iyengers & Tippusultan

In recent days, this debate has reached a crescendo with one section backing  Tippu  as a freedom fighter and brave warrior and another pointing out to his harsh treatment of Hindus and the wanton destruction of temples.

A little known fact about Tipu is that he indeed did give generous gifts to Hindu temples and Hindu religious institutions such as the temples in Sringeri, the Cheluvanarayana and Yoga Narasimha temple in Melkote, the Ranganatha temple in Srirangapatna and the Nanjundeshwara temple in Nanjangud.

However, there are also records of the manner in which Tipu massacred people in Keralaand  also  massacred nearly 800 Brahmins in Melkote in Mandya district and this happened on Naraka Chaturdashi more than two centuries ago. All the massacred Brahmins in Melkote belonged to what is popularly known as Mandyam Iyengars and they all belonged to a single gotra-Bharadwaja.  And  these  people  as per one  theory  have  said  to  be  migrated  from  tirupathi  . I  will  come  back  to you  on  mandyam  iyengers  and  how  they were  massacred    but  before  that   It is intresting &  desirable to know something about this place Melkote. Situated in Pandavapura taluk,  

.Melkote is famous as one of the four places: the remaining three being Sriranga, Tirupati and Kanchipuram. Melkote has antiquity going back to mythological times wherein it was referred to as Narayanadri, Vedadri, Yadavadri etc. During the Treta Yuga, Lord Dattatreya performed vedic discourses and it became famous as Vedadri. In Dwapara Yuga, Sri Krishna lived here and hence it became famous as Yadavadri and in the Kali Yuga it became famous by the consecration of Vishnu temples. In inscriptions it is referred to as Thirunarayanapura and Vaikuntavardhana Kshetra..

According to history the Cholas who  were  ruling most  of  Taml nadu  were champions of Saivism. They were not well disposed towards Ramanujacharya who propagated Vaishnavism. Fearing for life, Ramanujacharya is said to have left Tamil Nadu and came to Karnataka. First he came to Tonnur or Tondanur where some disciples joined him. Subsequently, he went to Melkote. Where  he stayed  for twelve years. The Cheluvanarayana Temple is the most important temple here with an enclosure of 290 feet with many Mantapas. The Navaranga in front of the garbhagriha has three entrances. It also has a shrine for Ramanujacharya and the image therein is said to have been consecrated by his disciples when Ramanujacharya left for Srirangam. It is of importance to note that rituals and worship are done here as per the regulations and rules as promulgated by Ramanujacharya himself.

God Cheluvanarayana continued to be important during the later periods also. The kings of Vijayanagara patronised this temple and gave many grants to it. Mysore Wadiyars were great devotees of this God. Raja Wadiyar was a great patron and donated lands and jewels. Ornaments Rajamudi and Krishnamudi are very famous

. coming  back  to  Mandyam  iyengers who   were masters of Sanskrit. They spoke a distinct dialect of Tamil called Mandyam Tamil.All the Mandyam Iyengars belonged to the Thenkalai sect of Iyengars. It was time of the last Anglo-Mysore war between Tipu on one hand and the British and Nizam of Hyderabad on the other hand.Tipu has been seething with anger at what he considered humiliating and unfair terms of the treaty that brought an end to the third Anglo-Mysore war. He was particularly harsh on his detractors and critics.    

One day, Tipu received news that one of his Hindu or rather Brahmin ministers, Shamaiah Iyengar had allied himself with the Dowager Queen of the Wodeyars, Lakshmammani, and had joined hands with the British to oust him.

Unlike his father, Hyder Ali, who had respected the Mysoreroyal family, Tipu had shown scant regard and respect for them. He had a rather strained relationship with the Mysoreroyals.

Queen Lakshammanni, the Dowager Queen of Mysore, began trying to regain the throne when Hyder Ali usurped power. She started negotiating with the British in the 1760's with the help of Tirumala Row (It is Rao but the British used it as Row) and Narayana Row. She had assured the two brothers of the pradhanship of Mysore and one-tenth of the income of the state as their salary in perpetuity. When Hyder came to know of this agreement, he imprisoned all their relatives.

After Hyder’s death, the Queen intensified her efforts to place a Wodeyar back on the throne of Mysore. Though Tipu maintained a safe distance from the Wodeyars, he kept a wary eye on them.  

