Empty what's full, Fill what's empty

on V day

2012-02-13T22:41:00.001-08:00

she is sweet she is crazy
admiring her i was never so dizzy
that smile that shyness
which lives in me tough that it dies
i will remember all my life
that's how the promises of love
were meant to be

keep pushing

2012-02-08T08:41:00.001-08:00

its never too small, its never too large,
the cup of life, is all that you envisage,
money comes money goes,
the effort is that which never slows,
mortal yes mortal we are, finite is the life,
but we have to do more, we could slow down,
wait for stuff to happen all the more,
un-tired you would still want to reach out for more

Aawaz

2012-01-29T21:40:00.001-08:00

meri rooh se unki rooh tak, ek aawaz jaati hai,
khamoshi bhi lage tumko,
kai pyaar bhare paigham wo le jaati hai.

Cup of life

2012-01-29T21:39:00.001-08:00

pal

2012-01-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

wo chand pal, chotte par haseen, apne honay ki chhaap chod jaate hai
samay kay ki kami he to hai humei aur tumei,
ki jo hain unko aur jeene kaa mann kartaa hai, aur jo nahi hai,
unkay naa hone ki soch say he darr lagtaa hai...

It again stares at you

2012-01-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

New year, new beginnings, new thoughts...and when you feel everything is fresh, with renewed vigour you take the first steps. And yet again it stares at you without even a blink. Just a mere change in last few digits of a date doesn't change your course. It isnt utopia that at the stroke of midnight a transition will take you away from reality called LiPhe (that's how i call Life).

Professionally and personally you are the same, same social beast hungry for admiration, love and attention. You invest a zillion moments creating those right spirits, efforts to build a foundation that is rock solid. Any deviation then from it being perfect is hurtful, so you look forward to that date, the last day of the month of December every year thinking, we are up for a change. If it were casual, that is your approach to LiPhe, relationships and profession it doesn't matter every day then is a new day. But the long term-ers put their hopes in one basket, clinging to hope then they wish for what's best for them.

But a day doesn't change a thing. Nor does that moment when the clock strikes 12.

Welcome again to LiPhe...my friend....its good to be in flux

2012-01-02T08:06:00.001-08:00

bahut chalna hai, bahut kuch karna hai,
nanhi jaan kaha hai, jab chhoona aasman hai,
aaj fir sawaal saamne ye hai, kis or mudna hai,
soch raha hoo, waqt tham jaaye, to main bhi...

happy new years

2011-12-30T08:47:00.001-08:00

paheliyaan, haan paheliyaan boojhte boojhte ye saal beet gayaa,
kabhi is or kabhi us or, zindagi ko ye saal le gaya
antim kuch lamhein jo bache hai, unmein fir se jee lenaa chahtaa hoo,
wo apnon k saath beete pal, aur chand yaadein jinko apne aap mein samet,
ye saal le gaya...

2011-12-27T03:29:00.001-08:00

samay ruk saa gaya thaa, dil bhi tham saa gaya thaa,
unkay aane kaa aagaaz huaa shayad,
uth khade huye hum, hawa badal see rahee hai ab,
picche mud kyuuu dekhnaa,
behti hawa se he lipat jaane kaa mann kare jab

2011-12-24T22:38:00.001-08:00

while reading an annual report i stumbled on these beautiful lines, pardon the decade word "The decisive moment when another
year ends and we step into a new
decade. Drawing strength from our
finest hours, we imagine the
contours of the emerging future. As
the page turns, poised on the cusp of
change, the moment is rich in
possibilities and just right for new
beginnings." best wishes

chauraha

2011-12-22T06:47:00.001-08:00

ek chauraha hai, chaar dishaen hai, ek main hoo, laqshya kai hai, kis aur bad chaloo, tanhai mei yehi soch hai, kyu hai mujhe chun-naa bas ek ko, umeed mei iskay ki wahi sahi hai

when it seems right

2011-12-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

may be its the age, with which comes many experiences such that they create a priori to many situations that occur. How much ever you wish to believe this time it will be different, the more they drag you to the dark or glorious past of yours. For once you have been through it while you are going through something similar now.

the choice is between being cautious or entirely committed to the cause and live it. who knows it may not be as troublesome or even as pleasurable as the last time. The more one has lived the more is the anticipation of the next big thing. because time doesnt cease and life doesnt ease!

cheers.

muqaddar

2011-12-19T06:51:00.000-08:00

samay beet-taa hai, haalaat nahi badalte,
log milte hai, kaarvan badta hai, log nahi badalte,
yaar kay ehsaas mein khud ko bhoolte jaate ho,
muqaddar to pahle se likhaa hai, woh nai badaltaa.

2011-12-11T05:46:00.001-08:00

its volatile, its in flux, the heart that is, it may not rust,
striking like a lightning, sometimes, blessing like morning's light,
what's in sight may at times give me fright,
deep down below what then waits for me has no might...

hote hote kay gote

2011-12-10T08:05:00.001-08:00

zindagi mei bahut hai karnaa, bas yehi socha, yehi seekha, yehi kiyaa,
waqt guzarataa gaya, samay bhi dhaltaa gaya, par chain kahaan,
aaj bhi yehi lagtaa hai rah rah kar, ki kuch to karnaa hai,
zamane ko badalnaa hai, par usk sang khud nahi badalnaa hai,
mere dost waqt to ruk nahi raha, naa he zamana tere liye,
fir tu kyu nahi ruk jaata, apni soch badaltaa, hone de jo hotaa hai,
aur hote hote mei, tu bhi kuch masti kay gote khaaa...

Boomerang!

2011-11-29T08:47:00.001-08:00

As a kid growing up in the '80s in India, there was no way a kid in a TV owning household would have missed the desi (Hindi) version of The Jungle Book. The most interesting or the most televised weapon in the animated series was Mowgli's Boomerang. I remember owning an amateurish version of the same sent to me for my loyalty to Nestle's Maggi.

Though not many would own a physical boomerang, at times in their lives they are exposed to power of one. Its situational, and works equally for successes and failures. As they say in statistical terms, mean reversion, that is pretty evident. As one grows stakes rise so does the magnitude of deviations from the mean. Either ways it reverts, like a boomerang. The question then remains, are you good in the disturbed state or being the average guy holding on the mean (and that reminds me of the hypothetical mean's list my MBA colleagues dream of). For them also there lays an advise, things revert and one's on the other side would soon be you. And equally sooner you may be in the disturbed state.

At times you have people such as Einstein, MJ, or Sachin Tendulkar, well those are 10 sigma event. Oh, and now for the first time I feel I am good in statistics and that is at least a 5 sigma event!!

cheers.

2011-11-28T23:18:00.001-08:00

sawaalon kaa he khayaal hai, jawaab jab pata nahi,
jiss aur kadam bad rahe hai, uska pata kyaa pata nahi.

2011-11-24T08:21:00.001-08:00

narm see iss dhoop mei, main bheeg raha hoo,
barsaat ki nahi ab zaroorat,
mod par khada kuch naya laqshya jab main khoj raha hoo

2011-11-20T05:25:00.001-08:00

its cool, still i feel the warmth,
mornings are benign, evenings are colored,
through my balcony i see the niceties around,
here, when friends surround, love's abound!

kismet

2011-11-16T09:00:00.001-08:00

I walk alone b’coz my kismet wasn’t carved in stone
Destined not to be on a throne,
I needed to make it big on my own, score nothing but a home run
The frame is never empty, occasionally I find some who feel like my own
Growing, learning, experiencing together we came a long way having fun
Involuntarily we separated, for we had to sculpt a kismet, each one his own
Still the frame is never empty, I find some who feel like my own...

gile shiqve

2011-11-10T13:55:00.001-08:00

kuch gille thode se shiqve
kuch yaari thodi mohabbat
bas aisee he kuch baatein
thode ehsaas aur aise he kuch pal
rah jaate hai ankahe ansune
yaadon kay bharose he hans lete ho fir tum
kabhi apne par kabhi in par

khayaal

2011-11-09T04:15:00.001-08:00

ye haseen khayaal hai, ki teraa deedarr hoga
ek din
jab naa ranjishein rahengi, naa rishton kay ye faasle,
ek din,
jahaan kay is shor-o-gul se door, shaam dhalegi, baahon mein,
teree,
khayaal he hai, jaisaa bhi hai haseen hai lajwab hai
har din.....

2011-10-31T13:02:00.001-07:00

paths were strange but the thought remained all this would change
intrigued i climbed on to the mountain, over the valley they say
home to the crazy and insane
tides from the adjoining river were sweeping away much of what remains

may not be my land still a part of the installation from which we came
i will walk with those in the valley, till we sink or sail through...hoping
for good all this will change...

happens sometimes

2011-10-29T05:36:00.001-07:00

it ain't every day that the cool breeze blows onto me
it ain't every day that thoughts of you embrace me
still there is something I don't know of
that engulfs me in the benign day light
breeze may be it is, that blows past you onto me...

