Mearl Colaco

I am writing this article in view of the recent announcement or kind of preference that Hon. President of India Pratibha Patil expressed about having a woman judge to the Supreme Court. It’s good that the President thinks for the women folks...this clearly demonstrates that Mrs. President goes with the ideology of empowering women. However, making a public statement like this at the position she holds is completely not done. It could be her personal views to have a woman-on-top, but that should be kept personal. You can’t and one shouldn’t put a woman in spotlight because she is a woman. Women-on-top Even I personally would like to see women executing some good work from the top of the corporate hierarchy, but I want her to be at those top and powerful positions only after undergoing stiff competition and a fair and balanced trail. Today there are so many women achievers who have done it…..and the whole world is proud to see their triumphs. The success stories written and showca...

This was about a month back, when I was assigned a job to do ‘Content Analysis’ on any subject of my choice, be it political, cultural, social or related to business- the only clause was that it had to be current. I was given a short deadline of 15 days and consequently the project work had to be submitted and presented to an audience of about 50 odd people. After a lot of thinking and scrutiny of different topics, I eventually decided to put some efforts into analyzing the issue which is still considered taboo by both the Indian civil society and the government….the topic was ‘Homosexuality’ . Yeah, we all know that the government has taken a liberal stand by legalizing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) relationships by making sure that their rights are a part of the legislation (abolishing sec 377 of the IPC which criminalizes homosexuality). However authorities need to do more to build-up the acceptance of this minority community by society at large. Activities s...

Have you ever come across situations of sudden disbelief and hurt, when you are told about a verdict made by your loved one, through a third party? When I say loved one, I mean someone who could be your family, friend or for that matter the very company you work for. It's like this feeling that sets-in when a company suddenly makes an off-the-cuff announcement to its employees that its entire business unit is being sold off to a bigger and a better competitor. The sense of betrayal creeps in! Organic growth Vs. Inorganic growth Does your company show organic growth is the question the business world is asking. When they say organic growth, it means profits/ sales made by a company from its existing businesses, as opposed to growth that comes from buying other businesses. So, if your balance sheet shows a bursting organic growth, it means that you contribute to the GDP and this definitely is a bull run for you all the way. But what if your company is not showing the expec...

Hillary Clinton gets fiercely undiplomatic with the Pakistan administration, warning them to act now- against Al Qaeda and Taliban who have sheltered themselves in Pakistan - or simply collapse. In fact, I must say that the kind of stern and straight message that Clinton exemplified with the Pakistan administration was long overdue…this was something that had to be done decades ago to prevent the bloody terrorists from cultivating in their land. No one, neither the President of the United States, Barack Obama, nor the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, had the nerves to get straight to the point and direct the Pakistan administration on what they are suppose to be doing. Need of the hour is to get real Hillary Clinton hits it right on target this time. I’m sure; she wanted to do this long time back but was always constrained from higher authorities from the White house. They say, in politics you need to be a diplomat….but what when people really don’t seem to understand!!! ...

Recently, the Maharashtra State elections results were declared and yet again the country’s ruling party- Congress- pulled off with the maximum number of votes. Ashok Chawan stays-on as Chief Minister (CM) of the State, asking Vilasrao Deshmukh and Rane, who had their eye firmly set on the chief ministerial position, to simply shut up. A need for a CEO The State of Maharashtra which occupies over 3,07,713 sq. km of land consists of 35 districts. Mumbai competently is the capital of the State, which maybe the smallest in terms of area occupancy, but it is the city with the highest earnings both in terms of knowledge & skills and production (not only within the state but within the country). More than 40% of tax generated in India is from its financial capital- Mumbai- and hence this city according to me needs that special administrative attention. In addition to the Chief Minister, who is so busy serving other territories in the state, we also need a highly qualified and skill...