When news of the Dowager Queen interacting with the British with help from Shamaiah Iyengar reached Tipu, he decided to take revenge. The agreement signed between the British General Harris of Madras and Tirumaliyengar further infuriated Tipu. Tirumaliyengar was often referred to by the British as Tirumala Row. He was the Pradhan of Mysore. . Finding two Iyengars against him, Tipu thought of destroying the Iyengars who were living in Melkote. The day he selected for this was Naraka Chaturdashi. When all Mandyam Iyengars were immersed in Deepavali celebrations, Tipu’s men entered Melkote and massacred at least 800 persons.

The slaughter was on the day when the Mandyam Iyengars were getting ready to celebrate Naraka Chaturdashi.   But the celebrations turned into mourning.

The slaughter literally led to the death of Melkote. All people abandoned the temple city and it soon turned into a ghost town. The 29 Kalyanis in Melkote went to dust, water shortage became endemic and the hills browned and of course Sanskrit lost a home.

To this day, the Mandyam Iyengars of  Melkote do not celebrate  Deepavali. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the despicable incident in any history book, but even now local folklore and a few accounts of the horrifying event still exist.

Recent research on the incident by Dr MA Jayashree and MA Narasimhan who  were  originally  from  Melkote and  belonging  to bharadawaj  Gotra  Mandyam  iyengers sect  have proved that the incident did take place and among those massacred were women. The research was  also  presented at a seminar at Dhvanyaloka, Mysore.

Another lopsided fact of history is that the heroic role Queen  Lakshammanni in protecting her family and her relentless battle for the restoration of the throne during the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, is not adequately mentioned. The only acknowledged account is the three-volume History of Mysore by Hayavadana Rao.
Unfortunately, the Queen and the Pradhans are a forgotten chapter of history. It is only during Deepavali that the sacrifice of the Pradhans come to light and that too only among the Mandyam Iyengars. .

As one historian aptly remarked, most historians write that Tipu killed a tiger though they never saw it, but do not write about the massacre of Mandyam Iyengars though they have seen it or heard of it from authentic sources. Just for information, one of the most important Mandyam Iyengars today is the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa.

Andal Brief Introduction

     Sri Andal, one of the twelve Alwars and the only female saintess, lived in the first half of 8th century A.D. Some scholars fix the possible date of Andal as far back as 3000 years B.C.
     Andal was born at Srivilliputhur near Madurai, in the Tamil month Adi, with the birth-star Pooram, on a Tuesday, on the fourth day of the bright fortnight.
     Andal was a treasure-trove infant, obtained in the Tulasi garden, in the premises of the temple of Sri Vatapatra Sai. Perialwar, her father, found her while tending the garden and brought her up as an adopted child.
     Andal grew up in holy surroundings, worshipping the Deity and listening to holy discourses, Vedas, Epics, Bhajans, Keerthans, etc.. From childhood onwards she listened to the Leelas (pranks) of Krishna with rapt attention and developed a deep love to the Lord.
       Andal helped her father in weaving flower garlands to offer to the temple Deity every day. One morning, Perialwar observed her wearing and adorning herself with the flower-garland intended for the Deity and herself looking into a mirror and enjoying. He considered this as an act of sacrilege and, with great anguish, failed to offer the garland to the Deity on that day. The Lord appeared in his dream and informed him that He relished only the garland worn by Godai and that in future flower garlands worn by Godai alone be offered to Him.
     Perialwar realised the Divinity in Godai, and from thence she was reputed as “Andal” (one who ruled Bhagwan) and “Choodi Kodutha Nachiar” (patroness who would offer flowers after adorning herself). It became a routine for Andal to wear the flower garland prior to offering to the Deity.
     As Andal grew up, day by day, her love for Krishna also increased and she resolved to marry Him. When Andal attained adolescence, Vishnuchittar was amazed at her conviction to marry Krishna. She was advised to observe Margali Bath rituals, which was a custom of yore for marriageable girls to have choice husbands.
     Andal imagined herself as a cow-girl at the time of Sri Krishna, collecting all girls at Ayarpadi at dawn during the Margali month, day after day performing the ritual on the banks of the river Yamuna and bathing the Deity. This procedure, expressed lucidly in thirty Hymns, awakening her mates and proceeding to the river-bed, with Bhajan and Keerthan and to bathe the Deity, is the topic of Tiruppavai.
     Apart form Tiruppavai, Andal also sung 143 Hymns in Nachiar Tirumozhi in which her expression of intense love to Krishna, in varying moods of bridal love--tender hope, utter dejection, joyful triumph, woeful sorrow and total surrender--are depicted.
     Andal concluded that Lord Krishna was none else than the Deity of Sri Rangam--Lord Ranganatha-- and chose Him as her Consort.
     Lord Ranganatha bade Perialwar in a dream to bring Andal to Sri Rangam in bridal decoration. A palanquin, duly decorated, was sent from the Sri Rangam temple, as instructed by the Lord in a dream to the temple chief.
     King Vallaba Deva made elaborate arrangements, decorated the procession route and greeted Andal with music and other paraphernalia of a Divine wedding. People cheered; King Vallaba also joined the bridal party.
     Andal proceeded inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and became one with the Lord, as she worshipped the Lotus Feet of Him. To the astonishment and wonder of the people assembled, Andal's physical body merged with the Deity, Lord Ranganatha.

