Day 205-2011 : Belly Churners!

100 crores!  That is the amount the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has earmarked for filling up potholes on Mumbai roads this year.  It is now that time of the year...monsoon, when the first few showers seem to be washing away the roads.  And Mumbai roads become...belly churners!

Belly churners because that is exactly the effect that these roads have on those who have the misfortune of driving through them.  Apart from causing your heart to skip a beat or two these roads can give your innards a good workout too!  The roads begin to resemble like the surface of the moon, with craters of various sizes and shapes all over the place.  One feels the brunt of it, especially if you drive a low slung vehicle like I do.  People tell me the trick is not to look out for the potholes but to lookout for any good patches of road still intact and get the car to hop, skip and jump around them!  In spite of following that advise, the chassis of my car has numerous intimate moments with the potholes these days.  Such encounters tend to not only impact the car, but also are a bit heavy on my heart, if you know what I mean.

So, why do we have these belly churners every monsoon.  100 crores sounds to be a big enough amount to me to ensure that there are no potholes.  I think the answer lies somewhere else.  Somebody in the system is not doing their job / well enough.  The news items on potholes on the recently inaugurated Lalbaug and Barfiwala (Andheri) flyovers have done little for the image of the city's infrastructure.  But I am sure Mumbaikars wouldn't have been surprised by these developments.  Someone is certainly not doing their job well.  I am told that every new road built by a civic road contractor has a guarantee period.  I would be very interested in knowing how many times has BMC invoked this guarantee clause against the contractors.

There is also talk of a powerful cartel of civic road contractors, lobbying to keep the situation as it is, so that they can exploit it for their vested interests.  Potholes then become pots of gold for these people.  For example the carboncor technology is proven to be a long-lasting solution for Mumbai roads.  However this cartel has lobbied and ensured that the use of this technology remains optional for road contractors who take up the job of filling these potholes.  Most of them use bitumen which gets washed away with the first spell of rains, thus giving the opportunity to these contractors for repeatedly fill these potholes and keep submitting fat bills for doing so.  This, in spite of a Bombay High Court order and a recommendation by a Statutory Technical Advisory Committee to use the carboncor technology.

The suffering for the common man only increases.  Mumbai traffic, rains and the resultant potholes can (and does, on a daily basis) cause mayhem on the roads.  A colleague of mine had to drive for 3 hours to get to work from Andheri (W) to Andheri (E)!  I hope someone sane in the civic administration does something about this.  The best solution is to privatise and make service providers directly accountable for the quality of the roads.  But that is a long way away.....till then I guess I will just have to bear with running into one pothole to the other, every time I drive.

The other 'belly churner' was the movie that I watched this week, Delhi Belly.  In more ways than one.  But a more detailed review of that in the next post maybe.

Till then...take care!

Day 198-2011 : Bomb Blasts! Hmmm...OK.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

It was around 7.15 in the evening.  I was at work, in the closing stages of a hour long conference call.  I receive a  message on my Office Communicator from a colleague, which says..'3 bomb blasts in Mumbai'.  I respond, 'OK'.  

The conference call gets over.  My immediate response is to try and 'google' what is happening out there.  However, I am in a series of back-to-back meetings with my staff and people overseas for the next one hour and hence cannot find out more.  In the next 30 minutes, while I am in the midst of a staff meeting, I receive 4-5 text messages (not phone calls...!) on my phone enquiring if I was safe.  I also see a missed call from Mom.  During the next conference call with people overseas, my multi-tasking self  casually 'googles' the web for news on the blast. 3 bomb blasts in Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri Bazaar; 17 injured, I read.  I think, 'Looks like a small blast'.  I also try to watch the reactions of my colleagues from glass wall of my cabin.  There seems to be flutter on the floor and people look a bit nervous.  A couple of them are worried about their near and dear ones, as they were supposed to be in the vicinity of the areas where the bomb blasts have occurred.  After a few minutes, everyone looks normal and is back to work.

