Random thoughts of a world citizen

A time for reflection

2011-12-31T19:39:00.001+05:30

It's new year's eve, and as I sit here thinking of the year that has gone by, it strikes me that we are happiest when we make good use of the time granted us on this earth by God. And that its not about what we want, but what He placed us here for. Which most of us don't have a clue about. That's because we don't spend enough time to try to learn and understand what His purpose for us is. But think about it. That is truly our life's purpose!

Instead what do we do? Live lives that satisfy the cravings of the self. Which is usually to do with self indulgence, status, power or accumulation of wealth as worldly symbols of 'achievement'. Which are all meaningless, and don't really make us happy. Instead, it becomes an endless pursuit on a treadmill that keeps us running ever faster to getting no where! Since self and its lusts, and money seem central to all that we do, is it any surprise that our society is so dysfunctional?

We drive at the cost of others on the road. We bribe to get our own way or 'speed' things up. Students cheat at exams to be ahead of others without making an honest effort to truly be so. Job applications today have to be screened because of the level of fraudulent claims. Politics is rife with self serving people who really have no interest in representing or serving the people. Which is why a bill like the Lokpal has been stalled for overt forty years! As a society, we are dysfunctional, and rapidly deteriorating as a nation that is capable of real progress.

Truly a time for reflection. As I do so as a practicing Christian, I look at what the Bible teaches us for some answers. For it is truly a Book of Life, an operations manual (if you will) for we, who are God's creation.What does it tell us? That man has a sinful nature which is manifested in indulging the self. This covers all that we have currently become as a society that we saw earlier. The pursuit of money, power, status, material things at the cost of all else, because these have become the things we worship.

Instead, what were we created to be? The Bible tells us that the fruit of the Spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. This is how we are to relate with one another. Imagine if the world were filled with people who were full of these attributes! A happy new year is not going to happen just because we wish it. Nor is it truly going to be happy if it is based only on self centred desires. We can truly have a happy new year only if we make it so. And we can! By focusing on the fruits of the Spirit. By being loving, kind, joyful, peace loving, patient, gentle, good, faithful and self controlled.

This will come about by an act of will, by a decision to be that way. By being in communion with God so that we are more what He wants us to be. If we were to do so, we wouldn't need a laundry list of new year's resolutions. We would just need one. And in following it, we would not only have a happy new year, we would ensure that for those around us! Won't you join me in this resolution? Let's make sure that the new year is filled with joy and blessings. So that it is, indeed, a Happy New Year!

Who is your role model?

2011-07-23T17:54:00.003+05:30

In a world where everyone craves money, power and fame, role models are, predictably, rich, powerful or famous. Mind you, they need not necessarily be ethical, compassionate, just or have a good heart. After all, youth icons have been film stars, cricketers, the Ambani brothers and people like that. I find this very disappointing. And a confirmation that the way of this world is towards all that is shallow, material or of transient value.

But I’m happy to inform you that there are real heroes out there. These are the people who matter: people who’ve made a real difference to others; who have saved lives at great personal cost and expense to themselves and their families. Who exhibit grit, determination, and values that transcend race, caste, gender or economic status. These are the real heroes that we should be looking up to.

Like Sivagami, a simple woman who lives close to the town of Tinidivanam in Tamil Nadu. Her husband left her over ten years ago for another woman, with no means of income and two small children to care for. Realizing that she had to find a way to earn enough money to feed and educate her two children, Sivagami started selling note books and school supplies to the children going to nearby schools.

She then joined a Madura self help group, and took a small loan to finance her business. She enrolled her son in a Matriculation School and her daughter in a nearby convent. She then convinced the school authorities to let her set up a small shop in the school to sell school supplies to parents and their children as a service. And so established her business and grew it. A second larger loan, after she had repaid the first, ensured she was a able to expand further.

She rebuilt her life at a time when local society held her in scorn. After all, she was a woman whose husband had left her. She had no honour, no form of support, monetarily or socially. Our society is particularly cruel to abandoned or divorced women, both in urban and rural India. They are considered fair game, sexually or otherwise. Whether it is finding a house for rent or getting a good job, they find they are not well received or treated on par with others.

Once she had established herself, the scorn changed to grudging acceptance for she had won their respect against all odds. That did not mean she won favour or friends, but yes, they did respect her. Then she did something that took their breath away. Passing by a refuse heap one morning on the way to open her shop, she heard a baby wailing. On investigating, she found a new born baby girl thrown on the rubbish heap, cruelly discarded by her parents.

Sivagami knew what it was to be rejected, discarded by those closest to you. She understood what it was to be abandoned, ignored and scorned by everyone. She knew the pain that it wrought in the heart, the ache for love and acceptance. So, on seeing the child, her heart went out to this little baby, abandoned so cruelly by her parents for being born a girl. Without hesitation, she climbed through the rubbish, and picked up the baby. Cradling her to her chest, she took her home and looked after her.

This shook the neighbourhood. ‘Why are you doing this?’ they asked her. ‘You have a son and daughter of your own. You have to bring them up and provide for them. You already have a daughter and the responsibility of caring for her till her marriage. Why take on another such responsibility?’ But Sivagami was resolute in her decision. ‘I am doing this because I have to’, she said. ‘There is no one else to care for her’. And suddenly, the local people saw her with fresh eyes as a woman of worth, a woman of enormous compassion.

Today, Sivagami’s son is in college, her daughter in high school. Both are doing well and she is confident that they will be able to do well in their lives. Now her focus is on bringing up this sweet little girl child and giving her a good start in life, oblivious to the fact that she has become an inspiration to many. For it is people like Sivagami who should be the role models for all of us. Role models whom we should uphold, honour and celebrate. For their demonstration of unconditional love that rises above everything else.

What we need is a social revolution

2011-07-16T14:59:00.003+05:30

I’m deeply disturbed after I read about the 11nth standard girl in Uttar Pradesh who was beaten up in front of her village, then dragged into the fields and gang raped by the henchmen of a former MP as punishment for allegedly having an affair. She hanged herself with her dupatta that night rather than face another day after this public humiliation and violation. To call India a developing nation, one of the most advanced technologically, having over a trillion dollar economy, leader in IT services, one of the fastest growing economies in the world etc is meaningless if this is the state of our society.

What is even more disturbing is that those in power seem to have a growing sense of impunity. The men who committed this act were the gang of a former MP. What does that tell you? The fact that the police did not act on this incident is an indication of the level of breakdown in the administrative and policing framework that is supposed to ensure a safe and fair environment for all. It is easy to dismiss this as a phenomenon in UP, especially by those who live in the large metros. The truth is, thousands of people with this kind of a mindset are migrating to our cities every day, and this could very well happen in any city.

Delhi is already well known for being unsafe for women, not only at the lower strata of society, but for all women. Delhi also has the dubious reputation of pioneering rapes in moving vehicles so that the rapist may not be apprehended during the act. Mumbai had that tragic case of a policeman forcing a girl to come with him to the police booth beneath the flyover on Marine Drive and then raping her. I am sure there are many such instances in other cities too. The most alarming indication of women being held as inferior in our society is the declining ratio of women to men as a percentage of the population in the last ten years. Even more alarming, this decline is not restricted to the rural areas, but finds place in advanced states and urban areas as well.

My experience with Madura Microfinance in the rural areas on Tamil Nadu is revealing. Invariably, women in rural areas are less educated than men. In fact, when they are born, many families mourn the birth of a girl child, or at least are disappointed. Parts of Tamil Nadu are known for female infanticide. The girl child is given fewer opportunities compared to the boy in the home. He goes out to play, she stays back to wash the dishes and do household chores. He goes on to high school, she stops after the eighth standard. Girls may even be given less food than the boys when it comes to the crunch. And when she turns eighteen, or even earlier, she is married off to a suitable groom and sent out of the family. And the parents heave a sigh of relief that their ‘responsibility’ is over.

But wait, it doesn’t end there. The girl has to leave her village, the only home she has ever known, and move to the place where her husband lives and works. For months, she is afraid to leave the house and go out because she doesn’t know anyone in the new village. Nor will her husband introduce her around or make an effort to integrate her into the village society in a concerted fashion. After all, her place is at home. She eventually makes friends at the village well or tap where she goes to draw water, or at the local shop, the neighbours and so on. In the meantime, the children come along, and all her time and attention is focused on them, and on keeping her husband happy. What of the husband? Oh, he has a wife who looks after the household, provides him with food, produces children so his reputation is maintained, does all the chores and so on.

He focuses primarily on himself, and if he does give her money, it is after taking care of his ‘needs’. Depending on what those ‘needs’ are, that could be an amount that leaves her very little to manage with, and with very little hope for the future. At all times, she is reminded that her place is in the home, and she must not get above herself. Often, the man has a vice or two, usually smoking, or worse, drinking and/or womanizing. In which case she gets even less than she would have otherwise, while he indulges himself. Drinking also leads to verbal and physical abuse, as the woman is often treated as a means of getting rid of his rage, frustration or resentment at being reproached for drinking. So it is that, while the man is morally in the wrong, or fails even as the bread winner, the woman bears the brunt of his failure on all counts. But he is the man, and therefore superior to her and she must remember her place!

This is why the Self Help Group concept for women works so well in the absence of any other form of support for the rural woman. Madura’s groups consist of twenty women who back each other up in the face of adversity and challenges, help and support each other through trials and times of despair (The women have been known to go as a group to the house of a group member whose husband beats her, and tell him that if he does not stop, all twenty will descend on him and beat him up. This works!). And why would a woman join a self help group to take a loan and start a business? The overwhelming reasons cited are to ensure that the children have a better future through education, and to build a house. Yet, this is the primary responsibility of the husband isn’t it? The sad truth is, our society has tilted so radically towards male superiority, that this responsibility has been, more often than not, abdicated by them. So these poor women, with very little education, and an even lower sense of self worth or self confidence, are driven to the point that they realise that they need to do something to secure a better future for themselves and their children.

Thus begins their journey into overcoming the barriers to successful micro entrepreneurship. Desperation to better the family’s position is the beginning. The first barrier is that of low self confidence. Madura deals with this with the film ‘ShaktiPirakkudhu’ (A new strength rising), a full length feature film, which traces the life of Sundari, a village woman who embarks on such a journey and succeeds. The script is based on the life stories of a 100 of Madura’s borrowers, and is as close to real life as you can imagine. Many women weep and say this their life stories when they see the film. But they also make an emotional connect with Sundari, and at the end state with growing confidence that if she can do it, they can too! The film is also the base for our micro education initiative which teaches the rural woman how to run a business. The second barrier is that of access to capital, which is where our small loans for micro entrepreneurs comes in. The third is, once the business gets going, how to scale it. This is where our micro markets initiative helps build rural market ecosystems for them to be able to network with each other and grow. While these efforts at Madura are bearing fruit, there remains the larger backdrop of our society, which is so medieval in many ways.

For that to change, all right thinking people must be able to voice their dissent at the current system propagated by silent acceptance. I recall an incident of eve teasing at Satyam theatres, a well known, plush multiplex in Chennai. One among a gang of boys was constantly passing loud, vulgar remarks in the lobby about a girl who had come with her friends to watch a film. When he went too far, she walked up to him and slapped him. What do you think happened? The boy punched her to the ground and proceeded to kick her in full view of all the movie goers in the lobby. Not a single person intervened to stop him. We are talking about both the well heeled and middle class people of Chennai who were there. No one, not a single person, came forward to stop what was so obviously wrong. I am sure that part of the reason was that it was a boy beating up a girl. Oh, there would have been much post event rationalization: she asked for it; who asked her to slap him?; how could she be so forward; did you see the way she was dressed? And so on. And what of the eve teaser? Oh, he’s a boy.

This has to change. And it will only change if you and I stand up for what’s right every time it happens in our sphere of influence. Let’s determine to do that. So that we make India a better place, a country we can be proud of. A country where every person, male or female, can enjoy respect, justice and liberty to pursue their dreams without fear.

First visit to the UK

2011-07-14T20:08:00.001+05:30

It’s quite surprising really. I’ve travelled to the Far East, Japan, Australia, Dubai, Tunisia, Europe, Canada, the US and Brazil, but not the UK. Mind you, I’ve transited through Heathrow the one time I flew British Airways to the US from India on business before black listing them, and over flown the British isles many times on Lufthansa on my many visits to the US between 2004 and 2009. But I hadn’t actually visited the UK. I’d had a couple of opportunities to do so that hadn’t fructified: in 1986 when Abha and I toured Europe and the UK brought in a visa requirement for Indians, and later in 2000 when Sify bought into Cricinfo, but both those opportunities came to naught.

Strange how things work out: Here I was, with a daughter doing her degree in the UK over three years, and both Abha and I were unable to travel during that time! Now she was finishing her course and going to have her grad show, so it was now or....who knew? So I called Abha’s brother and requested him to come and stay with her parents in our home so that we could get away for a short while to be with Chitra (Abha’s parents, who we invited to stay with us as they are quite old and feeble, need a family member present given their advanced age and health). He could manage only about ten days of leave, so that’s what we could manage! So after three long years of talking to Chitra on Skype, seeing pictures of Birmingham and London on her FB profile, we were finally going to experience what her life had been like during that time.

Abha left a few days ahead of Akshay’s arrival to spend some time with Chitra in Birmingham before my arrival on Friday 11nth June 2011. I had a presentation to the RBI on the 9nth, followed by our Board Meeting on the 10^th, so it was action packed to the finish! Both went well, and I returned home that evening and completed packing by 9 PM. Then I napped until it was time to go to the airport and pick up Akshay who was arriving on Lufthansa at 11.45 PM. He came out at about 1 AM, and we returned home and went to bed around 2 AM. Up at 6.30 AM as I had to leave for the airport at 8 AM for a 10.30 AM flight to London via Colombo! Quick catch up once again with Akshay, hurried farewell with Amma and Baba who emerged as usual for breakfast at 8 AM, and I was finally off to the airport. It was all so rushed, and I was so groggy, the reality on going on my first real holiday in four years hadn’t quite sunk in. It was only after checking in, at the security lounge that I began to feel a growing excitement about the holiday. I was still too tired and sleep deprived though!

The flight to Colombo was uneventful, and i had only a couple of hours of transit time which pretty much was spent going from one gate to the other and passing through security check. I was quite intrigued to find the two officers of the UK immigration department who examined my passport, and especially the visa with a magnifying glass thoroughly before waving me through. Once aboard the aircraft, Sri Lankan did not disappoint. Warm, friendly, but thoroughly professional crew took acre of us pre take off and during the long haul. Turned out I was dehydrated, so I ended up with a splitting headache before takeoff. I asked for, and was given a pill for it, and drank plenty of water and apple juice to combat it. The Sri Lankan food on board was great, although I couldn’t enjoy the wine before lunch as I didn’t want to aggravate the headache. The water/ apple juice treatment, followed by lunch and a long nap did the trick, and I was up refreshed in a few hours. So I watched a movie before they started the service for the second meal during the 11 hour flight. This time, I was able to enjoy the wine before the meal!

I was savouring a Kahlua with milk and ice after dinner when they announced the descent into London. I shifted to an empty window seat, and watched as we crossed the Channel and the white chalk cliffs to the South of the Thames outflow into the sea. Then the green patchwork landscape of England rolled by below, occasionally hidden by clouds. The intermittent rain and shine made it all the more interesting from our high vantage point. For the play of light and shadow, and the rays of light on certain parts of the landscape all added to the charm. We circled London, so one had a bird’s eye view of the City and a few landmarks it its periphery such as Wembley Stadium before finally descending into Heathrow. We had a long wait at immigration as many flights had landed around the same time, so it took an hour to get through before claiming baggage and coming out. Abha and Chitra had already come in from Birmingham and were at Abha’s nephew Aditya’s home in Chiswick. Aditya had arranged for a cab to pick me up, so there he was with a sign with my name on it when I emerged.

The young driver, who greeted me in a friendly fashion, was Afghan and had studied in Birmingham before coming to London. I asked him whether I may sit with him in the front as I wanted to be able to really enjoy the drive into town. I had already checked out the route on Google maps, and knew we had to take the M4 and then exit for Chiswick and that it would take us about twenty minutes. He was very happy to have me in front and we chatted on the drive in. We discussed the situation in Afghanistan, and when he learned Abha was Kashmiri, he grinned and said, “That practically makes us relatives!” He was also thrilled to hear that Chitra was studying in Birmingham, and wistfully told me he really misses it, and that it is a far better place than London! Although it was 8.15 Pm when we set out, it was twilight and i could see some of the lush tree lined meadows we passed before getting on to the M4. The area alongside the M4 was wooded until we came closer to London and started passing buildings, motor show rooms and advertisements. The weather was obligingly English, with intermittent rain, but fortunately it stopped before we reached our destination in Chiswick. Aditya called the driver as we were turning into their street, and was waiting for us when we reached. I’d finally, finally made it to the UK!

Let a thousand flowers bloom

2010-07-08T20:30:00.000+05:30

It has been a little over a month since I joined Madura. During this time, I have had the occasion to travel across the South and meet people across the company and some of the members of our self help groups. Many of the people I have met are examples of what is possible when the right opportunities are made available to them.

For example, in a village on the banks of the Vaigai river about 70 Km from Madurai, we attended a self help group meeting. The meeting was held on the granite paved court yard in front of the local temple. The women sat on the ground in a circle and conducted their meeting with a discipline that would put many corporates to shame! After the meeting, we were able to chat with some of them.

One of them told us that she had bought milch cows with the loan she had taken. In fact the cows were tethered just beyond the court yard, and we could hear them lowing. She proudly informed us that those were her cows we could hear in the background. Another woman was successfully running a milk retail and distribution business by collecting the milk early every morning from women who had cows, and supplying it to both homes and restaurants in the area.

The woman distributing milk had a turnover of about one and a half lakhs a month with a good profit margin. In fact the woman with the milch cows was supplying her with milk. So both producer and distributor were at this meeting! The distributor’s husband was employed, and she had set out to run this business to augment the house hold income. Today her contribution to the income is considerable, and she is funding the education of her children without strain.

What is even more inspiring is the story some of our own team members recounted at a recent workshop. These women are cluster managers, managing loan portfolios of Rs 5 to 6 crores each, with a sizeable team below them. They began their journey as members of self help groups who took a small loan from Madura. As they succeeded in their purpose for taking the loan and its repayment, and experienced the company, they joined at the lowest level as temp field staff.

They then rose in the ranks to become cluster managers. Some have, during this time, become graduates! One of them is now doing a course in banking to understand finance better. They have ensured that their children are well educated and have a better future. One has built a home worth Rs 12 lakhs. Some have left the village and moved to distant towns as part of their career growth. When you meet them and see their poise, confidence and conduct, its hard to believe they lived in a village at subsistence level a decade ago.

It is these encounters that reinforce my belief in what we do, and what our objective is. For the core of Madura’s mission is to effect socio-economic transformation in rural areas. Two of them, when they stood up to recount their stories, broke into tears when they spoke of the many women whose lives were transformed by the work they do. In over thirty years of experience across some of the best companies, I have not come across this level of emotional connect by team members with their company’s mission. It was a truly humbling experience, and I am so glad that I am part of this endeavor.

What is poverty?

2010-06-20T20:13:00.000+05:30

Now that I have joined the micro finance industry, and Madura Micro Finance, I have had the opportunity to study the various facets of poverty in India and elsewhere. I have also been reading extensively on the subject. There are quite a few good books available starting with ‘Banker to the Poor’ by Mohammed Yunus, ‘Small is beautiful’ by Scumacher and more.

What is pretty evident to me now is that poverty is a condition brought on by circumstances. These circumstances are often binding, so that the poor are caught in a web of circumstances that prevent them from breaking free of them and improving their lives. Consider this: one is born into a poor family, so cannot afford an education; no education, so not employable; poor so cannot be self employed; even if one manages to start a business, not educated with little exposure and perspective, so don’t succeed; result: become even poorer and fall into debt.

This does not even factor in the social and cultural circumstances which can make the situation even more crippling. Throw in a medical emergency or long term illness, and you can see what a nightmare life can be for the poor. I know that we all often look down on them because they do not do things the way we think they should. For example, the poor who migrate to our cities walk across the road just as they always did in the village, oblivious to the danger of speeding traffic or the concern they cause motorists. That’s because they simply don’t know any better!

I also find that there are many different forms of poverty: the most obvious of course is the lack of income, but there are many facets to poverty beyond access to a regular income. For example: poverty of exposure to information and media; poverty of perspective; poverty of interactions or connections with people who can make a difference and so on. These forms of poverty are not confined to the villages alone, but can be found across all demographics, rural and urban. They can also be found in highly developed countries and the developing world.

A textile trader in Kasi Chetty Street in Chennai (the Trading District) may be well off in terms of income, but has many forms of poverty affecting his life. He only knows about his business and has no time for exposure to other aspects of life. A small shop keeper in New York who has to rely on a calculator for simple calculations of change he has to give a shopper has poverty of a different kind. A young woman whose traditional parents restrict her movements and interactions will suffer from a different kind of poverty and limit the choices she can make or the people she can meet. While being poor in exposure and perspective, most of these people still have a certain standard of living, because their monetary income is assured.

The plight of the poor in rural India is particularly insidious because it includes all forms of poverty, including social and cultural traditions, and structures such as the caste system. Social traditions dictate their spending large amounts of money, which they cannot afford, on feeding guests for all forms of rituals and occasions. For example, if they are trying to get their daughter married, the number of guests they have to feed and gift from the ‘boy’s side’ even in the initial stages, (leave alone the actual wedding) can be financially crippling. And we have not even got to the dowry.

The poor therefore are quite sophisticated in how they manage their money, far more than people who are well off who can afford to be a little slack because of higher levels of disposable income. If you do a balance sheet of the finances of a poor family, you will find to your astonishment that their cash flow (what little there is) far exceeds their actual earning capacity! This is because they use multiple financial instruments and products to manage their lives, both from the formal and informal sectors. But what defines their plight is that this leaves them at a level where they just about manage their situation, and are unable to rise above it. A medical emergency or illness would, in fact, result in a financial crisis and worsen their condition.

Micro finance was pioneered by the Grameen Bank over thirty years ago to enable financial products to reach the needy without the need for collateral or securitization. While this has made a difference to how they manage their lives, success has broadly depended on the borrower’s individual ability, initiative and circumstances. For the finance that micro finance firms make available is one more in the list of instruments that the poor use, and not the sole means of managing to obtain a usefully large sum of money. Yet, after thirty years, micro finance firms have not been able to effect a socio economic transformation in the rural areas.

The reason is that enabling micro finance alone is not enough to effect socio economic transformation. The other forms of poverty have also to be addressed to do this. If an urban, educated entrepreneur with an MBA struggles to establish a business, how much greater will be the struggle of an uneducated rural village entrepreneur to establish a business! For becoming an entrepreneur or becoming self employed is their only option to a better standard of living. That’s because economics today is predicated on those who have capital setting up industries, and the rest of the people obtaining an education to be qualified to work in them. But in rural areas there are usually very few industries, and even if there were, the people do not have the educational qualifications required to work in them!

Worse still, modern economics does not recognize the self employed in rural areas, or have processes to make a difference to them. Fisher folk, those making traditional handicraft items for sale locally, the local vegetable vendor etc are outside the purview of economic planning and intervention. This is why the high economic growth rate of the last ten years has not really made as much of a difference to the lives of the rural poor as expected. Dr C Rangarajan, the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, admitted as much at a recent address at the Madras School of Economics. And this is some thing that the well known economist Raja Chelliah, founder of the Madras School of Economics, had been warning of for some time.

But how are the rural poor to succeed as self employed or entrepreneurs if they do not have education, access to information, markets or connections? Access to finance alone is not enough, for it does not address the other forms of poverty that cripple them. To truly effect socio economic transformation in rural India, we need to address all forms of poverty to succeed. Education, training, capacity building, access to markets-local, regional or urban, along with finance needs to be done. This will require a business model that invests in enabling the flow of these forms of inputs, along with finance, to enable the rural poor to succeed. This is the model we at Madura Micro Finance are trying to develop, and it is a truly exciting journey.

Ordeal on the tracks

2010-06-15T21:52:00.000+05:30

As we waited for the Rameswaram Express to arrive at Karaikudi, my colleague and I considered this to be one more uneventful overnight train journey. After a week on the road in the South, we were both looking forward to getting home for the weekend. We also hoped to get a good night’s sleep in the AC 3 Tier coach as it was comfortable, and timings helped: depart at 10 PM and arrive in Chennai at 6.10 AM.

So when the train rumbled in, we climbed aboard, stowed away our baggage, and waited for the TT to arrive. The moment he did some twenty minutes later, we climbed into our berths and fell asleep. My colleague set his alarm for 5.45 AM so that we wouldn’t miss disembarking at Mambalam station. The train rocked us into a deep sleep as it roared through the night.

The alarm went off, only to reveal that the train was stationery. So I didn’t budge from my berth while my colleague clambered down and went off to investigate. On returning, he climbed right back into his berth and was soon snoring. So I knew we were nowhere close to our destination. I too dozed, until excited voices brought me awake. We had not even reached Villupuram, and it was 6.00 AM!

We soon heard that there was a ‘problem’ on the tracks and hence the delay. At 6.15, my friend’s dad called to say there had been a bomb blast and to inquire whether we were safe? By 6.30, the attendants informed us of the bomb blast, and said the railways were repairing the tracks. By then, the station master of the Tiruvenainallur Road station, where we had stopped, had arranged for milk and biscuits to be distributed on the platform.

He also arranged for taxis, vans and buses for those wishing to continue onwards if they could not wait. Soon, there was a mass exodus as those attending weddings, interviews and so on disembarked, negotiated rates and boarded assorted vans, taxis and buses and headed off to Chennai by road. Although very few of us were left in our compartment, we decided to wait as the repair was to be done by 8.30 AM.

Sure enough, we began to move slowly, after four blasts of the whistle over five minutes, to ensure everyone remaining was aboard! There were many trains backed up, and waiting to go South, while there was only a single line at this point. So trains had to wait their turn to pass the affected spot. We eventually reached Villupuram at 10.00 AM, and gratefully had breakfast and coffee. The train continued after about a half hour, with many stops and starts as the railways juggled trains.

We finally reached Mambalam at 1.00 PM, and gratefully disembarked. Gratefully for many reasons: we were thankful to God that no major mishap had occurred, thanks to the alertness of the railway staff; we were thankful that we had reached safely and comfortably, and that we didn’t have to travel by road; but most of all, we were thankful to all the staff-the station master, the attendants, the police on the scene- all of whom had ensured our welfare and safety with a smile.

The idea of India

2010-02-06T12:43:00.001+05:30

The idea of India is precious to all its citizens. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the idea of India matters to the whole world. Where else would you find so many ethnic groups, languages, religions and cultures co-existing as one country? It is humbling to think that an India comparison can only be with the European Union, a loose federation of 27 nations!

