Every dog has its day !

My friend Farrukh posted in FB "Applications programming is a race between software engineers, who strive to produce idiot-proof programs, and the universe which strives to produce bigger idiots. So far the Universe is winning". I just commented on that "Let it win. But every dog has its day". That phrase came to my mind from no-where. So let me start today from that no-where !

Yes, I tried to make chappatis yesterday. But still I am waiting for that day when at least one of those chappatis will have a shape of an oval if not a perfect round. Currently it looks more like a perfect Australia or a perfect USA.

I always used to wish for that day when any of my software program will have less than 50 bugs per KLOC. Finally my wish came true. All my days became like that, when I stopped coding !

If I go a little more back to the past, I had wished for that day. The day when I would bat. In that cricket field. This was when I just crossed 30 and I was inducted to my unit team, not because of my skills but because of my age. There was a need of 30+ person to be in the playing 11 to gain 20 bonus runs. So I managed to score 20 runs for my team, even before the start of every match - 15 overs a side. We lost first three matches with all that. I had to run around the ground during our fielding and when batting came, being the last batsman in the team, I never got a chance in those three matches. So I remained as 12th man being part of the playing 11, no batting only fielding!

Finally in the fourth match, the day had come for me. I had to come out for batting. But see my fate. Last ball, six runs needed. And I was at the non-striker's end, no opportunity to face the ball. The other batsman hit hard, but straight to the fielder and he ran towards me, urging me to run across. I stood my ground, didn't move an inch from my crease. For what joy ? As such I had run enough times to the boundary to pick the ball from outside the boundary during our fielding ! I was not in a mood to run any more with no purpose this time, unlike during fielding ! Made my pal run out ! With anger and strong wish I stood in that crease asking - when would that day come when I would face a ball ?

If I go much more back to the past, I had waited for that day on which many things would happen. It was one or two years for me to enter the teens. But my wishes were quite reasonable. A movie, A masala dosa from a restaurant, sit in an air-conditioned room for five minutes, go in a car to some place of no particular interest or choice. For many reasons, these things were not happening to me. Traveling in a car I could have easily achieved - I could have broken my own head so that there would have been urgent need of taking me to a hospital in a car. But then, I wanted to go and experience that drive in a conscious manner!

Then that day came, not for me but for my aunt. She was in mid thirties. She remained unmarried. Not because of her fault. Mismatch in horoscope, dowry amount, age, social status, fear of falling in love with somebody - reasons were many. Finally she got engaged and then got married, arranged, after lot of search and research by her father. What's is that day to do with my movie or Masala dosa ? Read on.

Exactly after a month, on that Saturday, my dreams came true. The newly wed  uncle decided to take us for a movie. That too traveling to Ernakulam, nearby town in a taxi car. I enjoyed that travel in the car, watching closely how that 40Kg lean, driver maneuvering that half a tonne Ambassador car, powerfully using that power-less steering. The movie was at Padma Theatre on MG road, ( I can boldly write MG Road, every decent town in India will have one MG road at least !! ). Fully air-conditioned theater ! It didn't end there. We were taken to Padma cafe in the same theater compound to have a masala dosa each !! That day all my long term wishes came true. On that very day, that type of day ended for my uncle though ! He had a kid and then a kid, no time or money for such entertainment any more.

When I talk about a dog having a day, how I can ignore a real dog. This is bull dog. He got that name not because he looked like a bull, but because he was quietly following a bull on its heels. He was waiting for that day when those loosely fixed things on to the bull will fall so that he can relish them.

Yes - like I wait for that ball to be bowled to me, like that bull dog wait for the fall of a ball or two, we all wait for that day. To some thing or other to happen. We have to. To look for a much more hopeful and eventful tomorrow.

This day be your day ! Bye.

Picture will always teach a lesson or two

This place I liked the most. A perfect place to stand to see your reflection. A perfect place to reflect upon yourself.

And this is a good thing that happens when great people talk about other great people. It will be etched on stone, to be read for ever.

The venue where something highly important was told. The place might be deserted now. But if the content is so good, then it will be spread all across the world. ( "Gita Updesh Sthal"', place where Gita was told/prescribed).

One may be short. But he might have a tall ego ! But when he stands in front of such a tall monument, he can realize how short his ego is.

This is the picture of "Kurinji" flower. One may think what is so great about this flower. It looks as ordinary as any other flower. The fact that it blossoms only once in 12 years, makes it so special. Rare things always attract attention.

This tells you a different story. You may find something beautiful. You may want to capture it. You will put 100% effort to capture it. But then, all times, you would not get what you expected. Be happy with what you get in such cases, do not throw it away !

Taj Mahal was built on the shores of river Yamuna, when Yamuna was beautiful, serene and full of water. Though Yamuna is almost dried up now, Taj still holds its beauty. Preserve !

Then you will come across this building, to get convinced that such a building exists that houses the governing council of this country. Which goes in circles.

And you will find faces with full of energy, and hope and eagerness to observe and learn new things.

Yesterday I posted picture of my pet . To tell how nice to be a pet of somebody. That somebody loves you always, that somebody takes good care of you.

Pictures convey many things. Pictures are easy way to communicate. That's why today's blog is with pictures.

Have a great weekend. People who have free time, just go to places. Take pictures. They would come at ramdom. With no logical sequence. No problem. Do share them as it is !

Food for thought

I have never attended a wedding with no lunch or a dinner. I don't think I will ever attend even one. I am eagerly looking forward to attend those two weddings in a month's time. Apart from being present and bless the new weds, I can have a delicious lunch. Yes, my strength  is my food. But that very food is my weakness as well.

My friend is a good blogger of food recipes. She keeps blogging daily some item or other which  I would have prepared, eaten several times. But there is always a twist in her recipe. Some new ingredient or combination makes it interesting. Another friend shared me a blog that lists 14 breakfast places in Bangalore. Yes I must go to those places with an all-empty stomach. Latest - a few nice researches are struggling hard to find the link between saturated fats and coronary disease. They are not able to find any concrete, visible evidence. I sincerely hope they don't ever. And they publish that "non-discovery" boldly in all leading news papers and possible TV channels. I can start buying and consuming 250 gms of that "ghee" every month instead of 50 gm "chotta" packet, that too once in six months !

There is going to be "Aaratu", festival at our Thirumala Devasthana at Cherlai, my home town in 3 weeks' time. When we were small kids, it was food festival for us. When God will be taken through different streets in those last 5 days of the 8 day festival, we would also go to those streets and visit houses of our friends and relatives. We had a chance to taste different homemade items from different places. We had a license to eat. Yes, all good things must come to an end. With the all important feast at the temple. We would sadly be reminded that we had to wait till next Apr or Dec to go for another kill. 

We had visited Kutty uncle's house. We had been discussing about politics, weather, cruelty towards the poor and sick, scarcity of water and food et all for half an hour or so. My four year son did not understand one thing, and he asked loudly to me "Anga khaan kaayin melnaa ve" ( here food won't be available at all ? ). He was clear in his mind as why he was there. Kutty uncle was curious to know what my son was asking. I told him that he wanted to get back home quickly. Luckily Kutty uncle did not know Konkani, and more importantly my son did not know Malayalam which avoided further embarrassment !

We, the most eligible bachelors had taken a house for rent during our initial days in Bangalore."Today we need to cook and eat at home, let's have chicken itself" announced Jalal. I accompanied him to the shop to select a live and healthy one, a chicken weighing two Kgs. Brought home that whole chicken, just "skinned out", Jalal wanted to cut and clean it himself - he wanted to cook end to end. And he settled in the corner of that 9x5 spacious kitchen to cut and clean. I could not watch that cruelty!. So I stepped out. Oh yes, we had a feast that day - chicken soup, chicken kebab, chicken roast, and chicken biriyani. Not at home but at "Village Inn", a near by restaurant. And there was a feast for another group, those stray dogs. They had main course of 1900 gms of chicken pieces, suspected by Jalal that they were non-eatable by humans,  along with those 100 gms of edible stuff as dessert !!

We had taken our customer for a dinner in a star hotel. My boss gave him a freehand to order what he wanted, after all customer is god right ?. That god ordered a "heavenly" wine which costed 40,000 rupees. My boss's quarterly business development budget blown by just one bottle.

Food for thought. Everybody agrees one should "eat to live" and not "live to eat". Agreement alone will not be enough. One has to practice. The skill is in eating 3/4 full. Eat delicious food, enjoy every bit of it, but then stop eating it after consuming 75% of what you "abnormally" would have consumed. It is not easy, but it's possible. It's healthy too !

