Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Rajdeep Sardesai (Breaking Views) ~ by : Niilesh A Raje
If we were asked to name some
prominent news anchor who presented to us with “News @ 9” there are quite few
names that would come in our mind and Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai (Currently: Consulting Editor, India Today Group) obviously would
be one amongst them.
Be it covering the breaking news that
covers an attack to the nation or having strong political debate in the
newsroom or speaking to an IIT Topper one must admire the passion and pride
with Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai has been doing it brimming with confidence. What I
have appreciated in this individual is not only the way he would present us
with the news but also create an equal interest over the subject in the minds
and hearts of the viewers. One of his biggest strengths I would say is intonation
- the rise and fall in the pitch of his voice and his ability to probe
questions and then later getting into the heart of the story.
Today, Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai is not
only India’s Top Journalists but also an author of his recently released book
titled, “2014 - The Election That Changed
India”. In the recent past I had the opportunity to meet this prolific news
anchor over freewheeling chat.
For this week I would like to share short piece on Mr.
Rajdeep Sardesai a well-known name in Indian electronic media.
Early
Aspirations
They say, “Life is what happens to you
while you are busy making other plans”. While young Rajdeep was very much found
of playing cricket. His father Late Dilip Sardesai was a prominent Indian Test
Cricketer in the 1960’s. His Mother Nandini Sardesai worked as a Professor of Sociology
at St. Xavier's College in Mumbai.
Rajdeep always loved playing cricket
and represented while playing at University level. It’s here he had close
interaction with well-known right handed middle order batsman Mr. Sanjay
Manjrekar. While Mr. Manjrekar went ahead in life with International Cricket
whereas Rajdeep created his own identity in the field of Journalism.
Education
/ Career
Before getting into journalism Rajdeep
aspired to become a lawyer. He
first completed his Bachelor's Degree Course in Economics from St. Xavier's
College. Post which he went to England to study in Oxford University and
acquired the following degrees namely Master of Arts (M.A.) and Bachelor of
Laws (L.L.B.).
On his return from England in the year
1988 he decided to start his career as a lawyer by practicing law in India. But
destiny had its own plans for Rajdeep. It was around the same time while
Rajdeep was contemplating “Lawyer” as his profession he had the opportunity to
meet the eminent journalist and the current editor then of “The Times of India”
(TOI) Mr. Dileep Padgaonkar.
Rajdeep, being a compulsive reader and
writer the thought of joining TOI appealed to him. Initially he started writing
for TOI and later worked there for brief period of six years and was the city
editor of its Mumbai Edition.
I was fortunate to enter into the
field of journalism at a time when there were many events and happenings taking
place within our country. Had there not been any major upheavals taking place
in the country however any journalist may aspire to write the fact remains what
is that topic the journalist would choose and amplify their thoughts that shall
appeal to the voice of the readers. Rajdeep admits destiny was kind enough
which allowed him come into the field of journalism at an opportune time which
gave him immense opportunities to amplify on his strengths and competencies.
Parents
Influence
Rajdeep’s, parents especially his
Mother who was Professor was cognizant that their son was always a good student
who loved to take part in debates and dramas. He had a flair for General Knowledge
and always searched for answers beyond what the textbooks could offer and that
too at a very young age. One thing evident was his thirst for knowledge was
always growing as he was keen to know more about the world and surroundings.
What would be the future of his chosen
craft namely “Television Journalism” was something even his parents were not
much aware about. All they could do at that point of time was to believe in his
strengths and motivate him on his voyage of discovery.
Rajdeep Sardesai is a successful name today
but there were risks he took and dare to achieve it. The point of time when he
decided to leave NDTV and start his own venture “CNN IBN” his parents were apprehensive
as he was already doing well in his career path. However, as Rajdeep wanted to
follow his dreams his parents allowed him to take the risk and go that extra
mile.
Rajdeep has also been the President of
the Editors Guild of India the only Television Journalist to hold the post and
was also chosen as a Global leader for tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in
2000.
Commitment
towards Craft
Rajdeep Sardesai's commitment towards
his chosen craft is commendable. He is workaholic and works round-the-clock to
achieve prominence and excellence. Reading relates to his mind as much as
exercise relates to his body. Never complacent despite his near stardom status.
