அம்பி, நம்பி, தும்பி, தம்பி!

(1) ஆரம்பித்தான் அம்பி..

பிறப்பு முதல் இறப்பு வரை,
குழவி முதல் கிழவி வரை,
நாடு முதல் காடு வரை,
சாலை முதல் சோலை வரை,
அரசன் முதல் ஆண்டி வரை,
அனைத்தும் தேடல் தான்!
தேடி, ஓடி, நாடி, வாடி
முயன்றான்! முடியவில்லை!
முடிந்ததில் மகிழ்ச்சி இல்லை!
பிறப்பு முதல் இறப்பு வரை தேடல் தான்!

(2) நடுவில் நுழைந்தான் நம்பி..

குழந்தைக்கு பொம்மை மீது
குமரனுக்கு பெண்மை மீது

வண்டுக்கு மலர்ச்செண்டு மீது
நண்டுக்கு மாமிசத்துண்டு மீது

நதிக்கு கடல் மீது
பதிக்கு ஊடல் / கூடல் மீது

கலைஞனுக்கு கதை மீது
கவிஞனுக்கு கவிதை மீது

குயிலுக்கு பாடல் மீது
மயிலுக்கு ஆடல் மீது

பிறந்தவனுக்கு பொருள் மீது
துறந்தவனுக்கு அருள் மீது
இறந்தவனுக்கு இருள் மீது

அனைத்தும் காதல் தான்..

அன்பு, ஆசை
நோக்கம், ஏக்கம்
மோகம், தாகம்
பல பரிமாணங்கள்
ஆககல் முதல் அழிதல் வரை
அனைத்திற்கும் அஸ்திவாரம் காதல்!

(3) தூங்கி விழித்தான் தும்பி..

கருவறை நுழைய.. செய்தேன்
எண்ணிலடங்கா விந்துக்களோடு!

அன்னை கவனம் பெற.. செய்தேன்
அன்பு சகோதரனோடு!

விளையாட்டில் வெற்றிபெற.. செய்தேன்
அடுத்த வீட்டு பையனோடு!

தேர்வில் முதல் வர..
தோழமையில் பிடிப்பு வர..

காதலியை கை பிடிக்க
கயவர்களின் கை ஒடுக்க

மக்களை பாதுகாக்க
மாக்களை சாதுவாக்க

தன்னை உயர்த்த
பெண்ணை ஈர்க்க

மண்ணை வெல்ல
விண்ணை வீழ்த்த

செய்தேன் நாளும் பொழுதும்!
மோதல்!

வாழ்க்கை என்பது மோதல்!
மேதை டார்வின் சொன்ன மோதல்!

(4) தடுமாற்றம் இன்றி தலையசைத்தான் தம்பி..

தேடல்
காதல்
மோதல்
சாதல்

இது மட்டுமல்ல வாழ்க்கை..

இவை அனைத்தையும் உட்கொண்டது!

மேலும்..

உத்தமமானது, உயர்வானது!
இயற்கையானது, இனிமையானது!
சொல்ல போனால், எளிதானது!

வாழ்க்கை என்பது "வாழ்தல்"
உனக்காகவும், ஊருக்காகவும்!
உண்மையாக, உயிரோட்டமாக!
விழிப்பாக!
நிகழ்காலத்தில்!

Your ideas for new jobs?

From Lower Parel, my friend S and I asked the taxi-wala to take us to Kamathipura (Near Mumbai Central) - He gave a shocked look but drove us there without speaking much, but he refused to get inside the lane after reaching the entrance. We finally ended up walking through the slums to reach the 13th lane where the Chandramani Municipal school is located. Seems like the 15th lane is one of the most well known red-light areas in Mumbai. Chandramani school houses many social initiatives for the underprivileged children and youth from the near-by areas.

One such initiative is Smile foundation's STeP program (http://smilefoundationindia.org/e_learning.htm ), which is "an effort towards creating a pool of employable youth from the underprivileged section" Through the organization, we met a group of ~20 youth - Many of them were a bit shy and maybe low on confidence, but full of determination in their eyes to learn and get ahead in life. We decided to help in whatever small way possible.  As many of them were in the age group of 18-22 and were doing / have done HSC / Bachelors, their major concern was "How can I get a decent job?"

For any  job, 3 things are needed: Preparation, Provision and Presentation. How can we help those youth in these 3 areas? In our first interaction, we chose the "Presentation" esp. Interview and communications skills - We did a decent job with mock interviews, Dos and Don'ts of interviews etc. (Back at IIMs, when we had insane iterations of writing resumes, we used to crib "what a waste of time" - It's not a waste anymore: we hope that experience helps us develop resumes to make a difference to these youth)

Through future interactions, we are planning to join hands with Smile foundation to help the youth "prepare" for the job and "provide" them with relevant opportunities. These two depend a lot on the kind of job they are keen on taking up. When we asked "what kind of job do you want?", many of them were clueless, while few of them said "Retail management". One of the guys confidently said that he would like to work for the city center mall, which was just a km away from the school. I wasn't sure whether he is exposed to all kind of opportunities.

Just to repeat: the youth under consideration are are 18-22 years old with very basic English / computer skills. Many of them had studied commerce in their HSC. There are more women than men. Our challenge for the next interaction is to figure out the potential list of jobs / careers that these youth can aim for. Some of the ideas that popped up during our return journey were Retail, Restaurants, Malls, Accounting, Automobiles, Textiles etc. But traditional way of thinking is not be good enough! We need simple but smart new ideas.

You got an interesting one? Please share with me.

Reviving Virudhunagar

<<Post delayed due to my mini-vacation at home>>

For people who don't know: I hail from a place called Virudhunagar (VNR), a remote town with less than a lakh population and about 50 KM south of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Recently visited my home town after a long time - Was wondering how the town has changed over the last 10-20 years.

Let me start with the education in VNR.  A large number of people in the town spent insane amount of time and money to build free schools offering quality education. No wonder the Ex-TN CM Mr. Kamaraj was born here. Do you believe that such a small town had once produced many IIT students and NTSE scholars, all through free local coaching?  While JEE coaching is no longer available in the town for the last 15 years, the town continues to get reasonable success with NTSE.

Today, my school is glimmering with lots of new buildings, new tie and lots of young staff . Also, it's now the proud host of the annual, month-long-exhibition during summers. The pink color half-sarees have vanished from our main rival school. I am sure the rivalry between the 2 schools would continue as long as the human race continues to have men and women. Ok, to put it differently, I feel the town is yet to see a good co-ed school.

Today, the town also has a technology / engineering college.  You may ask which town doesn't have one today! Still, this one is special as it's not  promoted by a cine-actor or a wealthy business man. Am very delighted to know that  the college has established a name for itself within years of commencement.

While it feels nice to bask on the good things of the town, there are areas where it is significantly laid back - conspicuous among them are Infrastructure and Economy.

You see excellent highways till the point you reach the town. Just when you think things have improved, you are in for a rude shock. Be it roads, water, drainage or power, I see least difference from the town 20 years back and now. I know it's not just the bane of my town, but for many towns in India. Nevertheless, I am very disappointed with the mountainous corruption and the lousy job carried out by the politicians and the officials.

It's quite unfortunate that even with a good bunch of smart people, the town hasn't made much economic progress - the real economic growth has been pretty stagnant over the decade or so. The town once had the advantage of being the manufacturing center of edible oil and a trading hub of almost anything tradable. While it still has some dominance over oil production (thanks to companies like Idayam group), the trading business is dwindling at a phenomenal rate. Yes, thanks to the trend of  disintermediation in today's businesses.

Added to the woes are the emerging demographic profile of the people - As one of my old teachers said, "Today's youngsters with decent education no longer prefer to stay in the town."  Decreasing percentage of working population could have following implications:

• On demand side: Consumption shifts predominantly towards essential commodities and healthcare (sounds like the economies of Italy / Japan?). This leaves the town with significantly limited business opportunities (as Government plays a significant role in both of those sectors.)
• On supply side: The town as a whole could become more risk averse - could lead to slowing of innovation, entrepreneurship, pursing new business opportunities and ultimately very low capital investment

These two implications are not independent and once they get into a cycle, they could produce disastrous results.

