Day 358 - That Time of The Year!

Yes, it is that time of the year, when everything slows down and everyone seems to be in the holiday mood, even those who are not taking a holiday!

It is also the time of the year when you might see a series of 'Annual Day' events being celebrated all around you.  I attended two such events over the last weekend; well actually Friday and Saturday. 

Friday was my organisation's annual day event.  It was a nice little package comprising of speeches, a song and dance show and a lot of food and drinks.  The whole program was timed just right, the speeches and the song and dance show being long enough (or short enough) to hold the audience's attention, before the booze desk took over!  The high point of the evening for me was the spirited performances by some of my colleagues.  Liana and her band belted out some terrific numbers.  This was followed by Ruchi, David and Meghana impressing one and all by their dance performances on the stage.  The low point was, a moron with zero road skills brushing my car and leaving a deep and long dent on the side of my car, while I was driving to the venue of the event  Anyway, once the show was over, the focus shifted to the dance floor and the DJ, and of course the booze!  I have not quite figured this out, but something very strange happens to absolutely sane individuals when they see free liquor!  A mad rush for the drink, till it reached a point where the bar had to be closed.  All in the space of an hour flat!  People danced to the DJ's beats to their heart's content.  The food, of course, was just incidental; or so it seemed to me. 

The 'Sheila Ki Jawani' number

Before I could recover from Friday night's exertions, it was time to attend another such event.  This time it was Suryanksh's school's Annual Day bash.  Indeed, compared to the previous one, this was a prim and proper event!  Interestingly, the theme was 'Rock N Roll'.  Suryanksh performed in one of the pieces, where he was one of the Beatles.  Hmmm...not sure which one.  He was on the guitar so probably Paul McCartney!  He did very well.  The joy on his face while performing on the stage was amazing.  He had this big smile while doing his routine with the guitar along with his other 'Beatles-mates'.  It was equally matched by Priya's tears while watching him perform on the stage.  Not sure why she has to cry everytime one of the boys performs on stage!  Anyway, it was a wonderful event with kids from JrKG till the 9th Standard performing on stage.  Of course, no booze and no food involved.  Instead we decided to treat Suryanksh for his brilliant show with a pizza after the event.

Suryanksh, in his Beatles avatar just before the show.

Last but not the least, was out again on Sunday night, attending my colleague, Cheryl's wedding.  Witnessed a Christian wedding after a long time.  It was good fun with all the rituals of cake cutting, confetti, the toast and the dances. 

In fact, I have attended a series of weddings over the last 2-3 weekends.  I guess it is indeed that time of the year!

It is also that time of the year when one tends to take stock of what has been accomplished throughout the year gone by and starts thinking about what is in store for the next year.  More about that in the next post, which might just be from Ahmedabad.  I look forward to being in Ahmedabad next week.

Take care!

Day 347 - Wanted - Plumbers!

Its leaking! And its leaking everywhere!

Overseas, in the country, in the city and even in my house, I got an errant flush rectified before I moved in!  Mumbai experienced rains at strange times of the year this time.  Maybe a result of a leaking tap somewhere up there, if not due to the detrimental effects of global warming as discussed in my last post.

Nationwide, leakage of a completely different type has been in the news off late.  The Niira Radia Tapes leak has kept everyone in the country interested; and some even amused.  The tapes reveal Ms. Radia spinning her corporate / political lobbyist web over all top dogs of Indian politics, business and even the fourth estate.  Conversations with Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi are especially very explicit and expose the connivance of the media in the unholy nexus of business, politics, babudom and crime.  As a young boy, I used to admire Prannoy Roy from the time of his 'The World This Week' days, as a pioneer in news coverage.  Further on, his election news coverage was also path breaking.  Naturally, I carried forward the same respect to his media house, NDTV, for all these years.  Barkha Dutt and her 'error of judgement' has eroded that respect.  Not only for NDTV, but for all of Indian media.  Interestingly I saw Peepli (Live) today, in which Aamir Khan Productions has given a lot of credits to NDTV, strangely, in a film which mocks the media and its greed for the 'next big thing'.  It will take me a long time to regain confidence in the media and its independence.  As of now, I just can't get the image of them as the power broker and agent out of my mind.  There is no question of whether what Barkha Dutt / Vir Sanghvi have done is right or wrong.  It IS wrong.

In other parts of the world, another big time leakage is making big news.  Wikileaks and Julian Assange have taken the world, especially the cyberworld by storm.  The release of classified information, exposing the big boys of all kinds of wrong-doing, has actually triggered a cyber war.  The United States of America has been at the receiving end of most of the classified cables which have been released by Wikileaks.  Interestingly, it transformed itself into a 'Ku Klux Klan' type of propaganda machinery, with Ms. Clinton and Ms. Palin coming out strongly and denouncing Assange and Wikileaks.  US based servers have off-loaded the website; payment mechanisms to the website have been stopped and the hence now the website itself is off the web. Assange himself has been arrested in UK on flimsy charges of rape (actually having consensual sex without condoms!). A group of Assange admiring hackers have taken on the might of US and started retaliating by hacking into many sites which supported US action.

 The question that I beg to ask is: What is right and what is wrong in this whole series of events?  Is Assange the villain or the hero?  Is he the symbol of the right to freedom of speech or a crook who has accumulated classified information to be used against countries?  I am in no doubt that the original thieves of these classified information would have been Americans themselves and are on the wrong side of the law.  Is Wikileaks also on the wrong side of law by buying the information (from the capitalist thieves of a capitalist country) putting it in front of the world?  Maybe yes, but a whole lot of people out there obviously do not feel the same way and consider Assange to be a crusader.  In the same vein, is Niira Radia wrong in what she has been doing?  Maybe not, she is just doing her job for which she is paid.  The true criminals are the people who entertain her. 

I have to however say, that after hearing the transcripts of the Radia tapes, Ratan Tata definitely comes across as someone who is not comfortable with this lobbying business.  There is nothing in the tapes to suggest that he was party to anything unethical.  He can only be accused of one thing, which is, hiring Niira Radia in the first place. 

Thank heavens for that!  My goodwill for the House of TATAs remains intact, Rajeev Chandrasekhar notwithstanding.  But then that is another chapter of the same story.

Take care!

Day 345 - Global Warming is 'Cool' - Why?

I have not posted to the blog for more than a week now.  The reason being, everyone at home, including me, has not been keeping very well.  All four of us have been suffering from various degrees of cold and flu.  All this due to the sudden climate change in Mumbai.  There is a bit more chill in the air in the mornings and the evenings.  To be frank, this is the coldest climate in Mumbai that I have ever experienced.  I hear that a couple of years ago Mumbaikars had to bring out the woollens, which was unthinkable a few years ago.  The weather patterns are certainly changing.  Blame it on global warming!