customer experience

I read  some where that 75% of a sale is experience driven. The Other  day we  wanted  to buy Washing  machine and   visited  a  showroom  let  us  call  it  X .Expressionless  Salesman took us through the  shop  ritually without answering our  queries regarding  the  brand  displayed  ,more  over  he  lacked  enthusiasm  , icing  on  the  cake was   When we vocalized that we would prefer to see all  brands  before deciding the older guy behind the counter joked about confusing him and  his  staff . As a result of that experience we walked out of that showroom without purchasing . The second   showroom  call  it  as  Y  was attended by  experienced personal who give  his    full  attention ..He  explained with passion and  created positive experience  for  us . We were able to select the brand that we wanted and  lady behind the counter was attentive and courteous. We walked out buying the  brand  we  wanted and   believe  me I  felt  that some of the washing machine  brand had a better features  than the first showroom  we visited, or maybe it's because we didn't get to  see fully the  brands  in  showroom x or  maybe  the  attended in showroom Y  made  us  comfortable and  satisfied us    with  all  queries

The point of my article is not to rave about the show roomY, but rather to emphasis the importance of creating the experience for your buyers. By creating the experience you increase your  sale rate by I  dare  to  say more  then 90%.

There is a vast difference between being a happy customer, and being a truly  satisfied customers. If you want to increase your sales in a grassroots way, focus on improving the customer experience. Keep in mind the critical element of emotion, and its role in sales & marketing  Please your customers immensely, and they'll come back for more. And, they'll bring their friends. Your success in sales is directly determined by the way you are perceived,

Consider this analogy: if you flip on a red or blue spigot on a water cooler, you get either extremely hot, or extremely cold water. In either case, if you stick your hand in that stream of scalding or freezing liquid, you’ll usually react in a fairly significant way.Customers react in much the same way toward their experience with your business: only an excellent experience, or a terrible one, will generate a response. if the experience is tepid, the customer will go on their way without remark.

These tepid or lukewarm  customer experiences are the ones we want to address. You may have previously felt that as long as the majority of your customers walked away happy, without a complaint, you were doing well. If you want to take full advantage of the customer you worked hard to find, making them happy just isn’t enough.

Experience driven marketing is about creating a customer experience that is more than just acceptable…So how do you provide a truly satisfying customer experience?

 Here are several aspects to consider :First and foremost Be an expert on your product or service.You should know more than your most knowledgeable customer. Memorize Product specifications and features, and be familiar with any complex vocabulary relating to your product or service..Second most  important Be  Enthusiastic and be reasonably excited about your product or service! You dont have to do somersaults, but make sure to smile, make Eye contact, shake hands where appropriate, and maintain an up-beat attitude.  Moreover this  helps in  Connecting  with the customer emotionally. This  I  feel  is  very  important  ,do  you  think you  would  like  to hear from asales person with  a dead  pan  expression ?. In fact,   expert  feels that emotion accounts for 85% of a buying decision  and .that "people base their decisions on a complicated mixture of emotion and reason," and that "emotionally satisfied customers contribute far more to the bottom line than rationally satisfied customers do."