Oh, enough of cribbing about the problems. Are there ways to get out of this cycle and revive the town. Of course, where there is a will, there will be a way!  Here are some quick ideas which can be explored..

• First and foremost: For anybody in the who town wants to do something good: please forget all your politics, ego and constant complaints and join hands with each other to do something constructive. It's high time you work for the people than your name and fame. [I know there are still many people doing excellent job with good intentions - but a better coordination and a swift action at war pace is required to achieve anything significant!]
• Next, create a master plan for the growth / revival of the town with clear milestones. It needs to take the inputs of, and have plans / benefits for all stakeholders - politicians, public servants, business entities, women, students and children. Everyone cooperates, contributes and benefits.
• Please be ready to develop new skills than preparing & eating "poricha" parotas (i.e. fried Indian Bread) We need to have more skill development programs for students and adults. Create crucibles for generating ideas and businesses. The program should develop real confidence and capabilities for the participants.

And a last one...

With economy being the backbone of the entire issue - Once it's revived, there is a good chance of the overall revival. I feel VNR needs to choose and specialize in a new industry. And it can't rely on its internal consumption to grow further. It needs to get synonymous with an industry - the likes of Tiruppur and Sivakasi or Kanchipuram or Naamakkal. It should use the existing capabilities and resources in the best way possible to create a not-so-easy to replicate idea / industry. It needs to create a niche for itself. Let's explore options..

• Primary sectors? With unfavorable weather, land and poor supply of weather, pure play agriculture would be a distant dream. Nor do we have oil or forest. However agribusiness and food processing (can be categorized as Manufacturing  as well) seem like potential candidates. India with its humongous population and very poor food processing capabilities, it's seen as one of the sunrise sector. The town's history of trading in agricultural products should help in its favor.
• Tertiary sectors?
  • Trading? Retail or Wholesale? Yeah, it had been our bread and butter in the past. But with the changing structure of industries, having a centralized trading hub seems impractical. With the advancement of technology, there is less opportunity which is aligned with existing people's capabilities. So, for now, it is ruled out.
  • Services? How about IT, Hospitality, Finance, Entertainment or Healthcare etc? Sounds interesting and new - But do we have enough skilled labor pool? I doubt it.  Yes, we can create yet another Rural BPO, but creating the likes of Bangalore or Gurgaon for IT doesn't seem feasible. I didn't mean we should shun any opportunities in services. Just that it being a differentiator for VNR in the short to medium term is questionable. Also, the development won't be inclusive of the entire population.
• Secondary sectors?
  • Manufacturing? I think it's good way to go. Its proximity to 3 ports in South India and the well laid out rail and road network should benefit geographically. The existing cost of land and labor are very low as well. I think manufacturing industries such as food / dairy processing, mass electronic / semiconductor products, cement / concrete products (there are some 3-5 cement factories near by), Health / personal care products, Furniture / durables etc are good candidates.

We just need few historians, technological experts, economists and business minds to sit together, brainstorm and identify THE industry. If the right industry is clearly identified and properly planned and executed, it could the revival, the people in the town have been looking for!

The Nomad in a Saree shop

There could be hardly anyone who is not mesmerized by the Tamil song 'Kangal Irandal' from the movie 'Subramaniya Puram'. My friend J said the movie is rocking in Kerela these days. We decided to catch up the movie 'Naadodigal' (Means "Nomad"), starring Sasikumar, who was the director of 'Subramaniya puram'. What an environment! Have never seen such a crowd in Mumbai enjoying the movie to the fullest - It's a different experience to watch it with a crowd that whistles, shouts, claps and creaks for a significant portion of the movie. Beautiful interweaving of comedy, friendship and love - the necessary ingredients of Tamil cinema - but doesn't feel unnatural like the usual masala movies. The movie made me think for a while.. about the friendship as portrayed in the movie. I am sure it would definitely bring back the memories of some good old friends to anyone. It's is a must-watch for its wonderful first half.. second half is overly emotional and doesn't hurt one giving it a miss!

Oh, ok.. Let me come to title of the post. Mom told me over phone "Need to buy sarees for your sisters da. I am bored of the sarees in Tamil Nadu (Truth is that she would exhausted all the categories in TN!) Why can't you get some designer sarees from Bombay? They look very beautiful with Priyanka and Aishwarya." I felt "you didn't get anyone else to get sarees huh?" But decided to get it as my mom rarely asks me to do anything.  Of course, I needed guidance - I asked her "which colour? what type? Give me all spec" Her reply, "Can't decide based on colour da. You look and decide. It should be designer saree. Different from what you are seeing in TN".  I soon realized that either she won't give me the exact spec or her way of giving it won't help me choose. I said "Ok, ok. I will get 2". I thought for a moment whether I should take any of my female colleagues / friends to help me pick the saree. Decided against it as I would end up spending more time in shopping than doing it myself.

We were done with the movie and walking back home. It was a reasonably big shop in Matunga in Mumbai - with its two floors and glass windows, one can clearly see the flashy display of dozen sarees - For a moment, I had a doubt - was it really a saree shop or could it be a curtains shop? I double checked - Yes, it was a saree shop. The word "sarees" was mentioned in the board and I saw the dolls inside the shop wearing sarees. I entered the shop. The sales men were a bit surprised. With a doubtful look, one of them asked "Yes Sir" (To me, he sounded like "No, we don't need any management consulting. We are better today without them!"). I told myself "Act like a customer, man!" - I replied "Yes, I am looking for 'designer' sarees". The term "designer" was the highest technical term I know of in sarees. With his next question, he bumped me off really - "What material sir? zsdfsdfs.. or asdfsdfds.. or asdd.."  All sounded Greek and Latin to me. Didn't want to show him my ignorance. Replied "Well, good to know that you have all these categories! I am pretty flexible - Show me all of them. I will decide."

My reply made the shop keeper a bit doubtful. He continued, "What is your budget?" Again, I didn't want to sound silly by telling arbitrary numbers. Told him, "I am flexible with budget as well. If I like something, I will pick."  My broken hindi with a liberal mix of English words should have revealed my identity to the next sales man. He asked "Sir, Tamil ah neega?" (Are you a Tamil?) I asked "Will the reply get me additional discount?" Nitin (the boy's name) replied "No sir but I can help you select". Thus began our saree selection process.

Within a minute, the first saree was chosen. It matched all the criteria - (a) Yes, it has lots of "designs" - "designer" saree criteria matched (b) Have never noticed that kind of sarees in Tamil Nadu - "it should be different" criteria matched (c) For a couple of seconds, I imagined whether it would look good with my sis - "Yes" was the intuition. Deal was done.  Nitin was pleasantly surprised - he didn't have to put any effort to sell the saree to me. I told Nitin, "I really like this saree. If you manage to get me any other one as good as this, I will pick that as well"

Nitin tried showing a couple of other sarees. I soon realized it won't help. I told him - "Wait, I will have a look at them from the shelf itself." A quick glance - Nothing matched the first saree. I said, "let's pack". He said, "Sir, I will take you to another shop of ours."

The other shop. Packed with ladies. (Before a new sales man was allotted to me, I overhead the chaotic discussions and innumerable requests of ladies like open this, fold this, show it up, show it down, show under white light, show under yellow light, show without lights, show with that border, show with this combination, that design, more sober etc. Man, women are really artistic and selective.) Again, I picked up a new saree in a couple of minutes. This time I wanted to act a little more artistic - I asked him "Can you open it up and show" - He opened and showed. With a surprise, I asked "What is this? You try to cheat huh? Half of the saree doesn't have any designs. It's plain simple inside!" He, with a bit of giggle and an inch of smug, said "no sir, this comes inside like how it was inside when folded". I tried to make up saying "yeah, I know that. But this one seems to have less designs than its peers". He was like "No sir, nothing like that. Do you want to measure it?" I promptly replied, "I trust you, man. Please pack both the sarees!"

