I have run a garment manufacturing unit for nearly 2 decades.
Most of my staff and employees come from what I would call the semi skilled, school dropout category. Majority of them have a rural background.
In my years of day to day dealing with them, I have learnt a few things. 1. Gareebi hatao is a political slogan and nothing else. You cannot pull these people out of poverty and debt unless one can bring a huge social change.
Eg. There are social practices to keep them in debt forever. Paying for weddings, bhaat, death ceremonies etc

In this entire House renovation project that lasted almost a year I have leant some very valuable lessons.
1) Always insist on an architect that has his own team of people. He shouldn’t be subletting to others while he shrugs responsibility.
2) Preferably use a site manager. 3) Never hire 3 people without serious recommendations. Tile mistry, electrician and plumber. Other stuff is still repairable later.
4) Never pay them hefty amounts in beginning. Infact 80% of the construction workforce in India is cheat. They take money and vanish leaving work.

I lived as a student on Gujrat in late 90’s. Most of my classmates were from North specially Delhi NCR. It was our collective belief that even then, Gujarat was a very safe place for us. We could travel in state transport, walk on roads at night and return at 2 am from Garba. Most of our local Gujarati classmates would be surprised hearing stories of those who came from Bokaro, Patna or even Kanpur. They seemed to have always lived a much more peaceful existence as girls during their schooling.

Some thoughts on #design in interiors.
I am renovating a house for myself and during the course of this whole exercise, I have seen a few houses.
Doing interiors of a house is suddenly fashionable and people are spending huge amounts on the same. There is just too much being crammed in houses without much thought. There are wooden panels, fancy false ceilings and designs in it, loads of LED lighting and absolutely unnecessary complicated accessories everywhere. Perhaps this increases the project cost and margins.

Just an observation about past 2-3 days on Twitter
1) Senior retired Army men commenting and taunting the NCO’s and SSC guys openly shows that sometimes even the uniform can’t teach sense.
2) Just being a veteran isn’t enough, some dignity is required in behaviour. 3) By constantly bickering about current COAS or people on ground, they aren’t helping in anyway.
4) As veterans they may know far more than an average Twitter civilian but so do those currently serving on ground. They shouldn’t make it a match between “our times vs theirs”

In the course of my research work I came across some fascinating facts.
The Patent Act that we followed in India was British Era act for patents and designs first came into existence in 1856.
Last amendment to act was done in 1911. Obviously it was done by the British. #History Guess when did India get it’s first properly amended Intellectual Property Act ?
In 1999 under then Vajpayee Government. Imagine it took 88 years and nearly 52 independent years to formulate our own IPR laws. Talk about Indian innovators losing to world 🤦🏻‍♀️

The whole #StayAtHomeAndStaySafe is fine . But there are a few things that need attention from Government & @narendramodi and NOW. Listing a few things, please add more if you want.
1) Clarity in Lockdown rules. Each state seems to be doing things arbitrarily. 2) Some states managed the situation better than others. Is there a way to help/ assist the bad performing states and not shrug it on state’s inefficiency?
3) What is the long term plan at starting Public transport specially Trains/ or within state buses etc?

I turned an #entrepreneur 18 years ago. I was fresh from college with not much work experience and very little or no business sense. I struggled as a first generation entrepreneur and have learnt many lessons on the way while paying for those mistakes and learning. #thread I have experienced many ups and downs in the business and the general economy so far. But nothing can be compared to the current #COVID2019 crisis. The entire world is virtually shut down and definitely the tremors shall be felt in every business.

Since the cartoonist is supposed to be a mirror of what happened, I am tweeting a thread of what the Great R K Laxman thought of Mr #RajeevGandhi over the years. Source of the cartoons is his collection by @PenguinIndia an excellent book if anyone wishes to collect The reluctant Son who had to be crowned after the “Chosen One “ dies tragically.

December first week marks completion of 16 years of my #entrepreneurial journey. I started my business at 22 with just a degree and no actual skill or experience for business. My 2 years of job experience were of beginners level & of not much help. Looking back I can see what a daunting task I had taken up. There were stages when I almost gave up (mostly in the 1st yr) But my stubbornness sailed me through. I would constantly remind myself not be a failure. However there are a few things I wish I knew or had learnt earlier.

2 years from #Demonitisation Thread
As an MSME entrepreneurship I have seen a huge change on ground.
Most of my 50+ staff preferred cash salary.
In the months after demonetisation we could convince everyone for salary in bank accounts via NEFT .
Most had accounts already. Many opened accounts and even took ATM cards which thy hadn’t earlier .
Many have since applied/gotten smaller housing loans etc due to the maintenance of bank accounts and salary entry.
Before GST & demonetisation I would have many people asking for goods without bill.