The idea of India has given birth to a constitution that strives for progress as a nation, and for each and every individual in the country. The economist, in its thought provoking piece ‘The idea of progress’ states that, “The idea of progress forms the backdrop to a society. In the extreme, without the possibility of progress of any sort, your gain is someone else’s loss. If human behavior is un-reformable, social policy can only ever be about trying to cage the ape within. Society must in principle be able to move towards its ideals, such as equality and freedom, or they are no more than cant and self-delusion. So it matters if people lose their faith in progress. And it is worth thinking about how to restore it”.

In a country as diverse as India, if we are to achieve progress, we need to embrace that diversity for the richness it imparts to us as a nation, yet value each person as equal in any part of the country. In the introduction to the Constitution of India, Pandit Nehru stressed this, “I do not think it will be a right thing to go the way this country has gone in the past by creating barriers and calling for protection. As a matter of fact, nothing can protect such a minority or group less than a barrier which separates it from the majority. It makes it a permanently isolated group and it prevents it from any kind of tendency to bring it closer to the other groups in the country”.

This concern, enunciated over sixty years ago, is worth revisiting at a time when the Shiv Sena and its ilk are calling for protecting Mumbai for Maharashtrians. For it reveals just how hollow, worthless and anti Indian the Shiv Sena and its off shoot are. And just how insidious the Thackerays, and their misguided followers, are. Its about time that the Union of India, as one, brought them to book and shut them up permanently.

Are we a nation of boors?

2010-01-26T19:55:00.001+05:30

All right, so who is a boor? Dictionary.com describes a boor as a churlish, rude or unmannerly person. And that, more often than not, is exactly how we behave as citizens of this country.

Consider this:

•The day after Kaanum Pongal, tons of garbage had to be collected from the beach, completely despoiled by the crowds that visited. Conservancy staff worked up to 4 AM to clean it all up. The rub? There were plenty of garbage bins provided with signs to use them.
•There were also thousands of plastic bags as well, despite the beach having been declared a plastic free zone some months ago
•The roads are usually clogged because everyone is trying to get ahead with scant respect for road rules or lanes
•Stand at any counter, and you’ll find people breaking queues or shoving and pushing despite there being a line. They even stick their hands ahead of you if you are at the counter
•Thousands of people routinely lie in their resumes so that professional services for verification of applicants are flourishing

I could go on, but you get the drift. This is not some occasional phenomenon, but a way of life today. This saddens me immensely, for we live at a time of constantly dropping standards in personal, professional, civic and political life.

So where does it end? What can we do about it? Gandhiji’s words ring in my ears, “Be the change you want to see!” I will follow that advice. Would you please also do so? If we decide, one by one, and act accordingly, hopefully the effects will spread for and wide.

So that, in time, our decision will make a difference.

The woes of a Whirlpool owner

2010-01-18T21:44:00.001+05:30

We were quite satisfied with the large Whirlpool refrigerator we had bought for our flat until recently when we experienced their after sales service, or lack there of. As it began to flag in terms of its ability to cool, we called the Whirlpool service number, and were promised that someone would come soon and rectify the problem. Come he did, and after cursorily examining the fridge, declared that it was now working fine.

He then spent a considerable amount of time and energy convincing us that the appliance needed a stand, which he happened to have handy. So it was installed after the fridge was emptied of all its contents, and hoisted with much difficulty on to the stand. That wasn’t enough. The fridge now needed a dehumidifier! So more time w spent on the virtues of the device until finally that too was installed, both for a cool Rs 2000 together.

He then bade us live happily ever after and disappeared after taking our cheque. Imagine our horror when we discovered the next morning that the fridge, instead of the previous grudging cooling, wasn’t working altogether. More than Rs 3000 worth of food, including meat, fish, cheese and cooked food, was spoilt and had to be thrown away. We called Whirlpool right away, and the person on the other end commiserated with us and said she would send a ‘senior technician’ right away.

Around twelve in the afternoon, a slightly built young man, little more than a boy, arrives. His demeanor can best be described as clue less. He makes a cursory examination of the fridge and declares that it requires tools, which he has not bothered to bring. So he will send somebody else along he says, and the problem will be solved. So we get on the phone, and point out to Whirlpool that if someone doesn’t come today, the next few days are closed for Pongal.

Worse, we are supposed to be at a church workshop in Muthukaadu on 14th and 15th, which means that food is supposed to be cooked for those days and kept in the fridge for Abha’s parents who will be home. If they don’t fix the fridge, our going to the workshop, for which we had been looking forward for months, would be jeopardized. For our cook would be away for those two days, and our house boy would heat the food and serve it if it was availble.

‘Yes, yes’, they responded. ‘Our engineer will be there by three’. By four no one had arrived. Again we called, and were assured that someone would come. No one did. So Abha spoke to the neighbors, who offered the fridge in a vacant furnished flat for our use for those few days. Abha cooked till two in the morning to make the food for those two days, and stored it in that fridge. So we were able to go for the workshop because of a solution which we came up with.

We returned on Saturday to be told by the neighbor that some tenants were arriving that day, and we would have to empty the fridge! No signs of any response from Whirlpool, so we had to empty the fridge, place a low table in front of our air conditioner in the bedroom and run it continually to keep the food from spoiling. Even then, some of th food spoiled, and we eventually had to abandon this arrangement both for the food smells in the bedroom, and its low level effectiveness.

We managed by cooking simple food through Sunday, in the fond belief that Whirlpool would send someone on Monday given what they had put us through. Despite a number of calls and lots of reassurances, no one has turned up today. Finally an ‘engineer’ came on the line and send he would send someone tomorrow. Given their track record, we’ll believe it when he shows up.

In the meantime, this is to warn you unsuspecting people out there that Whirlpool is this magical company who somehow makes your life better. This has been quite a disappointment, to put it mildly. They seem o have no sense of accountability, and certainly don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘service’. Their phones are manned by staff who listen to you, mouth reassurances and ensure you get off the line. What happens after that doesn’t seem to be their problem.

Which brings us to the conclusion that Whirlpool sucks big time. But then you’ve already come to that realization by now!

What is employability?

2009-10-02T13:11:00.021+05:30

I spoke last week at an engineering college near Chennai as part of a CII initiative to bridge the gap between educational institutions and industry. As the topic was left to me, decided to talk to them about 'employability', which has been a concern as well as a buzz word nowadays. This was not a lecture but an interactive session with questions posed to them to elicit a discussion before I shared my perspective. Thought I'd share my perspective as it was very well received:

1.What is employability?

When companies recruit people, they are looking for individuals who can contribute to their business goals and be productive in the shortest possible time. College graduates take six months or more before they are able to do this, which is why one sees many articles decrying the ‘employability’ of graduates today. There have been many attempts to bridge the gap between educational institutions and the industry in terms of content, skills and exposure, but the problem continues.

2.Why is there a gap between college and work?

The gap between college and work continues because it is primarily a problem of perspective. Consider this:

- When you’re in college, you’re care free. By that I mean you really don’t take much responsibility for yourself. That’s left to your parents, who chase you and make sure you’re on time, that you’re adequately prepared, that you’re suitably dressed and so on. When you start to work, you’re responsible for yourself. No one else is-not your parents, your colleagues, your boss or the HR department. How well you do, and how quickly you become productive depends on how soon you take responsibility for yourself.

- At college, it’s primarily about individual achievement. Granted you do have team games, but at the end of the day, it’s all about how well you do and what your percentage is. So, from the time you’re in school, you’ve been taught to focus on your individual performance, often in a competitive manner to get the highest percentage, the highest rank and so on. At work, however, it’s all about collective effort and collective results. Especially in the IT industry where you all aspire to work, project teams are all about working together to achieve a goal. Even in goal oriented positions like sales, it’s about reaching the team’s targets by meeting yours and not the other way around. If your team meets their target, the division has a chance of meeting theirs, and eventually the company is able to achieve its collective target.

- At your age, and your stage of life, it’s also about establishing your individuality to stand out from the crowd. So you’re obsessed with yourself in terms of how you look, how you feel, what you want etc. The entire focus is inwards to what the individual wants. At work, it has to be the other way around. If you’re going to be part of a team, you have to be sensitive to what others want. This is pretty hard for someone who has spent years focusing on oneself. In a team, you have to cover for each other. Take for example a project team: you suddenly find that your colleague is struggling with a particular task, and is not likely to meet his deadline. What do you do? You help him to meet the deadline! Why? Because then the team wins, and in the final analysis, you win. Similarly, when you’re in trouble, someone will cover for you and help you. That’s how teams work.

Unfortunately, you aren’t likely to learn all this at the workplace in the manner in which it’s being presented to you here. So people take a long time, by trial and error, to understand how they fit in before they can start contributing.

There’s a book called ‘Emotional Intelligence’ by a gentleman called Goldman. Get hold of a copy and read it. It is about how some people are better at relating to others than most people are. Why? It’s because they’re outward focused, and able to empathize with others and therefore able to elicit the best response from others. Some time ago, I read about a survey that was done amongst the CEOs of some of the Fortune 500 companies. Turns out that everyone one of them scored high on emotional intelligence! Everything that I’ve talked to you about up to now is about being emotionally intelligent. Understand what this means and develop it. You will do well in your career.

3.How does all this show up at the recruitment stage?

Most companies have a group discussion as part of the recruitment process, and I’m sure many of you have been part of such groups. The assumption is that you have to stand out in the group and be noticed. So what happens in the group? Everyone tries to talk the other guy down, to dominate. Please understand that the reason companies have group discussions as part of the recruitment process is to identify candidates who are able to get the best out of others, to contribute. They are not looking for aggressive people who can dominate! People like that are dysfunctional when placed in teams. They are looking for people who will accept another’s point of view and build on it by contributing to it. They are the people who facilitate a constructive discussion by encouraging, intervening or guiding the discussion. They are the ones who are emotionally intelligent, the ones who will excel in team work. They are the ones a company is looking for. So next time you’re in a group discussion, remember, it’s not about competing, it’s about collaborating!

4.How does this make a difference at work?

How do you think being outwardly focused, or emotionally intelligent, makes a difference at work? I’ll give you some practical examples: at peer level, people will come to you for help. This will widen your exposure and experience beyond what you would have done otherwise; team leaders would rather work with you than someone else, so you will always be in demand and not be the guy sent to the bench; you will get sent to the training programs because you will be more trainable than someone with a different attitude; and when it comes to being promoted, you’re likely to be chosen because you show the most promise for the future. Remember, people are not promoted for past performance, but for future potential.

5.Why are discipline and values important?

You may have spent a fair amount of time and energy in dodging discipline as a student, but when you start working, discipline is what will help you excel. The most productive people are usually the most disciplined. They are able to do more and achieve more because they use their time in a disciplined manner. Mind you, people are not born that way. They train themselves to be like that through personal discipline. If you don’t live a disciplined life, chances are you won’t be disciplined at work. Which means you won’t be very productive and therefore not achieve much. It’s never too late to start. Make a decision here and now to live a more disciplined life, and you can achieve much more, personally and professionally.

Now we come to a topic that is likely to make many of you uncomfortable- values. What are your personal values? How do you live your life? You may think you’re a paragon of virtue, but are you really? How many compromises have you made? How many shortcuts have you taken in your studies? If you ride a motor bike, how many rules have you broken when riding on the road? How many times have you paid off a policeman when stopped? I can see some of you smirking, please don’t think you’re being smart. You’re setting yourself up for failure. Think about it- the more compromises you make in your personal values, the more likely you are to compromise on values at work. Most good companies have a clear set of values by which they expect everyone to comport themselves. Employees who compromise on those values will fall short of the company’s expectations, and will be passed over for senior positions or shown the door. Why is that?

The senior management of a company are role models for the rest of the organization. Their behavior and management style is of vital importance, because people down the line will take their cues from them. If you have senior managers whose values are dodgy, what can you expect from their juniors? This is taken very seriously by companies. For when the people at the top compromise, the ramifications can be far reaching.

Take the example of Ramalinga Raju. Do you even begin to understand the extent of the damage caused by his act? Leave alone discrediting himself and shaming his family, he discredited a good company, and worse, the entire IT industry on which India’s global reputation was built. Why do you think the government worked so hard to rebuild the credibility of Satyam? If India’s IT industry was to have lost its credibility in the eyes of companies in the West, why would they outsource to India? They would take their business elsewhere, then where would be the jobs you young people are hoping for when you graduate? At leadership positions, that’s the extent to which damage is caused by not having and following solid values.

So please understand, having a solid set of values in your personal life will impact how well you conduct yourself professionally.

6.What do you really earn at work?

Most young people are obsessed with how much they earn, and constantly looking at how much others are earning, and how they can quickly increase their salaries. This is often done by jumping jobs from one company to another, usually within short spans of time. This is the surest way of ensuring that you don’t do well in the long term.

In the early part of your career, what you’re really earning is trust- the trust of your team mates and the trust of your boss. If they know they can depend on you and trust you, they will give you more to do, will entrust you with greater responsibility. And with greater responsibility comes greater rewards. You see, trust comes before you get a handsome salary. You earn one, the other follows automatically. But to earn their trust, you will have to learn the job and become productive consistently. To do that well, you have to stay in a job until you’re on top of it. And that doesn’t happen by jumping jobs every eight months!

So focus on trust, and there’ll be no stopping how much you can achieve.

7.What are you working for?

Which brings us to the next question, what are you working for? Sure, you’re working to earn a living at an individual level. You’re working to achieve team goals or a division’s goals. At a larger level, you’re working to achieve the company’s goals. But you need to have a perspective beyond that, to your industry. Only then will you follow how the industry is doing, and what the trends are, and understand how you fit in. This could lead you to identifying opportunities that could lead to your being an entrepreneur and starting your own company! Think big and aim high, and nothing can stop you.

At an even larger level, you’re working to build the country. This may sound far-fetched but it’s true. Why do you think the government tracks how many jobs are being created by the IT or any other industry? Those jobs add to economic growth, that’s why. If you have a good job, you’ll be in the market for goods and services. Your productivity at work also contributes to the productivity of the country as measured as Gross Domestic Product. The population of one nation understood this very well, and looked at each single person’s contribution always from a collective national perspective- Japan. Which is why it was able to emerge from the ravages of the Second World War to emerge as a great economic power in a short span of time.

A gentleman I knew in an engineering firm told me about a grueling three week negotiation that he and two colleagues went through in Japan some years ago. Knowing that they could produce the sprockets that the Japanese company wanted at some 30% of the cost that they would incur in Japan, they went determined to get the price they wanted. The Japanese did their best to wear them down over three long weeks, but they stuck to their rationale. At the end, when the company’s president met them to sign the agreement, he had just this to say, “So! India win, Japan lose!” This has to be our attitude also to build this country to its true potential.

8.How do you gain real experience?

While it’s important to gain as much experience at work by taking all the opportunities before you, look at other avenues that can widen the scope of your experience. Look at volunteering to work for an NGO for a few hours a week, or becoming part of your building association. Look at volunteering with a theatre group or any other cultural organization. The experience you will gain from these go far beyond anything you may be exposed to at work. You will also work with people from diverse back grounds that will vastly add to your experience of dealing with people.

You would have heard from my introduction that I worked for a home for the mentally handicapped for fourteen years, initially as a volunteer, then as a member of the Governing Council and for the last seven years as the Chairman of the Governing Council. I can honestly say that some of the most valuable lessons I have learnt in life and in managing were during my stint with this organization!

Conclusion:

In concluding, let me tell you not to think you’ve finished with your education when you leave college and start working- you’ve only just begun! For you will continue to learn and grow for as long as you live. And it is in your interest to continue to do so at every opportunity you get, for it is when you stop learning and growing that you will start to decline.

Be open to new ideas, new experiences. Read as much as you can on different subjects, not just that related to work. Widen your horizons with travel and other interests. Learn a new language perhaps-if you learn Chinese, Japanese or German, think how valuable you will suddenly be to your company as they try and break into those markets. Learn a new sport perhaps or a hobby that enriches your experience and perspective.

All of these will keep your mind keen and your energy levels up, so that you do far better at work than those who work like drones. Lastly, enjoy what you do. For life is for living, and work just a means whereby you can be who you want to be.

Hope you found it useful!

Remembering Michael

2009-06-27T14:28:00.011+05:30

You might wonder why I feel the need to write thus about Michael Jackson, or even that I would title this blog post ‘Remembering Michael’ when I have not even met him. I feel moved to do so because of the sense of personal loss I feel at his death. Not a deep sense of loss leading to mourning, but a definite sense of loss, a void, that his death seems to leave behind.

Michael burst into our lives in the early eighties when we were a newly married young couple in our twenties living in Bombay. I hadn’t really listened to the Jackson Five but for some occasional exposure, but certainly knew he was the most personable and talented of the lot. That didn’t make any difference though, for I didn’t really take to their brand of music, and didn’t have any of it. It was his first solo album of ’82 that brought him into our lives.

Abha, then an air hostess with Air India, had gone on a flight to Europe- it was either Frankfurt or Rome, don’t remember which city. While watching TV in her hotel room, she had switched channels to a music channel and watched Michael perform the songs from the album. His enthusiasm and unaffected joy at performing was so infectious that she went out and bought ‘Off the wall’, the solo album that really launched his career.

She came home and enthused about this black singer from the US who was, in her words, "So cute!" That was, of course, enough to put me on my guard, but I did play the cassette and listened to him! Starting with ‘Don’t stop till you’ve had enough!’ his songs were energetic and, on the whole, quite captivating. At this stage, the music was a mix of pop and ballads. Very soon, Michael Jackson was very much a part of our lives with his music blasting from our system in the drawing room.

The launch of Thriller though was, I think, the defining point of his career. The songs were good, but it was the music videos that really captured everyone’s imagination. He still managed a mix of fast paced, pounding numbers along with lyrical ballads such as ‘The girl is mine’ with Paul McCartney and ‘PYT’. Not that we had MTV in India in those days, but we could see his music videos by renting video tapes from the video lending library! No longer did you listen to Michael, you experienced him, his dancing, singing, clothes and the funky sets created for the songs.

The first video I remember most vividly is ‘Billie Jean’ with everything he touched lighting up as he moved along. There were articles about this music video, that it had a cost a million dollars, that it set new standards for effects and so on that fueled the wave of excitement across the world. Soon, watching a Michael Jackson music video became a much anticipated event for the sheer entertainment you know you were in for.

And he didn’t disappoint with the launch of his next album ‘Bad’. By now the wholesome, young black singer we knew had morphed into an exciting, slick, supernova of a music sensation who helped drive demand for, and the success of MTV, with his music videos. The Bad collection too had a mix of songs that appealed across a broad spectrum. We longed for a music channel, but made do with the videos from the lending library.

The “Dangerous’ album followed with hits like ‘Black or white’, ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Heal the world’ which took the world by storm. Not only were the songs powerful, but the videos were scintillating. Many of us became consciously cognizant of the wonders of ‘morphing’ after seeing the ‘Black or white’ video. We’d seen it in films like ‘Terminator two’ by then, but this music video created a sensation and series of articles on how it was done. All of which captured our collective imagination.

By then he had set the standard so high, that expectations of his albums was soaring. By now he must have had enormous pressure to deliver, as well as the pressure of a life in a fish bowl. All of which seemed to take a toll. His troubled, abused childhood couldn’t have helped, for he wanted to be accepted, loved and appreciated for who he was. Instead, his isolation was complete with his image as a mega star between him and the world. We watched him with concern and affection, and not a little dismay as he lurched from one controversy to another.

There were endless articles about his surgeries that transformed him over time from a wholesome young man with a love of life and performing, to a white faced, bizarre mannequin whom people looked upon with pity and wonder. This also furthered his isolation from the real world and real people, making the fulfillment of his need to be accepted for himself even more remote. It was heartwarming to see his friends from Hollywood stand by him through all this, for they knew him as a vulnerable young man who needed a friend more than anything else. The black community sensed it too, with their cry of ‘Leave him alone’, and their unconditional acceptance of him no matter what he did.

And so the launch of his next album, ‘HIStory’ in 1995, a collection of his hits was a bit of an anti-climax but for ‘Earth song’ and ‘They don’t care about us’ which both had captivating videos as well. But the furor around his eccentric ways, the Neverland ranch, the scandals, marriages and so on robbed this album of much of the public’s attention. Both ‘Earth song’ and ‘They don’t care about us’ went on to become some of our favorites, but Michael no longer seemed that electric singer and performer that we had grown to love. There was too much negative content about him out there that rubbed off on him an affected the way we looked at him. Significantly, we didn’t buy this album nor did we feel like doing so.

By the time ‘Blood on the dance floor’ had its low key launch in 1997, Michael was being overshadowed in our psyche by a whole crop of exciting new talent, the advent of the Internet and a wave of films using new technologies that captured our imagination. Two of the songs went on to be noteworthy from this album, the title track and ‘Ghosts’, but the rest of the songs didn’t make the kind of impact his songs used to. The ‘Blood on the dance floor’ video was vintage Michael, but again, we had seen too much to be excited the way we used to be. I’m afraid, by then, the scandals, his leaving the US and moving to Dubai and so on took their toll, and he dropped from our radar.

The launch of ‘Invincible’ was a whimper which we didn’t notice. We didn’t buy the album, nor did we hear about the songs or see any of the music videos. By then Michael was no longer a part of our lives. He had become a recluse, a person reviled for his physical appearance, for bizarre behavior and tastes and for the various scandals and court cases. I felt sorry for him, but he was no longer in the public eye. I felt pretty sure that there were many people taking advantage of his loneliness and vulnerability, either as litigants or as advisors, but really had no idea of what he was doing or where he was. All we knew was he has running out of money, and had more problems than he could handle.

Then the tsunami of news around his death broke and swamped all of us. The vivid memories of the young man who so inspired those many years ago flashed through my mind. His songs kept playing in my head. I spent yesterday evening watching many of his music videos on You Tube and reliving those years when the magic of Michael Jackson had the world in its thrall. What drew me to him so powerfully that I still feel like I knew him in a way? Maybe it was the wholesome goodness of his early years.

Then again, maybe it was because we were around the same age. It was definitely also to do with his fitness and dancing, for I work out regularly and just love to dance. It was also the music, the variety, styles and heart thumping energy in them. It is for the both the latter reasons that I identify very strongly with Madonna as well. But Michael was always special, something else. Perhaps it was his loneliness that one sensed, the need to be accepted for he was always a bit of an outsider. Or perhaps its because he was still very much a boy with big dreams although chronologically a much older man. Somehow when you think of Michael even today, you remember him more as a young boy or youth. Not as a middle aged man!

Whatever it was, he has left behind a sense of loss, for the world will never be the same again. Sort of like Princess Diana’s passing. The end of an era, at least in singer or performer terms.

Good bye Michael, and may God bless you. Rest in peace where ever you are.

Internet Policy Failure

2009-06-24T07:44:00.006+05:30

It is astonishing that, for a country lauded as an IT super power, we have such a poor level of Internet penetration- just about 2% of the population with PCs at home connected to the Net. To really understand how poor India’s position is, consider the Internet penetration of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China- all of whom show the most promise in terms of economic growth) countries of which India is a part. China, with a population of 1.33 billion, has over 20% penetration. Brazil, with a population of 191 million has 26% penetration and Russia with a population of 143 million has 20% penetration. And, more significantly, all of them have a penetration growth rate that is far higher than India’s.

The situation is equally serious when you consider the World Economic Forum’s Networked Readiness Index. The index is a measure of the impact of ICTs on the competitiveness of nations by gauging their environment for ICTs, the readiness of individuals, businesses and government to use ICTs and the usage level of ICTs by these stakeholders. India measures 50 out of 127 nations in 2008, having slipped four places over 2007. China on the other hand, rose 5 positions on the index in 2008. The Report further observes that though the business environment in India is sophisticated, the poor state of ICT infrastructure and extremely low level of ICT penetration among individuals are obstacles to economic growth.

So it is increasingly clear the current regulatory framework has been a dismal failure with regard to the growth of Internet penetration in India. This becomes evident when you consider that we are adding more than 10 million mobile connections a month currently, whereas after ten years, we have just over 10 million Internet connections in the country. Instead of a policy framework conducive to enabling a ‘broadband revolution’ according to the Ministry, what we actually have is policy failure.

The reasons for this failure are also evident. After the then government announced the ISP policy in November 1998 at a license fee of just Re 1, the policies that followed ensured that ISPs were not financially viable and could not invest in developing the market. In the beginning this appears to be to protect the incumbent, but this has continued even after the advent of private telcos for fixed line and mobile services.

Leave alone policies, the incumbent was not required to effect separation of accounting for infrastructure services to ISPs from retail services provided to consumers. This ensured that the incumbent charged high fees for infrastructure services (such as for bandwidth and port charges for dial up services), while undercutting ISPs on price of services to consumers. This resulted in the exit of many large companies from the ISP space such as Wipro, BPL, BT and Pacific Internet.

The focus of policy seems to be on charging high licensing fees to the telcos, and depending on them to take care of everything. This shortsighted approach has resulted in the completely unbalanced growth of data connectivity and the Internet in India. For example, universal access license holders had the freedom to provide domestic calls on VoIP since January 2006. They have not, prompting TRAI to call for opening this up to ISPs. Predictably, the policy maker has done nothing about this recommendation so far.

The question of who is responsible for Internet penetration and data connectivity growth in India versus who decides the policy contributes to the problem. The Ministry for Telecommunications and IT is divided into two Departments: the Department of Telecommunications and the Department of Information Technology. The Department of Information Technology is responsible for Internet penetration, but the policies are decided by the Department of Telecommunications! This obviously is not a situation that is likely to lead to a conducive policy framework for Internet penetration and growth.

Any discussion with the Department of Telecommunications is reduced to targeting ISPs for not having paid substantial license fees, or for having a base of users that is not significant. ISPs, the Department seems to conclude, are not important in the larger scheme of things as the telcos can take care of this anyway. What the Department, and indeed the Government, needs to realize is that the sorry state of Internet penetration in India is not in the national interest. For much like telecom penetration was considered an index of a country’s economic potential fifteen years ago, Internet penetration determines a country’s ability to grow and compete in an interconnected world today.

India is slipping because we do not have free and open competition for Internet services by ISPs as well as telcos. This has resulted in the rapid decline of ISPs with only one national ISP left. Wholesale bandwidth prices in the country are many times more expensive than markets like the US. Telecom policies are oriented towards the large telcos as evidenced in the pricing of spectrum for Wimax services, which have also been conveniently clubbed with spectrum for mobile use. Worse, spectrum already allocated to ISPs and being used by them for wireless connectivity for years is being recalled. So that when Wimax services are rolled out, they will continue to be the purview of telcos with the ISPs being effectively shut out of service provision.

Can we afford this? What happened to the vision of the National Telecom Policy of 98-99 of ‘Internet for all’? Can a country that is acknowledged to be an emerging economic super power risk its future in this short sighted manner? If this state of affairs is to be reversed, it can only by recognizing Internet penetration is a fundamental measure of a nation’s ability to compete in a globally networked economy. And by policies that balance the growth of Internet and data penetration along with telecom growth by encouraging ISPs. Countries such as France have become a role model for Europe with policies that have encouraged broadband penetration and use. We could emulate such a model.