The sales owner was stuck in awe. He had a reasonably good sales with least effort - neither his shop's space was occupied nor his sales men were pained. I thought I should add atleast some value  - I told the shop keeper,  "Dude, do you know how much of your operational expenses been saved due to this sales? You should give me some better discount." Owner with his wide smile said, "Sir, we already have the best price. Have given you 20% discount already. Can't reduce further" - I continued, "Hmm.. You should encourage valuable customers like me. If you give me better price, there is a good chance that I would come again."  With a wide grin, he said, "Sure, sir.Please. Definitely come again" Sarees were packed and I was about to move out - the fellow customers in the shop still couldn't believe someone picking up 2 sarees in no matter of time. The owner handed over a voucher worth 1000 bucks. I knew he won't do it but I still asked, "Can I redeem it against the current bill." To which, he promptly replied, "No sir, this is for your next purchase"  I smiled and said "Thanks!" I was telling myself, "Will I come again or not. It all depends on how well the saree is being received!" ;)

Will Google "Square" Off Wolfram Alpha?

Semantic search and structured results are finally becoming reality - from re-search papers to real-search engines!

If you haven't tried Wolfram Alpha, give it a try. It is too good with some certain predetermined set of queries. Like:

• http://www78.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=microsoft+google+amazon
• http://www78.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=tan(x)

But... be ready to accept its "no results" for 90% of your queries. Yes, it would be premature to expect it to be on par with Google when it comes to the results.  We should call it a good analytical tool than a result-fetcher.

Of course, there are other semantic engines - Hakia, SenseBot, PowerSet (now part of Microsoft), DeepDyve, Cognition. But they don't seem to be very impressive (except maybe Hakia), as they are too limited in their capabilities or they have very narrow focus like Health, legal etc.  It could take few more years for them to be more useful.

Google also revealed its baby from its labs called "Google Squared".  It still may not be categorized as full-fledged semantic engine. All it does is present the results in the form of a table and you can define columns. Hmm, seems very exciting and does have very high potential. Suppose you want to get all Bollywood stars along with their personal details like DOB, whom they are going around with now - you can get it in single click. Fastest way to get gossips huh? Or if you want find all the companies in Sensex with their market cap, revenues, profit and P/E ratio, it's again, a single button away! But wait.. "Squared" is still at its infancy - For most of the queries, it does returns results, but the results are completely arbitrary. For. e.g. when you try the following query -
http://www.google.com/squared/search?q=indian+software+companies
the results ("squares" as they call it) don't make much sense at all. Again, it would take some years for Google to be synonymous with "squaring" like "searching".

Let's not become over-ambitious. One step at a time. There are existing engines like Hakia, Yahoo Glue Page and Ask which present the search results in a more engaging and useful manner than the traditional view of Google. The latest sensation, Bing, the 2nd innings of Live, the old lady with the sexier outfit, also has some marginal improvements like categorization and mouse-roll-over-summary of search results . Yes, the undisputed leader of search, Google, still needs to catch up with these new ladies.

But you know what... All these knowledge doesn't make me or most of the common people change their search preference. Google is still the King when it comes to the results, the content. Its simple, clean and fast response has been liked by everyone in the past. Will it still be the case in the age of Semantic search?

Re-Cycle

The first rain of the season. Its smell. The associated cool breeze. Yes, the rains of Mumbai have been pretending, threatening and teasing  their arrival for more than 2 weeks. Finally got some minor drizzles over the weekend. What could be a better way than to experience it by Cycling?

What was started as a small eco-friendly initiative has become a real fun weekend activity for my friend R and me. This weekend, we decided that we would cover some of the best places in Mumbai by cycle -

• Marine Drive: With its pukka road, amazing breeze and the Arabian sea to watch on your sides, this is clearly the best place to cycle in Mumbai. Ideal time to ride is Sunday early mornings (before sun, with literally no traffic, except fellow people who cycle / jog).
• Worli Sea-face: Another good place to cycle by-sea. The stretch is shorter and narrower than Marine Drive. It also gives better residential feel while cycling.
• BKC: You would wonder how such a vast commercial place in the middle of the city could still be peaceful, clean and less crowded. Yes, it was.. thanks to weekend. If you ever decide to cycle in Mumbai, don't miss BKC on a weekend.

With cycling, one gets a different feel for the city. I got present to the environment, the roads, the trees, the beauties, the sad states of the city on a scale more than I had ever done while traveling by car / bus / train. Be it the small incline / bumps in the road, or the innumerable gully cricket matches (happening simultaneously in a small ground which you would think is impossible), or the distressing living conditions of the people in slums (even in the areas considered to be upscale in Mumbai), the intensity of the experience is higher.

And even if you are not the type who goes gung-ho about the "experience" of the city, cycling is best as it burns the extra fat than the hydrocarbon. As a matter of Fact, one should give cycling a big thumbs up for multitudes of reason - Fun, Feel, Fuel and Fat. So, what F does it excite you for?

Nice Vs Nasty

Vikraman, a famous director in Tamil Cinema, known for his movies with feel good factor, makes run of the mill movies appealing to family audience in '90s. The heroes in his movies are so nice to people that you would wonder whether they have any self-respect and why such  impracticality. Being nice is ok, but being nice to a girl who ditches and humiliates him is simply atrocious.  Yes, happened to watch "portions" of his movie ('Unnai Ninaithu') starring Surya. Man, I should accept that I just couldn't appreciate what the hero did in the movie. It's title of the post - Being Nice vs Nasty. The immediate question that popped up was "Can one be nice to a nasty person and vice versa?"  The exploration continued...

Before jumping into the analysis, I feel one should be Natural and Normal before conditioning our responses. However, when we have the option, time and wisdom to think and respond, it does make sense to think which way to respond.

Someone once said "What you give is what you get back" - If not always, it's true in most occasions. Being nice may seem nice as you get back lots of niceties, but in reality, it's a little nasty for 2 reasons: (a) It may not be your "real" response (b) You might spoil the person who should have got it right the first time.  It's stupid of you to be nice to your kid who keeps making the mistake intentionally. Or if someone whips on one side of your ass, doesn't make sense to show the other side. You don't have to be nasty, but it doesn't make sense to be nice either.

The positive aspect of nastiness is that it could be very effective learning tool. It prepares us to face the real world. A kid only exposed to niceties from its parents is sure to face a shock when it enters the real world. A bit of nastiness and challenge could hit us hard - to learn, to understand and to mature as a person. The parathas won't have the yummy taste without the beatings it got, nor does the diamond shine without the abrasiveness it faced. Same story with your muscle and gold.

People always mistake whom to show their niceties and nastiness to. We have this insane habit of constantly judging people and rank them vis-a-vis us - from job, money, power and personality to family and friends. Through this comes the fictitious spectrum of superiority and inferiority in people's mind. You would have seen this in roads: Some auto driver hits a car, the rich guy from the car gets out and smashes the driver. Yes, it happens if the driver is meek and poor. Same doesn't happen for a 100 kg sardar truck driver with his muscles trying to break out of the shirt. Similarly, a drunken man slaps his wife but doesn't have the balls to resist when an employer slaps him. A teacher shouts at a student but becomes an yes-women for all the unethical activities of her higher officials. We show our power to the powerless and resist to show where and when it's required or challenged.

A true leader or a person who commands high respect from others never tries to be unnaturally nice to whom he considers his superiors. Nor does he screws the life of other category of people. He would be nice to the less fortunate group; remain confident, not sweeten the words and not lick the ass of the so called superiors.

To summarize, being natural is more important than the other two "N" cousins. What's is easy, favourable and doable may not be the best of the responses and most importantly, we might have to introspect and swap our current way of responses to people.

