A school reunion

Posted: February 24, 2007 in alumni, reunion, school
0

Some of my classmates from school, over the last 3-4 years, have been working hard, to get the schoolmates together again. They have had a few meetings in this time, with increasing attendance each time. I had not managed to attend a single one of them till date, until a couple of days back, when I attended my first one.

It was awesome. Planned at short notice, there were still some 20 families that turned up on a weekday evening. I met at least 6-7 of these guys, for the very first time, after 26 years, i.e. after school days! Yes, I know, this revelation gives out my age, but, it is necessary to be mentioned to appreciate the length of time that has gone by. It is a sad commentary, in a way, that we did not bother to get in touch all these years. But we met up finally.

Some random thoughts coming out of this:

1. Is it something about being 40+ that we suddenly feel lonely again, and want to reach out to our old friends?? Its not just this school reunion. In the last 2-3 years, we have also managed to revive our engineering college classmates (mostly over email, but occasional personal meetings too), and which has found increasing involvement. I know for sure, several of the guys who are participating in these forum now (both, the school one and the engg college one) who would have almost wanted to be left alone. Because they were on a fast paced career path, and did not think it worth their time, to indulge old classmates. And yet the same guys today, are embracing these groups, and participating wholeheartedly. Is it the age factor, finally?? Or are we finally seeking a release from the fast paced society that we are in, and want options of this nature?

2. Any revival of alumni groups needs leadership. Some 2-3 persons at the minimum, who choose to give time and effort, no matter what. They do not get discouraged if the others do not respond fast, or as much. They chug away. I have seen this in both the groups. The college group is very email oriented. There were the few amongst us, who kept posting messages on a varied range of subjects. Subjects that generated debate and discussion. Subjects where different people had opinions. Something for everyone. Whether it is the China-India comparison, Bollywood, Sports, old college days, children issues, buying a TV, etc. etc. And once you start communicating and share thoughts, even on a medium as impersonal as email, you feel the distances and time shrink. You feel, you are once again in that same college canteen where you spent four years, with these chaps, and where you laughed together, fought bitter fights, planned college programs and picnics, and in short, did not care too much about each other’s backgrounds or reputations. In the school group, when I went for this meeting, the ‘leaders’ had made several copies of old class photos. I am sure most of us have our own copies, hidden away somewhere in our cupboards. But seeing these pics together was so much fun. Trying to recognise everyone, their names, their school tie colours, etc. The effort taken to bring those multiple copies of the photos was very commendable. Of course, the gathering itself took a lot of effort. In a matter of 2-3 days, to call up people, get them to respond, get them to come, did not happen by remote control. These guys worked on it. That is the sacrifice required to revive such groups.

3. What do you see at alumni groups? At a fundamental level, a person does not change. When you see someone or interact with the person over email too, the character of the person comes out strongly, and you realise that after 20+ years, the person is still the same, at the core. Someone comes out strongly on a subject and wants to assert his opinion, someone wants to come out looking bigger than he really is, someone with an innate sense of insecurity, someone very composed and internally confident, etc. These kind of character traits rarely change or change much, over the years. Its amazing to discover these as you relate to the person immediately, at the same old level that you knew the person years back.

4. And yet, there are surprises. And mind blowing ones. Fundamentally with regards to what a person has done with his life. Guys who were at the bottom of the class in school have become amongst the most successful. Guys who struggled at a simple computer program in college, are now bigtime software techies! And there are others who promised a lot, but have not quite made it, to that extent. It may make for interesting analysis, if ever time permits anyone, to understand how and what happened in this interim – that someone who was struggling in school-college could overcome those hurdles and make it big, and another who had apparently, everything going for him, found some roadblocks.