He firmly believes when there is work it must be completed and there are times when
Rajdeep doesn't take his weekly offs.
He believes in precision to details
and in his farewell letter written to IBN 18 staff he says, "Am sorry if I would occasionally call
at 3 am in the morning. Blame it on being a news junkie. And remember, every
time there is a spelling mistake on the ticker, my ghost will haunt you”.
I would love to sum up my piece in his
words, “I guess certain things in life
are written in the stars. Editorial independence and Integrity have been
articles of faith in 26 years in journalism and maybe I am too old now to
change!
For all the book lover’s reading the
first book “2014 - The Election That
Changed India” from one of the country’s most recognized and respected
journalists Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai would be indeed enlightening.
Happy Reading!!!
More in the “New Year”. More in the morrow
. . .
Monday, December 15, 2014
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1000 Week Celebrations) ~ by : Niilesh A Raje
Last week Friday (12th December 2014) the movie "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" completed 1000 weeks of successful
running at Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre. The single screen that came into
the limelight after it ran 'Mughal-e-Azam' for eight years and today it has
broken its own record by running “Dilwale” for nineteen years continuously.
A story that redefined love.
To commemorate 1000 weeks of romance a book was released on this occasion
titled, “Aditya Chopra Relives . . .
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” published by Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd. Director
Aditya Chopra was just 24 years of age when “Dilwale” was released on Diwali 20th
October 1995. One can only realize the creativity exhibited by this young boy
then.
There are many interesting anecdotes that are given in his book and I
take this opportunity to share some of them in my piece.
“Dilwale” or “DDLJ”
Well, whenever Director Aditya Chopra speaks of the movie he calls it as
“Dilwale” and not “DDLJ”. Title being too long with
passage of time “Dilwale Dulhania Le
Jayenge” became “DDLJ” amongst the
masses. Not that Aditya has any objection or gets offended with this but for
him it’s like a nickname someone else has given to your child. It’s just that
he has always referred to the film as “Dilwale”
and continues to do so. It was Kirron Kher who suggested the movie’s title.
Come Fall In Love
Love is a singular experience being plurally felt witnessing delicate
merger of two souls. Love is something one always aspires for and for some
these aspirations do come true while for other’s they end up coming out of the
woods of a broken heart.
It could be possible that in real life your love is forbidden to you or one
may not be able to express it openly in the public or otherwise to that someone
special. But on the silver screen one can experience it all. Romance in Cinema
provides that dream space.
With “Dilwale” Director Aditya
Chopra wanted Raj and Simran to be seen as lovers that many people would always
aspire to be. Hey, I want to be like this man Shahrukh in my love or otherwise.
Post watching the movie that thought has to be registered that every guy would
love to have Simran in his life while every girl would aspire to have her Raj
in her life. Aditya Chopra admired Raj Kapoor for his work so much that Shahrukh (Raj
Malhotra) was called as Raj throughout the movie.
If we observe this romantic movie not even once did Raj or Simran said “I
Love You” to each other. On the contrary it was pretty evident they both have
fallen in love with each other. In the scene where Simran invites Raj for her
wedding Shahrukh says, “Main Nahin Aaunga”
(I won’t come for your wedding). When a girl invites you for her wedding it’s
very unlikely a guy would refuse the invitation. It was in fact Raj’s style to
convey it to Simran “I Love You” hence I won’t come to be part of your vibrant
wedding celebration.
Palat Palat Palat
The dialogue where we see Shahrukh saying Palat Palat Palat was
something Director Aditya admits to have copied the same from Clint Eastwood
1993 thriller titled In the Line of Fire.
There is a scene where in Eastwood sees his love walk away and then says to
himself “turn”. The idea was there in Aditya’s mind for long and while writing
the scene it came back to him. He liked the idea and decided to use it in his
script.
The shooting for this was scheduled at King’s Cross Station in the evening
and weather was cold in there in London. So Aditya Chopra who was wearing the
brown jacket lent the same to Shahrukh which can be seen in this movie in the “Palat” scene.