Feed your guests with what they like, what they enjoy most. But be careful while giving freedom to them. Unless you want to pretend at the end of the party, that you are drunk with half a glass of that most expensive wine in the world !! And be sober for a good part of rest of your life !!!

 

Avoid reading this while eating

One has to eat well, eat healthy. Also one has to defecate hygienically, not in the open. These basic things are bare minimum for any person. Period.

I could have stopped writing here. But by any standards a blog needs to have a few paragraphs. So let me continue.

My cousin was very happy the other day when she came home. She had gone to her colleagues place for a party. "Newly constructed house, fabulous, you know how much my friend spent on that toilet 1.5 to 2 Lakhs !" was her remark. I didn't find any thing odd with that. If a person can spend 15+ Lakhs on a kitchen with all those elegant Italian, modular pieces, why not spend 10% of it for a toilet? Output is equally or rather more important than input, right?

Talking loudly about toilet or subject related toilet is a taboo for us, for obvious reasons. In my school days to go to the open ground next, we had to use sign language, nothing verbal was practiced. We were shy. Teacher will understand based on our action - 1.  stand up like a normal umpire in a cricket match declaring the batsman out, 2. stand up like that seasoned politician who would display happiness on his victory once the results are declared.

We were trained to be shy like that, not to tell loudly in the public. This is a joke, you might have read before, since the topic is such let me repeat it here. Little Sid starts yelling to her mama, I want to go to urinal. Mama tells Sid, "Don't shout like that. Others will hear. You just tell you want to sing a song when you have that need ". They return after watching that "horror" movie. Obviously Sid gets up in the night, reminded of some of those scenes from the movie. He tells dad, "I want to sing now". Dad says "it is night, your mama will wake up, you can sing tomorrow morning". "No No, I want to sing now", Sid was persistent that he needs to show his talent. "If you feel that much, then sing in my ears ". Based on your knowledge on music, you may imagine as what song, in what tune, scale et all ,  Sid would have sung.

A few of my friends had visited Lal Bagh. Their first visit to Bangalore. After roaming around a bit, they had to answer to nature's call. In normal circumstances, any medium size tree in their front will do for them. Being a foreign place they did not want to take a chance, though there are huge trees in Lal Bagh. They headed towards Pay & Use toilet. The guy asked them "Ondukka, Rendukka " (for one or two in Tamil). The money minded friend who was in the lead while quickly calculating how much they needed to pay, said FOUR, thinking the question was "how many" people. By the time he realised his blunder and started to laugh, that guy was still wondering what were those new service lines No 3 and 4 he needed to start for more income !

When did I drive fast in my life ? Yes, while we were returning from Bandipur to Mysore in that state high way. There were no shops on that high way for Kms stretch in those days. My friend had to go to toilet urgently. I could see him sitting and grinding the seat with lots of discomfort. I had to speed up as if I were participating in a Grand Prix, but looking on the side for a hotel like a place with a possibility of a toilet with in. The moment I stopped the car in front of a place, I saw my friend running towards the guy sitting at the counter. After seeing the urgency, that guy ran inside, my friend on his heels. I thought all had settled and relaxedly got out of the car. Then I saw the guy coming out of the building at double the speed. My friend closely following him. Both were heading towards to the other side of the building, the guy with the key to open the toilet and my friend to use it "badly"!! To open the pandoras box !

Our organization was small those days. 200+ people strength in one building with one decent toilet next to the conference room. Our CEO came out of the conference room to instruct some thing to the admin guy, in between that all important meeting. He noticed that the toilet next to the conference room was being used, locked from inside. "Throw that fellow out, what is he doing inside that? " was his instruction to the admin guy. CEO was worried that if by chance the US customer got a nature's call ( nature of "nature" is always like that, so unpredictable. needless to talk about the predictability of the refreshments that we would have provided to the customer) there would be no alternative to provide !

I am banned from using words toilet, or toilet related words while we have our meal. By my wife. Those words would haunt her through out her meal, even if she continues eating. If she is in front of TV while eating, if that toilet cleaner ad appears, she will change the channel immediately. If remote is not handy, she will close her eyes and meditate till the toilet gets fully cleaned and that delicious "dairy milk" chocolate ad appears next. I do understand this issue and I am sensitive to it, even though I do not have that much problem with that condition.That's the reason I put up the title of this blog accordingly. I presume there is every likelihood that  my blog would be picked up while eating compared to a serious HBR article.

"Fifty three per cent of Indian households defecate in the open (600 million people) and the absence of toilets contributes to increased disease burden, malnutrition and impaired cognitive development in children, according to the World Bank. "

And I feel almost another 600 million men urinate in private places on those public roads, daily.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Delhi/Inventors-aim-for-better-toilet-habits/articleshow/32575891.cms

Salutations to Bill Gates for giving so much importance to such a basic need of man kind. He, who had toiled with Windows and Office development for so long, had a big heart to extend his support on building toilets.

India has a long way to go. But we all agree that every Indian needs to go. Go in a clean and hygienic way. For everybody's good. Hope somebody pays more attention to it.

Time for me to go for the day! Bye!

Irrational bias

He was my good friend. We used to share good ideas. We used to debate on intellectual matters, that indicates how deep our friendship was. But one day all went wrong. Why? I stopped liking  Sachin Tendulkar because Sachin stopped performing the way he used to in cricket field. And I could not help but express my views to my friend on that. Ardent fan of Sachin, he used to take leave for days together. To watch Sachin on that big screen completing his double ton. My friend could not imagine me talking badly about Sachin's performance. He could not stand it. He stopped liking me that much as well. I can not blame my friend. Am I also not like that? Even if that behavior of mine is not that much of my own liking ! If I find that my views and opinions do not match with those of the other person, don't I also react like that way, how much ever logical or rational his views are?

Whenever I watch India-Pakistan match, yes I support team India. I want them to win, always. I have a reason for that bias. Whenever I watch Australia-Pakistan match, I again have a bias - Australia shall win. For that matter any match, I have a strong reason to favor one side - because of my nationality, because I like the skill of some players, because I like the way that particular team has been performing so far.

But then I watched last few overs in  Honkong Vs Nepal match the other day. Though I heard more about these two countries than cricket, never knew cricket is getting popular there. I did not know any player in those teams. Still I watched, and more importantly I started liking one of the teams. I wanted to win that particular team.You may ask me which was that team, let me keep that secret with me only. Not because that team which I supported lost !!!!! It's because I didn't have no logic to favor one or the other. It just happened. Started favoring one of them, for no reason.

There is another friend of mine. He used to call me very frequently. We used to discuss at least weather if nothing else was there to talk about. One fine day he stopped calling me that frequently. I am sure he must be having some reason or other not to call me, definitely not about Sachin Tendulkar or his batting, it could be something  else that I spoke which made him uncomfortable.

A grocery store opened near my house "Fresh n More". The closest to my house. As promised, there things are as fresh or even fresher than many other shops I go. People environment, every thing is fresh out there. And there is more spread of items though it was not explicitly said as what is "More" there, definitely not the prices. But still I don't go there. Reason? None !

Like or dislike, Bias. These things normally  happen because I have some past experience. I receive feedback on them from others. Or that person does not support my views. There is a reason for such bias.

But then why should I like or dislike a person if I have "sub-zero" knowledge on him? How much ever I had been taught that one has to judge the other person based on actions or some data. Still I do tend to get that habit of liking / disliking with no data to support? That opinion of mine is formed from nowhere with no reason. I wish I were not like that.

Last in First out

P K Rao was his name. My boss for a few years. Nice person. Harmless. But he was scared of one thing. 360 degree survey on him, the survey in which his boss, peers and reportees give feedback on him.That fine day he called us, one by one to his room. Though this is the first time he did this exercise that year, it was not first time for us. Every year during appraisal time he does this. To achieve several things in one stroke. He would seriously ask all leading questions that would sufficiently address most of the areas in the survey. So that he gets good rating on most of those disliked areas by him. He wanted to load a few good things to our memory so that when we respond to the survey that phenomenon happens "Last in First Out"

That time some thing extra happened in my interview. He openly asked me "do you have any feedback for me?". I was a bit worried. If I tell some thing good for him, it may turn out bad for me. But I decided to give him a bit harmless advice " Rao saab, you are so bogged down with your busy work and you forget to appreciate explicitly our good work, then and there". There was a smile on his face, I was relieved as well.