The answer is clear. We must act quickly and decisively in the national interest to encourage Internet penetration and use with an ecosystem that encourages its adoption. This needs to be done on a war footing to ensure our continued economic growth, growth in the number of jobs and economic competitiveness. Perhaps it is time that the Prime Minister’s Office and the Planning Commission intervened, much as they did in 1998, to open up the sector and to rectify the sorry state of Internet penetration in India.

A rite of passage

2009-03-11T21:41:00.001+05:30

There comes a time in everyone’s life when they lose their father. That time for me was twenty years ago on February 19, 1989. I still remember it as if it were yesterday, especially because it was so unexpected. I guess losing one’s father is one of the most significant landmarks in anyone’s life. Even more so if you are a son, and your father played a major role in who you are. So that it becomes a veritable right of passage that results in adding to your sense of responsibility and perspective immeasurably. Because now you are really on your own.

So it was today, when I went to condole with a friend whose father passed away this morning. First a flood of memories, a sense of déjà vu. The body, bedecked with flowers, laid out in state in the drawing room. The grim and grieving faces of family and friends gathered around the departed. The hush in the room as if any loud noise will break the fragile emotions that rule a moment like this. The bustle of those responsible for the arrangements, as they push back their grief to cope with what needs to be done. The sons moving around, meeting those gathered there to condole, graciously accepting the sentiments presented.

One can see the gathering sense of having to pick up the reins, of taking charge, of a new perspective that forms to fill the vacuum created by the loss of a father. Of how the baton passes on imperceptibly to the sons, starting with the eldest. Of how they are consulted, spoken to, advised and guided. Suddenly, they are not the dependants anymore, but have become the heads. This is a social and legal norm, and the rituals that follow an occasion such as this are all predicated on this rite of passage. So that it becomes a reiteration of succession, of formalizing the process.

It happened to me when I lost my father. Its happened to other friends in the intervening years. And it happened again today. And doubtless will happen again in the years to come. Then suddenly, it will happen to me, as I pass on, and imperceptibly hand over the reins to my progeny by the very act of dying. So that the circle of my life is complete as I finish with God’s purpose for me on this earth. How transient we are, here for a span, hopefully to make a mark, then we are gone. Leaving behind our children to carry on our line, and hopefully some of the good we sought to do. While we move on to be with an eternal God, who was in the beginning, is now, and will be in time to come.

The most dangerous place in the world

2009-03-07T19:36:00.000+05:30

Some six months ago, Newsweek ran a cover story whose headline was ,’The most dangerous country in the world is not Iran. It is Pakistan’. How prophetic that turned out to be. They also had an incisive article by a diplomat as to why the paths of India and Pakistan, the two countries that were born at the end of British rule, have been so different. It essentially boiled down to the strength of the institutions that uphold democracy- the Constitution, the judiciary, the parliament, the ministries of government and the army.

These were established firmly at the beginning in India, where as they have apparently always been shaky from the start in Pakistan. This enabled various constituencies to take advantage of this to disrupt democratic government of the country. The army has taken over many times, as well as dictators of various hues. Pervez Musharaf , the last dictator who tried to perpetuate his rule, did enormous damage to the judiciary, changed the Constitution and weakened the pillars of democracy even further. But what is happening now is even more dangerous.

The locus of power n Pakistan does not lie with the government alone as it should for effective governance. Instead, it lies with the army, the ISI, the Taliban and other terrorist organizations, regional governments as well as the government- which appears to be the weakest of the lot. Although President Zardari promised all help when the attack on Bombay unfolded, including sending the head of the ISI to India for discussions, he backtracked overnight after a midnight visit from General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of the army. The denials and obfuscation that followed for many months until admission under US pressure to Pakistani involvement are well known.

Recent events in Swat with the government coming to an ‘agreement’ with the Taliban to govern the area under Sharia law in exchange for a ‘ceasefire’, as well as a payment of a rumoured Rs 30 crores smacks of capitulation. The government has literally given up the Swat valley to the Taliban forces, having already lost control of the NorthWest Frontier Province to them. In the middle of all this, the government lierally released A Q Khan, the father of the Islamic bomb, known to have sold nuclear secrets to North Korea and Iran. Now President Zardari has prevailed on the Supreme Court to declare Nawaz Sharif ineligible tpo hold public office, as well as his brother who was the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

The Sharifs have called for civil unrest, and are strongly backed by the judiciary who want, as do the Sharifs, the reinstatement of Ifthikar Chaudhury as Chief Justice of Pakistan. President Zardari, of course, does not want him reinstated because he has sworn to bring charges of corruption against Mr Zardari who used to be known as ‘Mr Ten percent’ when his wife was the Prime Minister of Pakistan. So the government, weak as it is, now stands divided, the provinces are in turmoil, the judiciary in revolt and the economy is in a shambles. Fertile ground for the unfettered advancement of terrorist organizations and the Taliban.

The only constant in this toxic mess is the army and the ISI who quietly exercise power and political influence far beyond the ordinary. It is because of the army that Pakistan has always defined its existence versus India, else how would they get their allocation of 25% of the Budget to lead their lives of privilege? It was the army which fostered the terrorist organizations to take a toll on India through a shadowy war of attrition without ever directly attacking the country. That has now backfired severely with the terrrists slowly but surely taking over the country.

How else would one explain the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team? The team was promised Presidential security to ensure their safety as they toured the country which is why they agreed to go there in the first place. Instead they are attacked at 10.30 in the morning in Lahore, one of the main cities in Pakistan. What is even more chilling, television footage shows the terrorists arriving nonchalantly with guns slung over their shoulders on motorbikes and parking in the street ahead of the team’s arrival. Despite it being ten thirty in the morning, none of the shops are open, and there was no one else on the street. Post the attack too, they walk causally down the street, get on their motorbikes and ride away.

People in the area clearly knew in advance and stayed away or kept their establishments closed, which means the terrorists had control of the area. This indicates a level of influence of local administration beyond the government’s control of the area. They still have not been able to convincingly bring the attackers to book, despite the attack being carried out in broad daylight in a public space for over twenty minutes or more. This indicates that no one wants to oppose them because they fear or support them. All this clearly indicates the government of Pakistan is not in control of the country, even a city like Lahore, leave alone distant provinces like the North West Frontier province.

No my friends, Pakistan is today a failed state, and is rapidly deteriorating into anarchy. Where and how it will end is anyone’s guess. But thing is for sure, the people of Pakistan deserve better than what their leaders, whether politicians or the army, have meted out to them. I have met some, know a few, and can tell you that they are good people. They are just like you and me. The fate of Pakistan is of concern not only because of them, but because they are our neighbor. With a deep impact on us, as well as West Asia and the Middle Eastern region. The turmoil in Afghanistan will worsen with the deterioration of Pakistan because it will allow the Taliban even greater leeway.

The most dangerous place in the world looks set to spawn the most dangerous region in the world.

The law must be supreme

2009-03-07T13:13:00.000+05:30

It is with a rising sense of disquiet that we have seen the politicization of the legal fraternity in Tamil Nadu over the years. To my mind it began with the interest taken by the lady chief minister of the past to influence legal proceedings in the cases taken against her. She also made the police instruments of her will in many cases. All of which have vastly reduced the independence of the police, and the thinking of the judiciary in Tamil Nadu. What we are now experiencing is a result of this corrupting influence.

Anyone who has lived in Madras for years will have seen the descent of the law college into one of the most trouble prone and violent institutions of learning in the state. One often wondered if they were like that as students of the law, how were they going to uphold the rule of law once they entered that noble profession. Well, the answer is clear from recent events. If the those who are to uphold the law behave, in the words of the Justice Srikrishna Report, as ‘hooligans and miscreants’, what are we to expect in future?

It is no wonder that they are focusing on ‘police excesses’, and do not want the events of the day of the attack on Subramaniam Swamy, or the burning of the police station to be considered. I am so glad that Justice Srikrishna, in his wisdom, looked into the events leading up to the attack on Subramaniam Swamy, as well as the behavior of the lawyers thereafter leading up to the attack on the police station before bringing out his very balanced report. There is no doubt the police went on the rampage on that fateful day, but the lawyers are equally to blame for their behavior and actions before the incident and after it.

They need to be brought to heel, and to understand that they are not above the law. The politicization of the legal fraternity must also be brought to a stop. So that we do not have this ugly spectacle ever repeated again. As well as the courts brought to a stand still because of so called ‘strikes’ by the lawyers. There has to be a code of conduct for lawyers which stipulates the decorum with which they must conduct themselves and the legal profession against which their behavior can be measured, and offenders brought to book. Otherwise we will see the one of the great independent institutions on which our democracy rests brought to ruin.

Especially in this case, the law must be supreme.

Slumdog millionaire: Missing the point

2009-03-01T20:57:00.001+05:30

A fair amount of sound and fury has been generated by the film for its depiction of the slums of Bombay where Jamal grew up. To begin with the critics need to accept that the film is based on Q&A, a book written by a fellow Indian. So it isn’t some Western plot to show India in a bad light. Nor is it a Western film makers obsession with India’s poverty as it is often made out. The fact is, it is a screen adaptation of an Indian book that traces the success of a boy from the slums of Bombay on the Indian version of ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’

I don’t think this film would have been made by an Indian film maker, simply because the background for the film would not have appealed to them. Nor would they have believed that the film was bankable in terms of being a box office hit. So it took someone else to realize the book’s potential and make the film. More important, the script retains the book’s focus on the hope that all human beings have in transcending their circumstances to emerge victorious, even if they are from the slums. In addition to hope, the film focuses on Jamal’s grit, strength of character, intelligence and willingness to work hard. His dogged pursuit of the girl he loves despite her circumstances is also heartwarming.

Some others dismiss the film as media hype that has built it up internationally. I disagree. If the film did not have substance, it could never have got that far. The fact is, the story of hope in desperate circumstances, where the underdog emerges a winner because of his life’s experiences and character have touched a chord in audiences worldwide. The music is uplifting, the performances by the child actors as well the older ones convincing, the cinematography realistic without glossing over the abject misery of the slums and the editing between the show and is life effective in conveying the story. Frieda Pinto as Latika has the youth and vulnerability to elicit all our protective instincts and identify with Jamal. Jamal himself is no ‘hero’, but the tea shop boy, tentative and scared as he faces the suave, confident host of the show.

The film works, and works very well. So for all those who are continuing to deride the film, I have only this to offer. You really are missing the point. It isn’t about the slums, it is about Jamal. It isn’t about poverty and misery, it is about hope and victory. It isn’t about sordid lives, but about the strength of love despite the circumstances. The film is really about the best there is in the human spirit. This is a film that we should be proud of, and celebrate instead of criticizing. AR Rahman summed it up pretty well in his Oscar acceptance speech, “In life, you can choose either love or hate. I chose love”. You could apply this to the film too. Focus on the negatives and you’ll hate it. Instead focus on what it really is about, and you’ll love it.

What is Indian culture?

2009-02-09T21:08:00.002+05:30

Who gave Mr Muthalik and the Ram Sene the right to determine what Indian culture is? What is ‘Indian culture’ any way? To begin with, we’re a patch work of cultures with many different ethnic groups in every state. There are the Tamils, Malayalees, Kannadigas, Telugus, Mangaloreans, Marathis, Goans, Gujaratis, Punjabis…you get the picture. Each with their own language, cuisine, culture including music and dance and so on. So what is this much touted ‘Indian’ culture?

What Mr Muthalik is trying to establish is that his brand of ‘Hindu’ culture is Indian culture. So where does it stop Mr Muthalik? If you had your way, would we have wives immolate themselves on their husband’s funeral pyres in future? After all, this was also Indian culture. What about orgies and the inclination to indulge and experiment with sexuality? As per the Kamasutra, this is also Indian culture. Tch, tch….and here you are Mr Muthalik, objecting to men and women going out for dinner on Valentine’s Day!

It’s pretty clear that this business of ‘Indian culture’ is a sham. A front that allows lumpen elements to impose their will on ordinary people with what their small little minds think is Indian culture. Under the umbrella of a BJP state government that allows it to do so because of a shared ideology. After all, this is the government whose Chief Minister declared that there was no question of banning this obscure organization. And which is now proposing to establish an ‘Ombudsman’ to control what the media writes about these lumen elements as they carry out their threats against the populace.

What is really happening? A bunch of thugs attacking innocent people for exercising their choice in what they would like to do for leisure, or expressing love for one another on the occasion of Valentine’s Day. This is nothing less than an assault on people’s individual rights, and a direct attack on the Constitution of India which guarantees it. Is this the kind of country we want India to be? A country with arbitrary rules of behaviour decided by ‘religious’ groups based on their own interests? With history being rewritten, the media muzzled and the secular nature of the country being assaulted? It’s time all Indians voiced their protest against this in every way.

Enough is enough!

2008-12-29T19:09:00.002+05:30

Enough is enough is by now a much repeated phrase. It’s become the popular cry in Mumbai to convey what people feel about politicians and their ilk, as well as the poor governance that the country and its cities suffer from. But given the way Pakistan is behaving, I think ‘enough is enough!’ is what the international community should be telling their government. For it really begs the question, “Who is in control of Pakistan?”

When the attacks began in Mumbai, Asif Ali Zardari expressed horror and extended all support to the people of India. He even promised to send the head of the infamous ISI to New Delhi to assist in bringing the culprits to book. Sadly, all that changed after a midnight visit to him by General Kayani. Now it’s back to making repeated statements about ‘non-state actors’ in Pakistan, thereby absolving the country of all responsibility. And constantly harping about India’s aggression.

If non-state actors in Pakistan are responsible, why is Pakistan constantly asking for ‘incontrovertible’ proof? Why this defensive posture instead of assisting in bringing the non-state actors under control? The offer of a joint investigation by Pakistan is also laughable. When The Hindu published details of the interview with Asmal, the surviving terrorist, identifying his home village of Faridkot, what happened? The Guardian of the UK sent their Pakistani correspondent to interview the parents, only to be told by neighbors that some ‘people’ had come and taken them away!

The intrepid correspondent, not to be thwarted, then obtained their names from the voters list, thus establishing the fact that this family was in residence in Faridkot. He then managed to interview neighbors who identified the family, and also spoke of Asmal’s visits to the village. The Geo TV channel also established that Asmal was indeed from Faridkot. In the face of this, any sharing of information in a joint investigation will have Pakistan in overdrive eradicating evidence on their side of the border.

Asmal himself has written to the Pakistan High Commission asking for help as he is from Pakistan. The Pakistan ‘authorities’ are examining this letter before deciding their ‘course of action’. Nawaz Sharif meanwhile questioned why Faridkot had been cordoned off and people barred from speaking to Asmal’s family. Until he did an abrupt volte face and stated that India must provide ‘incontrovertible’ proof. In other words, he has also started toeing the official line. In the meantime, the politicians and army have made repeated jingoistic statements against India’s aggression and the ‘fitting response’ that Pakistan would deliver in the event of war.

Kayani also made a pointed statement with regard to responding in kind in case of ‘surgical strikes’ by India. There are also repeated statements by Kayani of Pakistan’s ‘right to defend itself’ against any aggression from India. What of India’s right to defend itself against repeated terrorist attacks from Pakistan? Which is why, despite overwhelming evidence, Kayani constantly repeats as ‘baseless’ the charges raised by India with regard to the terrorist attacks from Pakistan. While the politicians plead that these are ‘non-state’ actors, and that Pakistan itself is a victim of their terror attacks. The global misinformation to obfuscate the facts and create doubt is in over drive, and given time, may actually succeed.

The latest line is that Pakistan is a ‘responsible’ nuclear state, and will not escalate the crisis with India. Somehow the insinuation is that India is responsible for rising tensions with Pakistan because, I assume, of the ‘baseless’ charges. When I read the cover story ‘The world’s most dangerous country is not Iran. It is Pakistan’ in NewsWeek about six months ago, I wondered if that was not too drastic a conclusion. Well events have proved the article to be prophetic, and unless the world sits up, takes notice, and pressures Pakistan to change, things are only going to get worse. The reason I say that is because the reality of who is in control of Pakistan is pretty evident if you look at how events have unfolded post the Mumbai terror attacks.

The army, along with the ISI, is firmly in control, letting the politicians play at politics as long as they toe the line. Look at the volte face first by Zardari, then by Nawaz Sharif. Is it possible for people to turn a hundred and eighty degrees within a few days? Yes, if the ISI has dossiers on them and met them and said they would be exposed or investigated in some way. Zardari did try and curb the ISI’s power by declaring that the feared organization would no longer report to the military but the Home Ministry. That too was scuttled by the army, with the ISI continuing to report to the military and doing its bidding.

Why this obsession with power and control by the army you may ask? Well, if you are in Pakistan you will realize that the elite are the armed forces with privileges and resources that ordinary Pakistanis cannot dream of. All the aid that pours in to fight terror goes directly to these forces who have actually done precious little to curb terror schools in Pakistan. George Bush’s government gave them $10 billion for the war on terror. Do we see its effects today? Where did the money go? Remember also that 25% of Pakistan’s GDP is spent on its armed forces. The army, to continue to enjoy this privileged position, has to constantly bait India and raise the spectre of war. Peace would be its undoing!

When Vajpayee as India’s Prime Minister took the ‘peace bus’ for discussions with Nawaz Sharif toLahore, what happened? The Pakistan army infiltrated into Karghil even as peace was being discussed. Who was in charge of the army then? Musharaf. When Zardari spoke of peace with India what happens? Terrorists from Pakistan, trained by people with designations like ‘colonel’ and ‘major’ according to Asmal, attack Mumbai. Remember also that the terrorist strike on Mumbai was a classical commando strike with diversions to take the focus away from the main target of the Taj and Oberoi hotels. Eye witnesses have also testified to the accuracy and professionalism of these terrorists in shooting people during the attacks. Clearly they had military training to execute the attacks with such precision, and this has been recognized by an expert on terrorism quoted in NewsWeek.

Pakistan is both a failed state from the point of view of governance, and a terror state because of the development and use of terror by its armed forces to destabilize the region to justify its existence. Unless the international community recognizes this reality and deals with Pakistan accordingly, we are unlikely to see any real progress in the dismantling of the terror networks within Pakistan. So that it continues to be a haven and training ground for global terrorism. Don’t forget that the terrorists who brought down the WTC towers had direct links with terror groups in Pakistan. How long is the international community going to put up with this farce? Its time they said ‘Enough is enough!” and dealt with Pakistan in a manner in which it would have a decent chance to progress as a nation. Instead of lurching from dictatorships to puppet governments that use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

The Internet Governance Forum 2008

2008-12-10T22:04:00.008+05:30

The Internet Governance Forum, or the IGF as it is popularly known, was initiated at the World Summit on the Information Society or WISIS in Tunis in 2005. WISIS was initiated by the Secretary General of the United Nations through the ITU to arrive at a consensus on how the Internet, a truly global resource, should be administered in future. WISIS itself was held in the UN style, with Nation States negotiating text that was acceptable to them. However, it was soon very clear that this approach was woefully inadequate when dealing with a subject like the Internet. So Kofi Annan, the Secretary General at that time, wisely initiated a process over the next five years to determine the future of Internet Governance. That process culminates in an annual meeting known as the Internet Governance Forum.

The Internet Governance Forum brings together all stakeholders involved with the operation, use and proliferation of the Internet on an equal footing to discuss, debate, deliberate and work together to arrive at the future of Internet Governance. Sify Technologies, the pioneer and leader in Internet and network services in India, has also been actively involved in the IGF process through the International Chamber of Commerce starting with the WSIS in 2005, IGF 2006 at Athens and IGF 2007 at Rio. Having been personally involved with the IGF process since the WSIS IN 2005, it is of abiding interest for me to see the IGF dialogue facilitating the growth and development of the Internet. For it has ushered in change like never before: change in business models, in the way goods and services are distributed, in the way commerce is done, in the way Governments serve citizens and in the way people and organizations collaborate and network.

It has resulted in new models of governance with multi-stakeholder organisations such as ICANN successfully administering the operations of the Internet along with regional registries and other bodies. The Internet Governance Forum itself is a prime example of a multi-stakeholder platform that represents a new maturity in the way we come together to facilitate the Internet. This is a time for staying the course in bringing these new models to fruition. This is a time when the world itself is changing, and the balance of economic power and influence shifting towards a multi-polar world. The Internet has empowered many citizens of the world so that they expect more from their governments, and would like to participate more than ever before in what is decided for their benefit. We cannot afford to ignore this fundamental shift towards a more democratic way of governing, where everyone’s voice is valuable and must be heard.

We must recognize that the Internet today is a truly global resource that goes beyond sovereign states and governments. So we have to be innovative in our approach to facilitating it for the people of the world. The multi-stakeholder model has emerged as the 21^st Century response to this challenge, and must be developed to its maturity for the benefit of all. For it enables governments, civil society, academia, the technical community and business to meet on an equal footing for comprehensive solutions to global needs. We cannot, and should not, look back at models of governance that worked in a previous era.

India’s experience in making the Internet accessible to all would be a valuable role model. For India is a microcosm of what the world faces in Internet governance- a large land mass, multiple cultures, multiple languages, the highly developed and under developed, the rich and the poor, the highly educated and the illiterate, the urban and the rural. Our approach to date, however, has been narrow, resulting in lopsided development with hyper growth in voice communications and stunted growth of Internet. Consider the case of the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to make Internet Telephony available in the country. Despite the widespread knowledge that making Internet Telephony available would give an impetus to the growth of broadband penetration in the country, it has been languishing with the Department of Telecommunications challenged to move it forwards for months. This kind of approach has resulted in just about 10 million Internet connections in the country after ten years. While telecom connections are growing at 10 million connections a month.

This has resulted in India’s slide in the World Economic Forum’s 2008 Networked Readiness Index, where we slipped four places to 50 out of 127 nations. We urgently need a cohesive view of policy and regulatory initiatives, not just for Telecom, but Information Communication Technologies, or ICTs, in general. For an ICT strategy will enable us to have a comprehensive view of ICT development for national competitiveness and growth. Particularly with regard to the Internet and the use of ICTs to bridge the digital divide and bring a large section of India’s population into the mainstream. This will accelerate socio-economic growth as well improve the quality of life. The Internet cannot, and should not, be treated as either a scarce resource or private infrastructure. Its very nature makes it public, with the key being to enable access to it for all. For the Internet, and the protocol on which it operates, is central to the growth and development of Information Communication Technologies.

It is my sincere hope that the IGF in Hyderabad will be the start of a fresh approach to the Internet and ICT development in India. Where the common good we are trying to achieve is the overarching concern. With the government’s focus on facilitating balanced development of all Information Communication Technologies, both Telecom and data connectivity and the Internet. In fact, the Ministry for IT and Telecommunications should become the Ministry for ICT Strategy & Development to better reflect its scope and objectives. So it functions as one cohesive unit focused on ICT development in India. Lets hope that the IGF 2008 will have opened the eyes of those in policy making positions as what is possible if only they see their role as to facilitate with the common good in mind. Rather than as a licensing body that regulates to obtain the highest license fees from any particular type of service. Then India has a chance to be a role model for the growth of ICTs and the Internet.

Night without end

2008-11-30T13:41:00.002+05:30

What happened in Mumbai was unthinkable, unimaginable and horrifying. Innocent people at meetings, at wedding receptions or having dinner in restaurants were massacred for no reason other than their being Indians. This was an assault on India, on the very idea of India, indeed on our collective psyches as a people.

What could they be thinking, these young men of twenty five or so, with their whole lives before them? Instead of embracing life and the opportunities ahead of them, they embraced death through a mindless act of terror that ended many innocent lives. Brain washed into believing that this is what their religion demanded of them. That they would straight away enter heaven as martyrs.

Nothing could be further from the truth. No religion teaches, or glorifies doing another harm, leave alone murdering people. In fact causing the death of another person, especially an innocent person, is considered one of the vilest sins. With the person who commits it being held accountable. Going straight to hell, or having to atone for it in one way or the other.

How then can one account for this mindless act? By youth trained for a period of just three months? Why do these young people find it so easy to believe those who deceive them? Illiteracy is one answer. Where unschooled youth with little exposure are easily brain washed into believing their tutors. But is that enough? What else drives the hatred that leads to such acts?

We don’t have to look too far for those answers with home grown terror of our own. With political parties that spread the politics of division, of hating people of other faiths. Of claiming superiority because of being larger in number, and going directly against the Constitution of India that guarantees equal rights for every citizen. Of creating a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’, instead of a collective ‘we’, for the people of India.

Consider this objectively. Did we have any of these kind of travails before 1990? We all lived in peace and harmony, happy with our neighbors, celebrating each other’s festivals. The events post 1990, leading up to the fateful demolition of the Babri Masjid changed all that. Instead of being a people, we suddenly had wedges driven between us, in the name of religion. Presented as if on ‘behalf’ of the majority of India’s people. And if the majority did not disagree, then it was considered agreement. By people who took on the mantle of the keepers of the ‘faith’.

The anger, resentment and insecurity caused by that single act has been reverberating ever since. Fueled further by the slaughter of Muslims in Mumbai. And in Gujarat in 2002 post the Godhra train incident. As well as other attacks on Muslims and Christians across the country ever since. With recent, more organized attacks being carried out in Orissa and Karnataka over the last few months. All of which make it easier for a few to brain wash young people that theirs is a holy calling.

Is this so hard to understand? Hate begets hate. An attack results in retaliation, resulting in an endless cycle of violence and hate. This is certainly not what any religion preaches, yet that is what is now happening. How did we allow this to happen? We kept quiet as a people. The politicians allowed it to happen. The judiciary did not do enough. So much so it has become news we accept with a sense of fatality. Even voting the people responsible into power. Which they use to obfuscate the truth, both at the Centre and in Gujarat. So that today, we have a Prime Ministerial aspirant who was one of those directly responsible for the Babri Masjid’s demolition. Who was present at the site, exhorting the mobs to destroy it.

We are all responsible as Indians. For letting a few opportunistic politicians divide us to fulfill their lust for power. Without having the backbone to stand up for what is right, for what we know to be good and true. Letting down our neighbors and friends, indeed for turning our backs on them. We are responsible for blindly following what we know to be wrong. for supporting those whom we know to be guilty. We are responsible for reducing India to this state.

We are also responsible for enabling others to take advantage of our divisions, our weakness. Who send young people to wreak havoc on a nation that they could point to as doing wrong, of harming people of their faith. Of believing us to be a threat to their country because of the attacks on their faith. Yes, my friends. This is the truth, the truth that is hard to accept. Unless we do something about it and stand up for a united India, where we are all equal, we will continue to face the night.

A night without end.

God bless America

2008-11-05T22:03:00.004+05:30

America finally got it right! I had serious doubts about the American system, and the average American's ability to discern between who has substance and who doesn't after eight years of George Bush. But today's election restored my faith in both. The campaign run by John McCain and (ugh!) Sarah Palin not only did not impress, but was downright nasty, mean and unethical they way they quoted Obama out of context to harm his image. I also really did not think that McCain had much substance or depth. As for Sarah Palin, there's not much to say really. Except what most people have already noted- nice glasses! what else is there to say? Notice that very few (in fact I did not come across even one) interviewed her post the loss?