2011-10-26T11:11:00.001-07:00

मैंने किसी ख्वाब में मेरे दोस्त तेरा ही शायद साथ देखा था

फिर आ कर गयी दिवाली

पर तेरा ही प्यार था, जो ना तब ना अब बदला था

on diwali eve

2011-10-25T10:11:00.001-07:00

जश्न-उमंग का देखो मंच आज फिर सजा है

सोचते थे बस कुछ पल पहले की जीना भी एक सज़ा है

मेरे अपने ही थे जो ये कहते थे, तेरे वजूद का

अपना ही इक मज़ा है

तो क्या हुआ की तू इस बार खुश ना हुआ

वो तो एक शाम थी बस एक महफ़िल थी,

जश्न तो फिर भी अभी बचा है

thehraav

2011-10-18T06:51:00.001-07:00

umar kat jaatee hai, chain nahi miltaa,pyaar miltaa hai, par karaar nahi miltaa,apne ko sambhalte he nikal jatee hai zindagi,fir koi thehraav, koi doosra ehsaas nai miltaa...

one more for friendship-s

2011-10-16T04:02:00.001-07:00

Not every movement means going forward, not every heart beat ensures living longer, its the friends their care their thoughts those keep you buoyant, while one keeps striving to be stronger

2011-10-16T03:23:00.001-07:00

anonymous?!

to jaggu daa, october 10th 2011

2011-10-10T11:20:00.001-07:00

ye to tum the, ki meree shaamein jo gum se bhareen theenwo bhi itminaan se kat gayeeeye to tum the, wo haseen pal jismein shayrana hum hue wo palak jhapakte se guzar gayeaaj hum kya kahen kya karen, jab tum naa rahe na hee tumhari aawaaz rahee, par din to wahi hai aur hum bhi wahi.....to jaggu daa as i called him during the past decade

saweraa

2011-10-06T23:23:00.001-07:00

यूं तो गम है हज़ारों दुनिया में
बस एक ही गम है जो उधार लिया है

ब्याज तो हम चुका ही रहे हैं
असल तब से वैसा ही खडा है

समय तो फिर भी थमता नहीं है
कहते है की यह बलवान बड़ा है

इसी उम्मीद में जी रहे है
की उस पार इक नया सवेरा
इंतज़ार में खडा है

khidki

2011-09-23T22:58:00.001-07:00

यूं तो रोज़ हम तुम्हारी खिड़की को ताका करते थे
उस हसीं चेहरे की आस में घंटों हम गुज़ारा करते थे
वो सिलसिला तब ख़त्म हुआ
जिसे सोचते थे हमदम जब हमारा ना हुआ

2011-09-22T12:08:00.001-07:00

कुछ वक़्त की नज़ाक़त है कुछ बाधाओं का ख़याल
क्यों आज ना साथ हैं हम
ना करना फिर यह सवाल......

Wonderland

2011-09-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Not everyday and not everytime, there come moments when you feel that time has stalled. Niceties of your past hit you momentarily, nostalgic, you feel drooling over valleys that exist in the lalaland.

However, when such a times occur the ambience transforms and air blows past you like a gentle breeze. Is it really your past that drives the sanity out of you or is it the present...or could it be the prospect. I think the response is a blend of all. You tend to see the past in present hoping the prospects are even brighter.

And then it doesn't matter whether sun shines or moon lits up, all seems just too gentle just too benign to doubt that you aren't in Alice's Wonderland.

time to fly

2011-09-18T07:04:00.001-07:00

feet on the ground....eyes on the sky.....ready to fly...am I??

go on n on

2011-09-17T00:05:00.001-07:00

Shining in their golden hue were the blades of grass
the ones I chose to walk over

A gentle breeze blew past me
making me look behind

Trampled by my feet, bent they were
Some uprooted, others going strong

The best always stays that’s what even Darwin says
So keep up my friend….and go on….

Dost

2011-09-10T14:34:00.001-07:00

ye to dost tum he ho jo mehfil ka hum aaj lutf utha rahe hai
gamon kaa bhaar jisse samjhate hum kal tak usse aaj bhule jaa rahe hai

Ishq

2011-09-08T11:10:00.001-07:00

इस रात के अँधेरे की गहराई में मैं कहीं खो न जाऊं
इंतज़ार के इन लम्हों को तू ही बता में कैसे बिताऊँ
इस इश्क का इम्तेहान इतना ना लीजिये
कही तुझको सोचते, खुद ही को ना भूल जाऊं

Horizon

2011-09-05T11:27:00.001-07:00

there goes the cloud, over the stream into the horizon,
it rained here last night, bringing showers of hope and ambition,

drenching my soul, telling me to go on,
it ain't hard, it said,
don't stop coz its a milestone, you just crossed
there are many more, some known others waiting in the dark

look at me, it said,
i fly by every year hoping to bring some cheer to the passer-bys
some who gave up, and a few pushing hard
whom I will meet at the horizon

I...

2011-08-29T07:37:00.001-07:00

I am the creator, I am the destroyer
of my own fate
I am the force, I am the incompetence
of my own sake
I am the provider, I am the desirous
Of my life’s pleasure
Imitation is a fallacy, it doesn’t persist
‘Coz its I in you
that should never say die

Tum

2011-08-28T05:44:00.001-07:00

तुम सोचते हो की वो तुम्हें नहीं समझते, वो सोचते है की तुम
ऐसे ही दिन बीत जाते है, सवाल फिर भी अनकहा रह जाता है
चाहे न चाहो तुम.

समय तो आगे बढता ही जाता है, भीड़ में खो जाते हैं फिर हम तुम
जो बोली नहीं वोह यादें बन जाती है, सोच कर जिनको कभी मुस्कुरा
कभी रो दोगे तुम......

The Road

2011-08-26T08:25:00.001-07:00

I walked the road less traveled, it was raining on this one
drenched spirits soaked not in sweat for a change

I could feel the momentary rush of youth and energy
Sending me ten years back when I was at school

It used to rain soaked in sweat then I used to toil hard
Life wasn't easy, so I thought, It wasn't fair

Only wealth that was what separated one from other, so I thought
Life stalled as I walked the road others walked with their umbrellas on

I could feel the air the stillness and calm, I could smell the rain
The admiration of my surroundings for once made a point in the case

What use the wealth is which takes me off such a beautiful road,
the one I walked today....

2011-08-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

ऐसे लम्हें बस कुछ ही होते है जब समय का एहसास नहीं रहता
ऐसे दोस्त मिल जाते है जब उम्र का एहसास नहीं रहता
जो छिपा रहे थे तुम सब से ऐसी ख़ुशी ऐसा गम नहीं रहता
मेरे दोस्तों आज शाम तुम ना होते तो शाम में यह रूमानी अंदाज़ ना होता

2011-08-22T08:15:00.001-07:00

उन तनहाइयों की दीवारों के बीचों बीच से मैं गुजरा था
सवेरे की तलाश में मैं यहाँ वहां भटका था
दूर एक आवाज़ सुनाई दिया करती थी
हौंसला ना हार मेरे दोस्त वोह कहा करती थी
सुन कर भी अनसुना मैं उसको करता था
आज जब बैठा हूँ, बीते समय को सोचता हूँ
वो दो चार दिन और जी लेता वो भी अच्छा था

2011-08-20T02:58:00.001-07:00

इन टपकती बूंदों से पूछो, की आज बरसने का राज़ क्या है
गीले करे जो मन को ऐसी आज बात क्या है
किसी दीवाने ने शायद प्यार का इज़हार किया होगा
इन बूंदों के कुबूल करने का शायराना अंदाज़ यही होगा

2011-08-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

की तेरी ओर मुदूं या कोई और राह चुनूं
येही सवाल से झूझ रहा हूँ
कई और दिन बीत जाएंगे शायद इंतज़ार में
पर जब भी चलूँ तेरी ओर ही चलूँ

muses on goa trip, august 2011

2011-08-14T10:58:00.001-07:00

समुंदर किनारे, हम तीन, बीते समय में अपने आप को ढूंढ रहे है,
कितना पीछे छोड़ आये है, जिसे याद रखना भी मुश्किल है
कई सपनें कई उम्मीदें कई हसींन लम्हों से परे, हम दोस्त,
आज लहरों जैसे अपने खोये जूनून, अपने आप को तलाश रहे है!

2011-08-08T03:34:00.001-07:00

मेरे दोस्त तू मुझे कह रहा है की मैं खुश हूँ
सीने में झांक तो तुझे पता चले
की ये तो तू है और तुझ जैसे बस कुछ और हैं
जिनके साथ होने का एहसास ही है जो खींचें जा रहा है
मैं तो रुक गया होता थक कर हार गया होता
गर उन पलों में तुमने साथ ना दिया होता

2011-07-30T04:11:00.001-07:00

मैं तोह कुछ और ही सोचता था
तेरी राह पर मेरी चाह खोजता था
एक दिन मिलकर भी बिछड़ना था
फिर जाने क्यों उन पलों में हमराही खोजता था

What an MBA can do to you...

2011-07-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

There is just so much happening around that the time to write has shrunk. Friends did tell me an MBA can do that to you and I can see it doing it to me already.