One week after that episode, Rao saab asked me to review a book to give our recommendation to the library whether to procure a few copies of the same. Using all my "incompetence" on the subject, I prepared a note and went to his room. He was as usual doing some math touching on that 19 inch monitor of his desktop PC. Don't get me wrong, touch screens never existed those days, even if you slap on that screen, nothing would change on that screen, unless you use a keyboard or a mouse. By the way, you must have heard that Microsoft is going to come up with screen, you don't have even to touch. Non-touch screens, just gestures by fingers will do. First a screen to look, then the screen to touch and now a screen with no touch ( This reminds me of the joke on my old friend Namboodiri again. Namboodiri goes for a circus. He sees a tiger jumps through a big steel ring, three tigers can jump in one go, so wide it was. Then the diameter of the ring starts reducing. It becomes too small, the tiger can just get through. Namboodiri could not control his excitement. He yelled "wow, if this trend continues, the tiger might jump even with out a ring !! "). I get a sense that, the day is not far, when we will be able to use a computer/mobile even without a screen.

Coming back to Rao saab, who was still continuing to finger on his monitor. I told him "here is my reco". He didn't even look up when he said "OK". I did not find anything unusual as I walked back a few steps. Till I heard him shouting "Shenoey". I looked back, he was attempting to put up a broad smile on his face and said "Thanks a lot". He appreciated first and the last time in that year, responding to my feedback, which was fed in last in to his memory.

Organic chemistry, those hexagonal representation of those Benzenes and Toluenes was always a nightmare for me. Those hydro carbons are a bit complex, though individually Hydrogen and Carbon are so simple. I know Hydrogen well, simple to understand. From my child hood, I knew that open secret that it is this fellow that makes a balloon fly so high with no support. Carbon, any way a dark fellow, not liked by many, but remember with out a pinch of Carbon, an iron knife can not cut even butter. Iron needs Carbon's tiny presence to get converted to hardened steel.

So what I used to do was 5 minutes before the start of chemistry exam, I would mug up all those hexagonal pictures of Benzenes, Toluenes and their close/distant relatives. Soon I get the answer sheet, I would draw those last fed things into my memory on to the sheet. I could anyways strike them off from the sheet  if questions didn't come from those, right? Open book, Open book exams, make lots of sense to me.

Now yesterday suddenly, political parties remember Ustad Bismillah Khan as elections come nearby. They want to feed into our memories how great an artist he was. Like Bismilla Khan there are many great artists who struggle and struggled to make both ends meet. At least once in a few years, those memories are fed in to us in the last minute, to get our first reaction as we go to polling booths.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/lok-sabha-elections-2014/more-stories/Suddenly-political-parties-discover-Ustad-Bismillah-Khan/articleshow/32448296.cms?intenttarget=no

One way it is good. Memory has to be short. Else nobody will be around to talk to me, if they remember all the ill treatment I have been doing to them. I also will not have anybody either to talk to. I may have to purely depend on posting my views in FB or Twitter with no "likes" or "favourites".

Time for me to refresh my memory, going to listen to some old Hindi songs like "yaad aa rahi hey...".

You too have a relaxing weekend. Don't worry too much on what is there and what's not there in your memory.

Uncle Kini and Raw Jack

It is Jack fruit season, I am seeing many those pull carts loaded with those thorny fellows. I just can not resist the temptation to buy and eat them. Yes, I am an ardent lover of that golden fruit.

Uncle Kini lives in a place called "Cherlai" a small town in Kerala. I also hail from that place. It is part of Kochi. This place is equidistant from Mattanchery, where one of the very few Jewish synagogues ( only one? I am not sure )  in India located, and Fort Cochin, where Vasco de gama church and Dutch cemetery is located. Needless to say Mattanchery is a melting pot of many cultures and traditions and peoples, Gujaratis, Marathis, Konkanis et all. Kini and I belong to GSB Konkani, our ancestors had migrated from Goa, centuries back. We have a Thirumala Devaswom Temple, constructed centuries back in Cherlai.

Uncle Kini also loves Jack fruit. But he prefers the raw one. Like Mango we call a "raw mango", let me extend the same logic here. Kini likes "Raw Jack". Once the Raw Jack is brought into the house, he cuts it and removes that white sap, sticky liquid - as a waste. He takes the kernel (middle stem) out, cuts into small cubes like paneer and makes curry. He takes each Raw Jack babies and removes the seed from inside, again for curry. He removes the thin membrane covering the seeds - as a waste. He removes the skin of the seed - as a waste. He uses the seed again for another curry. He takes those white strands carefully, sprinkles some salt on them, dries in sun, for future consumption as fryums. He removes thinly those thorns at the most outer part of the Raw Jack - as a waste. The fleshy layer beneath those thorns he uses again for another curry. At the end of the day, the 10 Kg Raw Jack he brought, he consumes most of it. Wastage would be a minimal quantity of 500 grams or so.

Two role models clearly emerge out in this whole episode.

The Raw Jack. He is so useful. Every part of his body is of some use or other to others. Can't we be of good use to others? Can't we change our behavior to achieve that?

The next role model is Uncle Kini himself. He has a decent income. He runs a restaurant, people who know how to make idlis and those who don't know also, all come to his place. Those idlis have a Kini touch. But, still Kini will find a way to consume 95% of that Raw Jack. That's because he learnt a good practice from his ancestors, who were forced to practice that due to the new environment  they got migrated, they had to survive in those tough circumstances in that alien place. That good practice is make good use of available resources. Waste not - Want not.

You can also strive to live like Uncle Kini, optimize and then optimize. But then, spare a few of those seeds of "Raw Jack". Those few seeds are needed by Raw Jack himself  to keep his legacy continuing -  to have a few young ones.

Balam Pichkari - the Holi dance !

It has become a habit for me these days. For someone it is a cup of tea, for someone else it is newspaper. For me the morning routine is check news on my smart phone and share some news or other with my own boring captions in FB/Twitter.

This morning also I was not disappointed. Spicy news. Spicejet incident, holi dance on board on "holi" day. DGCA might take some action against them, but can they afford to ground the airlines. Is spicejet not badly needed by common "flying" man ? Is there any thing wrong in having some spicy act on board? As such, the crew is bored of serving the same coffee and tea. Would they miss an opportunity to serve a bit of "Bhang" on the occasion of Holi, as such alcoholic drinks are banned in flight ! Even those elderly people who got cornered some where in the aircraft, who were denied that cozy emergency exit for obvious reasons ( two primary reasons, 1. they may not be capable of operating the door 2. they can wait, they need to get out of the emergency door last if at all required ), would have danced to the "Balam Pichkari song from Jawani Diwani" steps.

Let me attempt to use this word "tick-tock" - all the Indian media would have done a tick-tock of this incident. Tick-tock is one of the 900 words/phrases got added to Oxford dictionary this March - It has nothing to do with the sound of a clock, tick-tock is a work of journalism which presents a detailed chronology of events ! I am a bit disappointed in not seeing desi words like "Kolavari Di" or "Ullu Banaying ( the younger ABachan tells in that recent  Idea ad). Probably next year these would get an entry.

To read more on holi dance on Spicejet:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/DGCA-sees-red-at-midair-Holi-dance-by-SpiceJet-cabin-crew/articleshow/32320527.cms

I came to know where the word "taxiing" or "taxying" an aircraft originated when I took a flight from Kadmandu to Pokhara.  This was another sponsored trip by my company ! To attend a conference organized by one of our customers to have a work-out with all their "preferred" but most hated outsourcing partners in India. Those small aircraft were moving around in that small place as coolly as those taxis in city railway station. The door would be open till the last person does a sprint and gets into the aircraft. Once I was inside in that 14 seater plane, the pilot the only person from that airlines agency in that, put the aircraft on hand brake. Then he greeted us, and distributed a packaged soft drink. And then he just took off. I was praying in between he does not put the aircraft on auto pilot mode and then come out to demo us the safety measures or announce the temperature outside ! And those maneuvers in between hills were no different than what our taxiwalas do on Hosur Road to pass in between  KSRTC buses and sand laden lorries ! So in some sense these guys at Pokhara were taxiing the aircraft in the air as well !

However, what impresses me the royal treatment one generally gets in any flight. The warm greeting welcome on board, preferred seat, welcome drink with a smile, food and snacs with a much more broader smile. The crew is so polite. So courteous. They treat you like kings/queens. Is it because the air journey is too dangerous and one may not get another chance to serve or being served ? Not at all, air travel is much much safer than road or rail, especially in India. If the pilot sleeps for a while, no harm, auto pilot will take care of it in a plane, it can land by itself if needed. But these buses go and hit some thing or other and invariably catch fire with no emergency door to operate.

Or is it that only rich travel by air and rich always expect politeness and courtesy? And rich will behave decently too. Possible. What one can't buy with money these days? Then I hope the same decency is extended in all walks of their life - not limited that only in an aircraft.