The Facts Remain
The entire screenplay was written in twelve days. The filming of DDLJ
took place over sixty-seven non consecutive days. The whole movie was made in a
budget of three crore rupees. For many years Dilwale was the most successful
Indian film abroad. With the profits earned with Dilwale it allowed the Chopra’s
to buy land in Andheri West where the Yash Raj Films studios stand today.
For the Director of Photography (DOP) the choice decided was Manmohan
Singh (Manji). He shared close association with Yash Ji and had shot most of
his films. Not even once he made Aditya Chopra the young boy of 24 years feel
that he was inexperienced. Today, Manji has stopped photographing films in
Mumbai and is now a leading film director in Punjabi Cinema.
The musical hit “Dilwale” was the good work from the duo Jatin Lalit who
gave most unforgettable scores. The mahurat shot in this movie was Simran’s
introduction. While for Amrish Puri (Baldev Singh’s) shop they wanted to do the
shoot at Southhall. However, on the day of the shooting there was massive crowd
gathered who had come to see the shooting making it impossible to complete the shoot.
The scene was later filmed in a petrol pump station shop on some motorway. And I still remember while I first saw the movie
in theatre with my dear friend people screaming Shahrukh with his entry in Dilwale.
The song "Tujhe Dekha
To" fetched lyrics writer Anand Bakshi his Filmfare Award. The movie “Dilwale” set the record at its time for
the most Filmfare awards won by a single film with ten in all. Aditya knew that
Bakshi Saab’s words have power and was very important person out here. However,
post ten days had passed and at least fifty of Bakshi Saab’s mukhdas were
already rejected.
Bakshi Saab said, “Adi, I’m not able to meet your expectations. I’m not
sure if I would be the right person for you. You better replace me with someone
else. However, Aditya knew it was Bakshi Saab only who could get the work done here
and to the final projections. There was nothing wrong with the mukhdas but they
were just not apt for the girl Simran is what Aditya felt. The day Bakshi Saab
came up with this line, “Ussse Kaho Jaaye Chaand Leke Aaye, Mere Khwabon Mein
Jo Aaye” the things took a different turn for both Bakshi Saab as well as Aditya.
Not that I have covered all the anecdotes in my piece but I am positive
for all the fans of “Dilwale” reading
this Aditya Chopra’s book full of interesting anecdotes would be indeed
enlightening. Reading the anecdote and then watching the movie again would be a
different experience all together. Come Fall In Love. When Raj(e)
met Simran Love Was Never The Same . . .
Monday, December 8, 2014
Arianna Huffington (Forbes List Most Influential Women) by: Niilesh A Raje
When
you wake up in the morning, don't start your day by looking at your smartphone.
Take one minute - trust me, you do have one minute - to breathe deeply, or be
grateful or set your intention for the day. ~ Arianna Huffington
One day while I was reading some
of the motivational quotes over the internet I happened to read the above quote
by Arianna Huffington which not only made a favorable impression on my mind but
also set me thinking.
Technically speaking what Arianna
quotes does makes sense in today’s world of malls, multiplexes and social media.
Not checking your smartphone for longer hours for many of us is like a feeling
of a fish with no water. Smartphones today have become an absolute addiction
for many.
Before I pen down my short piece and
excerpts of my chat I had with Arianna let me first give short introduction on the
personality under consideration.
Arianna
Huffington is the Co-founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Huffington Post, a
nationally syndicated Columnist, and Author of fourteen books. In 2009,
Huffington was named as number 12 in Forbes first-ever list of the Most Influential
Women in Media and as of 2014 she is still listed as the most powerful Woman in
the world by Forbes. She
is best known for her news website The Huffington Post. In 2003, she ran as an Independent
Candidate for Governor in the California recall election.
With Arianna Huffington currently
being in India I took this opportunity to meet her over freewheeling chat. It
was only yesterday that AOL owned news website Huffington Post launched its
India edition in partnership with The Times of India Group.
Here is the excerpt of my chat
with the lady in the position of prominence none other than Arianna Huffington.