On a lighter side, how ironic though, that global 'warming' is causing cold conditions everywhere.  London is another example.  London experienced heavy snowfall last week, disrupting vehicular traffic as well as the train services.  A lot of regions in the US have had unusually cold weather in the recent past. 

Snow in London - 2010

The theory is that due to the increased emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane & nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, the ozone layer around the planet is being depleted.  This in turn is increasing the harmful radiations of the sun on the planet, consequently, increasing the overall temperatures of the planet's climate.  This causes the polar caps to melt faster and hence the sea levels rise.  Small changes in the temperatures of the deep ocean currents can cause enormous effects on the weather patterns.  Earth has its natural cycle of boom and bust, spread over hundreds of years.  It is believed that the Earth, in its present form, emerged from 'The Little Ice Age' about 150 years ago.  But the effects of global warming seem to be causing this natural cycle to play itself out in quicker and unnatural cycles.  All of this still does not tell me why does global warming cause the planet to ultimately get colder!?! 

However, something which is very clear, is that the population of this planet has to reduce the emission of the greenhouse gases if it has to secure the planet and its goodies for its future generations.  While the governments of this world keep arguing about who should do how much under the banner of things like the Kyoto protocol, we as human beings on this planet can do our own little bit to reduce these emissions.  Switch off the lamp if you do not need it.  Switch off the ignition during long waits at traffic junctions. Use recyclable material.  Use solar power wherever possible. Plant trees!  Just small bits which will go a long way in preserving this planet for a few more generations.

The kids are recovering now.  So am I and wifey. 

Take care.  Of yourself and this planet.

Day 334 - My Influences

Earlier last week, I attended a training program on 'Influencing Skills', along with a few of my colleagues!  Coming just after two days of campus hiring at Indore (and the resultant nostalgia around being in a campus environment all over again), this two day training program really made me feel like a student again.  The first day was a complete wash-out as the trainer could not hold our collective attentions together.  The second day was much better as the trainer learnt from the mistakes of the first day.

The reason that I mention this in this post is that at the start of the training program we were all asked the question : 'Who has been a big influence on you and why?' and that got me thinking about all the people who have been able to influence my thought processes, behaviours and even values and ethics, over the years.

First and foremost have been my parents, who ensured that the right values and ethics are ingrained from very early on.  I have written about this in a previous post and hence will not repeat myself.

During my school days, Samir Raiyani was a big influence.  Purely because his was a multifaceted personality. And he was good at whatever he got himself involved in.

A couple of others, namely Wali Azam Chaudhary and Ganesh Iyer, whom I have worked for in the past have also been very strong influences.  Both these gentlemen are very dynamic and are gifted with the ability to think out of the box.  Their sense of righteousness was also very inspiring.

Then there are a couple of others whom I worked with and have been quite impressed.  Vijay Lavate and Venu Madhav Indurthi figure in this category.  Especially with Vijay, I have had a very long association.  He is an ideal example of how one can reach for greater and better things while still being grounded to humble beginnings and core values.  Venu had this great ability to always speak his mind come what may, almost bordering on arrogance!

Inevitably, a lot of public personalities have also been great inspirations.  Mahatma Gandhi for his innovation, Amitabh Bachchan for the ability and the will to stand up and fight back every time he is down and out and Sachin Tendulkar for the consistency and sheer passion for his trade!

Hence, there is inspiration in people all around us.  One can learn a lot by just watching them.  Provided, of course, that we keep our eyes, ears and minds open to the key qualities that these people possess.

By the way, the training program was all about conceptual models of influencing skills to be aware of in work situations, which this post is not.

Take care.

Day 333 - The 'High Maintenance' Workplace

This week I was speaking to Navin Kumar, who now works in London.  During the conversation, one of the things that he mentioned, was the stark contrast in the way people work in teams in India compared to those in London.  Navin now is part of and leads a team of three people.  He was telling me how very professional the staff in his team were, which required the least amount of supervision.  Though we did not speak about this, but I am assuming that they have a clear distinction between their personal and professional lives, and hence the amount of distractions at work are less.

After this conversation, in my mind, I was trying to juxtapose the same to an Indian work environment, which is very different.  The workplace in India is, what I would like to call, a 'high maintenance' workplace.  There are far more people issues to resolve than real business issues.  As a manager, the people management component of your job seems to take up a considerable amount of time.  Loads of inter-personal issues to resolve; a complex and irrational web of cold wars to contend with.  Why is this the case? 

I think there are many reasons for it.  The first, but not a convincing, reason for this is the average age of the workforce in India.  With the demographic advantage of having such a large population of young working people, comes the disadvantage of majority of this population being immature.  Some are literally out of college / graduate school and the workplace to them, is probably just another place to hang out with friends.  One tends to think and behave in extremes at a younger age, which is never good for human relationships.  The maturity to understand relationships from a win-win perspective is largely absent. 

This bring us to the second reason, which is competition.  A large part of such immature behaviour is driven by competition.  The sheer amount of population that India has and the density of it in urban centres is driving people hard to compete; compete at any cost, like there is no tomorrow.  There are no age limits for competing, but it is very obvious that the younger age of the workforce makes it even more difficult as when one is young one tends to compete very hard, just to be able to make a mark as soon as possible.

The third and probably the weirdest reason is fear!  The fear of a perceived threat from peers and others around us.  We are finding it hard to trust each other.  However, if we dig deeper, we find that most of our fears are simply irrational. Finding a couple of spare minutes to be with yourself and reflecting on your own personal fears might show you just that – that they are grounded not in reality, but in some perceived threat that really doesn’t exist.

The fourth and the last one might be the strange belief in everyone that they are the centre of the universe, around which everything rotates!  The human ego!  Having an ego is well and good, but the problem is,that everyone believes the same and has an ego. 

So, what can be done to about this?  How can we direct such large amounts of raw energy in the right direction without any distractions?  One of the solutions could be to break the hierarchy of the organisation and make everyone an individual contributor!  Make them work alone.  However, this will not work as humans are social animals and prefer to argue and fight with people than bear the loneliness that comes along with living and working alone.  I believe what can help is talking to each other, including open conversations about issues.  This is the only way you can dissipate the emotional constipation that work relationships sometimes tend to create.  The ability and intent to empathise with others will also help.  It is very important to cultivate this quality in one and all.

Finally, it is important to accept the fact that any group of people working with each other will have it's own varieties of misunderstandings, misconceptions, perceptions and the resultant bickering and fights.  It is however necessary to ensure that they do not impact the common goal of the group and the personal doesn't get mixed up with the professional, more so for us Indians, because we are by nature very expressive about their emotions.