5. One big difference that I saw between the school and college groups. And I am not sure if it was because of the larger fundamental difference in the intellect levels in the two cases. I mean, at school, the spectrum is much wider – from those who may have repeated class, barely managed to pass, to those who were the toppers – at school level! While at the college group, a base level was already established where everyone was in engineering school, and had made that fundamental grade. And the intellect spectrum was less wide. Perhaps this, or perhaps an assertion by a few to say that even though I was not considered to be so great at school level, here I am, as successful or more successful, than many of you! Yes, what I saw or felt (and it could be just a feeling, in which case, I stand to correction) at the school reunion was that a few of the chaps, wanted somehow or the other, to let everyone know, just how successful (read ‘rich’) they are. Did not bother me much, as it did not come out to be very gross really. Just an observation. In the college group, one does not see this almost at all! Even the one or two chaps who have been phenomenally successful in the group, tend to play down their success, as somehow, they perceive the group at that great leveller. Where all are the same?!

Come what may, I enjoy these reunions and would love to be present or involved where I can. Looking forward to the next one.

P.S. At this reunion, I discovered that one of my schoolmates stays across the road from where I stay. And I did not know it so far! Well, I have moved to my current home only a few months back. Having said that, I am not sure, if it was not for this reunion, I would have discovered this classmate living across the road, even in the next 5 years!

The Retail FDI imbroglio

Posted: February 24, 2007 in FDI, india, kirana, retail
0

I usually do not comment on economic policy and things like that. I do not feel I am qualified to do so, as there are just far too many facets to issues like these, and they are best left to economists who know their jobs.

Yet, I feel this particular issue deserves a comment. There is just a lot of news coming in, on the subject, each day now. My take on this is as follows.

That yes, more organised retail will definitely hurt small shops and traders. We (like the English) are a country of shopkeepers and a large part of our working population is engaged in small trading businesses, of the kind that will get affected by organised retail.

Whatever they say about organised retail and mom-and-pop stores co-existing in the US, the reality is not only different from what is portrayed about the US, it will probably be worse in India. I know for a fact that the mom-and-pop stores, although they still exist in large numbers, in the US, have been severly affected by big box stores coming up in their areas. They have had to go to smaller and smaller niches, and find new ways to survive. And their profitability has gone down dramatically. It is never easy, as was seen so vividly in the film, “You’ve got mail”.
Coming to the India situation, only the other day, I was seeing a news report on TV that talked about the increasing prices of fruits and vegetables. And what it showed very clearly was that the organised retailers like Reliance and Subhiksha were selling these, at the lowest rates. Lower than the small roadside stalls! Now, if you can go to an organised retail outlet, perhaps with air-con and other conveniences, and get your veggies cheaper, what incentive is left to visit the roadside vendor?? The fact that there were and are, huge inefficiencies in say, the distribution network in India, only means that someone who can remove these inefficiencies, saves a lot of money, and is able to pass that benefit to the consumer!

So the stark reality IS that the small store is going to find it hard to stand up to the organised retailers. Some may still survive, many may not.

So where does that lead us on the fundamental debate on FDI in retail??

What I can see from the above is that none of what I mentioned earlier, had anything to do with foreign retailers! It is all about organised retail vs kirana stores, to put it simply. There was a day and age in India when certain industries were reserved for the small scale sector alone. I guess those days are gone. Whatever wisdom the government has acquired over the years, tells that that industry has to scale up, where possible, and the priority is not to stay small and protect jobs temporarily, but to grow as big as we can, and create new jobs in that new scenario.

That being the case, they will not stop the Reliances or the Pantaloons or the Kumar Mangalam Birlas or RPG group or Tatas or ITC from getting into organised retail. As soon as that happens, the small store is threatened, and that part has been accepted by the GOI.

Then the only debate on FDI is if these Indian groups require protection. Do we need to shield the Reliances and the Pantaloons from Wal-mart and Tesco?? I guess that argument is very plain. No other industry is getting any such protection in this world. An Infosys has to taken on IBM or CapGemini, and does not look for any protection there, nor does an Indian cement company seek protection against the Lafarges of this world. Why should the big boys in Indian retail be given special status? They are all making good money in their existing businesses, they are going out and acquiring globally, they are raising money in the world markets, they are recruiting the best of talent from anywhere in the world. They should be able to take on the competition from the big global brands as well.

On the other hand, such competition will only make it more attractive for the consumer in India. There will be more to choose from, better prices, better deals, etc. So heck, why not?

