Thinking aloud

Another case of too many cooks ...

2011-12-17T22:35:00.002+05:30

So....in next few days our parliament would discuss Food Security Bill. I read somewhere that GoI would spend more than Rs. 6 Lac Crores (INR 6000 Bn ~ USD 1.2Tn) in next few years ( I guess 3 years) under this scheme.

Does it mean that GoI, which wants to open up Indian Retail sector under the pretext that it would attract investment in Food / Agre SCM (I guess work a few thousand Crores) and ease inflation in India, has a surplus of of the above amount to support a free-bee scheme. However, it does not have a few thousand Cr. rupees to create the agri-infrastructure of its own, though that would still be the worst case scenario.

A few years back, GoI, of course under a more visionary leadership, proposed PPP framework to usher physical infrastructure creation in India. Alas, that vision is dead. Else, downstream agri-infrastructure including cold storage and warehouses along with much needed upstream infrastructure of irrigation channels, would have started by now. This was not to be.

Today's India would always be remembered in its history as the period when many economists were at helm of things but led India to nadir. Such a pity that a country having such a big domestic market and having achieved food self-sufficiency decades ago is facing a food-price led inflation. Here is a economy, where up to 40% fruit & vegetable produce is lost during its journey from farm to market, international conditions are blamed for food-price led inflation. Here is a economy, where govt. feels it is more prudent to spend borrowed amount in proving free-lunch to its electorate rather than creating infrastructure and policy frameworks to ensure low food prices. Here is a system, which believes that it is better to provide fish to its population rather than teaching them how to catch fishes. And, this economy and this system is headed by an economist with another economist as second-in command and another economist as head of planning. So many cooks and still all rotten foods. For today and for days, rather years, to come.

LOKPAL? ....so what?

2011-12-12T22:57:00.003+05:30

Well...it seems Lokpal, in some form, would be a reality but I am not enthused. Given the efficacy of similar institutions, CVC or CBI, in Indian system, I won't be surprised to find it becoming another morbid white elephant and another mean to reward working / retired bureaucrats.

In my view, a more sensible approach would have been to make the existing institutions / provisions more efficient and accountable. Adding another layer of monitoring / control is certainly not going to help us as a progressive system. It would be rather surprising to expect PSUs, which are anyway working under 9 layers of monitoring / supervision to work better once the 10th one becomes effective.

Dunno, where we as a country, as an economy and as a society are heading? Certainly not in the right direction in the near future.

The Animal Farm

2010-01-27T23:33:00.004+05:30

A couple of days back I finished reading a non-fiction "Red Sun". Irrespective of whatever feedbacks mentioned on the covers of the book or the writer has chosen to highlight on the front pages, the writer is not "unbiased". The author chooses to justify my initial fears, of what to expect from a bhadralok writing on the issue of Naxalism. If a protagonist is influenced enough to participate in an incident, the incident no longer remains the incident but a "point of view". This book is a point of view of a high society leftist, who is successful in a capitalist society. Anyways...
Now coming to the book, it has accounts of numerous leftist leaders, at grass root level as well as at the higher level, which the author has come across in his research period of a couple of months or years across the red belt. However, as expected of him, he could not meet a single govt. personal of any stature deserving an iota of respect. A few deserving ones had some common thoughts with Maoists. So much so for the "unbiased"Â€account!
By the way, all these great Maoist leaders are great strategists. They have been developing impeccable strategies to destroy. This leaves me wondering if they have ever created a single infrastructure. Do they realize how much effort, man months are consumed in a building a bridge or laying a Km of railway line or just, erecting a school shell as compared to destroy them? Do they realize their impotency that in their entire life they would not be able to create a single "thing" but destroy a lot, directly and indirectly, tangible and intangible? All this book does is to mention a couple of miniscule projects these people have taken up, mostly because of individual leadership in the region rather than from guidance of central leadership. Creating is strategy destruction is vandalism.
Across the book, the idea of "futility of Salwa Judum" runs through. Why? Theoretically, Maoists should be the people to think of morality of arming common man. If Maoists are justified, others are too. It should be immaterial how. If intellectuals, mostly of Maoist leaning, are crying foul, it is only because their brothers are on the receiving end now. In my view, this concept should be extended to all affected areas. Let's play blood buddy, if that is the solution.
The highlights the point how Maoists are using the lacuna of the present system, something they swear to fight, to their advantage. Inefficiencies leading to disgruntlement are fanned to propagate ideas of revolution. The lack of education in rural and tribal masses helps them in misleading naive population and getting them converted into "mercenaries". The situation seems to be the present day replica of "The Animal Farm". Pigs rule replacing men. Masses would realize sooner or later that the idea has failed everywhere, from China to Chile. Russia endorses Adam Smith and China has buried Mao in its currency notes, which is floating freely in Africa to support rouge statesmen of Sudan and other countries.
The book also highlights the unholy nexus between politically ambitious NGOs, ambitious activists, Maoists, LTTE, Assamese insurgents and Nepalese communists in the name of supporting oppressed. We should not be surprised to see them hand-in-hand with groups like LeT, HuM etc and ISI, after all they are supporting oppressed people of Kashmir! In fact, I would not be surprised with the discovery of some of their more interesting links. After all the book does really explains the source of their arms (AK 47, Rocket Launchers, propelled guns etc). Here is the crux of the "patriotism" of the Maoist movement!!

Well...that is my take on this..

2009-04-26T21:09:00.002+05:30

I read somewhere that some economist of Indian origin employed by some European establishment has come down heavily on Dr. Singh’s government’s performance. I was a little surprised that this piece of article has come now. Where were these economists all these years? Anyway, I am a little happy that it is being noticed now. Dr. Singh would be, I have no doubt, a gentleman, an economist and academician par excellence and may be a good human being also. However, he seems to be a little more than this – either an astute politician with a very narrow mindset, who has preferred to compromise national interest for personal ones, tangible or intangible or he is an utter fool incapable of realizing that he has been used all the while as the public face of a puppet govt., whose ministers seems to have higher commitments towards their madam than the mask. Willy-nilly he compromised on the basic expectations from its roles and responsibilities entrusted to him as a constitutional authority.
In the process, he also seems to have forgotten his strongest, supposedly, personnel attribute, i.e. the economics. Nobody expected India to fare so poorly in the wake of the global recession and none ever dreamt that Indian response would be so reactive and abrupt. Talks of fiscal discipline, economic reforms, governance responsibilities etc seem to be forbidden in the corridors of present power house.
Foreign policy has been non-existent. Others like Taliban, US, Iran, even Iraq decide our policy. No surprise that India is again a hyphenated nation, with Pakistan. This perhaps is the most significant achievement of this cabinet.
Export of India's most effective bond – the IPL – by confidently accepting inability to provide security to players and spectators during the election time is the latest achievement of the internal security ministry. By the way, this ministry has already achieved something which none of the earlier govt. could achieve in the history of independent India, creation of a state within state of India. Today nobody dares to traverse the Indian heartlands without fear. Naxalism has spread to numerous states, while the team in Dr. Singh’s leadership was busy in finding how various steps taken by respective state govt.’s were at fault. This is perhaps the biggest achievement of this team.
Let’s talk infrastructure development. There is a dedicated minister for ports – he worked overtime to get this sea route opened with the acknowledged support of 20%-30% of population. As a result, the project has progressed within the conceptualization phase. It was a tragedy that he could not do any other work.
And, no body bothered to remind the rail ministry that they were not financial restructuring ministry. And, the minister was a little too busy travelling places to show his intellect.
The elections are going on and this person, with all respects wherever due, does not deserve to win. His team members deserve even less. We do not know whether Indian electorate would be able to understand that and show his proper place. He chooses not to discuss his performance in the last five years. He chooses to respond political challenges with personal accusations. However, one thing would happen for sure. His name would be mentioned in the history of Indian democracy as the one who led India to the past, as the ironical one who succeeded a visionary like ABV, who would be remembered for launching highways’ project, with vision to link rivers across the country and having the fearlessness of going nuclear against most of the globe. This PM would be the topics of various debates - his political intellect vis-à-vis his political honesty, a case study on how such a great academician could be so subservient to people with accidental political lineage but without an iota of intellect.

Turncoats

2009-04-23T10:16:00.003+05:30

It's months since I have written anything on this blog. But this is something I could not resist writing on.

I remember the slogan of one of the teams in IT-BHU – Try beating us? Better join us. And, Indian politics is the best perpetrator of this slogan. It is often told - Politics throws up strange bed-fellows. Again, nothing exemplifies it better than politics in India and Indian parliamentary elections. What led to my realizing this now? Well…let me explain.
What is Shekhar Suman’s claim to fame? Political satire shows on various channels, especially copy cat act of Lallu. Right? What is he doing now? Contesting elections from Patna and that too on Congress ticket, i.e. from UPA, where Lallu is an integral part. So Shekharji is on the same side as Lallu is. However, he is not alone. In fact there is a more interesting example.
So, what is the claim to fame of Mr. Prakash Jha? Films Mrityudand and Gangajal right? And, was that about? Women empowerment in Bihar and somebody called Sadhu Yadav in Mrityudand, right. And, I hope no explanation would be required to understand to whom that Sadhu Yadav refers to. Anyway, this time Mr. Jha too is trying his luck in the elections and again from Bihar on LJP ticket, close partner of Mr. Lallu. So, here is another political convert. I wonder what could be so charming about Lallu that people turn head over heals. And, people like Mr. Jha turn from foe to friend. Or, there is more to this?
Shekhar Suman and Prakash Jha are perfect examples of what they say in hindi “thali ka baingan” (Brinjal in a plate) ya “bina pendi ka lota” (baseless tumblers). And, the irony is there would a few thousand electorate who would vote for them, either in their name or in their caste’s name and ensure that this breed of people/continue to grow.

The Jet Story

2008-10-25T14:27:00.002+05:30

Well Mr. Goyal lived up to the image he is carrying in the minds of many employees, especially ones who are with the organization since the beginning. I have seen this image, his aura amongst these people. On personal level, as an individual, I would buy his story only with a spoon of salt.
It is impossible to believe that such a major decision would have been taken without his knowledge, as he claimed during the press conference; And, he has all the reason to do a rethink on the ways his business is being run. May be he would like to review the decision making process or the effectiveness of his so-called trusted management team. In my view, he should review a few more issues.

What is his role in running the business? And, who all are there in other roles?
What is the capability of the management team? Is it agile enough to meet growing challenges of the business environment? Does his team have all characteristics of an effective and capable team? Is it really professional?
Where is the corporate strategy of this company? If it is there, how come it was caught unaware and landed in this messy situation? I’m sure the company did not take this decision based on just a few days’ developments.
Is he aware of his organization structure? How does it look like in terms of nos.? Is it a pyramid or an inverted pyramid? What is his cost-wise organization structure? Does it compare with any other organization anywhere?
If the decision was just to go about retrenching trainees and probationers, how come his organization has more than 15% employees are in that grade? Doesn’t it indicate that his firm, particularly his strategy dept., was either oblivious of the emerging business environment? What could be the case, incompetency or complacency or just laxity?
He may like to review some of the statistics published in news papers:

App. 2000 employees, i.e. app. 17% of workforce, are paid more than Rs. 1 lac monthly. I assume, most of them would be pilots, engineers and experienced cabin crew members. If not, he may like to find out who they are?
More than 200 employees, i.e. app. 2% of the workforce, are paid more than Rs. 10 Lacs monthly or more than US$ 22000 per month. What level would they be working at? He may wish to look at this no. too.
He may like to look at the increase in the salary cost over the years and seek some justification in its variance.
Recruitment of fresh foreign pilots is still going on?
Adverse business conditions, be it fuel price or infrastructure or anything else, would always be there. Challenges in different forms remain there in every business. A professional management is supposed to do precisely this function.

