Digitalization - sweeping into every part of life

Some days back I went to see a doctor in a famous chain of a clinic in my neighborhood. Generally my experience here have been good as they try to cater to customer's(read patients) pain points which they face in bigger hospitals. Doctors here listen to patients, give them sufficient time, explain diagnosis and finally do not suggest too many unnecessary medicines or test.

Coming back to this visit, it was little different in terms of how doctor was writing the prescription. Clinic has introduced a new software to have the digital prescription. First doctor examines and starts entering the symptoms from the drop down menu or in various columns. Next was the diagnosis which was also entered from the drop down menu. Next came the medicines and tests, again all from the menu. Although there was space provided to add something other then what menu provides. Then the prescription is printed and signed by the doctor. In the next visit, doctor just pulls all clinical history from the system.

It was my first experience with such system and this led me thinking that every corner of our life is getting affected by digitalization. But every digitalization process does not always mean its best for all, it has its own drawbacks too. For this particular case I feel:

- For patients 

1. Digital prescription is a better read option than doctor's handwriting. I could not read most of the doctor's writings.

2. The personal touch which patient gets when doctor writes the prescription while talking to patient has gone low in this case. 

- For doctor

1. There is lot of training required for the doctor's to get used to such system. Specially for experienced doctors who have been writing prescription for long time, learning new system at  advance age might be little difficult. I don't know if all doctors are computer savy.

2. Do they also loose the personal touch which they feel when they write the prescription ?

3. It is more time consuming than writing directly on the paper. 

4. It does have an advantage by giving hints to doctor on the procedure of diagnosis bringing in the standardization. 

- For clinic 

1. Digital form of prescription helps in tracking the case or in general to keep a record. 

2. Lots of data analysis can happen with information available in system. 

3. Conserves paper to an extent only as prescription given to patient still needs to be printed. 

I know digitalization is the way forward and definitely helps the clinic but how about patient or the doctor, how will they adapt to such change, what are your views?

Is there any other solution which can cater to all parties involved ?

Sportsmanship spirit of life

2 weeks back we saw the end of the biggest sport festival RIO Olympic 2016. We saw great legends like Micheal Phel, Usain Bolt perform and win various medals, saw records getting broken, saw sportsmen getting emotional after winning first medal for their country, saw various sportsmen just losing by less than a milli second. Above all these, we observed traits of true sportsmanship in each and every participant. To highlight a few, when American Abbey D’Agostino convinced and helped New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin to complete 5KM race after she got hurt in her leg and fell down.  Another example, of Chinese player Sun Yanan who played against the Vinesh Phogat in 48kg freestyle wrestling where Vinesh got hurt badly and the match was stopped in middle. Sun Yanan did not celebrate her victory and also carried Vinesh’s bag when she was taken on stretcher out of the stadium. There are various such examples which can be observed in the history of Olympic or for that matter any sport event. Other than the 3 medal awarded for the best 3 performers, there is a 4^th type of medal awarded for showcasing true sportsmanship that was awarded to Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin.

In the corporate world too, various traits of the sportsmanship can be inculcated to improve the culture and over all team work. I have few things which comes to top of my mind

1. Be a team player: In any team sports, team goal is what’s there in each player’s mind. They keep their personal goals behind that of the team. Similarly, while working in the team, each one should collaborate, respect each other, put personal goals behind and work for the team.

2. Give your best shot: In any sport, everyone gives their 200% so as to respect each other’s effort and together reach their goal of winning. Similarly, in a team one should give their best possible effort, else it would be disrespecting the others. In various sport, person compete with themselves only, they try to do better than they did last time. If similar traits are shown by each in improving their quality of work better than yesterday, it will make the team progress faster.

3. Discipline: Sports require person to be very disciplined with respect to the exercise routine, rules and regulations of the game, respecting each other’s time. In corporate life too such discipline is must. One should not take each other’s time for granted and respect each day’s work.

4. Celebrate the accomplishments: Sports team celebrate victory in different ways. Each milestone achieved at work place should also be celebrated. This helps to keep a check on the moral of the team. Another important aspect to remember in winning times is to never lose the humility because winning does not mean one is the best, there is always a scope for improvement.

5. Learn from the loss: Team when loses in any sport, they do not sit back and get depressed about it. But they take loss, ponder upon their mistake and come back in a new improved version. Similarly, in corporate world when team loses, they should look back on where they went wrong, what could have been done better. There is no time to get demotivated and waste but to come back with more experience and motivation.

Thus playing a sport does not only tell us about the sport and its rules, but it teaches us far more important lessons of life. As a kid we indulge in various sports, but as kids grow up, not many of them continue with those sports. They get trapped in the vicious circle of study->result->study. I don’t think studies in any way can be compromised, but playing some sport will not only help in keeping fit mentally and physically but also make them fit to face other races of life.  

Play sport not only to make a career out of it but to inculcate it in one’s career of life.