What ever be the case, one thing is certain. Whether one is rich or poor, whether one travels by air or not. One can personally practice and one can coach others also - as how to behave like a crew member on a flight,  in every part of one's life. Even if he is not on a flight, he could assume so. It might bring in pride in himself. It can make the other person feel that he is on top of the world, he would feel as he is flying in the cloud nine ! Along with you.

Speculate

Speculations after speculations.

Enough speculation is around the mystery of missing Malaysian airlines aircraft MH370. Pilot is responsible. Hijacked by terrorists. Flown towards India to attack similar way as 9/11. Aircraft is in the Taliban base, refueling. Speculated theories are floating around. Jokes are around on this, highly opportunistic people. With no sentiments to those people who believe that their loved ones will return one day.

Speculate if you have some data to support your theories.

As such we did not have much work.The project got scrapped mid-way, by customer good for him as well as for all of us.The project was not going any where. To add to our woes there was not a single girl in our team. The only one we had quit and gone, though she remained in our minds as a phantom limb. Didn't we also need a couple of them to survive the boredom, just like fungus needs moisture?  To our rescue, the messiah appeared and declared, our PM. Two people are going to join our team tomorrow, new faces names "Mohana" and "Meenakshi". We started speculating for the good. Both girls would  be good looking. Should be of certain height, the value changed in our minds based on our individual heights. Could go out with them for lunch daily and they would not make us pay, hopefully.

Next day morning we all came early to office, waiting anxiously with bated breath. Mohana stepped in , handsome good looking guy with thick mush - full name Mohana Krishna. We did not lose hope, there was one more, "ek to bhi chalegi" ! Meenakshi walked in after 15 minutes, bald headed, stout, pot bellied gentle man - full name Meenakshi Sundaram. We resumed  focusing on RPG/400, new language in brand new machine IBM AS/400.

Speculation would result in disappointment.

He was anxious. He knew he was going to miss the flight to Bangalore. The train in which he was traveling from his town to the Mumbai city was running late by 2 hours. He started speculating. As such he was new to the company. He had exhausted all his leaves, for that Divali. If he reported late, with his limited knowledge of what all these harsh HR folks would do, he visualized that he would lose his job. He just took his mobile, called the airlines and said "there is a bomb planted in so and so flight !!". Mission was successful. By the time he  reached the airport, the flight was still waiting to take off. After all that thorough scrutiny done. But others were waiting to receive him - the cops. They were quick enough to locate and identify who had made that hoax call.

The above incident is not fiction by any imagination. It's a true story. It happened around six years back.This is what one of my team members did and told me when he came to office after a few days, on bail. He worried too much that he would lose his job. And yes, it happened, he was asked to leave the company.

If one speculates too much on something bad, the chances are high that it would become a reality.

Speculate, but do that with reasonable data and logic. Else do that just for fun. But then  that should not result in any harm to you or others.

Smile Please !

My Family photograph taken in 1969

I was in the park last evening. Nobody around. So decided to take a picture of the lonely park and post it in Facebook. In a few seconds, job was done ! Somebody asked me how much megapixels is my camera on the mobile, I did not have any idea, even now. Who bothers ? Now a days most of the cameras come with decent resolutions. Interestingly that is the only spec I need to worry about now. Good old cameras there were many things to worry about - the shutter speed, aperture what not? Life is so easy as long the job of taking a picture is concerned.

I remember first time I posed in front of a camera. That's when one of my elders took initiative to take a family photograph of that huge family and extended family. I still vaguely remember trying to sit as smart as possible in the front row, in that group of 30+. That group photograph is hanging in many of our homes. Lately somebody distributed a scanned copy of it. Many have it in digital form in FB page, in laptops or even in mobiles. It's nice feeling to see those faces, innocent ones including mine ! That photograph is worth a million!

The first camera I had was that photo filmwala. 36 odd pics in a roll and every click it will advance to the next frame. At one important occasion, I think it was my son's birthday, I clicked as many as I could. Cutting the cake, eating the cake, left over cake, from left corner, right corner, standing on a stool and the top view - all possible ways a camera can be clicked ! Took the roll to the studio. That dark man who works in the dark room (Do not think I am racist, this guy was as dark as the dark room!! ) took the roll and told me that dark truth. No doubt. I had clicked as vigilantly and vigorously as I could. But the film hadn't moved from the original position. All I had on the entire roll was one single bright spot, exposed over and over again at the same place for 36+ times !. He returned that roll to me intact, to be used for my son's next birthday celebrations ! Any way birth days happen every year, why worry about this lost opportunity.

I had taken my selfie a few weeks back on my mobile, that was after 20 long years. My first visit to Singapore. I had to submit passport size photograph to the immigration office for some reason. My friend took me to a small booth. All I had to do was put a a few coins in that slot machine and sit straight in front of that small camera. First time I tried to smile in front of a camera with nobody by the side or behind it. That very thought made me smile more. With in a few seconds, three passport size photographs were in my hands. I was thrilled. Back home it would have been a two-day project that too bearing the torture of the camera man - look up, look down, turn left, turn right - to take that 2 inch by 3 inch picture.

Pictures attract people's attraction much more than mere words. In one of my blogs, I had put my Kufri trip picture upfront on top of the blog. Little did I realise that the picture would be shown on the FB post when I shared it. There were many more "Like"s on it than my other equally boring blogs. I felt good, I thought not-so smart picture of mine still made the difference. I attracted more people to read my blog this time. But alas, when I went and checked the page views in my blogger, there were none !! People were appreciating my picture as such and not going to the blog link at all !!!

Whether it is a selfie or taken by somebody else I like to see my picture. I definitely like to see others' picture as well. Taken at older dates is better, the younger and fresher looks ! I had seen numerous pictures of mine, I had seen how badly my posture was, how badly I tried to smile, how badly I stared. I might be conscious next time while posing in front of a camera. But in day to day life, every moment, can I consciously alter my face, look, posture to look better ?  I tend to fall back to my natural, original, true style. That is what I am !

But one thing I can definitely do. Every moment, think of that the camera man of good old days who is in front of me covering his head under that black cloth. And struggling to say "Smile Please !" . Then I try to smile. No doubt, it would bring in a smile in others also.

It's sad but true.

I stood there nervous, excited with lots of pride. I was receiving the cash award of 101 rupees for coming first in the school in the 10th class board exams. In front of all students of my school. I did not remember face of the sponsor who handed it over to me. I did not remember which all my teachers were present in that function.

Years passed by. I completed my studies and landed up in a job. After acquainting with Surendran, manager in the company I realised that he was also hailing from same part of the world. "Do you remember there is a Soman memorial cash award in your school?, I go there every year to hand over the prize?". While Surendran told me this then only I realised that he was the sponsor of that award, instituted in memory of his brother. I had received  the award  from him only.

Surendran's tenth death anniversary was a couple of weeks back. The remembrance was published in TOI by a society in which he had held the post of secretary for many years. That photograph brings in his face in my memory once a year. But every time I hear that somebody came first in a school or class, I thank Surendarn quietly. He is the one who had a large heart to institute such an award, priceless for me, first time in my life.

I was going with my father to consult a doctor. He had come down from home town specifically for that. While I was driving suddenly he made a statement " Back home people drive the car keeping both hands on the wheel, here in Bangalore one hand would suffice I suppose !". Then only I realised that my left hand was holding the gear permanently, as a habit. My father would have got a bit scared the way I was driving! He passed away four years back. But, when ever I get a tendency to take my left hand off the wheel, just to rest on the lap/gear or to adjust my hair  on my head (!), I am reminded of his words and immediately will bring it back to the wheel.

I remember my friend Sanjiv when ever I have a lunch "Seeth & Thoyu" ( rice and daal in Konkani). This Thoyu will have so many curry leaves. Sanjiv used to eat as many of them from it, he used to say it is good for health. I do eat one or two atleast even now, remembering his words who passed away a few years back.

I remember Varkey uncle, much older than us but used to join us to play volleyball. He died of cancer five years back. He had given me a tip when I had severe cold and my nose was fully blocked. "Take mouthful of water as much you can while having shower, hold it for as much time as you can and then spit it off. It would give you some relief." When ever I get severe cold I remember Varkey uncle and his words.

