Friday, December 31, 2010

Poor Customer Support of Bajaj Electricals Limited

Based on the general perception I assumed Bajaj Electricals to be a good company with good systems. This image was shattered when I bought an expensive Water Storage Geyser from a Bajaj Dealer in Noida.

It failed within 10 days . However being an engineer and product designer, I simply attributed this to a normal random failure. However in last 12 days they have done following
  1. Visited my home five times
  2. Changed Thermostat Twice
  3. Changed Thermal Cut out Once
  4. Changed complete geyser once
To my horror I found following issues with their systems

  • Bajaj Electricals is a trader, They are simply importing geysers from China and selling locally. This was an imported product made by some Chinese company. 
  • Bajaj has a national toll free service number 1800-22-2252. This is printed boldly on a sheet where they list all locations and service centers address and local numbers. Noida is missing in that list.  Call to this number and they reply that this number is only for Mumbai. Do not know what 'National' word means in Bajaj.
  • Any way national service center gave me Noida service number and they informed me that they will attend the complain after 48 hours.
  • I was not convinced and logged on to their website http://www.bajajelectricals.com/ and looked for email or online chat. There was an icon for chat, Clicked on chat and it asked for sending a message. We have sent it and still waiting for reply.
  • I could find a 'Query form" and sent message via that. Still waiting for reply.
  • Noida service center gave me email id of Mr Anurag dl2_cci@bajajelectricals.com mail was sent to him on 23rd Dec, Still remain unanswered (he informed me on Dec 31st that his UPS is bad for last 10 days and so he has not been able to check emails)
  • SMS sent to Mr Anurag (9818894466) remain unanswered. He says he does not have time to check SMSes. 
  • The model that I bought is not even listed on their website (they do have other six models listed there)


Bajaj's website and their geysers are BETA versions. I am really upset on my choice.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Commercialising Products : Proto type to Market

Recession in India encouraged all institutes (Management and Engg) to focus on entrepreneurship.  National Entrepreneurs Network organised a 3.5 days Faculty Development Program at International Management Institute where 25 faculty members from various management institutes across India were trained by Prof Somayajulu and Prof P.C. Mehra.

The unique feature was that they also invited 5 'hot' entrepreneurs to participate in the program, where they shared their real life problems and challenges. While faculty offered them the text book solution. In short both learned in the process.

Each entrepreneur got 5 faculty members who worked with him/her for 3.5 days and prepared long term plan for him/her.

Of course I was one of them. Faculty members who worked with me included

1. Prof Anita T Lal, Delhi
2. Prof Vikas Rajput,  Delhi
3. Prof Prashant, Jaipur
4. Prof Geetha Suresh, Banglore
5. Prof Arun Das, Burdwan, West Bengal


It was nice experience for me where five senior faculty members (all of them with PhD) and me who has not even a graduate working together on my business.

Prof Anita Lal invited me to her college  Fore School of Management  where we interacted with 180 students of Final year MBA and shared our problems and achievements. Students in turn made suggestions and agreed to work with me.

In short for next one year, raw passion and energy of entrepreneur Vinay Chaddha will be combined with sophistication of Faculty and MBA students for magical results.


Stay tuned for the results.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Training to Engg students at BPIT, Rohini


On June 2,2010 we started a six week training for Electronic and Communication Engineering students of fifth semester of BPIT college in Rohini, Delhi. http://www.bpitindia.com/index.html

The unique feature os this training is efforts by Mr R.K.Tiwari (Training and Placement Officer) who wanted a training by a professional engineer who has hands on experience and not by a team of professional trainers who are in training business. It is rare to find people like Mr Tiwari.

On Day 2, we started with brief introduction of the training leader and the training team (that is me and my colleagues who actually work on development projects). After that we asked each of students to introduce themselves, tell the other students why they choose B Tech in ECE and what is their vision for future.

Well, it took over 2 hours and some very interesting comments came from students

One girl mentioned that she enjoyed the session learning about her class fellows dreams and desires. She was not aware that so many of them wants to be in civil service like her.