Healthy way of snacking

In various super stores or the grocery shops in our locality, I observed that atleast 1 or 2 shelves which earlier stored chocolates or other snacking items are now stacked with health, nutrition or protein bars. There are many companies venturing into this new market like a local brand Yogabar or a global company Ritebite.  I have indulged myself into these health bars when needed to quickly fill stomach on the go and found them quite good. 

This led us to the idea of making the health bars at home. Our parents have been telling us from our childhood days to eat various healthy stuffs like dry fruits, seeds etc. which are the basic ingredients of these health bars. So we experimented and it was quite successful. Now we stack this snack for that craving time even in office. 

Here is the recipe which you can also try and make a way to healthy snacking :)

Name of the Dish : Health Pops 

Ingredients :

2 cups of deseeded dates

1/2 cup of nuts : I used cashew and almonds

1/2 cup of plain oats 

2 spoons of roasted flex seed powder 

2 spoons of pumpkin seeds

Optionally, can add - cardamom powder , chia seeds  also.

Steps to make :

1. Roast the oats for 5 mins and then grind them in the mixer. 

2. Grind the nuts coarsely 

3. Grind the pumpkin seeds 

4. Lastly grind the dates in the mixer. 

5. Now mix all the ingredients. It will take some time to mix it and make them stick together. I used my hands as it made the job little easier. 

6. You can now give them any shapes you would like to give using stencils. I simply make them in rounds shapes. I got about 13-15 pops. 

These can be stored in the air tight containers. Although for us, it was so yummy that it got over quite fast. :) 

It is quite easy to make snack. Try this at home and turn the habit of snacking into a healthy one.  

Patanjali – A big beast

If we ask someone about Patanjali about 3 years ago, no one would have recognized it as an FMCG brand, forget consumers even the FMGC players not have dreamt about it. And now merely after 3 years, Patanjali has silently made their way in the consumer’s houses in some way or the other.

Baba Ram Dev is a known personality and has good fan following. He reemphasized on power of yoga and ayurveda which is from our own roots. Eventually he first made its way to people’s mind and later securing place in their hearts. With this, there was a trend observed where people preference changing to more natural and ayurvedic products.

In business, he used a very good strategy to first test the market with ayurvedic products which were closely related to his yogic image. He had introduced various new product in market like aloevera juice, giloi juice etc. which were not already present in the market. In his various yoga sessions, he imparted knowledge about these products and their health benefits. Slowly people started using these products and even started spreading the goodness of product. In turn Patanjali got the raw deal with the huge word of mouth publicity. With this spreading publicity, company also started to build its distribution network through dealership, which could be picked up by middle class person looking for extra income. It was a good deal as Patanjali brand was already getting huge publicity and dealers were seeing low turnaround time.

All going good, Patanjali now teaches us on how to take the business to the next level with the strong base already established. Patanjali was already a known brand in Ayurveda products, same brand was extended to FMGC products like atta, biscuits etc. It used the same distribution network which consumers were already aware of. Brand also emphasized on the natural ingredients being used, no harmful chemicals etc. I see few things going bang on with it:

1. Consumer’s inclination for the chemical free products, healthier natural product was increasing.

2. Government boosted support for Patajali to promote make in India initiative.

3. Patanjali already had extensive distribution network in place.

4. Low price point to cater to needs of people at the base of the pyramid.

With absolutely no money spend on marketing (initially), products started to make their way into consumer’s house with word of mouth publicity. And suddenly Patanjali emerged as a huge FMGC brand, which started to threaten the bigger existing players like HUL, Britannia. These companies will need to ponder on their strategies to tackle such grass root level competition. Of late, marketing efforts have been piped up, Baba Ram Dev used himself as brand ambassador in most of the ads. There are other celebrities like Hema Malini who are seen in the ads but they claim to be promoting it for free just out of the loyalty. Patanjali also closed a deal with Future group as their sales partners and gets separate shelf space, again hurting existing players. Brand has rightly made its way from people’s mind to heart and now to their monthly budgets.

It is already challenging other companies by targeting revenue of Rs. 10000 Crs for fiscal year 16-17. All is going good with the brand but I see some points which needs to be looked upon:

1. Is such extensive brand extension correct in all aspect? I mean Patanjali being extended for the food related products could be understood. But same brand being used for the products like soap, detergent etc. does not seems to be good fit.

       1.1  Patanjali’s brand element being its natural, chemical free, but how can detergent be chemical free products?

2. What about product certification like fssai mark etc. I noticed for some of their product this mark is not there and competing brands are using this to counter attack.  

3. When company goes big bang with many product and pan India coverage, it might not be producing it all by itself. When the product manufacturing is outsourced, can there be quality control in such cases with respect to its raw materials, manufacturing place hygiene etc.

Existing companies must be doing something wrong because of which a new brand is replacing their products. They must be ignoring the changing preferences. This shows that the companies at all times needs to be connected to their base customers to build next strategy. It would be interesting to see how will the existing player change their strategy now; I see some companies introducing new sub-brands to cater to change in the people’s preference for natural products. What else these companies can do? Also what would be the next strategy of Patanjali?    