From the diary of Mr. Gagan

Jul 20: Today another poor soul joined our security forces. It takes the security personnel count to 5 for this apartment. For an apartment of ~125 houses with 400-500 people, I still believe it's understaffed. For providing round the clock security and maintenance, we people are paid peanuts. Yes, it's not a difficult job to do: opening & closing the gate. Still, we deserve a decent salary. Ok, forget money. At least some respect for the work we are doing!? Hmm.. these bloody residential morons treat us like dogs!

Jul 21: Yesterday was night duty and had a terrible experience with that Saale Sanjay. Rarely does any car come to the apartment after 1 am. It's unfair to expect me to be awake all night! That too, I should open the door at the sound of his car!? Hello, car makers of this world - can you please make some noisy cars than those as silent as hunting tigers? Let me come back to what happened.. He got out of the car, abused me to the core. I couldn't do anything than the apologetic reply of "Sorry saab, won't happen again." I still couldn't forget his last statement 'you sons of b****, you dogs eat like pigs and sleep like buffaloes. From tomorrow onwards, no food before night service.' Yes, I felt like a dog for being dependent on him.. and a buffalo, not for its laziness, but for its thick skin. Oh, God! I hate this job. Will I ever do more than the opening and closing of doors? And than the stupid salutes to these non-deserving people? Will I ever get a decent job?

Jul 22: I think God listened to my prayers. Tomorrow onwards, I will be shifted to Lift operations for wing B. While I am happy to be shifted to a cooler place. But I need to be a little careful, as wing B houses the arrogant auditor and the powerful politician. Our security person Ramu, who was working earlier in Wing B, got slammed every day. He even got slapped couple of times. Let me hope nothing like that happens for me.

Jul 23: I can't do this job. My happiness is very short-lived for a day! This new task, let me tell you, sucks totally. People want the lift to be in their floor the moment they press it. In the morning, every moron invariably shouts "why does it take so much time? you lazy bast***!" This city is impatient, people are impatient. Except may be my lift which is completely patient and takes its own sweet time to move from a floor to another. The universe is against me! City is ruthless full of cruel people. God, save me! Please send me back to my village.

Jul 24: After a long long time, something really nice happened today. For the first ever time, I heard the word "please". While I was stunned and remained speechless at her beauty, she entered the lift and said "Bhayya, 13th floor please". I didn't turn my face and looked at her. But the lift was filled with her brilliant fragrance and an unexplainable cheerfulness. Lift seemed to have reached 13th floor way too faster this time. She smiled and said "thank you bhayya". I replied "welkom madam". For the next 15-20 mins, I was just thinking when the lift would go back to 13th floor. And finally, it went. She entered the lift laughing with a young man. I felt a little dejected. But nevertheless, was happy for seeing her again. The lift started moving down. She asked me "Does the lift operate even during power cuts?". I replied enthusiastically "yes, madam. this is all time work. no rest lift. 24 hours work. security work 24 hours also." She had a mild giggle and said "good good. thanks a lot". I didn't understand why she was giggling, but it was good to watch her that way. For the next couple of seconds, I felt I should have told her "don't worry madam, even if the power back-up doesn't work, I will carry you all the way to floor 13 in my shoulders". She was telling to the man standing next to her, "ok bhayya, i think we should confirm this house for rent. Looks good. Nice location and amenities." I had a sigh of relief.

Sep 24: Nearly two months, since I last wrote my diary. There is a reason why I'm writing this now. Ms. Deepali, who made my heart race when she said "13th floor please", had shifted to the house in 13th floor along with her brother and mom. It's interesting how my life changed after Ms.Deepali shifted here - it has really become a Diwali. It's true that I initially perceived her as a thing of beauty. But soon realized that she's more than that. A person with a beautiful heart. Did I tell you what all she did to me? When I told my sad story to her and that I was in the edge of complete dejection about life, she didn't sympathize with me. She just said 'Who said life is fair and people would be nice to you always? Unless you make an effort, it's never going to change. What's the point in just regretting that you haven't studied? Who is stopping you from studying now? I will sponsor your education through distant learning program. You can use your free time. Will you sincerely make an attempt?' It was the day that changed my life. Still today, I'm pressing the up and down buttons of the lift. But I am doing it happily since it's just a part of my life. My bigger aspiration is to get the bachelors degree in the next 3 years. With the motivation of Ms. Deepali, I am sure to do that as well. After all, the world is not as bad as I thought it to be. There are gems of people. I just need to look around.

For a change..

For a change, this post is in Tamil. Apologies if you can't read it.

ஆழ் கடல் சூழ்ந்த ஆளில்லா அக்னித் தீவு அது!

அமைதி வேண்டுமென்றேன் அன்று,
அது போதுமென்றேன் இன்று..

அன்னத்தை புறக்கணித்தேன் அன்று,
அது புறமுதுகு காட்டியது இன்று..

பாசத்தில் பற்றில்லை அன்று,
பற்றிக்கொள்ள ஏதுமில்லை இன்று..

இயற்கை சூழவேண்டுமேன்றேன் அங்கு,
சூழ்ந்தது போதுமென்றேன் இங்கு..

தனிமை இனிமை என்றேன் அன்று,
அது இனிக்காது என்வாழ்வில் இன்று..

--
எட்டிய தூரத்தில் படகெதுவும் தோன்றவில்லை..
அருகில் தோன்றிய வானமோ எட்டவில்லை..

புரியும் மொழி பேசிக்கழிக்க தோழன் இல்லை..
எதிரே நின்று பேசும் குயிலின் மொழி புரியவில்லை..

தாகம் தணிக்க தேடிய குடிநீர் கிடைக்கவில்லை..
தேடாமல் கிடைத்த கடல்நீர் தாகம் தணிக்கவில்லை..

சற்று நேரம் களைப்பாற ஒரு மர நிழலுமில்லை..
நித்தமும் எனைத் தொடரும் நிழலோ களைப்பாகவில்லை..

கண் மூடி எனை மறக்க நல்ல படுக்கை இல்லை..
கடல் படுக்கைக்கோ மூடிக்கொள்ள கண் இமையுமில்லை..

வேலை செய்து பிழைக்க வேண்டிய அவசியமில்லை..
அவசியமற்ற இப்பிழைப்புக்கோ இனி வேலைஇல்லை..

--
கண்ணை மூடினேன்
கடலில் மூழ்கினேன்
கழுத்தை நெறித்தேன்
கதிரவன் தோன்றினான்
காலை உதித்தது
கதவு திறந்தது
காற்று வந்தது
கனவு கலைந்தது!

Move on

Our house was sober on Saturday - It's the house of 3 die-hard fans of CSK. All were deeply disappointed with the dismal performance of CSK in IPL-2 semi-final.

I tried hard to convince myself saying that it's after all a game, winning & losing are all part of the game and that "the better playing team deserves to win", I just couldn't let it go. I'm sure every die-hard-fan of DD or CSK would have gone through the same. Eager and Enthusiasm to experience every CSK match... Wearing a not-so-sophisticatedly-designed / coloured jersey which when worn, made people in the roads give a weird look at you...  Yes, a month long dream and drama finally ends with disappointment. Not just that - you lose the chance to play in Champions League. You had such a great batting-line-up, you topped in the league table and finally end up nowhere - that's what was frustrating.

Saturday night. As they call it, I told myself "Let me take a step back" - I realized there is a strong correlation between my Happiness Index and the performance of India Cricket team and off late, CSK. Why so? Why so much attachment to a cricket team? Why not such an attachment to let's say MI or RCB teams (I love these cities as well). So, it's not a phenomenon of city. Nor is it completely cricket. All that were needed were inclusion of some players I admire in the team, the team winning some (if not all) matches and some free time to watch and think about the matches.

It become clear that there is no clear-cut-rational why people follow some team over the other. Most people follow some team and keep following it for no reason. People shift their loyalty based on the winning teams. There are people who support teams just to frustrate their friends.  But "attachment" is the stronger and evil cousin of "supporting". It makes you feel the extremes - be it happiness or dejection.