As for Barack Obama, I find him to be a rare combination of intelligence, charisma, maturity, a global perspective and yet very down to earth. Clearly a great communicator and organizer. One who can quickly grasp complex situations or problems. Capable of a measured response at times of great stress. Yet a fair, just and decent human being. Notice MCain did not mention Sarah Palin in his speech conceding defeat? But Barack Obama generously acknowledged the campaign run by McCain and Sarah Palin. When there were so many attacks on him, he didn't stoop to the same level to attack McCain or Sarah Palin. He did take on McCain, but not at the low levels of his opponent.

America finally has what it lacked for the last eight years. A leader it can respect and look up to. And whom the world respects and expects a lot from. But this is just the beginning. I really do hope he stays the course and does not swerve from his ideals, plans, beliefs or values. Or let the respect, admiration and even adulation go to his head. Then we will truly see a great leader work his chemistry on America. so that it prospers once again as it did under Clinton. and is once again respected and admired through out the world. But it's going to take some doing. For first there is a tremendous clean up job to be done in the wake of the disastrous years under Bush. Economically, financially and in foreign relations. As Obama rightly observed, it could take years, maybe even the whole term. But if there's a man who can do it, I believe it is Barack Obama.

God bless America. And God bless Barack Obama.

Sarah Palin exposed

2008-10-12T19:17:00.002+05:30

Fareed Zakariah, International Editor of Newsweek, has come right out and said it: 'Sarah Palin is not qualified to be Vice President of the United Sates". It was time someone stated the obvious, and I am glad that Newsweek did in his article titled "Sarah Palin is ready? Please!" Zakariah quotes Palin from her interview with Couric exstensively to make his point. The woman responds to Couric's questions with utter gibberish- a recouinting of all the talk points she's been given strung together in a random babble that makes no sense. No wonder the Republicans keep her away from the media!But the bigger point the article made is the more worrisome. In choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain has been utterly irresponsible despite claims to 'putting his country first'. He certainly hasn't done that in his choice of running mate!

Obama versus Mc Cain

2008-09-16T21:04:00.007+05:30

Whether the rest of the world believes it or not, the US elections concern all of us. For what happens to the US, and particularly the US economy, affects everyone of us -directly or indirectly. Nothing illustrates this better than the current financial crisis set off by the sub prime woes in the US. Leave alone George Bush's attack on Iraq and the subsequent fall out for the US economy. In terms of cost, and the disastrous effects at home where there is too little for infrastructure, education and medicare. Made worse by his fiscal policies of cutting taxes for the rich, leaving the state coffers with less income, but higher expenditure because of the war. Look at the mess they are in. And by extension, the mess we are in.

Inflation at 12% levels. Less FDI. Dollar flight back to the developed markets. Dwindling dollar reserves. Crashing markets. Companies closing down. Jobs lost. Even those jobs that had not even commenced for hapless IIM grads. Rising interest rates. Falling real estate prices. A grim financial outlook in future as more global financial giants like Lehman come crashing down. Not just in the US, but Europe as well. For it's not over. And will get worse before it gets better. Over the next one and a half to two years. So are we cncerned about the US elections? You bet we are!I have been following the candidates with grim interest. What does it look like from this far off? Based on what we read in magazines such as The Economist, BusinessWeek, Time and Newsweek in addition to a recent visit to the US, this is what I believe.

For the tough times ahead, MC Cain is too shallow and reckless. Too trigger happy like George Bush. Take his choice of Palin, based on a fifteen minute interaction before he called her to his ranch to interview for the VP nomination. Without even running a check on her. It flies in the face of his claim to being experienced. An experienced candidate doesn't make choices like that. Especially when his plank is that his opponent has no experience! Obama, on the other hand, carefully vetted Joe Biden before announcing his nomination. Does Biden have the experience? Yes, including many years in Washington. Compared to Palin, a small town mayor from far away Alaska, And a first time Governor just two years into her job. Certainly the least experienced candidate in all of US election history. A reckless choice for a man who acknowledged that his choice of VP would have to be very carefully done given his age.

What of Palin's track record? Recent , independant media inquiries have exposed disturbing details of her Governorship of Alaska. Of plum positions for school pals with no relevant experience. Of lying on her stand on 'the bridge to nowhere', a $220 million dollar bridge to a sparsely populated island. Of vendettas against people who stood in her way or were opposed to her views. Personal vendetta against her estranged brother in law using her official position. This is mean, small minded behaviour from a person with little outside exposure or a world view. A person who claims to be a believing Christian, yet has a teenage daughter who is pregnant! While she and her husband say they welcome the child, one wonders what happened to all those Christian values in the first place? That their daughter became pregnant when so young. Not even an adult. This is a 44 year old American who got her passport only a few years ago because she was visiting Alaskan troops in Germany and Kuwait. Not Iraq as she initially claimed. What sort of understanding of global affairs will she have? What if she became President by default if anything happened to Mc Cain?!

Mc Cain himself is cast in the George Bush mold, although he is trying to claim Obama's plank of change. A man who voted along with Bush 90% of the time. Who supports the war in Iraq, and wiull ensure it continues. A man who thinks military intervention is the way to settle disputes. Who wants to deal with a belligerant Russia by chucking the country out of the G8. Leaving no option for dialogue or co-operation. So that the only other option is confrontation. A man who will, like George Bush did, alienate not only the muslim world, but the rest of the world as well. A man who claims to have 'honor'. Then lies about his opponent, and even puts out false advertisements. And is nailed by the media. A man who claims the US econmy is basically sound. When it is just short of a recession and tottering financially. Needing the rest of the world to bail it out of the mess it created. Thanks to reckless fiscal policies by the Bush administration. Which Mc Cain will likely continue. For he doesn't seem to have a coherent plan for change that I can see.

No my friends. I prefer Obama. Harvard educated lawyer. With a world view and global perspective. Has lived in Indonesia and Kenya. Of mixed parentage. More sensitive certainly than Mc Cain to other people, other cultures. Who takes decisions after careful consideration. Who believes diplomacy is the key in an inter-dependent world. Who believes in fiscal prudence and a balanced budget. In providing for education and medicare. In closing the ill advised intervention in Iraq. A man for today, a product of the next generation compared to Mc Cain or even Clinton. A man whom the world can look to for some freshness of perspective. Balanced by global perspective, exposure and sensitivity. Hey, I'm not saying he's perfect. Just a far better choice than John Mc Cain. Don't believe me? Go do some due diligence yourself. Whether you're a Republican or Democrat. An American or anyone else. For it is very much about character and capability. And is going to matter for all of us.

La Defense

2008-07-05T22:55:00.007+05:30

While I have been to Paris many times over the years, one part of Paris I had not visited was La Defense. This is a modern commercial hub that the city has wisely developed to the West and just outside of its limits with multiple benefits. One, it enables Paris to have a modern commercial centre without compromising on the city’s character and architecture being marred by commercial high-rises and the pressure they put on urban centres. Two, the city still manages to showcase its mega city credentials with a grand urban vision complete with skyscrapers that compare with the best anywhere else. And three, La Defense attracts the best mutli-nationals to Paris as a European or French headquarters rather than elsewhere. The French have always been very technologically savvy, and have had a genius in making things easier for the common person, and it certainly shows at La Defense.

According to the Wiki, La Defense is at the westernmost extremity of Paris' 10-km long Historical Axis, which starts at the Louvre in Central Paris and continues along the Champs-Élysées, well beyond the Arc de Triomphe before culminating at this modern satellite city at the monumental Grande Arche and the plaza before it. This really represents the Franch vision of a brave, new world of integrated urban infrastructure. The plaza has the huge La Defense metro station feeding into it near the Grande Arche, skyscrapers that host the headquarters of important French and foreign companies, and works of urban art such as Le PouceCésar Baldaccini. Around its 100-metre (330 ft)-high Grande Arche and esplanade called "le Parvis", the district holds many of the Paris urban area's tallest high-rises. With its 77.5 acres, its 72 glass-and-steel slick buildings including 14 high-rises above 500 ft, its 150,000 daily workers and 37.7 million sq ft of office space, La Défense is one of Europe's largest Business Districts. Corporations located at La Defense include Cegetel, Societe Generale, Total, Aventis. Arcelor, SFR, IBM and Axa, making it a European business powerhouse.

La Défense is named for the statue La Défense de Paris built in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. In September 1958, The Public Establishment for Installation of La Défense was created to rejuvenate this neighborhood. La Défense began to take shape, with the Esso Tower being the very first building, to slowly replace the city's factories, shanties, and even a few farms. The Center of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) was completed in 1958. These first generation skyscrapers were all very similar in appearance, limited to a height of 100 metres (330 ft). In 1966, the Nobel Tower was the first office building built in the area. In the early 1970s, a second generation of buildings began to appear until the economic crisis in 1973 nearly halted all construction in the area. A third generation of towers began to appear in the early 1980s, as well as the biggest commercial center in Europe (at the time), the Quatre Temps, in 1981. In 1982, the Tête Défense was launched to identify a monument to complete the Axe historique, which eventually led to the construction of the Grande Arche at the west end of the quarter.

On Bastille Day 1990, French electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre staged an ambitious concert at the site, using the Grande Arche and three of the area's towers as projection screens, with a pyramidal stage above the road. The free concert, titled ‘ Paris la Defense’ attracted two million spectators, stretching all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. This beat Jarre's own previous world record for the largest attendance for a musical concert. New high-rises of over 600 ft are currently under construction and planned for opening in 2008 such as the Tour Granite and Tour T1. In December 2005, Bernard Bled, CEO & Chairman of EPAD, the La Defense Management & Development Office, announced an ambitious 9-year development plan called "La Defense 2006-2015", when a high profile international competitions for the design and construction of several 980 to 1,000 ft tall, sustainable development skyscrapers was launched. This has resulted in the development of new towers such as Tour Signal, Tour Phare and Tour Generali. Today, the area has over 30,000 residents, 1500 businesses, 2600 hotel rooms, 1.2 million sq ft of greenery and 60 modern sculptures and monuments.

With extensive material and pictures from the Wiki.

Paris: a place for people

2008-07-02T21:32:00.010+05:30

The recent visit to Paris opened my eyes to how people friendly a large city could be if planned or regulated accordingly. The point is that Paris is a planned city despite being a very old city. The process of urban renewal has been done keeping the quality of citizens lives in mind, as well as in retaining the charm of the city’s old architecture. They have also ensured green spaces with parks and open areas that the public can use freely around the city. Canals have been maintained, are clean and still in use. So is the Seine, with boats going up and down, especially the tourist sightseeing boats as well as dinner cruises. Mind you, the French are also prone to relieving themselves below the bridges across the Seine and even urinate in public parks, but it is mostly clean and green.

The Metro, the underground metro rail mass transit system, is one of the reasons Paris is such a citizen friendly city. One doesn’t need to own a car in Paris as its possible to get just about anywhere using the Metro network of 16 different lines that crisscross the city and its suburbs with a total length of 214 Km and 384 stops. According to the wiki, The Metro’s (Short for ‘Metropolitain’) first line was completed as far back as 1900 as expanded over the years. It carried 4.5 million people per day in 2005, when the city’s population was 10 million, a pretty high percentage for a developed nation. The system is operated by the unified transport system abbreviated to RATP that also runs the city’s bus and light rail lines. This makes for even greater convenience as passes are valid on both trains and buses. The original entrances to the Metro were designed in the distinctive art nouveau style by Hector Guimard of which eighty six are still in use today! Picture courtesy Wikipedia.

The city’s parks are a delight with 29 major parks and green spaces dotting the city. These are large, well maintained and a great place for people to go to and picnic, play football, Frisbee, turn cartwheels or generally soak in the sun and the surroundings. Some of them feature whimsical sculptures like ‘The sunken bicycle’ at the Parc de la Villette which until the 1970s was a cattle market and abattoir. The 170 acre site was subsequently transformed with landscaped sweeping lawns, a children’s playground, covered walkways, two museums, a futuristic cinema in the shape of a shiny glass ball called ‘La geode’, brightly pained pavilions and a state-of-the-art concert hall called the ‘Cite de la Musique’. All this in the North East of Paris, in a neighborhood that is close to fifty percent immigrants from all over the world, and currently going through urban renewal.

There are also neighborhood parks nestled between buildings where families can run their dogs or meet to chat and spend the evenings together. They feature outdoor table tennis tables, a section of the park designated for dogs to use as a toilet, seating areas and little avenues. One such park had two of the local schools around it looking out over it. The banks of canals have also been shaped into walking/jogging/ cycling tracks that citizens can use for leisure or for commuting. A large number of the city’s resident’s commute on bicycles, and the city even has a low cost bicycle rental service, practically free for short distances, for those who would like to use them. The city is estimated to have 20,000 of these ‘Velib’ cycles, with 1,450 futuristic bicycle stations- or one every 250 yards across the city! The idea is to make the city better for residents to get around in with less air and noise pollution and let citizens have ‘more space’ in the city!

Urban renewal also sees very creative use of existing resources in Paris. In the suburb of Pantin for example, a large, ancient unused flour mill is being converted, clock tower and turreted roofs, into the global headquarters of the BNP Paribas banking group. The city is encouraging this transformation with new tram lines along the banks of the canal on which the flour mill stands for easy commutes to and for from the building to metro lines and elsewhere. The blank brick walls of the flour mill have been transformed with scenic windows, while the brick exterior is being recreated with bricks from the original brick supplier in Belgium! When complete, it will be a resplendent landmark on the banks of the canal, providing employment for many, and contributing to further business’ development in the area. The city has also managed to retain the old with the new: one sees old factories redone as apartment buildings with the old exteriors intact; the workers quarters converted into comfortable row houses; with new apartment blocks existing next to these older blocks.

There’s certainly a thing or two to learn from Paris in being a place for people!

The passport at last!

2008-06-29T20:23:00.001+05:30

To continue the saga of the passport, after the passport officer intoned that, “You will have to wait”, I waited like a dutiful citizen to hear from them. This was on the 15^th of May 08. As it became the second week of June, I started to get concerned, for I was to leave for Paris on the 21^st of June. Finally, on the 12^th of June, we ascertained who was the CID officer who was to give the police clearance based at the local police station, and obtained his number. I called him for two whole days before he asked me to come over. I finally met him on the evening of Saturday the 14^th June, and recounted my take to him.

To begin with, he was incensed with the passport office. He pulled out Tatkal forms to prove to me that, though one is supposed to get the passport with all procedures complete in a week’s time, he was being sent the forms ten to fifteen days later! Obviously there will be no police clearance. Top cover up the delay, the passport office blandly informs you that the police clearance has not been obtained, and if you question why as I did, they tell you that you weren’t at home when the officer visited! So that explained the lack of police clearance, but the continued delay?

He informed me that he hadn’t yet received my application! Then I pointed out to him that we are speaking of a month ago. So he opened a file compartment below his desk, and pulled out a bout five plastic bags stuffed with application forms. There must have been more than a 150 passport applications in those plastic bags stuffed into that cupboard. To his credit, he started going through each of those bags, looking for my file. He began to be embarrassed, and explained that he was away on a week’s leave when this backlog had piled up, and he wasn’t aware that there were so many pending! He finally found mine in the last plastic bag at the bottom!

This whole process took about 40 minutes, especially as he was constantly interrupted by phone calls from a judge who was pestering him to arrange tickets for Dasaravatham, the latest block buster from Kamala Hassan! This also explained why, over the last two days, he was constantly going to Mayajaal on the ECR and couldn’t meet me! Thankfully, he called a senior police officer who set off in his jeep to pick them up after phoning one of his colleagues to get the tickets. This is how official machinery is used when it is there for law and order, and for such processes as police clearance for passports. According to the officer, when they approach the reservations staff for tickets, they always get them because they are afraid of crossing the police!

Within the next twenty minutes, he went through the process and finalized what needed to be done. He then assured me that by Tuesday the 17^th, the clearance would be with the passport office and I could approach them to issue it. I thanked him profusely and we left. Once again, to his credit, he did not solicit any payment. So on Tuesday, we contacted the passport office to enquire about its being issued. We were told in no uncertain terms that, even if the police clearance has been obtained, ‘we have our own processes and we will take our time’. If the individual needed to travel on the 21^st, that is his problem. I was just about ready to give up, and called The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris and informed them that it looked unlikely that I would be able to attend the ICANN conference. ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers- the organization that keeps the global Internet running and maintains the root servers and domain name systems essential to its operation.

Both the ICC and my colleagues said there must be something I can do to get the passport office to issue the passport, and to please try once more. In the meantime, I called the Commercial Attaché at the French Embassy in Delhi whom I had briefed on the ICANN conference, and who had kindly offered to help with the visa if required. He informed me that if I could get my passport by Thursday, he would speak to the French consulate in Pondicherry to ensure the visa was issued on Friday. On Wednesday I recounted this long and painful process to another colleague whose spouse was a senior government official. To cut a long story short, this official arranged a meeting with the regional passport officer on Thursday at 12 noon, and I was issued the passport at 5.45 PM the same evening. In other words, what should have been a routine issue of additional pages that was applied for under the Tatkal scheme on 8^th May 08, was finally issued on the 19^th of June because of official intervention. The police clearance was required because of a change in address as we had moved into our own apartment.

I left the next morning at 7 AM for Pondicherry, reached the city and the French Consulate at 10 AM, met the official concerned, and was issued my visa by 10.15 AM! By 10.30 AM, I was on the way back to Chennai to finish work at the office so I could leave at 7 AM Saturday 21^st for the airport and my flight to Paris. In took nearly two months and an enormous amount of stress to do something that is actually quite simple. Clearly there were three things that this experience highlighted: that the passport office is woefully inadequate to cope with the quantum of applications it receives for processing in the time frames expected; that the police are over whelmed with the same task and; the processes that are used are antiquated and inefficient. This is made much worse by the attitude of the staff in the passport office, probably because they are so overwhelmed with the work load, as well as the work conditions. It’s about time that the government looked into all these factors to make everyone’s life better.

The Left in India: morally bankrupt

2008-06-15T21:05:00.002+05:30

The Left in India have proved to be a morally bankrupt party. They began with a lot of promise, but have descended rapidly into exercising their power in a completely undisciplined manner under the garb of championing the poor. Mind you, I was glad that they were part of the ruling coalition at first, because they seemed to provide the required balance to ensure that the benefits of progress reached all. So that there was equitable distribution of the benefits of a growing economy. But all that changed when they realized the power they enjoyed in supporting the government from the outside. And you know the old saying, ‘Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. And so it is with them.

As they realized that they enjoyed power without accepting any responsibility or accountability for the performance of the government, they became emboldened to behave in ways that are unthinkable as a part of a coalition. Their behavior is tantamount to a family member who stays with you, eats at your table and fraternizes with you, but publicly runs you down and bad mouths you. Confident in the knowledge that you can do nothing about it, leave alone throw them out of your house. If this is not morally bankrupt, I don’t know what is. After all, if they were really so opposed to everything the government does, they should not be part of the coalition. But no, the taste of being part of a ruling coalition is too good for them to do that!

One example of their insufferable behavior is the Civilian Nuclear Agreement which they have dubbed ‘the nuclear deal’ to obfuscate its objective. It is all about ensuring energy security by increasing the amount of energy generated from nuclear energy as opposed to conventional energy sources. France, for example, generates 80% of its energy requirements from nuclear energy at a much lower cost that conventional energy sources. But this agreement has been consistently stalled by the Left primarily because of their rabid ant-American stance which is more due to their tired dogma than anything else. They are probably the only political group anywhere in the world whose thinking is still like the days of the cold war with a world polarized between the West and the Soviet Bloc. Every argument they have come up with is rationalization due to this.

Or take their posturing on inflation and rising prices. Of course inflation is worrying, but is a phenomenon the whole world is struggling with due surging oil prices and a global financial crisis. Have they contributed to solving the problem in any way? What macro-economic measures would they suggest? If the measures taken by the government are not adequate, what would they suggest? Instead they have resorted to state bandhs, hartals and public protests as if they are part of the opposition, all of which have caused massive losses to both businesses and individuals alike. Especially to people like the daily laborers who could not earn their wages. All to demonstrate the power they wield and with an eye on the coming elections.

So are they better than any of the other parties? Certainly not. In fact, my contention is that they are much worse than anybody else because of their complete moral bankruptcy. I would wager that any party will think many times before having anything to do with them in future. The Left are best left out of any government if it wants to function.

Our bitter experience with Tata Sky

2008-06-06T20:05:00.006+05:30

Ever since we bought a flat screen Samsung which came with a Tata Sky connection, all we’ve had are frustration and problems. In the first place, the dealer seems to have passed on the free connection to a crony of his, but informed us that we need to contact Tata Sky or Samsung directly. Both of them said no, it’s the dealer who has to give you the digicomp and form from which you proceed further. Did either of them offer to contact the dealer and set this right? No, although they could have done so easily. Instead we were left to chase the dealer month after month, and by virtue of his distance from our home, we finally gave up as we couldn’t keep going there.

Finally a neighbor gave us a referral card which said we would get some months of free viewing if we called Tata Sky and asked for the connection and quoted the card number. So we did that, and it seemaed we’d finally get the connection, although we paid for it. After a wait of a few days, the digicomp unit finally arrived and we called and asked for the technician to set it up. They promised to come the next day and install it. That done, We set out to do some long pending errands that needed attention.

That’s when the Tata Sky technician decided to land up and install the connection- without us there. He made a complete hash of it, dropping the cable in an unseemly fashion down the front of the building, then across the corridor, through a hole drilled messily (with chips hanging loose) through the corner of the frame of the front door (thus effectively weakening the door frame), and finally across the wall in an unsightly diagonal to the TV. Its pretty evident when you step into our home that there is concealed wiring, and that we’ve taken great pains to address aesthetic considerations in how we’ve set things up. That didn’t deter our intrepid Tata Sky man who just wanted to set the thing up and be gone in 60 seconds apparently.

He also configured the connection in such a way that the channels we watch the most were all locked. Since no one was present, he hadn’t briefed anyone on what needs to be done or demonstrated the use of the service. Everything was trial and error. The last straw was when the connection was terminated in a few days time, and a message saying we need to pay for the subscription shows up. What happened to the months of free viewing? Since my aged in-laws stay with us and would like to watch TV, my wife, after spending hours on the phone with Tata Sky reps giving instructions as to how to re-register, has finally just got up and gone to their local distributor or whatever he’s called. The whole experience with this company of the Tatas have left us bitter and a little surprised at the callous way customers are being treated.

I received a message today on my mobile suggesting I get a second connection for the home or recommend a connection to my friends. Fat chance! I am going to get a set top box and a cable connection from the local cable guy for my bedroom. As for recommending it to my friends, the opposite is what I’ll do until they redeem themselves. If, after, going to their local distributor, things are not set right, I’m quite willing to go and chuck their dish and digicomp in his office and get back to the local cable guy. They’re a lot easier to deal with, more accessible and certainly more sincere than Tata Sky has been so far.

By the way, i did a Google search on Tata Sky to see what I could glean and came across a post that will really make you sit up. If you are thinking of a Tata Sky connection, its better for you to read this post before you subscribe. I wish I had.

Upper Canada Village

2008-05-31T20:35:00.014+05:30

On our holiday in the US and Canada last year, we had the opportunity to experience what life would have been like in a village in Canada in the 1860s! While at Ottawa, my sister asked whether we would like to visit a heritage village preserved to present life as it was in those days, and we said years. So she drove us South from Ottawa for some three hours to Morrisburg on the banks of the St Lawrence river where the Upper Canada Village is located. My first question was why is this called upper Canada when, in fact, it is on the border of the US and Canada? For after all, upper Canada should really be the Northern territories isn't it? The answer is that, in those days, when Canada was primarily settled on the East Coast, and the settlers were slowly claiming the land West of them along the St Lawrence river, this area was 'upper Canada', from the coastal areas point of view!

We reached the village and started with the mill where the wool was made into thread. They actually had sheep, heavily laden with wool, meandering around outside! There were volunteers in period dress who explained the carding process to you so that we understood how it was done. Then on to the steam powered four mill which was actually in operation grinding flour between large grinding stones whose rotation was powered by an ancient steam engine! originally, it was just water power that drove the process, but as this was freely available for only sometime of the year, they then switched to steam motors that could work through out the year.

Then on to a Cooper's shed where one was at work. I always knew that, in the old days, many people had taken on the name of their profession (as had the Parsis in Mumbai). So we have Gardeners (as in Earl Stanley Gardener!), Smiths (from black smiths) and Coopers. We even knew a family by the name Cooper when I was very young, but of course, at that time we thought nothing of it. Its only when we walked into the Cooper's shed that it struck me. So what is a cooper? They were the ones who made the barrels with metal rings around them in which good were transported in those days. If you see pictures of ships being loaded or unloaded from that period, you will always see a sloping gangway up or down which barrels are being rolled onto the ship or off it. These contained flour, oil, wine, salt, wheat an other such commodities. They were made with such skill that they were water tight, and often air tight! They were the principal unit of transport in the 1860s much like the giant containers that we load on to ships today! It was fascinating to learn this, and also to see how they shaped the barrels and bound them with the iron rings.

Then on past the saw mill to a well to do farmer's home which you could visit and walk through! The furniture in every room was from the period and laid out exactly like the family used it, even the bathrooms. The kitchen was functional, and the cook had just baked a cake and some cookies in the stove! We then wandered out into the kitchen garden being tended by the 'daughter' of the house, where they growing various kinds of vegetables. From there to the stables, then on to a the local business man's house, which was more richly appointed. We also visited what looked like the city hall where there was an exhibition of period furniture, then on to the local store managed by a lady in the costume of those days! The blue bottle on the shelf contained arsenic, the color helping to alert the attendant that it was poison so she did not give it to anyone by mistake. We also visited a doctor's house and saw his medical equipment, particularly to deal with the teeth, which seemed more like instruments of torture.

Then we walked around the periphery, with fields leading up to the banks of the St Lawrence in the distance. It was lush green and very beautiful given the light summer rains that came down off and on. There was also a canal that ran parallel to the river down which there were boat rides, as well as horse cart rides through the village! The picturesque banks of the canal also had the local church. On the whole the setting was bucolic, peaceful and very different from the modern world. Although the Canada is a pretty young nation, they do a marvelous job of preserving its history through such interesting sites. Any visit to this part of Canada wouldn't be complete without a visit to Morrisburg and the Upper Canada Vilage to understand what it was like a 150 years ago.

It gets worse!

2008-05-21T20:52:00.002+05:30

This is about the process of getting an additional book for my passport again. If you read the previous post, you will be quite clued in. So, if you haven't please do so to understand the context! So I go there again the next day in the morning. The room where we have to queue was originally meant to accommodate maybe 75 to a 100 people. Now its jammed with about 500! There are air-conditioners around the periphery, manfully trying to deal with the overload and failing miserably. You only feel anything remotely like a cool breeze if you happen to be standing just below the vent- and even then one has to use one's imagination! The air is fetid with the collective breath of people as there is no other ventilation, and the air-conditioners cannot cope.