Take care.

Day 328 - 10 Saal Baad

Dave Ka Divya (Garam) Masala. 

Or, try another one.  Jai Maa Bhavani Jhatka Mutton Shop.

If you are wondering if I have finally lost it, I am not yet there.  These are just two of the many interesting names of shops that I saw recently in Indore.  As I said in my last post,  I was at Indore last week for campus recruitment.  This post is about that trip.  Will leave the mundane (and the official) stuff out of this for obvious reasons.  However, the other bits of those two days in the capital of the Holkars, were very interesting, to say the least.  You might have to pardon me if you find that my sense of wonderment in discovering or knowing about small and interesting things is in working overtime, but I would rather prefer it that way.

So, coming back to the city of Indore.  Literally, after close to 10 years!  The first thing that you notice about the place is that there has been a lot of changes (read construction) in the last 10 years.  Clearly, Indore has been part of the 'India Rising' story.  Also, a lot of this seems a bit rough at the edges; still work in progress, maybe.  However, I distinctly remember the airport and the approach roads to it, which have not changed much.  Same can be said for most of the arterial roads in the interiors of the city.  But it is definitely a city which is expanding its limits.  Large tracts of barren land which were previously on the outskirts of the city are now teeming with commercial complexes and malls.  Hence, in a weird way, it looks like a city which has changed a lot, but still maintains an old world charm about it!  Hence a 'Dave Ka Divya (Garam) Masala' does not necessarily look out of place at all.  It is just very amusing for individuals like me who have lived most of their lives over the last 10 years in the concrete jungles, that our metro cities have become.



Indore Airport

I am no sociologist but I sense that with the steady growth of the city and its infrastructure, the ambition and aspirations of the people.  Most of the young people that I met on the campuses during the two days, appeared bullish, had the ability to dream; and dream big, and given the opportunities, I would not be surprised if they actually go on to realise those dreams as well in the future!  A lot of them were very well-informed and aware of what is happening around them.  For some, there were,  of course, still challenges around issues like strong mother tongue accents and a very localized view of the world.



Treasure Island Mall




Rajwada

It is a pity thought that we couldn't visit more places of interest and explore the city in the two days that we were there.  We drove by the Rajwada, a seven storey palace built by the Holkars.  We also drove past the Treasure Island mall, which I understand was the first of its kind in the whole of Madhya Pradesh, in spite of Bhopal being the capital of the state.  The place of interest where we did spent some time though was '56 Dukaan', known so because of the 56 shops / eateries offering various kinds of chaat items.  Everything was very tasty, just as we were told they would be!  I started out with a Hot Dog (not the American one; this is the vegetarian Indore version), moved onto Masala Puri, tucked into an Aloo Bonda and a Samosa to keep it company and topped it all off with a Mango Kulfi!  Phew!  I felt like I had already had the next day's breakfast!  I was reminded of 'Khaana Peeni Gali' in my own hometown, Ahmedabad!  But thank heavens, I did not even dare try the below:

A Faloooda-Rabdi-Icecream-Kulfi Delight

That is Sanjeev Wason celebrating Indore and our rich haul from the city with a sinful dessert!

On a more personal note, I met up with Khandu after about 7 years, which was good.  Could have been a mini alumni meet if I had known that another batch mate of ours was staying at the same hotel that I was in!

Destiny.  Take care.

Day 326 - The Whirlwind

Writing blogs is a time-intensive hobby.  I have not been able to post anything for the last couple of weeks.  This is partly due to me being extremely busy and partly, because the infrastructure required to do so has not been available!  Hence, this post is going to be all about what I have been up to for the last twenty days.

I have been busy with a constant stream of visitors at work, ensuring that the family celebrates a decent Diwali, making arrangements for the housewarming ceremony, ferrying near and dear ones from home to airport and vice versa, shifting my house and travelling to Indore for campus recruitment.

Diwali was enjoyable and fun; we had a good time celebrating the day with Amiya and Farheen.  The kids were all excited about their new clothes and bursting crackers.  Sweets and savouries made by Priya added some more pounds on to my circumference.  Just after Diwali, Obama-mania hit the country.  The joke was that he had come to India after watching 'Enthiran' and was to make an offer to the PM to swap all of USA's military might and cutting edge technology for Rajanikant!  However, seriously speaking, there was indeed a lot of hype around the visit; half of South Mumbai was washed and (tooth)combed for this visit.  Interestingly, he began his visit in Mumbai, making it very clear as to what his priorities were.  Coming to India, just after a defeat in the mid-term senate polls in the US, this was not surprising.  And guess what, one of the first things that he did was announce business deals worth $10 billion which would create jobs for Americans!  Pamela Anderson was the first recruit.

Just after Diwali was the housewarming ceremony on November 8th.  With a start time of 3 AM this was one long day, by the end of which I was so tired that I decided not to go to work the next day; one of those rare occasions when I have had to take an unplanned casual leave!

Housewarming done; next up was the stressful job of shifting the house.  The job was completed in a single day last Sunday.  It was very stressful, especially for Priya, but with my mother-in-law and aunt's help we got through it.  We are still in the process of arranging (and rearranging) everything in the house, but it is much better than last Sunday, when the house resembled a minefield!

The visit to Indore yesterday and the day before for campus recruitment was just after the shifting; with me leaving everything in the house to be managed by Priya!  Business as usual; no surprises!  'As expected', said Priya!

Indore was pleasant.  And a completely different place from when I had seen it about 10 years back.  The city has literally expanded.  It was such a refreshing change to listen to the views of the bunch of students that I was interviewing.  Filled me with nostalgia.  About 12 years ago, I was sitting on the other side of the table.  Indore was enjoyable also because I got to catch up with Khandu after 7 years.  He is still the same, but looks like the world around him has changed.  The trip also started to resemble a reunion, as I met up with Kaushal at the airport.  He was on the same flight back to Mumbai.  Interestingly, he was staying at the same hotel as I was for the exact two days that I was there.  And yet, we never bumped into each other.  Now, now; this is sounding like a Manmohan Desai movie plot!  The visit to 56 Dukaan before boarding the flight yesterday was good.  Hotdog, masala puri, aaloo bonda, samosa and malai kulfi; add a few more pounds now.  But the food was worth every pound.

Have decided to take it easy this weekend as the next herculean task of changing my address everywhere is looming large.  Last time it took about three months to do so; I am hoping to do it quicker than that this time!

Take care!

Day 306 - Leave Me Alone!

'Leave Me Alone!'  Yes, this is precisely what the kid whom I saw at the children's play park the other day, would have wanted to tell his dad!