A day starts with a normal walk aka sprint to the class,the moment one enters the classroom an initial respect is given not to the professor but to the Teaching Assistant keeping the attendance. A few classes over and you walk out of the classroom exhausted?! tired?! and famished?!. Its not that the day is over, rather, it has just begun. While you walk back some event would be announced in the xxxx location, you would want to be there but then there was the event yyyy planned two hours from then. The obvious tradeoff then is between events or assignments, which are no less than a recurring event.

There is one routine activity which I look forward to i.e. my evening workout. My life in this vast school is limited to my room, the school building and the recreational centre, and an occasional burst of socialising. Even if I can manage all these daily, I think that will be a big achievement. The question here is what is my takeaway from the course.

To talk of there is none and there is so much. From analysing businesses horizontally than vertically (industry focus) to evaluating strategies and thinking oppportunities from Australia to Greenland.And then there is a whole gamut of friends I gained. However, while I packed my bags to prepare for the school I was aware that I may not gain much incremental in my domain, a subject I practiced and breathed so many years.

There is one more thing I truly miss and I am sure everyone around me does, I have kind of lost track of occurences beyond this island ie. school. As an investor when I roamed Indian cities I would always be taking down my notes on how some place/business is shaping up, you would visit the same city again in 6 months and find new developments and changes. However, since landing here barring an occasional haircut life remains limited to the vast resources of the campus/campus life.

Its good to be back to school, its good to be carrying a set of notebooks each helping you gain a new insight a new thought. Hope we all walk out saner, fitter and as agents of change.

2011-07-25T06:59:00.001-07:00

akele he chal padaa thaa mai aasmaan ko choone,
rokaa jaooonga tab bhi na thamunga,
ek sailaab hoo main, yehi sochaa tha maine,
par na he rastaa na he manzil jaani maine,
ae mere dost tune sahi he kaha thaa,
ki manzil par toh milnaa he thaa, to kyun naa saath he chalte

Very Minded!

2011-07-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

"Very Minded" said a mumbai taxi-wallah to me some hours back. I just dropped a friend on my way to my residence in Mumbai. The serial blasts which occurred around 6 pm were still ruling high on our heads during the taxi ride. So this oldtimer at driving a mumbai taxi said to us "sir dont worry, ye to hota he rahta hai" (this is usual). These terrorists are "very minded" (i wouldn't delve much deeper into that discussion which takes its own communal path) but what he meant was these people are very intelligent.

Thus came an eventful day in Mumbai to an end. Every year I visit this city at least twice on personal agenda. This time the agenda is personal blended highly into my possible professional life in an year's time. I landed in Mumbai at 11.30 pm last night, got completely drenched in the traditional Mumbai downpour which continues to play its hide and seek and by 6 pm I wrapped up these two high profile meetings to run into serial blasts in evening. Waiting for a friend to turn up i was looking at people in this busy food-court in the financial district of the city. Not many looked shaken or discomforted. Or to put it the other way very few were perturbed. People would look towards their food and friends and then gaze at the TV screens which said "Terror is back".

So was there any chance I wouldn't have talked about how unsafe India is and how much do we compromise to make ends meet while working here. These are never ending debates, truth of the matter is we are a prone to attacks be it terrorists or diseases, we are a billion and not many countries can boast of that headcount. The best what I think India/Indian regulators could do is just build more cities and decongest one like Mumbai/Delhi...

I just wish tomorrow is a saner day in the city and am happy to just get drenched once again!

2011-07-03T09:13:00.001-07:00

naa tera khayaal aaj aaya, naa he fir woh sawaal aaj yaad aaya,
aisee kyaa gilaa thee tujhe, jo mere jaane per bhi main naa yaad aaya

The calling

2011-07-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

I was really looking forward to July 1st. It was our date with the man who created one of the most respected social venture in the country. Its his kindness that he allowed us to be part of a 400 km journey that took us to interiors of india, some of its poorest villages, and understand the challenges that co-exist with opportunities.

We went from village to village in search for clients for this microfinance company. We were amazed how people make mends with their lives. From 2 cattle household to the one with ample cattle and poultry. However, money always in short supply and these families then compromise on quality of food they provide to the animals they rear. The heat is intense and raingods shy away.

Every few kilometers were studded with large sized poultry farms with hundreds of chicken, still when we visited a household we would see a house with just about 10 chicken to fend for. Thats the level of disparity you see here. We tried to ascertain opportunities for our own venture as well as we heard investment of 1000 in poultry in an year could actually fetch you over twice by the end of that year. The brains were working hard and so was the heart. Been fortunate enough to have received proper education in leading private institutions of the country it becomes difficult to comprehend the reality of the country, the part which lives in villages. It was thus not amazing to see some leading money manager who also hopped onto their vehicles on this visit to be inspired. Its been over 3 months I have been in my business class, these 3 months seemed like an year to me because of the fast paced curriculum. However, time slowed today. I could easily absorb the truckload of information being thrown at us.

I could realise it was not long ago I walked the same road in the same country in a different state, though the challenges remained the same! the opportunities remained the same!

Random Thoughts

2011-06-29T00:52:00.000-07:00

I am bad at reading, period! A trait I always wished I had. I cant focus for long time on text that too which reads like a story a fiction. There is no excuse for me not to pick up the skill of reading numerous pages at a go. Flipping through papers is a routine now, at a Business school you cant just do without that. That's why they call it Pre-Read.

The Read in the Pre-Read stares right into my face. On an average we may be reading over 20 pages a day containing, ahem, stories, sophistically called case studies. A typical case starts with a question and ends with one. This isn't ending here though, you enter the class with an idea of cracking the code of how to run biggest business in the World, successfully. The confidence that exudes out of a person when he supposedly has the code in place makes several faces lit up at the start of a typical case class. The student is probably mocking at those Kodak and BARCO chairmen who made wrong moves. While he simply did some numbers over a sheet and is now equipped with know how of what to do.

The tumultuous way a case then gets dealt in the class, with all numbers going haywire and ideas being crushed every few minutes, leaves me with a pertinent thought...

you think of me as none,
though doing numbers I had fun,
hoping today I would be the one,
knowing more than those on whom you had written this one,
still i am struggling,
assuming someday I would be the one, whom you would discuss with someone!

The ease that wasn't there anyways

2011-06-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Circumstances recently turned in a way I could see things weren't going my way. Something I have gotten used to over years, because if I wouldn't have I would have been sulking every now and then. Life isn't fair period! But who asked you to assume it should be!

However, the fact that some of my close pals were also on the receiving end wasn't what I took up the challenge for. Either we plunge together all sail aboard in harmony, well we happened to be diving into an abyss. It was a tough decision it was a tough situation, I had to let them go, let the strings weaken a bit. Not sure what the future holds for us, we had to let everyone walk on their own.

Of responsibilities and duties

2011-06-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Bunch of us were able to steal an hour of a great man as he humbly agreed to meet us. It was a bright sunday morning and we were talking about the microfinance business that is slipping into oblivion in India. Founder of one of the most respected lender,he said "between rights and responsibilities, it is always rights first that a citizen would choose. The time lag could be huge between the same citizen taking into account his responsibilities."

It is probably for the very same reasons many civil issues linger or as did the opposition against corruption in India. During the meeting I switched off for a few minutes as I pondered upon what had been said. It was not just important in the context of microfinance but has global appeal. Just about everything we do in life is always about "what's in it for me?" We friend were chatting up one day about benefits of being a part of xyz activity. There were not many tangible but there were intangible ones, including personality development. I think as long as one derives intangible benefits, an activity dispensing your responsibilities should be adopted. In the longer run the effects of such work come back to you in terms of monetary/tangible benefits. Its an economist's way of thinking...build Human Capital...eventually higher productivity and higher gains for you

I concur with another school of thinking: "no one gets into an activity thinking without thinking personal growth." There are intangibles, and eventually they matter..

Celebrations

2011-06-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

My close buddy won an elected post few days back. So we thought, to call upon some of our colleagues for a get together. It was like the "Same wine, but a bit older." So was it, about 15 of us have got so close in our friendship we make it a point to connect at least an hour a day.

Relationship is ageing only to become sweeter. Now everyone knows everyone, and they know they are probably the best combo served at affordable rates (equivalent to the fee for the year). No harm in saying some fall off, but then that/s what Darwin said its the "survival of the fittest."

Reduced Cost

2011-06-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

DMOP- yes that's what a course in the current term is called. DMOP is a little tougher than mopping though. The difficulty level is such that it has become more a test of my english writing/speaking skills than the quantitative ones.

So here is one of those mindblogging terms: Reduced Cost. The issue with this was that it no ways relates to reducing costs or achieving cost incentives, however it is merely representing opportunity costs. My trysts with English and the challenge such terms pose in my various MBA courses doesnt end there. Even though I secured good scores in my mid terms I realised most of the places I got wrong answers were where the question was hinting at something else that was not really conveyed by the sentences. The same thing would have repeated in the end terms, but I was watchful. As a friend of mine said, "for the examinations here Masters in English would have been good."