Question: Arianna,
Welcome to India!!!. Well, my question to you being it’s an observation that
even when a family goes out for dinner in a good restaurant instead of spending
some quality time with your loved one’s over dinner table one can see that each
member of the family is deeply engrossed in checking their emails, their facebook
accounts or chatting with friends over WhatsApp till the time the dinner
arrives and at times checking emails still continues. Why this addiction to
social media?
Response: Thanks.
Well, when we founded The Huffington Post in 2005 within two years we were
growing at an incredible pace. I was on the cover of magazines and had been
chosen by Time Magazine's as one of the world’s Most
Influential Women. I was working hard eighteen hours a day for seven days a
week trying to build a business and expand our reach. It was on 6th April 2007
while on my way down my head hit the corner of the desk cutting my eye and
breaking my cheekbone. After my fall I asked myself, “Was this what success
looks like?”
We as individuals keep on
following the latest trends technology offers us. Today, Smartphones are
getting cheaper so also the number of Facebook users seems to be growing
exponentially. The Desktop’s have been replaced by Mobiles giving us instant
connection and responses from every one spread across the globe. Those days of delayed
response getting back home switching ON your computer are all over in today’s
age of social media. We all love instant responses.
Also, when we see that only 13%
of battery life is remaining on our smartphone we get anxious and stop all our
work only to go, hunt or borrow smartphone chargers. We are petrified of being
left alone without our smartphone. Renowned Greek Mathematician had said, "Give
me a place to stand on, and I will move the earth.”
In the hustle and bustle of our daily routine the cycles of life keep
moving on. It’s one’s very own experience that enriches our life. Well, one
must enjoy that quality time with your loved one’s rather than being glued to
your smartphone. A good sleep is an absolute must for every individual and for
us to be creative. One must understand that we as human being are not meant to
be up 99.9% all the time and the world does not come to an end if we keep our smartphone
away or switched off for couple of hours.
Yes, social media is an addiction but it’s we who are the Chief of our
life. We must be matured enough to get the pulse of what’s more important to
us. Good Sleep or being glued to your smartphone all day long.
Arianna,
Thank you so much for the time you gave to me on your visit here in India. Here’s
wishing you and the whole crew of The Huffington Post All The Very Best for the
launch of your India edition. We are positive it would indeed be a voyage of
discovery.
Before I call halt for now I
would like to sum it up by another beautiful quote from Arianna, "If
we charge our phones by our beds we are going to be tempted if we wake up in
the middle of the night for whatever reason to look at our data. And when we
look at incoming emails and texts we are allowing our day life to intrude into
our night life, the time when we are recharging and our sleep is not as deep
and recharging as it needs to be."
Happy Reading!!!
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Sachin Tendulkar : Playing It My Way (My Autobiography) ~ by : Niilesh A Raje
Author
|
Sachin Tendulkar (Co-Writer : Boria Majumdar)
|
Publisher
|
Hachette India Private Limited
|
Pages
|
497
|
Price
|
Rs 899/-
|
ISBN
|
1473605202
|
It reminds me how the Champion NBA
player Kobe Bryant of Los Angeles Lakers once responded in an interview, "There are certain people that have a
tremendous hunger. There are certain people that have a will, determination and
hunger that you need to be the best in the world. Those people and those people
alone become champions." Sachin Tendulkar has been no exception. He
puts in all his blood loves playing the game of cricket with meraki. Other word
for Sachin I could think off immediately at this point of time being
altitudinarian.
Last week while I was back home from
work switched on the television to watch news while having my dinner the only
thing that was shown on all the news channels for extended length of time was
the coveted book launch the autobiography of the greatest batsmen of all times holding
the title "God of Cricket"
namely Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
Publisher Hachette India has come up with his autobiography titled Sachin Tendulkar: Playing It My Way.
Even today’s new movie releases would not get so much electronic media coverage
as much as this star studded book launch got it which was followed by panel
discussions.
Let
me take this opportunity to pen down the book review on Sachin Tendulkar’s
latest book his autobiography.
His
Father’s Words
Born to a Maharashtrian family in
Mumbai’s based in Bandra Sahitya Sahawas Colony having two brothers and a
sister and Sachin being the youngest. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar was an
acclaimed Marathi poet, critic and professor while his mother Rajani worked for
the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) office based in Santacruz.
