I am a champion of the underdogs. It is inherent in my character to back a horse that seems to lag and in whom I see potential. It stems from my belief that everybody has potential – just needs to be identified, tapped, and channelized. Back in the days, when the Cricket Indian Premier League began, I looked across the glamorous “Mumbai Indians” or the electrical “Chennai Super Kings” to back the Rajasthan Royals team. As it turned out, they were the dark horse, came in from behind, and with the leadership of the Australian legend, Shane Warne, won the tournament. In the English Premier Football league, I looked beyond the Majestic Manchester Teams and Lively Liverpool Derby to back an old favourite, Aston Villa. Sadly, they could not make the grade – you win some, you lose some!
True to that spirit this is my story of AIR INDIA, once the Indian glory of the global skies. As we moved in to the 90s and the millennia, the skies opened to several glamourous private airlines and people thronged to those like bees to a honeycomb. Alas! my pride and joy, as was AIR INDIA, turned underdog overnight. The fact that it still is, is a story that remains unfinished and the jury is open! True to my instinct and conviction, I continued to fly AIR INDIA. On one such domestic flight, after I was mundanely served dinner, I thoroughly enjoyed an amazing meal and soon landed at my destination well before time. THAT is the “Ah-ha” moment for this untold story!
AIR INDIA has often lived up to my expectation. It has served me good meals, often was the only airline that was available, and most often got me to my destination on time. Yes, there were bad days. I began to see the truth about EXPECTATIONS when on one occasion I turned to another private airline, known for its professional and “on-time” service. It had a standard menu so I knew what I was going to eat and planned by meeting confidently assuming that the flight would reach on time as it was always expected to do. That did not happen. My set meal was not available, and I missed my scheduled meeting – I was livid.
It is simple. The higher you set the EXPECTATIONS, the more disappointed you may get. My experience with AIR INDIA, has almost always ended up in delight. It was pegged low so that results were always above expectation, leading to delight and satisfaction. That one episode of flying an airline with a reputation set my expectations so high that a simple event of not getting my sandwich of choice and landing late was unacceptable – left me frustrated and disappointed. I learnt a lesson around how to manage EXPECTATIONS. If we keep it at reasonable levels, we get more, we feel positive and the provider gets a lease to introspect and improve. High level of expectations invariably leads to disappointment and demoralisation. That is what I termed as the AIR INDIA Phenomenon.
So here is the moral – I am not suggesting that we always keep low expectations from everyone – the peril lies in expecting high every time!