This one is a bit tragic. Mallya uncle was my god father, in the early days of my life in Bangalore. We both belonged to the GSB community migrated to coastal Kerala from Goa, centuries back, so bonding was strong. He used to take me places around the company where we both used to work. In his "Silver Plus" 50 cc vehicle. He was such a careful rider. After many years, I had moved to another company, I heard from my friends that tragedy. Mallya was returning after some work at MG road and he approached the traffic signal at Trinity circle, in front of Vijaya Bank. The light suddenly turned green to amber. He slowed down, but the State Govt bus behind did not notice this small vehicle. Rammed Mallya uncle from behind. I had gone and seen him, he was in coma at NIMHANs and he did not survive. Though it is tragic, I still remember Mallya uncle whenever I approach a traffic signal. Especially when it turns from green to amber. That is a crucial moment for one to take a decision in a fraction of second to decide to go fast or slow down especially on Bangalore roads. I take extra care in such moments, thanks to Mallya uncle.

I remember people who had influenced me in life by an advice or a few words or some action. I silently thank them even though they are not with me in this world. But, there are other people who had influenced me in similar ways in other occasions - they are very much around me. I take them and their gestures for granted. I do not bother to even thank them. After all I am also an average human being right? I realise the value of somebody only when that person is not around. I have to behave like this way only right? It's sad but true.

Do you mind mindreading ?

The Secret of mindreading ! Want to know what the people around you are thinking? The skill may not be so esoteric after all, if Professor Nicholas Epley is to be believed - to know more read this interesting article : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/the-secret-of-mindreading/article5782004.ece

Able to read the mind of somebody else. Awesome ! Lovely ! Super ! Any such exclamatory words will not be sufficient in the event of a success in devising such a method or tool.

Take the case of recent incident of missing the Malaysian Airlines aircraft. It could be a terrorist act. It could be a suicide. Such theories are going around. Assume we had a mind-reader installed in the security check in. What going through the mind of the pilot or the terrorist would have flashed on that big screen. Tragedy could have been averted.

In the article it says that the Prof did an experiment with couples. "The couples were asked to respond, together and independently, guess their spouse’s response. The result was abysmal and the couples showed they understood each other even less than strangers would understand each other." Last evening I was looking at my wife closely. She adjusted her posture well thinking that I was enjoying her beauty. Little did she know that I was thinking what funny things I could write about her in my next blog ! And a little later while I was browsing the internet, I heard her singing that famous Hindi song "Hamein Tum Se Pyaar Kitna...." I sincerely hope she is trying to convey how much she loves me, but while singing what actually goes through her mind could be "This moron, always "wired" to get "weird" ideas for the day, no time for him to listen to what I'm saying" !

Infy stocks plunged 9% in a day. Couple of days ago. All because its chairman spoke what was in his mind. No good the company performance would be in coming quarters. No bad feeling in my mind, as I stopped working for Infy. Nor I hold any stocks of Infy. But there are many people who hold Infy stocks. There was a huge dip in their accumulated wealth.

What those heavy-duty investors can do is invest in a company that can develop the mind-reader. Attrition of key people is one of the big reasons for bad performance. It is so difficult to get early signals from such key people, that's my experience at least. Normally people who are planning to quit, gives you warnings with out telling what's there in their mind. Coming late, not listening to what you say in a meeting, a distant old relative dies when an important task is assigned - more than enough to know what is happening. No need of a mind-reader there. But those sincere, key people will not show any symptoms. They will carry out their work as usual and one fine morning you would hear the bad news. It would be too late by then to take any preventive action. One would definitely need a mind-reader in these cases.

Facebook asks you "What's on your mind " when you want to update your status. In a way, it is a tool to dissipate things that go through one's mind. But then, you know I know, that what one writes there something that he/she explicitly wants others to know. FB will be of no use in extracting those secret things that one does not want to divulge. Twitter asks "What is happening ". It is a much more open ended question. Chances are high that a week mind can drop a few things here and there. Suicides can happen !

I am waiting for that day. The day when that super gadget is available in the market. All I have to do is wear it in my wrist while walking on the road. And when I go past that lady, it would beep with a message "Dirty fellow, why are you staring at me? As if you haven't seen a lady before " the decoded message received from the mind of that lady. So that I can continue my walk looking at those sign boards in the opposite direction "Hungry Kya ?" or "We make the impossible possible" or "Interested in rental or lease? " et all.

Years back, I developed a growth on my left shoulder. It was a small, tiny lump. As my wealth grew, that also grew. I had to go to my physician who directed me to surgeon, Dr Seshadri. Seeing his face itself I could easily make out as what's going through his mind - another "bakra" to cut through! I was not wrong. After giving a nice massage to that lump, he declared "this needs to be removed, biopsy required". Understandable. But while telling that he made a face which could convey hundred things. I wish I had one powerful mind-reader to know what was going through Dr Seshadri's mind. It could be that, this is too small a lump, an insult to his surgical skills. It could be that, he does not know what the hell it is, he had never seen such a strange person with equally strange lump on peculiar part of his body. Or it could be that, he very well knew how dangerous the lump was and this person would not be able to see next Divali.

You may analyse your mind as much you can, if you are free and you do not have any thing else important to do. But do not try to read too much into other person's mind and draw conclusions. Let that person tell what is in his/her mind. That would be better to keep you happy. To keep the other person happy too.

Here wishing you a mind-boggling weekend ahead !

Seriously serious

My friend advised me the other day "Don't take life so seriously", in some context. This morning another friend tweeted "Life is hard. But don't make it harder. Believe that every dark night is followed by a bright morning". Yes, that makes me determined - I should not take life that serious.

It is easier said than done though. Attaining that state is indeed a holy grail. There are many reasons why I should think otherwise.

El Nino effect is going to be severe this year, monsoons will be weak. As such water is becoming scarce day by day. There is a report out by McKinsey yesterday that in Bangalore by 2026, the gap between demand and supply will just double. There will be ground but with no water, as such only 30% of ground water is potable now. But drilling bore-wells is going on and on. I need to seriously think of plan B.

In the personal finance side, inflation is in its full glory. A few percentages dips here and there once in a while when onion/potato prices fluctuate. All other prices are on the rise. Whatever I had invested to beat the inflation is beating - beating me fair and square. Average salaries have grown just above 2% while the average GDP growth was above 7%. I have to seriously tighten my belt.

One of my friends, equal to me in all aspects has just undergone a bypass heart surgery. I also have a heart, that also too tender. It might need some repair some day or other. Health care and insurance is booming like no body's business. Many of the insurance companies call day in and day out, as if they are so much concerned about my health. In some countries, the President himself is promoting such an initiative, to protect his government's health. I have to seriously think of taking one of those schemes, most of them cover only a few improbable illnesses though !

Every field I look into, serious developments are happening. And how can I be less serious.

James Lee, was our systems manager at customer location in Singapore. We have rarely seen him smiling. Always tensed. Simple reasons like, not getting a cab on time was a good enough reason for him to get nervous. That day worst happened. One of the servers became too serious and stopped working. The regional sales management system catering to greater China stopped. He called in the system vendor who supplied both the software and hardware. Then onward he could not sit on his seat. Every five minutes he would go and look at that system, just to see whether it was up some how by its own. Seeing that it was not the case, he would come to one of us and would curse. Since there were no mobile phones those days, he would page the service engineer, a message would pop up in service engineer's pager - "Come fast". In one hours time, the paging stopped, as the service engineer arrived. It took another 4 hours for him to fix the problem, till then James ate nothing, drank nothing. Just walked up and down in between checking whether the engineer was serious on his job. James was over-serious, he was worried about things which he did not have any control.

A few weeks after the above incident, my friend Vel Murugan ran into a trouble. His house was broken in by somebody in the afternoon while he was at work, One small bag was missing. Good news was that he hadn't kept any money in that bag. Bad news was that he had kept his passport. Stolen passports are always a threat right? But Vel's problem had to be more serious. He was supposed to travel in ten days time back to India to attend a wedding - his own ! Obviously he needed a passport to do that. But it appeared to me that he was not worried at all. Same happiness, same laughter, same evening outing and dinner at desi restaurant, in little India. After completing all formalities to get a duplicate passport issued I had gone with him to concerned Indian office there. "Aap ko Hindi aatha hey"  - Do you know Hindi, the turbaned officer asked us. Vel did not know a word in Hindi for obvious reasons, I said I could manage. The officer took me aside and said "do sow dollar dey do, theen din mein kaam ho jaayega ! ( Give me 200 dollars, work will be done in 3 days time ! ). There is a saying in Malayalam "Naaya nadukadalil chennaalum nakkiye kudikku " - A dog even if it goes deep in the middle of the sea, it will drink only by licking ! It just can not change its habits.

Vel was not ready to pay any bribe. Maaro goli shaaddi ko, was his attitude. Another 7 days time, he got his duplicate passport in most legitimate way. He never looked perturbed in the whole process.