After a long time I went to the children's park with my sons this weekend and was witness to an interesting, but horrible, incident.  A handsome little boy, surely not more than 5 years old, was being pushed to the extreme by a moronic chaperon!  I assume the moron was the kid's father; though he looked more like a grand-father.  Presumably, the kid was there to have a good time and play in the park as he deemed fit / enjoyable.  However, the moron would have none of it.  He was constantly urging the child to keep running faster than the other kids, go higher than the other kids on the climbing rope nets and do the highest number of slides.  The man was cursing the child if the 'effort' was not upto his expectations.  The boy was very chubby but not obese or lethargic at all.  The moron was probably trying get the child a six pack by the time they got off the park.  And no marks for guessing what the child was feeling.  He was irritated by the constant chat and rebuke and was trying to take out all that frustration on the other kids in the park.

Welcome to the modern urban India!  A land where ambitious modern-day parents in cities are pushing their kids to achieve impossible feats with dangerous results.  Fourteen-year-old Biswadeep Bhattacharya's father wanted to see his promising son become a world champion in Table Tennis. He forced his son to to practise without any rest.  Biswadeep was ranked among the top four table tennis players in the sub-junior category in West Bengal.  Gruelling long practice sessions, merciless thrashings for small mistakes or a poor performance was Biswadeep's order of the day. Unable to take this much pressure, one day he suffered a cardiac arrest!  Everyday such children are living under stress to prove themselves. Interestingly, this is true not just in studies, but also in curricular activities or sports.  There are a number of chillingly true examples of children committing crimes in order to continue to prove themselves or even committing suicides when unable to live upto the expectations.  There is no doubt that this is a dangerous trend.

In 2006, a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, only confirmed this.  In India, China and Japan, a majority of the respondents said children are under too much pressure from parents.  Interestingly, this was a mirror image of what the respondents had to say in the United States of America.

Apparently, this is so in the Asian countries, and especially in India, because the parents want their children to gun for and achieve all of their unfulfilled aspirations.  Every parent wants his ward to be better than him.  Moreover, the sheer scale of the populace itself drives parents to unnatural levels of competition. 

So what should one do in this competitive age, so that the creative and impressionable mind of the child is not burdened?  I think it is important to teach the child acceptance over and above the drive to excel.  Parents should train their children to accept failure and success equally as a part of their life.  I must say, this is not easy and will not come naturally to many.  At least not to me.  The other day I was shown Suryanksh's mid-term report card (I am amazed that they have one for Junior KG!) where he was marked 'Very Good' in one of the parameters and not 'Excellent'.  I distinctly remember feeling disappointed about that!  And not happy that, he was very good at something!  This is exactly what we as parents need to address as well.  There is no point teaching the child the principle of acceptance when you are going to be after his / her life to live upto your expectations!

The bottom line is: We need to take care of our future generations, so that they are capable of taking care of themselves in the future.  And running around the children's park with a whip is no way to do that.

Take care.

Day 302 - Cultural Terrorism

I am probably inviting trouble by writing this.  Nevertheless, I think this is important.

Over the last few weeks there has been news of a piece of literature - Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey - being banned from the course syllabus of the Mumbai University.  This was in response to the student demonstrations led by Aditya Thackeray, the grandson of Shiv Sena founder, the original tiger!  The demonstrations and the burning of the book were conducted because Thackeray and his supporters feel that the book contains an unfair portrayal of the party.  I haven't read the book but it is widely reported that in the book Shiv Sena is portrayed as a party that uses violent tactics; hiring goons to roughen up opponents.  I am not sure if any of the protesters themselves have indeed read the book.  Interestingly, this incident happens around the same time when Aditya Thackeray is announced as the head of the youth wing of the party.  Very interesting, but very obvious!

Courting Controversy - Such A Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry

The university authorities did not waste any time in banning the book fearing trouble.  This is cultural terrorism.  It is an affront to the basic human right of freedom of speech that every individual in this world is entitled to.  Culture being used as a spring board to promote fascism and insinuating beliefs is not new.  The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas comes to my mind as a good example.  Taliban destroyed the two colossal statues of Buddha carved into the sandstone cliffs of Bamiyan, in Afghanistan, in March 2001.  Burning a piece of literature and getting it banned from the university syllabus is no different.  Protesting about the contents of a novel which one might find objectionable is understandable and very acceptable, but, using the fear of violence to get it banned is indeed terrorism.

Salman Rushdie and the fatwa issued against him by Khomeini years ago for his book, The Satanic Verses, is another case in point.  The fatwa still stands to this day.  The other glaring example is of M F Hussain, also called the Picasso of India by some, who lives in self-imposed exile in Qatar.  Someone who should be celebrated and feted across the country for his body of work, finds himself exiled from his own land due to fear of violence.  One might argue that a lot of his artwork might be sensationalist in order to stay in the news, create controversies and this add to the legend (and of course the market price of his paintings).  However, I see it as artistic freedom.  Art and literature are creative pursuits and trying to confine them to certain norms and an acceptable framework of artistic expression, would result in only killing the creativity. 

I believe, culture should define us and not the other way around. 

Take care.

Day 291 - The Masterclass

21 years.  This masterclass has now been in session for 21 years. And this post is about the 'Master Blaster'.  A perfect role model for many thousands of young people seeking their destiny in this populous nation. 

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar's genius has been in session for 21 years.  Right from 1989, when as a 16 year old, he blasted 28 runs off an Abdul Qadir over in an exhibition match in Peshawar; till earlier this week, when he scored his 49th test century, a sublime 214, a lot has been written about this man and his cricketing talents.  I will, hence, not try to repeat all that (though it might just be worth it) and just stick to my take on Sachin. 

The one word that comes to mind when one thinks about Sachin is consistency.  One can argue that he had this phase of a couple of years, when according to his own high standards, he was scoring below par.  He was also dogged by injuries.  In fact, the pundits opined that his batting prowess had declined, his career had slid permanently and the end was nearing.  However, nobody could have imagined the kind of purple patch that he is in right now.  They call it the 'second wind'.  Some tacky Hindi commentator even compared it to the flame that burns its brightest just before it gets extinguished!  Whatever it is, I am loving it!