It has been fun, to be introduced to so many subjects from every corner of business training/management. As we delve deeper the intricacies of english are also likely to improve our understanding of the language. This is precisely why I have started to believe, come what may a smart manager convinces his management or shareholders about the intentions, he was trained to do so. It was his command on the language that can have different connotations of the same writing probably...

Utility!

2011-05-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Till the mid-terms things in economics were moving fast but were being consumed at the same time. And one day I walk into my class a little late and hear the buzzword Utility!. The way it went was Utility! Utility!! Utility!!!

This was a change from the earlier mantra of MR=MC, we chanted for 5 classes. Utility is a novel concept applicable to just about everything, like writing this blogpost. My utility is expressing myself while yours is reading it?! sure are you?!!! I hope it translates to a few comments someday and we together maximise the utility of the blogpost and technology of internet.

4 days and I would be sitting for my term 1 exams in the MBA program. While I look back 1 term I would be staring into the next 7 over the course of the year. I am sure we shall build on utility time and again, as our ethics professor today said, consider yourself as an individual thinking about maximising your utility. Its been a good ride thus far, twists and turns just make the ride eventful and pleasurable. Yet I rather we (including my friends) have yet to hit our maximum utilities. Would we?!

To that: "yes we can!"

The Silver Lining....or A Golden one

2011-05-20T01:57:00.000-07:00

Last 10 days consumed most of my days and nights into an activity, which I could have lived without. However, there were a few concerns which I wished to address and hence, went ahead full-steam. Surprisingly when I picked up the baton I wasn't alone, there was a massive intellectual support group that got together from no where.

The group ensured I don't back out and prove the worth there was in me and in them. Night after night and day after day, we slogged as a team. It was heartening to see what was not their fight became personal to just about everyone. In the midst of more than 300 man hours that we spent together we emerged as a great friend group. Some apprehensions and misunderstandings were shed. Loads of jokes and laughs were exchanged. Zillion SMSes choked the airwaves. Everyone but I believed in a favorable outcome.

My work was done the day I climbed the stage and demonstrated my true self to those, who didn't care to understand me. It was an event I won't forget; addressing a hostile gathering. I am sure the crowd won't either. While many think the end results were unfavorable, I think they were worth more than just the numbers. I am sure the group won't back out and would gel together through this time and later...and I think everyone in here is the best I know around me today.

Cheers guys....party time it izz!!

Public Private Partnerships: Beyond Business Beyond Boundaries Beyond Conventional

2011-05-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

The developing world is racing ahead while the developed is facing challenges of nature never forecasted. In the midst of these happenings the governments are increasingly becoming receptive of the ideas flowing from the corporates. Probably it is evident to leaders in the BRIC all the more in India that rule without growth is no more a reality. This changing nature of the relationship between the public leaders and business leaders has augured well for the masses.

What is the future of the Public Private Partnerships? Just how proactive should a government body be to attract corporate views in running a country? Is the Gujarat/Bihar model best for India or is the left theory still applicable?

Not that many of us would be taking up jobs or careers in governance but it is very likely as business leaders we would be interacting with the bureaucracy very often. Therefore it is important we are able to train ourselves for such positions.

We need to also address few more questions:

what are the unidentified areas wherein ideas from the private side of economy could influence governance?
What is the intersection currently and likely between these two extreme ends of the Indian economy?
How does it impact the country’s growth? How does it influence entrepreneurship? And many more such questions...

Growth works best for the society if facilitated by those incharge of the government machinery...

Competing vs Distinguishing

2011-05-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

1/12 MBA? or is it not?

Enrolled in a 12 month MBA program I just appeared for my first mid-term exam. The scary form of theirs that was projected to me through alumnus or colleagues was hard to find. The choice was and remains with me.

I am very sure what I want out of this tenure of 12 months yet I got drawn into the chaos of examinations for at least past 3 days. Today as I sat through the two hours of marketing quiz, I was thinking to myself whom are we fooling here? The end result of the MBA program is a career a life, while the end of every term is a written examination?

As I look back a month, I find what is that new thing I saw at this campus apart from my flat, lecture theatres and the mess (this is the one new thing I saw, having been a frequent visitor for past 4 years).

11 months and 1 plan to execute, friends to help, seek help from friends and friendships to be made while excelling in my passions is utmost priority. 11 months that would never be the same, 11 months and none of us would be the same...but we would be what we want to be here and elsewhere!!

Once upon a time...

2011-05-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

Its strange but life comes back to you in certain but different forms. I was out partying with a bunch of friends and was looking at this table in the corner of a leading pub in the city. I was thinking to myself, few years back I had that wild blast with another bunch of my pals right at-on-above that table in the corner!

4 years back that corner and this party had different connotation, I was younger my friends were younger and the time was right for that sort of all-night dunk-all drenched-in-liquor hangout. Probably thats why this time we chose to sit on the other corner besides a smaller table guaranteeing we cant climb onto it even if we were to think of doing so. Time moves so does life, certain things still stay the same...the table the ambience and more importantly frIends. This ensures the Zing doesn't go while you may slow....

Getting Used to CP

2011-04-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

CP, a two alphabet acronym for Class Participation. The first time I heard about the novel concept was some months back when a friend of mine commented on other's behavior "tu general CP karta hai" (you unnecessarily seek CP). It was the time I was enlightened to the World of Class Participation, a World that backoned me months down the line.

A week into my MBA lectures I have truly and gracefully accepted the idea of CP. I am still struggling to graduate to the levels required to be an effective (read ineffective CPant). The best part for me of this CP show is that in a class of 70+ at least 40 hands are up for any random question tossed by the professor. The answers to these random questions are equally random (remember dependent independent from the Stats class). Now here is the beauty, you seek a dependent variable as an answer :-) but many a times you get an independent one!!! (truly unrelated). Kya karen bhai CP to kerni hai (how to help, CP is necessary needs to be done).

The CP show is a blockbuster, it has all the ingredients to provide some laughs on a mundane day. Yet what perplexes me is at 6ft tall and at least a 3 ft hand to show, I somehow don't enthuse the tutor for him to call me for a round of CP :-).

Here is an example of Arbit CP. Prof "Indigo is a low cost airline, pl tell us any other example of such service." And 50 hands go up.....one soul is pleased to have been called out......"Sir: Spice Jet (no-brainer,even a kid would say that given Indigo as an example)." Right after answering that one, the guy would seek the Teaching Assistant to check whether some points are being awarded.

In the whole gamut of writings on CP that are doing rounds at campus, these were my two cents. I am sure, I am going to be rewarded many a laughs the year round...may be this is one of those reasons they say MBA is all about Fun or what I call Phun!!!

Jai CP!!!

frIends...!!!

2011-04-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

It is never too late or never too much to own/possess/have friends who make their presence felt, when they come unannounced with bagpacks and half pants directly into your bedroom. That is the level of comfort you derive from your best pals.

In the history of mankind I am a little ancient now, as I was chatting up with this young lady in the morning we came to a conclusion that I may be two generations behind her. Recently, while I was moving my co-ordinates relocating to a new city I was unaware I would end up in a gang which would only have an incremental effect on my list of friends. Friends who have no qualms of boozing every day and who enjoy the intellectual stuff ('s***') anytime anyday. It is fun. Someone I remember was envious of the change in my employment status from a working professional to a student for these very reasons, I can easily see why so.

Our terms havent started and as they say in my institute it is going to be a roller-coaster ride, we are all readying ourselves to be on this roller-coaster hoping it moves slowly and steadily so that we can only make our bonds more concrete and live every moment as the best we can.

As I see, we shall all be entering corporate lives in not so very distant future.....AGAIN. But there are probably 49 weeks more for us to just come gatecrashing into each others bedrooms.

Before leaving for Hyderabad 8th april

2011-04-08T10:35:00.001-07:00

intezaar tha is baat ka, ye jazba kahi aur hoga yeh mehfil kahi aur hogi
galiaan jo chod aaye the, bula rahee hai kah kar
meri jaan teri har sham yahi hogi yahi hogi yahi hogi!

The Boozaards of My Life!!!

2011-04-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Just returned from my usual Thirst-day hang out with my colleagues, young and old..experienced and inexperienced....light hearted but none faint hearted. Its been a long long time since I gulped down the first alcoholic drink. The proper and full2 (wholesome) experience was when I was probably in my sophomore year at IIT. Between then and now its been over 15 years, a 1000 drink outings and thousands of dollars spent on such hang outs. More importantly I would say it is the company in which I boozed, ranging from family to retired bureaucrats to lyricists to businessmen to corporate heads to my friends to IIT batchmates to current bureaucrats to unknowns to knowns. Its been just amazing, men women alike/20s to 75s, when I have had good company leading to great talks, then glasses/pints/pegs just don't matter. What matters is till stocks last? or you last?

Tonight is the penultimate night before I head to my business school, a degree I need on my CV and finally I will have (hopefully!). However, the business degree will also introduce to me a 600 member new community of which I dont know any as of today. These 600 would not just add to my Facebook list many would go onto be my Purrrrrfect Booze Partners?! (PBPs) So what do I have in store for me over the next year...lots of booze?.......naah!!! lots of discussion lots of fun lots of networking lots of time to be influenced by the one next to me.