More over with  my experience in  sales over the  years I will  share  with you  one  important lesson   that please  leave the  formal business  speak at  home ,Be friendly –Enjoy what you  do ,Have fun in helping the prospects to make the  right  decision  on the  product  you   are selling  thereby helping  them to EXPERIENCE

“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close, in fact, that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” – Steve Jobs

Traditional sales technique?

sometimes we need to  use friendly reminder to keep us from backsliding into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients.

 I was inspired to write this article after a few coaching sessions I  attended on  professional selling  skills  and  also having  been  into professional  selling for  more  then  two  decade.
 

Other   day I  had conversation with one  of  my team  member who   has  been struggling with a mental block about how to detach from the traditional sales thinking he had learned from old-school sales "gurus". You know who they are. You may even have some of their books or tapes. And you know their sales messages too: "Always be closing," "Think positive, and you'll overcome all your cold calling fears," "All you need to boost your sales is a few new sales techniques."

 I  always  feel that  all these outdated sales messages fail to address the core issue of how we think about selling, and unless we get to that core, and change it once and for all, we'll go on struggling with the same counterproductive sales behaviors. We'll go on experiencing the same difficulties and frustrations.. 

Maybe it's time to take a different approach ,Maybe we need to seriously analyze our sales thinking so that  we can identify why we're not making more sales.  If  we  look  at the present current selling  mind  set so called bookish professional selling technique I  strongly feel  we  need  to  revisit the  same for  our  own  betterment …that  means instead of applying  these  in  each  and  every sales  call .let  us  stop and apply where  ever it  is  required 
.

Then  what  is it  we  need to  do ? As we  are  all  aware Traditional sales mindset always believes in  strong sales pitch ,but  over a period of time  I believe we  need  to  start a conversation with  the  client instead  of  sales  pitch !!   opening Laptop at  drop  of  a hat  and jumping into  presentation about yourself,  your  company, what you  offer  as learnt in  your  sales training will  not  always  work   . let  me  explain, Analyse the  situation   and Start with an opening conversational phrase that focuses on a specific problem that your product or service solves. If you don't know what this is, ask your current customers why they purchased your solution. One example of an opening phrase might be, "I'm just calling to see if you'd be open to some different ideas related to lowering your current electricity bill you may be paying  ?" Notice that you are not pitching your solution with this opening phrase.

·                                       One  more I  have  noticed  is  that sales people are always worried on  sales process   sequence techniques as drilled by sales trainer  which calls  for unlearning .  central goal is always to discover whether you and your potential client are a good fit. Not  the  traditional way  of looking  at closing  the  sale and over emphasizing on  sales  process .Believe me  You  need not have to take responsibility for moving the sales process forward.   If you simply focus your conversation on problems that you can help potential clients to solve, and if you don't jump the gun by trying to move the sales process forward, you will find that potential clients will actually bring you into their buying process. What  I mean  to  communicate is  that sales process will  take by  itself if  you stick  to  core issue  of  solving  his problem .instead  of following in  Toto the bookish  sales process techniques 

·                                       I strongly  believe that When you lose a sale, it's usually right at the beginning of the sales process. Not like  what   you have learnt in  your sales  training  that end you  lose a  sale at  the  end  of  the  process .Let me explain If you believe that you lose sales because you make a mistake at the end of the process, take a look back at how you began the relationship. Did you start with a presentation? Did you use traditional sales language like, "others in your industry have bought our solution, so you should consider it as well"?When you use traditional sales language, potential clients can't help but label you with the negative stereotype of "salesperson." This makes it almost impossible for them to relate to you from a position of trust. And if trust isn't established at the outset, honest communication about the problems they're trying to solve, and how you might be able to help them, becomes impossible too. 

There  are  many other ancient  Traditional selling  technique   which should  be seriously looked  upon which  I  can  write on  and  on   that will  run  into  pages .let  me  conclude with one such technic which  you might have  learnt that    "Chasing" potential clients has always been considered normal and necessary, but it's rooted in the macho selling image that, "If you don't keep chasing, it means you're giving up -- and that means you're a failure." This is dead wrong! Instead of chasing potential clients, tell them that you would like to avoid anything that resembles the old cat-and-mouse chasing game by scheduling a time for your next appointment

At  some  point in  your  sales  process  you  should  also  understand  how  to  withdraw from  sales  process   and not   chase your potential  client  like  dog  chasing   a vehicle   !!