And as for the small retailers who are going to get impacted, really, that is the price of progress. A Nehruvian philosophy of job creation and job protection was good for its times. But its behind us now. The 1991 opening up of the economy took its toll. Many small industries could not stand up to the international competition. Some of them restructured, improved processed, tightened their belts, and are world beaters today. The ones which closed down, found other ways to survive in this world. Same will have to be the natural course of things, as far as the retail trade goes. Some may become franchisees of larger retailers, some may get into niches that organised retail may not touch at this time, the rest may have to fend for themselves.

Transitions take their toll. It is a price to pay, to get what comes after the transition…

Its not getting any easier for Sehwag

Posted: February 21, 2007 in duck, one day, ranji, sehwag
2

So he is out of form at the international level.
So the chief selector suggests that he (and few others) should play the domestic one day games, to get into form again.
So he plays for a strong Delhi side against the minnows – Services team.

And Services are knocked out for 111. An ideal platform for Sehwag to play himself back in form. You cannot get any lower pressure than this, to try and get some match practise. Almost as easy as nets, man..

And so what does Sehwag do??

Gets out to a first ball duck!!

Can things get any more tough for him? Now he will have the jitters going out to face any bowler. And we are taking this man to the World Cup, hoping that he will be a great asset to our team?! Can’t see that happening, man!

Oh, by the way, I must compliment Sehwag for one of the best PR agencies that he has. When he was mildly out of form, there were tons of articles and pictures of him, working on things, putting the effort, about how great his potential is, etc. etc. The overdose of those pieces (against far fewer articles about any of the other cricketers) clearly showed them to be planted stories. And now when he keeps failing, it is written in a subdued manner. Anyone else in his place, and this duck would have made it to headline news, and the chap would have been made mincemeat of. But this particular piece was reduced to a tiny story on the sports pages, that one would almost miss. Yes, he certainly has a phenomenal PR agency working for him. Give credit where it is deserved..

Memories come back

Posted: February 20, 2007 in 1993, black friday, blasts, bombay, memories
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I already shared my views about the movie, Black Friday.

Besides my feelings about the movie per se, the film also brought back personal memories, of that Black Friday, in the life of Mumbai.

While exact details are sketchy now, I remember driving down from Mahim towards my office in Dadar, that afternoon. As I neared Kohinoor Mills and the Sena Bhavan, I saw some really dark black smoke at a distance. As I neared the place, I saw lots of people rushing towards the location. People coming out in large numbers from the Kohinoor Mills and running towards Sena Bhavan, from where the smoke was coming. At that time, I thought this must be some gas cyliner explosion or something like that. I could not imagine anything beyond that.

It was only later that we realised that there had been a huge bomb blast there, some minutes back.

Ordinarily I would have been going on that very road, ahead (i.e. Gokhale Road), but with all the confusion there, I could not go straight, and turned left instead, towards Plaza.

I passed Plaza and reached my office on Ranade Road, at Dadar West. Just a few minutes after I reached the office, I could hear a huge sound. Detailed news of the blasts happening in the city had not quite floated in till then, and we were wondering about the noise. Covered by buildings around us, we did not have the vision to the Plaza theatre or even the sky above, so we did not have any indication of what had happened.

It was only later that the news filtered in, conveying the bomb blast at the Plaza theatre too.

It was much later that my own good fortune sank in. If I had been 10 minutes earlier than I was, I might have been passing the Sena Bhavan building where the bomb blast took place, just at the time of the blast. And if I had been 10 minutes further late, I might have passed the Plaza cinema, just around the time when that blast took place. I missed both of these by a bit. God had been kind to me.

But as I saw the vivid pictures in Black Friday, I realised what kind of damage happened, and how 100s of others had not been quite as fottunate as I was. Yes, the memories came back, the panic that we all lived with, the thoughts that if these could happen, can more happen too? Soon? When will the next strike be?

The movie appears to be giving a fairly accurate representation of what transpired. And if that is to be believed, then we have to thank our police forces (inspire of the corruption and the general decay that appears to have happened there) for having brought the large part of the criminals to book, for having reasonably restored our confidence in the city etc.

Having said that, are we really safe at all? Can someone do it again? We have had our share of train bombings and the like in recent days… are these the cost of living in these times and from which there is no escape, no matter where you are??