After a sweaty hour and a half in the queue, I get to the counter at last and present my papers. He looks at me, my papers and then that computer and says, "Good thing I sent you back yesterday! You don't have police clearance. I cannot process your application!" On trying to understand further what he was saying, it turns out that the police visited my home during office hours and have reported that I was not present and therefore do not have police clearance. This is brilliant. They don't phone before coming to visit a working person, what do they expect? Do they return in the evening or call there after? Oh no! You're simply not cleared and to hell with whatever further inconvenience that will cause you.

Then he takes my existing passport and thumbs through it and looks at all the visas and immigration stamps. Then says, "OK, you can apply under the normal system ( I had applied under the Tatkal system which is supposed to take a week), but that can take one or two months!" I point out to him that I may have to travel in June, and he says, "No police clearance, we can't do anything" as if somehow I'm guilty of some crime. So I leave the counter with absolutely no real help after one and a half hours of standing in that fetid heat. Some others then advised that I see the Deputy Passport Officer, so I head hopefully towards his cabin. Only to be faced with another serpentine queue!

What is it with government offices, the RTO where one goes to get a driving license or check in at a government run airline and queues? If you are not made to wait like cattle for the slaughter, they don't feel they've done their job it appears. This queue was faster-it took just an hour! The officer looks at my passport, then the computer screen and says brightly, "But you haven't got police clearance!" This is after explaining the whole thing to him. Its pretty clear how much attention he was paying to me when I was talking to him. So I have to repeat the whole thing. (No wonder the whole process takes so long). Finally he concedes, "OK so you apply under the normal system and we will try and speed up the process." How long will it take? "We don't know, it depends on the police!" So how does one plan one's travel schedule? That is hardly their concern is it?

Then he directs me to meet the officer in the next cabin, who is supposed to process my application, and mark my application for speedy processing. Another long queue, and this time it barely moves. But there are a number of people who know these officers who are moving in and out freely, getting their work done very fast. We stand in numb tiredness, reduced to being mute spectators waiting for the ordeal to end. Then its one o'clock and lunch time! The security guard gives us our numbers and asks us to return at two. I wander out into the hot sun, walk down the road to a store to get a cold bottle of water. Next to the store is a stall selling 'omelet bread' and fruit juices. So I have a juice and the omelet bread which is not something to write home about. Its not something that you want to watch being prepared either!

Back to the queue by two, and it begins to feel like we're going to spend the rest of our lives there. We stand there, like convicts awaiting sentencing, heads hanging, shoulders drooping, bathed in sweat, beginning to feel slightly sick from dehydration. The queue moves, but very ,very slowly. People are now beginning to push and shove as the heat and discomfort start getting to them. Fights break out twice in the queues behind us for the counters. I finally get to the officer at 3.30 PM. He takes my application, cancels my existing passport and hands ne a receipt. Will the process be expedited? He looks at me impassively. "You will have to wait" he says inevitably. As if I didn't know that! I walk out feeling like I've been released from prison. Its four in the evening and I've lost the whole day to standing in queues to do something which is supposed to be a simple, basic process. Not to mention half the day the previous day. This has to be inefficiency at its best.

This is the process we have to go through for documentation that we are citizens of India. Hardly an experience to make you proud to be an Indian is it?

Passport pains

2008-05-14T19:58:00.002+05:30

It's great to be back again, albeit with an account of the pain of passport renewal. Having run out of pages in my passport, I had to give it in for an additional book. I would have imagined that this would be a simple procedure given that its a live passport that was being extensively used. Oh no, it is as laborious and painful as ever, including going to the passport office and standing in the famous queues!

I was asked to present myself around three like it was a appointment of sorts. I arrive there to find crowds milling around as usual and joined the appropriate queue. After about a half hour of sweating it out in a fairly stationery queue, a gentleman arrives out of nowhere (apparently from behind the desk for which I was standing in line), and asks to see our papers. I show him mine and he signs it as says, "Right, you are the last person I am seeing today. make sure nobody stands behind you in the queue. If they cause a problem, they can fight with me!"

At least I know that I am going to be dealt with today, I reasoned gratefully. So I waited patiently, with the confidence that it would all end well. Standing in the sweltering heat, it was ironic that I was reading the interview with CK Prahlad, Professor at the Ross School of Management of the University of Michigan in the Business Today. I say ironic, because he was talking about the new India, innovation, the use of technology to better serve the masses, and how the consumer has to be co-opted in shaping or customizing the brand or service experience! Standing in that line, it all seemed like he was describing a country on a different planet!

At any rate, it was pretty evident that the passport authorities had neither heard of , nor read CK Prahlad's views, and are carrying on their work as usual in blissful ignorance.While most private services processes are built around making the customer experience optimal, efficient and pleasant, the processes at the passport office leave much to be desired. Leave alone built around making the customer experience pleasant! Just how bad it all is quickly became evident. Just as I was thinking that the cattle in many countries are treated with more consideration and respect, I finally made it to the counter.

I was soaked, hot & bothered, dehydrated and thirsty, but very grateful to be at the end of my ordeal after two and a half hours in line! I handed over my papers with a sigh of relief to the officer who was apparently already in exit mode as it was close to five PM. He had already told a couple of queue breakers (why do our people think that its OK to break a queue by shouldering aside people and sticking their papers into the officers face?) to come tomorrow morning. But he accepted my papers! It was such a relief to be close to finishing part of the dreary process at last! He takes a look at my papers, then my still valid passport, then he looks into the computer, then states quite blandly, " System is down...come back tomorrow!" No apologies, excuses...nothing. Just come back tomorrow, thats all.

What can one say? India, at least the private sector, is competing with the world's best and doing well. But the Indian government's processes are several decades behind. While they are investing huge amounts in computerization and eGovernance processes, nothing is really going to change until the attitude of government employees change. And thats not going to happen till they become accountable and are graded on performance rather than have permanent tenure with no accountability. But as long as our comrades in Delhi, those with the loud and vociferous voices and behaviour, who are 'part of the government' but have absolutely no responsibility or accountability have a disproportionate say in policies, that is not going to happen.

Woe are we, the citizens of India, where our government services are concerned!

Vignettes of San Francisco

2007-11-06T00:01:00.000+05:30

Arrived at about one PM on Sunday afternoon into SFO, and reached the hotel at Geary Street right near Union Square around two. Had leisurely bath and shave and headed out into the sunny afternoon to stay awake till night time! First into Union Square, where there was an art exhibition going on. It was surprisingly warm for this time of year, with many people dressed like it was still summer. There were crowds on the streets as well, taking in the warm Sunday afternoon, shopping or just relaxing by strolling around.

From Union Square, I headed up Nob Hill to the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont Hotels, turned left to Grace Cathedral, then on to the top of the hill with views below to the city and San Francisco bay. This is an older part of the city with many of the homes on steep streets where cars have to park at a ninety degree angle to the road or risk rolling down! It’s a great neighborhood to walk through, with the occasional tram making its way up the hill and across the city with riders around their sides, hanging on for the thrill.

The homes in this area have been restored or maintained well, with evidence of a lot of civic pride and consciousness. Even a little open area in front of a water pumping station had been created into a Japanese park for public use. Many of the residents walking their dogs carried plastic gloves and bags to pick up the litter after they had performed. Windows had little boxes outside them with flowering plants that were carefully tended. There was plenty of greenery with small gardens, hedges and road side trees adding to the charm of the area.

The setting sun provided a sort of golden glow to much of the scenery, making the walk even nicer. As the evening wore on, the warmth disappeared, and a child wind began to blow. I walked back to the hotel to upload the pictures and make a few calls before heading out to a Thai restaurant nearby for dinner after a beer at John Folley’s Irish pub. The pub was packed and noisy, but it was pleasant to be in the company of people out having a good time. The restaurant was also crowded, with most of the patrons being Thai- a sure sign that the food is good! And it was.

Then back to the hotel for some much needed sleep!

Historic Boston Common

2007-08-19T14:39:00.000+05:30

The Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts is the oldest city park in the United States, founded as far back as 1634, and is 50 acres in size. According to the Wikipedia, the Common is considered part of the Emerald Necklace of parks and parkways that extend from the Common south to Franklin Park in Roxbury. The Common's purpose has changed over the years since its inception. Originally owned by William Blaxton (often given the modernized spelling "Blackstone"), it was bought from him by the city of Boston. During the 1630s, it was used as a cow pasture by many families living in Boston. However, this only lasted only a few years, as affluent families bought additional cows which led to overgrazing.

On May 19, 1713, two hundred of the citizens of Boston rioted on the Common in reaction to a food shortage in the city. They later attacked the ships and warehouses of wealthy merchant Andrew Belcher, who was exporting grain to the Caribbean for higher profits. The lieutenant governor of the city was shot during the riot. And it was on Boston Common that the Colonial militia men first mustered for the Revolution against the British. It was later used as a camp for eight years by the British forces before the Revolutionary War, from where they left for the Battles of Lexington and Concord. George Washington, John Adams and General Lafayette all came to this historic Common to celebrate the new nation's independence from British rule. Over the years, it was used for public hangings, most of which were from a large oak tree which was replaced with a gallows in 1769, up until 1817. The Central Burying Ground is on the Boylston Street side of the Common where one can find the graves of artist Gilbert Stuart and composer William Billings.

The 1860s saw the Common as the venue for Civil War recruitment and anti-slavery meetings. During the First World War between 1914 and 1918, victory gardens came up on the Common. During the Second World War from 1939 -1945, the Common saw most of its iron fencing taken for scrap metal. A hundred people gathered on the Common in early 1965 to protest the Vietnam War. A second protest happened on October 15, 1969, this time with over 100,000 people. Today the Common serves as a public park for all to use for formal or informal gatherings. Events such as concerts, protests, softball games, and ice skating (on Frog Pond as its central lake is called) often take place in the park. Famous individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope John Paul II have made speeches there. Judy Garland gave her largest concert ever, of over 100,000 people, on the Common on August 31, 1967. The Common became the site of a new world record on October 21. 2006, when 30,128 Jack-o'-lanterns were lit simultaneously around the park. The previous record, held by Keene, New Hampshire since 2003, was 28,952 lanterns.

And so it was that we were drawn to the park on a sunny evening during our stay in New Hampshire. We enjoyed its gardens and walkways where other people were out, enjoying the late evening sun and the flowers that were in bloom. Geese walked around with their goslings, birds sang in the trees, joggers went by and excited children’s chatter filled the air. As we drank in the peaceful scene, it was hard to believe the years of history, often violent, that have passed on this soil. Or that this oasis of peace and greenery is close to the heart of Boston, on the edge of its Financial District.

Indique: It’s Indian, and it’s unique!

2007-08-17T11:59:00.000+05:30

Our holiday in May in the US was very special for a number of reasons: One, it was a celebration of our twenty fifth wedding anniversary with special dinners and get-togethers where ever we went; Second, I was able to take my wife and daughter to all the places I had longed to show them; and third, it was a time when we were able to meet with friends we had not met in some twenty years or more. The last reason was an especially sweet one, for it brought home the value of relationships, and how the vastness of time seems to make no difference at all when you do meet.

One such friend was KN Vinod, a class mate from the Institute of Hotel Management in Taramani in Chennai from which we both had passed out. I went on to become a Management Trainee in ITC’s hotel’s division, while he joined ITDC as a Chef Trainee. The last I met Vinod was at Chennai airport nearly twenty years ago when we chanced to bump into each other waiting for our respective flights. I knew then that he had a restaurant in Washington, and that he was still there, but did not know how to contact him. On this visit, when I landed in Washington, I called Francis, another classmate who is the Executive Chef of one of the well known hotels in down town New York, and he gave me Vinod’s number and urged me to call him.

I hesitated because we had not spoken to each other in so many years! But after all my meetings were over and I had checked out, I left my luggage in the hotel and went for a walk to Lafayette Park opposite the White House, strolled around a bit, then sat down on a park bench and called Vinod. His familiar voice came on the line, and suddenly all those years seemed to melt away. When I told him I was in Washington, his next question was, “Where are you?” “Lafayette Park”, I answered, and told him that I had time up to three PM before leaving to catch my flight to Boston. It was then that he told me about Indique, his very successful Indian restaurant chain that now has two outlets, one on Connecticut Avenue and the other at Friendship Heights at Chevy Chase, Maryland. He was at the restaurant at Connecticut Avenue and asked me to come there.

Off, I went, and as I walked into the restaurant, there he was, looking much the same but for a little grey in his moustache! We embraced, and he ushered me into the spacious restaurant and showed me around. We sat upstairs at a secluded table where we could catch up with each other, while we had lunch. His chef appeared at the table and Vinod asked for a whole variety of starters and main courses! I protested, but he wanted me to taste the food and not worry about finishing it. He also ordered white wine after learning of my preference for a drink. There we sat and chatted, as one delicious dish after other appeared before us that I tasted and commented on. The food was uniformly good, well spiced and flavored. For once, they were authentic in taste and not watered down for local tastes. He also had signature fusion dishes that were very good! Starters included Mini Oothappams and Mini Dosas! Check out the restaurant and the menu.

He also called his General Manager Operations for his restaurants (there are also two Bombay Bistros), Ranbir Bhatia from the Indique in Chevy Chase to join us. Ranbir, popularly know as ‘Bhats’, had been both a colleague and friend at ITC Hotel’s years ago of both my wife and I whom we had lost touch with! When Bhat’s did turn up, I had a hard time recognizing him but for those twinkling eyes! He showed me a photograph from those days of a smiling, young, handsome, bearded Sikh, and all the memories came flooding back! I told them that I would be in Washington a week or two later, and we exchanged numbers so that they could meet the family. When my cousin Zmarak heard about this old classmate of mine, he invited Vinod and his family to a get together he arranged when we visited him, so we managed to meet Vinod in a social setting with his young son.

On our last day in Washington, we decided to take Zmarak and his charming wife Esa, out for lunch. As they stayed in Bethesda, next door to Chevy Chase, we decided to take them to Indique Heights, Vinod’s signature restaurant in the area. This is a much larger, more elegant format restaurant, located in the area right above the Friendship Heights metro station. We had a fantastic meal accompanied by Venezuelan red wine, with Vinod and Bhats once again playing the hosts with one delicious dish after the other. It was such a fabulous way to end our Washington sojourn with good food and wine, family and friends! Vinod has clearly used his abilities as a gifted chef to create restaurants that are making their mark in a highly competitive market. Indique on Connecticut Avenue, for example, is a favorite of Hillary Clinton. Check out Indique Heights here. By the way, the dashing, young man in the right foreground is Vinod. Bhats is in the burgundy shirt towards the far end.

If ever you are in Washington, and want to have authentic Indian food, as well as Indian fusion food at its best, now you know where to go!

Wine tasting in California

2007-06-30T12:45:00.000+05:30

While in California on holiday, one of the things we wanted to do was go wine tasting in the famed Napa Valley. We drove across the Golden Gate into Marin County with its breathtaking views, and stopped at a very good seafood restaurant for lunch. We all chose Japanese food, mostly sea food salads, which were excellent. Then on through rolling hills to the Sonoma Valley which lies in Sonoma County, the South Western most of the counties that make up the wine country region of California: Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties. The Sonoma valley has about 250 registered wineries, while the county has thirteen approved American Viticultural areas. Located along the North Coast Ranges of California, the county is an interesting mix of flat plains, hills and valleys through which we drove to reach the Viansi vineyard.

The Viansi vineyards main building is atop a slight hill overlooking the valley. The old wine cellars are below at the ground floor level, and as you go up the hill, the wine tasting area, along with a shop for wine sales as well as gourmet accompaniments are at the upper level. This opens on to a courtyard overlooking the valley with a nice view of the vineyards, dotted with tables and chairs with people ordering wine by the bottle and enjoying them al fresco in the warm sun. We wandered through the shop and took in everything on offer, but didn’t taste the wines as it was really crowded. Even getting to the counter was an achievement! The reason was that it was a Saturday, and there coaches disgorging hordes of people on organized wine tours, many of which stop at the Viansi vineyard. So after wandering around the large shopping area and checking out the wines, we sat in the courtyard for a bit, took in the view and carried on to Napa Valley.

The entire drive was a treat through picturesque countryside dotted with wineries in valleys nestled between the hills. Napa turned out to be a long, narrow valley between two ranges, along the length of which were many wineries- well known as well as the little known. We drove past the Robert Mondavi winery (well known) and on to the Franciscan winery, where we turned in to taste the wines. The Franciscan winery has been making ward winning wines for over twenty five years with consistently high ratings and top awards. Up the broad drive and round a fountain to the main building where we alighted and went in. It was very well done, in a classic style with modern touches such as sky lights that let the natural day light in, with a central wine tasting bar that was well manned. We walked around till we found a sommelier free and joined him at the counter. He had a small leaflet that gave you different options for tasting wines. For about ten dollars, one could taste four varieties of wines, both red and white.

I chose a track that seemed interesting and embarked on my own wine tasting journey. The wines were consistently good, and in conformity with the descriptions in the brochure. Some light, with fruity notes, others a little heavier with woody overtones. One could munch on crackers to clear ones palate between tasting the wine, especially between the whites and the reds. Some of the wines were quite complex in their taste and very enjoyable. The catch when going wine tasting, of course, is that one can have too much and end up feeling ill! The other is to always have a designated driver who doesn’t drink anything, as the roads are narrow and wind between the hills. As the sommelier saw that I was appreciating the wine, we got into a pleasant conversation over the attributes of each wine I tasted. I intended to buy a wine that I really liked for the friends I was staying with, so my research was not only academic but purposeful. Then I noticed a forty five dollar wine (beyond my budget) on the next track when the sommelier pointed it out as one of the best they had. But I stayed with what I was tasting, and finally chose a red for twenty eight dollars.

When we had finished, the sommelier approached me again with a twinkle in his eye, and picking up another glass, poured me a complimentary taste of some of the forty five dollar wine! When I raised my eyebrows in surprise, he said, “You obviously enjoy wine, and know a bit about them, so I would like you to taste and enjoy this wine!” It was, indeed, an excellent wine which I really enjoyed. Each tasting session ended with a complimentary gift of a glass with the Franciscan logo on it. Our generous sommelier ensured that I received two glasses, along with the bottle that I had bought! It was such a pleasant interlude, and just the right amount of wine to ensure that it was enjoyable without getting too much. We left with our wine and headed back to the car to continue our scenic drive through Napa, then on to the road that runs along the old Silverado Trail along the eastern edge of the valley on which there are a number of wineries, then on to the free way back to San Francisco. Our California wine tour was complete, with the taste of some good wines, an increase in our knowledge and appreciation of California wines, and the enchanting experience that the trip provided us with!

Trinity Church, Boston

2007-06-24T21:23:00.000+05:30

While in Boston on work, I stayed at the John Hancock Hotel and Conference Center at Trinity Place, right next to the John Hancock Center, Boston’s tallest building. Trinity Place itself takes its name from the Trinity Church located at Copely Square. It was interesting to see the juxtaposition of the historic Trinity Church right next to I M Pei’s ultra modern office tower for John Hancock, the insurance and financial services company head quartered in Boston. The Trinity Church is a living church and a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, founded in 1733, and currently with a congregation of 3000 households according to the Wikipedia. In addition to worship, the parish is actively involved in service to the community, pastoral care, programs for children and teenagers, and Christian education for all ages.

After the parish church was destroyed by the Great Boston Fire of 1872, the current church complex was constructed under the stewardship of Rector Phillips Brooks, one of the best known and most charismatic preachers of his time. The church and parish house were designed by noted architect Henry Hobson Richardson. In fact, the Trinity Church project established Henry Hobson Richardson as a reputed architect, with the Church becoming the first of the ‘Richardsonian Romanesque Style, characterized by clay roofs, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower. This style was soon adopted for a number of public buildings across the United States, and was the first American architectural style imitated in Europe and Canada.

Trinity Church offers four services on Sundays, including a now rarely-heard modified version of Rite I Morning Prayer including a sermon and extra anthem. Weekday services include Holy Eucharist and Thursday Evensong. Each December, the choirs of Trinity offer three iterations of a service of Candlelight Carols. These are a "Boston tradition", and very popular events, drawing nearly 5,000 attendees from as far away as Maine. A traditional scene in Copley Square in December is that of a long line of people waiting to enter the church for the free event. The service is based on the Nine Lessons and Carols model developed at King's College, Cambridge. Trinity has played host to many special services over the years, due mainly to its central location in Boston, large seating capacity, and reputation as a parish willing to open its doors and be "Boston's church". These services have included interfaith (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) services immediately following the 9/11 attacks, a similar service following the July 2005 London bombings.

The church building's plan is a modified Greek Cross with four arms extending outwards from the central tower, which stands 64 m (211 ft) tall. Built in Boston's Back Bay, which was originally a mud flat, Trinity Church rests on some 4500 wooden piles, each driven through 30 feet of gravel fill, silt, and clay, and constantly wetted by the water table of the Back Bay so they do not rot if exposed to air. The church’s interior murals, which cover over 21,500 square feet (about 2000 square meters) were completed entirely by American artists. Richardson and Brooks decided that a richly colored interior was essential and turned to John La Farge (1835-1910) for help. La Farge had never performed a commission on this scale, but realized its importance and asked only for his costs to be covered. The results established La Farge's reputation. Four windows were designed by Edward Burne-Jones and executed by William Morris. Another four windows were exceptional commissions by John La Farge, and revolutionized window glass with their layering of opalescent glass.

Trinity Church is the only church in the United States and the only building in Boston that has been honored as one of the "Ten Most Significant Buildings in the United States" by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1885, architects voted Trinity Church as the most important building in the U.S.; Trinity Church is the only building from the original 1885 list still included in the AIA's current top ten list. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 30, 1970. (All the information provided is from Wikepedia.) The church’s website can be accessed here. During my stay, I had to pass by the church very often as I was staying practically next door to it. I would gaze at its interesting architecture, walk across the plaza in front of it to the fountains, or simply walk around the building, taking in the details that had lovingly been worked into its design. It was only later, when I looked it up on the Net, that I realized the significance of this church. I felt privileged to be staying so close to such a historic church and building and feel enriched by the experience! The next time I am there, I intend to walk in and see the stained glass windows and murals, as well as the altar. Maybe even listen to the choir practicing!

Niagara!

2007-06-17T21:16:00.000+05:30

A trip to the US or Canada cannot be complete without visiting the phenomenon that is Niagara Falls. So it was that we made the pilgrimage from New York to Toronto, and thence to Niagara Falls. The falls themselves are a set of massive falls on the Niagara River connecting Lake Erie to lake Ontario, that forms the border between New York State on the US side and Ontario in Canada. There are actually three separate falls, two on the US side- the American Falls and the Bridal Veil falls adjacent to it, while the Horse Shoe Falls is the Canadian falls, although about a third of it actually falls under US territory. The name ‘Niagara’ is derived from the Iroquois Indian word ‘Onguiaahra’ meaning ‘The Strait’.

According to Niagara Parks, The Niagara River and the entire Great Lakes Basin,of which the river is an integral part, is a legacy of the last Ice Age. About 18,000 years ago Southern Ontario was covered by ice sheets 2-3 kilometers thick. As they advanced southward the ice sheets gouged out the basins of the Great Lakes. Then as they melted and retreated northward, they released enormous quantities of melt water into these gouged out basins to form the Great lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. The waters that filled these lakes is "fossil water"; less than one percent of it is renewable on an annual basis, for they are what is leftover from the ice sheets!

The Niagara Peninsula became free of the ice shield about 12,500 years ago. As the ice retreated northward, its melt-waters began to flow down through what became Lake Erie, then along the Niagara River and into Lake Ontario, then down to the St. Lawrence River, and, finally, down to the sea. There were originally 5 spillways from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Eventually these were reduced to one, the original Niagara Falls, at Queenston-Lewiston, from where the Falls began its steady erosion through the bedrock to reach its present position. One fifth of all the fresh water in the world lies in the four Upper Great Lakes-Michigan, Huron, Superior and Erie. All the outflow from these lakes empties into the Niagara river and eventually cascades over the falls in one of the most powerful series of natural waterfalls in the world.

So it was with great anticipation, we reached the small town of Niagara, and proceeded towards the falls. Even before the falls hove into view, the excitement began to build as we drove along the gorge that the river has carved out below the falls. As we reached the end of the gorge and the Niagara escarpment over which the water plunges, the first thing you hear is the roar of falling water even before the visual spectacle of the falls appears in view. We saw the American and Bridal Veil Falls first, as we wanted to go out on the ‘Maid of the Mist’, the boats that take you close to the falls so one can experience their power and grandeur. These boats are powered up the collecting pool below the falls which are as deep as the falls are high due to the power of the water that thunders down from a 176 feet above to gouge out the rocks below.

The Maid of the Mist docks are opposite the American falls, so we, being on the Canadian side, bought our tickets and entered the building from where we descended in an elevator down into the gorge. As soon as the elevator doors opened, the roaring sound hit us, then the damp cold air from the spray from the falls. Then down a concrete walkway to a station where we were given our raincoats with hoods to protect us from the enormous amount of spray through which we would go. We donned our water proof apparel and joined the queue to board the next boat. Once we boarded, we headed straight for the upper deck and the prow! We wanted to have the best possible view, and the most complete experience of Niagara! Once the boat was filled with equally excited, and some fearful, tourists, off we went.

First, as we went along the edge of the roiling water below the American FallsBridal Veil Falls, the air grew hazy with spray and one had to shout to be heard clearly. Birds, seagulls really, wheeled about, enjoying the water filled atmosphere. The rocks below Goat island that separates the American Falls from the Canadian Horseshoe falls have hundreds of these nesting birds. While the American falls has a height of about 176 feet, the clear fall of the water is only about 70 feet after which it crashes into mighty rocks below that are the result of a rock slide in 1954. The sight of these millions of litres of water plunging down and crashing onto the rocks below is a sight that is sobering, and at the same time awe-inspiring. Yet the power we saw on display was but the opening scene for what was to follow.

Once past the American and Bridal Veil Falls, the boat powered its way against the mighty current and churning waters towards the much larger Canadian Falls. As we came up to it, the thundering of the water made even a shouted conversation difficult. As the boat made its way ever closer and into the curve of the horseshoe, the spray from the falls engulfed us, so nothing else was in view. As we drew ever closer, the sight of the water crashing down filled our entire view as it stretched more that a 180 degrees in front of us. The spray was now like heavy rain, for we were that close to where the waters thundered down on to the rocks below. Any part left exposed was soaked, especially one’s head, despite the hood. This close you couldn’t really use the cameras for fear of damage. The sight was mesmerizing and all encompassing, and more than a little intimidating. How close would the boat go? What if we went beyond the point of no return? What if we were caught under that crashing water? The boat, large as it was, would surely be hammered deep down under water!

