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.

Day 216 - The Scandalous Games

Hosting an event of the scale of the Commonwealth Games is definitely a national honour, and responsibility, although the Commonwealth itself as an organisation, may be completely defunct.  Over the past few months, however, the media has been going on and on about about how badly prepared are we to host the Games.

There have been many allegations. 

Allegation No.1: The infrastructure is not ready.  The construction at the various venues for the Games is not complete.  Building materials are still lying around at the venues; probably the Indian athletes are fortunate, especially the long jumpers, steeple chasers and marathon runners, as they might have used these as an effective hurdle training course, in their attempts to get to these venues to practice!

Allegation No.2: Everything which has been built has been hurriedly built and is of inferior quality.  Roofs are leaking and the walls already have cracks.  Imagine a weightlifter in serious contention of a medal, attempting a 250 KG 'clean and jerk', and right then droplets of leaking water from the roof hitting his pate.  I think we need raincoats for the weightlifters!

Allegation No.3: Huge financial irregularities.  Treadmills have been hired for Rs.9, 50, 000 each for a period of 45 days!  Some smart bloke in the papers has gone and found out the cost of buying the costliest  treadmill from Harrods, which happens to be around Rs.7, 00, 000.  A contract for media displays during the Queen's Baton Run across India has been awarded to a one man company, whose company is in liquidation in UK.  It is a pity; even the common man's hard earned money could not save his company.  But the interesting part is that there is no document to prove that there was a contract, even though money changed hands, just before the company went into liquidation, incidentally.

All this when we have 2 months to go for the event to happen.  A showcase event meant to demonstrate to the world India's capabilities in hosting high profile events, thus strengthening our future bids for hosting the Asian Games and the Olympics.  And then there is politics involved; no surprises, wherever money is involved, politics has to be present.  The opposition wants the entire Organising Committee to be sacked, including its Chairman, who is the sports administrator extraordinaire in India!  I think they should themselves resign, the money they have already made should definitely last for a couple of lifetimes. 

Amidst all of this, nobody is worried about the pride of the country which is at stake.  The Games are already a marketing disaster, with the common man / middle class showing complete apathy and no interest in the conduct of these games.  We will also miss stars such as Usain Bolt, who has given New Delhi the miss to prepare for more important events.

My view is that the entire might of the nation should right now be focused on ensuring that the conduct of the Games happens reasonably well, the chances of it being a resounding success are already nil.  After the Games are over, there needs to be a serious debate on the role of politicians in sports administration.  Sports administration is the honey which attracts every politician, big or small, stature doesn't matter.  If the Games end up being a damp squib, Mr.Kalmadi needs to be held accountable for it and forever banned from being a sports administrator.

In the meantime, let us pray for the smooth conduct of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Take care.

Day 213 - 3 Hours of Dreaming

I finally managed to watch LSD (Love, Sex Aur Dhoka) today, after having bought the DVD a couple of months ago.  Over the last few months, I have been wanting to watch a slew of movies which have been recommended by friends or have had rave reviews in the media.  I cannot term myself a great movie buff, but critically acclaimed movies have always been a passion. 

I haven't been able to watch a lot of movies in the recent past because of paucity of time.  Moreover, two small kids at home make it almost impossible to watch movies in a theatre Also, my intolerance for bad cinema has increased and my attention span has decreased almost proportionate to each other in the last few years.  Hence, the sum total of all these factors has been that, I haven't watched many movies (certainly not in the theatres) in the recent past.  The ones that I have watched, are those which have been critically acclaimed, like 3 Idiots.

So, there is still a long list of movies to watch: Ishqiya, Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, Tere Bin Laden, Udaan, Raavan, etc.  The last movie that I saw in a theatre was Rajneeti.  A movie with a huge star cast, with the director trying to make screenplay out of a mixture of Mahabharata, Godfather and contemporary Indian politics.  The huge star cast meant that the director could not do justice to the abundance of talent at hand.  My son had already declared the film as 'not good' after the first couple of reels.

Speaking of movies, down in South India, movies are big news!  Everyone loves movies, across all age groups; across all strata of the society.  Actors and actresses are revered as The Almighty and have even got temples dedicated to them.  One of my favourite films also happens to be in my mother tongue, Tamil: Nayagan.

I do sometimes wonder what is it in a movie that makes people go gaga over them!?  I think movies are like dreams.  Once is in a dreamland for three hours, watching a string of vivid images, while watching a movie.  We see our aspirations, hopes, wishes fears and fantasies being played out on the big screen for 3 hours.  When we watch movies, we get to experience what we normally can’t in our own lives by identifying with characters that are involved in impossible stories. Whether the ending is happy, sad, or bittersweet, if the story is to our liking, we are thrilled every time.  Hence movies are also about story-telling.  A good story is always immortal.