Someone many years back said to me "mahajan tu cigarette nai peeta, peeya kar it gets you strong friends" (mahajan, you dont smoke, you should because it helps you make strong friendships). So I would say "So does booze". When you are young you booze to try and reach a state where nothing matters or say NIRVANA (temporary). While once old, you drink to be able to shed qualms, preventing you from sharing your true self. Not just when with someone, also when one is alone.

Come on!!! don't make excuses and feel good about yourself that that's the only reason. As i would say to someone "I booze, coz its just another drink!!!"

Cheers :-)

The dreaded 'N' word...

2011-04-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

It is again that time of the year when I receive strict diktats from my parents on issues pertaining to my lifestyle. 1999, was when for the first time I left my home for my studies and since then I may have stayed just about 2.5 years with my parents. Times away from home are the ones when guys like me pick up "virtues" of "spirits" and "partying".

Belonging to a moderate Hindu family has its own benefits, you are allowed to enjoy your life with little limitations. However, when those "limits" are exercised you may not feel great about it. Such is the power of 1 word for me, which I hear at least twice a year. And the word is "Navratras!!!", hindus get busy preaching and fasting in order to please gods and goddesses. While my mom gets busy with her reminders about how it is now "Navratras" and I should give up on booze and non-vegetarian stuff for the 9 days/nights twice an year.

While I was at IIT, mobile phones were a rarity. I used to hardly get calls from my home because our hostel of 400 guys had just 1 phone line. Therefore, it was a huge task to get through that queue for your phone call. I used to make a customary call once a week, informing my parents of my well being. But, let the Navratras come and I would get the phone call from my Mom "beta ab navratras chalooo ho rahe hai, ab chicken nai khana and whiskey nai peena" (son, navratras are here and its time you give up on relishing those chicken legs and alchohol) strangely though I never boozed in front of her all that time still she was aware.

So what would I do? would I quit all that, which makes most of my evenings? Few could be 1, 2, 4, 5.....9!!! That was and is a huge huge ask. So when 2 days back and then yesterday and then again today morning I was made to realise that the sacred (read restricted) period has commenced I was nostalgic of those 22 times in the past years my mom would have drilled into my mind the ills I may end up committing if I booze during Navratras.

Somethings dont change!! or do they? this is precisely I love these reminders..not that I would follow any of those its just a feel good and motherly touch to your day/s!!!

2011-03-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

bade din hue mile doston ko, aao thoda mil baant len!! khalee kar rahe ho glass akele mai, chalo pitcher he saath mil kar maar len...

Some curious thoughts over the metro travel

2011-03-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

I have been a regular Delhi Metro traveller for sometime now, and the metro ride is one of the most highlighted subjects of my previous blogs given the amazing ease and cost savings it provides. However this is only the second time I dared to pull out my laptop for use. The first time when I did so I realised it is painful to work in a moving metro. Though, today I had some “Curious” thoughts and couldn’t resist putting together another blog.

A few minutes back I was with a close friend, graduating from one of the top notch Indian B-school. We met at usual drinks and snacks table at a CP, the bustling CBD of Delhi, restaurant. “Curiously” it is the tenth straight day I must have had the same discussion though with different audience, in each of these meets. The conversations start with greetings, move to drinks and latest occurrences and ultimately moving to “where are we headed?”

My only advise to this 26 year old lad was enjoy your time, make some money..but keep your conscience clear. And my advise used to come with a standard disclaimer, buddy you are too young to actually even consider to act on my advise. You have 4-5 long years to catch up to me hence develop your own theories, now is the time to enjoy.

I will rewind two days back, when I was with my friends both 5 years older to me....and they discussed the same with me. Only the direction of information flow was reversed. I realised whatever the platform, when friends get together and have a few years of experience under their belts and probably are not pleased with where they are, they end up talking “life” or as I like to call it “liPhe”

I would borrow a close for this blog from a recent conversation
“work=satisfaction=happiness=no wrinkles=young feel” :) I hope there is no copyright infringement here.....

And I think I am no master at this complex, intriguing and scary-at-times topic of discussion..hence I would leave it as open...as it was at the start of conversation....to only reconnect and restart it at another drinks and snacks session.
More importantly, I have to figure out a way to look thinner/slimmer/leaner...over and above my routine workout :)

This one for Arun

2011-03-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

On the 17th I reached Ludhiana station at 7pm in the evening. Because I started from Pathankot in Punjab I didnt travel the Shatabdi from Delhi which lands me at Ludhiana either in the noon or later in the evening (2 shatabdi's that ply between Delhi and Ludhiana). However, I didn't want to not look for that short guy, the tiny-autowallah (auto driver).

But for one time, I think everytime I travelled to Ludhiana by morning shatabdi i would find him (5 till date). He has this rickety, loud and polluting rickshaw, its so shabby and dilapidated that a Delhi-Mumbai wallah (Delhi Mumbai resident) would think ten times before boarding it. So the very first time he obliged to drive me to BRS Nagar my destination in the city, he charged Rs. 100 ($2.20). And that then became a standard rate. Because everytime I would come in I will find him, no need to tell him the address or give the directions. He would greet me "Babuji, aao aao bade dinaa baad aaye" (Sir, welcome glad to see you after many days) I was sold at his gesture the during our second meeting. How often you bump into such personalities, he wore a genuine smile and a genuine respect, each of 6 times I have been there.

I am sure now that he knows I take the shatabdi and am there at least once a fortnight he waits for me to emerge out of the Ludhiana junction station. I later found it was cheaper to travel a better neater auto rickshaw yet I travelled with him. The man once shared with me, his and his family's struggle to make mends with hgih costs of living "babuji, tussi dasso mai apnee kudi noo kis tarah engineering padaoon. Hune barveen mai non-medical kar legi to college engineering vaaste jaegi. Mere kol inne paise kithee hai" (sir tell me how i can afford my daughter's engineering education. If she attends the school as a student of sciences she would want to be an engineer, and I cant afford her studies.) That moved me, to the core. Man why me?! everytime why am I the one listening to these stories, I need to return to my corporate life make money and settle down. My father slogged all his life to allow a good upbringing to me but we were a little advanced family and I went onto (probably) do some justice to those efforts of his. But its not so, most indians are waging an endless battle to earn a living, educate kids and keep themselves healthy. The costs of living in India are prohibitive and extortionists at times. What lies beneath such costs is the extreme (apparent and created) shortages....especially those of land. High land costs make various services from hospitalisation to education costly. And everyone wants to make a quick buck in this country. This is an endless discussion.....

So I return to my small-tiny-cute-humble autowallah. When I landed this time, I had little hopes to find him standing in the auto parking at Ludhiana with his rickety rickshaw. But there he was, I wasn't so sure it was him. Only when I got a bit close I noticed he is the same guy, as a departure from his usual dressing code he wore a cap to protect him from heat. I pulled my hand out of my pocket and waved at him, so did he. And the same greetings were exchanged. "Babuji, bade dinaa baad. tussi shatabdi vich nai aaye" (sir, seeing you after many days. You didnt travel shatabdi this time?) I reverted "nai, iss baar mai pathankot se aaya hoo and dilli se nai" (I came from pathankot and not Delhi). Strangely he kept quiete all through those twenty minutes of the ride, I could see he was disturbed. He didnt want to share a thing this time. Overtime he shared with me his son's woes with education and daughter's career, but this time he chose to keep silent. I didnt disturb him either, but when I got down I pulled the usual Rs 100 note and handed over to him,

I asked "uncle aapka naam kya hai?" (uncle what's your name). He shook a little and said "Arun Sood, kya ho gaya babuji" (My name is Arun Sood, what's the issue Babuji". I said "kuch nai uncle, aise he" (nothing uncle, just like that).

I think it was my last visit to the town at least for the time being. And I thought I should know the name of the person (who towed me everytime), even if charging me a little extra money, for the sweet talks we had.

Of Indian Railways and Himachal Roadways

2011-03-17T08:02:00.001-07:00

Its been over 5 months that I have been doing my stint as volunteer working on different projects. Most of this time my networth financially is being drained and my-whatever little bank balance has been shrinking.

Let me rewind my life by say an year, there was regular income much higher than that of many Indians and even my fellow colleagues. Expenditures were equally high for me, I would call many of these as flash expenditures. It used to be the case that I would be sitting with a friend, generally chatting up and conversation would move like this -
Me: “yaar, hum aise kyooo hai, hamari life rocking kyu nai hai” (why are we like this my friend, why isn’t out life rocking?)
Friend: “5 saal baad paida hona chaiye tha humein” (we should have come to life 5 years from when we actually did)
Me: “Chal daroo peete hai, party kerte hai” (get up lets go for booze and party)

Rest of the conversation would continue in some pub and would be followed by credit card swipes. Bills would then run in few hundred dollars and such hangouts were frequent. Shopping was in (though I have been a regular shopper of average to premium brands, so that ways I had a check on this expense) and there were no worries. If I could afford, then I would own it was the lifestyle I had. Conscience wise I remain the same, so please don’t doubt I changed in my character or intent.