As an ardent fan, I have seen it all.  The pounding that Abdul Qadir got in the exhibition match, the bloody nose in Pakistan, the nearly missed century in New Zealand, the series of run-a-ball (or better) innings, the 'Sholay-like' friendship with Vinod Kambli, the opening slot in ODIs, the 'Don' himself wanting to meet him, the sand-storm inning in Sharjah, or for that matter the one after that; the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri and the Padma Vibhushan, the Mike Deniss episode, and more recently the Symonds one, the misfit captain, the injuries (tennis elbow being the main culprit; and I was actually thinking all the while that he plays cricket!), the apparent loss of form, the abstention of an international 20-20 career, the second wind, the wax statue at Madame Tussuad's, scoring a double century in ODIs, highest number of centuries in ODIs and test matches, highest number of runs in ODIs and tests, almost leading the Mumbai Indians to the winners trophy in IPL 3, scoring the most number of runs in IPL 3, in spite of not playing the format internationally. Phew! I have just skimmed through the surface.  Imagine, there is more to come.

To me, for the last 21 years, Indian cricket has meant Tendulkar.  And when he is dismissed, the hopes of a whole nation sink, the stadiums go quieter or just empty up and a million television sets are switched off.  When he does well, the whole nation is in a cheerful mood, the stock market is on the upswing (a recent research paper correlated Sachin's performances to the stock markets' performance!).  He has handled such intense scrutiny, pressure and criticism amazingly well. 

However, the best thing about him is, he still is very down to earth and retains his middle class grounding.  Here is the proof.

Take a bow, Sachin!

Take care.

Day 284 - A Magical Week!

One shoots bullets from his fingers, the other caresses cricket balls with his magic wand.  Both are big blockbuster hits this week!

I am just back from watching the Tamil film 'Enthiran' starring Rajinikanth, the ultimate crowd-puller!  Crowd puller he definitely is, not only in India both elsewhere as well.  For instance, he is extremely popular in Japan, of all places!  Coming back to the film itself; it is a special effects extravaganza which keeps you engaged for a little more than 3 hours!  I can safely say that I haven't really seen anything like this in Indian cinema before.  No wonder it is the costliest Indian film ever made, at Rs. 150 crores.  And Rajini, the superstar, does pull in his worth at Rs.45 crores.  Skipped a beat?  Yes, that is exactly how much Rajini was paid for Enthiran, to play the double role of a scientist and a humanoid robot created by himself.  The story itself is very predictable.  However, in my view, the film is doing roaring business (Rs.117 crores in box office collections) because of the following:

1) The Rajini charisma.

2) Superb special effects; probably the best ever seen in Indian cinema.  The last 30 minutes of the film is especially terrific!

3) A stunning Aishwarya Rai; I do not like her much, but in this film she looks fabulous!

All in all, the film does live up to its hype.  Rajini, at the age of 60, is stunning, to say the least. By the way, he is probably the only superstar who has no qualms being himself and being seen with his bald head in real life.  Hats off to Thalaivar!

The Rajini Magic.

The other blockbuster hit this week was India's nail biting, edge of the seat winning effort against Australia in the first test match at Mohali.  Kudos to the magician from Hyderabad.  The man with the most unique initials in the cricketing world is truly Very Very Special.  VVS Laxman played tormentor to the Aussies yet again with his almost run a ball effort which won India the match.  Never one to play the ball under his nose, he used his bat like a wand; scoring runs effortlessly all over the ground, when wickets were falling at the other end.  India at 8 wickets down and still more than 100 runs to get for a win, were a goner.  I had switched off the television at this point of time as well.  3 hours later, I was pleasantly surprised to be informed that Laxman and Ishant Sharma were still at the crease and India were inching towards a victory.  Ishant Sharma scored 31 sterling runs and his effort was equally important as Laxman's.

Laxman, Ishant and the rest of the victorious Indian team celebrate the win.

With the gutsy fightback and holding their nerves during the last few moments, India showed the Aussies why they are ranked the number 1 test team in the world by ICC.  I hope they stay there for a long time.

By the way, the opening ceremony of the CWG games was a huge success!  Some respite from the constant torrent of bad news related to the organisation of the event in Delhi.  And what's more, looks like the Indian contingent is winning medals galore, a lot of them golds. 

Hope we continue to do well and erase the bad memories in the run up to these games.

Take care.

Day 277 - Happy Birthday.....Almost!

As promised in my last post, this post covers all that happened on my birthday, which was on September 30th.  The fact that a lot of my friends were looking out for this post and in fact, asked for it, makes me assume that there is a demand for this out there.  So here goes.

Birthdays are special and so was this one.  Birthdays are also days when you realise that you have reached another milestone in your finite lifetime on this planet.  Another year gone, and hopefully a few more to go.  A few more to look forward to.  One invariably tends to veer towards thinking about what has been achieved till this day and what is in store for the next few years, at the least. 

However, this time around I had little time to do any of the above because, as fate (and the Supreme Court) would have it, this was the day when the Allahabad High Court was to deliver the much awaited judgement on the land title dispute for what is known as 'Ram Janmabhoomi'.  Given the sensitivity of the matter, there was a high alert in the entire country to prevent any ignition of violent acts due to religious fervour.  Most of evening on September 29th was spent in planning for the continuity of operations at work for various worst case scenarios.

Thursday, September 30, was a day when the whole country waited with bated breath for the verdict.  This was the single most talked about subject wherever one went.  However, for me the day started of early with surprises!  At the stroke of midnight, Priya sprang a surprise; an impromptu party, complete with cutting a small chocolate truffle cake!  The kids and the neighbours were co-conspirators!  Priya gave me a collage of the kids' pictures as a birthday gift. Wow!

Is this cake for me!?!

The Midnight Party!

Another surprise awaited me about 5 hours later, when my Dad called me to let me know that Mom had just boarded the flight to Mumbai for a surprise visit! So the first thing that I did on my birthday was to drive to the airport to receive her.

At work, there was one more surprise awaiting me.  Vikas and the entire team sang the Happy Birthday song as soon as I walked into my office!  I was floored.  Thankfully there were no birthday bums!

It is a great feeling when someone wishes you.  Even more so, when you get that phone call or note from friends with whom you have lost contact over the years.  Throughout the day, the wishes kept trickling in through various means!  Text messages, emails, wall posts on Facebook; it was all happening.  We are living in an age of information overload and instant connectivity and I truly saw its impact on this day.  For a while I was trying to reply instantaneously to everyone who was wishing me.  However, I was fighting a losing battle.  After a while, it was such a deluge, I just gave up.  I was able to wade through all the messages only by the next day. 

Also, I also took possession of my new apartment on Thursday in the morning.  The outcome of the verdict was known by 4.30 in the afternoon.  Thankfully, there were no violent reactions to the verdict, which agreed that the disputed place was Ram's birthplace, however, divided the title of the land into 3 parts.  Given that the country had accepted the verdict with maturity, I decided to venture out with the family and treat Priya, Mom and the kids to a pizza party in the evening at Papa John's.  The kids had been wanting me to take them there for ages.  The only sad note to my 'happy' birthday was known the next day morning. My mother lost her ring, most probably, the previous evening.  Frantic searches did not yield any positive results.