I  am not  saying  that the so  called  professional  selling  classes or  training  programme  is  useless  but  rather I  feel   as you move  up  in  the  ladder we  need  to  unlearn    and rework and  re look at  these  techniques  and  not  to  use  them  blindly

sharpening the saw

Would you go to or recommend a doctor who had stopped studying his profession the moment he graduated from medical school? A doctor that no longer kept up with the latest medical advances? Would you consider him competent? What do you think would happen to a professional athlete who stopped training when he made the team? The one who said he/she gets all the training needed by participating in games or matches. How long do you think he/she would last?

So why is it that the vast majority of sales people stop learning or  for  that  matter anyone  in professional field. Stop training. Stop practicing and  keep on doing  things  that  they  had  learnt

. I am constantly amazed at those who think they can get all they need from on the job training. This is utter foolishness. The best of the best never stop learning. They never stop training. They never  stop trying to get better. They understand that they do not know all there is to know. They understand that they are not  the most successful professional  in the world and thus they can still learn to be better. Ever wonder why there are very few High performers in  all  field ? Ever wonder why those that don't quit spend their careers mired in  mediocrity? The problem is, that learning, training, practicing...it all takes an investment of time, effort, and in many cases we  fail to understand  that some  times  Unlearning ,and  relearning  is  essential part  of  any  professional life I  mean  successful professional life  . Most are not willing to  make those investments, certainly no all at the same time. Oh ,they will always have an excuse. It won't work for me. My customers/business/product/service is different. Whatever the  excuse, it is just that...an excuse. Nothing more, nothing less .

Invest nothing in your future, get nothing back. Very simple. If you truly want to find success in your  chosen field , you will  understand right here, right now, that  you must never stop learning. Never stop getting better. Never stop Axing  your  saw .

 Yes Might  have  heard  this  story  many a  a  times but  I  feel  it is  ok  to  repeat Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey uses the common analogy of a woodcutter who is sawing for several days straight and is becoming less and less productive. The process of cutting dulls the blade. So the solution is to periodically sharpen the saw.I’ve found that in practice, however, most people fail to understand what sharpening the saw really means. If you’re overworking yourself and your productivity begins to fall off, common wisdom says to take a break, maybe even go on vacation. However, that isn’t sharpening the saw — that’s putting the saw down. When you put down a dull blade for a while, the blade will still be dull when you pick it up again ! then  what  is  sharpening  the  Saw?

.Sharpening the saw is actually an activity, just as the analogy suggests. Think about what it would mean to sharpen the saw of your life. Here are some saw-sharpening ideas: attend  training relevant  to  your  job  ,Learn a  new skill  that  is  Relevant  to  present  day need  of  your  Job where  earlier  skill  may  be  obsolete  or  need  changes Now the woodcutter can’t just alternate between cutting wood and sharpening the saw indefinitely. Downtime is needed too, but it isn’t the same as sharpening the saw. The woodcutter can become even more productive by sharpening the blade, studying new woodcutting techniques, working out to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters. Forgetting to intentionally sharpen the saw can lead to a feeling of burnout. If you merely alternate between productive work and downtime, your production capacity will drop off. You’re still working hard, but you don’t feel as productive as you think you should be. When you sharpen yourself regularly, you’ll find that you can flow along at a steady pace week after week without getting burnt out. Whenever I feel burnt out or overwhelmed, taking a day or two off helps a little, but not very much. What yields a much greater benefit for me is attending a weekend seminar, reading an inspiring book, or having an interesting conversation.

 It’s common to see people return from a conference with a notable spike in motivation that lasts for weeks. But this isn’t really a break or a vacation — going to a conference is an activity, but it’s the kind that often increases energy and motivation. How are your various blades doing? Your skills, your knowledge, your mind, your physical body, your relationships, your motivation, your commitment, your capacity for enjoyment, your emotions — are all of them still sharp? If not, which ones are dull, and what can you do to sharpen them?