The very first chapter in this book
titled “Childhood” talks about the words of his father that are registered in
his mind even today. If you remain humble, people will give you love and
respect even after you have finished with the game. As a parent, I would be
happier hearing people say, “Sachin is a good human being” than “Sachin is a
great cricketer”.
The teaching and upbringing from his
parents and blessings he receives from his fans spread across the globe makes
him the admired and respected personality.
Love
can’t be arranged it just happens (The Best Partnership)
The book would not be complete if
there is no reference to his wife Anjali the best partnership of his life who
has been with him always in his best as well as bad times - Anjali Mehta becomes
Anjali Tendulkar. It was on Sachin’s 21st Birthday that they both
engaged.
The curiosity factor always remains
in the eyes of the common masses how and where Anjali met his better half.
Well, Sachin had just landed in Mumbai from the 1990 tour of England and was
waiting to pick up his bags when he saw an extremely attractive woman looking
down from the viewing gallery in the airport. Anjali was wearing an orange
T-shirt and blue jeans. While coming out of the airport his dear friend Sachin
Harshe said softly in ear’s of Sachin that a very good looking girl was calling
his name and was very keen to meet him. But, with his brothers Ajit and Nitin
around Sachin was too apprehensive to speak or meet Anjali in person. The fact
is love can’t be arranged it just happens.
Comprehensive
Autobiography
A very interesting and comprehensive
autobiography I must say with interesting anecdotes. Those were the days when
Sachin was not out on 94 at the end of the first day. Just few days before this
match Sachin had invited his mentor Mr. Ramakant Achrekar at his home for
dinner. Sir, agreed for his dinner invitation but only on the day when Sachin
would score his first hundred in school cricket. The next day Sachin who was
not out on 94 on day one scored his hundred and true to his words Mr. Achrekar
came to Sachin’s home for dinner that night which was the most satisfying
moment for him.
The book has been supplemented with
many colored pictures including the notes of his speech that Sachin carried
with him on his last day in International Cricket. What I like about Sachin is
apart from the profound respect he has towards his parents it’s also the reverence
he has towards many individuals that came in his life especially to sum it up
in his own words his Sir Mr. Ramakant Achrekar. When people get exalted success
the tendency is to get carried away and forget one’s own mentor which is not
healthy. Well, experience enriches our life and we should learn from such role
models in the journey of our life.
To the voice of all my readers Happy Reading !!! Sachin
Tendulkar: Playing It My Way. I do hope you all find reading his
autobiography enlightening as much as I did. To sum it up in Sachin's own words it is his life between 22 yards for 24 years.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Rajesh Khanna: Massive Success, Bloated Ego and Dramatic Downfall ~ By : Niilesh A Raje
At the beginning
I would like to Thank all my readers and the lover’s of Bollywood for their
kind words of appreciation and suggestion on different personalities on whom I should
pen down my future articles. Your observations motivate me to read more,
research more and amplify my thoughts my emotions over the written word.
Last month I wrote a small piece on the Living Legend and the Superstar
of the Millennium Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. So many books have been authored on Big
B and would be in the future as well. But, when I learnt in recent times that
Gautam Chintamani (author) has now come up with his first book titled, Dark Star - The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna a HarperCollins Publication what intrigued me is the fact why there had
not been many books written earlier on India’s first Superstar Rajesh Khanna.
The reasons might be innumerable however I am glad that author Gautam Chintamani
with his deep research and prolific writing made efforts to come up with his first
book on Rajesh Khanna. Gautam is a born cinephile and also a popular columnist
across many leading National Publications. In a short chat with the author and
post reading his book an impressive read I take this opportunity to pen down a short
summary review of his own book.
At this juncture it also reminds me of the wonderful lyrics and the song
casted on the Superstar Rajesh Khanna, "Chand Taaron Se Chalna
Hai Aage Asmaanon Se Badna Hai Aage Pichhe
Reh Jayega Yeh Zamana Yahan Kal Kya Ho Kisne Jaana Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana Yahan Kal Kya Ho Kisne Jaana”. Lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri fetched the Filmfare Award for this lovely
number.