I asked Vel, "how can you be so cool?". Vel just replied "I was pretending. You will not believe, I did not sleep at all in the last 7 days. When I am around with you guys, I just crack jokes to keep that worry away from my mind for a few minutes, that is all "

I admired this quality in Vel. Though something is burning inside him, he could prevent that for a few moments intermittently. In the process he was helping us also in forgetting our problems. I learnt one thing - people may look not that serious, people may look not that worried, but they may be just pretending. They must be burning inside. Is it good or bad for them? I am not too sure. But it definitely helps others to get some relief from their own problems.

I had read about a story about an old man. He was terminally ill and he was restricted to sit in an "easy chair", a couch. He never lost his sense of humour even then. Every opportunity he could make people laugh, he utilsed it to the fullest extent. One night, in that couch he died. Since people noticed this only many many hours later, his body became stiff in that U position. As per custom, people wanted to keep his body straight laid on the ground, but it remained in that U position, how much ever they tried. You push his head down, his legs would come up. If you push his legs down, his head would come up. That was a good rocking movement. Even though people were in grief, that sight of him sitting in that curved position made people laugh. Some people are like that, even in their death, they can entertain others, they are gifted with that skill.

One can not afford not to take life seriously. Life is so precious. But nothing wrong in pretending that he is not over-serious, if he can. It helps. It helps others for sure. Seriously !

One needs to watch those friends.

Can one believe this? No. But, yes this happened.

In a small village Olgara in West Bengal. An elephant broke lose and demolished a house and was returning to forest. Then he heard a baby crying. He came back to the spot, carefully removed the debris around the baby and coolly went back.

To read more on the above  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Elephant-pulls-down-house-in-Bengal-then-rescues-10-month-old-baby-trapped-under-debris/articleshow/31860512.cms?

Can one believe this one too ? Yes, very much. And sure, this had happened.

In Bangalore, DRDO housing colony, where people live cheek-by-jowl, this happened. Another one had to bite the dust. House wife was  murdered by one 33 year old Vinod. He had worked as a volunteer for an NGO named "youth with a mission" ! He came with a mission to DRDO quarters couple of days back. Apparently the lady refused to give him money and he committed this cold blooded murder for material gains.

To read more on the above : http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/crime/Killer-made-victim-write-suicide-note/articleshow/31855636.cms

One may think this elephant is huge and dangerous. But compared to these so called social animals, he is much better, he is on the other side of the spectrum. He has immense weight but he does not throw it around unnecessarily. He has a long nose touching the ground, he has never been nosy. He has big ears to listen and he listens. He listens to one of these social animals who continuously tortures him. He uses his tiny eyes just to see what he wants to see, nothing more. He can trumpet much louder than anybody else, but he does not do it unnecessarily, He attacks others in defense only, never in a cold blooded way.

Now comes the social animal, who is topping on the chart by Darwin's evolution theory. More brainy, sophisticated, supposed to be well behaved. Ahem ! This animal can kill other fellow animals mercilessly with no provocation. It is more interested in what others possess than what it actually has. It can rape a  five year old.It can loot others. It can do mass destruction. It can be a scumbag, cheat. It can be dangerous.

Yes, this social animal can learn a lesson or two by watching those much more decent friends - jumbos and other friends of multiple kinds in the forests. But for that it  has to remove that veil and remove those animal instincts - completely ! If it has that towering view that it is the most authoritative in this world, then it has to climb down a few notches and smell the coffee. It has to preserve the forests for those cool ones !

"When you have got an elephant by his hind legs and he is trying to run away, it is best to let him run" - Abraham Lincoln.

Yes, Life is like a journey

we four on Bijli, Baadal, Champa and Chameli   

      PannaLal with his friends !

        ( Horse ride at Kufri ) April 2007

I drove down to Yeshvantpur Railway station, yesterday morning. To receive my son who was coming in Indore Express. Surprisingly the traffic was so smooth, till near IISc, covered that 15+ Kms in 35 minutes. But then towards the end  next few Kms I had to crawl for another 35 minutes.

Reached the railway station. Looked at the train running status online. On time, would  reach Yelahanka, the penultimate stop,  in 10 minutes. I just sent a message to my son and he was surprised, never heard of long distance trains coming on time ! Exactly after 10 minutes, my son messaged back, "yes we reached Yellahanka" ! I replied "Good. railways have improved a lot. Not only the trains run on time, but the online status is also accurate". I was so happy, for another 20 minutes only I have to wait.

First twenty minutes went by. The online status continued to show "Reached Yelhanka". My son messaged  "Still at Yelahanka station, not departed from there". Kachiguda express came and gone. Next twenty  minutes, status remained unchanged, the English used by my son changed a bit, not that polished. Kanchivaram passenger came and went. Then every next twenty minutes, it was only me moving around the platform, Indore train did not move an inch from Yelahanka. Vasco express came and went, Salem express came and went, Duronto express stationed on the other platform just went. I was eating my own words all the while, railways have not improved that much!!! I tweeted and retweeted several times another handy tool in such testing times. By the time Indore express arrived, it was 1 hour 45 minutes late.

"We need to go to Delhi/Agra and see Taj Mahal" my wife told me as we were on our morning walk that day. These types of requests are not new. Since I did not want to take leave for a long duration, plus lots of advance planning involved for such long distance trips, I would normally deflect that wish and reduce it to a 3 day drive down to Ooty or Kodai. Known places, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. A boating and speaking a few words in Tamil, end of story. But this time it did not work, she was talking turkey.

I managed to get cheap flights on Air Deccan, "simplifly". Hope you remember that name, which was acquired by Kingfisher. I am sure you have not forgotten that "flying good times" yet ! We went to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Simla. Lots of fun.

Kufri trip from Simla is the one I remember most. We saw a temple on the hilltop. Somebody said it is the temple around which Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz danced around in that song "Om jai jai shiv shankar" from Aap ki kasam movie. I did not know the authenticity of that information, but decided to believe it. After all so much money spent so at least I could say I had seen a historical place !! This time around this Rajesh Khanna was ready for a dance, but my Mumtaz was a bit hesitant, so I dropped that plan.

Then we met PannaLal with his four friends Bijli, Baadal, Champa and Chameli  - four elegant horses. We took a ride on them around an on the hill. It all started fun for me,first experience of sitting on a horse. Once my Baadal started climbing the hill through that narrow roads, I started getting jittery. At one place that road was hardly 3 feet wide, a group of horses came opposite to us. Baadal went a little bit to his left, I just looked at his side. I had to close my eyes to console myself - though Baadal's left back leg was on the air pointing towards the gorge, but his other three legs were on the ground - compared to both of my legs which were in the air! I wished this journey ended soon, but I knew "Dilli bahut door hey!" Some how we reached the valley after watching that China border from a long distance- I am sure that border would have become closer by now !!!

Then last leg of our journey. Return flight to Bangalore from Delhi. Departure delayed by 4 hours. Once we checked in I realised there is no seat allotment, first come first serve to get the convenient seat on board! I saw a big queue from the far gate on the water cooler end, we also joined almost at the back of the queue. Was not sure whether the plane might get houseful by the time we reached, and had to wait for a day or two to catch the next flight! Then the unpredictable happened. The gate on the near, pantry end opened and they announced we need to enter through this gate only. With in a split second our fortunes reversed, the queue just reversed, I was almost at the beginning of the queue !!! With no further issues we touched down Bangalore.

Yes, all good things must come to an end - but remember it is for just to start all over again. As people say life is like a journey -Some times on a horse, some times on a plane. Some times at 70 Kmph, some times at 10 Kmph. Some times on time, some times late by 2 hours.

Whether there is traffic block on the way or not, I have to drive and reach Yeshvantpur railway station na ?

Don't rub salt

"How do you guys survive here?" my friend asked me when I met him couple of days back. He was back in Bangalore after a stint of three years in the US. He is here for a month or so, to get his visa renewed and also to visit his folks. The traffic is horrible, so hot the weather, so much of pollution - he had so many things to complain about. "ya, we manage just like that" I brushed aside his concerns.

Make no mistake about that, he is fully stressed out here. He had been living in Bangalore for many many years before leaving for the US, but three years of continuous exposure to only good things made him less tolerant to these extreme conditions. He can go to better place. He can praise on better things there. But can't he become a little better by not telling me these not so good things around me? As such I am tired of these things, by hearing as well as by suffering !

I had worked with a customer, the outsourcing manager. Kush Mondal ( both first name and surname changed for anonymity !). He had studied in India, moved to US and settled there. Nice gentleman, every time he used to visit us to review the projects, I used to wait with bated breath. Not sure what right questions he would ask about our wrong things. If you have an "Indian" as a manager on the other side, problems get much complex, as he would know every inch of what all we do rather what all we will not do !