Just as your heart began to hammer, and your alarm bells ring, the captain turned the boat around, within the curve of the horse shoe! Now the driving water and spray and roaring sound was behind us as we began to make our way out of the blinding cloud of spray. The engines notes changed, as they were no longer straining as the current bore us swiftly down stream! We stood there, dazed and wet, soaking in the sight and reliving what we had just experienced. At the brink of one of the most powerful falls of water in the entire world. It was like a fresh anointing of the beauty of all creation, and the power of nature. As we went further down the gorge, all we were left with was the sounds and sight of the gulls wheeling above us as if to say, “Now do you understand why we are so excited about this place?!” Wet and satisfied, we hung over the rails, gazing in awe once more at the Canadian falls receding behind us, as the American Falls once gain slid by. Then we waved excitedly to those who were just starting out in another boat, wet and shaking, but filled with joy. Feeling all the more like the excited gulls calling above. Niagara! It has to be experienced once in a lifetime.

Nana Mouskouri live in Ottawa!

2007-06-06T07:48:00.000+05:30

As a young boy in the late sixties, all my music exposure used to come from my elder brother and sister. My brother used to collect the Beatles, Shadows, Ventures and later Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Rolling Stones, the Doors, Grand Funk Railroad, Frank Zappa et al. But even before all this, I remember the music my sister used to bring in the form of records to our holidays in Kodaikanal. Two of them stand out: Harry Belafonte and Nana Mouskouri. So when my sister and brother in law informed me that we had tickets for a live performance of Nana Mouskouri, I was thrilled beyond belief. Particularly as it is her farewell tour, and in a sense, is part of history!

Nana Mouskouri, for those who may not be familiar with her, was born in Greece and spent her early years there. According to the Wikipaedia, she was born in 1934, named Ionna Mouskouri, and lived in Chania, Crete, before her family moved to Athens. Her family had gifted singers in both her and her elder sister who was considered the better of the two. Although Nana, as she was known to her family, displayed exceptional musical talent from the age of six, her vocal chords were not balanced for one was thicker than the other (as opposed to the two equal chords that are normal). However, this gave her a tremendous soprano range, while also enabling her to sing in resonantly in expressive alto registers. Her father enrolled her at the prestigious Athens Conservatoire to study classical music with an emphasis in singing opera.

She applied herself to her studies with passion, perfecting her vocals as well as taking piano and harmony classes. After eight years at the Conservatoire, some friends of hers encouraged her to experiment with jazz. Nana did so as she was passionate about all forms of music, and soon started singing with her friends in a jazz group. However, her professor at the conservatoire was furious with her and did not allow her to sit for her end of year exams, so she was expelled. As Nana’s dream of becoming an opera singer was dashed, she began performing in clubs in Athens where she was noticed. She wnet on to record songs in many genres including jazz, folk, Greek folk, French pop and so on. She burst on to the international scene by winning the Eurovision Contest in 1963. She subsequently toured the US with Harry Belefonte and gained a huge fan following. You can read all about her at the wiki here.

So it was with great anticipation that we set off to the Canadian National Centre for the Performing Arts well on time. We reached this huge complex on the edge of the Rideau Canal near the Canadian Parliament buildings and the historic Chateau Laurier hotel, parked in the basement and ascended to the main pre-function area. The performance was to begin at seven thirty, and as we were early, we picked up glasses of red wine that we enjoyed while chatting and being shown around a bit. The National center for the arts doesn’t look very impressive from the road. In fact it looks small and dreary, even like a state penitentiary, as my sister put it. But once inside, its signature hexagonal shapes work well for spaces that flow one into the other for well-planned center for the city. Then it was time to ascend the grand staircase and take our places. So up we went, had our tickets checked and directed to two levels above. Up a stair that wound its way up in a hexagonal stairwell with a very long chandelier down its entire height till we reached our level. Then guided by an usher to our seats.

There were eight of us, so I was a little concerned that we may not all be together. But, I was assured by my brother in law, Lars, that we would definitely be seated together, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I realized why when we reached our seats, for he had reserved box seats for us! So far I had only heard of these exclusive box seats at such centers for the arts, but this was the first time that I actually got to sit in one! We were high up and up front, with a fabulous view of the stage! We sat down and gazed at auditorium from this vantage point, waiting breathlessly for the concert to begin. As it was her farewell tour, it began with an audio-visual of her career spanning some forty years, before the actual performance began. When the audio-visual ended, the stage when dark. Then a spotlight came on to a pianist who began to play. It was only then that Nana walked in from the wings, came forward to applause, folded her hands in a namaste, followed by a bow, took the mike in hand and began to sing.

Though probably in her sixties, and at the end of a brilliant international career of forty- five years, her voice was a s fresh as ever. She still had her trade mark square black rimmed glasses, black hair parted in the middle and her repertoire of songs of melancholy longing and sentimental musings on love for which her voice and personality are exceptionally suited. She sang all her hits and favorites in English, Greek, French, Spanish and other languages, switching between them seemingly without effort. In between the songs, she spoke to us of her life, her experiences, her work as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to draw attention to the plight of those children affected by war, her songs and so on. She exuded a special sort of affection for he audience, who knew her and adored her songs, for they would start clapping every time she began an old favorite. She invited us to sing along, and often, if she stopped singing in the middle of a song, the audience would carry on without missing a beat, much to her delight. She performed for nearly three hours with just one short break in between. Then it was time to bid adieu, but the audience gave her a standing ovation and demanded an encore. Back she came for one more song, before finally bidding us farewell. Her warmth, her genuine affection and respect for her audience, the way she feted and acknowledged her band, and the way she shared with us, her audience, her music sand her thoughts will live on in our memories forever.

Dinner at Scoozi on Newbury Street, Boston

2007-05-31T04:11:00.000+05:30

Wednesday, after the investor conference, I returned to my hotel next to the John Hancock Tower in Boston’s Trinity Place area for a wash and change. Then rested for a bit while watching TV as I had been on the go since 7.30 in the morning. I really didn’t feel like having dinner all alone in the room, which meant I had to change once more into street clothes and go out for dinner. It had also started raining, and the temperature had dropped, with a cold breeze. Never the less, I dressed, pulled on a cotton sweater for good measure, shrugged on my casual jacket, picked up my umbrella and headed out. The rain and chill hit me the moment I stepped out, and I was really grateful for the umbrella and the sweater (both of which I had carried having previous experience of Boston’s spring rains). Then past the John Hancock Tower to Trinity Place, past the Trinity Church and across to Newbury Street, where most of the well-known brands have their outlets. It’s a well-preserved and restored street that starts from the Boston Common and stretches South parallel to Boylston Street. Its also where some of Boston’s new eateries and bars are located, both indoors and al fresco off the pavement, so that its emerged as a trendy area where the young and hip hang out.

It was raining steadily, and cold with a stiff breeze, so I huddled down, turned the jacket collar up and soldiered on in search of someplace interesting. The previous night, when I had walked down Newbury, I had passed by an Italian Bistro called Scoozi that looked quite interesting. So I decided to head there, only I had to look for it though I knew in which general direction it was. Found it, and gratefully ducked into its cozy interior. It was full, with the tables occupied by young people, as well as a couple of tables of older folk. I walked past them towards the back and a young, pretty waitress came forward and directed me to an empty table in a corner along the wall at the back. There was one more empty table next to it to seat four, after which was the open kitchen. The warmth from the kitchen was welcome, so I could shed my jacket and be comfortable at my little table for two.

The waitress came back with the menu, handed it over, and asked me what I’d like to drink as she placed a glass of water with a wedge of lime in front of me. Ah well, I thought, I may as well celebrate a successful day at the investor’s conference, and ordered a glass of Robert Mondavi Merlot. Then returned to a study of the menu, as well as some of the other guests at the tables nearby. It really was a motley crew, but a very interesting mix, as Scoozi turned out to be a popular bistro that is reasonably priced where people can hang out. It’s not very big, nor is it finely done, but it has atmosphere, friendly service, reasonable prices and very good food! The menu is not very extensive, but good enough for a bistro. So there I was, torn between the grilled bourbon marinated steak tips or a bresaola sandwich when the young waitress made her appearance to take my order. More for some human interaction than anything else, I consulted her about the choices I was toying with. She came back without the slightest hesitation in recommending the steak tips, so that’s what I ordered.

As I sipped my Merlot and pondered the vagaries of life while waiting for my meal, I noticed the waitress studying me off and on. She was clearly intrigued, or should I dare say a little interested in the background of this stranger who was clearly a visitor to Boston. She was obviously a student, paying her way through college with this job, as she would study her texts between serving guests. As I sat there, lost in thought, I suddenly noticed some movement to my right at the empty table next to me. Glancing that way, I was astonished to see her crossing the two-seater bench seat along the wall on her knees with my steak! As she served me with a smile and an exhortation to “Enjoy!”, I mentioned to her that this was the first time in my life something had been served to me by some one on their knees! That brought on a big smile and off she went. Later as I sat there enjoying the steak (which was very good as promised), she came and sat at the empty table nearby and did her homework, looking up once to ask how the steak was or occasionally glancing up to smile.

As I finished my steak, she smiled and asked whether I would like dessert, but I declined as I was too full to think of anything else! She brought the bill with a smile that said, "Too bad, I would have liked to have had a chat and found out who you are!", out of youthful curiosity (she was young enough to be my daughter!). As I left the restaurant, I had to pass her, and as I did, she said that she hoped that I had enjoyed my meal. So I stopped and told her, “The wine was good, the steak was great, but what really made the meal memorable was you!”, and left her smiling and blushing with the compliment. And why not? She really had made what could have been a boring, lonely meal in a strange city an experience to remember.

The Phantom of the Opera

2007-05-25T23:25:00.000+05:30

Its always been one of my ambitions to attend a broadway show when in New York. I have held off doing so, primarily due to the lack of time, but also because I wanted to be able to do it with the family. So here we are, holidaying in NYC, with one of the 'must-dos' being to attend a broadway show! We even knew what we wanted to attend before leaving India: it had to be 'Cats' or 'The Phantom of the Opera'!

So yesterday, after a visit to the Museum of Modern Art, we walked over to Times Square to the famous 'TKTS' counter where you get last minute tickets at a discount, and got ourselves tickets for the eight PM show of The Phantom of the Opera. We then wandered down 7nth Avenue to Central Park where we relaxed on the park benches, watching the world go by (primarily joggers and dog walkers with an astonishing variety of dogs), while our daughter fed Granola to the birds and squirrels (amazingly tame), before heading back to 44th Street and The Majestic Theatre.

Getting there early, we nipped around the corner to 8th Avenue to something else I wanted the family to experience-a typical NYC diner! We walked into the Euro diner nearby as my favourite, the Olympic diner, was a few blocks away. Abha and Chitra went for the salad (after a super heavy meat lunch at the Maxie's cafe over looking Times Square, they coudn't think of anything else!), while I tucked into my pan cakes with maple syrup. Then round to 44th again, to find a long queue waiting to enter the theatre.

The Majestic is, like most of the theatres in the Broadway theatre district , an old building with a magnificent facade with a great amount of detailing, and cast iron balconies overlooking the street. The line moved quickly, and we were in the foyer entering the main lobby very soon. The ceilings were a treat, arched, with gold lacquer on the detailed patterns across them. There was a grand stairway going up with ushers to guide you to your seats. Up we went, to be guided to our seats off the aisle with a very good view of the stage. The inside of the theatre was no less magnificent, complete with ornate boxes overlooking the stage, chandeliers, comfortable seatng (not too much leg room though!), red carpeting and richly detailed ceilings.

The air of excitement was palpable, with our hearts beating a little faster as it drew close to eight. When the lights dimmed, the audience not only broke into applause, but there were cheers as well! After all, this is one of the most famous productions on broadway, and the longest running show in Broadway history!The cheers were followed by the mandatory announcement re mobile phones and cameras, and then the show began! How can one describe it? It was a tour-de-force, a visual and auditory spectacle that left you absolutely spell bound.

First, the actors: Well cast, great singers and with fabulous costumes. The main characters were magnificent, especially the Phantom played by Howard Mc Gillin. His performance set the standard, both in terms of acting and singing. The rest of the cast were equally well balanced to make the whole experience impactful and enthralling. Then the sets: They left us speechless with their size, detailing, and the speed with which they were changed, sometimes right before our eyes. And the special effects were absolutely jaw dropping. The boat going along the underground river lit by candelabras left you amazed. The backgrounds, and the way they were co-ordinated also left you spell bound. Check it out here.

It was all over at ten thirty (sigh!), and we made our way back to Grand Central to catch the train to Chappaqua where we are staying. As for the show, its burned indelibly in our minds as an experience we shall never forget. For a broadway show has to be experienced to be believed.

Lufthansa: German efficiency at its best

2007-05-05T10:27:00.000+05:30

The flight to Frankfurt from Newark’s Liberty International Airport was delayed by about three hours due the after effects of the ice storm. Such delays are very unusual when you fly Lufthansa, but the air traffic of the previous day had backed up into Saturday as all the airports in the NYC area were closed. Nevertheless, Lufthansa kept us updated every fifteen minutes so you one knew exactly what was going on. Once in the air, I dropped off to sleep as it was an overnight flight. The catch, of course, was that I would miss my connection to Paris at Frankfurt!

We landed late, and I was fifteen minutes behind when my flight to Frankfurt was to leave. I rushed to the gate to see what could be done. The lady at the gate asked for my name, and with a bright smile informed me that, since the flight from Newark was delayed, they had put me on the next flight to Paris which was leaving in an hour. No sweat, no hassles! I actually had les than an hour after strolling to the departure gate, sitting in the departure lounge, calling my brother in law to inform him of the change in timing, and boarding the flight.

Paris was sunny the day I landed, but as luck would have it, turned clod after my arrival with rain and flurries of snow! Most of the time was spent in meetings, of course, but the evenings were pretty cold out. And the day of my departure for Frankfurt, there was a storm over Germany with an hour’s delay in take off. This, in turn meant that there was a chance of missing my connection to Chennai. Or at best, cutting it very fine with one having to literally run through Frankfurt Airport’s kilometers of corridors to catch it. But no, it was German efficiency to the fore once again!

The plane was guided, unusually, to a tarmac berth and not to an aerobridge. Once parked, and announcement was made that both front and back doors would be opened, but only Chennai bound passengers should disembark from the front. I did, and found a lady with a board that read ‘Chennai’ standing there, guiding passengers to a heated bus standing by. Once in, we were whisked around the vast airport terminal complex to a doorway. We ascended into passport control, had our passports exit stamped and passed through to find the boarding gate for the Chennai flight just beyond! It was all done with the minimum of fuss, and we were on board well on time for the flight to take off as scheduled.

No wonder Lufhansa enjoys a reputation as one of the best airlines in the world, with over 53 million passengers using it last year. As for me, I will fly Lufthansa because they are reliable, courteous, and seem to take the passengers comfort and well being seriously at all time.

Ice storm!

2007-04-19T21:50:00.000+05:30

I was in Boston on a Wednesday, and the day was warm with the temperature in the sixties (Farenheit). However, I had been warned that there was a cold front moving in from the West which would rapidly drop temperatures on Thursday. Back in New York, Thursday morning dawned bright and sunny, and the temperature rose to the sixties. But, having been forewarned, I took along my heavy overcoat, although I didn’t wear it. And it’s a good thing I did, for as I walked around mid-town Manhattan from meeting to meeting, the temperature started to plunge. By noon it was in the forties and starting to rain lightly, so one had to wear the overcoat. By evening it was less than 32 degrees Farenheit, with an ice cold rain coming down!

The TV stations warned of an ice storm the next day! The moment I awoke and pulled back the covers, I could feel the difference in the temperature even in my hotel room that looked out on to the street. I pulled on my house coat, went to the windows and opened the blinds to a cold, wintry morning! People walked by, huddled in heavy, warm clothing, their breath coming forth as steam. And instead of the rain, tiny chips of ice were falling from the sky and dissolving on the road. I dressed quickly after packing, for I had to check out and make it to the St Regis Hotel for a breakfast meeting. Despite thermal underwear, warm clothing and the overcoat, I felt the chill the moment I walked out of the swing doors of the hotel and crossed the road to the car. This is what it looked like that early in the morning.

By midday, the ice storm was in earnest, with cold, blustery winds and a heavier fall of ice. It was difficult to walk across the stone plazas in front of many of the buildings as they were now covered with ice. Many of them had workers spreading salt to melt the ice to prevent you from falling. Despite that, it was touch and go in many places, as the ice was replaced as fast as it melted. I had a meeting high above Park Avenue very close to Grand Central, with a magnificent view of the Empire State Building and the city. The whole scene seemed hushed, with steam rising from the tops of many of the buildings, and the view itself softly blurred due the falling ice. It also had a surreal quality as it was a twilight kind of a feeling at midday! Here’s how it looked, and no, that bright glow was not the sun, but the reflection of my flash off the glass!

Soon the ice wasn’t melting any longer but piling up on rooftops and medians as it became colder, and the ice fall heavier. Until then, the ice would melt on the roads as the cars drove over them, but not any longer. Road, sidewalks and medians started piling up crisp, white ice. Getting in and out of the car was becoming hazardous, as the leg on which your weight was placed as you descended to the car seat would suddenly tend to slip out from under you so you landed on the seat with a jerk! Soon the roads and sidewalks were covered with ice, making it difficult to walk on or drive on. Places where the ice piled up were quite deceptive, for sometimes it was deep, crunchy ice, sometimes a thin film of ice over a puddle of freezing water!

By evening, the roads were under some five inches of crisp ice flakes through which the cars crunched by slowly. Visibility was poor, and everything slowed down. Pedestrians had a tough time, navigating their way through the cars, and over ridges and piles of slippery ice, to disappear gratefully into the subway stations. We drove slowly, but safely to my dinner appointment. But the couple who I had dinner with had to dig their car out, as well as chip the ice off their windscreen before they could drop me to my nephew’s place for the night. When I awoke the next day, it was as if winter was back, with this view out the window! The day was crisp and bright, with the storm having blown over, but the ice was every where, except for the roads which had been cleared by snow ploughs early in the morning. The temperature was still freezing though, but it was a great day to be out after the perils of the ice storm. In all, it was quite an experience.

Vignettes of New York

2007-04-17T21:25:00.000+05:30

On this trip, I stayed at a small hotel called the ‘Amsterdam Court’ just off Broadway and Times Square and North of it on West 45^th Street. One had only to walk East for about fifty yards, turn the corner and you were looking at Times Square: ‘The cross roads of the universe’. This is what it looks like from near there.

This is the heart of the Theatre District with many of the famous Broadway shows being staged walking distance of the hotel: Mama Mia, The Lion King, Tarzan and many more. Most of the businesses in the area develop their street frontage in keeping with the Theatre District and Times Square! The subway entrance at 42^nd Street for example, or Mac Donalds and the Roxy Deli. All of them have the bright lights, arcade entrances and the show biz glitz of Broadway! But what really amused me was this Church on West 46^th Street that also took its cue from the area!

Further West on 46^th, came across this quiet, peaceful church bathed in the evening sun. It was shut however, so couldn’t take a peek inside although I was tempted to. Right opposite was what seemed the priory, with this windswept little courtyard with a statue of Mary. This was just about two blocks from Times Square and gives you an idea of the sheer variety of this city, all in close proximity to each other.

Any visit to New York, of course, isn’t quite complete without a view of the man-made canyons of the city! I get to see views that very few people would, because of the meetings I attend in some of the tallest buildings there. After I finish the meeting, if the view is good, I excuse myself and take a shot to share with my family, and with you. These are views one will never get to see as a tourist, as you will not have access to these buildings. Here’s a shot looking North West across Central Park from its South West corner.

New York, also known as Gotham, is the inspiration for Gotham City of Batman fame. Many of the buildings, especially the older ones, have the dark, brooding Gothic style of the buildings you see in the Batman films. Many are brick faced with stone trimmings. Some have gargoyles, like the Chrysler Building and the Peninsula Hotel. Here’s a shot of the Peninsula hotel’s entrance from a building on the opposite side and from high above.

This next shot is looking East along 57^th Street on which you have famous stores like Tiffany & Co, Victoria’s Secret and so on. The building to the left along the frame is The Peninsula Hotel, so you can imagine how high it is, despite being a period building. New York’s newest land mark, and a really exciting architectural addition to the city is the new Hearst Building at the corner of 57^th and 8^Th Avenue. I haven’t yet been able to take a good shot of this Norman Foster designed building that rises out of the shell of the former period building, but you can check it out here.

The Bank of America building off Times Square, a good example of a ‘green’ building, the new Freedom Tower, and exciting new residential tower along the East River all promise to add to the architectural richness and variety of this city.

A chance encounter in Boston

2007-04-15T21:53:00.000+05:30

I flew into Boston for series of meetings on a warm spring day that was actually as warm, if not warmer, than New York! As I flew into the city in the morning, and would be flying back in the evening after my meetings were over, I didn’t need to check into a hotel, but had a car waiting for me that would drop me back to the airport. The view of Boston harbour was taken from the window of the conference room after my second meeting. The view is towards the North and West, inland from near the mouth of the Charles where it flows into the sea.

I commented on the ‘Big Dig’, the giant network of freeways and parks that is reshaping the Boston waterfront, and is the final mega project that has seen the resurgence of the inner city area. I found that the driver of the car taking me around was very knowledgeable about the city, giving me interesting facts about the local economy and the city’s history. And no wonder, for it turned out he is the author of the most authoritative book on Boston’s history, culture, landmarks and lore, called ‘What they never told you about Boston (or what they did that were lies)’ by Walt Kelley, my driver.

Walt’s interest in Boston’s history began when his passengers would ask him about many of the local landmarks, bridges and buildings as they drove past. Walt, in his quest for excellence, would delve into books in the local library to unearth the details so that he could answer these queries and add to his passengers’ knowledge of the city. He soon began to realize that the wealth of his knowledge about the city needed to be shared with a wider audience. So he wrote a book about Boston, and persevered in his quest for a publisher until he got one. The tentative first run was completely sold out in a few weeks and a re run ordered. Ever since, its been one of the best sellers on Boston!

You can check out the book on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/What-They-Never-About-Boston/dp/0892723335. One of the interesting things that Walt unearthed about the local economy was that one of its mainstays was education, with some fifty three institutes of higher education offering four year courses in and around Boston. In fact the Boston area is one of the major international centres for higher eductation. You can check out the list of colleges here:
http://www.searchboston.com/dir/Education/Colleges_and_Universities/. Walt became very interested in education, and realized that there really was no book on the history and development of education in the US. So he went ahead and wrote it and called it ‘Common Sense: A new conversation about Public Education’.

Walt quickly realized that books on education don’t become best sellers, least of all one written by a non academician, leave alone a taxi driver! Walt is still acknowledged for his book on Boston though, and is something of a local celebrity, having been interviewed by all the local media, print, TV and radio, following the success of the book. Having told me all this, Walt then pulled out a copy of his book on education, and autographed it for me as a gift before dropping me to the airport! As for the book on Boston, well there’s always Amazon.com!

Lunch at Trinity Place

2007-04-07T12:23:00.000+05:30

Very late in the day, we decided that lunch would be a good idea. After a brief discussion, it was decided that we would lunch at Trinity Place, a bar and restaurant close by. Little did I know that its location is inside a former bank vault! The vault, according to the restaurant’s website, is located in two turn-of-the-century Gothic style skyscrapers designed by Francis Hatch Kimaball and completed between 1905 and 1907. Apparently the vault, in which the bar and restaurant is located, was built in upstate New York by a company called Mosler, and floated down the Hudson river on a barge, then transported to its final destination on railway tracks! Legend has it that the vault actually still rests on the railway tracks that brought it here. The vault has two identical steel doors, weighing 35 tonnes each, one leading into the bar area, and the other into the restaurant.

The restaurant itself has been painstakingly created for a blend of the old and the new, resulting in a contemporary space that is very much in keeping with the Financial District in which it is located. The forty foot mahogany bar anchored by beer towers of Italian origin is lit by oversized red silk lampshades, and windows that open out onto the street. In fact, as the street rises, it almost feels like a basement with the windows at street level. Opposite the bar counter, alcoves with brown leather banquettes hand crafted in Ireland (according to the website) are placed between pillars of five inch thick steel. While the walls are clad in mahogany with the original light chandeliers and edged and crafted metal ceiling panels give it and old world charm.

What really distinguishes the place other than its rich history and period setting, is its eclectic menu by Executive Chef Donal Crosbie. A native of Ireland, Crosbie began his culinary career at fourteen with a part time job at a neighbourhood eatery in Dublin. He went on to complete a culinary degree before working at one of the most renowned restaurants in Dublin before stints in Italian and French restaurants in Germany. Then on to Sydney, Australia and the local cuisine infused with the Asian influence of the countries close by. He also traveled through Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia, absorbing the local culinary traditions and tastes. Two other signature influences seem to have been a stint in the then ‘Restaurant of the Year’ at Dublin there after under chef Paul Flynn and at Spago Palo Alto in California under well know chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck.

All of these seem to have contributed to the menu which was not extensive, but carefully selected to offer an eclectic choice for diners. Appetizers, for example, included Lobster Bisque, Oysters, Roasted Pear & Goat Cheese Salad, Roasted Onion Tart, Ahi Tuna Tartare and House Cured Salmon. Entrée’s included House Made Herb Gnocchi, Duck Confit with Porcini Risotto, The Trinity Kobe Burger, Cobb Salad (Which is what I had), Vietnamese Style Sandwich and Beef & Guiness Pie. Desserts included Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chocolate Truffles (My choice), New York Cheese Cake (But, of course!), Crème Brulee and Brioche Bread Pudding. Everything was good, starting with the Soup of the Day, and it was easy to see why this restaurant has become a favourite with the financial community.

Add to that an attractive wine list, bar menu and the bar itself with Happy Hours everyday between four and six PM, and its easy to see why the place is apparently packed with people every evening. Many of the bars & restaurants in the area closed after 9/11. Trinity Place was one of the first to open in the area since then to lead the food & beverage resurgence in the Financial District. In all it was a good experience, and I thought, worth sharing with you. Do check out the restaurant at its website www.trinityplacenyc.com. They also have a picture gallery which you can check out!

The Spirit of Freedom rises

2007-04-02T22:15:00.000+05:30

My meetings during the day were held in the conference room of a firm in a building on Church Street right across from Ground Zero. Every now and then, I would get up to stretch my legs and drink in the panoramic view of the bustling activity in the fifteen football fields size space that is all that’s left of the original World Trade Centre Towers. A lot of work has already been completed, including rebuilding of the New Jersey bound Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) Terminal below the WTC that was destroyed in the collapse of the twin towers. Today it’s a bustling terminus that connects underground to the New York subway system, with thousands of commuters once more using it to come and go from Manhattan.

In this picture, you can see the route the PATH trains take, emerging from below the World Finance Centre and heading left at an angle, below the sloping roadway coming down into the construction site. The lines then curve back North (to the right of the picture), and terminate at the PATH station whose entry is just below the building from which the picture was taken. But the work that is now underway goes far beyond restoring the PATH station, and preparing the base by clearing out the debris. For what is being done is the preparation for the new Freedom Tower that is going to rise in the place of the original WTC, a memorial to those who died in a green plaza with two waterfalls, along with other office towers and retail space.