And then came my decision to volunteer, certain equations in life changed in a way that being a volunteer was whatI was looking forward to. When I look back, I think my call has been vindicated. It has been a life changing experience for me. From always-travel air-conditioned, never-travel buses I became travel-in-trains travel-in-buses (short distance, upto 80-100 km), while hardly travelling by personal car. I remember a close relative of mine making a suggestion last year at the peak of my professional career in monetary terms that Ashish now is the time to buy a bigger car. What uncovered in the next many months resulted in me selling the only car I had.

In fact today I don’t own a car!! I have borrowed the one from my Dad that too to tow me to metro station in Gurgaon. My experiences at my work which are also described in previous blogs were wholesome, but not without the extensive travel i did in this period. Regular visits to Ludhiana, few visits to Jharkhand and occasional trips with family brought me back to the roots I had overlooked in the metropolitan life. I continue to remain busy with my work and that is a trait or even weakness at times I developed as a kid.

The amount of rail travel I did in this period matched my travels during IIT days, in the past many years I think I travelled by train only once. But in past 5 months I did at least 7 round trips. The railways remain the same, stinking compartments, dirty commodes and getting-neater stations. The one difference I see in railways now is that number of trains has gone up, but not at the pace with which the ridership increased. As a student me and my friends used to travel only in non-air conditioned compartments, because those were the one’s we could afford on a regular basis. Today as I write, I am in a similar compartment but I see around me the profile of people doing travel through these rakes is very different. This being a result of rising incomes, increased migration from villages towards cities and the spending culture that has gripped our country.

Not that I am completely comfortable with such travel, a look at my face would tell you that I detest this foul smell that covers the compartment. I embraced this life with a purpose and I lived through this in that mode of a volunteer with little income but focus on contribution.

I did party as a volunteer, but these shifted from pubs to my home. Brought down expenses sharply on hangouts, even withdrawing myself from some parties where I foresaw higher expenses. All this was necessary I feel. I couldn’t have been a splurging, non-caring volunteer? I saved wherever I could from cheap mobile connections, to no blackberry plans to less travel. I enjoyed all this, and I felt much of extravagance in our lives actually isn’t required.

I have a previous 6+ years of active work in Indian financial services, in investing and advisory work (a CFA and an engineering degree from IIT). However, only in this mode have I really done justice to my knowledge and skills, I have closed the loop of my early career from being an investor, to advising high networth clients to working towards ensuring financial inclusion of Indian masses. I think I know where I want to go, I had probably always known but never cared to jump into the line. Whether I reach that milestone or not that is a worry which is perennial, I just wish after my business school I am able to translate my desires into action. And whatever I learnt in this volunteer mode should remain with me throughout my life as a reminder, Once I was a Volunteer...

after Indian innings against South Africa at Nagpur

2011-03-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

so when Sachin returned home after day long work, the collapse of Indian innings reminded of story that goes on in Indian household. He looked at the pathetic condition and may have thought, "kitna be kar lo poora nai padta" (how much ever you do is insufficient)

The City of My Birth

2011-03-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

The microfinance engagement took me to Ludhiana, the city of my birth or rather the city of my birth as in my passport. The real place being Khanna just 25 km off Ludhiana. First time in 30 years of my life I was working in the region/area/city of my origins. This very feel is ubiquitous and fulfilling as I execute my assignments. But Ludhiana didnt turn out the way I thought it to be. Probably the wealthiest of the wealthy in Punjab live in this city, however, it is extremely filthy, roads and walkways are littered with plastic and slums are prominent. Sound and Noise pollution of the city reminds of New Delhi some 15 years back. While you are on a main road, you feel EVERYONE SHOULD HONK...coz everyone just loves honking.

While doing my rounds of lower middle class households, I found that what my dad said about the migrant labour in Punjab is true. From Ludhiana railway station to everywhere in the city you see non-Punjabi's doing most of the work on shops, offices and in factories. Yet when you go to their house they never recognise the fact they migrated from Bihar/UP in fear they may be asked to leave. An old woman I met has been in the city for as long as "jab Indira Gandhi mara tha hum yahi tha" (when Indira Gandhi was assasinated I was here) so thats over 26 years, still that fear of being asked to go away stays.

Some of my previous posts describe the Vedaas of Ludhiana, where most of these migrants live. Though, I love my work which takes me to such localities often I have always found the thought of walking into those small rooms, agonising. But I had no choice this time around. I had to look over a meeting being conducted by our staff with attendees including 6 women and their kids. So here it was a tiny room with a thin sheet bed, one fan, one tv and probably two bulbs. Few switchboards and lots of raw material for the women of the house to work and create some sort of sweets. Adjacent to this room were two more rooms and another two were in front. Thereby 5 families stayed in that small plot of land. There was no paint on the walls and since the room was poorly ventilated it felt moist. I spent an hour to wait for these women to gather, reminded me of those days when as a banker I would wait for long hours to meet client with portfolios running in millions of dollars. Here I was waiting in my blazer, jeans and sneaker outfit for women from households with incomes of few hundred dollars. Yeah, my dressing has totally tranformed stil the blazer from my banking days sticks on. And sneakers and jeans and blazer, is a combination I never thought I would wear in my life some six months back. But during this half year I think i wore this style several times.

As I moved ahead through the narrow bylanes of this locality,I could see heaps of plastics, overflowing drains and chicken running on the street. Kids played in mud, on bicycles and rickshaws parked there. I wondered to myself, this is my city of birth supposed to be super rich, although I have not found a single passions I should really be proud of here. Not even tasted great food for which Punjab is super famous. Is it god sent that I need to work here now and may be in future to try and help this place move at least a step ahead if not miles ahead. Its too big an ask for me alone.

After another ride in an autorickshaw I reached a familiar Punjabi middle class locality, temples and "langars" (a religious activity during which food is served to general public)studded the streets because of the ongoing Shivaratri celebrations. We at our firm dont mind travelling on the field but try to avoid eating out in an attempt to avoid picking an infection. As luck would have it, we ended up at a house where langar preparations were at the peak. The family was preparing food which was to be served at the nearby temple. If I am not wrong some 15 men-women were actively making puris and bhaji. I was definitely tempted, but declined the offer munch a few. Still I couldnt avoid the old punjabi hospitality "nai ji ek to leni padegi" (we dont take no for an answer, have at least one). Here was plate with the potato dish and puris, had one, had half of another and then had another one. So I had broken the golden rule of not eating on the field. A day before I did even a bigger crime by having both water and tea at a small house in another area.

I am becoming a pakka NGO wala,(a hardened NGO worker) have no doubts, Or I would term it I think there is business at the grassroots. A business which creates both shareholder value and human value. It serves the stakeholders, in which you and others all are party.

Doing business in No-Man's-Land

2011-02-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

The write up continues to build on my engagement in the recently taken up assignment in microfinance set-up. UMA (ex-Aadhar) for whom I work, is an all-woman led organisation. Therefore, when we began this assignment all stakeholders including me were worried about the results. I had my usual hesitation about being in an awkward situation wherein everyone around me belongs to the fairer sex, but for one guy here who works in collections.

So here is a tete-a-tete with the firm's promoter "would you be comfortable working in 14 woman set-up?", obviously any guy would first venture into another dimension thinking of women in abundant supply, yet after that momentary thought I said to myself "ye kaam kaise karte hai" (how can they work?). Obviosly I didnt want to show that I resent that fact, so expectedly I said "never mind". I thought, after our interaction they may never call me up again as I had raised issues about the scale of operations and the business plan. The male ego dominated my thinking telling me its impossible to pull off the plans being discussed. 3 months of working 18-20 hours a week for them, I am completely in awe of this organisation and the tremendous enthusiasm every woman member here possesses. We are far ahead of where we were since that first meeting. Though, work is not even done 1%, we wish to grow our portfolio by 100 times from where we presently are. However I have little doubts we can do that!!

There have been awkward moments in this journey. To start with, here everyone is a woman ranging between age of 20 to 60 (including the domestic help). Therefore, there is no point for the toilet seat to be in vertical position ever, making it a little incovenient for me to everytime push that seat up. Beyond the arrangement of this toilet seat the difference in perspectives has augured well for me personally and professionally. While I supplied the adrenaline that I thought was missing in the operations here, in return I only ended up being influenced. Men (including me) in India grow up to the thought, everything that's good that's effective starts from us, but that myth was completely falsified in Ludhiana, where UMA operates. Not only is that merit visible amongst the leadership team here, but youngest of the employee works towards a positive impact. Happy to help, happy to learn, it is the spirit here. Its heartening to see our borrowers, amongst hundreds of women we interact with, possess the passion to dispel the myth that men are superior. UMA over years has helped many women come up the poverty curve and debt burden, and it is a very pleasing site to interview and interact with such women. Their confident personality excites not just me but every other member around them, who foresee their lives becoming free of stress.