The next day. People at home forgot that CSK lost - life looked normal - Everyone got busy in lazying around. Friend commented "there are bigger problems to face in life". Comes the bliss part of attachment - Unlike commitment, every attachment will eventually get over. Some of them after a day's dream. Others after few weeks or years. Yes, eventually, we all "move on" in life. 

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,

You along with your UPA colleagues have made people laugh at the predictions of experts such as Swaminathan Aiyar, N.Ram, Cho Ramaswamy and the 'never-accurate' exit polls. It's clear that people have voted for your capability, integrity (though both questionable at lower levels) and stability. Yes, you had the lady luck on your side. Nevertheless a "thumbs-up" victory and my hearty congratulations for the same. Here is a set of requests from yet-another Hindustani:

The Basics:

• Right people for your ministries: Getting this right is more than half job done. Remember what happened to the National security with Ex-Home Min Mr.SP. Please don't compromise on the quality of the ministers based on pressure from allies or oldies playing the "loyalty" card. Please give priority to Clean and Capable people. I really liked the idea suggested by Director Shankar in movie Mudhalvan (Nayak in Hindi) to have 2 ministers for every department - an enthusiastic youth accompanied by a wise experienced. Please look at its feasibility. This election saw a never-before emphasis on youth both from electing and elected.
• Play long term: Hopefully you don't have the headache of constant black-mail from your allies. So, please don't resort to populist initiatives. Rather go with what's good for the country in long term. You have good full 5 years to play full on.
• The crucial 100-day plan: By "play long term", I didn't mean relax and let things happen at its own pace. Be it a new born baby or a beleaguered economy or a bankrupt organization,  the first 100 days are crucial and set the stage for the future progress. I request you and your colleagues to not get complacent over the victory and ignore these initial days.

The "3-E"s:

1. Education: Things have changed quite a bit since the years of Lord Macaulay. Though our overall literacy rates are still low, we have moved from the stages of simple "increase literacy rate". India needs to have its focus shifted towards "Quality Education". A complete reformation, transformation and a transmutation at a war-like speed is required. Please don't just rely on panels which does an exhaustive analysis and stops there. A collaborative result oriented action required. Think of Public-private partnership. Encourage better coordination between central and state governments. Develop new programs for personalities and corporate to adopt schools.
2. Economic Development: Whatever bad is said and written about Mr. Modi, he should be acknowledged for bringing Gujarat its vibrancy (or at least the image which would help in economic development). If Modi can do it to Gujarat, why can't Mr. Manmohan do it to the entire nation. Yes, simple things like making the nation attractive for foreign investment and working closely with industry players. It might read a bit Management-ish, but please try to draw a road-map for the next 5-10 years for India - What are the core industries that we need to focus on and how can India be more competitive in the increasing globalized economy.
3. Empowerment: A progressive empowerment (unlike your UP allies) especially for Rural, Women and Youth. I know you would attribute this election win to the aam-aadmi policies. I agree with you. Please revive some of the popular large-scale, high potential initiatives, which were largely ineffective due to poor execution. Need for the country are the initiatives on Youth Empowerment, Vocational skills development, Support to Microfinance / Self-Help Group /Small enterprises & entrepreneurs. Please get a passionate and capable person like Rahul for this department. We need to get this done at any cost.

I know that all these are easier said than done. But freedom from non-progressive parties should definitely make it easier than your last term.

I also know you know all these. Still.. we Indians become very expressive when it comes to having expectations from politicians.  Yes, our expectations are running high. Hope you fulfill them. We would soon know whether our Singh is the Real King!

Guide.. Chide..

The Age of 13 to 18. An important transition period in the adult kid's life. Mysterious physical & physiological changes. Significant pressure in studies and peer recognition. Important decisions about career. People try to find his own identity. A period in which the entire world is full of "enemies". A transition from a happy playful place to a serious, unfair and cruel world. The teenagers start understanding the world and most importantly understanding themselves.

Such an important and challenging phase of life. But does our society understands this and treats the teenagers the right way? In my opinion, it's a big NO. Especially, the parents and teachers who play a significant role in shaping the lives of teenagers.

First, the parents: Many parents still treat the teenager as a kid - they want the children to do what they think is ideal for the children - Do this, do that, don't watch that, don't play, study, don't eat that, eat this. Yes, there is good intention. But what's the use if it's counter-productive? Most parents deny the freedom the teenagers yearn for. Yes, it's like walking on a tight rope - No that easy to take sides - to be strict or liberal. Those who have taken the extremes have probably screwed the good prospects of their child. So, what can they do? First, make a very honest attempt to understand the child. One has no choice but to be a friend, as a teenager doesn't like anyone else except his/her friends. Physically and mentally try to be young. Try understanding the Gen-X culture - what they like, do, see etc. Talk their language. Listen to them. Take them around places. Treat their friends well. Yes, it's too much to ask for. But the rewards are plenty.

Second, the teachers: I feel there are 3 levels of teachers: (1)
Officers: They are just Salary-Drawers. They have absolutely no regard for the development for the students - "As long as I get my salary, it's fine" kind of mentality (2) Preachers: Teaching is an obligation and a ritual for them. They do their job reasonably well, but they stop at teaching what the text book says (3) Gurus: Best among the lot - really committed to the students - teaching is their passion and they truly are interested in the welfare of the students. They want to develop students as good all-rounded personalities. They teach, explain, listen, coach, guide and most importantly understand. I feel the current split between the 3 categories would be - 50-60% in #1, another 30-40% in #2 and a meager 10% in #3. Most people agree that that the quality of teachers and teaching has been going down a lot (esp. in semi-urban and rural areas). Even if we have 20% of teachers in #3 category, we can significantly improve the lives of teenagers. To do that, a concerted effort is required from Government, teachers and private organizations. The educational department has to develop and build people like the Infosys & Wipros of the India.

So.. before chiding and guiding the teenagers to behave in a certain way, the parents and teachers of India need to really understand the children.

Disclaimer: This post is NOT a reflection of how I was treated as a teenager. Rather, what I saw, knew, heard, read from friends and others.

Whom to trust? (Part 2)

Trusting is like setting on a voyage while "not trusting" is staying on the shore. With trust comes the risk. No risk, no return. No risk, no life. To live, one needs to trust - at least to live as a human being. Having said that, it's important that we take "calculated" risks.

Trust derives from one's reputation - the congruence between  words & actions. Trust is expressed at multiple levels - be it for others [politicians, strangers, acquaintance, friend, dear ones in the ascending order], OR for oneself [physical,  emotional, intellectual, intuitional (or 'spirit'ual) and one's core values].

So, it doesn't matter whether you trust X or Y. But you need to trust something to move on in life. I think it wouldn't be wrong saying "Start trusting, start living"

Whom to trust? (Part 1)

"Today you can't trust anyone" - started my pessimistic friend. Let's call him PF. PF went a little philosophical, "Forget anyone else. Can you trust your own self? Your emotions, your belief, your desires, your intellect, your decisions, your intuition. All of them can put you down. All of them can cheat you!"

PF continued "My intellect said I should become a Banker. Seems like I was wrong. My emotions told me firmly: if at all I marry, I should marry this girl. What a terrible mistake! My childhood desire was to buy the biggest and fastest buses and trucks possible, which I feel are totally absurd today.

I once believed in Gods in temples, which seems like total immaturity today. My human design system asked me to be nice and caring towards people - but today, I feel honesty matters than anything else. My intuition told me everything can't be so fickle and fake - but you know what.. Let me not fall into the trap again! Let me not trust it again!"

For a moment I was shaken. PF isn't totally wrong - He has a point. For heaven's sake, you never know whether you live in a real world or a Matrix. So, is everything fake? You can't trust anyone including your own self?

My answers to PF in Part 2 of the post next week.

@Regular:

Was just reading the book Tuesdays with Morrie

IPL: Economics and Entertainment

From being the "Manoranjan Ka Baap" last summer to going live as "Ek Desh Ek Junoon" yesterday, Indian Premier League (IPL) saw big drama this year - the clash between Government & IPL organizing committee resulting in bumper prize for South Africa. Yes, we are going to greatly miss the usual shouts, roars, bellows and  the boos which we were used to in the last season. Nevertheless, let's hope the healthy clashes on the ground between the players would give us solid entertainment.