For more information this project, log on to www.projectrebirth.org, and for pictures, log on to http://www.projectrebirth.org/film/index.html. The new Freedom Tower on this site (the original plan was revised in 2005) will rise to 1776 feet in height, with floors that are occupied rising to 1368, the exact height of the original Tower One. The remaining 408 feet will be made up of a television antenna belonging to the Metropolitan Television Alliance that will emit light so that it becomes a veritable ‘Beacon of Freedom’. Construction of the Freedom Tower has already begun, with a visible steel frame becoming visible in 2007, and topping out of the Tower slated for 2009, and occupancy of the building in 2010. Read more about it at: http://www.projectrebirth.org/rebuild/index.html

The spirit with which the reconstruction of this space is being approached, the design, the involvement of many people, the support of the country, and indeed, many people around the world, is an encouraging sign. That despite hatred and malevolence, good can indeed prevail.

New York’s Battery Park

2007-03-31T11:13:00.000+05:30

Finished my meetings near ground zero on a cold spring evening and decided to wander South through the Wall Street area to Battery Park for some fresh air before returning to the hotel. Past One Liberty Plaza on Church Street (Severely damaged when the World Trade Centre buildings across the street collapsed), the trendy Trinity Place restaurant and down the beginning of Broadway towards Battery Park.

On to the famous statue of the Charging Bull, better known as the Wall Street Bull, created by New York City artist Arturo Di Modica in 1989, and located at the head of the Bowling Green Park and the beginning of Broadway. As I stood admiring the power and dynamism of this 7000 pound statue inspired by the Black Monday that was October 19, 1987, it glistened in the late evening sun. Just as I took a shot of it, a young lady darted forward to pose for her friend!

Then past the Bowling Green Park, with the US Custom House on the opposite side bathed in the evening glow. It is the oldest existing Public Park in New York City, located right next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam, used in those days as a cattle market and parade ground! According to the Wikipedia, Bowling Green marks the origin point for the ticker-tape parades that gave to the lowest section of Broadway its journalistic sobriquet the "Canyon of Heroes".

Then into the Battery Park itself to the area where ‘The Sphere’, the now famous metallic sculpture by German sculptor Fritz Koenig is displayed with with an eternal flame as a memorial to the victims of 9/11. Ironically, it was meant to symbolize world peace through world trade, and was placed at the center of a ring of fountains and other decorative touches in the Austin Tobin Plaza between the World Trade Centre Towers designed by trade center architect Minosoru Yamasaki.

The Park itself was bare, given the grip of a reluctant to depart winter, but affords wonderful views across to New Jersey, The Statue of Liberty, Governor’s Island and Staten Island. According to the Wiki, The relatively modern park was created by landfill during the 19th century, resulting in a landscaped open space at the foot of the heavily developed mainland of downtown. Skyscrapers now occupy most of the original land, stopping abruptly where the park begins.

Within the park lies Castle Clinton, an American fort built on a small off-shore island immediately prior to the War of 1812 and named for New York City Mayor DeWitt Clinton. When Battery Park was created by land fill, the island was enclosed by land and became part of Battery park. The fort became property of the city after the war and was renamed Castle Garden. Leased by the city it became a popular promenade and beer garden. Later roofed-over, it became one of the premier theatrical venues in the United States and contributed greatly to the development of New York City as the theater capital of the nation. Subsequently, as the area became popular with European immigrants, the Theatre District moved to mid-town Manhattan.

It was a great feeling to be wandering around this historic district that became the gateway into the US for thousands of immigrants who were processed through castle Gardens after the Theatre District moved North. Having reached the Western end and the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, I turned back and took the subway North back to mid-town and the warmth of my hotel.

The iPhone and beyond

2007-03-09T07:42:00.000+05:30

There are a lot of skeptics who feel the iPhone will not fly because it doesn’t have a ‘QWERTY’ key board which everyone is used to. I’ve heard people say that pulling up a touch screen key board and using a stylus is a pain, and that people will not adjust. Yes, but every time something has come in that was disruptive, there was a chorus of skeptics giving every reason why it won’t work. It may be a good idea to take a look at why it will work. Check out this demo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgW7or1TuFk

As you can see, it is breathtakingly simple to use, and has amazing functionality. Then you consider the advanced iPod that it incorporates (Did you see how you can flip albums?!), as well as the digital camera (Enlarge the image with just an opening of the thumb and forefinger!), and you have a phone that absolutely captures the imagination. Then there’s the way messages are displayed, as a string of conversation bubbles, rather than scrolling through messages to find the one you want. So there are any number of reasons why the iPhone is a delight to use, and why you’d want one. I certainly do!

What’s also commendable is that Apple has seen that touch screens are the future of computers and other gadgets we use in daily life. After all, nothing can be more intuitive than the way we use our fingers isn’t it? That’s the way God created them, and if we have technology that can be interfaced with by using our fingers the way they were meant to be, it cant get better! So Apple incorporates a touch screen into the iPhone to make it incredibly simple to use. You can bet we’re going to see many more gadgets designed with a touch screen interface in future, especially computers. Doubt it? Take a look at this demo:

http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han

This was a demo done at the now famous TED conference on innovation that is held every year at Monterey in California. Awesome is the only word that comes to mind! Now you can see why Apple is such an innovator and trend setter. They are able to come up with disruptive innovation by being at the forefront of using technology to rewrite the rules of established product categories. They did it for the MP3 player with the iPod, and they have done it again for mobile phones with the iPhone. Will they succeed? My bet is they will. The mobile phone companies seem to think so too and have rushed to have phones of similar design available. Samsung and Motorola have already launched them.

So you see, the times they are a changing! Its going to be interesting to see the future unfold. And the part Apple plays in shaping it.

The power of disruptive innovation

2007-02-18T22:03:00.000+05:30

I finally have an iPod! I bought one for my daughter in the US a year ago, but did not get one for myself despite being sorely tempted to. I grew up surrounded by music, on the radio in the early days, then on the system at home or at a friend’s place. Until the children came along, our home was filled with music, all the favorites with which we grew up, as well as the current favorites that we grew to like along the way. Then the children’s music took over- nursery rhymes and songs. Then my music slowly shifted to the car where I ensured a good system to listen to as the home was taken over by the kids.

I used to have quite a long commute (in terms of time, not distance, due the chaotic traffic!), 45 minuets to an hour either way, so it was a good time to listen. It also had the effect of keeping you calm in the face of needless provocations on the road (unless one was listening to aggressive rock music that seemed to have the opposite effect!). Then we shifted to Perungudi on the Southern outskirts, just ten minutes from the office. So my music exposure dwindled a great deal, and as my schedule became ever more hectic, music slowly became less and less an integral part of my life. Despite it being something I really love and enjoy.

The iPod has changed all that. Today, as I sit and compose this post, I have just listened to a collection of some of the songs and music I grew up with starting with The Ventures, Simon & Garfunkel, music from Saturday Night Fever and Grease, Phil Collins, KC and the Sunshine Band and so on! I listen when I take my dog, Sam, for his walk; when I am reading the newspaper; when I doing a drive on a lazy Saturday to a shop close by or just relaxing at home with a magazine. Suddenly all my music is not only available in a flexible form where I can keep adding to or modifying my ‘play list’, I can listen whenever I want, wherever I want!

The disruptive innovation of the iPod goes well beyond the Walkman, then the MP3 player era, because of the software that helps you organize, arrange and add to your music collection on your computer. You can download from iTunes, or input from CDs. The way one listens to music is also easy to manage with a play list of up to 500 songs. I’ve uploaded only about a 125 so far, and I’m over the moon! I choose to play on the ‘shuffle’ mode, so that the iPod plays songs at random from the list to surprise you. It’s easy to understand the term ‘customer delight’ when you own one!

Add to that its incredibly sleek design, intuitive navigation, iconic good looks and its ‘cool’ factor, and you have an unbeatable package for a product and brand. You really have to hand it to Steve Jobs and Apple for this disruptive innovation- a combination of an MP3 player and music downloads and organization on your computer that has redefined how millions of people listen to music on the go. What it has meant to me, of course, is that it has helped me rediscover the joy of listening to music like never before. I’m sure the iPhone is going to be equally disruptive! We’ll just have to wait and see!

Indian vision: Global challenges and opportunities for the IT sector

2007-02-14T21:09:00.000+05:30

I had the opportunity to speak at an International Chambers of Commerce seminar on ‘India in the world economy’ in New Delhi at the beginning of December. The format was that of a panel discussion covering various sectors of industry: Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman & MD of Apollo Tyres spoke on ‘Opportunities and challenges in the manufacturing sector’; Uriel Lynn, President, Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, spoke on ‘Policy priorities for India’s leadership in the world economy’; Rajan Bharti Mittal, Joint Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, spoke on ‘Indian leadership in telecommunications- the road ahead’; Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, President, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh International, spoke on the ICC initiative ‘Business Action in Support of the Information Society’; Shivinder Mohan Singh, Group Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare Ltd. Spoke on ‘India as the emerging destination for healthcare- policy priorities’, while I spoke on ‘Indian vision and global challenges and opportunities for the IT sector’.

The opening session, moderated by Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary General, ICC India and FICCI had three speakers: Mr YK Modi, president, ICC India; Mr Hari Shankar Singhania, Past Chairman, ICC and Mr Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman, ICC. It was a morning session ending with lunch and very substantive in terms of content, with many participants from abroad as well as India. I thought it a good idea to post the text of my speech so that I can share it to a wider audience. So here goes:

“India today is recognized as a brand to be reckoned with in IT services world-wide. Our reputation was established in the software services sector, and has subsequently been enlarged to include IT and IT enabled services. The new opportunity area is in Managed Infrastructure Services identified as a 115 billion dollar opportunity world-wide in which our company Sify participates.

According to a recent study by US based consulting firm NeoIT, seven Indian cities are among the top ten in their global ranking of the competitiveness of cities as outsourcing destinations. The seven cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. The other three in the top ten are Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Manila, Philippines and Shanghai, China.

While we are in a strong position just now, there are many challenges before us. For while this reflects the pre-eminence we enjoy today, we must recognize that we have to move fast with a clear national strategy to remain competitive. For the same study reveals that several cities in Eastern Europe and China could emerge as rivals to our cities in three to four years time. In fact, only three Indian cities are likely to remain in the top ten by then according to the study-Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, with Warsaw, Poland topping the list.

Our share of the global IT and IT services market is still heavily skewed towards the United States. Unless we are able to move fast in Europe and Japan, these tow large markets are likely to be dominated by countries such as Poland and China. Already Dalian in China is the favoured destination of Japanese outsourcing needs as the Japanese language is quite common there due historical reasons.

To be able to stay a preferred destination, we have multiple challenges to overcome:

To begin with, to achieve the estimated revenues of 60 billion dollars from IT services four years from now, we will need upwards of a 100, 000 professionals entering the work stream every year.
As the IT and IT services industry grows, salaries will improve vastly with increasing competition for talent. This will mean that we may soon be priced at a disadvantage when compared to countries such as China and the Philippines. There are other countries too, say from Africa, that could emerge as challengers. For example Tunisia, a former French colony, is emerging as a favored outsourcing destination for France.
The third challenge looming before us is that of fostering leadership for the industry. Today capital is available in plenty, opportunities for growth abound, and our perspectives have changed from million dollar revenues to billions of dollars. But nurturing the right kind of talent for leadership roles at both the top and middle management levels is the single biggest challenge in scaling to the billion dollar level and beyond as we achieve global scale.
The state of our infrastructure is another challenge: whether it is high speed connectivity within the country or internationally, airports, city infrastructure such as roads, mass transportation, power, water etc, there is a lot to be done. While we have seen phenomenal progress in telecom penetration with about 6 million connections being added per month today, Internet penetration presents a very different picture. Eight years after the sector was thrown open, we have only about seven and a half million connections, compared to China’s over 125 million in the same period! Clearly this needs to be addressed holistically after introspection to enable free and fair competition to catalyze growth like we have accomplished in telecom. Particularly because Internet penetration is a major factor of the competitiveness of nations in a global economy, contributing to business and job growth as well as better governance.
The last challenge that I would like to touch upon is the policy and regulatory challenge. The IT services sector, I believe, has grown the way it has largely because it was not regulated and controlled as most other industry sectors have been. Instead, as the industry flourished adding to export growth, it was encouraged with tax holidays and the like. But we still have not adequately addressed issues that are peculiar to the Knowledge Economy in a networked world: issues to do with privacy, security, data protection and online commerce.

What are the opportunities before us? There are many:

Some 40% of India’s population is below the age of 25. We can leverage our vast pool of young people by ensuring the right kind of educational and soft skills training from school and college levels, so they can be absorbed into the work force. Many of the large It firms have already started initiatives to do this such as TCS, Wipro and Cognizant. But we need to formulate a national policy to enable this in a concerted, planned manner so that we are able to maintain our pre-eminence in IT services world-wide.
Move development and service centres to smaller towns so that their educated youth are able to benefit from the growth in IT services. This has multiple benefits for the country: employment generation for the well-being and growth of the hinterland, limiting migration to the large urban centers that are already bursting at the seams, and letting us remain competitive where salaries are concerned as the cost of living in small towns is significantly lower than the metros. In this way we can ensure more even development in the country and remain globally competitive when compared to smaller countries that can emerge as challengers.
Expand the scope of our services up the value chain at the same time, so that we grow the value of our offerings. This will ensure that as we build out infrastructure and ensure a better quality of life in the larger cities, we can move the higher paid work force on to value added work where clients are willing to pay a premium.
The other opportunity is our natural aptitude for languages. Most of us, and I am sure a straw poll will confirm, speak at the very least two Indian languages in addition to English- our mother tongue, Hindi and English. Many of us speak more languages. This is because India is much like the European Common Market with many states having their own language, culture, cuisine, costume etc. In fact, if you examine any rupee note, you will find that, by law, each will have the denomination spelt out in the fifteen official languages India has! We can leverage this natural ability by training people in Japanese, French, German and other languages so that we are able to better service a multi-lingual world, and remain competitive in the face of the language advantages enjoyed by countries like China and Tunisia.
The leadership challenge has to be dealt with at multiple levels, locally and internationally. As we scale and expand operations to more countries, a multi-cultural work force is a must. The opportunity then is to identify, train and nurture middle level managers from those countries, in addition to those from India, to add to the wealth of human capital and the potential of the organization.
The process of liberalization and development that was unleashed in the early nineties has not only seen a marked improvement in our economic growth rate, competition, and our ability to compete globally, it has also led to governmental and political maturity in terms of the need to integrate our economy with the world for a better quality of life for our people. We have moved from the days of command & control of the economy, to a more enlightened management of our economic growth. The natural next step is to move towards a national economic strategy or mission that will co-ordinate initiatives such as those to do with education, infrastructure and policies to do with security, data protection, privacy, intellectual properties and ecommerce as a priority. The opportunity is to convert the Planning Commission, that smacks of the command & control days, into a body that directs India’s national economic strategy at a macro level, much like Japan’s Ministry of International Trade & Industry directed Japan’s economic rise post World war Two. We have the intellectual capital for such a mission, and formulating such a body would re-orient our thinking towards strategic development for India to remain globally competitive, not only for IT, but in other sectors as well.
Similarly, we need a comprehensive and cohesive view with regard to policy and regulatory initiatives for not only IT, but ICTs in general. This will enable a national ICT strategy that will enable us to have a comprehensive view of ICT development for national and international competitiveness and growth. Particularly with regard to eGovernance, and the use of ICTs to bridge the digital divide and bring a large section of India’s population into the mainstream. This will ensure socio-economic growth, better services to citizens, as well improving the quality of life. Perhaps the Ministry for IT and Telecommunications can become the Ministry for ICT strategy & development to better reflect its scope and objectives.

These are the thoughts that I wanted to share with you today. They are by no means comprehensive, but should serve as a starting point for a discussion and debate on what we can do as a nation to steer India to a winning position in the face of the opportunities and challenges we face in a global economy.

Thank you.

Impressions of the Nasscom Leadership Summit

2007-02-13T21:29:00.000+05:30

The Nasscom Leadership Summit was held on the 7nth, 8^th and 9nth of February 07 at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. This is a much looked forward to annual event by the apex body of the IT industry attended by many from India, and from across the world. We, as in Sify, were also very much in evidence, from being a sponsor, to having a presence at the event.

I have been attending the Nasscom summits for some years now, and I must say, the Grand Hyatt is a vast improvement (literally and figuratively!) on the The Hilton (formerly the Oberoi Towers) as a venue. What is also true is that Nasscom have managed to improve the content and substance of the event substantially over the years. Of course , the fact that the Indian IT industry is maturing and graduating in perspective and experience also makes a difference.

Other than the expected opening speech by the IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran (which did not disappoint), the rest of the sessions were quite interesting and refreshing. Maran, incidentally, is also quite a refreshing change from the stuffy, dreary old politicians we are used to. This is a man in a hurry, ready to back whatever will take the country forward. Not shy about pulling up the industry or anyone else if he thinks there’s a road block!

The key note by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen was an absolute treat. His sense of humour, humility and intellect came shining through, making you feel privileged to be there to listen to him. Here was a man who had nothing to prove to anyone, making an appeal from the heart to give something back to the nation that fostered the IT industry. Nary a word about government sops- when he talks about the country nurturing the IT industry, he starts with the tenth century, and traces many developments over the years right up till after independence, that have contributed to make it a success! Not least of it being TI- the ‘Talkative Indian’!

There were three tracks to choose from-I chose the ones on Outsourcing and Innovation much to my satisfaction. The quality of the speakers, the depth of knowledge, perspective and understanding of the markets of the panel in the Outsourcing session was very impressive. The panel consisted of Dennis McGuire of TPI International, Rajender Pawar of NIIT, Vineet Nayar of HCL technologies, Pramod Bhasin of Genpact and Alistair Cox of Xansa, moderated by Steve Hamm of BusinessWeek- a familiar name for regular readers like myself.

The innovation track was even more interesting with a session on Web 2.0 by John Hagel, followed by presentations by those short-listed for the innovation awards that evening: Bharthi-IBM, Mastek, Kale Consultants, HP Labs and Ittiam were all I had time for before I had to leave for a meeting. ‘Ittiam’, incidentally, stands for ‘I Think, Therefore I Am’! The kind of work these companies are doing makes one proud to be an Indian, and world beaters in their own right.

The Nasscom leadership Summit, is in my opinion, a must attend event for anyone who wants to have a perspective of the Indian IT industry. I shall certainly be back next year for an update!

I won my first race!

2007-02-10T21:03:00.000+05:30

The Madras Boat Club held its first races of the year over the last few days, culminating in the finals today. I missed the heats on Thursday and Friday as I was away in Mumbai at Nasscom, and subsequently at an off site meeting en route to Mahabalipuram, so I didn’t know quite what to expect when I reached the Boat Club at 3.30 PM. As soon as I turned up, I was told that none of the beginners had turned up for the heats, so if any one did turn up today, we would automatically race in the finals!

I was good and ready, looking forward to the experience, so I watched the races in the hope that somebody would, indeed, turn up. I gave up at about four forty five or so and went into the gym and got on to the ergometer- the rowing machine for some practice and loosening up. Just as I reached the 300 meter mark, Vilva, the head ‘laskar’ (boat man) came hurriedly into the gym and summoned me for a race! I headed out, suitably warmed up, to find a fellow beginner, Harsha, had come all ready to row!

Both of us watched the next two races in between choosing our lanes by the toss of a coin, as well as getting our ‘blades’ (oars) for the race. While we were waiting to get into the boats, Vilva came up to me and said softly, “Just focus on getting the technique right and finishing the course. Don’t try and really race or you may capsize and fall into the water. Finishing the course and doing it right are more important that anything else”. In fact, this is just what I had mentioned to Harsha a few minutes earlier! Vilva then went and told Harsha the same thing at the pier where he was boarding from.

So we set out for the starting point below the Kotturpuran Bridge, about 800 meters away from the Club and the finish, at about five o’clock. Once there, Praveen, one of the long standing club members who was the starter, guided us into position before staring us off. I was determined not to fall in, and started off slowly, getting the technique right. For the ‘maiden sculls’ we beginners row are notoriously difficult to balance, while the slides sometimes get stuck, resulting in jerks that make it worse! So I started off very slowly and began picking up pace.

At about the tenth stroke, I looked around for Harsha, and, to my astonishment, he was nowhere in sight! Which meant that he had taken off like a hound after a rabbit right at the start! Nevertheless, given the length of the course, I was pretty sure I could catch up with him, and focused again on getting the technique right while slowly increasing power. Soon I could hear his oars splash, although I still couldn’t see him in my peripheral vision. Then I suddenly heard him coughing, and found that odd, so I turned to see what was going on.

I found that he had gone close to the shore and hit a sand bank and capsized, and was standing in the water, getting the water out of his lungs by coughing, while he mopped his face with his hands! I found that I was pretty far off course too, pretty close to Harsha, but as I saw the starter boat racing towards him to pick him up, I kept going while correcting my course. The rest of the race was a breeze, as I had won by default anyway, but I focused on rowing well, and as fast as I could, without losing my rhythm. Even so, I had a few hairy moments, when I would suddenly have one oar dig into the water and the boat tilt alarmingly, or have one oar skim the water.

Then I would concentrate hard to ensure that I was back into a steady rhythm with the boat absolutely stable in the water, and to heck with the speed. I did quite okay I thought, considering the usual speed one rows up and down the river in, and actually quite enjoyed the whole experience. Afterwards, when people came forward to congratulate me, I would remind them that I won by default. And they would say, “Hey, but you completed the course without falling in! That’s a real achievement!”

I returned home, weary and tired, cup in hand, and found that my wife and daughter were bemused, but delighted at my maiden win! I was rewarded with a glass of wine, while a sumptuous dinner is being readied while I record this for you, dear reader. Ah, victory is, indeed, sweet!

What are we willing to accept?

2007-01-27T09:51:00.000+05:30

During the final rehearsals for the play yesterday, I was sitting along side Colonel Jaipal Isaacs, a fellow church member, who was one of the narrators for the play. He also played a supportive role in its production. Our conversation veered around to the University Centenary Auditorium, and what a great facility it is for the university and the city of Chennai. What was difficult to digest was how poorly maintained it was. There were cob webs in the pre-function areas, the walls were dirty, tiles broken on the floor, broken seats in the auditorium....... ‘Jap’, as he is popularly known, looked around with distaste and said that he was really disappointed with the standards being maintained in civilian society compared to the army. He went on to elaborate that it wasn’t just government organizations, or government governed organizations like the university, that disappointed him. It was also the private sector whose organizational abilities he decried.

I couldn’t but agree, and I pointed out to him that the army is trained in ensuring anything they do is mission critical or fail safe, with no margins for error. In civilian life, there are much larger margins for error in how things are done! At a company like Sify where I work, our network infrastructure on which many large corporations run their operational logistics and ERP systems is ‘mission critical’- that is, it cannot fail. We bring this kind of a discipline to everything we do, so I could well relate to what he was saying. Then I spontaneously commented that it all boils down to what standards we are willing to accept, because then those are the standards we will live or work by. He agreed that there lay the crux of the problem, washed down standards in everything we do. That really seems to sum up why the standards in our country, particularly of government, and government run services, tend to be so poor- we are willing to accept it. In an age where we are in resurgence economically, and when the government recognizes that it can only take the country forward in partnership with the private sector and the citizens of the country, its time we raised the standard of expectations of everything around us.

We must demand the best, and be citizen activists in case that is not met. Unless we get over our monumental lethargy, India is not going to meet her true potential. Simply because we did not have the vision to see it, or we did not aspire to a higher standard.

Let’s not let that happen.

...what is truth?

2007-01-21T20:19:00.000+05:30

Thus spoke Pontius Pilate when Christ told him that he had come to testify to the truth, then calmly washed his hands off any responsibility for Christ’s death while handing him over to the Jewish High Priest and the mob screaming for his blood. We may well ask ourselves this question in today’s world when confronted with so many obstacles and temptations in our way to do things by under hand means.

What brought on this line of thought? Well, I am acting as Pontius Pilate in a musical concert being produced by the members of St Andrew’s Church (The Kirk), the church where we worship. Read all about the production here. To be able to act as Pontius Pilate, one has to get into the character, and really dwell on what his situation must have been, and how he reacted to what was happening before him based on his experiences.

This is what brought home to me that, at a human level, the situation in those days was not that different from what it is today: the power play by politicians; the bribes and enticements expected by government officials, especially the tax collectors who were loathed; the pass the buck attitude of those in powerful positions and the unthinking cruelty and insensitivity of those in a position to wield power over ordinary citizens.

If we are to live a life that stands out in such a corrupt world, we need to ask ourselves the same question, “What is truth?” and stick with it. Believe me, people will be drawn to us because we are different, trustworthy, credible, sensitive to others and completely different from those around us. If we were to do that, we would be quite saintly in our behavior don’t you think? Almost Christ like in the way we dealt with others, and the world around us.

No wonder he said, “I am the way, the truth and the life!” if only Pontius Pilate had understood that, his role in the crucifixion of Christ may have been quite different. On the other hand, His crucifixion was the fulfillment of prophecy, and had to happen according to the scriptures. But we do have the choice always before us as we are not bound by prophecy. So its worth dwelling on in my book!

Delhi’s ‘farm house’ phenomenon

2007-01-20T22:11:00.000+05:30

I was invited to a dinner at a farmhouse in Delhi in November last year. This was my second visit to a Delhi ‘farm house’. The first was many years ago when I had the opportunity to visit the Oberoi farm house for a meeting with Biki Oberoi. In those days the Mehrauli Road was pretty rustic, and we soon turned off the road into the bucolic setting with horses gamboling behind a wooden fence straight out of a Western. We had to drive past the paddock and around it on an undulating property with a nicely proportioned house nestled in a hollow before a swimming pool. We drove past it to an ‘office’ block for our meeting, and were transplanted into a mini Oberoi hotel! The entire surroundings were green and beautifully maintained, and left you wondering whether you were in India or elsewhere.

The farm house I visited in November was not on as grand a scale as the Oberoi farm house. This one was part of a gated community off the Gurgaon Road near the airport. What was staggering was the size of this gated community, and the number of farm houses opening off the private, landscaped road with trimmed hedges, lawns and trees on either side. Once we were inside the gates of the property we were visiting, it opened out into what must have been some two acres. The dinner we were attending was on the huge lawn in front of the actual residence amidst landscaped gardens. There was an elevated stage on which folk dances were being performed by a troupe to live music. Cocktails and snacks were being served with everyone clustered around gas lamps that spread some warmth into the cold Delhi winter night.

Once the dances were over, and everyone had warmed up with a couple of glasses of their favorite poison, dinner was announced. Everyone then moved under a spacious, tastefully decorated shamiana which had round tables and chairs, all arranged and adorned in five star fashion. Interspersed between the tables were the gas lamps that exuded warmth for the diners. The food was served on a buffet off to the side of the shamiana, while the drinks were served at the table. Once seated, one had a better view of the actual house, which was across another lawn and spread out across the property with large glass windows to let the outside in. here again, one was left wondering whether one was in India or elsewhere.