Rajesh Khanna (Massive
Success, Bloated Ego and Dramatic Downfall)
If today we were to relate this number to Rajesh Khanna was it a mere coincidence
that this song was casted on him or was it that Almighty was giving him
indications on his journey ahead in tinseltown. To me the name Rajesh Khanna
registers three things in my mind: His massive success, bloated ego and the dramatic
downfall. Mind the sequence success, ego and then downfall.
Were they all interlinked? I
thought so “Yes” but not until the author Gautam and his book provided me deeper
insight and convincing response.
Early Days and Massive
Success
“Superstar” the word was coined by the media for Rajesh Khanna. With
seventeen massive hits to his credits in a short span of just over four years
Khanna felt this phase would remain for eternity. He was originally born as
Jatin Khanna to middle class parents and was later adopted by rich relatives
who brought him up like a prince. His adoptive Mother wouldn’t allow anyone to
go anywhere near his room in the morning till Kaka woke up on his own. Even
when it came to going to school it was the man himself Rajesh Khanna more than
anyone else who would decide whether he wanted to attend the classes or not. He
used to tell his friends if he asked for five rupees he would get ten from his
parents. The time when Rajesh Khanna won the Filmfare United Producers Combine
Talent Hunt, as a struggler he was already famous as person who drove an
imported sports car. The impact of his success was so much that short anecdote
from the book says, While Khanna was shooting for “Prem Kahani” at Mithibai
College a fakir in the vicinity went about begging for alms from the crowd not
in the name of the Almighty but in the name of the Superstar then Rajesh
Khanna. Such was the hysteria generated by the Superstar then amongst the common
masses.
Bloated Ego
First it was his massive success then came in his bloated ego
and how one’s exalted ego can bring down an individual from success to
mediocrity a lesson we must learn looking at the life and times of Rajesh
Khanna. It’s rightly said, “Where love enters ego takes the exit and where ego enters love
takes the exit”.
However, if one does read this book closely coupled with good
research done by the author it can be distinctly seen that the man's ego was
not a by-product of his success. On the contrary the ego was always there and
as large as ever.
It can be read in the book, Shyam Keswani, the lawyer introduced to
Khanna by Shakti Samanta, is certain that even if Rajesh Khanna had ventured
into business had been a railway contractor or even clerk for that matter his
ego would have still remained the same. Rajesh Khanna was always impetuous and
people got the pulse it was more especially after the string of hits post his
movie Aradhana. “Success changed the attitude towards him and as long as hits
were piling up no one seemed to mind his brashness.”
Dramatic Downfall
Looking at the picture above one thing is quite evident that time does change
many aspects and priorities of one’s life. Not all days in one’s life are
similar and so were they in the life of the Superstar Rajesh Khanna. There was
a time where everything he touched into gold now came in the phase when
everything he touched turned into dust. His imported cars were exchanged for Maruti
800 and his 555s were replaced with Gold Flake. He hoped Politics would give
his life new direction but to no avail as a new and more dependable individual
was seen then in Sunil Dutt. Khanna's role as Father in the 1999 release "Aa Ab Laut Chalen" wasn't widely applauded at box office as there was Mr. Amitabh
Bachchan's Mohabbatein year 2000 release that fetched Big B his Filmfare Award
for the Best Supporting Actor.
Admire the good writing, the patience and deep research it took for the
author Gautam to come up with his debut book on this superstar Rajesh Khanna. The
book is indeed a wonderful tribute by the author that covers the odyssey of
Rajesh Khanna spread across four decades which had swept the nation at one
point of time. Rajesh Khanna reached heights which nobody had done before him.
Lessons Learnt
There are many interesting lesson's one can learn post reading the book
and by going through the life and times of Rajesh Khanna. To sum it up with a
song from Khanna's very own movie, "Aap Ki Kasam"
- Zindagi
Ke Safar Mein Guzar Jaate Hai Jo Makaam Woh Phir Nahin Aate (We can never
revisit the milestones we leave behind in the journey of life). However, big or small one’s achievements might be it would be always ideal
to remain down to earth. Success and ego never goes hand in hand. One might win
on their ego but eventually you are still a looser and you loose ahead in the
battles of life eventually ending up disturbing one’s happy home. Be it the loneliness
of being a superstar or be it a common mass ego leads you no where. Rightly coined by Kabir, “Speak without ego it will calm
you and comfort others.” Zindagi Ka Safar Hai Ye Kaisa Safar . . . Koi Samjha Nahin Koi Jaana Nahin . . .