One girl shared that she enjoys teaching and supporting poor students and for a long time, she walks home from bus stop saving Rs 10/- on rickshaw ride and giving it to poor students of a press-wala near her home. 

One boy mentioned that his aim was to work hard and party harder. He is enjoying party harder but work hard is missing and result is three back papers.

Only 5% students have keen interest to pursue electronics. For rest of them it was Civil services, Lot of money, good job, job with lot of power. 

During last one hour of the class, we asked what project they wish to do in next six weeks. First project was suggested by me and another  32 projects suggested by students. I selected 16 of them which were feasible during six weeks and where resources were available.

Students voted for all sixteen and top six were selected for training. Sanya (one of the students) co-ordinated for this event.

For me this is a challenging task to create interest in electronics and ensure that this workshop is mixture of fun and excitement.

We closed the session at 12.00 noon with a promise to be on time at 9.00 AM on monday, June 7th,2010

Friday, April 30, 2010

Three Kind of Lions - Jungle, Circus and Zoo

Lion of Circus - He gets good food and good grooming every day. In lieu of that he need to follow the instruction of his ring master, perform every day and keep every one including his owner, ring master and viewers happy. In case of any illness, circus owner takes care of all medical assistance also. However the day circus owner finds that he is beyond useful life and even medical treatment will not help him perform in shows, he is discarded, killed or sold. Also in case circus goes into losses or a Govt regulations ban it, it is problems for the lion of circus.

Lion of Zoo - He gets good food for all life and also medical treatment. He is relaxed and need not perform for most of his life. There is no ring master. However he is in cage. Every one is afraid of him, even when he is in cage, however he has no real power. There is no risk of Govt Ban or losses as usually zoo are govt funded. They get lot of support, food, water, comfort in all conditions. Any adverse situations like hot weather and you find coolers being organised for them. Lions in zoo can not pro-create. Some experiments to create jungle like conditions for pro-creations have been done with almost zero success rate.

Lion of Jungle  - He is free and do what he wish to do. However he needs to hunt for the food every day. There is no safety and security. However statistics says that he does not face any real issues in real life and manage to find food every day and is usually more healthy and happy and usually gets more and better quality of food than the ones in zoo and circus. Well there are some problems and they are usually very serious as he has to manage every thing on his own.

Govt or Public have started supporting lions in the jungle. With every passing year, support is increasing as almost every one ie Govt and Public realizes that Zoo and Circus can not sustain with out the lion in the jungle. He is the one who creates every thing including wealth for Zoo and Circus. He is the ALPHA MALE. The recent ads from AIRCEL on "save the tigers" is one such example of Public/Media efforts to support lions in Jungle.


Almost all lions from Zoo and Circus envy Lion from Jungle. They also want to go back to the nature  and have fun, but do not have guts or opportunities. They do talk about about safety and security at circus or Zoo.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

teaching 'simple electronics' to St. Gregorios School, Dwarka


Hi, on April 26,2010 I conducted a 4 hours training workshop on electronics for class IX students of a School in Dwarka. This was just next to Metro Station of Sector 11.

There were 21 students and five team members and all of us enjoyed and learned. For me it was a really great experience of  interacting with students. It was after 35 years that I spent over 4 hours in a physics lab.

For four hours session, it took me total of three days, preparing electronic kits, some documentation and lot of communication.

The team included Gurpawan Mand of Cool Junk and two engg students Swati and Pankaj from Ludhiana College of Engg, Punjab, Parul Jain, an Instrumentation Engg from NSIT.


I think we enjoyed (Students, Pankaj, Swati, Gurpawan and me)  it together and infected each other with our excitement, energy and enthusiasm.

A student has sent following mail at end of the session and that says it all 

Sir ,

Today We enjoyed a lot . It was very very very very..................very very very.................... much interesting . I learnt a lot . Thank you very much .