He was correct that he is no stranger to issues and he has handled all such issues decisively. I am sure Mr. Goyal knows what to do and how, in this scenario. And, also that he could do it in the best way.
His is, no doubt, a “rags to riches” story. It is to be seen if his too would end up as one who could not manage the growth and become example of why promoter should be different from manager case-study. One may argue that he is so but it needs to be adhered in strict sense. And, this lesson is required to be learnt by many in years to come.
Jet Airways has been the face of emerging and vibrant India. All wishes to it to keep flying high.

Cheers! The worst is yet to come..:)

2008-10-04T11:48:00.001+05:30

It was like “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” or in more contemporary terms, it was Indian version of “A case of exploding Mangoes”.

I had known it the day Mamtadi got involved in it. It was just a matter of time. Unfortunately, it happened a little too late and at a little too high cost to Tatas. A little surprising for them to get into this mess. They have been around, doing business for almost a century now. They should have known it earlier than me. (Shall write more on her and Bengal in some subsequent note)

It is a good luck for us that our democracy is strong and guided that we have got leaders like Mamtas, Mayas, Lallooes, Mulayams, Karunanidhis, Devigowdas, Choutalas etc to choose from. And, there had been even bigger leaders like Jagannath Mishra, Bindeshwari Dubey, Devilal, etc in the past, who serve the icons of this breed.

I am sure in a weak democracy and poorly designed systems, these people would have been filtered out before reaching up to this level and would not have been able to influence India’s course. Unfortunately, some visionary had identified their origin “People get the leader they deserve”. However, he was not able to identify or did not choose to spell the vicious cycle that goes behind this, especially for this breed of leaders. “Lead people to the place where only you can lead”. Bihar can be the greatest example. Fifteen years of un-interrupted rule and a loss only to the person, who played the same game more aptly. Now, these old-timers are annoyed that they have been denied their share in the annual flood lottery festival, especially when the prize is “n” times larger this year.

It is no surprise that wherever these leaders are strong, the region/state is doing wonders. Riding on self-servicing social causes, this breed is making case-studies in economic performance under their respective rules. But that is obvious for leaders with such great capabilities. Somebody should look at their credentials, educational, social, police history sheet, past life. There would not be any surprise. What is their fault if they do not understand economics when they were forced to move out of their educational life? They were sincere enough to complete respective courses even after 5-6 years of study but, alas, they were forced to vacate hostels, forced to appear in exams and forcefully awarded marks to pass and leave colleges. Some simply got bored that nobody cared for their education after a few more years and, hence, decided to move-on from college life. Not surprisingly, they are literate, they are farsighted, etc etc. They have all quality of great leadership. In fact, looking at them, National Literacy Mission should revise their curriculum. They may be breeding a nation of leaders.

In fact this breed has given a new classification of present generation of leaders. Today’s leaders either belong to this class or they do not belong to this class. There are common traits though. Traits, which are the basic characteristics of any leader such as

· Ability to convince some people of anything under the sun
· A few court cases (mostly named as politically motivated) with a few trips to jail/lock-ups
· A family history (of leaders or of history-sheeters or of both)
· Ability to charm the media, print/electronic/anything, especially anchors, who are mostly of opposite sex (Somebody should examine, who charms whom)

So, my dear friends don’t be surprised. Tata at Singur is just one case, whicn happens to be the most recent one. Remember stories of Charwaha Vidyalaya (Schools where you can take your cows and buffaloes and goats and sheep. They learn. You sleep and somebody gets legal ownership of the land), or the great Fodder tales (where buffaloes travelled 800Kms overnight on scooters to get quality fodder) or Taj corridor (Whie you see Taj Mahal somebody gets land around it) or Greater NOIDA airport or Meham (do you still remember this word). Anyway, all these leaders are alive & kicking. Many such stories would be made in time to come. Just don’t take pain now. Enjoy. Remember - Picture abhi baki hai mere dost….

परती परिकथा .....

2008-08-28T21:47:00.003+05:30

Now they are covering it. Now they are realizing the magnitude of the problem. Perhaps, even not yet.
How stupid it is to say that just 5people have died due to this tragedy. Analyze this, 2.5 million people surrounded by water from all around for last 7 days and only 55 fatalities? More than this would be the no. of people who would have been dying every day in this region due to natural causes. What happened to them? Perhaps they have stopped dying seeing realizing that it might be more painful to die in these conditions. Or, they would die sooner? These journalists! I wonder if the dumbest of the population join this profession or the most casual ones? Not to say that many great brains too are there in this industry.
I am trying to visualize the situation of these people. One morning, they wake to find surrounded by water or, might be they were woken up during the night itself by increasing water level. And, they assume they are facing another of regular annual flash flood from the nearby stream. They take normal precautions, go to usual high grounds. And, to their surprise, they realize water level is increasing and current is rather too fast than any of instances they remember or have ever heard from any of their elders. And, this is when there is no rain. They reach their tipping point. And, suddenly, they come to know that they are amidst the main course of a river. The river they have always dreaded. The river, which has become part of the regional folklores due to great devastations it had caused in the past. Now what do they do?
Just yesterday I finished reading a classic having this region as the background, Parti Parikatha by Phanishwar Nath Renu. A must read for anybody having genuine interest in literature. The novel ends with implementation of Multi-purpose project at Kosi River. Part of the project was to divert the main course of river to the river to a channel, which the river had abandoned many years, may be centuries ago. I have no idea if that actually was the case. Unfortunately, Renu did not write any follow-up otherwise it would have come out that the project did not get completed in the form it was envisaged. The actual dam, which was supposed to come upstream, somewhere in Nepal, was never built. Only a barrage was built to control the flow of river into the plains. And see, the barrage is still intact. Now the river has breached its banks and enforcements a few kilometers upstream. And, the river has changed its course from there. Notably, 85% of the water is flowing through this breach. I am not sure what corrective action can be taken now and how successful that would be. Perhaps, we’ll have to live with the changed course of this river. Geography and maps would change now. For a few decades or centuries, that is to be observed.
I have no idea whether the change of course actually happened then and it is reversal of that or it is the actual inaction of the story. But, then, the population was prepared for the change of course. Now, they are not.
By the Kosi is a very interesting river. It has the distinction of having Mt. Everest and Mt. Kanchenjuga in its catchment area. It carries the largest volume of debris during its course of flow, from the Himalayas to the Ganges. It creates the largest of alluvial cones by any river. And, much more.

A different world

2008-08-26T22:34:00.002+05:30

Just now I have switched channel to watch a movie. I has already started. I don't know its name. I don't care. It would be better than the tirade they are showing on all news channels. I am not surprised though, I am ashamed. How can somebody ignore the plight of such a huge population. Even animals care. We, humans, don't. We are commercial animal. We care for things, which pay. Hence, we show only those news, which, we think, will sell. After all who would be interested in watching plights of people of Bihar. They do not belong to this world. Through out the day, I was following all, so called, news sites and other general information sites. No update. Perhaps they don't care. That's journalism for us. The new age journalism, covering news, which sell. Commercial news. I'm convinced that these people are dumb, of the highest order. If you treat a part of population like this, what can you expect them to treat you in turn. 2 Million people, drowning, many doomed to die. Die slowly. Die seeing others die before them. And, they are not on our radar. What are all these innovation in connectivity for if we can't connect to our own people? Or, perhaps, we don't want to connect to them. The sense of commercialization is too strong to care for we, the people.
Anyways, it has happened that river Kosi, the age old sorrow of Bihar, has changed its course. It has changes its course by almost 92Kms. Within a few couple of days. I hope many of us would understand the gravity of this. The river is now flowing through a channel, though which it used to flow at least 120 years ago. Flooding, rather severe flooding, is not new to this part of the world. But a river, that too Kosi, changing its course back to where it was more than a century ago, is something, which is not just flood. I am trying to visualize how one would have reacted after realizing this. I am sure many of the suffering people would not have seen this river in their life time, rather may not be in generations. After all, how many people of Purnia would travel to Saharsa and see this river. This happened and that is how we have reacted.
I am sure that after a few days, all these phony news channels would line-up there to show heart-breaking stories of suffering, challenging each other supremacy in covering in depth. Showing some obscene graphics and comparing this with some out of the world examples.
Anyway, my condolences to all who are suffering. I don't know how can I be of any help to them. Long back we tried to help one those kids, Prakash, who was left without parents. He stayed with us for a a couple of years. We arranged for his education and he used to help our mother, who was suffering from strange disease, in taking care of household. He went to visit some of his relatives and did not come back. There was another guy too. He had lost his mother. He stayed with us for a almost a year before his father turned up and took him back, promising that he would take his complete care. Both these kids left so deep impression on us, especially on my mother, that we decided no to drain us emotionally any more. These guys told us about the horror of flood and plight of life after the flood in that area. We would never be able to comprehend. And, these news channels would ensure that we never would.
We hope these guys would be doing well. I am hoping that one of these knowledge channels, NGT or Discovery or History, would show the significance and extant of the tragedy in this year's flood. I wonder if these flood would ever be controlled. Or, Kosi would remain the angry old lady, firm on destroying everybody where she was not treated well in her youth.

Growing old....

2008-06-29T21:56:00.003+05:30

I am 32 years old. And, I am growing old. Old, not just that my age is increasing everyday but I have started missing those good old days, our times,....
I recently met a few of my classmates, from my school and from my colleges, in last few days. I was seeing them at least after a decade. In fact, I met my school friend after 15 years. And, as expected, we were recollecting our good old days. Nothing different. Perhaps every such meeting will have these moments. But there was a big difference. We were discussing those days as we were discussing a different era...a different civilization. It was difficult to connect to those days. Days without cable TV channels, days without mobile phones and internet, days with at least 3 hours everyday in cricket field, days with cycling to school and back without ever hearing a horn. We discussed those long hours at STD booth, once in a week, for those who were regulars, trying to speak to our parents for few minutes, or about the cricket tournament we used to organize and participated in colleges and yes, a few old-filmy style crushes...that, indeed, was a different era..or a different civilization. And, all these used to happen just a few years ago...12-15 years ago.
I am growing old. I am repeating lines, often repeated by old men and women when we were young. And, seems I would grow quiet old in next few decades...

Pay peanuts, get monkeys...

2008-05-27T21:33:00.002+05:30

...precisely, that is the phrase to explain my situation right now. Another phrase would be "the zero sum game".
Recently, I moved from Mumbai to Bangalore on a new assignment. My relocation charges were "reimbursed" by the new employer, means I pay first and they would pay me later subject to std clause of the least of three quotes. I called a few nos. I had noticed here and there. Agarwal quoted Rs. 34K. Another party "SKY HOME PACKERS and MOVERS" (SHPM) quoted just Rs 26K. Then came the 3rd party, Sai Packers and Mover, and quoted 24K. That was great. After a few days, SHKM called to enquire abt the plan. When we told that we have got a lower quote, they matched, means they were ready to take a little less than Rs. 24K. We called up Agarwal and told them about the quotes from these guys and they reverted with a fresh quote, Rs. 44K. Funny...right. We had three quotes and we went for the least one, i.e. SKY HOME PACKERS and MOVERS. And, see what have they delivered to me in Bangalore....