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Who Decides the Project Requirements? ~ by : Niilesh A Raje
Article had been
published earlier with the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)
headquartered in Toronto, Canada and Better Projects , Australia
Every Project Has Requirements
I am sure most of us would agree that “Every Project Has
Requirements”. Every time a new software application is being developed
explicitly or implicitly there is always a ‘Business Analyst’ (BA) from the
project team who performs the role of requirements gathering for every software
project. While some requirements are crucial to the application others are
considered to be gold-plated luxuries.
Determining the project requirements is vital in developing
successful software as they form an agreement between the IT team, the
customers and various stakeholders on what features are absolutely essential to
be delivered in the new system.
Requirements just don’t come from
one source but multiple stakeholders. In this article I would like to touch upon some key
pointers which are essential and indispensable for business analysis. What each
stakeholder’s view is when it comes to determining
software project requirements and who owns them?
Requirements
Stakeholders
From the above figure it is evident
that software requirements just don’t come from the customer. Requirements come
in from all directions which include: Customers, Business Analyst, Pre Sales
Team, Project Manager, Development Team and QA team. It’s imperative that one
identifies at the beginning of the project who takes the ownership for defining
the project requirements. If this is not resolved in the early stages of the
project then the ownership falls on the vendor or the requirements later then form
to be a part of change request.
Customers:
Are They Always Right
Anyone who derives direct or
indirect benefit from a product or service offered is a customer. It’s not
necessary that the customer may be always right. However, the customer has a
viewpoint and one must understand and respect customer’s viewpoints rather than
forcing other stakeholders to determine among the customers who may not necessarily
agree with conflicting project requirements.
As a software customer one would
be primarily responsible for the following activities:
- Customers at
times believe that the analyst or the member from the development team
should already know what the customers need. Defining business
requirements is not the ownership of the customer but the project team.
- It would be
ideal if the analyst is given the pulse of the current systems and
processes coupled with existing documents to educate them about customer’s
business concepts and terminology.
- Customers
usually don’t find it significant to invest time with the project team for
requirements gathering or elicitation activities. Sometimes customers get so busy with their
key responsible areas at work that they usually don’t give justice to the
requirements gathering activity and the requirements gets captured just on
assumptions.
Customer needs to prioritize what
requirements are crucial and critical to the project. Requirements, which are
vital, need to be delivered on priority whereas those that are good to have
features can be delivered phase wise. Customers have to understand that not all
requirements can be given at the same time. Phase wise delivery would be ideal.
Business
Analyst: Catalyst for Requirements
The Business Analyst holds the
primary responsibility to elicit, analyze, validate, specify, verify, and
manage the real needs of the project stakeholders, including customers and end
users. The requirements analyst serves as a catalyst between the customer and
the software development team and is responsible to bring all the stakeholders
to a common level of understanding.
A Business Analyst would serve as
an agent and views requirements from the following angle:
- Apart from
requirement gathering, interviewing the users they would be responsible to
create prototypes or wire frames to demonstrate a non-working model to the
customers. Customer can get a fair idea looking at the wire frames how the
proposed solution would look like.
- For any queries
or concerns towards any aspect of the planned project activity it is
appropriate that a BA defines a clear process in identifying the key points
of contact in the project engagement with proper escalation mechanism.
- Business Analyst
(BA) analyses, documents, manage and presents the project requirements for
review and approval to the customer in a most comprehensible manner.
Analyst should communicate to the customer in the early stages of the
project the standard templates and requirement management tools they would
adhere to in order to document the requirements specifications.
- For a BA getting
a requirements sign-off would mean a formal agreement with the project
stakeholders, stating that the contents of the requirements document, as
drafted, are complete to the final projections and that there are no open
issues left to be addressed. It is an expression of the output of
requirements gathering to all those concerned with the project.