The series of meetings and conference calls finally gets over.  I answer a few curious questions about the blasts from my overseas colleagues and assure them that all is well.  News travels fast these days.  I simply refresh the the 'Google Search Results' page.  It now tells me: '....8 dead, 70 injured.'  I call Priya and find out that she knows nothing about what is happening in the outside world, being with the kids at home.  I ask her to switch on the news channels and keep me informed of all that she gets to know.  I call back my Mom and assure her of my safety.  I am still not done for the day, so I continue working for sometime in the office, which includes impromptu discussions with my team and some of my peers about the blasts.  It has in the meantime also been determined that all staff in my team are safe.  Those who were supposed to be travelling to work are already in the office premises, those who had left for their homes a few hours ago, had safely reached their homes.  I try to tell one of my peers that we should be worrying about staffing for the next day.  My apprehensions are brushed off, 'Kuch nahi hoga...jo hona tha aaj ho gaya.  Kal sab normal hoga!'  I hear that the office transport has started plying the buses and the cars again after temporarily stopping it for an hour or so, 'as there were no more news of any more blasts in the city.'  I pack up for the day and walk down to the parking lot.  On my way, I call a couple of relatives in Mumbai to find out if they are safe.  They are.  One of my cousins reports hearing the sound of the Dadar blast, while on her way to the temple.  

I reach home to find Priya watching her favorite soap.  She informs me that she switched to the soap only a few moments back as she was getting bored of the same news and video clips being broadcast by the news channels repeatedly, in loop.  I switch on the news channels while having food.  '15 killed; 102 injured', the newsflash announces.  The news reporters are shown urging eye witnesses to narrate what happened, some have even recorded videos of gruesome scenes just moments after the blasts.  The scavenging reporters take great delight in being able to show these 'exclusive' clips.  I get fed up, get a sick feeling, put off the television and go to bed. 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I get the newspapers and am staring at a bold 'AGAIN' on the front page.  The next few pages are all describing the details of the blasts.  I do not have the patience nor the inclination to read the reams of pages describing the blasts from everyone's perspective; the Mumbai Commissioner of Police to the beggar on the street.  I call office to check if everyone's reported to work.  Everyone has.  I get ready for work and on my way, see that traffic was as normal as it is on other days.  I am told there would be extra vigilance and security measures on the roads and at my work premises.  I find no difference.  The security guard at the main gate, as  usual, checks for a bomb in my car's boot (as if that is the only place where one could hide it..!) and lets me go.  I reach my desk and see everything is business as usual.  

Do you feel angry and frustrated reading the sequence of events above?  As is evident from the narration above, most Mumbaikars don't.  Apart from the people who are directly impacted by the explosions, nobody else seems to be feeling the pain and no one seems to care.  Is there a sense of vulnerability in the people of the city due to the repeated strikes by terrorists over the last few years?  The answer is, no. It seems to me that fatalism has taken over.  

Is this the famous 'resilience' of the city at play?  The answer is again, no. This is   how 'numbed minds' react.  Numbed by the audacity of the extremists at being able to strike almost at will, in the choicest of places.  Numbed by the continuing inaction and a lack of will, from the polity leading to such strikes.  Numbed by the sheer helplessness and lack of preparation of a police force, paralyzed by corruption and procrastination.  Numbed by the senseless exploitation of such incidents by the media.

The hundreds of crores invested in intelligence and equipment is obviously of no use.  Perhaps, this is the most effective way to prevent these terrorists from doing mindless acts of terror like this.  The terrorist might just decide that there is no point orchestrating such acts, as the common man seems to be numbingly indifferent to it.  

Take care.

Day 191-2011 : Investors On Strike!?

This was how an extremely articulate business leader described the current state of global financial markets a couple of weeks ago.  The BSE Sensex has fallen to a little less than 18900 from the highs of around 21000 six months ago!  This downward trend is seen in other major markets in the world.  Gold prices have appreciated exponentially and crude is again closing in on the $100 mark.  Countries in Europe are struggling to stay afloat.  Greece almost defaulted.