Just a minor personal digression: The first clash between Chennai & Mumbai teams was a good fun. Remember, IPL is no fun unless you support a team. I have been strongly supporting Chennai from the beginning. But this year, things have a changed a bit - Mumbai, a stranger city till last year, has become an integral part of my life - the city is like a wife to any Mumbai-kar (because you will have all reasons to love and hate it simultaneously). So, when there is a clash between your mother and wife, which side will you take? I think many men just try to escape; few 'fairness' fugitives, who try to be impartial and instill justice, just gain the hate of both; the third smart group acts as if he's supporting mom in public and privately confesses (or lies) to wife that he just acted up. Coming back to the point: I can't disown my motherly team after the arrival of a new lovely team. So, the pecking order is still Chennai and then Mumbai.

Last year, I being relatively free, managed to watch most of the matches. My father looking at people's craze for IPL, commented "If the entire country is watching cricket like this.. if everyone is sitting in front of the TV instead of work or study, what would happen?  God save our economy!" Yeah, he is a mathematician, not an economist. Nonetheless, a valid concern. To paraphrase, the key is question: Apart from entertainment, will IPL improve / hinder the overall economic activity?

Of course, it's a clean case for improved economic activity in South Africa. So, let's try to focus on the economic implications for India. For simplicity sake, let's assume higher economic activity means additional "end user" consumption.

Let's categorize the universe of population into 3:

1. Category X - Non-spectators: People like my Dad, who doesn't watch IPL at all. It doesn't change their world in any way - Let's assume their consumption is unaltered.
2. Category Y - Jobless Spectators: They watch the match at the cost of other "economically" non-value added activities (e.g. instead of IPL, watching Roadies in MTV, chatting with a friend, fighting with spouse etc) - Ok, I understand your concern - "How can you say that I don't add any value by watching Roadies? I am exposed to Ads, which in turn could induce consumption." Yes, it would, but  similar things happen with IPL as well. So, there could be change in consumption, but very less scope for "additional" consumption
3. Category Z - Obsessive Spectators: These people watch matches at the cost of other value added activities. E.g. You decide not to go out for dinner / shopping, you close down your shop earlier than usual, lower efficiency in job due to lack of attention to customer / software coding etc.

So, for category Z: If the additional consumption resulting from watching IPL outweighs the reduction in economical activity, we have the case for positive impact on economy from IPL. I read IPL II will rack at least  Rs. 800 Cr., with more than half of it coming from TV telecast. Last year's avg. TRPs (TV rating points) have been in the range of 2-3. Let's be conservative and assume TRP to be 2 and 50%-50% split between category Y and Z. This implies 1% of targeted population have been actively watching the match. If the major targeted audience of IPL is little less than 20% of India's population (200 million), TRP of 1 (1% of 200 mn) implies 2 million people.

• Estimation of additional consumption: Approx. Rs. 1,350 Cr:
  • Direct Rs. 300 Cr. from merchandise, players' salary, job opportunities for IPL / franchises etc
  • People traveling to South Africa from India: 50 matches with 20,000 audience per match => 1 million audience. Assume 1% of this audience is traveling from India =>10,000 people. Additionally, assume another 250 Indian players (30 players per team) and 250 people from IPL organizing team. Overall 10,500 people. Assume 50% use Indian carriers.  Assuming an expense of 50,000 per person, it would be additional Rs. 26 Cr (Seems not much!)
  • A marketing spend of Rs. 300 Cr. - Let's assume marketing people don't throw away money without getting value for every buck that they spend. So, the present value of the returns from the marketing spend has to be at least Rs. 300 Cr. Assuming average 15% profit margin, this would translate as additional Rs. 2,000 Cr. in companies' top line. Again with 50-50% split between Y & Z - 1,000 Cr is just shift in consumption while Rs. 1,000 Cr. is additional consumption
• Estimation of Z's reduction in job efficiency: Rs. 360 Cr
  • With India's per capita income of Rs.52,500 (US$ 1,050) - with 240 working days in a year, this would translate as Rs. 220/- per day per person. Yeah, probably the per capita of the target audience might be higher than the overall average, but again it could be compensated to some extent by people who don't earn (e.g. students and kids) - So, let's assume it to be just double - Rs. 450/- Let's assume a 10% reduction in efficiency for 40 days for these 2 million people => Rs 360 Cr

So, even if you think the so-many-assumptions in the above calculations are to be changed, the gap is way too much that it makes me believe that IPL brings in more economical activity to the country than otherwise.

Forget economics! Even if IPL doesn't bring in any additionally economic activity, the entertainment that it brings in,  is worth having IPL for! Simple nah! ;)

@Regular

With ongoing battle between movie producers and theatre owners, Mumbai is deprived of good movies. So, just resorting to IPL and books - One hundred years of solitude and The art of war.

The First and the Last

It was a small shop near my home - The repair beds, bags, sofas etc. The first ever time I visited - to get my shoulder bag fixed. With my broken Hindi, I tried explaining the problem to the owner, a fairly old man. I know - My Hindi would have made him ask this question - "Are you from Madras?"  For a moment, I thought these North Indians think anyone down south as Madrasi. But our man was different - He followed with the question "Kerala or Tamil Nadu?" After I replied "Tamil Nadu", his mouth widened with a big smile, beaming a mix of black, red and yellow lights from his partly-available-pan-strained teeth. He started singing a popular old Tamil song "Ponal Pogattum Poda.. Intha boomi-yil nilaiyaai vaazhthavar yaarada.. " (let bygones be bygones as nobody in this world is mortal..)

For a moment, I was stupefied. To say the least, his Tamil was better than my Hindi. He then elaborated how he learned this song: 'I don't Tamil, but when I was in my school in Gujarat, there was a singing competition. While everyone chose to sing in the languages known to them, I chose Tamil'. He went on for a couple of minutes about the competition and the song. As I was tempted to ask the question on his interest in Tamil, our man pre-empted with the answer: 'Her name was Paarvathy - She was a Tamilian - She is a very good lady.. very intelligent girl'  He completed by winking, 'She taught me not just to sing, but so many other things in life.'  His face and the corresponding expression changed quite a bit when he talked her - a mix of happiness, longing & some nostalgic feeling, a bit emotional - Can't exactly describe how the man was different explaining about this First Love.

Yes, THE first love is quite unforgettable and nostalgic for many people. In fact, it's not just love - the first day at school (yes, I know - most of you would have cried and revolted to go to such a place), your first day in your dream college, the first job & the first month salary, the first ever visit to a city / country abroad, the first kiss, making love for the first time, your first baby and the first ever time you hold the baby in your hands, first ever time your kid beats you in a game or sports. The list goes on.. the list of "first"s you cherish (and regret in some instances) can be never ending. The first is always special, as you can have only ONE first.

Same logic to the Last. The last day in college, last day at work, the last conversation before the death of a loved one, the last day of leaving your homeland (as a refugee to some other country), the last few days of a dying person etc. [The last can be an exception to kids. When moms ask their kids to stop the TV / games and study - Kids invariably say "Mommy, one last game pleasssssse.." - The Gods of the Universe know that it would never be "ONE" last]

People distinctly remember the First and Last. Their commitment, awareness and level of involvement would be at their best. How would our experiences be, if we treat all of our activities, work, play and conversations etc to be The First or The last?

@Regular

Summer has begun and we completely, fully, wholly, entirely, and totally experienced it when we planned for a trek at Kajrat, 100 KM from Mumbai. The scorching sun spoiled the otherwise good trip.