My Sony flat screen TV with its mother-board in multiple pieces. Great. I thought a TV has got only one mother board. Surprisingly, even with 3-4 motherboards, the TV refused to switch-on.
All my furniture are delivered as they were packed. However, now I have no excuse to delay their polishing. In the process, I may choose to replace sun mica of my double bed, TV table and shoe-rack, which, I distinctly remember, were quite shining in Mumbai at the time of packing.
My wooden Almira was delivered in two pieces. Its lower portion, i.e. log assembly, could not withstand the torment of a travel from Mumbai to Bangalore.
Thankfully, my fridge has got a bend in the bottom. Nobody would be able to see it and I need not worry about its repair. And, in case it is still cooling things.
And, after watching the great job they had done, I was extremely disappointed that they delivered my car without any noticeable damage. The premium I had paid for its insurance last year would be a waste now. I thought may be I would get a free denting/painting done. So sad. And, it was not the fault of the delivery boy that he called me to a place 25Km out of Bangalore to take my vehicle by paying the balance amount of Rs. 3k, which I was supposed to pay after delivery of these goods. They thought I may refuse to pay after seeing the good work they have done. I think I made right choice by paying them 3k to get, at least, my car back.

Later, I called them to appreciate the good work they had done. The guy Anil, who was the relationship manager for me, was addressed to be in Rajasthan (I was told so). I thought I should convey my appreciation to his boss, Mr. Rajesh. The only problem is that he is very generous. He has got 2 mobiles and he has got 3-4 supporting staff. Hence, he has decided that his staffs would carry these mobile in turn and he would stay without any mobile. Anyway, after repeated failed attempt to contact him, I though I should convey the good words to his staffs at the least. And, to my utter surprise, I was told by them that whatever happens I should not bother about police, courts etc. I should not waste my time in conveying appreciations for things, which is fairly common. In fact his boss, Mr. Rajesh, was so tired of hearing appreciations that he has decided to handover his mobiles to his drivers and watchmen. And, there was another piece of advise that I should check with the insurance firm. After all such movement of goods are insured. I called up the insurance firm. Ms. Cholamandalam, no response. I sent a e-mail. Surprise, I got a call within an hour. After exchanges of few calls, by the evening, I was made clear that another guy from Hyderabad had already made a claim on the same policy and that the coverage was of basic nature, i.e. against any loss due to flood, fire, accident et al. That was surprise. All the while I was under the impression that transit insurance must cover any loss or damage due to mishandling, improper packing etc. At least, I would not subscribe to such policy and I am sure most of us are sane that way. Anyways, how does it matter to Ms Cholamandalam. They have got agents like Ms. Pacific Insurance Consultants to sell these absurd policies, so what if it is through cheating. So, here I am budgeting for the next move. A Sony TV would cost me app. Rs. 15K and policing of furniture with repairs would cost me at least Rs. 5-10K. I thought I would save Rs. 20k by using SKY HOME PACKERS and MOVERS. And, I am paying at least the same amount plus the tension to get the work done on ASAP basis. It was great learning experience....the zero-sum game or may be -ive sum game....Its your turn now...

To dear Rajdeep, who started as an option to Pranav

2008-05-20T00:22:00.003+05:30

Dear Rajdeep,

This article of you is no different from the kind of reporting you and your fellow teammates resort to through CNN-IBN or IBN7.
Coming to the matter, I doubt if you'ld find any educated or I would rather say thinking, as you too are educated, man would say that MM is dishonest or his integrity is doubtful. You'ld not find such person from opposition party too. That's creditable.
However, the point remains, who is more important? MM as PM or MM as a person? Let's accept the fact that he is the weakest and non-performing of all PMs (please do not count Chandashekhar and Devegowda as PMs. They were bad accidents happened to Indian democracy. I hope this would not happen again as Lallu or Bahanji.). I am unable to recall any single project, which could have changed the life or people (I mean positively. He did change lives and I would come to that shortly). Now, help in naming a single project initiated by the previous government, whom I regard quiet productive, which MM has been able to complete. As far as I remember, that govt. started ambitious projects on highway developments, upgrade of ports, privatization of monolith PSUs, etc. Even this nuclear power initiative was taken by that govt. And, what did MM’s contribution on them? Highways are still under construction (check NHAI’s website. They have not been updating progress on highway projects. Perhaps they do not have update to showcase). Nothing is ever heard of on port-sector in last 3-4 years (except sometimes in PC’s budget speeches). Privatization is stopped. Nuclear deal is diluted (it seems). Then what did he do? Repealed POTA and led the nation to multiple serial attacks? I would not hold him responsible for inflation but the pointers were there since many months. Couldn’t he, as an economist, and his trusted PC, another economist, learn and take any counter measure? Sure, we are better off right now. But for how long? After all we have not done, neither doing anything to bell this cat, except our leadership coming up with age-old and shameful reasons like profit-seeking behavior of private sector and hoarding of food items by traders, and above all high pay-package of some set of people, who constitute some less than 0.01% of our population. I am failing to understand that who had stopped and has been stopping MM’s men to act if they knew of these reasons?
I would rate MM as a worse PM than PVNR. At least that fellow has a clear-cut agenda that he would be there as a PM for one full-term and he had no qualms about that. He never pretended anything else. He did not act any many things because he need not, to fulfill his agenda. Our economy did recover under his leadership and under MM’s guidance. But, in those circumstances, I unable to guess what any other FM would have done, or if anybody else were made FM, if he/she would have acted differently? Though he had his shares of stupidities, he did not do something as stupid as waiving of farm loans worth Rs 60000Cr. See what has happened as an effect of that? So called farmers have stopped paying. So call gainers are still committing suicide. And, banks have officially declared stopping fresh loans to farmers. Great. That’s the greatest achievement of MM. If not for anything else, he would be known for this great act. Some intelligent people, you too are counted in them, say that his hands are tied. Come on. That’s another stupid reason. If your hands are tied, you do stupidities? Only fools and weak people do that. And, that is what MM is. He is weak. A strong man would never stoop to accept these stupidities and would stand up to the consequences. MM cannot. He is too weak to act so, to SG/RG first, and then to Commies. Btw, did you report how and why new Hyderabad International Airport got its name?
So Mr. Rajdeep your analysis is all wrong, or all made up. Do justice to your profession. I hope you know of consequences of something called “Yellow journalism”.
Let’s see if you respond to this.

Olympics, Tibet, China and India

2008-04-08T16:50:00.002+05:30

Observe this.
Olympic torch relay was disrupted in London. It was put off, twice, in France. It is slatted to face strong protests in USA. And, how did China react? It showed displeasure. It's mouthpiece came out with a few articles, doctored articles. That's it. Nothing else. It did not call their envoy in the middle of the night for anything. It did not call their minsters even once.
However, here in India, the story is different. Indian envoy was called at 2 AM, a few weeks earlier to the scheduled Olympic torch relay run in India, to note Chinese concerns. Indian foreign minister is already called on the phone, twice, to note Chinese concerns. Why? Because, some people, of Tibet origin or who share concerns on situation in Tibet, had protested outside Chinese embassy here, in New Delhi.
So, why this double standard? Who is responsible for this double standard? China and its policies or us, India and its government?
There are vehement calls in other countries, from every quarter of their society, political, academic, military, masses, about Chinese atrocities in Tibet, about Chinese occupation of Tibet, about Chinese malicious plans on Tibet. Any body would understand the Chinese game plan and that is to destroy identity of Tibet by erasing its cultural existence. They are changing its demography. They are populating the entire Tibet region with Muslims, another troublesome quarter of Chinese population and who are known to inflict the kind of results, Chinese desire in Tibet. Everywhere, except in India, people are freely voicing these concerns.
But not in India. Successive governments in India have officially endorsed that official Chinese stand on the issue that Tibet is Chinese territory and it is free to do whatever it wants to do there, that political unrest in Tibet is China's internal matter. And, they have done it against the majority will. Most of the Indians think otherwise. Tibet is revered for them.
By all indications, especially by its stand on Tibet, India is justifying what rest of the world thinks India to be, i.e. a country which China dominates, a country, which can't deal with Chinese might, or rather perception of might. Political leadership of India is, I am sorry to use this word but not hesitant, afraid of China. Chinese double standard in dealing the situation arising during the Olympic torch relay only reinforces the above.

साठ और सत्तर के दशक...

2008-04-07T23:16:00.003+05:30

मन की किताब से तुम मेरा नाम ही मिटा देना
गुण तो न था कोई भी, अवगुण मेरे भुला देना.....
चलचित्र: बंदिनी, १९६०

कोई दीवाना गलियों में फिरता रहा
कोई आवाज़ आती रही रात भर
आपकी याद आती रही रात भर॥
चलचित्र: गमन, १९७५

कुछ खटक सी हुई क्या आपके जेहन में इन पंक्तियों को पढ़ कर?
मेरा हमेशा से यह मानना रहा है की सभी कलाओं के शीर्ष का दौर था १९६० और १९७० के दशक। यह बात सिर्फ़ भारतीय परिपेक्ष्य में हीं नहीं बल्कि पूरे विश्व के लिए सही है। आप मेरी बात से असहमत हो सकते हैं। आप शायद मुझे पुरातनपंथी भी कह सकते हैं। लेकिन मैं अपनी राय नहीं परिवर्तित कर रहा ।
हिन्दी चलचित्रों और उनके संगीत के लिए भी यहीं सही है। क्या दशक था वो...शंकर-जय किशन, नौशाद, सचिन देव बर्मन, नैय्यर साहब जैसे लोकप्रिय संगीतकार...जब दूसरी पंक्ति, या यूँ कहें की लोकप्रियता की दूसरी पंक्तियों में कल्याणजी-आनंदजी, उभरते हुए से लक्ष्मीकांत-प्यारेलाल, दत्ताराम, खेमचंद प्रकाश, खैय्याम, रवि, रोशन, जैसे संगीतकार....गीतकारों में शैलेंद्रजी, साहीर साहब, मजरूह साहब, शकील साहब...सही कहते हैं पापा और उनके दोस्त...स्वर्णिम दिन रहे होंगे वो...
लेकिन इनमे से भी मेरी एक खास पसंद है...सचिन साहब...सचिन देव बर्मन। जब से गानों मी दिलचस्पी जगी, कई गाने गुनगुनाने की आदत सी हुई। फिर एहसास हुआ की सब में एक बात थी...सभी सचिन दा के गीत निकले। मुझे उनके द्वारा निर्देशित गानों से अधिक उनके गाए हुए गाने में उत्सुकता जागी। इसे पढिये...

कोई भी तेरी
राह न देखे
नैन ना बिछाए कोई
दुःख में तेरे कोई ना तड़पा
आँख ना किसी की रोई
कहे किसे तू अपना,
मुसाफिर, तू जाएगा कहाँ...
चलचित्र: गाइड, १९६५

और इसे भी...
होता जो पीपल तू मैं होती अमर-लता तेरी
तेरे गले की माला बन कर पड़ी इतराती...
सुन मेरे साथी...
होता जो सागर तू मैं होती तेरी नदिया
ठुमक ठुमक (?) कर पिया को मिलाने जाती....
चलचित्र: सुजाता, १९६३

कुछ अलग सा नहीं है...कुछ ऐसा जोकि शायद अंग्रेजी में "Melancholy" और "Haunting" शब्दों से अधिक अच्छे से परिभाषित और बोधित होता है....

Death...of a different kind..

2008-03-11T17:22:00.001+05:30

"I will respond to these things at a later stage. We do not have an instant coffee machine that you can get results instantly. It takes time to regain your position. We have put the process in place and the results will take some time." This is what Mr. Gill, Chief of IHF has to say on Indian teams’ failure to qualify for Beijing Olympics.

It has been more ten years since Mr. Gill has taken over as the chief of IHF. We used to qualify for major tournaments then, say Olympics for sure and to Champions Trophy intermittently, but not any more. All the while we were under the impression that 10 years is long enough time. I am sure Mr. Gill is talking about the days when we would fail to qualify to participate in SAAF games.

Ten years, I guess, in a field sports mean a generation. Perhaps Mr. Gill follows some other measurement of time. I wonder, by this definition, whether he’ll be around to actually see the difference he wants us to believe. I have doubts. If that change actually happens, whether Mr. Gill would be remembered to facilitate the change or for letting the change happen after he is gone. After all, Indian has already stopped qualifying for Champions Trophy and I do not see Indian team qualifying for next many Olympics to come.

