Recently ... to be very specific in this week I noted some innovations and counter innovations in the work styles of a certain section of people. I am talking of two sections of people where one supposedly breaks the law and the other supposedly tries to control him.
No points for guessing, but I am talking of "Taxi Drivers" and "Traffic Policemen" in Mumbai. Lets call the first as "Champa" and the second one as "Chameli". Also lets call the BEST buses as "Genda"
Champa knows that in a crowded city like Mumbai there is no exclusivity for them. So to increase the revenue they either have to work long hours or try to reduce their idle time in the regular hours. Champa then found out that people in Mumbai have got a lot of spare money and would not mind in hiring Champa for their services. But for that to happen they will have to win market share from Genda. Champa also noted that unless its Genda Full nobody likes to substitute towards Champa.
However since last many years, inspite of getting more Genda into the service... Genda has always been full. Seeing this opportunity Champa decided its better to wait at the Genda Stand for better chances of getting customers.
However as per rules Chameli has full authority to stop Champa for getting customers from the Genda stand. Chameli believes since its called Genda stand, it can be used only by Genda. But as everyone knows Champa never listens. They continued to render services from Genda Stand. Chameli tried hard to stop Champa from doing so by issuing tickets or taking bribes, but to no avail. After some time Chameli realized this as an excellent business opportunity and instead of stopping Champa, they started to catch them red handed. This served as additional income for Chameli to get new Sarees, jewelery and consumer durables for home.
But Chameli realized that whenever Champa thought that they were around, Champa used to run away. Therefore Chameli thought of an excellent innovation. Since Champa used to wait at the Genda Stand, Chameli thought its better to get into a Genda and then get to Chameli. This idea really worked and everyday Champa used to face lots of fines. It became difficult for Champa to do business.
However every excellent innovation is cut by a counter innovation. All Champas got together and thought. Chameli could get into a Genda only on a Genda stand. If one Champa noticed a Chameli on a Genda stand, it would rush ahead and warn all Champas of the inherent danger. This would alert all Champas and they would run away. In this way Chameli found that its income was reducing drastically by the day.
This may not be a best example of Innovation and Counter Innovation. But if you have read it till here... it proves that you too have no work on this Friday.
Also I am too bored to write more about Champa, Chameli and Genda and so I cut this story short abruptly... :-)
Go and enjoy your weekend and please do not leave any random, arbit, hurtful, sarcastic and critical comments on my blog behind me... U know sometimes it hurts :-P