The lead title of my article is not a metaphor or a catchy one liner sentence to draw my reader’s attention. This is what actually quiet literally happens in the city of Taipei. Let me explain this actually!! There is this funeral parlour in Taipei that has invested more than 1 crore in a plant to recycle the heat generated while cremating bodies. The heat that is generated from this funeral parlour is used to power air-conditioning of the waiting lounge and brew coffee for mourners waiting to collect the ashes of their deceased relatives. Wow!!! What a green initiative. Taipei truly is going the green way with results shown through implementation. Imagine how a cup of expresso brewed over my dead body would taste like…hmmm…something to think about right. An overdose of the go-green ideology The educated…even more those working in companies which focus on bringing about the green revolution have already been overfed with the go green mantras which help the community, the city, ...

I came across this sensational article which talks about Bollywood’s top gear actor using bum bags to accentuate his butt, basically to make those assets look all rounded and attractive. It made me go Wow!!! Do you guys really need to get all padded-up to look good huh!! And listen, it’s not my fault that this news piece caught my attention. Perhaps, I must admit that this read was truly educating ;-). You see, I had never really heard of butt pads earlier and NOW I know. Women always do it….infact she has to pamper herself to look and feel good. If she doesn’t, she is no woman. Likewise, when a man is overly concerned about his looks and appearance, we label him as a metro sexual or a heterosexual. How rude, isn’t it? Why do we differentiate huh! Insure your booty The ultimate rear side is given so much of thought and attention today. Look at actor and pop singer Jennifer Lopez who is so well known for her toned booty. Recently, I also managed to get my hands on the ultimate butt prog...

I was in Italy for about a week and I must say that it is a place in Europe that if given a chance everyone should visit. It is lively, sunny, and to say it in the words of the king of rock-and-roll Elvis Presley- Italy is a country you can sway back and forth and absolutely go day-dreaming. It retains its culture, religious sentiments, and traditional personification and at the same time, it also is a fun place with wines and pastas served all the way. All-in-all a beautiful place you can shake, ride and roll…. No. 13 is now my lucky charm Was happy that it was a shiny sunny day when I arrived in Milan because I set aside the first two days to go places. I checked-in the hotel and was handed over access to the room on the 13th floor. There was a wave of flashbacks from the movies such as Friday the 13th, Exorcist, 13B, that spinned off my crazy mind and the next request I made was like, “Can you give me a room on any other floor please?” A devil in disguise….the whole damn hotel wa...

The festival season is in the offing and before this year comes to an end, it is fiesta time for Indians living in India and across the whole wide world. The celebrations commences from this month with the festival of Lord Ganesha, Ganesh Chaturthi, celebrated with great fanfare and faith, across India. This is followed by the nine day festival, the Navratri, followed by the festival of lights, Diwali, and then to finish of with Christmas. In India, especially in Mumbai, all these festivals are celebrated with zest and with deep faith in the almighty. Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city and no matter which faith or religion the person comes from, all festivities are celebrated with the same enthusiasm and fervor. That’s what makes Mumbai different from the rest of India!! All these festivities also bring in loads of mouth watering home-made mithai (sweets) on the food platter…so its time to also sweeten your sweet-tooth. At the same time, making sure you increase your workout schedule so th...

Today’s Times brings out an interesting experiment carried out by the Health Ministry in India to check whether swine’s (pigs) in India are H1N1 virus infected…..and surprisingly all those 230 pigs sampled across India were tested negative. Look at the irony! Yeah, I know that the disease originated from swine’s but why defame these sweet little pig heads in the first place. The poor things have always been outcasts!! The blame game The media has propagated the Swine flu like fire. Name it…and all newspapers, television channels, websites, magazines, etc. are spinning out information newsletters along with do’s and don’t on Swine flu. In addition, media does a fantastic job government-bashing, showcasing the government’s unpreparedness to tackle swine flu. The media is out there to make some quick bucks by criticising the government and the government keeps making promises they can never really fulfill. Eventually, nobody benefits….and the common man is left to die at the face of it....