However, Mr. Gill would indeed be remembered as the person responsible for annihilating terrorism from Punjab. My fear is that he would also be remembered for annihilating Hockey from India or at least Indian hockey from the world scene. I don’t know whether he would like this dubious distinction.

But why point fingers only to Mr. Gill. Which other sports in India is not suffering that way. Just see the list: a few of the sports’ bodies are headed by current ministers, some others are headed by few ex-ministers and a few have ex-bureaucrats ruling the roost. And, none of these sports bodies can be called a professionally managed organization by any stretch of imagination, not to me at least. And, I won’t be surprised to see similar fate of all other sports in India in next few years. Sadly, I do not see any change in their fate thereafter either.

Our systems would let them remain in the rotten state. Most of us would agree that we require an over-haul of the entire system and of all systems, if we actually want to move forward, in sports or in any other aspect of our life, as a community and as a fellow countrymen.

मुम्बई ......

2008-03-08T15:43:00.005+05:30

मुम्बई बीमार है। मेरे नजरिये से तो यह काफी बीमार है। अगर समय रहते इसके उपचार नहीं हुआ तो ये दम तोड़ देगी। शायद एक और कलकत्ता बन जाए यह...या कुछ और वैसा हीं... शायद अभी भी याद हुआ लोगों को करीब ३० साल पहले तक, कलकत्ता भारत का सबसे बड़ा शहर हुआ करता था और नौकरी की तलाश में लोग मुम्बई या दिल्ली नहीं, बल्कि कलकत्ता जाया करते थे। भारत की पहली मेट्रो ट्रेन परियोजना भी कलकत्ता में कार्यान्वित की गई थी।
मैं मुम्बई में पिछले छः वर्षों से रह रहा हूँ और इसे पिछले दस वर्षों से अनुपालन कर रहा हूँ। स्तिथि तो बाद से बदतर हीं हुए जा रही है मुम्बई की। मैंने मुछ विचार किया इस पर। आख़िर मुम्बई की ऐसी दुर्दशा क्यों हो रही है? कौन जिम्मेदार है इसके लिए? मैंने कोशिश तो यहीं किया कि निष्पक्ष रहूँ अपने आंकलन में। देखे क्या निकलता है इस परीक्षण का परिणाम।
जब मैंने पहली बार मुम्बई में कदम रखा था तो काफी घबराया हुआ सा था। लगता था की इतनी भीड़ में क्या हाल होगा मेरा। पता नहीं लोग सहायता के लिए भी आगे आयेंगे या नहीं इस नवागंतुक के। लेकिन डर सहीं नहीं साबित हुआ। मैं भीड़ में खोया नहीं। लोगों ने भी सहायता की जहाँ भी जरूरत पड़ी। यह १९९८-९९ की बात है। लोगों में उम्मीदें थीं। सांत्वना देते थे कि मुम्बई सुधर रही है। कई परियोजनाएं चल रहीं थीं, मूलभूत सुविधाओं को सुधरने की। पुरानी सडकों को विस्तारिक किया जा रहा था। नयी सड़कें बन रहीं थीं। कई उद्दन-पूलों पर काम हो रहा था। लोगों में भविष्य के लिए उत्साह सा लगा। खैर मैं एक कार्य के सिलसिले में आया था। २-३ दिनों में लौट गया, इस उम्मीद के साथ कि शायद मैं भी कभी यहाँ रहूँ।
दिन बीते मैं आया यहाँ। सन् २०००-२००१ कि बात है। नौकरी के लिए। १ साल रहा। कई परियोजनाएं जो पिछले दौरे के दौरान अधूरी सुनी थीं, तब तक पूरी हो चुकी थीं। कईयों पर काम चल रहा था। लेकिन ऐसा लग रहा था कि शायद और कदम उठाने की जरूरत है। यह भी समझ आया कि अगर ये नयी योजनाएं कार्यान्वित नहीं हुईं होती तो हालत कितने बुरे होते। मेरी पिछले दौरे और इस बार के दिनों के बीच में मुम्बई का काफी विस्तार हो चुका था। और मुम्बई कि जनसंख्या भी करीब २०% से बढ़ चुकी थी। खैर, दिन बीते मैं मुम्बई से वापस चला गया।
२ साल बाद वापस लौटा। मुम्बई बदल चुकी थी। आबादी २५-३०% और बढ़ चुकी थी। और लगभग सारी परियोजनाएं जिनके बारे में सुना था पीचाली बार, वो पूरी हो चुकी थी। यह २००३ कि बात है। और, जैसा कि अनुमान था, इतनी परोयोजनाओं के कार्यान्वन के बाद भी मूल-भुत संरचयों पर दबाव बढ़ हीं रहा था। कुछ दिनों में यह भी अहसास हुआ कि मुम्बई के मूलभूत संरचनाओं में जीतनी भी बढोतरी की गई है, वो सिर्फ़ इसके विस्तार की पूर्ति करने लिए हीं पर्याप्त सिद्ध हुई हैं। हालत को सुधरने और जीवन को बेहतर बनाने या सिर्फ़ पुराने दर्जे तक लाने के लिए भी अभी और बहुत कुछ करने कि जरूरत है।
अब इस बात को पाँच साल बीत गए हैं। सिर्फ़ अहसास हीं आगे बढ़ा है। मेरे सामने तो मुम्बई की मूल-भुत संरचानों को बढ़ने के लिए कोई नई परियोजना का कार्यान्वन नहीं हुआ है। जीवन दिनों-दिन मुश्किल होता गया है।
अब मुझे हीं देखिये। इस विषय पर पिछले छः महीने से लिखने कि सोच रहा हूँ। लेकिन कभी समय नहीं है। पहले बारिश में कार्यालय जाने के लिए अधिक समय लगता था। बारिश बंद भी हो गई लेकिन अब समय उतना हीं लगता है। मुझे याद है कि २००३ में मुझे कार्यालय जाने में करीब १ घंटे लगते थे और वापस आने में १'१५ घंटे। अभी यह समय १.५ और २.५ हुआ चुका है। और मुझे पूरी उम्मीद है कि यह जल्द हीं सम्मिलित रूप से ५ घंटे का अवरोध भी तोड़ देगा। (और हमारे वित्त मंत्री जी का कहना है कि दैनिक कार्यकाल ८ से १२ घंटे कर देना चाहिए। भाई साहब पहले मूल-भुत सुविधाओं का हाल तो सुधारिए।॥:)) किसानों और दूसरों के कर्जे माफ करके उतना फायदा नहीं होगा जितना की कार्यकुशलता बढ़ने से। और कार्यकुशलता बढ़ने में मूलभूत सुविधाओं का बहुत हीं बड़ा योगदान होता है। आप तो वित्त मंत्री हैं। वित्त हमेशा से आपका कार्य-क्षेत्र रहा है। आपको भी बताना पड़ेगा ये सब???)
वैसे मुम्बई के इस हालत के मूल कारण क्या है?
- क्या यह कि यहाँ मुम्बई का कोई अपना नहीं है। यहाँ की जन संख्या में ३०- ३५% महाराष्ट्रियन, ३०-३५% गुजराती, और बाकी देश के विभिन्न प्रदेशों से आए लोगों का है। इन सभी लागों के लिए मुम्बई कार्य स्थल तो है पर अपना स्थल, या यूँ कहिये की अपनी जगह, नहीं? यह बात सिर्फ़ उत्तर या दक्षिण भारतीयों के लिए हीं नहीं बल्कि महाराष्ट्र के दूसरे हिस्से से आए लोगों के लिए भी लागू होती है। शायद इनमें से अधिकांश लोगों को यह परवाह हीं नहीं कि उन्हें भी मुम्बई को व्यवस्थित रखने के लिए कुछ जिम्मेदारी लेनी चाहिए। सिर्फ़ ऊँची आवाज़ में शिकायत करने से कुछ नहीं होगा।
- क्या यहाँ की कार्य-प्रणाली , जोकि बाहर से आए लोगों को जल्दी अपने में सम्मिलित नहीं होने नहीं देती, भी जिम्मेवार है? मेरे जैसे कई लोग हैं यहाँ जो कि वर्षों से मुम्बई के तो हैं पर उनके पास ऐसा कोई सरकारी दस्तावेज नहीं है जो उन्हें मुम्बई-वासी होने की मान्यता प्रदान करता हो। मेरेसाथ कुछ ऐसा हीं हुआ है। मेरे पास मुम्बई-निवासी होने का कोई प्रमाण-पत्र नहीं है। प्रमाण के रूप में मेरे पास या तो राशन कार्ड, या चुनाव पहचान पत्र, या ड्राइविंग लाइसेंस होना चाहिए। मेरे पास इनमे से कुछ भी नहीं है। और मैं अगर चाहूँ तो भी मुझे यहाँ का राशन कार्ड नहीं मिल सकता क्यों कि मेरे पास मुम्बई या महाराष्ट्र का कोई स्थायी पता नहीं है। मुझे यहाँ का चुनाव पहचान पत्र नहीं मिल सकता क्योंकि मेरे पास राशन कार्ड या कोई ऐसा सरकारी दस्तावेज नहीं है जो कि मुझे मुम्बई-वासी होने की मान्यता प्रदान करता हो। और हालत तो यहाँ तक पहुँच गई थी कि मेरे शादी का पंजीकरण नहीं हुआ मुम्बई में, क्योंकि मेरे पास मुम्बई-वासी होने का कोई सरकारों प्रमाण नहीं था। वैसे यह भी बताया गया की मैं यह सब खरीद सकता हूँ। लेकिन विधिक तरीके से मुझे ये सब नहीं मिल सकता है। कार्य-प्रणाली बदलना बहुत बड़ी बात है। बड़े बड़े रूस्तम प्रणाली को बदलने के चक्कर में प्रणाली में शामिल हो कर प्रणाली में हीं खो गए। :)
- क्या यह सच्चाई कि महाराष्ट्र की सरकार में मुम्बई का कोई प्रभावशाली प्रतिनिधित्व नहीं है, मुम्बई के बुरे हाल के लिए जिम्मेदार हो सकती है? जरा ध्यान से याद कीजिये। शिवसेना कि सरकार में मुम्बई से चुने कितने हीं मंत्री थे? आख़िर मुम्बई शिव सेना-भाजपा का गढ़ हुआ करती थी। शायद यहीं कारण रहा हुआ कि मैंने जो भी परियोजनाओं कि बात की है ऊपर, वो मुम्बई में कार्यान्वित हुईं। अभी की सरकार, जोकि कांग्रेस की है, में मुम्बई की प्रतिनिधित्व शायद नाम मात्र की हीं है। शायद यहीं कारण हुआ कि पिछले दस वर्षों में मुम्बई में कोई बड़ी मूलभूत संरचानों के छेत्र में कोई बड़ी परियोजना नहीं आयीं है और नहीं कार्यान्वित हुई है? क्या यह बड़ा कारण नहीं हुआ सकता पिछले दस वर्षों में मुम्बई के पिछड़ने में? क्या मुम्बई के "भगवन" लोग कभी इस बात बार ध्यान भी देते हैं? या वह बस मुम्बई में मराठी-अमराठी की आग में झोंक कर सिर्फ़ अपनी रोटी हीं सकने में लगे रहेंगे? क्या कभी उन्होंने यह सोचा है कि मुम्बई के आज और अभी के स्वरूप में उनका कितने योगदान रहा है अराजनैतिक कारणों से? क्या उन्होंने कभी मुम्बई को कुछ दिया भी है या सिर्फ़ मुम्बई से लेते रहे हैं? और आगे भी ऐसे हीं मुम्बई की हाथ मरोड़ कर और भी हथियाने में लगे रहेंगे?
बेचारी मुम्बई। क्यों न इसे एक अलग राज्य बना गिया जाता है? आख़िर दिल्ली के नसीब भी तो तभी जगे। मुम्बई को क्यों पीछे रखा जाए? क्या इसका विरोध करने में महाराष्ट्र और मुम्बई के "भगवानों" का कुछ निजी हित है? अगर नहीं तो वो इसे भावनात्मक मुद्दा क्यों बनते हैं? क्यों नहीं इसे एक अलग राज्य बनने देते? आख़िर मुम्बई की हित तो इसी में है।
मुझे दुःख है इसके आज के हाल पर। मैं सिर्फ़ सहानुभूति नहीं जाताना चाहता हूँ। पर मैं शायद कुछ कर भी न पाऊं इसके लिए। सलाम मुम्बई। बाय मुम्बई। भगवान् तुम्हारा भला करे।