So what is a ‘farm house’? It is a status symbol today, but I suspect began in the seventies as a refuge for rich industrialists and businessmen away from prying eyes. In those days one could not live luxuriously even if one could afford it because it would attract unwanted attention and a great amount of envy. ‘Profit’ was a dirty word, and industrialists considered to be a bunch of opportunists living off the backs of the poor, and fair game for the tax men. So they developed these ‘farm houses’ far away from the madding crowd where they could enjoy the fruits of their efforts in some peace and comfort. The fact that these palatial homes were built on land reserved for agriculture meant that there had to be a modicum of a ‘farm’ to avail of the tax benefits on such property, and hence the ‘farm house’ tag, I guess.

India today is very different, of course. Every young person dreams of becoming a businessman or entrepreneur, so that they can have their own industry and become successful in their thirties. Success also means a farm house, a luxury car, maybe a private jet and so on! Every luxury brand you can think of is making an entry into India, because there is a growing market for their goods. Government actively encourages the private sector to grow for job creation, and encourages consumption by the lower, middle and upper cases to fuel demand for goods and services. Tax slabs are constantly rationalized with greater compliance and more revenues for the government. With all this, the demand for luxury homes is on the rise, with deluxe projects in the cities, gated communities in the suburbs, and yes, farm houses outside the cities being developed. Leave alone Delhi, there are now farm houses outside Chennai along the coast, outside Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and, I’m sure most of the other cities that are growing rapidly. So that the farm house has come into its own, and into the public eye, from being secretive hide-aways of the rich and famous in yester years.

Seminar on the New Media at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club

2007-01-07T20:02:00.000+05:30

I had written about the visit to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club recently, but would like to share with you the ten minute speech I made at the seminar on the New Media- the Internet. Arranged by Perfect Relations, the well-known Pubic Relations Consultancy, the seminar had sepakers as varied as the Mumbai Police Commissioner, the head of Corporate Communications at Lever, a speaker from Rediff.com, the ehad of a web designing firm, Govindaraj Ethiraj -the head of the Internet initiative at Business Standard and the business editor of the Indian Express. All shared their perspective of the Internet, what it enables, how they are leveraging it and what the future could hold.

I had to cover the potential the Internet holds for businesses in a rapidly networking world, and I had just ten minutes to do so! This is what I shared:

"They say the deepest need of every human being is to be able to connect with others, and to be able to belong to a community of like minded people. This is what gives the Internet its power more than any other medium in the past. For in the past, media could be consumed as passive text, as audio or in the audio-visual format, but the Internet is the medium that makes it possible to interact with others. Now with rich media, enabled by broadband access and networks with massive bandwidth capacities, the level of interactivity is constantly improving from text to audio and video.

What does this mean for communications for businesses and individuals? That’s what I have been asked to share with you today. Given that I have just ten minutes to do so, I will attempt to give you snapshots, in the form of examples, that fit together to give you a composite picture of the transformational potential of the Internet. Take, for example, a global consumer powerhouse such as Lever who has traditionally used television and print to drive their brands, while experimenting with the Internet for brand promotions in sync with the brand platform.

Even they have taken the plunge with www.sunsilkgangofgirls.com, an initiative started in India, to build a community of like-minded young women. Given its reported success, it is now being rolled out across the world. This is, in my opinion, a landmark initiative that recognizes that today there is a global homogenized urban culture that is emerging, shaped by the young people of today. Having such a platform for these very people who are shaping opinions and defining culture can give Lever deep insights into what will appeal to this audience. So they can create products to match their needs, launch brands or redefine existing brands with communications that appeal to them. It’s no wonder that P&G has also announced a website for young women!

The next example I’d like to share with you is ‘Steve Madden’, the funky shoe brand in the US. Steve Madden is a good example of a brand whose cachet was created using the new media- the Internet. A shoe store salesman, Steve Madden became fascinated with shoes and began to design them. Working out of a small space in a warehouse in Brooklyn, he would drive into Manhattan, park his car in a place that had crowds passing by and sell his shoes out of his boot. His greatest strength was his insight as to what his young customers, mostly fashion conscious young women, were looking for. He opened a website to showcase his shoes on a web catalogue, and also sell his shoes. But the real role of the website lay in his blog where he interacted with customers for feedback, or for prospects for the kind of shoes they were looking for.

In short, Steve Madden used the Internet to become the village cobbler who could personally interact with his customers, and create footwear that they wanted! Although his brand today is mainstream and available in most department stores, his primary point of contact with customers remains his website which serves as his direct sales channel, catalogue and customer relationship management tool. It’s also a powerful platform for extending the Steve Madden brand’s ability to tap into shifting and evolving shoe design trends. Even today, Steve Madden is considered the definitive women’s shoemaker, with most women he targets owning more than own pair of Steve Maddens!

Closer to home, take a look at Dilip Chhabria’s DCDesign. How could a small local shop gain enough awareness to get international design commissions and be invited to unveil new designs at the Geneva motor show? By leveraging the Internet. If you look at DC Designs history, in addition to coming up with winning designs, what they brought to the table was much faster response and telescoped design time frames. They did this by making good use of materials and resources, as well as by being connected to a network of vendors who could be sent design specifications rapidly online for them to turn out specific parts. In other words, they used the new media to outperform the established design firms in design and proto-type turnaround, to gain recognition and entry into the rarified global car design market. The Internet also gave them a global, easily accessible platform where they could show case their achievements and further their reputation.

A company like Sify listed on the Nasdaq makes good use of the Internet for multiple benefits: regulatory filings and compliance online, good governance procedures with company policies, finances, management contacts etc available online in addition to products and services; conference calls with investors and analysts; attracting new talent; generating sales leads; addressing investor queries and so on. The fact that we are listed only on the Nasdaq in New York is testimony to how the Internet is enabling flow of capital globally; and how the needs of global investors can be serviced from a remote location. In fact, if you study the global stock exchange trends, more often than not what happens at the Nikkei in Japan by and large determines what happens at exchanges in the rest of the world that day!

Talking of stocks, today the fastest growing component of the stock broking business is online broking in India. Online broking is well established in developed countries, and works well with the 24/7 nature of the global markets today. This in turn has given rise to the business information powerhouses such as Bloomberg and Reuters who also work 24/7 to keep the flow of financial information current to those who need to know. Both Bloomberg and Reuters take good advantage of the Internet in terms of text, audio web-casts and TV interviews to make the experience rich and meaningful.

Its not only global information powerhouses or large corporations that can leverage the Internet so effectively. Today there is a small NGO in Bangalore that is ensuring employment to the women in the villages around that city by getting them to tailor their traditional clothing for dolls, and marketing them over the Internet from their website. Their current market is primarily the UK, where the retired Indian couple running this NGO are based, but they shuttle between Bangalore and the UK, while leveraging this business over the Internet.

The last example I’d like to share with you is the motivational writer and speaker Robin Sharma of ‘The monk who sold his Ferrari’ fame. One has only to log on to his website to see how well he is leveraging the new media to further his franchise with his audience, including a blog, podcasts and so on. He could also do short video clips of key messages etc.

Talking of video, the recently concluded Internet Governance Forum in Athens was we-cast to a global audience, and the Q & A after each session included questions received over the Internet from those watching the web-cast. That’s the level of world-wide interactivity and real time involvement that the Internet makes possible today.

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. These are the examples of how the Internet, the new media, can be capitalized for communications and ecommerce -across finance, marketing, corporate, sales –in fact, the entire business process. The possibilities are only limited by our imagination when you look at the various tools and successful networking possibilities available today: text, audio, video, messaging, blogs and so on. I hope this has given you an idea of the potential the new media holds for all of us, individuals, small businesses, large corporations or global businesses.

Thank you".

I hope you found it interesting!

The things that make the Christmas Season special

2006-12-28T11:27:00.000+05:30

Christmas is always a special time of year. It’s a time when we reflect on the birth of the Savior, come to redeem everyone of us if only we accept His one perfect sacrifice for us. So it’s a time of renewal, a time of refocusing our walk with God, and a time of celebration of the coming of the Savior. It’s all that and more.

It’s the time when we have our annual Christmas Carnival at our church, where the families from the congregation set up stalls selling clothes, shoes, cards, books, music, T shirts and more. The food stalls are a treat for the senses, loaded with Christmas cakes, walnut cakes, sponge cakes, chocolate cakes, appams with stew, iddi appams with pork, idlis with chicken curry, vadais, ice cream and other goodies. There are also games stalls set up by our Youth Fellowship, who also took over the announcements and conduct of the auctions this year.

I managed to win a nice large cake in the game I took part in! The Carnival draws to a close when the biriyani arrives! Everyone lines up for the packets of biriyani they’d ordered earlier, then head home a happy, tired lot. To indulge in a great biriyani lunch followed by a snooze! While a good time is had by all, a large sum of money is raised and shared with up to twenty organizations doing yeoman service among the poor and needy.

This is also the advent season, when there are some very special services, such as the Nine Lessons and Carols. This is a favorite with us, where nine lessons with prophecies of the coming of the Christ from the Bible are read out from Genesis onwards to His birth. Each reading is followed by an anthem by the choir, then a beloved Christmas hymn. This is an evening service which ends with ‘Silent night, holy night’, sung with every member of the congregation holding a lit candle.

Then there’s the Camp Fire on the grounds of the church, followed by a Fellowship Dinner. The congregation is broken up into groups and games played. Its great to see everyone let their hair down, with racing and chasing around as the competitive spirit catches hold! There are also Christmas carols, followed by a rib tickling skit by the Youth, that still manages to weave in a moral or a message! Followed by the Fellowship Dinner when everyone gets a chance to mingle and socialize beyond the games. While members of the congregation take turns singing carols or hymns to entertain those having dinner, starting from the little kids.

One of the things we enjoy most during the Christmas Season are the carol rounds by the Youth. Having moved quite far away from the church where we worship to a distant suburb, we were resigned to not having the youth come and sing carols at our home. But come they did, and sang carols, read from the Bible and generally spent some time at home while we gave them hot chocolate to drink and a tasty snack to eat! It was a wonderful time that we had with them, just before Christmas. All of which go to make this time, culminating on Christmas Day my favorite time of year.

Merry Christmas (once again!), and a Happy New Year to you!

A visit to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club

2006-12-27T20:06:00.000+05:30

I recently had occasion to visit the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, right opposite the Gateway of India and adjacent to the Taj in Colaba. I had been there very briefly many years before to meet someone in the lobby, and carried the impression of an old club steeped in history. I wasn’t wrong. The porch, just off the busy road, is modest, but once you enter the place, you’re in a different world.

I went to the club to speak at a seminar on the ‘New Media’, so the organizers had volunteers at the lobby who whisked me upstairs, and along a beautiful tiled corridor. Then left through a cavernous vestibule across the building to a sun lit verandah where breakfast was being served to residents. Then into a bright, airy conference room with large windows overlooking the Gateway and the Taj. The view, however, was obscured by the foliage of a large tree just outside the windows.

When I got the opportunity, I took a walk around the club to soak in the atmosphere. I was rewarded with doors donated or acquired from various destroyers and frigates, polished with a round porthole set in them. Each had a plaque alongside that announced where it was from! Even the rest room had such a door, though thankfully, the round port hole had been made opague! There were also other marine artefacts such as an anchor at the entrance that add to the overall seafaring atmosphere of the club.

The website of the club informs us of its origins in an article by Kerse Naoroji:

"On the Third of March 1846 a meeting of gentlemen interested in sailing was held at the British Hotel, Bombay. The first resolution passed at this meeting was proposed by a Captain H. Barr and read: " That the BOMBAY YACHT CLUB be this day established" Further resolutions were adopted registering the names of the original members, a resolution that all gentlemen wishing to become members from that date (3rd March) should be balloted for. Another resolution elected Office Bearers etc.The First Commodore was Sir Robert Oliver.

I am afraid we have no detailed history of this period of the Club. We do, however know that the Club on the original site (now occupied by the Offices of the Atomic Energy Commision) was first built in 1880 and has been added to from time to time. The Ball Room & The Bar was as late as in 1914. In its early days the Club activities appear to have been solely devoted to Sailing, and the Social aspects of the Club life appear to have come later. In 1876, the Club became the Royal Bombay Yacht Club with permission of HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA, and in 1880 permission was given by the Lords of the Admiralty to fly over the Club building, the Blue Ensign, with the distinctive marks of the Club on the fly thereof. In the following year, a similar concession was granted to yachts registered with the Club.

In 1897 a block of Residential Chambers was built on the South side of Apollo Bunder Road, which currently serves as the premises of the RBYC".

The Residential Chambers, where the club is presently situated, was designed by John Adams, and its construction supervised by FW Stevens, between 1896 and 1898. According to a plaque at the club, ‘The design combines ‘domestic’ English Neo Gothic with a Tudor half timbered idiom and aptly demonstrated the disintegration of stylistic cohesion that characterized turn of the century architecture in Bombay’. Stevens, incidentally, was one of Bombay’s greatest and most significant architects. Examples of his work are the Victoria Terminus and The Army and Navy store.

The visit to the club was a truly enchanting experience despite the little time one had to experience it. I do hope I have another opportunity to visit, or even stay, at this historic club.

A Christmas greeting and message

2006-12-08T21:48:00.000+05:30

We received a greeting card from Savithri Devanesen, my aunt, today. She runs a non-governmental organization called ‘Roofs for the Roofless’ which does wonderful work in the villages South of the city. Roofs for the Roofless was started by Dr Chandran Devanesen, her husband and my mother’s brother, when she expressed concern for her household servants and other poor villagers who were at the mercy of the monsoon rains. Today, Roofs works with 18 villages in Kancheepuram District off the Old Mahabalipuram Road.

Programs include rural community development that includes 350 low-cost houses, 23 work sheds for weavers, 2 multi-purpose centres, a rural community college, regular medical clinics, 7 night schools for literacy, 2 veterinary centres, 2 community halls, one play school and 2 day care centres for the aged. In addition to the wonderful work of the rural community college in giving the rural youth training in life skills, work skills, internship for hands on experience, as well as interview techniques and preparation for employment, roofs has programs covering literacy, health, water and sanitation, housing, a veterinary program and a women’s empowerment program.

When uncle Chandran was alive, he used to compose a poem every year for a customized Christmas and New Year greeting card that stemmed for his deep compassion and love for people, particularly the poor from the villages. After his death in 1981, aunty Savithri carried on his work in the villages, and was inspired to continue this tradition, and we all look forward to her annual greeting card with a fresh poem inspired by her work with the rural poor. It is this greeting card that we received today, and it is her Christmas and New Year greeting poem that I would like to share with you:

Lord,
It is Christmas
It’s a celebration
Of peace,
Of love,
Of celestial music,
Filtering through starlit skies,
Proclaiming the birth,
Of God’s only son
With promises of Hope and Joy
To a broken world,
Struggling with pain and grief,
Craving for power and wealth,
Draped in a dark mantle of
Intolerance and disunity,
Terrorism and hatred,
Poverty and disease,
Presenting an agonizing spectacle
Of universal tragedy.

Lord,
This Christmas,
Help us to change the world,
Without bloodshed and violence,
Without breaking lives or shattering dreams,
With weapons of love and kindness,
With garlands of respect and understanding,
With new and living relationships,
Remembering
That every human being counts.
Lord,
May your love and compassion
Bind
All people,
All nations
In a rainbow of light
For victorious living,
On this beautiful earth- created by You

Savithri Devanesen, December 2006.

I found her poem so expressive, so eloquent, so full of love and compassion, and so what the world needs to hear, that I wanted to share it with you.

Hope you have a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.

A taste of Cuba

2006-12-03T20:45:00.000+05:30

On arrival into New York on a Sunday on the last visit, I ensured that I called everyone I wanted to meet that evening, so the week could be better planned. One of them was Francis, my class mate and good friend from college (We both studied at the Institute of Hotel Management in Taramani, Chennai). Francis, after a stint with the Oberois in Mumbai, moved on to Australia, and thence to the US, and is now the Executive Chef of the Millenium Hilton in New York. I had called him towards the end of my previous trip, from the airport when I had checked in for my flight to India in fact, and he had urged me to call when I landed next! So he was the number one on my list.

We decided we would try and meet for dinner the very next day after my meetings were over. So I connected with him at lunch time, and he said he would meet me midtown around six PM. I was to call and let him know where my last meeting was to fix our rendezvous. I called him at five, and informed him that I was near Rockefeller Centre, so we decided we would meet at Rockefeller Plaza at six. Walked out into a cold, wet evening and to Rockefeller Plaza where they were just icing the skating rink! We located each other, and after the warm exchange of greetings, tried to decide where to eat. On learning I was near the Lincoln Centre, Francis suggested we eat at a Cuban restaurant called ‘Azucar’ (sugar) on Tenth Avenue, not far from the Lincoln Centre.

So off we went to Azucar, which, he assured me, was a great place to eat. I relied completely on his knowledge as he was a chef! We entered Azucar to be warmly greeted by a Cuban hostess who escorted us to a cosy table for two at the back. The restaurant was quite large, and deep, extending pretty far back where it became wider that its frontage. There was even place for a Cuban steel band, which was not in evidence yet as it was too early, but their equipment was all set up awaiting them. We settled down, and Francis ordered a bottle of good Spanish wine on which we sipped while studying the menu. The Cuban was Greek to me, and although there were explanations given, I had no idea what the food would be like as I had never had it before.

Francis was more than happy to oblige, and ordered a fried pork meal for me, while he had the lamb. The portions were large, and came with red beans in a sauce (much like rajma) and rice. I learned that the beans with sauce accompanies many dishes, and is even served on the side. The pork dish was not spiced, but brought out the natural flavours, going well with the rice and beans. Both of us were cold and hungry, and the food and wine went down well, warming us and giving us a general sense of well being. We caught up on our families and other friends by the time we finished. I had a delicious dessert of a combination of chocolate cake and ice cream, and we were done. It was not even eight as we had come in at six thirty! Jet lagged as I was, this was the best thing possible as I could return to my little studio apartment and try and sleep. Warmed and sated by the taste of Cuba that Francis and Azucar had given me.

On board the ‘Highlander’!

2006-11-22T19:48:00.000+05:30

The last trip to New York included a particular treat; a cruise aboard Steve Forbe’s yatch, the ‘Highlander’! No, I wasn’t rubbing shoulders with the rich and the famous, the opportunity came up during the course of work. I was supposed to have dinner with Bill, the VP sales of Forbes.com, on one of the days that I was in New York. Bill called and suggested that, instead of having the dinner in one of New York’s myriad restaurants, we take a cruise aboard the Highlander instead! I leaped at the opportunity to do something truly charming, cruise through New York harbour in the evening/night!

David, my colleague from our Investor Relations firm, who had co-ordinated the meeting was going to be with me, so I had company as well. Apparently Forbes had arranged a Risk Assessment conference in New York, and was arranging for a dinner cruise for the attendees, so Bill had in effect tagged us onto the cruise as his guests! We were requested to be at the tony Chelsea Pier on the Hudson to set sail by 6 PM on that Thursday, but we were good and early to be able take a look around the yatch before boarding. To our delight, Bill was already there and greeted us warmly on the pier.

The Highlander took our breath away. To begin with, its huge with most public areas covered, including the stern area that you can see in the photo, so that we were warm and cosy inside while gazing out at the lights of New York through the large picture windows. It has a helipad on top with its own ‘copter’ for small forays around the yatch when the Forbes family is on holiday cruises. It also has two speed boats, with automated mini cranes for lowering them into the water, for water sports on a holiday cruise. As well as two powerful Triumph motorbikes for forays into the country side should the Highlander dock at an interesting port!

We were greeted aboard by a grey bearded, kilt wearing ‘Highlander’ playing the bagpipes from above the bridge. Across the short gangway and onto the yatch, we were ushered into the main deck area states room which looked for all the world like a five star hotel with assorted seating across flowing public spaces and a bar. We were invited to sign the guest register (other guests included Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, George Bush et al!) and handed drinks of our choice. As soon as we had our glasses of wine, Bill took us both on a ‘VIP tour’ of the yatch which was exclusively for us!

We started with the engine room with its two powerful thousand horse power engines surrounded by a comprehensive engineering support facility, all spotlessly clean. Then the kitchens and pantry where we could see all manner of good food under preparation for the cruise dinner. Up to the high tech bridge, which was more like the cockpit of an aircraft but for the panoramic views it afforded. The yatch’s on board computer ca actually be programmed to cruise from New York to Miami on auto pilot! From there down to the state rooms with their attached bathrooms at the lower level-there were four of them off a corridor down the middle of the yatch. And finally to the master’s chamber at the stern- a huge bedroom with windows opening out at the stern for a panoramic view, sauna and spacious bathroom.

Then we were back up into the main deck area, then out on the upper deck to see the speed boats, motor boats and the helicopter. By now it was 6 degrees centigrade, so we didn’t linger for too long. Down into the comfortable seating area near the bow where we sat as we set sail at six PM. The engines throbbed to life, backing the yatch out of its berth and into the river, then we cruised up the Hudson towards the George Washington Bridge. It was twilight, with a red Western sky, and the lights of Manhattan coming on towards our right. I tried hard to capture the captivating sight on my little digital camera, but one needed an SLR for that. I gave up reluctantly when my efforts were less than satisfactory, and determined to enjoy the cruise so I could experience it fully.

Up the Hudson to about the seventies, then turned again and cruised down the river, past New Port, New Jersey on the right, and lower Manhattan and Battery Park on the left, towards the Statue of Liberty. We stopped close to it so we could go out on deck and gaze at is flood-lit splendour before carrying on. Round Governor’s Island and up the East River and under the Brooklyn Bridge. By now the party was in full swing, with everyone having had several glasses of wine or whatever it is they fancied, so dinner was served. Roast chicken, steaks, potato and salads. We served ourselves and wandered onto the enclosed stern deck where a card table and folding chairs were set out for us by the ever attentive crew.

So we continued to enjoy the changing views of a brightly lit New York from the water as we sailed up to the basin before the Queens Borough Bridge, then turned and headed back down again as we finished dinner. Desserts were served along with liqueurs, and as enjoyed this course, we were offered fine cigars post dessert! Both David and I declined, as neither of us smoked, but Bill said, “Gentlemen, we are cruising through New York harbour aboard the Highlander! We have enjoyed fine wines and a great dinner. Come on, have a cigar!” So we did, with Bill doing the honours in terms of preparing the cigars for us and expertly lighting them. We didn’t, of course, draw the smoke into our lungs, but puffed away merrily, watching the scene slide by. I casually glanced at the other diners to find that every single one was puffing away at a cigar, smoker or not!

It was over all too soon, as we glided into the Chelsea Pier at nine PM. The three hours aboard had slipped by without our noticing, leaving us memories for a life time. It was one of the most magical and memorable evenings in New York that I have ever experienced.

My view of Greece!

2006-11-22T09:58:00.000+05:30

I can’t believe that I was in Greece at the beginning of the month, the cradle of civilization, and didn’t get to see anything at all! I especially wanted to visit the Acropolis and the Parthenon with its soaring Doric columns. But given the schedule, the most we saw of Greece was on the drives to the various receptions held by the Greek Government in nearby resorts.

The one view of Greece we did see everyday was from our windows at the Divani Apollon hotel. On top of not being able to get away to see Athens, for three days out of the five a storm blew, so we were treated to Greek rain and wind! Even if we did want to miss a few sessions and go out, the weather conspired to discourage it! So this is the view we had for three days.

The fourth day dawned clear and glorious, with a spectacular blushing dawn painting the hills on the far side a delicate mauve. This was the view from the restaurant window where we met for breakfast everyday at seven thirty so that we could be in time for the briefing session at eight.

This is the same view taken at lunch time, when the Geek sun reasserted itself, painting the bay and azure blue. So there you have it, the many views of Greece we enjoyed during the conference. All from our hotel windows. As you can see, it was constantly changing, so we could appreciate what little we did get to see!

One Autumn day in Boston

2006-11-19T20:33:00.000+05:30

On the Friday, I arose at five to catch the seven o’clock flight to Boston. It was a cold, cold morning, and on the back of a week of jet lagged meetings, late nights and early mornings it was tough. But rise I did, and got out to the car in plenty of time to get to the airport and my flight and a host of bleary eyed fellow travellers-all of whom were clearly wishing they were still in a warm bed!

We landed in Boston at eight twenty as we had a half hour delay for take off due a malfunctioning on board computer (they kept us informed of status every five minutes). Walked out into a cold Boston day, located my car and headed to the Financial District to my first meeting at nine. Got there at about ten to nine, met the gentleman from the investment firm accompanying me at the lobby, and headed up.

Boston’s Financial District is just across the river from the airport, and on the edge of the sea. Clustered around streets with names like State Street and Post Street, this has been the focus of urban renewal over the last fifteen years or so. The result is a plush, shiny new towers that attest to the power and wealth of Boston’s financial services firms and funds. The new towers are juxta-positioned with the old, with the random older building sheltering between them. Here’s a shot of the old and the new.

The subsequent meetings took me further afield to the John Hancock Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Boston, and situated a little further South and in land along the river. This building affords some good views of Boston: looking across the Charles, between the buildings nearby to the Boston Common, and East of the Financial District across the Charles to the airport.

I found I had about a half hour towards the end of the day before heading towards the airport to catch my flight back to New York. So I asked the taxi driver to head towards Boston Common. He took me first to the Trinity Church, next to the Hancock Tower, with its little green in front of it. Diagonally across the road from it was another Gothic style church. After spending a while here, we headed to Boston Common.

This is a large green park right in the heart of the city, West of the Financial District, and between it and the river. City Hall is located at one end, but for the most part, it consists of park lands, lakes and greens. It was a lovely place to reflect and catch one’s breath in the waning Autumn sunshine. Mothers were out with their small children, older people out for a walk before it became too cold (it was already something like 5 degrees Centigrade!), and a few joggers out for their daily run.

After soaking in the peaceful scene for a while, I began to feel the cold creeping in and returned to the car to head out to the airport and New York.

Wish this were true!

2006-11-18T08:44:00.000+05:30

No, that’s not the car I was driving through Connecticut! I was in a car arranged to take me around as usual. This belongs to the analyst who accompanied me to most of the meetings as they were arranged by his investment firm. In fact, this is his wife’s car! So he would tag us from meeting to meeting, while I watched the car wistfully.

Until, after one meeting, he suggested I ride with him! Boy, I leaped at the offer, and off we went. The low slung BMV roadster thrummed along, hugging the road while accelerating through curves and straights like no ordinary car could. We weren’t speeding, but the capability of the car was easy to experience. One only had to touch the accelerator for her to push you back into your seat as she powered forward.

He offered to put the top down so I could experience the rush of driving in a roadster. I was so tempted to say yes, but I reluctantly declined as it was a cold day and having 8 degree centigrade wind rushing around you would likely cause some ill. Especially as I still had a many more days of travel before reaching home.

The cars interiors were plush, fitted out in beige coloured leather and leather trim. The instrument cluster was just that, an instrument cluster not unlike what you see in the cockpit of a fighter plane. As you can see, the car is very low slung, accentuating your experience of the speed.

At the end of the drive I told Sameet (yes, he’s Indian) that I wanted to take a shot of the car to which he kindly agreed. But, he insisted, he would take the shot and I would stand next to the car! So I did, and that’s what you see on record.

My first ride in a Beamer!