The book "The circle of Reasons" was abandoned after reading the first quarter - Quality writing, but was was too boring to my taste.  Currently reading books with interesting and esoteric titles such as "Life after Life - Actual case studies that reveal there is life after death" written by a doctor who studied 150 people with near death experiences, "Conversations with God - An uncommon dialogue  - Book 3". Yes, I am skeptical of both the books and their concepts, nevertheless exploring.. :)

Confront Congestion

India's 300 million city dwellers add up to one-tenth of the world's urban population. Mumbai could soon cross Tokyo as the most populated city globally. Population in Delhi has grown by nearly 10x from 1950. The graph below shows how the population (in Million) has grown in some Indian Metros:

So, it's higher economical activities / opportunities VIS-à-VIS higher cost of living, higher pollution, ruthless traffic etc..

Ok, the post is not to debate on whether this growth is good or bad. Rather to look into how well prepared are we to manage this. Especially, Traffic Congestion.

Yes, it's a no brainer that we are not prepared fully.. just to give you a sample:

In the last ten years, road length increased by 20% and cars by 132% in Urban India.

Does it bring you bad memories of being stuck in traffic and cursing everyone left, right and center (the political parties / Govt); the front, back, sides (the vehicles & fellow drivers); the top, middle and bottom (the people - friends, family & work)?

On a serious note, traffic congestion is a dead weight loss to the society as it affects people emotionally (losing patience, getting irritable, not spending time with family etc), financially (losing businesses, delays), environmentally (more fuel consumption) etc. Again a couple of samples:

• Delhi NCR area - 420 million man-hours are lost every month due to traffic congestion
• Congestion costs Bengalurians $1.8 billion a year in fuel and vehicle maintenance alone

Oops! 420 mn hours of torture monthly for people! Imagine how many Dads would have shouted at their kids, husbands at their wife, bosses at their poor employees! All thanks to the congestion! (And Salman Khan won't give you prize in Dus Ka Dum to guess the % of people who attribute "coming late" to "traffic jam" - Yes, by far, it would be the highest!)

Fair enough, one of the most irritating problems, the urban India faces! But what about the solution? Had it been so simple, it would have been solved by now, right? Or are we missing something?

For a common man, it's all about solving his own problem: Skip the signal, travel in opposite / wrong lanes, change lane abruptly, take a U, R, L, Z where it's not supposed to be taken etc.

For bureaucrats / government bodies, it's all about Obligation (if not Omission). Optimization is a distant dream.

Researchers all over the world, be it in mathematics, physics or economics - have tried / been trying to develop models. (Take this sample: a study by IISc suggests a simple solution of synchronizing Bengaluru traffic signals in a particular way to reduce waiting time) Yes, millions of solutions proposed. Implementation / Coordination is the missing link.

You ask an MBA person. He would say - at a high level, it's just common sense to solve this problem - do one or a combination of the following: increase the supply (roads, infrastructure), reduce the demand (personal vehicles), improve the efficiency of meeting the demand with the supply. He / she is good at solid structuring, result-orientation, efficiency etc. All these are good, but what about practicality?

So, to confront the ever growing monster called traffic congestion, you can't fight individually - you need an army. He is a terrible villain - you need Amar, Akbar and Anthony to join hands to beat him! Yes, what is needed is the coordinated effort from different streams such as Research institutes, Government bodies, Private organizations (or Management entities) and most importantly the People.

*Data Source (In addition to Wikipedia, Google): Sify, The Hindu, Wired

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@Regular:

You get a long weekend, this is what would happen. A mix of awesome movies (To Kill A mocking Bird and The International) with bad ones ( 8x10 Tasveer - Bollywood / Akshay Kumar Movie - A very poor execution of an interesting idea; Ayan - Tamil movie starring Surya / Tammanna - Surya, please don't go down the drain as some thala(pathi)s are doing - we expect good movies from you!). Also catching up with The Maximum City and The circle of Reasons.

Munna-Bayya CSA

Munna is 7 years old and all his seven years are spent in the slums of Mumbai. Yes, life has been harsh & ruthless to him, but never ever had he felt it to be unsafe. With his entire family around, especially his 17 yr old Bayya, he never thought the world could be unsafe. Yes, it felt safe until that Friday. Until that "incident" happened. In the past, more than once, Bayya had asked Munna to do "things" which Munna never understood completely - but he completely trusted Bayya and just did. Yes, until the "incident" happened. Munna was shattered. He was horrified. Though he doesn't understand everything even today, Munna realized Bayya's intentions weren't right after the incident. He had started feeling dirty himself and shameful for all the things he had done for his Bayya. For a week, Munna couldn't sleep properly. At nights, he has been getting jitters and nightmares of demons stripping him and asking him to do things he had never imagined.

The incidents of "Munna"s are not very uncommon, as per the National Study of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) 2007 which claims that more than 53% of children in India report facing some form of sexual abuse. Yes, I can hear you "I can't believe it. It is shocking". Yes, it IS.

Many felt the extensive coverage of Mumbai's Mira Road incest case is just typical of media - overrated & sensational. I beg to differ. If media gets a little bit more intelligent, it can create a much wider awareness of the bigger social issue - Child Sexual Abuse. Most people are not even aware of what it's, how intense the problem is and how can it be handled.

As a first step, openly talking about it and spreading the awareness is of paramount importance.

Hmm.. I can sense how majority of the Indians would easily ignore the issue citing (a) it's too bad to talk about anything with the word "sex" in family or in public (b) it's too sensitive a topic to handle for them / kid (c) "I'm insensitive because it hasn't affected me, nor am I expecting it to affect my family in future."

It's like how people opposed Sex education in school, citing it's inappropriate in a country with its rich tradition, culture and values - but you know what - we are the third most populous country, when it comes to AIDS

Let's wake up hypocrites! Yes, 53% is an alarming number for a country which boasts itself of having revered family values.

Most of the information that follow are courtesy Arpan, an NGO working out of Mumbai on CSA.

Why should we bother about CSA?

• CSA happens more often than we think - yes, 53% facing some form of abuse. Unfortunately, half of the offenders are trusted personalities of the child like family, friends, relatives & neighbours
  
• It affects the child at physical (illness), mental (trauma), emotional (shame, depression), social (withdrawl, overtly sexualized behaviour) - at no fault of their own
  
• Most importantly, victims often become future offenders - Study says 50% - if not checked properly, it could grow like a virus!

Check out the arpan website on how to help the child be aware of and prevent the issue. It's not just to help kids, but also for the adults to become aware.

-------------------------

@Regular

Currently engaged on the novel "The Namesake" - The story of a Bengal family in the USA.

The Movie "Watchmen" - Quite liked the special effects, story line (except the climax) and the music - Just that the movie could have been easily split into 2 or 3 parts. The other movie "Broken English" was a ok-ish - Expecting "Enlighten" to screen much better movies in future.

Nature is calling!

@Random

The novel Kite Runner made me remember my childhood days. Oh, no.. I'm NOT going to list down what all crazy things I did as a kid - Rather relate 'one' childhood habit, we are all aware of, to how different professionals could probably do today.

Disclaimer: Just a pure imagination! Laugh it out and ignore - Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.

In many instances, kids ask for loo, not because they want to, but because they are sick and bored of the class - They just want to go out, roam a bit and have some fresh breeze. The process by which you go about asking your teacher for loo depends on the class, school, the mood of the teacher and the timing. For e.g. it's highly unlikely that the teacher allows you, if you ask him when he's in a bad mood or when you ask close to the interval. Most importantly, you should have earned the trust of the teacher that you are genuine - You can prove the same by one of these (a) study well in the class or be the teacher's favorite (b) ask for loo less frequently (c) last but not the least, you should have pissed in the class room in the past - this is probably the best way to put real threat to the teacher - The moment the teacher sees you asking for loo, he says "please go ahead.. you don't need to ask.. just please go".

The process of asking gets more sophisticated as you move up in class as well - In class 1 or 2, you raise your hand showing 1 or 2 fingers. By high school, you write your need in a paper with details such as name, purpose, time level of urgency etc. Ok, don't get nostalgic about your pissing days.. let's come back to the blog..

Just an imagination on how the following set of professionals would go about on the issue of Loo with the superiors (or managers or clients or customers)..

