The process of learning etc had built in some confidence in me personally that we could setup the net connection & use the net for our business use.
On the automotive front Bajaj auto had seen a dip in sales, with drop in volumes due to market shifting from scooters to motorcycles, was on the threshold of launching some exciting new motorcycles, which could change the image of Bajaj & the face of motorcycling in India. Eliminator came into the foray first followed by Pulsar Twins. The entire market suddenly saw some thing which was not seen before & thus began the Euphoria for these motorcycles.
The young informed obsessed buyers of these motorcycles used the Internet to pour in & pour out their concerns. The motorcycle was put under microscope & made the user become very critical about the same.
These were the Do or Die days for Bajaj & the new found Mutual respect amongst Cross Functional team members suddenly made people to rally behind things to ensure that the product would have succeed in the market.They were leaving no stone unturned.
Sam cherian, a former colleague & good friend, was deputed from service dept to the CFT & was the service assurance person of the team.
A few colleagues had pointed out to Sam, about the existence of a specific Group for Bajaj Pulsar on yahoo on the Internet, which was quite active & lots of things being discussed in it. Bajaj Management had restrained people from participating on fourm's on the net, wanted a cushion to handle the stuff.
During His visit to Bangalore, on a specific day evening, Sam suggested that I get into this group & try & help them prevent the Rumour mill spreading wrong things about the product. With my hands tied up with too many things I suggested to Sam to get better people into this act, than me. Sam only said that it was out of mutual trust that he wanted me to do this task & i could retire once the task was accomplished.
"Please Leave me alone" was what I told Sam & the reply to it was "I refuse to have dinner & leave your home until you get into this group"
I promised Sam that I'd get in in a couple of days as I was entirely new to this new system of groups etc. I had met up a young enthusiast by name Balaji Raykar, He was a member of this group on Yahoo & helped me to get on the same. Thus began My sojourn on the net, which did not end post stabilisation of the product, but continued to go on...
As things panned out, I went from being Shyam to Venkat to Venkat Sir to ..... no ideas What next.
Copy of the introductory mail is featured here
From: balray <balray@yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 14:50:24 -0000
Guyz, As per the subject, i wud like to introduce to this grp, Mr.Shyam Venkat. He is the proprietor of Auto Service, an authorized Bajaj service station(pretty well know in bangalore). He is also a close friend of Mr.Sam Cherian(Product manager Pulsar - Techteam), the man behind THE bike itself. Following a mail from Shyam, i called him and during our conversation, he told me that Mr.Sam who was recently here in Bangalore, had asked him about this grp and his full fledged support to this group. On Mr.Sam's request Mr.Shyam will be joining this group and help us with our queries. Hence, once again on behalf of this group, i wud like to welcome Mr.Shyam Venkat. He owns a red Eliminator. With People like Mr.Sanjay Saraswat, whom we are greatly indebted to for his wonderful support, Mr.Shyam Venkat and Mr.Sam Cherian, I am sure this group will go a long way in making PULSAR signify a whole new way of life than just a BIKE. Contact details of Mr.Shyam. ----------------------------
Venkat shyam,BV
Auto Service #37, 28th Cross,
Indl Area, Banashankari-2 stg,
Bangalore -560070 Tel: 080-6711132
E-Mail: autobang@vsnl.net
Posts