The end of a fascination

2007-12-26T21:23:00.000+05:30

There was a news article last week. Its prominence did not justify the significance it would have in the history of Indian civil aviation market.
The article said that tickets for flights operated by Air Deccan, or DN as it is indicated in Civil Aviation sector, would be soon available for sale through GDSs, i.e. through all traditional air ticket agents. This is an additional cost and is against the philosophy of LCC, especially when the same function can be done by a web-based system, rather web-based systems are more potent in many aspects. Perhaps it was the last nail in the coffin of the most noticeable entrepreneurial enterprise in recent Indian business history. This piece could be taken as the obituary to the DN we have known so far.
The success story, at least in terms of the non-financial objectives set by its founder, Capt. Gopinath, of DN would remain itched in the mind of our generation, i.e. the present generation and in the heart of our parents’ generation. After all, most of us flied for the first time on DN only. The entire civil aviation scenario of India changed in last 4-5 years and DN cannot be denied its contribution in the same. Rather, it led the change. Financial performance are of utmost importance but the strategy dictates it. I often remind myself of the idiom "A person who knows how would also work for the person who knows why".
Being from the civil aviation industry, I am often asked what has gone wrong with DN. And, it’s debatable. Legacy operators, be it old horses like Indian Airlines or Jet Airways or the newer one, Kingfisher, which is the owner of DN now, always maintained that Low Cost model is not viable in India. Various obvious reasons were recounted, i.e. lack of primary infrastructure such as secondary airports, sizes of main airports etc, lack of secondary infrastructure such as penetration of Internet, rudimentary and govt. controlled supplementary systems, govt. policies such as differential pricing structure for usage of the same airport infrastructure, ATF pricing, employment policies etc.
I agree to most of them but do not buy any of these arguments as reasons of failure of DN. I would agree that with all the above reasons, DN could not have matched the fare levels to that offered by LCCs in other part of the world, say Ryan Air or Air Asia. However, on the hindsight, it seems DN tried to do the same. Everything was not lost there but the way DN tried might have contributed to its demise.
In my view, DN died primarily because of its failure to manage its growth. Growth was anyway essential but ineffectively managing the growth seems to have let it down. There is no data to support this but empirical evidences, such as frequent cancellations and delays, not-so-encouraging coverage in media about its services, airport handling, treatment to passengers etc. are there.
However, in my view DN died because of equally important other reasons. Firstly, it joined other airlines in charging fuel surcharge separately from the actual advertised fares. This is the practice followed by all legacy carriers to save on commission to agents, who are paid commission as a percentage (normal commission of 5% to 7% of basic fare only. The same base is used for any other deal), i.e. agents do not get commission or rewards on taxes and surcharges. In my view, accepting this practice led to creation of doubts in the mind of common man. Consider this example, advertisements say fly anywhere at Re 1/-. But the passenger ends up paying more than Rs 2000/- to travel. With this kind of fare one can not expect to attract train passengers. This is a case of miscommunication. DN would have managed to carry passengers at much lower fares, especially on smaller sectors, but adhering to the dictate set by legacy carriers, hampered DN’s competitiveness. Last observed, DN and other legacy carriers were selling almost same fares on smaller sectors, such as Bangalore-Hyderabad. Probably, a communication saying, pay a total amount of Rs. 1000 or so and fly to any sector. And, with effective revenue management DN would have recovered the actual amount without any miscommunication. And, it would have attracted quiet a few train passengers too. Secondly, DN mismanaged its pricing. On a sector, where only legacy carriers were operating, DN had no need to offer a rock-bottom fare. If Indian airlines, Air Sahara and Jet Airways, the existing airlines when DN started operations, were offering a fare of say Rs 5000 plus taxes, say a total sum of Rs. 5500, DN did not require to sell its tickets on Rs. 2000 plus taxes, i.e. at a total price of Rs. 2500. Passengers would have travelled with it even if it had offered a total fare of Rs. 4000 or so. It is understandable that one needs to stir the market by offering such low fares but selling entire flight at such low fares effectively meant that at no point of time DN was making enough money to build reserves for future dog-fight like business scene. All legacy carriers, except Sahara, had built up such reserve. This is the practice followed in any business any market. For DN, it was always the question of everyday survival. Perhaps DN failed to anticipate future. It should have. The kind of buzz it had created was an invitation to big brand-equity conscious businessmen/business houses to enter the market. And, precisely this happened. With a small span, Kingfisher - led by flamboyant Mr. Mallaya, Go - led by Mr. Jeh Wadia of Bombay Dyeing, SpiceJet – led by another erstwhile Damania Airway’s management entered the fray. Another reason, in my view, was DN's decision to use larger Boeing aircraft (180 seater). These aircraft have extremely high cost of operations as compared to small propeller aircraft, which DN used to operate for long and it used to get additional benefits for operating smaller aircraft on various airports. Additionally, larger aircraft put additional pressure on revenue management team to carry passengers at whatever possible price market can give. Additionally, with larger aircraft DN was forced to operate on dense routes, where competition was anyway quiet high, facilities were compared with legacy carriers, and performances were under extreme surveillance by media, (which has lately grown into a bunch of uninformed and low IQ people. Sometimes their coverage is of such a quality that pathetic seems to be a compliment. Shall write more about them in some post later). This further pushed DN to copy services offered by legacy carriers. Soon the segmentation travellers was missing in the market.
Anyway, DN we had known all these years, is almost dead. All its symbols are being changed, right from its brand identity – colour scheme & tag line included, to basic operating system, i.e. reservation and check-in system.
In retrospective, demise of DN is regrettable but it has paved the way for other Low Cost Carriers in the Indian domestic market. With DN not there, other LCCs operating in the segment could improve their profitability. And, analyzing DN’s demise, they should reconsider their basic strategies.

*PS: LCC stands for Low Cost Carriers

The Indian Rhapsody

2007-11-08T14:03:00.000+05:30

Well its not that I did not want to put something here. Just that I was trying to be a little different, wanted to put a few pieces in Hindi. Just realised that Blogger is still not capable of handling the nuances of that language. Have got a few drafts to edit and post. Anyway...could not resist to have something on this.

As long as I can remember, I have been a cricket man. Played till the end of my campus life. Was descent player, was able to go up to the college team. And, have always followed cricket, at least Indian cricket.

Well I have been a great admirer of Colonel, apna Vengy, Dilip Vengasarkar. After all who else has scored three centuries at the Lords. He was one of the most stylist player of his time and among the most respected one too. So when he announced the retirement from international competitive cricket in 1989. I remember the scene. It was there on Doordarshan. He was gloomy, perhaps crying too. Though he was in the later half of 30s, he was of the opinion that there was some more cricket left in him. I could feel his pain though I did not agree to his belief. I admired him. I hated the way he was treated, sometimes in sometimes out with unreasonable reasons. I was certainly not happy with the treatment he was given lately. I rued that the fact that selectors had not played cricket ever and still they were treating cricketers of such statures with such disdain. I wished selectors were players.

Well I admire Rahul Dravid too. When he joined Indian team in 1995, I was happy that the team had got a true replacement of Colonel. Though Sachin was already there, he was not exactly like Dilip. Sachin has been a more aggressive player. And, hence, temperamental too. Its a different matter that Rahul exceeded the expectation. I do not see any requirement to justify this statement too. However, I was surprised a few days back to find Rahul being dropped from Indian team. It was difficult to believe that a person who was undisputed captain of the team a few weeks back and who left the job on his own, was out of the team. Perhaps, to a few wise men, his only utility was to lead the team. I could not help comparing the situation with that day, when Dilip retired. However, this time there is a different. Dilip is the selector. He is the chief selector.

I am left to wonder if he has acted in a different manner. Has it helped that the selector is an ex-cricketer of such a repute? Does it really matter who becomes selector? After all selection parameters remain the same. Compulsion, influences, background etc everything do not change.

Btw, what is Shastry doing in the scene? Does not he remember how and why he was there in the Indian cricket team? I still remember his waving his bat after getting out in a One-day international match. He score 66 runs of 198 balls. So you know his understanding.

Journey of soul

2007-06-10T16:46:00.000+05:30

This is something which intrigues me, at times a lot.
I am a Hindu and I firmly believe in my faith, though certainly not to the extent of militancy.
Now, being a Hindu, I have faith in reincarnations, i.e. soul is eternal, it can not get destroyed. It changes bodies till it attains the ultimate state, the "Moksha".
Now this is the origin of my problem, my soul or rather the soul within me. If I go by the above belief, the soul in me, i.e. me, must be in existence before I was born, i.e. before 20 June 1976. I am wondering. What was I earlier, earlier to the above date? If I take a normal gap, which has been assumed in a lot of religious stories, I, in my previous birth, would have died a few months earlier, i.e. early 1976 or late 1975. Now, it means I was there in 60s-70s, the golden period of music in the west, literary activism in India, for sure, during the height of cold-war, Liberation of Bangladesh, Indo-Pak war and Sino-Indian conflict, Vietnam war, ….., …..etc. Effectively, I have witnessed every event/incident, which has shaped our present. The only problem is I don’t know, rather nobody knows, in which part of the world I was.
However, some people know about their previous birth. My wife, for example says that she was a marwari woman in Patna, her sister was also women from a warrior cast and her younger brother was a Bengali kid, who died young. However, she is not sure of my history. Incidentally, all of them were in the nearby regions. I wonder, if this is the case with everybody.
If I go by this assumption, I would have been somewhere in Bihar/Jharkhand/UP/Bengal region (it is a convenient assumption.:)..). But it also means that I have witnessed two most important events of the previous generation, i.e. freedom of India and imposition of emergency or martial law in India. There was another important chain of events taking place on the sidelines of the later, the Naxalite movement or rather suppression of Naxalite movement in Bengal. Did I participate in any of these movements? I know both these issues are very close to my heart. I am a staunch opponent of martial law and I am equally strong opponent of Naxalite politics, rather I would term them as naive, and equally dangerous, thoughts. Naxalite means, to me, no truth no hope assumption based movement. So I would say that I would have participated, or rather supported, the student movement leading to imposition of emergency in India. I would have been too old to be a student (I know I could not be a congressman and hence could not be a student or youth leader during 1970s, i.e. just before my last death And, in any case congressmen did not participate in that movement. The movement was against the congress). I am enticed to fancy myself as an old politician, who became a politician in the free India by virtue of participating in the freedom struggle, who supported students’ movement and who was imprisoned and later he died before the emergency was lifted. Emergency was lifted after I was born in the present life. I still try to imagine days, or months, after the independence. During those days, if we go by the yardstick defined by congress, i.e. whoever participated in the freedom struggle and was alive after independence was a leader, it would not be exaggerated to say that those days population of India constituted more of leaders than common man. I am still trying to visualize those moments, though I have seen and felt them in my previous life.
Now the issue is “what was my age when I died last time”. Based on the fact that so far I have lived a perfectly normal life, which, as per conventional beliefs, indicate that I had a normal previous life, I can assume that I died of natural cause and also that I died after living my full life. Now, those days life expectancy was less, so even a life of 55-60 yrs was supposed to be god enough. If I go with the assumption that I died last at the age of 55 years means that last time I was born in the period of 1915-1920. It means that while India was fighting for its freedom I was there. Rather during the peak of its freedom struggle, i.e. in 1930s and 1940s, I, too, was at the peak of my youth. Does it mean that I participated in freedom struggle too? I am passionate about India, its history and culture and my Indian roots, I am convinced that I participated in Indian freedom struggle.
Now it also means that I died earlier, during the period of 1912-1915. Died of what? And, with what unfulfilled dream? Not seeing a free India? Again, going by the assumption of living for 50-55 years before dieing, I would have born in 1860-1865. I would continue with the assumption of being Indian even in that life. It means that I have seen India coping with effects of post-1st war of freedom. I would have undergone, felt and seen steady, though slow, percolation of political awareness in Indian society. I would also witness the development of pockets of industries, though primary, in India. And, I would have seen birth of religious polarization of population of India.
However, if I take these sets of assumption a step further. I realize that I would have died during 1858-1860. Does it mean that I participated in India's first war freedom too? Did I die fighting or later killed by English as a punishment of participating in the uprising? Or, worst of all, did I die of broken heart, not been able to accept the failure of our attempt? I do not know? Rather, I am unable to assume anything. And, now I do not find enough enthusiasm to continue the back-tracing.
I notice one similarity. Every time I have died, or rather would have died in all my previous lives, I have died in expectation of something. Wanting something to happen but could not see that happen. Will this happen this time too?
I am just 31 years old and expect to least another 30-40 odd years. What would I miss while dieing this time? Will it be India ruling the world? But will the world remain worth ruling? Will there be any ice on mountains, waters in rivers, forests and any, so-called, natural resources anywhere to covet and worth ruling? Who knows? And what will happen after this cysle? Given the person I am, I am sure my soul is certainly not going to get "Moksha" this time. It means it will have to come back next time too. What will be there then?