So, it was a day of surprises for me.  An action packed day with little time for introspection.  However I did re-dedicate myself to some of the goals that I had set at the beginning of the year.  I have been a little naughty with some of them, but nothing serious!  Should be back on track in a few weeks.  More on that later. 

Take care!

Day 272 - CWG, CSK & The Power of Ideas

'Due to all the criticism and bad press around the preparations for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), Suresh Kalmadi decided to commit suicide by hanging himself from the roof. And the roof collapsed. Next, he attempted to jump off a bridge with the same motive, however, this time the bridge collapsed!’

This is a joke which has been doing the rounds for some days now, ridiculing all the goof ups that have now become part and parcel of the preparations for the CWG. It is also a good example of how we, as a country, have a great self-deprecating sense of humour. There is now even a page dedicated to ‘CWG Jokes’ on Facebook! However, at the bottom of our hearts, we all know the fact that all this bad press is causing tremendous pain to all of us as Indians. We are probably trying to cope with it by trying to find the funny side of all this mess.

The past week has been particularly bad for the organisers of the CWG. A roof (false ceiling, actually) collapsed; nobody was killed. A bridge collapsed; 27 people injured, but nobody was killed! However, it was only meant for ordinary pedestrians. Elsewhere, in the Games village, trouble began to brew as athletes began trickling in. The apartments were not properly maintained. Toilets were not clean. Mattresses had human footprints and marks of dog paws on them! And then Lalit Bhanot lectured us on the differences in the standards of hygiene of foreigners and us lesser mortals. Indian boxer, Akhil Kumar’s bed broke when he sat on it! Would ‘The Commonwealth Circus’ be an appropriate name for the event? I think so. Because the sportsperson is anyway not in the limelight for these games. In fact, many of them have just pulled out. I do hope we hold the responsible people accountable and punish them. We should in fact punish them by boycotting the CWG completely. For a country like India, where a large portion of our population lives below the poverty line, organising a Rs.70,000 crore extravaganza is a criminal offence.

The other interesting happening over last week was the elevator pitches for ‘The Power of Ideas 2010’ initiative. Manish’s business idea has been short-listed as part of this initiative and he had to make a 5 minute elevator pitch to an evaluating panel in Mumbai. After umpteen number of rehearsals and fine tuning, I accompanied him to the venue on Saturday for the Elevator Pitch. I was also hoping to listen in on the business ideas of other participants. Unfortunately, the format of the pitches was such that only the participant as well as the evaluation panel were involved. Hence no audiences! Manish made his 5 minute speech and was bombarded with questions, which was a good indication of the open interest in his business idea / model. I hope he does make the next cut, because he deserves it.

I also got my new house registered finally during the course of the week. Hopefully will be able to take possession of the place after a few more formalities are completed. Will need to then plan the whole run up to the actual occupation of the house, including a fresh coat of paint and a whole lot of modifications which the better half has ordered...phew!  But, am I looking forward to it? YES!

The other thing that I am looking forward to this week is my birthday!  Though, aging by one more year is no fun, the day itself is so much fun!  Will write all about that day and much more in my next post.

Till then...take care!

P.S.: By the way, I would like to congratulate all my friends in Chennai on Chennai Super Kings winning the Champions League T20 tournament!  Hey....whistle poooodu!

Day 263 - Back To Basics

This week I spent two full days attending the first module of my firm's Leadership Program.  The theme of the module was 'Personal Mastery' and the content was based on the highly acclaimed The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Signature Program™.  The program is based on the tremendously successful book by the same name by Dr. Stephen R Covey, first published in 1989.  Dr. Covey followed it up with 'The 8th Habit', published in 2004.

Of course, this is not the first time that I was attending such a leadership training program.  Also, I had read the book a long time back.  However, what struck me as I was going through the two-day program was the impact that can be created by smart and slick packaging.  I say this because the program does not talk about anything new.  In fact, most of us in our day to day lives must be following some or all of the principles behind each of the 'Habit' described in the program.  Smart packaging adds a halo to what is essentially common sense stuff. 

This is however, not to belittle the effectiveness of the program itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the video snippets of Stephen's sessions.  All of it makes very good sense, especially the 'Habit 7 - Sharpen The Saw'.  Stephen uses the analogy of the story of the goose which laid a golden egg everyday.  The point being, it is important to take good care of the production capability on an ongoing basis to ensure that the high quality production continues.  Hence it is very essential that self-renewal of the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional / social aspects of our lives happen so that we can be fresh and energetic to be able to practice the other 6 habits.  I think I enjoyed and related to Habit 7 the most because it also ties in with the resolutions that I made for myself at the start of this year.

Interestingly, I got an opportunity to practice some of the things that were part of the program on Saturday itself.  My car was hauled in for the first 'paid' service by the Honda dealer and service partner.  There was cost escalation and there was time delay, and still the things to be taken care of in the service were not, leaving me feeling cheated...and fuming!  I guess, my understanding of the concept of 'Interdependence', learnt over the week during the program saved them.  Had a similar experience at the 'Priority Banking' branch of the SBI this morning.  Public sector...always the same...priority banking or otherwise.

It was also good to meet up with Shankar Krishnamoorthy, an old friend and colleague, today after almost 6 years. 

As you can imagine, I have been thinking about taking care of myself, a lot this week.  You should too!

Day 256 - National Integration A Must - By Order, The Almighty.

This weekend has been a happy and rare co-incidence of Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi falling on Saturday.  The festive spirit was evident all over the city.  The Muslims were celebrating Eid on Saturday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which involves rigorous fasting and prayer routines.  The Hindus were celebrating the birth of the elephant God - Lord Ganesha, marking the beginning of a 10 day festival, during which Ganesha will be treated with the best of food and prayers, culminating in the immersion of the idols of the Lord in water bodies across the city.

I have always been a believer.  Prayers in the morning at home, have been a part of my routine for ages now.  I did, however, shun public places of worship for a period of almost 15 years after the Babri masjid was demolished by Hindu fundamentalists unleashing communal violence all over India.  The boycott of public places was to underline the fact that one does not need such places of worship, as religion should be something which is very personal for every individual.  Religion should not be used as a means of driving political agendas and causing irreparable damage to the secular fibre of the nation.