I have always been awed by people who can shake a leg with that level of ease and comfort…. and all that done so damn gracefully. Even more by those who can move their body like as if it is some sort of a spring-board or like it is made of some kind of elastic composition. Looking at them dance, I begin to ask myself a question of whether…these dancers have a different spine and bone framework unlike ours. They simply do it so simply! Who can forget a Michael Jakcson, who introduced his signature dance move- the moon walk. MJ was so passionate about dancing that he wanted to be the first one to actually do the moon walking on the moon. But I believe, his health conditions did not permit him to fulfill his dream. It’s all about being passionate and loving what you do, that makes you successful. Gracing up Coming to think of dance styles that brings with it grace, poise, sensuality, and rhythm, it has to be the Latino dance style formats such as, merengue, salsa, hip-hop, jazz, cha-cha...

Open the newspaper these days….more than news content or must I say, content that educates the readers about the current business scenario, the political system, or about what’s happening in the entertainment industry…..you’ll find huge brightly colored advertisements occupying prime space in the newspapers. And these advertisements do not only talk about brands or products, but they talk about discounts and sale, to lure readers to jump off their couch and head straight towards the stores offering those whopping discounts. These adverts do look good and truly enticing and kind of makes one go wow. I must admit…..it makes me go wow too!! Name the big brands and all of them are offering discounts, some spinning off a flat 50% discount and there are those smart big-wigs who say they are offering a discount of upto 50%....only to rush there and realize that the real good stuff only comes at a discount of 5-10% on an eye-popping mark-up price. Marketers’ truly think we are a whole lot of ...

Look at this picture right here….doesn’t it say it all? Yes indeed!! My caption to this picture would be: “A woman taking centre stage, while corporate honchos keenly and attentively listen to her.” Perhaps, my caption would look different, if this was something that occurred like almost everyday in the business world….Sad but true, it isn’t this way always. I picked-up the newspaper this Sunday morning, to hit upon an article on the front page, carrying details of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mumbai. Before actually getting into reading those details, the picture which supported the article was quite impressive and was the first thing that caught my attention. Woman on Top Let me clear the air first, I am no Feminist and not a member of any Mahila Sangh (a group which fights for the right of women), but yes I believe, that women can reach for the stars, if the corporate world gives the talented “her” to lead from the front. Its not that there are no women in I...

I t all happened that very busy Monday morning, when one of my friends called to tell me that registrations to the Mumbai Marathon 2010 had began. That was it!! I left everything and visited the site to do an online registration, since I didn’t want to miss the marathon, like I did in Jan 2009 – a late-latif, like always. Group registrations A group of maybe three of my friends had already registered and then it was my turn. Bingo!! I successfully registered to the Dream run, a 6kms sprint, and was like on top of the world at that instant. Simultaneously, I was thinking, it would indeed be a good opportunity to use the Mumbai Marathon 2010 as a corporate branding event. This was like trailing in my mind and then….it was a spin-off! I shot an email to the top management, and not surprised at all, the deal was passed by them. Though, I was stressing upon us participating in the “Corporate Challenge” – an event where a corporate support a cause and then contribute towards the cause throu...

I know you must be thinking that here is another business guru, come to give us her gyan fundas. Let me clear the air first, I am a real idiot when it comes to business communication…infact communication of any form is not my cup of tea. Wow…It actually feels nice to let out this truth through this blog….you see I cannot admit this when I appear for an interview ;-) Through this article of mine, I am basically trying to impress upon the fact of some people who go down to any extent to achieve their goal- may it be giving up a bad habit of smoking or to attaining a size zero figure or maybe to simply become the richest person on this planet and own all the luxuries that life can offer. It is good indeed to be ambitious in life and go that extra mile to achieve what you have set for yourself and make it a winnable one. But its worthy if the ambition is positive…..a dream which is good for you and the society that surrounds you. Running behind your objective through bootlicking, corrup...