More pleasant surprises

Posted: February 20, 2007 in mumbai, traffic police
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I refer to my experiences with government departments and the Internet / email.

Earlier, I have shared my experiences with the weights and measures department and the maximum retail price concept and the BEST organisation.

Spurred by the responses that I got for both of these, where my initial approaches had been made via a simple email, I decided to take up one more department, namely the traffic police, in Mumbai.

And I got a response in two days flat, and it also looks promising. Whether something final and decisive comes out of it or not, I cannot be sure. But the response is encouraging, nonetheless. I reproduce my interaction hereunder:

———-
From: the Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic

Sir,
Traffic Control Branch has taken note of your suggestions and concerned traffic division has been directed to take necessary action.

Thanking you,

———- Original Message ———————————-
From:
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:59:20 -0000

I refer to a recent introduction of a U turn facility, at what was
originally just a pedestrian signal, at Union Park, on the Sion-Trombay
Road, in Chembur. The signal is located a bit away from the lanes going
off the Sion Trombay Road, viz. the Ghatla Village Road. On account of
this, on a very regular basis, there are rickshaws, 3-wheelers and even
cars and tempos, that drive on the wrong side of the road (coming out from
the Ghatla Village Road and desiring to go southwards) to take the turn at
the signal. This happens even while the pedestrian signal is on.
During morning hours, many a times, there is a police constable who
catches such violators. However in practise, these violations keep
happening all day long, as also during the night hours.
It is very hazardous, and can lead to some major accident some day. I
earnestly request you to remove the U turn from that signal, and construct
some barriers at the divider, so that the signal can ONLY be used by
pedestrians, and no one else. Vehicles should be prepared to take a small
drive to the circle that comes up soon after, and take the U turn from
there.
Please do consider this suggestion on priority, before some accident
occurs! Thank you.

———-

Very interesting, isn’t it?

Live each moment

Posted: February 20, 2007 in fast food, life, slow food, sweden
0

I normally do not like to reproduce content from elsewhere, out here. But I was really impressed by this one forwarded email that I could not help, but share it here:

————

“It’s been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It’s a rule.

Globalized processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to possess a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:

1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo , a state in Brazil .
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies to NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden , one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance(2000 employees drive their car to work).

The first day, I didn’t say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, “Do you have a fixed parking space? I’ve noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot.”

To which he replied, “Since we’re here early we’ll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don’t you think?” Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there’s a movement in Europe named Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart : the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle.

Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of “hurry” and “craziness” generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of “having in quantity” (life status) versus “having with quality”– “life quality” or the “quality of being”.

French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%.

This slow attitude has brought forth the US ‘s attention, pupils of the fast and the “do it now !”.

This no-rush attitude doesn’t represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the “now”, present and concrete, versus the “global”, undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans’ essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It’s time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there’s a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, “I can’t, my boyfriend will be here any minute now”. To which Al responds, “A life is lived in an instant”. Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more, and no one less. The difference lies in what each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment.

As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.”

———

How true, isn’t it?

It is in our own hands if we want to lead our lives differently compared to how we are leading it now. We do not need to go to a small town or to Sweden, to do this. We can do so in our own backyard, wherever we are.

Another drubbing for Australia

Posted: February 20, 2007 in australia, cricket, hussey, new zealand
0

After losing the previous game against New Zealand, losing the number one ODI team ranking to South Africa, and getting loads of criticism in the media and blogosphere (refer my earlier post), Australia apparently came back all charged up and roaring, for the final one day game against New Zealand, in the Chappell Hadlee Trophy.

Led by a stupendous batting effort from Hayden (an unbeaten 181, the highest ever ODI score by an Australian, carrying his bat through), Australia topped their previous game score and posted 346 runs in the 50 overs. NZ had rested their main strike bowlers, Shane Bond and Vettori. For Australia, McGrath was not playing.

When NZ started their reply, they lost 4 quick wickets for around 40 something, and then the 5th for a little over 100. It appeared to be an all too familiar setting, with Australia coming back big time, to assert themselves with a thumping victory, following some losses.