But, is this story of mine different from the story of any other guy/lady of my generation???

P.S.: I would like to imagine the next life too. But I would rather not. In last few years the pace of change has been too fast for imagination. I still remember. Standing in a que of 12-15 students in 1998-1999, at a PCO in Kanpur, waiting for my turn to call another PCO at Bokaro, requesting them to call my parents so that I could exchange a few lines with them, about me, them and my brother, I never imagined that all us would be having individual mobile commnication instrument talking simultaneously with everybody. The speed of change has got accelerated. I would rather wait for the next birth to write another piece like this than writing something imagining about that and end up laughing at the same just after a few years from now, well before reaching the next life.

Cosmic conspiracy and us

2007-05-27T16:25:00.000+05:30

Consider this.
Age of earth: Not definitely known. Most accepted age is app. 5 billion years.
Age of human race: app. 1 million years.
Age of human race as known to most of us: app. 5000 years.
Age of cultures and tradition, we generally discuss: a few hundred years or say one or two thousand years
Life span of human being: 70-75 years.

No. of celestial bodies including the earth: Infinite. Getting shaped and getting destroyed every minuscule of time due to various known/unknown celestial activities.

Probability of earth getting destroyed tomorrow: Nil
Probability of earth getting destroyed after a few years/decades: Not known.

And we are talking about the earth. Some of the examples used by astronomers used to explain cosmic situations are as under:
Earth is like a vehicle on an extremely busy high-speed highway, where there is no definite traffic law.
If we consider age of universe as 1 day (24 hours), we are presently at 23:59:59 hrs

Consider the life of an ant. For it, its colony would be its country. If we extend this hypothesis, for them one locality or say one city would be like their universe. And, how do we, human beings, treat them. Any of us, a human being, can use any available tools, which can be its foot, to destroy their colony. And, a condition like flood (or any such catastrophe) submerging a locality or city could be like destruction of their whole universe. And, still every time their universe is destroyed, ants, from somewhere else, come and repopulate the region.

This example may be a little away from the actual fact. But the fundamental remains the same. There would be some organisms for whom their whole earth could be our locality or city. And, they would be worried about saving their earth from extinction.

If we reverse this hypothesis, we become ants (or any organism validating the above hypothesis). And, what we assume to be our earth could be just a locality or city for a bigger life-form (any similar phenomenon?). It is possible than in such scenario, we have not realized their existence, unlike in the case of ants, which would be aware of existence of humans due to overlapping resources to fulfill needs of life, due to the fact that we are in some remote, unexplored, unfriendly terrain (like deserts or mountains or poles are for us). In such a system, do we matter? Like does it matter for us whether a colony of ants is destroyed? There are so many such ant-colonies. There could be so many earth-like colonies in the bigger system.

Let’s take this hypothesis (?) forward. We, as a human being, have achieved so many physical and intellectual feasts. Starting with discovery of wheels and fires, through airplanes and atomic energy, today we are trying to understand complexities of universe. We have developed so many intangible systems, from traffic system to social structure, governance to interpersonal discipline. However, we are the ant of the bigger system, what do our feasts mean? All our activities, collective or individual, conflicts, again collective or individual, feelings, aspirations, beliefs, faiths, gods, climate etc mean in the bigger system? Should we try to identify the ant , we have known, and then to understand what we are? But, would we be able to identify the bigger system? For that matter does that system exist?

Anyways….lets enjoy “November Rain” :)

हिंदी का विकास, नयी कहानी और....

2007-05-19T14:01:00.000+05:30

यह लो...मैं यहाँ लिखने बैठा और क्या लिखना था भूल गया....कितने दिनों से इंतजार कर रह था कि शनिवार को कुछ लिखना है और यह हाल हुआ है।

वैसे कल हमने निर्मल वर्मा की कहानियो पर आधारित नाट्य मंचन देखने का विचार किया था...तीन कहानियाँ...तीन नाटक..तीन एकांत...नहीं जा पाये। मन तो बहुत कर रह था पर नहीं जा पाये। कितनी अजीब सी बात है, अगर यहीं स्तिथी कुछ महिने पहले होती तो शायद मेरी इस लेख का विषय कुछ और ही होता..खैर जीवन है और उससे जुडी हुई "Choices"... कोई शिक़ायत नहीं..किसी से नहीं...खुद से भी नहीं।

वैसे निर्मल वर्मा और उनसे जुडी हुई "नयी कहानी" आंदोलन से एक शिक़ायत तो है मुझे...क्या इन सभी लेखकों के बूते यह नहीं हुआ कि वो हिंदी को हिन् अधिक विक्सित करते और अपनी भावनाओं और कथन को प्रस्तुत करते। आज हिंदी लेखन मरणासन्न है। क्या ये सभी लेखक भी इसमें प्रदत नहीं हैं? मुझे नहीं पता हैं...पर मुझे इतनी तो समझ है कि इन काबिल लेखकों के जाने के बाद हिंदी साहित्य में कुछ रुकन सा आ गया है। और, मेरी चिन्ता है कि ये कहीँ रूक ही ना जाये....

अभी और भी है बहुत कुछ लिखने को। शायद अगली बार....

Choices

2007-05-14T10:38:00.000+05:30

Yesterday evening was a nice evening. It came after one year, rather it comes after a year. It was our alumni meet evening. A Nostalgia evening. We enjoyed. A revisit to campus thru speeches of profs and a video collage on the campus. But the most effective was JBS-BAROC band and good old batch-mates, seniors, Juniors....

As expected one song captures the mood of the evening. This time too there was one...dunno much abt it except this line...

अब तो आदत सी हो गयी है मुझको....ऐसे जीने की....

The anthem of the institute "प्यार हमें किस मोड़ पे ले आया" was not played and neither was the most asked one..."Summer of 69"

One of the discussions, rather recurring one with various people, was on choices...good choices and bad choices...but what is good and what is bad? Haven't we read/heard many times..."We make a choice and then we live with it"...we have made choices and we are living with them...who the hell is afraid of living with them now...not me at least...

Anyway...enjoyed it and shall wait for the next evening....may be next year...:)

Writer's life

2007-05-01T13:03:00.000+05:30

All the while I used to think why do one require to take up writing as a full time engagement. However, in last few days seem to explain to me quiet a bit. I want to write quiet a few things but I am not getting time. I want to share my thoughts on the current state of Maharashtra, my present home state. I also want to share experiences of my generation (?). Anyways...

I am not getting time even to read a few things. I was surprised today to count 6-7 books, which I have started and left midway, not because of lack of interest but because of lack of continuity. And, still I need more time to do more important things. Don't know when shall I be able to manage things properly.....:(

एक मनःस्थिति.....

2007-04-26T00:00:00.000+05:30

बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना
बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना

बावरे से मन की देखो बावरी हैं बातें
बावरे से मन की देखो बावरी हैं बातें
बावरी से धङकने हैं, बावरी हैं साँसें
बावरी सी करवटों से, निंदिया दूर भागे
बावरे से नैन चाहे, बावरे झरोखों से, बावरे नजारों को तकना

बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना

बावरे से इस जहाँ में बावरा एक साथ हो
इस सायानी भीड़ मैं बस हाथों में तेरा हाथ हो
बावरी सी धुन हो कोई, बावरा एक राग हो
बावरी सी धुन हो कोई, बावरा एक राग हो
बावरे से पैर चाहें, बावरों तरानो के, बावरे से बोल पे थिरकना

बावरा मन देखने चला एक सपना

बावरा सा हो अँधेरा, बावरी खामोशियाँ
बावरा सा हो अँधेरा, बावरी खामोशियाँ
थरथराती लौ हो मद्धम, बावरी मदहोशियाँ
बावरा एक घूँघटा चाहे, हौले हौले बिन बताये
बावरा एक घूँघटा चाहे, हौले हौले बिन बताये
बावरे से मुखड़े से सरकना

बावरा मन, देखने चला एक सपना

Random thoughts on present times

2007-04-21T21:45:00.000+05:30

There are so many things on which I want to comment. To start with I have to say something on cost of inefficiency based on little work experience I have got so far. In my view, we tend to pass on a lot of issues as complexity whereas they are sheer inefficiency coupled with lack of courage to correct them. I have a few thoughts on present day journalism, which are, in my views, perfect example of Yellow Journalism. I want to share some thoughts on some thoughts. Probably this is the most difficult topic to explain in a few lines.

I hope I would get sometime to write a little about them soon, before they move out of cache of my brain.:)

क्या भूलूं क्या याद करूं....

2007-04-15T15:49:00.000+05:30

अरे अरे अरे...ये मैं बच्चन साहब की जीवनी कि बात नहीं कर रहा....बस अपनी बात को प्रस्तुत करने कि कोशिश है ये शब्द...

अचानक हीं कुछ दिनों पहले मुझे आठवीं-नवीं कक्षा में पढी हुई कुछ कविताओं की याद आने लगी। थोड़ा आश्चर्यजनक सा लगा। कवितायेँ तो कभी भी मेरी पहली पसंद नहीं थीं...ना हीं अब हैं ... मुझे तो हमेशा से ही कहानियाँ हीं अधिक पसंद रहीं हैं?? और तो और, कविताओं में भी मुझे जो दो कवितायेँ याद आ रहीं है वो भी थोड़ी अलग सी ही कही जाएँगी...एक तो शायद शमशेर बहादुर सिंह जी की है....उसकी पंक्तियां कुछ ऐसी हैं...भोर का नभ था बहुत नीला, शंख जैसे........या जैसे रात का लीपा हुआ चौका जो अभी गीला पड़ा है... मुझे इन दो पंक्तियों के अलावा कुछ भी याद नहीं है। दुसरी कविता तो और भी मुश्किल से याद आ रही है...कवि का भी नाम याद नहीं। बस इतना सा याद है कि यह गंगा नदी के किनारे के किसी गाँव या किसी छोटे शहर के सुबह का वर्णन है। यह भी याद है कि उस समय भी मुझे ये दोनों कवितायेँ बहुत पसंद आयी थी, शायद उन दिनों कुछ पंक्तियां याद भी कर ली थीं।

वैसे उन्हीं दिनों की एक बात अभी भी याद है। अगर कोई कविता या गीत या पंक्तियां बहुत पसंद आये तो उसे याद नहीं करनी चाहिए, वो याद कर लेने के बाद कम पसंद आतीं हैं।
लेकिन क्या यह दर्शन जीवन के दुसरे आक्षेपों के लिए भी सही नहीं है?

