. You need to dream every minute of your day at work. Dream of the tomorrow that you own…
It takes grit to make it big and taking the risk of joining a startup is just the beginning..
Sir, I am a Tamilian and I would like to know the potential of working in Tamil media in counties like Singapore and Malaysia where there is a large Tamizh population.
Thanks for writing in to us at Dear MxM. We are happy to see Coimbatore coming onto our reader map!
Coming to your question,Tamil media is essentially broadcast focussed in these countries and comprise of a few channels that are in the entertainment and music genre.
From what I recollect, Malaysia has a few channels that include Astro Vanavil
(Tamil Entertainment) and Astro Box office (Tamil movies). Â Singapore follows with TV12 Vannitharai and Vasantham.
In fact, Sri Lanka also has a decent bouquet too with Shakthi, SLRC , Vamam and Vasantham part of the government-owned ITV network.
There is potential though am not too sure how they go about hiring people
for their broadcast companies. If you are keen on this, it would be sensible
to visit your shortlisted country and meet the hiring managers and consultants
who can then help you find your dream job.
I have heard of a leading news company retaining an intern for 8 months without confining him and without paying him a penny. Is this permissible by law?
Yes, this is permissible and it all depends on the terms of agreement/ internship that has been mutually signed upon. An intern at an organisation is not an employee and hence does not fall under the purview of any employment law or legislation with respect to the duration of his/ her internship.
Furthermore, an intern is rarely given a contract of sorts and hence
isn’t protected by the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act of India-1970.
It may be prudent to mention that here that most organisations discuss the internship in detail with the concerned intern who is made fully aware of the duration of internship, work assessment and prospects post this period.
As you may have figured, there could be several reasons for extended
internships and it would be inappropriate on our part to question the rationale
behind this eight-month stint.
Having said that it’s about time I say Goodbye and also take this
opportunity to wish you all a wonderful weekend!
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Soak those tired feet into a tub of warm water while you sip on your favourite cooler. Believe me, this does wonders to your body and mind!
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And yes, feel free to mail me on editor@mxmindia.com Just in case you have forgotten, superscribe ‘Dear MxM’ and your ‘City’ in the subject line.
Jaisurya Das, the maverick media-evangelist eats, sleeps and romances brands..
His cerebral consulting interventions are aimed at making brands powerful and sustainable. He is Contributing Editor, MxMIndia and co-founder of www.pune365.com; Need more information on his work? Do visit www.xanadu.co.in.The views expressed in this column are his own.