1. A Software Guy X: To his colleague Y, "Man, this manager is sucking big time.. He doesn't even let me take a break for loo or sutta.. He goes 20 times everyday in the name of networking or 1:1.. But when it comes to me, he says I should work more efficiently by avoiding breaks.. Now I found an idea.. an idea that can change my life.. I will tell him that innovations happen in rest rooms and that I got my best ideas when I'm pissing." Y replies - "Seems like an idea, let me know if it works".. 1 week later, X's tables and computers are being shifted.. X's manager smiling to his glory and telling to Y, "You know what! X is getting a special desk, a place where his brain works the best.. where he becomes very innovative.."
2. A Marketing Professional: To public, through his ad: Mom says to her kid "Aaj Loo-na bandh" - Kid is very upset.. goes to upstairs and pisses on neighbours flower pots.. comes back and sits quietly on his chair.. Mom looking at his gloomy mood says "Ok, drink the milk.. go & loo". Kid smiles and says "Neighbour ka phone aayaa thaanaa.." It finishes with "Vishwas karo, Pandiware bathroom fittings! Never ever your kid has to loo on neighbors' plants"
3. An Investment Banker X: To his VP Y, "Mr. Y, Do you think we should really go and suggest the client to buy Sulabh & Co? The client is already in deep sh**. Buying that Looing company on top of it will kill the company". VP with his sarcastic smile, "Who cares about that man? Market is heavily undervaluing Sulabh & Co. They should definitely consider acquiring. We should pitch as if it's a high value add for them. We can say them if required, we will do a loo show in the road, and help the founders raise money"
4. A Consultant: To the client, "You need to build a chain of restrooms throughout the country - Not only does it give you an unparalleled competitive advantage, but also helps to backward integrate your operations in a cost efficient way. In addition, your sales people would be all the more happy to use them from all strategic locations - It gives them the extra edge which your competitors lack currently. Our preliminary evaluations reveal that your top-line will grow by 52% and bottom-line (no pun intended) by a whooping 133%. In the past, we have worked with many such clients and have developed a proprietary framework - We suggest you hire us - We will visit all the locations spread across multiple geographies, verify whether it's worth investing by actually looing"
5. A Politician: To the speaker in the assembly, "Loo-ing is my birthright. How can you just let only people from XYZ party piss and bar us from doing so? Till our last breath, we will fight for our birth-right. And members of XYZ are making it an unnecessary political issue - that we are not delivering our duty. Let me assure you, Mr. Speaker - for every 5 mins I spent on Loo, I worked for 10 mins extra in the office. We do a great service to the country by frequenting to loo. Our party have a great tradition and ideology on looing. If anyone comes and says we shouldn't loo, I will cut his.. hand"
6. The Super Star Rajni: Everyone is surprised that Superstar never asks for loo. They ask for his secret. He says in his own style "Naan eppo poven, enga poven-nnu yaarukkum theriyaathu.. aanaa, poga vendiya nerathula kandippaa poven" ("When I go, Where I go, nobody knows! But when I have to go, I will go!") He finishes it with, "Aandavan solraan, Arunachalam mudikkuraan" ("God proposes, Me disposes"). While this dialogue was going on, some random fellow rings the bell in the near by temple - Oops, superstar says "Sollittaan" ("He said so") and starts pissing in the same place where was he was standing.

@Regular

Jokes apart, "Kite Runner" was an amazing read. It took me to the country which the world today is associating with Terrorism. It gives a glimpse of how the terrorism and wars have affected common people.. I would highly recommend it for anyone.

Two Nasiruddin Shah movies this week - Firaaq and Barah aana - While the former is very serious as it takes the sensitive topic of common people behavior in Gujrat post the 2002 communal rites (the directorial debut of Nandita Das), the latter is about the life of 3 people in the bottom of the pyramid: how they hate their menial jobs & are being exploited by their bosses and how they end up doing what they have never imagined in their life - A bit funny but makes you realize the hard realities of life of poor people. Both are good short movies without item numbers of random females or heroes dancing with his chest open for public view. Watch them, if you have a flavor for them.

Visited Elephanta Islands after being in Mumbai for 9 months. Amazing place. It's a 1 hr 15 mins of boat ride from Gateway of India. You can spend a couple of hours in the island - Apart from the awesome caves and carvings, you get to see nice Indian handicrafts made of marbles, stones, silk, wood etc. If you ever visit to Mumbai, don't miss this.

What drives you?

@Random

Happiness. Food. Love. Status. Power. Money. Sex. Fun. Contribution. Success. Recognition. Peace. Rest.

This is fairly the list most people would come up, when they are asked 'What single thing that drives you to do what you do?' Each of these would have varying levels of driving power with few of them being the 'ends' with others the 'means'. Yes, the prioritized list "depends" on the person.

Hmm.. so what?

Because, knowing the answer helps in 2 ways:

1. Know thyself better - aids to choose the right profession (leisure activity or for that matter, 'anything' that one wants to do in life) and do it an effective and efficient way (Yes, MBA with consulting career corrupts one's mind to use cliched jargons like these! ;))
   
2. Know a bit of others, so that you can suitably motivate them!

So, let's continue with our analysis...

I think these forces can be mapped to 3 different human emotions. First is fear - that of punishment, non-acceptance, death, deficit, hazards, injury, security etc. The motivational tool associated with fear is 'stick'. Second is desire (and its stronger cousin greed) - that for luxury, wealth, beauty, power, acceptance etc. The motivational kit that works with this emotion is 'carrot'. The last one is passion. This is probably more self-driven than the other two. Can also be summarized as getting motivated externally vis-à-vis inspired internally.

This is how, you and me, the non-psychology students would think and come up with an unstructured analysis. Never mind - The infamous "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" is a well accepted, structured, exhaustive and most authoritative analysis on human motivation. Seems like all of us climb up the pyramid till we reach Self-Actualization!

Courtesy: Wikipedia
(Click the figure to read the text)

Not bad.. our 3 emotion analysis fits as well - Fear: Levels 1-3, Desire: Levels 2-4, Passion: Levels 4-5. So, to reach higher levels, you need to move from fear to desire to passion as the motivational tool.

Oh, yeah.. like any other tool, these can be used in both ways - constructively or destructively, as life keeps the options always open for us. As human beings, we should exercise our mind to think and choose the 'right' path.

@Regular

Gulaal was the movie. (Gulaal - in Hindi means the red power used during Holi). The movie takes you to the world of modern day Rajputs. True to its caption 'Love, Power and Revolution', it had all the elements but in a distorted manner. Director Anurag Kashyap's yet another non-conventional movie. Almost everyone in the movie is imperfect, selfish, and tries to accomplish his / her own agenda - Be it the manly Kay Kay Menon or the lady Kiran who goes to any lengths to attain the power or the innocent Dilip who brings the twist in the end - every character is well etched. Except may be the drug addict cum lady lecturer, who apart from giving philosophical dialogues to Dilip (e.g. "you loved her so much that you didn't see her") doesn't fit well into the story. It's a serious movie (except may be in a couple of place with dialogues like "Mere paas maa hai"). Definitely, a different experience watching the movie. I would say do not give it a miss.

Off late, I lost hope in motivational / self-help books. In many cases, they are cliched, very biased, impractical, too-obvious, repetitive and inaccurate. My belief just got reinforced with the last book I read. I was deceived by the categorization of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" as "Business" both by Warner books and my librarian, in addition to the book-selves of my B-school friends. The author himself agrees that he is a terrible writer, but he clarifies one needs to be a good seller - like how his books are selling like hot chocolate cake. I'm not saying the book is 100% bakwaas - There are few sensible things like:

• Learn to use your emotions to think, not think with your emotions
• Don't work for money, let it work for you. Work to Learn
• With each push, life is saying "Wake up, there is something I want you to learn"
  

But it could been said in far few pages than 260. Hmm.. seems true - "Quality of the product is less important than how much you understand your customers and how well you sell it"