इन्टरनेट पर हिंदी

2007-04-14T09:45:00.000+05:30

यह सही है...बहुत ही सही है. ..आज बहुत दिनों के बाद मैं हिंदी में कुछ लिख रह हूँ और वह भी अंग्रेजी कीबोर्ड से... वैसे और कुछ भी लिखने से पहले मेरी तरफ से ब्लॉगर/गूगल समुह को धन्यवाद...

कई बार इस बारे में सोचा है मैंने, हिंदी विश्व की सबसे अधिक बोली जाने वाली भाषाओं में दूसरे या तीसरे क्रम पर होगी लेकिन इन्टरनेट पर इसकी कितनी प्रतिनिधित्व है? और ऐसा क्यों है? शायद इसलिए कि हमें आज इस भाषा कि जरूरत नहीं रही है अपने भावनाओं एवं दृष्टीकोणों को व्यक्त करने के लिए? या शायद हम इसे अपनी संस्कृति का हिस्सा ही नहीं मानते? या शायद हमारे लिए संस्कृति की व्याख्या ही कुछ अलग है? या शायद हमें अपनी संस्कृति पर ही गर्व नहीं है? मेरे द्रिष्टिकोण से तो शायद यहीं सत्य है कि हिंदी को हम अपनी संस्कृति का वो हिस्सा नहीं मानते जिस पर हमें गर्व हो।
खैर, अपना-अपना दृष्टीकोण, अपनी-अपनी व्याख्या। मुझे तो अपने अभियांत्रिकी की पढ़ाई के दिनों के एक दोस्त, राजेश कुमार श्रीवास्तव, की बात याद आती है कि कोई भी व्यक्ति सपने अपनी मातृभाषा में देखेगा और ग़ुस्से में कहे गए अपशब्द तो अपनी मातृभाषा में में ही कहेगा। पता नहीं कितना सही है पर इससे ये तो ढांढस मिलती है की मेरे जीवन काल में हिंदी लुप्त नहीं होगी। शायद मैं हिंदी की कुछ अधिक ही खराब भविष्य देख रह होऊं। ख़ुशी होगी अगर मैं गलत साबित होऊं तो...
वैसे मुझे बहुत ख़ुशी हो रही है...अब मैं शायद थोङा अधिक लिखूं इस ब्लोग पर....देखे...शायद...खैर एक बार फिर से...धन्यवाद गूगल/ब्लॉगर ....

Updates

2007-04-06T16:57:00.000+05:30

So I am doing the business after more than a year. Things have changes. I'm back in Civil Aviation field but urge to move out is still there. I've celebrated 1st anneversary of our marriage, albeit with tons left desired. Life goes on.

The biggest problem in trying to give words to transient thoughts are that they are transient. Where di we leave them become untractable. I sometimes doubt if it at all is transient. Whatever I am doing right now might be the continuity of that. But the question remains what was that though. What was I thinking of? What was I looking at? What is it I am looking for??

From the previous edition....

2007-04-06T16:08:00.000+05:30

Thursday, March 23, 2006
Life there after Life goes on. That is what they say.Last time, when I wrote, I was with Air India, I was technically single and I was in Mumbai. Now, Air India is history, for the time being at least, and PwC is the present. I am not single, even technically. And, I no more reside in Mumbai. It's Navi Mumbai, or New Bombay, what they call is popularly.However, there is another popular line, Nothing Changes.I am still writing this blog. I am still searching for something. I am still missing life from NV's text.This is strange, or rather not strange. Like me everybody wants a idyllic life without any monetary or other bothering. We miss past but we are chasing some future. Future knowing that it would be entirely different from the past we miss.But, to say that life has not changed for me would be a lie. At least, there is a sense of urgency when I walk out of the office at the end of the day. Anyway...life goes on....nothing ever changes....
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Monday, December 26, 2005
Days of longings
"Days of Longings". It is the English translation of one of my favourite novels. The original book is in Hindi. The writer of the book is Late Mr. Nirmal Verma.
He happens to be one of my favourite author as well. Much has happened since it wrote last. More than 6 months I guess. And things have changed. Changed, quiet fast and quiet dramatically as well. For better I hope, except one and that is the death of Nirmal Verma (NV). With him, all my favourite writers are dead. Greene, Hemingway, Kafka ( too soon u c..). And this means, all my favourite books are already written! Not much to finish now. I must have to find out another writer soon. Another day I was discussing NV with my sister-in-law, who has interest in literature, and we both agreed that we were sorry but not for his death which was anyway due. He was 75 years. But because we won't have more writings from him. Comparing his earlier writings, like Ve Din (translated into Days of Longings) or Ek Chithada Sukh (A Rag called Happiness), with his last one, Jan Aranya (translated into The Ultimate Wilderness), indicates that with time his intensity had not subsided. The coating of experiences of life had enabled him to describe lives in entirely different shades. I know his writing would be missed. Bit I know that many years later I'ld get the same sensation remembering his description of Neelu's return journey and her admirer preparing himself to miss her. Also, that his description of Delhi in late 60s in one of his stories would keep me haunting and missing that Delhi. Anyway, good that I read him and realize that there are people who see and feel the life in the same light.
Other significant change in my life is Priya. She is an HR professional. She is working with a medical transcription BPO firm. We met on 5th June. It was an arrange meeting. Our parents got in touch through some common friend, leading our this meeting. Had initial reservations about our age difference and her ability to handle me. After all their traumatic encounters and conversations, very few people had expected me to enter into a relationship and too into an arranged one. Cleared my doubts to some extent. And hope to prove others' doubts wrong by getting out of traumatic ways of life. Moving on to other phase. We are getting married on 6th Feb 2006.
So here I am now. Doings lots of bargaining and shopping. Still able to survive, thanks to the plastic money. Shall move into a new apartment by this year-end. Life would be more stable now, I hope. Lets see
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Monday, July 25, 2005

Passing by

So the last I wrote after 4 months and this time I am writing after almost 6 months. Many things happened. Life is taking no turn. Can't say if this one would be better or the one I have left would have been better. Anyway...But seriously, I have no urge to write as of now. Its dying. Its almost a year and I haven't written anything, except furious letters to editors, which was never published. Strange want to write for a moment but have nothing to write and the moment is gone. Politics? Sucks as usual. Everybody is the same. Hypocrite. This way or that. Economics? Does that matter? You write and keep on writing. Who cares? Society? Well that’s changing too fast to keep track of. By time a thought is processed another change and the thought is old-fashioned you c. Better keep observing and don't comment. In fact a close tracking provides enough to keep me amused. Isn't it amusing to think that once we reach the greatest state of maturity and equality all of us would roam around nude? Relations? Well, people like us should not do experiments. And no experiment, no observation and then nothing to comment or write. Then what is left to write??Yeah yeah...many thing but you see have no mood to write. Hope would revert to writing one day...some day....
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Monday, February 14,

See last time wrote after 4 months and said that I was feeling strange. This time its almost 8 months and I'm still feeling the same. Incidentally today is V-day..:)). All the while was thinking of writing something. Something...not here....somewhere else. There I have not written for a while....may be a few years I guess. Then I'll a few more pages to burn. Yeah, those are too intimate to be shared and let others know. Its better they go before getting exposed. Or, perhaps I'ld post them to someone in US. Any address....would find out one from the net. After all how does it matter? And to whom? It was strange feeling to learn that my first crush has become a mom now. Papa nahin to mama hin sahi...:P....but I dunno...I just want to see them...the lady....her kid....hope she wont recall me. So u see, it doesn't matter. Nothing matters. Don't agree with that lady of Fountainhead....but do agree that the easiest way to kill somebody is to stop thinking of him or her. No blood, no scream, no risk of getting caught, nobody to answer too....and the victim dies everyday. How sweet..:)). Was reading abt male-menopause a few days back. Was worried was that what had struck me? On the wrong side of 30? Not worried any more..:)). Reading too much these days. Kafka, Marquez, Mann......and the net. Better than getting drunk and harassing the roomme..:). But its more depressing then. Anyway have nothing to do or think or look upon. All these readings send me to a different planet. Only then I can claim openly - Mankind sucks, especially because it can think a little and communicate much more. Poor souls can't cope with this imbalance.Goof up another interview yesterday. Nothing new. Am not writing because of that. Know I have communication problem. Lost too much because of that. In fact nothing much is left now. Its a strange feeling when everybody thinks you are a spinner and you have nothing to spin. In Delhi, people were asking why was I going back on 13th night and here people were asking why was I going on this particular weekend and that too for just 2 days. Have stopped saying much. Just a small denial. After all they are not wrong. Its just that nothing is nowhere. Got it?...Anyway...dont try...another try wont help..After all everybody has his/her share of world, he/she has to live in it any way....as long as its not distressing me...dint u remember...gud times must end and bad times become gudtimes....ya ya gud times....thr u c...that one is gudtime....thr...thr...can't u c...up thr....in the western sky...at the horizon....anyway...next...wud find another one for u....

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Thursday, July 15, 2004

Writing after so many days is strange. These are strange days. Extremely frustrating most of the times with a few days of promises....like a big wall with small windows...Dunno whether I should reveal personal portion of my life here or not....but when personal life is so much intertwined considering one without other becomes almost impossible. Every effort to maintain sanity and keeping the two separate goes in vain. And sometimes it seems justified too. And the only thing I can say out at the last is....I dunno.Yeah, I dunno whether someone's leaving to US was unjustified when all her peers, her career and all her dreams were there. I dunno if her movement was still unjustified when like her 70% of Indians wanna migrate. I dunno if anybody's movement is unjustified when he/she can't get enuf opportunity here even to match his/her minimum skill and earn. (46% of Indian population is in the working age group of 18-42 yrs. I doubt our ability to provide them suitable employment.)I dunno if I should believe that once gone to US would ever comeback? Never seen anyone...until and unless forced by their immigration laws....and missing the place everywhere, everytime...But what if they have legal right to stay there? I dunno if I wud be able to see her again? And who comes back for someone else's comfort? In fact who does anything for other's comfort?I dunno whether after movement one will get the same love? I dunno if the intensity remains the same? And I dunno why we don't communicate any more....I dunno if thats a gesture to show disinterest....I dunno if its only a way to push me away without prolonging the pain?.......I dunno why I've started feeling so lonely in a crowded country....I dunno why this feeling is deepening......I dunno how others live with memories?....I dunno how to kill memories?....I dunno if I have to kill one more dream?.....I dunno what I've written.....I dunno...I dunno anything....I dunno what I've done....
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Friday, February 20, 2004

