10 Things Uniquely India – At least from my observation

Last week I was in New Delhi for the second time, attended IFSEC India 2008 with our partner, Compax. Here are 10 things I observed which are uniquely India!
10. Auto is the king of transportation
The auto can get you almost anywhere at the cheapest price and the fastest way. Hop on any of those and enjoy the traffic of Delhi!

9. There’s something about Indian guys hair
Even the cartoon characters have Indian hair and the sideburns. Not a single strand is out of place and it stays neat throughout the day. They must have received some kind of training during childhood on hair maintenance.

8. Healthy snack is everywhere
Nuts, peas, dhal, rice with onions, green chilies and tomatoes combined is heavenly. Sweet potatoes, refrigerated water everywhere. What’s not to like?

7. Natural mouth freshener
As natural as you can get…

6. Crowded redefined
Nearing Diwali, the Indians started to shop and in places near the Jama’ Mosque, India gives me new definition of crowded. And it was C.R.O.W.D.E.D!!!!

5. Honking is a culture
You honk to avoid people banging you, you honk to avoid being banged, you honk to say you are there, you honk for fun, and you honk just because you are alive.

4. Cricket is life
I went to India Gate and saw every guy in Delhi trained and played cricket. Soccer is just netball for Indian guys. :-)

3. Negotiation is in their blood
When people said INR 1000, I said INR 5000, and I thought I was good. This is how you SHOULD do it.
You: How much?
Seller: INR1000.
You: What? This thing for 1000 rupees? INR250!
* If they didn’t budge, just walk away. You will get seal the deal in 5 seconds.
2. Vegetables are in huge demand!
Even the ice cream experts is a pure vegetarian. My friend from Chennai told me about this new development, “Chicken is a vegetarian”. And we argued the whole night about this new development and we plan to continue this argument next year.

1. Hospitality is No. 1
Indian hospitality is No. 1, the first time I went and the second time around. Thank you guys for the warm welcome and the lovely stay. India rocks! That's me in Indian traditional attire. Happy Diwali to all my Indian friends and clients.

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

I want less.

Humans are pretty weird if you haven’t noticed yet. We evolve and we adapt to our environments. Whose theory was right? Jean-Baptiste Lamarck theorized that giraffe had long neck because of its constant effort to reach the higher leaves. Darwin kicked Lamarck’s arse by introducing the theory of evolution where giraffe that reached the better leaves (higher leaves) survived and multiplied. Darwin went a bit further with his theory, saying that men originated from apes, which I refuse to be a part of; I stay with my human descendants. The fact is, humans adapt. We (humans) always go one way and then reverse, and then we start again following the pattern, to adapt to our surroundings. Take for example, mobile phones. Back in the 80s, the hugest the better. After a while those who hadn’t changed their phones pretended that the ringing phone in the handbag was not hers. Everybody rooted for the smallest Nokia where humans with thumbs exceeding 1 inch in diameter would not be able to use. When PDA phone was introduced, we went big again. The bigger the better and those with PDA phones had smirk in their faces when looking at those having mere talking phones.

Talking about FingerTec, I was with the company since the AC600 model (For the uninitiated (mostly all of you), it’s the-futuristic-protruding weird-looking fingerprint machine which we thought cool at that time and some judges thought the same things as we won several awards for AC600). Now, occasionally we use it to crack a joke. “Whoever gets the highest sales will receive a one-kind award-winning phone.” It’s pretty lame but we rolled on the floor laughing when the AC600 was introduced.

Then we got slimmer with AC900. So slim that many were envious and produced the same thing. One thing they didn’t notice, our AC900 has two strips of silver on the sides. It’s just an illusion to make us look slimmer like most women do. After the introduction of AC900, we shifted our focus to give more; more features, more capacity, more memory, more this, more that which in the end means more money for us and for our clients. While many welcomed our enthusiasm in producing more, one thing we failed to realize at that time was there were people who prefer less. Minimalists do exist, people! 

As humans, we adapt and we produce the machines for the minimalist. The simpler, the better they say. And we obliged. Thus, soon we will be introducing TA100 DIY. No software, easy-to-use time attendance reader, easy on your mind and easy on your wallet. My question is, do you think the TA100 DIY will stay small? By now, you get the drift already that we always go one-way and reverse to start again. Check out the latest TA100 DIY to go back to simplicity. 

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ

Eid Mubarak to All!

Eid Fitr is such a wonderful and meaningful celebration to me and my family and I'm taking this opportunity to wish all my Muslim customers, Eid Mubarak. I'm taking a long break for Eid and please accept my sincerest apology if I couldn't be reached during this time of the year. I'll be back by Wednesday next week, a couple of pounds heavier. :-)

by Norana Johar, COO, FingerTec HQ