Beginning Q4 2008 the global economy went into a recession and certain markets awfully collapsed with no signs of warning. Fortune 500 companies closed down in a blink and the whole world got sucked in the infectious global meltdown phenomenon. The question is how do we tackle this downturn and move ahead in the way business and markets use to operate prior to the slump. If only we could do business with another planet, things would have been better. Sad but true….we do not have that option open to us yet. Identified ways for tackling recession If you have a marquee product to sell, the prospective customers do not have the money to buy your product. Unemployment is increasing globally. Demand is shrinking. Consumers are postponing purchase of luxury goods until market recovery. Violence, hatred, inter-continental grudge is mounting. People waiting for a career-boost in terms of position and salary are left lurching in the dark. Cost cutting is given the top most priority in the cor...

The most shattering and the most shocking news that came to us early Friday morning was indeed about the passing away of the musical God Michael Jackson. It took me some time to even write this article to express my anguish, since I wanted to verify, whether what I heard was a dream or was it actually reality. Grown-up listening to his music Michael indeed is a Dean of pop music. I have grown up listening to his music, gazing his dance moves and was crazy about his self-written song lyrics. As a child, I remember singing MJ’s songs and imitating him at fancy dress competitions….I mean Michael you are so amazing….. I remember writing an article in my blog , all excited about Michael’s come-back tour, “This is it”, which was to begin Jul 13 2009, but that never really was destined to happen. Sad but true!! Like my dad simply told me to relax and said that he and the whole world went through the same anguish when the greatest of his time Elvis Presley passed away. The Invincible Mich...

It’s difficult to put myself in the place of a person who is approaching retirement from his corporate lifestyle, but coming to think of it…..it must be feeling like a no-where-to-go cerebral attack. Imagine that daily routine that a working executive follows of waking up in the morning, getting ready for work, working hard those 8-9hrs, and then pack-up from office to go straight home or maybe pursue an evening hobby……and then suddenly you wake up on the 1st day after your 60th birthday and you realize that you have nowhere to go. Uff……must be real hard to digest! 60th birthday can be agonizing One of my colleagues celebrated his 60th birthday yesterday and he also retires this month from the company. When I asked him how it feels to celebrate his 60th birthday- a day when people not only wish you a Happy Birthday but also wish you a Happy Retirement. He said, that it feels like the whole world has come-down-upon-him…..seems gloomy, especially because he has served the same company f...

Whatever it is…the recent incidents in Australia against educated and intelligent Indians studying there, has left each Indian back home in a state of vengeance, hatred and helplessness. We feel helpless because we just cannot do anything to change the thinking of the people who think so brash and have a negative attitude against the Indian community. We therefore insist that the government of India swiftly takes charge of this situation and demands an explanation from the Australian government. We need to know what is the Australian government doing to prevent ethnic-bashing imposed upon Indians living and studying in Australia. We have had enough We have an Indian brother battling for life, whose parents are destroyed and do not know how to handle the situation. The boy’s parents sent him to Australia for further studies – after investing their life long savings on their son’s education. The result, the son is hospitalized in Australia and literally battling for life. Even if thi...

I know it is a little hard to believe that I did it, but yes it is a truth and nothing but the truth that I auditioned to become a ‘Cricket Commentator’ for ESPN Sports. I will not bore you to death to know the climax of this story and so I have decided to tell you whether I made in the finals or not. I made it to the first two rounds of the audition which was judged by 3 panelists. Two of the panelists were very-well-known cricketers Mr. Wasim Akhram from Pakistan and Mr. Ravi Shastri from India and the third judge was the Page 3 and Bollywood personality Ms. Perizaad Zorabian. At the second and final round, I faltered and hence couldn’t make it to the finale, in which short-listed participants from each city would compete. But believe me, it was an experience of a life-time. A nail-biting selection process The first round was simple where the judges were basically looking for that perfect diction, the right attitude and upbeat behavior of the participants. During this round, a full s...