We are on the verge of entering another new year. I don’t remember any year when people were so eagerly looking for it. After all India din’t ever shine as much as it is now. And deservedly so. Silently, over the last few years it has gone many silent changes. The most visible one is the communication revolution. From a country, and a region, with virtually nil personal telecommunication unit density to a descent density and still rising, it has been a great achievement. The same holds true in many vistas. Visibly, from finance, banking and insurance in particular, to retail and perceptually, in exports, personal finance, in world politics and many. The newest concepts of software in social and personal life too have percolated down in these years. But never to forget the positive role, played by the nature in form of reasonably good monsoon in these years. It is not so common to find world’s leading reporters, political, social and economical, covering us. We have been projected future power, 3rd largest economy in next 4 decades, after China, and USA. We are projected to surpass UK and Germany in a decade or so and Japan by the end of another decade. We would be a rich nation. No?Well, in terms of cumulative money may be, but in terms of other aspects of development? Shall we have less number of people begging around, at street corners, at railway stations, at tourists’ spots, at temples, at airports? Shall we have less number of tourists taking pictures of begging children and ladies? Shall there be some system to take care of economically weak physically crippled people so that they are not forced to beg? Shall we have some system to ensure proper education of children? In short, shall we have some sort of socio-economic support system in place? Every developed nation has some such system but we don’t have. We, our government, have always blamed lack of resources for the same but in the projected scenario shall we have them in place?Another important issue that comes into my mind is the development in pockets. If analyzed properly, it can be observed that the shine is there but in pockets, demographically as well as geographically. That is a cause of concern. Social problems apart this loop sided development may be inhibiting the harness of our total growth potential. Look at this figure, when Indian GDP grew by 5.6%, the GDP of the state of Maharashtra grew by 4.4% only while that of the city of Mumbai, the growth was only 2.5%. This can be seen in two ways. One, supporting my argument, is that the concentrated development that has happened so far in Mumbai is inhibiting its further growth. The reason could be choked infrastructure such as transportation facilities etc, or basic resources such as manpower, space, to support more investment. This is strange comparing the size of Mumbai city vis-à-vis other metropolitans. Otherwise the same could be viewed as that capitalism as per its true nature, helping capital finding true destination for itself and hence leading to economic homogenization. It means new capital centers are developing. But as a beginner it would not be able to attract all available capital. It would require time to become more lucrative. Moreover this destination could be anywhere, even out side India too.In this case the active role of government becomes important. Government must pitch in to develop more alternate destinations by developing infrastructure etc. Thus it would help retaining capital, if not in already developed centers, in newer centers, ensuring the capital does not leave the country. These are my thoughts and don’t know whether it is in the right direction. And if it is right does any body in the government is thinking in the same line and doing something on it. Lets see. Lets pray. After all a more prosperous India is our common dream…J
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Tuesday, February 03, 2004

This is another letter I have written to the editor of The Times of India. Let's see if dares publish it. Here it goes..Dear Sir,Your article was very much relevant in the light of current developments. As a professional involved with this sector I realy feel very sorry for these state owned airlines. Interestingly, while the government sings the song of feel good factor elsewhere here its all like no end to plights. These carriers are not allowed to but aircraft, unruly workforce, every section of which is invariably backed by one national party or another and then they are compelled to cater to the ever-increasing foreign trips of these leaders. When Civil Aviation minister accuses his own babies (AI and IA) of non-efficiency, he must look at his contribution too. When AAI, AI and IA, all are under him why AI and IA complain of step motherly treatment by AAI? Ask any staff they would tell you how they are pushed to corners at airport, at aircraft parking bays, in providing basic infrastructure etc to support our national carrier? Why these airlines are pushed to compete with more resourceful carriers having backing which makes one think twice which the national carrier. Btw, do u remember how many civil aviation ministers we had under this feel-good cabinet? Its really pathetic. And then we are expecting a Civil Aviation Policy? For whom? BA? AF? SQ and other south-east Asian carriers? Can't these ministers (sorry but I really dont know if the present one would be there till tomorrow) see that all foreign airlines are increasing their frequencies to India, they are upgrading their aircraft our national carriers are still begging? Gone are the days when air travel was considered as a luxury. Most of the traffic of our national airlines constitutes of poor labourers to gulf. Even others passengers are much more price sensitive than ever. There is no feeling of patriotism and patronising national carrier any more. Value for money matters, come from wherever it may. All these Emirates, Singapore Airlines et al have come on the strength of fast growing Indian market only and they are world's best carriers now. Is it all because of our Civil Aviation ministry and our leaders? Sometime, I am forced to believe that all is not well up there. Its a big industry world-wide with big money. Who knows? Moreover, if they dare selling these airlines who'll carry them overseas? Where'll it be possible for their friends and relatives to get a first class treatment for a less than standard economy fare? I must remind you that a conscious medium, you must bring up these issues and build up awareness.Thank you,An aware reader.
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Monday, February 02, 2004
Excuse me Ms. Roopa Purushotaman, I don’t agree with your assessment with the future of Indian economy. I doubt some basic assumptions made in the study. To go point by point, let me start with this one:1. In the report itself it has been mentioned that the composition of India’s GDP is baffling. Its development from an agriculture-based economy to a service-based one bypassing industry-based phase is baffling. True. Only twenty years back ours used to be an agriculture-based economy with the share of Agriculture and related sectors being as high as 40-45% and service sectors contributing just 34-35% to our GDP. The share of Industries was as meager as 20-22%. It was a scenario very much similar to that of a developing nation, among the ones at the bottom of development. And see the present scenario, our GDP consists of 48-50% contribution from service sectors, agricultural contribution shrinking to 26-28% and industries’ contribution limited in the range of 22-25%. It is a scenario where we are very much similar to USA, the largest and one of the most developed economies, where the contribution of service sector is around 60%. Does it mean that we have developed to the extent of USA? We have developed amazingly fast? Perhaps all of us would agree to it, NO. So what has happened? A natural progression of development indicates that a primary economy, one which has agriculture, mining, fishery, forestry etc as main economic activities, matures and grows into secondary economy, with main economic activities in the field of machinery, productions, processing etc, to harness its built-up from primary resources say from mining activities, food processing activities etc. A secondary economy then develops into a tertiary economy, with major economic activities in non-physical products like communication, transportation, storage, financial activities etc, mainly to sustain its growth achieved during the second phase. Similar developments in other services develop with time to support its workforce say entertainment, sports etc. Has that happened in India? NO again. So can’t we conclude that we have come up in services but we are serving somebody else not ourselves?2. Another assumption you have made in your report is that of sustained growth on the basis of the Services sector. But for how long? Do you mean to say that India would be getting more and more outsourcing activities for next forty-fifty years? From where? It has already attacked the US market and to a lesser extent the UK market. Mainland Europe is not yet been substantially influenced due to language barrier. The same is the story with Japan. Say we do whatever we require to capture those markets too but would that be enough to help us grow for next 50 years? Moreover we are simply ignoring the threat of backlash from local communities in the present discussion. But can we? Can any business house with substantial exposure in a market dare to ignore backlash against it there? For example, take a fortune-500 US firm. It decides to outsource its major back office work to India, cutting thousands of jobs there. It leads to major outcry there and it faces a possible threat of people not buying its products. In such scenario will it outsource? It might look a fictitious scenario now but isn’t it possible? Can’t it arise in future looking at the extent of protests in UK right now? Therefore, business houses will have to consider the backlash in BPO decisions at some point of time, sooner or later?3. Another point that is missed in the report is that of development of new low-cost centers in next 45-50 years. Is it possible that not a single country would come up in next four-five decades to challenge India’s position of low cost service provider? Moreover would India be such a low cost service provider after a few decades? It is general phenomenon that the cost of labour increases with increase in the overall living standards of a society. So if India really grows at a pace of 6-7% p.a. even for the next ten years or so, the tremendous cost advantage it has is bound to get diluted and that same time some other lower cost centers like Vietnam, China, who knows may be some obscure country from Africa etc may become a lucrative destination. In this scenario, is it proper to assume sustained growth of India on the present model for a period as large as four-five decades?4. One fact that is largely ignored in the report is the speed with which India has come into the BPO business. It has taken hardly three-four years for all investments to become productive. If we consider the development years too then the duration would increase to say eight-ten years. This has happened in the background where a trend, of offshore outsourcing has just germinated. But once the concept develops, will it take the same time for all these activities to move out too to a new or more lucrative destination? In the later case there would not be the case of backlash from the main market etc too? And if that happens how shall India cope with it? Given the fact that most of the BPO clients are non-Indian majors, isn’t there a possibility of whole business disappearing too fast to respond? What will happen to Indian economy then? Has it considered any plan to tackle it or to prevent it? I cannot see it.The idea behind the article is not to put somebody in poor light. The idea is to project the fact that overall sustainable development cannot happen until we develop our own industrial base. We have been an industrial nation in making since time oblivion but we haven’t so far. And now the fear is that we may miss the target in the hype created by the boom in service sector or BPO to be precise. Any economy can have a sustainable service sector only if it has a developed industrial base. One can’t jump ladder in this process of growth. Its high time we realize it and do things go out of hand. Thank you for showing great faith in India, its people and its economy, may be because of your willingness to help your country of origin in a different way, by glorifying it, by marketing it and without toiling your hands for it. But I beg to differ on the assessment you have made.
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Monday, January 12, 2004

This is something which I read a few days back. Camus wrote it and I agree to it, it seems. I have added to it and might have modified to what the original Camus' idea was. This goes like this...It is not that many of us are afraid of death but what we fear is the futility of our life. We want to live on so that one day we can prove our worth. And most of us would identify ourselves as one of those many......How does it sound?
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Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Here is another piece...written after reading about declining female/male ratio in India...shockingly in the so called economically rising section....I am a concerned man. To understand my concern you must know a little about my background and me. I am a twenty-seven years old guy, passed out from one of the best business school in India and presently working with a very reputed company, atleast as visible from outside. Now as per the norms set by our society, everybody wants me too get married. And me too agree. But here comes the problem. I think myself as a person of good intellect (?), after all I have got double masters with basic engineering degree and all of them from institutes of great repute. So I have decided to get married to a girl of good education. Good is a relative term, therefore to be specific, with a girl having professional degree, i.e., either an engineer or doctor or a B-school graduate. With great difficulty I made my mom to agree to this idea of mine. And as expected she convinced my dad too. So dear friends, months have passed since all this was decided but all the time I got offers of girls not fitting into this criterion. Parents introduced all these girls as very beautiful, well educated and with a very cultured background. And since I too wanted to buy time I politely declined all of them. Recently dad got fired on me. He understood my tactics. So in self-defense I had to remind him of my criterion. And to my dismay he said “Son, what do you think we didn’t try? There is no girl meeting your criterion in our knowledge. Go find out yourself if you can.” And then I realized whom to find? We in our little known college used to joke that our college produced 100% export quality girls and that’s true. None of my lady batch-mates are in India any more. Even most of my juniors too have left. Most of them married to NRIs otherwise left India for higher studies but never returned, married there, some either to NRIs or fellow students who later turned NRIs or even to non-Indians. You know Indian ladies are in high demand in foreign market. And those who are left are looking for such guys. Try talking to them? You’ll realize that they are the most brutally treated people on the earth. I am not prejudiced. I tried to find out some facts from here and there. And here they are. 79% of Indians who go out to study never return. The second highest figure is that of China. Only 15% of those poor guys remain there. And the third one is South Korea, 9% of students from there don’t return. But the most amazing figure was that 95% of Indian ladies going out for higher studies don’t return. And with perpetually increasing proportion of female students, imagine our future? So now you know my concern? All so called intellectual ladies are leaving India either by marrying NRIs, who can boast of a qualified Indian “bahu” to their adopted countrymen, or by simply going away for “further study”. Add to this woe of decreasing female proportion in our DEVELOPING society thanks to large-scale female feticide, female infanticide, malnutrition related deaths of females etc. What will happen to our coming generation? With all intellectual would-be mothers moving out of the country and fewer newer ones being produced how shall we get more intellectuals in following generations? Would our human resource minister take any action against this? Does he consider himself responsible for generations to come? Well nationalism apart I am very concerned about my marriage first? Shall I ever get a life-partner of my dream?