But things took a different course. Led by a phenomenal belligerent innings by McMillan, and supported very well, by McCullum, NZ turned in a fantastic batting performance, to pip Australia at the post, AGAIN! Thats the fourth big score of Australia that has been chased down, by an opponent, this year.

To add to the worries for Australia, they now have Hayden on the injury list too. How bad is his injury will be known soon. But that is one more concern for Australia anyway.

As for the Australian bowling, it keeps looking worse. At the end, with Franklin at the crease, at 8 wickets down, and still a lot of runs needed to be got, it was the Australian bowlers who let it go, it would appear!

And poor Hussey.. his surprise captaincy elevation, has certainly not got off to a good start, losing all three games that he lead in..!

Hopes for the other teams sore high, in the midst of this continuing Australian debacle.. !

Black Friday – good movie, but quite disturbing..

Posted: February 20, 2007 in black friday, blasts, bombay
0

A film that was made sometime back, but which got a delayed release, on account of the Mumbai blasts court case going on, Black Friday, is a movie that shakes you up. We went for the late night show, starting at 10:30 pm, and any lesser movie may have made me catch a few winks, that late in the day. But my eyes and my attention was glued to the screen in front of me, for the entire duration of the film (well, except for the 5 minutes when the guy behind me, chose to receive a call on his cell, and kept talking for a while, in none too soft a voice!).

The film is actually like a documentary on the Mumbai bomb blasts on 1993 – the before, during and after, related to the incident. Its been captured well. At least for someone like me, who was very familiar with the entire set of incidents, the flow seemed quite perfect and clear. Made for good viewing as a result.

They used the actual character names for the criminals as well as the policemen. The acting was good, and the film showed a very balanced perspective to the whole set of events.

On the one hand, its a very watchable film. But also 14 years after the incident, it still poses those questions, whether we are safe at all, in this city / country / world? Will we ever be??

Et tu, Sachin??

Posted: February 20, 2007 in charity, restaurant, Sachin, tendulkar
2


This is a personal experience of a close friend, who went for a meal at the restaurant, Sachin’s. Part or whole of this restaurant chain is owned by Sachin Tendulkar.

He happened to notice, AFTER returning back from the restaurant, that an amount of Rs. 5/- had been put on the bill, under the head of ‘charity’. My friend was not asked at the time of presenting the bill, whether he wanted to contribute to the charity. Next day when he called and enquired about this, they were apologetic and offered to refund the money the next time he went there for a meal.

The other part of the story is that the charity so collected from patrons is being contributed to an organisation run by Sachin’s mother-in-law, and is probably going as Sachin’s contribution to the charity! When it actually is coming from patrons eating at the restaurant.

Makes the whole thing seem very creepy. Especially when it involves Mr. Clean, Sachin Tendulkar??!

"Uncle"? Ouch… it hurts!

Posted: February 19, 2007 in brother, relationship, uncle
1

On the Sunday, we had some new players at the squash court. Couple of young chaps, around 22-23 years of age. I played a couple of games with one of them. It was a mismatch in terms of age.. and hence, the ability to cover the court, etc. He was a much better player, in that respect.

And yet, using some guile and smart play, I managed to not make it so easy for him, and almost gave him a run for his money. Found it very satisfying, personally.

Till we came out of the court, and out of some respect, he asked me, “Uncle, how long have you been playing squash?”.

“Uncle”!! Ouch, that hurt..
Yet, I made the conversation, without making him feel that he had made a huge faux pas.

I have a lot of cousins who are all younger to me, and even younger than this guy was. But since all of them are cousins, they refer me as brother, or ‘bhai’ in Gujarati. So I am not accustomed to have _that_ age group (early 20s) address me as ‘uncle’. Yes, my kids’ friends call me uncle, and I find that perfectly acceptable. But this chap in his 20s?!

Having said that, and looking back at the situation, I realised that he was not out of place at all. I must be at least 20 years older than him. And he would call me, uncle, what else?!

The other thing about this is that in English language, we either have friends, or we have uncles and aunts! I have never heard anyone address another person as a ‘brother’. In Hindi or other Indian languages, we do have ‘bhai’. But if you are speaking in English, you do not hear anyone addressing another as ‘Hello, brother’.

So THAT was the problem. I should relax now…
🙂

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