So what is happening?  The answer is:  Exactly what was happening a year ago!  The PIIGS (the group of European countries namely Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece & Spain) were in trouble exactly a year ago, when they were about to run out of cash and the IMF and some of the other eurozone countries bailed them out.  These countries are again out on the streets with the begging bowl...at least Greece is, and I am assuming Portugal will soon follow.  The austerity measures and structural reforms agreed by these very countries have not worked and have in fact been huge flops.  Instead of uniting the entire country in these times of crisis, the austerity measures have been a subject for heated debate and, specifically in Greece, public unrest.  Pro-austerity pundits believe the policy makers have not gone far enough for them to work, and the other side of the argument is that the austerity measures have in fact worsened the sovereign credit crisis.

The future of Euro as a currency is in question again as it is very clear that the inability of these countries to control their currency is one of the reasons for the crisis.  The United Kingdom, though impacted by the latest crisis, must be standing in the sidelines with a smirk on its face.  The fact that it did not join the Euro, is seen as the prime reason that it is not in a bad shape compared to others like Ireland.

Interestingly, everyone fears that the response of the market participants to the latest crisis is going to be very similar to that of 2008.  Everyone tries to de-risk, hold tight and clams up, thus causing liquidity issues in the financial system.  Investors on strike!  The declining volume trends of trades executed in the exchange-traded as well as the OTC markets over the last few weeks are very good indicators of what is in store next.  Is it going to be 2008 revisited?  A couple of key indicators are definitely different this time compared to 2008.  Unemployment rates as well as the level of public debt of major world economies, are both higher this time, thus reducing the ability of the global economy to absorb systemic shocks like a sovereign debt default or a banking system collapse. 

Hence, my view is that the world at large cannot afford a policy mistake like the Lehman bankruptcy this time around.  Sovereign policy makers as well as key corporate functionaries in today's interconnected financial system, will need to respond in a co-ordinated manner, to understand and control this emerging challenge.  There is far too much at stake...as everyone knows. 

Take care!

Day 184-2011 : Paradise on Earth - Final Part

I have finally reached the end of my boring travelogue on our trip to Kashmir.  Blogging is a time consuming hobby, so please bear with me.

The only agenda on the final day was for the whole group to fly back to their homes.  As we left the hotel everyone had mixed feelings.  On the one hand, the relief of going back to familiar environments was evident, but, on the other hand, people were surprised at how quickly the last 6 days passed.  We made new friends, which is a big plus for group tours, and everyone was promising everyone else that they would be staying in touch. 

There were worries that we could meet heavy traffic on our way to the airport as the J&K capital was being shifted that day from Jammu to Srinagar!  We were told that if we did meet those government convoys carrying the entire officialdom (people & paper), it could take hours to get out of the jams.  Thankfully, the drive from the hotel to the airport was a short one.

I have to however, mention an interesting fact, as it was a first for me.  As we approached the airport, our vehicle was stopped at a security gate about 1 KM from the airport.  The procedure was to screen all the baggage at this distance and then load it back into the vehicles to travel the rest of the distance to the airport.  In all, there were three rings of security layers by the time we reached the check-in counter. 

After going through all of that we finally boarded the flight.  We did not have to change flights this time and were back in Mumbai after 2 stops (Jammu & Delhi).  Tired and not looking forward to getting back to the daily routine.

All of us, especially the kids and me were now sporting a tan (see picture above)!  We also had cold rashes on our faces due to the extended exposure to the cold and dry weather.  They are all now gone, but it did take quite a few days for people to stop commenting on my 'looking like a red tomato' look!

While I have been writing this travelogue over the last few weeks, the global economy has again started showing signs of stalling.  Countries are being described as 'group of PIIGS'.  At least I have done my bit for the economy by burning a  huge hole in my pocket for this trip.  Is it however, going to be 2008 revisited?  Watch this space.

Take care!