Sripada Chaitanya
IX - 'B'
St. Gregorios School 

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Why some people are more lucky and get what they want

Well there are two ways that one can live the happy life. Ordinary way and Extra-ordinary way.

Ordinary way
if I  have Lot of Money or Exciting holidays or Wonderful Spouse or Peace of mind or .....

Then I will work with 100% confidence

And finally I will be  happy.

Extra ordinary way
I will be Happy

I will work the way a happy and excited persons works - Give 100%  to the work that I do.

Get what I want - Money - Exciting holidays -Wonderful Spouse - Peace and .....

Check out the following link and know why some people are more lucky

Disha 2010 Presentation on Entrepreneurship Jan'10 -- Indus Khaitan

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

iweekend

iweekend is a wonderful concept by iweekend.org, a spain based organization. Around 50 entrepreneurs participate in this 2.5 days event. On friday evening session, few entrepreneurs present their ideas, other vote for them online thru their laptops. Based on voting 7 entrepreneurs are selected for next round. They have to face Q&A from other entrepreneurs and again there is one more round of voting. Top 4 makes to next round.

In the final round, an invited guest (in Amity, Noida - IIM, Banglore faculty) asks few questions from selected entrepreneurs and they reply to it. Again there is a round of voting and then finally two entrepreneurs are declared winners.

Next 2 days, all entrepreneurs form 2 teams with two selected ideas and work to create a complete business plan as a team. They in turn are mentored by VCs, senior entrepreneurs and other leading industry persons.

In short this is a wonderful experience. More as as my idea was declared winner #1 at Amity, Noida.

It was also organized at IIM, Banglore, IIM, Ahmedabad apart from Amity, Noida in March 2010.



See the video of my presentations in next few posts

Building up on ideas at iweekend


Building up on Ideas : Stage 2 from Dreamcast.in on Vimeo.

Final presentation at iweekend


Idea 1 - Final Presentation from Dreamcast.in on Vimeo.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Guest Lecture at AKG engg college


During my participation in ISBA in Feb 2010, Dr Paul, Dean at AKG College of Engg visited us and liked our designs and then invited us for a guest lecture at his college.


On March 12,2010, we visited AKG College of Engg at Ghaziabad on NH24.I It was around 20 kms Noida and had good infrastructure and a dedicated faculty. 


I spent around 30 minutes talking about myself, electronics and embedded and my favorite project Joy-n-Freedom. During Q&A there were no queries from students, however during the demo of our products, there were lot of queries. 


Students at AKGCE were really wonderful, intelligent and working on lot of new project. Only thing there (as well at most of other engg colleges) was lack of interaction with industry and they were working on old and obsolete technology.


However I saw dedication and keen interest in students welfare in HOD, Electronics Mr Chopra's vision and plan.


I am sure under his guidance, students of AKGEC will create wonderful results.



My best wishes to faculty and students. I am also looking for closer interaction and more projects along with them.


Swati Mehta and Pankaj Talwar assisted me in the presentation. As usual there were cheerful, happy and eager to work and do what ever is required without any issues. 


Copy of presentation is here


http://www.slideshare.net/vinay3065/akg-120310


Thursday, February 11, 2010

Yourstory.in interviewed me

Read the online interview at following link. Yourstory in an online portal and showcases entrepreneurs. Ove 4000 entrepreneurs in various fields are interviewed.  Yourstory also sponsors various events at E-Cells of various colleges.

http://yourstory.in/entrepreneurs/tech-entrepreneurs/3161-vinay-chaddha-founder-gvc-systems-pvt-ltd

So if you have any plans for becoming an entrepreneur then this site provided lot of information related to funding, resources and networking.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Maggie's 2nd Birthday