Pre Sales
Team: Before Development Starts
Requirements given by the pre
sales consultant many times conflict with what the developers think and they
could build. The problem here is only a high level input is provided from the
consultant having not much visibility of the product to be developed.
A Pre Sales Consultant would
usually view the project requirements from the following angle:
- They conduct
requirement analysis and pre-assignment studies at customer’s location by
giving product demonstration and walkthroughs to prospective clients,
resolving pre-sales issues and handling questions differentiating our
product from other competitors.
- Pre sales are
also responsible to respond to prospective customer questions and
observations. They educate customers and prospects understanding the
benefits of the product.
- Provide help in
giving feedback to stakeholders regarding the product features and
functions and ensure that the product offered best matches the customer
needs.
- Once a
particular product is successfully implemented the pre sales view the
project requirements in identifying sales opportunity for the product,
prepare proposal documents and market the same in competitors market
falling under the same vertical or domain.
Project
Manager: A Quantitative Analysis
Project Manager’s view to invest
more efforts of the project plan for software development rather than giving
adequate time frame for gathering software requirements. Project manager’s view
requirements by doing a quantitative analysis and its associated impact on the
project plan.
Some of the challenges faced as
far as requirements go from a Management View as are follows
- Project Manager would
view requirements in terms of the cost of the resources involved and the
time frame it would take to implement functionality
in line with the defined standards and control processes.
- Requirements
serve as the baseline for a successful project design. Project Manager
should ensure that the resource who would be dealing with requirement
gathering should have some hands on experience in requirements engineering
practices and that the same is well understood and well communicated.
- Project Managers
have to ensure that as and when one incorporates new project requirements
is the project team able to still stick to their original schedule as per
the available resources. If not then they should immediately renegotiate
on project commitments wherever there is a change in the requirements.
- Managers need to thoroughly review the project documents prepared by the analysts and should there be a discrepancy they should communicate the same in the early stages of the project itself otherwise it would result only in re-work and detrimentally effecting the on going project delivery.
Development
Team: Requirements to code
Developers are those members of
the community who are more inclined as well as responsible for writing and
coding individual programmes from specific requirements.
After review they interpret
written business requirements and technical specification documents and perform
coding.
- Developers view
the requirements from a technical angle in terms of data dictionary,
tables, user interface, reports formats, integration etc. When questions
like these are raised during the time of requirement gathering they
witness a total disconnect because not at all business users are
technically educated. Discussions like these only dilute the interest
level of the conversation.
- Ambiguity in
requirements results in waste of time and developers end up developing a
solution, which does not meet up with the customer’s requirements.
- Developers at
times end up giving more than what is required by the customer in an
attempt to please them with “gold plated” functionality. One should
deliver only what has been asked for and anything extra that is delivered
should be given only with prior customer approval.
- Some features required by a customer may have technical limitations and the turn around time required to implement the same may also be quite high. Certain new requirements can detrimentally effect the performance of the existing functionality. To avoid such cost of re-work a requirements stakeholder should respect the developer’s view of the requirements.
QA Team: A benchmark of quality
Well-defined project requirements
should enable the QA team to develop accurate test cases to verify the
functionality under consideration. It is vital that the testing team be
involved in the project from the requirements elicitation milestone.
The quality team views the
requirements from the following aspect.
- What ever may be
the requirements the quality team would view for the following key
attributes which includes the system’s performance, response time,
handling load, transactions of the system and much more.
- After studying
the business requirements and review of the specifications the testing
team starts with planning, designing, and executing tests cases for
features that need to be released upon customer’s requests.
- Where developers
may have developed in one way the testers expect the product to behave
differently from what the developers have developed as per acceptance
criteria.
Some times very little time is
given for the testing team to test the solution. In case the project is running
behind schedule the testing milestone may be not given due importance.
Conclusion
From the above it can be seen
that different stakeholders interpret project requirements in different ways.
Each one of them is right in their very own way and each one of them has their
viewpoints from their own angle. For the success of the project what is more
important is to have all the stakeholders of the project brought to a common
level of understanding and work in synergy. It's better to identify in the
early stages of the project who from the customer's end would take business
decisions on project requirements so as go ahead smoothly with the next planned
project activity.
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