I am not sure, if many people do appreciate the subtleties in the making of the movie itself.  The art of camerawork, editing, lighting and, of course, the acting itself.  I am someone who does tend to notice these.  For example, LSD has been made with experimental camera work.  The three segments of the film have three different styles / types of cameras and cinematography in them.  In the past few years, film makers in Bollywood have started to become more and more experimental in the quest for putting something 'different' out there and this trend has received the right impetus with the influx of new and young talent.

Hope this continues and I get to see many more good films in the coming months and years!

Take care.

Day 200 - Identity Crisis?

One of the highlights of this week has been the decision on the symbol for representing the Indian rupee.  The decision was a culmination of a long drawn exercise which included a design competition for the symbol, which attracted about 3000 entries.  How come I never knew about this competition earlier, will remain a mystery forever.  The design competition was won by D Udaya Kumar, a post-graduate PhD student at IIT Powai, who has just finished his thesis and has landed a job at IIT Guwahati!  He became an instant celebrity, though the cash award that he got for his efforts was a pittance.

So, the Indian rupee now has a new symbol and it is coming to a keyboard near you very soon.  Why all the hullaboo about the event?  It is said that the Indian currency has now entered a select group of currencies (Dollar, Pound, Yen & Euro) having such a symbol, implying that, backed by a trillion dollar economy, the currency is making its presence felt on the international scene.  My repartee: Nobody every stopped the Indian government from coming up with such a symbol for the rupee even 20 years ago, when the Indian economy had zilch influence on the global scene.

Announcing the decision Ambika Soni said, "The symbol would lend a distinctive character and identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and global face of the Indian economy".  I say: Precisely.  It is all about an identity crisis.

I suspect all this tom-toming arises from the fact that Indians are not a confident lot!  We always draw great pride from the fact that we will now be in the company of the big boys.  Somehow we tend to define our success by calibrating it to the past deeds of the so called 'big boys'!  Do we not have an identity of our own?  The same philosophy and trend can be extended to the Indian urban society and its uncanny ability to draw inspiration from everything West.

Do not get me wrong.  I am very happy that we now, finally, have a symbol for the rupee.  I also like Udaya's design and believe that it is a perfect representation of the Indian cultural ethos.  And the bottom line: it looks good!  But I am not a great fan of the whole media spin that this is a milestone in India's march towards being an economic superpower.  I am sure that just by allocating a symbol to the Indian currency would not make it gallop at a GDP rate of 10% YoY.  Though I sincerely hope that it does happen, by the hard work of the 1.2 billion Indians!

Till then, keep counting; stop preening!  Take care.

Day 199 - Deprived...

There was a time when I could do with only 2 hours of sleep.  This was during the early years of my career and the brief period of time just before it.  And I had that lifestyle over a long period of time, due to various reasons.  The first and foremost was the amount of time spent at the workplace.  When one is just starting off in one's worklife and is a bachelor living alone, there is seldom a thought given to the number of hours spent at the workplace.  The workplace, in fact, tends to become one's home and the colleagues, family.  The second reason is being young!  When you are in your twenties, you want to do everything and pack in as many things as you can in a 24 hour day, including long chats on the phone late into the nights! :-))

That was flashback; and it was a good one.  Pan to today.  Eleven years down the line and with a family to care for, I can still do with 2-3 hours of sleep on the odd day, but, as you might imagine, it starts becoming more and more difficult as you age.  Lack of sleep does have its impact on the next day, when one feels very lethargic and sleepy.

I recently read an article about the prevalence of sleep deprivation and the consequent health syndrome of Obstructuve Sleep Apnea (OSA) spreading throughout urban India, in India Today.  Over the last few years, I have noticed that we, as a society, are sleeping lesser and lesser these days.  The benchmark of everyone going to bed by 10 PM is no longer applicable.  Most families are wide awake till 11 PM - midnight!  Even children, like my own, are sleeping lesser hours.  It is said, medically, children grow more when they are asleep.  Sleep deprivation in our cities, is doing a disservice to the future of India.  The Philips Sleep Survey says 93% of urban Indians get less than 8 hours of sleep per night!  I think this is a very dangerous trend.  Sustained sleep deprivation leads to OSA, thus increasing the risk of diabetes and heart ailments.

There are various reasons behind this trend.  The Indian economy and its integration with the global economy is the most important reason.  India, because of its time advantage of being able to bridge the east and west, has preferred to grow the services sector.  Hence you have people working unnatural hours in call centres, sweat shops and back offices higher up the value chain.  Additionally, their families have adapted to this lifestyle over a period of time.  The other reason is the opening up of the media and the huge number of TV channels airing myraid soap operas till late in the night.  Clearly, this is a lifestyle issue and the solution lies in changing one's lifestyle.

At the beginning of this year, I made a promise to myself that I am going to try and get 8 hours of sound sleep every night.  It hasn't been consistently possible till now.  However, let me rededicate myself towards this effort.

Sleep well.  Sleep tight.  Take care.