During one of those visits, I had taken Kush for dinner, at Oberoi. Of course after I went through all motions in those review meetings, sincerely ! As we were discussing, the power suddenly went off. "What you guys do when there is no electricity?" I can understand a person who does not know about India asking that question. Kush had lived in a village till his schooling, completed graduation living in an "Indian" metro city. He keeps visiting India to review we people and to view his folks. And he had to ask this question to me ! I simply said "we use candles".

But then, Kush can wear his Indian hat too. Quite unusual that time. He never asked for any review meeting. He just told me that he was camping in Taj Residency hotel, not Oberoi, his usual adda. And he would like to meet me over a cup of tea. Who would say no to tea, that too from Taj - I also wanted to say "wah Taj boliye" . But I had been pondering as why he chose a different hotel this time.

It was after meeting Kush only that the penny finally dropped !  He was on a personal trip, and he wanted to conceal from the hotel that he was a US citizen, else he had to pay $250 perday, as an Indian he needed to shell out only 4500 rupees per day ( If I remember right the conversion rate was around 50 ). He doubted whether being a frequent "foreign" visitor to Oberoi on company paid accommodation, the staff there would recognize that fact and charge him with rate for a foreign national ! ( This system is some thing very hard for me to digest. If I go to Bannergatta national park to see those half dead lions, I need to pay only 50 rupees, but if a foreign national goes to see the same old, half-dead lions he has to pay 500  rupees, why this discrimination so transparent and obvious with no backing of any sound logic ! )

One can find that somebody is wounded - no harm. He can feel good that he himself is not wounded - no harm. He can sympathize with the wounded - no harm. He can explain in what all ways a wound can be avoided - no harm at all. But can't he avoid rubbing salt in the current wound and continue to be harmless ? Especially when he himself had been wounded in a similar way earlier ?

Bhasmasura and the cabbie

I wanted a change yesterday. Same old park, same old walking style, same old people. I decided to change my morning walk route and venue. Since it was rather a quieter Sunday morning, decided to take a walk along that lengthy stretch of old airport road.

I reached in front of Lord Siva temple. Many of you would have seen that Siva, big and white. We could see him from a long distance earlier. Once a big commercial building was constructed  in front of the temple, one has to take that narrow passage to reach near Siva. That too standing in a queue. But you can have the
'darshan' faster and stand in front of Siva momentarily as a very important person, if you buy a VIP ticket.

Suddenly I saw a man running towards a cab which was parked in  front of his car, blocking his way. He was furious. He had a huge brick in his hands. He had bhasma ( vibhuti ) on his head. Let me call him Bhasmasura, as this was happening in front of Siva temple, he was wearing bhasma ( Vibhuti ) on his forehead and he was extremely angry, looked like an 'Asura' (demon).

( Bhasmasura was a strong devotee of Siva. He gets a boon from Siva that if he touches anybody's head that person will turn into ashes, bhasma. He becomes a threat to gods themselves. God Vishnu decides to stop this menace. Vishnu takes the shape of Mohini, a beautiful lady dancer and dances in front of Bhasmasura. Bhasmasura falls in the trap and wants to marry Mohini. Mohini says that Bhasmasura has to dance with her following her steps. As dance gets intensified, Mohini touches her head with her own hand. Bhasmasura without realising the implication touches his head with his own hand and turns into ashes. )

I stopped my walk, stood on the foot path to observe. I watched the episode from a distance, as I didn't want to skate on thin ice, should the fight becomes too physical and dangerous. It was a cab that had blocked his way. It looked like some thing was happening between them while they were moving on the road. The cabbie finally decided to block Bhasmasura's way by abruptly stopping his vehicle in front of Bhasmasura's car.

Brick in his hand, the asura was shouting at the cabbie. Cabbie was shouting sitting inside the car. I went closer as I thought their morning exercise would remain verbal. Suddenly the cabbie got out of his cab and said something. Asura did not like it. He had the height advantage, he caught hold cabbie's neck with his left hand, brick still on his right hand. I knew a few more bad words, some body would break some thing.

Without moving closer I shouted "Enithu, sumne gallatta maaditheera" ( what is this, just fighting? - in Kannada), local language is of immense help in these situations. I could see impact of this. A few people watching all the fun also joined me. Asura looked at me, good sign, his anger was reducing. I could not see cabbie's face as he was struggling hard to look up, he was constantly punching on Asura's pot belly while this wrestling was going on. Asura dropped the brick down, we moved froward and separated both of them. Exchange of a few more unpleasant words, the episode ended.

I resumed my walk.

As I was walking, I decided. I need a checklist from tomorrow if not today itself. I prepared that list in my mind it self, let me write it down now. May benefit some of you !

1. Go out of the house only if it is absolutely necessary
2. Try to avoid using own vehicle, simply walk or avail cab/auto/bus. 
3. If at all a situation arises to use my own vehicle drive safely, obey all traffic rules
4. Never show emotions or utter a word when I get angry, provoked by erratic and rash driving by others
5. If the anger is such that it will do more harm to me by suppressing it, then utter a few words, shout. But then drive as fast and erratic as possible after that, towards home to avoid any physical assault. Park the vehicle. Get inside home, lock up myself. Look at this check list, from the beginning all over again !

"Kanakam moolam, Kaamini moolam, kalaham pala vidham, ulakil sulabham" a great poet wrote this in Malayalam. Which means "because of gold, because of love(girl), quarrel of many types, plenty in this world". This short list of just two things was applicable in old days. More items need to get added to the list now. And the most important item at the top of the list is - road rage !

Drive safe. Rage less.

Cheated !

I have as many as four computing devices at home. Acquired at different points of time, in good days of my life.

PC-386 desktop, XP with half GB memory. Fully died, long time back. No chance of revival, yet to be buried with all honors.

Sony Vaio laptop, which starts up with all glory. But exactly on the fourth key stroke of mine, she shuts off.

DELL laptop, screen broken fully. Internal bleeding, nothing can be seen on the screen. So she became some thing in between a lap and a desk, with a top! I can use her with my demised desktop's huge monitor connected to her USB port. But then I always need to get glued to my desk !

HP netbook mini, small cutey one, highly diet conscious, less than one Kg in weight. I was happy with this little one, but from last year she also started giving me trouble. Four keys stopped working - 3, e, d, k. Most of them very important ones, frequently used by me, had it been an "!" or a "#" I could have survived with other special characters, even when I get extremely angry. Looked like my fate is fixed to the desk, I started using her with an external key board.

I did not want to give up. I want to be mobile while computing !What does these little beauties think of me? I had worked on huge, monstrous Sperry Univac mainframe, which had been housed in a room as big as the gold class in PVR cinemas with double the air-conditioning. I down loaded a free virtual keyboard. Started using the virtual keyboard while using only those four keys. Tough task but managed with that when I wanted to work away from my desk.

Last week, that inevitable also happened. The battery died, I am back to square one.Went in search of a replacement, could not find with any of the authorized and unauthorized dealers. Not there in Flipkart either. Not there in Myntra. Not there in Jabong. But at last I found one in ebay-India. Since it was not that expensive I ordered it in ebay, was not sure of the credibility of the site.

"Be careful when you order online from shops that are in e-trading sites, you may be cheated by fraudsters" I get an sms from cyber cell. Yes, looks like I am cheated. Quickly tried to login to ebay and see the status of the order with the temp user id provided by them while placing the order. "user id not found", I was almost sure, my money is gone. No way I could check the status. After two days, I get an email saying that my consignment is shipped by DTDC, and this is the consignment number. With no time I tried to check the status in DTDC site, it said "number not found". My hopes shattered again. Is somebody constantly trying to cheat me? Finally the battery arrived on Thursday. It seems to be working fine.

All that "cheated" feeling was only in my mind. Fabricated by myself.

I also had tried to cheat somebody ! This was during my college days. College management decided to introduce compulsory PT in the evenings for an hour for us. Any game will do. That day I decided to join football. Being in Kerala, I had to play foot ball at least once in my life, right? There was no referee and no rules. So I went and stood near the goal keeper of my opposite team, Sivan. Started chatting with him with a definitive purpose of cheating while both of us were watching the ball being played in the midfield. Suddenly somebody kicked the ball so wildly, it came and fell in front my boots ! What a wild aim it was?. I turned around, I did not have to even control the ball, it was such a perfect pass. Sivan, the goal keeper shouted "Hey @#$#$%, I thought you were in my team". As such in my life, first attempt at the goal, if I remember right that was the last one as well! Seeing the much shocked, helpless Sivan, hearing those "special character" word from him, I could not control my laugh. I just slipped while trying to place the ball in the net and the ball slowly went out of play, avoiding that 9 feet wide goal !!