Two years back on Jan 18,2008 Maggie came into our home and hearts.  I still remember that day. Upasana declared that she has selected a small little cute puppy and will bring her home. It was a very cold day. Maggie was shivering with cold and looked very sad. I told Geeta that she is upset as she is away from her mother.   Geeta looked at small kid away from her mother for first time  and felt motherly love. She took maggie into her arms and started crying with joy. That night none of us slept properly. We were checking Maggie after every few minutes.  Our life is no longer same.  She prefer sleeping on my chest with my arms covering her body.  For last 2 years, she is the source of unconditional love and affection in our family.  She is popular in our neighborhood with all kids. She is invited in all birthday parties. All small children in our locality who used to call us "Taya Ji and Tai Ji" now call us "Maggie ke Papa and Maggie ki Mummy".  She is real  Joy-n-Freedom  for us. We wish her a long and happy life.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

No Past, No Future, Only Present

My last seminar ( Wed, Jan 6th,2009) on INVENTED LIFE was rocking. Ritu Shri, our coach explained in so simple ways that there is no past or future just the present.

She said that our past memories are simply neurons firing now and our hopes for future are nothing but neurons firing now. She explained that when we fear, it is nothing but our neurons firing and then we do not take action.

I could make our why people do drugs or indulge in alcohol, well it simply suppresses neurons firing.

I also learned that we do not take action due to fear.  And it is possible to take action despite fear.  Just take action.

Now about results,  how this seminar helped me in my business -

I usually do not approach potential customers or ask for payment upfront from my existing customers. I always fear that they may not buy my services or think I am greedy or short of money or does not have trust on them. During the seminar I saw that this is not real but just my neurons firing due to some old events.

On 6th late night, I emailed one of my customer that I am not interested in working with him, till he clear all my pending payments. I prefer relaxing than working and keep chasing for payments.

On next morning (Jan 7th,2009) I picked up the phone and called one of my prospective customers and asked for  a meeting. I met him, invited to my office, make a presentation. I told him that business will start with an advance payment.

On Jan 9th, both of them have made payment to me.

What next
I will be sending proposal to two more customers in this week. Will post the results next sunday.

This seminar has also helped me in my personal life. More about that in my next post.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Three Idiots - A wonderful Movie

Last week me and Geeta went for a afternoon show of Three Idiots. Like other two movies of Rajkumar Hirani, This also touched our hearts.

I cried a lot, laughed at few scenes and overall enjoyed the few hours at AUDI 4 at  SPICE MALL, Noida with Geeta. During intermission we had large pack of popcorn.

Few things in our life matched with the movie characters.

Upasana  switched to Post Graduation in Psychology after completing her graduation in Electronics. She is the only one in her class with no prior experience while all other students studied Psychology for 3 to 5 years (3 years in graduation and few students also studied Psychology in +2) and is rank holder.

Geeta had gone thru a difficult phase in life and then she re-started her life with full energy.

I lost every penny, did not give up and after a bad financial phase lasting for four years, again started earning profits.

Be it movie or our life or life of so many other people that we know of, one thing is common

FORTUNE  FAVORS THE BRAVE



Thursday, January 7, 2010

will be celebrating 25 years of marriage this year

I will be completing 25th marriage anniversary this year. Just wanted to share some of the photographs and my views.

I got married at the age of 24 years and was working with DCM Data Products . Geeta was 23 years old and was working as Maths teacher at Manav Stahli School.

I had ideas of low cost, no dowry marriage,. However Geeta's family wanted a normal conventional marriage.

Result was what you can see in the enclosed photographs, I was in normal clothes, no coat or tie, borrowed shoes from Vijay, there was no loud music from a band, no decorative lights at our home,  day marriage on a  sunday afternoon, no religious ceremonies at our home.

While Geeta was dressed like a bride and their family followed all religious ceremonies in their family.

After marriage we were literally a text book example from MAN ARE FROM MARS AND WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS.

However over last 25 years, we have learned the art of understanding the difference between people from mars and venus.

I have a question

We go thru pre-school, school and college and do lot of professional courses and learn every thing like English, Maths, Electronics, Engineering, Medicines, why not have formal class room training on personal relations and how to handle marriage?