70th Independence day

              Happy 70th Independence Day to everyone  

On the eve of India's 70 independence day, I made an art piece with quilling 

                                  

On the occasion of independence day, we all should take a step forward to make oneself or someone or even India independent of something. I mean it can be a very small thing like making your community independent of garbage, independent of traffic etc. 

Even it can be a step towards better self like make oneself independent of smoking or any other bad habit etc. 

It is very much required that each one of us take do our bit to improve the world around us. Don't judge the step by its size but by its very impact of it if we keep on taking it diligently. 

For myself, I have decided to make at least one girl independent of illiteracy by taking up the responsibility of educating her. Whats your idea of this step.... 

My experiements with Quilling

I am usually very intrigued by any new form of art. Some years back I came across Quilling a paper art. And I decide to give it a shot.

Quilling is an art which involves using paper strips which are rolled, given different shapes, glued to make different decorative items. Quilling art create 3 dimensional objects. There are various items which you can make with quilling for example: storage boxes, vases, photo frames, cards, jewelry etc. It can also be used to decorate items such as scrape books etc.

More about quilling here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilling

Usually when I try a new art, I start with full enthusiasm but it dies down quite fast. But for a change quilling kept my interest kept going and it still does. Although I haven’t tried very complex designs but still tries various different types of forms.

Below are some of the art work I had created:

A photo frame

 Few earnings :

          

Another frame for letter "A"

A Vase

 Another special piece in making will publish in my next post 

A trip to the heaven on earth – Kashmir – Day 5-6

We had just two more days before we say good bye to such a wonderful place. For day 5 in Kashmir, we didn't have any plans set. But talking to others in our camp night before, we came to know about 2-3 places which we could visit. We got up early to catch the sun rise, even though you can see the light but sun came out late as we were in a valley. So we roamed around the camp itself capturing the beauty all around.

House opposite our camp

Some fields around the camp

Little after sun rise, we were just lazying around the camp, listening to the river flowing at the back. All in all just chilling. We thought of going for para gliding but it seemed experience for just 5 min ride. After relaxing breakfast, we headed to Pahalgam town. We hired a taxi from taxi stand to take us to our destination for today "Sinthan Top". Its one of the highest peaks in the area at 12500 ft. This place is about 100 km from Pahalgam. One the way, the terrain kept changing, we saw apple orchards, walnut trees, small mountains, steep climbs, huge mountains covered with pine trees all around. The view was worth every second. 

Once we reached Sinthan top, the first feeling we got was of extreme cold. Even though it was peak afternoon with sun over our head, the temperature was about 5 deg C. With cold, it was quite windy too. There was not many tourists at that place. 

View of Sinthan top from base

To reach the top of the mountain we climbed for about 1500ft. It was quite difficult owing to the cold wind. My ears started to hurt as I forgot my cap in the camp :(. 

Trying to cover my ears with others scarf

After some struggle we reached the top, but the climb is all worth it once we reach there. The view all around is just majestic. Snow clad mountains are visible on one side with lower mountains covered in green and on the other side winding road was visible.

View from Sinthan top

Winding roads

We enjoyed the view there, but seriously we could not stand there for more than 15 mins. We climbed down to see a beautiful glacier lake. 

Glacier lake

We had maggi and tea (best food at hills) at the small stall there and started our return journey. On the way back, we decided to visit 2-3 places. 

First one was the Kokernag, it has a mughal garden. I wasn't very keen on garden as we had seen enough in Srinagar, but still we went ahead. But once I went in, seeing the garden it looked like its a must visit. This garden is much more bigger in its size compared to one in Srinagar. Also it has a natural river stream flowing inside, which is broken into various smaller steams all through out the garden. There were huge willow and chinar trees. The garden has a nice element of small bridges built over the stream to reach small islands. We actually ended up spending much more time in there but it was all worth it. 

Water stream in the garden

Bridge over the stream

Willow trees in the garden

Next we saw Martand Sun temple but we didn't go inside. This is the same place where the Shahid kapoor's movie Haider was shot. Next we went to another Sun temple, which is very unique as it has gurudwara in the same premises, temple of Shiva, Ram etc. It has a huge pond with thousands of fishes in it. At this place, we observed people of all the cast and creed. There was no differentiation, all were equal. Such harmonious places in Kashmir are a rare sight. 

By this time, it started to get dark, we headed back to our camp. One the way, we also saw the dargah where song from Bagrangi Bhaijan is shot ( yes I know I am a movie buff :)). We reached our camp late to get a view of the camp fire which was already lit. New foreign tourist have come to the camp today, we chatted with them for some time, had dinner and took some star gazing photo before calling it a day. 

Stars from the camp

Day 6, we had only half a day before we head to the airport. We roamed around in Aru valley and did some shopping for dry fruits in Pahalgam. We had lunch at a south Indian restaurant. There are many good and famous restaurants in Pahalgam.

Aru Valley view

Aru Valley view

This is how our trip to heaven on earth came to an end. The memories of this place will always remain with us. Thank you for reading our journey experience.

Some notes:

1. Paragliding is expensive because there are only two vendors
2. From Aru valley to Pahalgam, there are shared taxis available which are quite cheap and convenient.