A woman in today's meeting narrated her experience to 122 women attendees, and about 10 of us from the organisation. With a lot of conviction she spoke about, how over years she raised about $700 from us which has made her family debt free and in fact her husband owns an autorickshaw. The pride in owning the means to livelihood was exuding from every bit of her. It was not surprising that after the meeting we had almost 100 women interacting personally with out staff.

Being one guy in 140 gathering calls for maintaining a decorum, composure and focus.
Being one guy in 140 gathering calls for immense joy and pleases you and makes you believe in youself and your existence.

Life outside the nutshell

2011-02-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

So the thing is there is always talk about life in a nutshell. Today while I was driving back from Delhi, and this after 4-5 months was I doing that. After the advent of metro on Gurgaon I dont see a reason to trouble myself driving up-n-down delhi every day. More so coz I have no merc to flaunt, and I think never would.

So this is about life outside the nutshell. So while I was driving back it was raining cats and dogs (just symbolic :-)). Not just was it raining it was a hailstorm I ran into. Seeing "Ole", the tacky word from Saif's hit number "dil bole ole ole", I thought to myself, while we are busy living our lives in a set pattern such turbulences in this case in the weather for just five ten minutes send a spark of excitement in otherwise mundane lives. This is precisely about life outside of a nutshell.

There are just no boundaries to imagination, desires and abilities. Well entrenched in our cocoons we never think about the endless opportunities that confront us. We may enjoy business problems and challenges yet never look at the bigger picture. The big picture can be sweeter and nicer and exciting than you thought. So guys, think beyond what you already can do, what you already can achieve. Think outside the nutshell.....

Walking the brick road

2011-02-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

It can get real difficult to move on foot on a road laid of bricks that too in urban/rural India. This realisation came to me when I did walk this brick road in Ludhiana few days back. On the field with my team at UMA microfinance, we went to this lower middle class settlement somewhere Ludhiana. As was it difficult to reach the place the more difficult was to walk the smaller lanes to reach the venue of the meet. We were meeting over 35 women gathered to know from us how they could access our firm's loan pool.

Since I have started to work in these areas, I have become half corporate that's banker dress-blazers-ties. Yet I couldnt do without the well ironed shirt and trouser and the formal shoes. The experience was enough for me to realise "bhaiyya ye corporate look nahi chalega" (the corporate look won't work). It was tough to walk. While you are neatly dressed you face people who are just above incomes necessary to survive. That is when you wonder what life you have been living? In that lane I spotted at least 4-5 houses where when you peep inside the gate you see 4-5 rooms separated by thin brick walls. meaning that small hutment in itself houses several families. I have through my life and am sure for longer period of time have been concerned about a larger room/space for myself. Can I ever even walk into such a place? Scary as it may sound, it is an everyday reality.

What best I can do? part with skills to projects in the space, increase awareness on such issues?....etc etc. I am trying to do my part. And am sure this wasn't the last brick road I walked on.

What's in a washroom visit

2011-02-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

Standing on a rooftop toilet of a downtrodden family in suburban Ludhiana as I looked towards my left, I saw a woman holding her child in her arms almost staring at me. I had this "Kaala Bandar" feeling from the Delhi 6 movie. Now this washroom, as it would be termed in the upwardly mobile society, had no taps, no flush. just about nothing at all. I was wondering why the hell had my bladder swollen up at the wrong place.

With no other choice on me I looked towards my right, there were few men on another rooftop. Ultimately I looked downwards. It struck me, today for a single use of some 2 minutes I am feeling so awkward, what about those who use it daily? men women alike. "Vedaas" as they call it in Punjab, house 3-4 families sometimes going upto 5-6 in a very small place. So that would be usual 20+ people using that very place for daily chores. a tiny bathroom place attached to it and all the water flowing into the drain next to the house.

How poor is our country? my second thought that blazed through my mind. Whatever they could they had done, the occupants had kept the place clean, But where is the government? Local authorities may say it is an illegal construction but it is at least better than the jhuggies (huts) where others stay? These very people slog to send their kids to nearby english medium schools. But with such poor living conditions productivity and angst is always likely to be high.

Working with such people gives pleasure, yet it leaves me grey stark questions and doubts about our society which is so lop sided. The bottom 20% have a very very harsh life here. This may not continue for long, as with such a large size in actual numbers such poor living conditions will act as speed breakers to growth of modern india.

Give Back, Get Back

2011-02-06T05:07:00.000-08:00

All these years I procastinated my involvement in nation-building. I was happy paying taxes, and later abusing government about what I get back in return to the hefty tax payments.

The timing of my exit from my previous firm was such, that I thought it was better for me to devote myself into assignments with a larger cause. Today I am sitting with some excel based financial modeling work. The same is an accounting spreadsheet for an NGO, which has limited resources to invest in technology instead of investing in humans. It is been 3 months I have been visiting Ludhiana every now and then. I distinctly remember my first visit to the city, when I was taken to a shed type home where 4-5 families stayed in similar number of rooms. Not only did they stay there, they did their chores in that shed and also earned a living out of small enterprises they ran in these sheds. There was a bunch of 15 urban poor women, looking at me as if I had a magic wand to produce currency notes. I could hear a distinct noise of a sewing machine, as I inquired about the same I found a woman was doing some stitching work. The whole day labour brings here little less than Rs. 100 ($2 a day). I was like wow!!

In my bag I had this book "Banker to the poor" by Dr. Muhammad Yunus and I could see in front of me what I had read. The abject poverty is many a times caused by our social and economic systems. So i had this task of extending credit to such women who were enterprising yet were perceived a risky bet by the banks. 3 months have passed, today our firm (I advise) stands at 2.5X the loan book which I took over in November.

It is interesting to see what the $150-$250 loans can do for people at Bottom-of-Pyramid. More than anything else these loans provide means for economic sustenance and financial independence where it is mostly needed. Remember the country's law makers have already missed the bus, we have a bulging young population. Only now has the government become a bit serious about ramping up capacities in education, industry and employments. So we are highly likely to be 10-15 years behind where we should have been. So whatever skill sets our BoP junta has needs to be capitalised by providing them employment, training and credit to run their own enterprises.

Without capacity creation amongst say the bottom 25% population, the rest 75% population may not be able to enjoy the GDP growth we are witnessing.

I was in Jharkhand recently, and I saw there are kids in village schools. I was very happy to see that. But for us the city dwellers this comes as a surprise, half the class is on chairs/benches. The other half is sitting on the ground. There is one teacher who takes science/english/hindi lectures in turn. There are just 3-4 classrooms where they claim to have eight standard school!!!. One this that greatly impressed me was mid-day meal scheme exists. There were queue of kids at every school I visited. Holding plates and spoons, kids long for the nourishment Indian government provides. At least it relieves me about malnourishment of large chunk of people.

There is just so much to learn from these experiences, I leave for another round of trips to Punjab and Jharkhands. Give Back, may sound exotic phrase but remember what you get back out of it is even more wonderful.

aazadiyan

2011-01-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

credits, Udaan

Lyrics of Aazaadiyan-Pairon Ki Bediyan Song

Pairon ki bediyan khwabon ko baandhe nahi re, kabhi nahi re
Mitti ki parton ko nanne se ankur bhi cheeray, dheere dheere
Iraade hare hare, jinke seeno mein ghar kare
Woh dil ki sune kare na darre, na darre

Subah ki kirno ko rokein jo salaakhein hai kahan
Jo khayalon pe pehre daale woh aankhein hai kahan
Par khulne ki deri hai parinde udh ke choomenge
Aasman aasman aasman
Subah ki kirno ko rokein jo salaakhein hai kahan
Jo khayalon pe pehre daale woh aankhein hai kahan
Par khulne ki deri hai parinde udh ke choomenge
Aasman aasman aasman

Aazaadiyan, aazaadiyan
Maagey na kabhi, mile mile mile
Aazaadiyan, aazaadiyan
Jo cheenay wahi, jee le jee le jee le

Subah ki kirno ko rokein jo salaakhein hai kahan
Jo khayalon pe pehre daale woh aankhein hai kahan
Par khulne ki deri hai parinde udh ke choomenge
Aasman aasman aasman

Kahani khatam hai ya shuruwaat hone ke hai (hone ke hai)
Subha nayi hai yeh ya phir raat hone ko hai (hone ke hai)
Kahani khatam hai ya shuruwaat hone ke hai (hone ke hai)
Subha nayi hai yeh ya phir raat hone ko hai (hone ke hai)
http://www.top10bollywood.com/

Aane wala waqt dega panha hai
Ya phir se milenge do raahein
Khabar kya, kya pataa

2011-01-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

seene mai dil hai, fir bhi jeena mushkil hai.
ankhon main nami hai, jo dikha pana mushkil hai.
fir bhi zindagi mehfil hai, kyunki ismai nasha bekhoobi hai.

The Commoditisation of Friends+Booze

2011-01-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mr. errrr Dr. Vijay Mallaya, and the inherent talent one has of making friends that the deadly combo of IMFL or FML with a dose of friendship is never out of fashion. Guys will be guys, since this time around God had me be born as a guy I can only say that. May be it holds true otherwise as well. So let me say Girls will be Girls. This is where the Commodity word comes into use, girl or guy the combo of IMFL/FML and friends is never out of fashion and may be is commoditised.