It struck me that this rare co-incidence of festivals of both the faiths falling on the same day might be a signal from up above, to us lesser mortals, that religion should be used to bring people together rather than divide them.  Our floor was a good example of this on Saturday.  After offering the prayers to Ganesha at home, we had lunch at Amiya and Farheen's place to celebrate Eid.  The same 'kolam maavu' was used for making the rangoli outside our door as well as writing 'Happy Eid' outside our neighbours' door!  In the evening, the Chaudhuris hosted all of us for dinner.

Ganesha @ Home

Sunday was a busy day as well.  Had lots of Ganesh Chaturthi darshan and Eid invitations.  We went to Sameer Dave's home in the afternoon.  Everything about the celebrations at his home was grand.  A large idol of Ganesha and lots of relatives all over the place.  Went to some of my colleagues' homes in the evening, with Arvind and Sagar.  Meera's place for Ganesh darshan and then to Arshan Dawji's place to savour some Sheer Korma.  By the way, this is the only downside to this rare occasion. The amount of sweets and rich food that is consumed; full of fats and calories, will take many many days in the gym to compensate for these two days now!

I wish all my friends a very Happy Eid-ul-Fitr and a very Happy Ganesha Chaturthi.  I do sincerely think that this rare occasion was The Almighty's signal to us as a nation to be united, while celebrating our diversity.  I hope many others do too!

Take care.

Day 255 - Parents Are GODS

If someone were to ask me: What do you fear the most?  The answer would be: Losing my parents.

Last weekend was spent in Ahmedabad.  I had wanted to go to Ahmedabad, my hometown, for sometime now, as my father was not keeping well and was hospitalized sometime back.  He was hospitalized due to a sudden surge in sugar levels, which necessitated administering insulin.  Being a chain smoker, he had also contracted bronchitis.  After being monitored in the hospital for 3 days, he was discharged.  The bronchitis infection had subsided, however, the sugar levels were still higher than normal.  The day we reached Ahmedabad, another blood sugar test was done and as they say: All wazzz well!  It is at times like these, that my biggest fears resurface, especially now that they are getting older and live alone.  Thankfully, this time, all's well that ends well.

In spite of spending the last 18 years away from my parents, I have always been very close my parents.  My relationship with my mother, especially, was always special.  My father was always, and still is, a very busy man.  He is a trade unionist and the well being of the smallest common denominator has always been the closest to his heart, sometimes even at the cost of not spending enough time with the family.  However, he made sure that he provided for the family adequately. There was never a need that was not fulfilled.  In my childhood, though we lived in the same house, sometimes I did not see my father for months together because of the odd hours.  Naturally, my mother was closest to me and my brother, as she was the 'go-to' person for everything for us.  She herself is a very strong woman and can be credited with single-handedly managing the entire house and the kids very very well.  The most difficult times being, when Emergency was declared in the country and most of the socialists, including my father, were imprisoned by the incumbent government.  Their families were harassed by the government by denying access to basic utilities like water and electricity.  My mother dealt with all of these valiantly for the sake of the love of her husband and children!  She is a winner!

Hence, my parents, in spite of having gone through unimaginable struggles in their lives, never ever left anything to chance as far as the upbringing of their children was concerned.  They have provided adequately for all our needs and wants.  Apart from all the material things, the most important thing that they gave us was the right values and morals.  Being a parent myself, I realise that it is very important to have the right set of values embedded in the upbringing of children.  That is the best gift you can ever give them because values and morals stay with you life long and help you make the right decisions throughout your life. 

My Parents

Hence the title of this post. As I write this on Ganesh Chaturthi day, an interesting anecdote comes to my mind.  Once upon a time, the two brothers, Ganesha and Karthikeya, were fighting for a fruit.  Shiva and Parvati decided that a competition should resolve the issue and asked them both to go around the world on their respective 'vahanas'(vehicles).  Whoever, comes back first after circumnavigating the world would get the fruit.  Karthikeya's vehicle was a peacock and hence he hopped on to it and was on his way immediately.  Ganesha, as his vehicle was a mouse, had no chance of winning this one.  He used his brains and had a brilliant idea.  He went around his parents in circles and told them that they were his world!  Job done.  Parents were happy.  The fruit was his!

I think he was right.  Consider your parents to be your GODS. You exist because of them. You are what you are because of them.  I hope everyone feels the same way.  Take care of your parents because you owe it to them.

Take care.

Day 241 - Discovery of 'Myself'

Finally! Finally, I think I have been able to zero in on a house that would suit both; my purse as well as my wife's expectations!  Hence the search for a buying a house in Mumbai is coming to an end.  Though we still have some way to go in terms of discussing and agreeing the nitty-gritties, light certainly can now be seen at the end of the tunnel.

While I was going through this process this week, I discovered an interesting fact about myself.  Maybe I should not say 'discovered'.  But I did think about it a lot.  The art of negotiation!  In the past, whenever I have been in a situation where I have needed to negotiate, in my personal or professional life, the first feeling has been, of a certain sense of wariness.  Wary of the expectation of a long and cumbersome process of negotiation.  It was no different this time. 

Negotiation is the process of communicating back and forth, for the purpose of reaching a joint agreement about differing needs or ideas. One would need a collection of skills and behaviors that involves communication, sales & marketing, psychology, sociology, assertiveness and conflict resolution.  Thinking about it, negotiation is all about getting to a situation where both sides win something for themselves. 

Inspite of the wariness, when I think back, most of the times, it would be safe to say that, I have come out of such situations with what I had expected to achieve.  Like yesterday!  So, what is it all about?  Can it be learnt or is it in the genetics?  Does experience make you better at it?  I think it is all of it.  My dad is someone who has probably spent a major part of his life at negotiations.  Maybe, I did pick up some stuff from him.  I remember, attending a Negotiation Skills training as well some years ago.  I also remember cursing myself for wasting time. However, I do believe that this is a skill which can be learnt.  Last but not the least, I think one has to depend a lot on past experiences and go by your instinct.

The key really is to be clear about your priorities about what you wish to achieve out of a negotiation and build enough flexibility around those objectives to be able to manoeuvre.

So much for my random thoughts about negotiation skills.  Out of my system now.  Right now, I am just glad that I was able to close the house deal yesterday.  A huge sense of relief.

By the way, I still hate negotiating!  Take care.

Day 234 - Media Abuse

Since the mid-eighties the one thing that I have very diligently followed is...News.  I have always been a current affairs maniac since my childhood.  Got into the habit of reading the newspapers when I was in the 5th standard at school.  To this date, the first thing that I look for in the morning is the newspaper.  A typical 'Madrasi Mama', I know!  If, for any reason, the newspaper isn't delivered on a given day, a sense of incompleteness prevails for the whole day.  In terms of visual media, since the days of Salma Sultan (with the mandatory flower) and Tejeshwar Singh (in his rich baritone) on Doordarshan I have been following the news.  'The World This Week' was the first current affairs based program that I really loved to watch.  I think the show opened up the world to us in a way that had never been attempted before.  Kudos to Prannoy Roy!