How nice it would be if "cheated" remains as a feeling in our minds and never happens in life ? How nice it would be if somebody tries to cheat somebody else and always not successful?

But this is easy for you. Never cheat yourself. Never.


"The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat oneself".-
Gamaliel Bailey (December 3, 1807 – June 5, 1859) was an American journalist, editor and publisher, working primarily in Cincinnati, Ohio and Washington, DC; an abolitionist, he supported journalism that promoted the cause, persisting despite violent mob attacks on his offices in both cities during the 1840s.

Two Incidents - One message

"Eve - first woman and mother of human race. On the eve of international womens' day let me congratulate each one of you for your achievements and thank each one of you for your contributions to human race." I posted this in Facebook last evening. I do believe in my words. But are just these words enough ? Don't I need to demonstrate this in my actions ? Don't I need to do the "walk the talk" ? Yes, I should.

incident #1

Initial years of my career. That day I reached office much early, just like that. My work place was opposite to that hep conference room in that building. That room was a pampered mistress compared to the dull one in the ground floor, the neglected wife ! Usually some customer meeting or other would take place in that room. It looked like one was going to happen on that day too. Room was fully lit. Smell of room freshener was reaching even to my nostrils located much farther to the conference room. I got a sense that meeting was going to be a high profile one. Elaborate preparations were happening, that too much ahead of time. No doubt, it had to be a big one. Smell of Pizza, burgers and freshly brewed coffee was on the cards later. I immersed more into my customer emails, re-reading some of them!

Suddenly I noticed somebody in impeccable suit walking towards the conference room, alone. It was our chairman. He reached early for the meeting. He went in to the conference room. I saw all the lights going off in a fraction of a second. He came out, stood outside and started just looking around as he was waiting for others to come. There was nobody in the conference room. He did not want to waste the electricity by keeping all those 15 odd lights on.

I had read our chairman's communication to employees on many occasions. Punctuality and effective cost management were two key principles which used to appear in those communications. He was giving one message by his action in the above incident - "walk the talk".

Incident #2

Many years later. I was handling a US based customer account. I was planning to visit the customer location to review the progress on the account so far and future course of action, a week later. My boss called me and said "this time Vice Chairman (VC) is going to visit your customer next week, since you are also there, make sure that all meetings go well. By the way, he asked a small write up on the account, send him asap". I prepared a 2 page note and sent to VC.

Onsite manager and myself were waiting at the Milwaukee airport to receive the VC. The meetings with the customer was supposed to be the very next day. The flight got delayed and by the time he arrived it was almost 10:30 PM local time. "My check-in baggage did not arrive. It is fine let's move, I have given them the hotel address for forwarding as it arrives". As we were walking towards the car park, he said "I anticipate this always. No worries for me, I have kept one set of dress in my cabin baggage, so it really does not matter when they deliver it to my hotel". We stopped at a restaurant on the way to Hotel for dinner. We had a good dinner. Payment time came, "Don't worry, I will pay for this. It is easy for me to claim from the company than you guys ".

As we reached hotel it was close to 12 midnight. Meeting next day was at 9 AM and I was desperately looking to go to my room and sleep. "Is it possible for you guys to spend some time now, I need to quickly review with you as what we need to discuss in tomorrow's meetings" as VC was speaking he slowly picked up a write up from his coat ! I could easily make out, it was the two page note that I had sent to him ! We went over it in the lobby quickly for 15 minutes and then split.

Meetings went on well with many of the key customer managers. I meticulously noted down all points in the meeting. I knew I will be asked to send a report to all including VC this time. I was back in Bangalore in another few days time. It took more time to draft the report than I expected, I wanted it to be as near perfect as possible. While still I was on that job, I received a note from VC "please review this report. add if I have missed out anything". I was stunned. VC's report was much detailed and precise, it covered many more points that I had missed out while watching those customers speak !

We need to be leaders not managers. As leaders, we need to set as an example to others - This was one of the themes in VCs communications to us. VC was sending out the message loud and clear in the above incident - "walk the talk". VC was setting himself as an example as how a leader should behave.

Try to do the "walk the talk" as much as possible. You may only walk with no talk, that is fine. But try to avoid only talk, if you will not be able to walk that talk.

It is time for me to stop talking and get ready for my usual morning walk ! Have a happy weekend.

Be competitive

I wanted to go for a hair cut yesterday, please believe me. I get it done once in a while, though nobody would notice any change in me before and after !  I dont feel any change either. Even then I went. To remain competitive among the "baldy" population. To my usual salon - Kreations salon (K aptly being shown as a pair of scissors in that sign-board).

As I entered the salon, I was extremely delighted. The environment has totally been changed. Nice fragrance welcomed me. All four of his staff are in uniform, including him so at least I know my "head" is in safe hands. Earlier I did not have any clue who was cutting my hair, it could have just been another customer trying my head to make a quick buck. As such I never bother who cuts my hair I dont care as who does that barbarian act. Do I really need to? - when I have only a few strands left on my head. New chairs. New mirrors. New shining and sparkling white floor. Brand new 1.5 ton AC fitted. In a nutshell, thousand times better than my living room. That fact I openly told Nagendra, owner cum hair dresser.

I started admiring Nagendra more. Earlier it was limited to his hair dressing skills. Now, one more dimension added to it - his eagerness to become more competitive and to grow. His salon had been fairly ok. Most of the customers who used to seek his services were like me, "chalthaa hey" types. Five minutes of job, least bothered whether hair is cut a few inches longer or shorter. Does not care whether AC is there or not. Does not care whether a mirror is there or not.

Nagendra could have continued the current fashion. He would have got same profit margins irrespective of modernizing his salon or not.

But, he decided to change.He decided to improve his salon. He invested huge amount of money to renovate his salon. Why?

He wanted to stay in competition. He wanted to improve his services and bring it to the same level as his competitors provide. By doing so, he could attract more, a different set of "hairy" customers ! He could charge a premium. He very well knew he could break even only after a few years down the line. But he knew equally well that if he does not invest now he may not scale up, for that matter he would not survive at all in the long run. He wanted to be current, relevant and more importantly competitive.

Oh yes, Nagendra charged me 40% more this time. I am fine even if he had charged 100% more, he has done so much improvement in the salon, anyways I go to him only once in 3 months, doesn't pinch me much !

This is long time back. I had gone to Bombay to attend a work shop in software quality. I had gone with one of the senior executives of the company. As we reached Bombay, it was late and senior executive decided to retire to his room after doing some REKHI practice. I was not getting sleep. I decided to watch "Sholay" that was screened in one of the TV channels. As Dharmendra was coaching Hemamalini how to use a gun aiming at those mangoes, the phone in the company guest house rang.

"Can I speak to Ram ?" I heard the voice on the other end. "There is no body by name Ram here", I was about to keep the phone down. "I came to know that Ram Murthy is staying there, is he around ?, I am so-and-so" I suddenly realized that first name of my senior executive friend is Ram, we used to call him BRM ( B Ram Murthy ) in short. And I didn't have to think much to say "yes he is here". I also  realized that the person on the phone was the "Super Boss" (SB) of the company. SB replied in his heavy voice "Ram would have gone to sleep. Do not disturb him. Just ask him to call me tomorrow morning 5:00". It was 11:45 PM already ! I switched off TV immediately. Not worried any more to know what Dharam & Hema were up to, let them continue to have usual fun !. Set the alarm for 4:45 AM and went to sleep.

Yes, BRM called SB sharp at 5:00 AM. What SB wanted was this. He wanted BRM to listen closely to what another company was presenting that day. Not only the quality related details. But any important finacials/marketing/business strategy details on that company in those quality related discussions. Because SB wanted to get competitive information on that company. He had another business line same as what this particular company was in. He wanted to get some inside information through this channel as well which would help him in improving the other business.

( When the term inside information came across I remembered a news item that's heating up. To know more read : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/gail-tredwell-amrithanandamayi-mutt-balu/1/345168.html Gail Tredwell is disclosing startling inside information on a spiritual organization. I am not competent enough to comment who is telling the truth and who is lying. All I can say is that lots of inside information is flowing outside. There is some muck - "daal mein kuch kaala hey".)

So be competitive to grow. Learn what competitor is doing. Try to collect as much information on competitor. Incorporate good things in what you are doing, if possible plan a few steps ahead.

But then, identify the right competitor of yours. Else both of you will remain non-competitive ! This need not be in any multi-million business initiative, it can be in any initiative in one's life itself.

"Number one, cash is king.... number two, communicate..... number three, competition - buy or bury the them" - Jack Welsh.