Speaking of Prannoy Roy, the psephologist par excellence, started delivering election results as well, in a way that no one had done before.  I was hooked again!  The liberalisation era opened up the media sector and there were these host of channels that started producing current affairs footage for all of the 24 hours in a day.  They even broadcast a war, live into our living rooms!  I was hooked onto channels like NDTV 24X7 and Aaj Tak (providing the Hindi dosage!).

Over the last couple years though, the media has gone crazy, especially the visual media.  Quantity has replaced quality.  Quality has nosedived.  Sensationalism is the mantra.  Clearly, commercialisation and competition is having an impact on the quality of the news.  The TV channels are bothered more about their circulation or TRP ratings.  Earlier, it was only restricted to local media but now even national TV news channels too have been hitting the screens with unusual stories, which have no relevance to the entire nation, apart from satisfying their voyeuristic tendencies.  These TV channels create episodes of their own based on suicide, crime, sex, corruption, magic and superstition which I guess, have nothing to do with news.  I DO NOT want to know about the domestic quarrel of a certain husband and wife in Meerut.  I DO NOT want to know about the goat which was born with an extra leg.  I DO NOT want to know the gory details of how a jilted lover took revenge by using acid!  Most importantly, I DO NOT want any of such episodes to be played again and again for an entire day, numbing my my senses.  I DO NOT consider these as news.

Journalism has hit a new low.  Needless to say, I hardly watch television news channels these days.  I still read the newspapers in the morning.  These have become booklets instead of the standard 10-12 pages of newsprint previously (some of the pages being full page commercial adverts); but they are not as bad as some of the visual media being dished out to us.

I am sure there will be more people out there who feel the same way.  I hope they outnumber those who like the programming of a few TV channels for their sensationalism.

Take care.

Day 228 - Ek Gharonde Ki Talaash!

In India, 'Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan' (Food, Clothing & Shelter) are said to be basic needs that every individual strives for day in and day out.  I did not realise till very recently how basic a need 'Makaan' really is.  It is a symbol of a sense of security.  It assures you that at the end of the day, you have a place of your own to go to; to rest after a hard day's work and unwind.  This weekend I was in the unenviable position of finding a new dwelling for myself, if I did not agree to my landlord's demands, in line with the market conditions.  The very thought of looking for a new place again, in a space of 10 months, was depressing.  But it did bring out very starkly the feeling of helplessness for not having a residence of your own.  I also suddenly realised the pain of those people who do not have an abode to go to at the end of the day.  Those who make do with temporary shelters under bridges, inside large pipelines, on the foot paths, etc.

India, by the way, leads the pack of top real estate investment markets in Asia for 2010, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Urban Land Institute, a global non-profit education and research institute, released in December 2009. The report, which provides an outlook on Asia-Pacific real estate investment and development trends, points out that India, in particular Mumbai and Delhi, are good real estate investment destinations. Residential properties are viewed as more promising than other sectors. While, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru top the pack in the hotel 'buy' prospects as well.

Amazing! This means that in this concrete jungle, that Mumbai has become, there is still more scope to build inanimate towers of bricks and mortar.  I have been on the lookout to buy a house for myself for the last few months in Mumbai. The timing hasn't been that great because due to the continued recovery of the investment markets, real estate prices have bounced back to original boom time levels, and in some cases, way above realistic levels.  At least way above 'my' realistic levels.  Due to this I have let go of some very good opportunities, expecting the prices to come down, as I thought the price rise is temporary and a result of the pent up supply in the system during the recessionary period.  It is probably not only me, because I did read reports of actual sales of residential properties coming down over the last few months due to the unrealistic price levels.  On the other hand, however, I hear that even at these unrealistic levels there is enough demand.  Only yesterday, a builder told me that he had closed bookings in a matter of hours, when he launched another tower in an existing project. Confusion!  What to do!?!

In a country like India, I guess, demand will always outstrip supply, as the PwC report indicates.  So, have I lost out by exiting from my property in Chennai?  Have I lost out on the opportunities of buying some good properties in Mumbai, just because I did not want to take the risk of buying in an inflated market?  Maybe, the wise thing to do for me now is to buy at current levels very soon.  I hope some interesting options come my way.

By the way, I did have a wonderful conversation with my landlord today which resulted in the resolution of my short term problem.  Hence, all is well.

Take care.

Day 227 - Mera Bharat Mahaan!

It was interesting reading Chetan Bhagat's column in this morning's newspaper.  This little piece of prose was about a conversation between the Prime Minister and his speech writer to discuss the content of the PM's Independence Day speech from the Red Fort in New Delhi.  It was a funny take on the apparent lack of focus of the PM and his government to deal with the real issues and only wait for the instructions from 'you know who'!

Jokes apart, on the eve of India's 63rd Independence Day, as is the custom every year, there is a multitude of material written with the intent of analysing India's progress in the 63 years that we have had to define our destiny as a country.  There are umpteen number of television shows on the same subject in this period as well.  Obviously, patriotism, and more importantly, the criticism of how we have progressed as a country after our independence in 1947, is big business and makes good newsprint.

I have a slightly differing view.  I think, as a nation, we have progressed wonderfully well in the last 63 years!  True, we haven't done as well as a Singapore or a Thailand, but the fact of the matter is, that these countries have not had to work on such a vast and complex landscape, that India has had to.  A country where there is a multitude of religions, castes and creed, a country where the dialect of the various languages spoken changes every 500 kms, a country which is large enough to have all the natural resources, a country which has many rivers, mountain ranges and deserts, a country where the difference between the rich and the poor is large that it cannot be bridged ever, a country where there is complete freedom of speech and a country where there are the resultant large number of political parties and their definitions of progress!

I think we have done very well in most sectors; agriculture, manufacturing, technology and services being at the forefront.  We have had lop-sided development in some of the socially relevant sectors such as education, health and sanitation.  Nonetheless, we have still moved forward.  Some of the sectors have received attention a little late; infrastructure being the best example.

The one sector that we probably have not been able to progress much has been the 'mindset' sector.  Majority of the populace of this nation seem to be plagued by a disease called inferiority complex.  For example, even today, the fairer your skin, the more respect you are likely to command!  We have a long way to go to be able to respect ourselves as an able nation, have the confidence to be the best in the world, able and willing to participate, collaborate and lead.  This is the sector which I intend to track our progress on.  I think this is what will expedite our progress in all the other sectors in the years to come.

Happy Independence Day!  Take care.