Commoditised???? coz the things you discuss remain the same say job, boss n girls...in case of guys. In case I be born as a girl I can fill that for girls. Still this is the only commodity which is abundant in quantity yet the plethora of taxes and inflation eat into your pockets.

Where this combo beats any other material benefits or achievements in your life is contentment. How hard you may try to please yourself with your accomplishments, you wont ever feel the stillness that is required at times in life unless you experience the thrilling combo of booze and friends. I have also seen that many a times this is in flux for many, which means you move from IMFL to FML to Scotch to Single Malt etc, and friends from school to college to those at work to those at senior levels. The combo is best experienced when you are around with the mates you feel most comfortable and confident with.

Never say never is the mantra then, and Bill Clinton also seems a small guy while Cindy Crawford is left as just another girl.

Whatever one may say, I have truly enjoyed such experiences in life. Amitabh once sang, I am sure for the movie Sharaabi "Nasha sharaab mai hota to nachti botal"

There is no Land here...

2011-01-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

said a senior government employee I recently met, over his cigarette session. His concern was that the only reason he is investing his well earned money in real estate is india main "land he nai hai." Sir, I have travelled enormously and not just that to see land you need not go anywhere, but just travel NH8 from delhi to Bhiwadi. One may say "gurgaon mai to bahut development hai", but what one may not notice there are vast stretches of land still undeveloped in Gurgaon. You climb 20 storeys in Gurgaon (not sure whether there is still a 20 storey structure here) and you would see vast tracts of empty and mostly barren land.

The comment should be, "Indian mai land to bahut hai, but infrastructure nai hai." Still it doesnt justify why real estate prices should just be northbound. This logic defies every wise logic :-). No need to look beyond, but just need to try and understand how much of real estate that is worth living is in the reach of a 10 lac salary employee. Hardly any!!. Now contrary to many perceptions, I have seen bloated packages, 10 lacs still remains a very dear number for many many many. Most of the times 10 lacs is breached as a couple.

One needs to understand, "real estate kahi bhage nai ja rahee hai". But why, simply because there is ample supply in most cities, most real estate is unaffordable. So as a migrant I can't really afford one, so better not migrate. Just because India is a demographic story, migrant story doesnt mean, the flush of migrants can latch upto any price point of real estate as an owner/tenant. I am currently staying in Gurgaon, somehow, suppose I cant afford the place today I would shift to Ghaziabad, where similar space is damn cheap. Yep, it comes with other tags but then, money is money and savings is savings. See it is very simple, for every dime spent on something, savings pool dips. And India is also a savings lend growth story. If all savings moves to real estate company or an owner, it further gets invested in real estate (lets assume), therefore the prices move up even higher. May be to the extent where many such companies or owners can't afford it either.

On the top of it, just the food inflation is eating into small pockets of middle/lower class. If they tend to spend more and more on food, the money from cities may end up moving to villages (this is not the case though most of the times, cause there is a horde of middlemen). Still this trade doesnt attract much income taxes, so at least it doesnt positively affect fiscal deficit directly. High real estate costs also result in higher restaurant bills, and movie costs etc etc. So ultimately what I wish to conclude is real estate is just another commodity, and one which has minimal entry and exit costs for development company. But for land reforms, and intersection of the landlord/developers with local authorities, the business is relatively easy to do. Unlike heavy industry, the supply in real estate can be managed much easily. Therefore, spend when you feel you can really spend, not otherwise.

I have realised over years, you are better off as a tenant and can own up great quality houses yet not spend exorbitantly out of pocket to own one. Pricing definitely is likely to even out, I dont see that day very far with extensive pressure on industry, regulations arriving in, more infrastructure being created, newer cities opening up.....because if all this doesnt happen there is not point in the India growing as well.

2010-12-29T23:24:00.000-08:00

As I leave behind the ghosts of 2010, I wishfully want 2011 begin with a bang for everyone

2010-12-26T03:37:00.001-08:00

you may run out of luck, but not steam!!

Laffer(ed) Curve: How Men React in a Public Urinal

2010-12-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

Laffer curve in economics depicts that with increasing tax rates, the productivity of labour improves as the man at the machine needs to sweat out more to earn a good living. But at a point the curve turns around to say "Hey taxman!! here it is, take me coz I can't fill your coffers anymore". So eventually the productivity starts to fall.

These days I am preparing my application for the US MBA schools and I have fallen in love with the word "experiential learning". For anything anyone says to me I say hey bro!! all you need is a dose of experiential learning. So while I was at a public urinal today facing the wall yet in the queue I noticed something only a lucky few can witness. In the three urinals, three generations of a man had their necks (head) held at different angles. Now I dipped into my pool of experiential learning and juxtaposed experiential learning over it.

So it starts here, as a male kid you always look upto urinal!! coz you can't reach one. As one starts to grow so does his male ego, so while you turn a teenager there is a tendency to look sideways!! as if seeking inspiration :-) sometimes it turns out that you are the winner and deserve an applause. As a fully grown adult man, when the growth literally stops :-), there is no use looking sideways, thus you look straight. And if you really think too highly about yourself you may look upwards. Victory!!!

But as one starts to age, and things around him stop looking up, the head also tilts downwards looking for something!! Finally you enter your last mile probably, and there is nothing to look upto, or sideways etc etc. Therefore when i looked at those three men, I saw the stages I passed by and the ones I may enter into. Laffer is justified here as well. Yet the perennial question that would never get answered, why do we have to face the damn wall!!! Does it mean, dude bang your head here?!

The Most Amazing Paan

2010-12-12T06:49:00.001-08:00

I am a foodie to the core,or should I say foodie to the stomach? I have managed to keep a status quo on my weight in the past two months that I have spent in delhi. This is not a minor achievement given the intake I have on the city roads.

The other day in the dark of delhi (for me its dark here at 8 pm,especially in winters!) I managed to lay my hands at the most amazing paan I ever had. This is probably the first time I am trying to ENGLISHoFI paan that too with Wikipedia's support

Paan, from the word pān in Hindi: पान, is an Indian and South East Asian tradition of chewing betel leaf (Piper betle) with areca nut and slaked lime paste.

The one thing I dont like about myself I am too bad at knowing names of ingredients even though I am a great food and can smell good food from miles. So what was amazing about this paan. First of all it was my age old customary MEETHA paan. But it was just so big, it didnt fit in my 8 cubic inch mouth. The gulkand and other sweet stuff was just oozing out of its core as I tried to chew it. Ok so it was big what next, it wasn't the banarasi or Kolkata that I have had till date. So I dont know what betel leaf it was. May be it was one of those though most original version.

The paanwallah was busy counting tons of money with him in the diplomatic area of delhi. I must have chewed it was a legendary 8 mins. But for its size I would have definitely opted for another. So YOU the paan enthusiast must be wondering where is this AWESOME place. It is right next to the claridges and I hear this guy is very very popular.

SADDA DILLI

2010-11-26T09:58:00.000-08:00

Now that I am back in the NCR after a gap of over 3 years, certain things are coming back to me. Yeah yeah, the potholes in Gurgaon's roads are just one of them. Let me start with the mouth watering stuff first. So it would be Old Delhi by lanes, Bengali market Nathu's chats and CP....CP is not edible, but what CP has to offer is gulpable, eatable, edibllest!!

Its a long drive for me to reach my favorite destination of Delhi i.e. CP. However, thanks to the gurgaon metro, I haven't driven even once. I hop into the train and jump out of it once at CP. Its been the pleasurablest thing done for Gurgaonwallahs!! Things have changed big time, one I am older so I am not the daily freak. Its like twice a week activity to enjoy whatever bachelorhood I have in me. At this juncture I am reminded of a famous Friends episode "When Everyone Turns Thirty". Things do change.

Earlier addicted to the faster life in Delhi, I love to take it slow now and chew stuff 32 times in each bite. I may be ignorant to charms of Millenium city, Gurgaon though my home is here for last 21 years. There is still so much catch up Gurgaon has to do in terms of good hang outs. Lived and travelled to more than a dozen city in the country I feel Gurgaon is amongst the backbenchers.

So as I said Metro is the best new thing in my life. The ordeal isnt easy. If I were to drive to CP without much hassles I may reach the place in 45 minutes, it takes 1.5 hrs in metro. But then I pick Economist's latest edition and try to read it between pages patiently acclimatising to its font. Then there is comfort. Recently I did one of the longest journey, Anand Vihar to Gurgaon. At certain places the crowd does push into you, but it is still far far manageable then the Mumbai locals. In fact the gentlemanness!! of delhi at least in metro commuting has been a surprise to me. People let you easily step down before boarding the train. Incredible not expected of Delhi-Gurgaon's half punju/haryanavi population. On top of it Delhi has become neater, even though I didnt really mind many joints in CP, I love just about everyone there now. I am sure I can spend a lifetime finding good eateries in Delhi and still not be done!!!

2010-10-17T05:44:00.001-07:00

kai din beet gaye, raah dekh dekh kar, ab aaj raat ho chali hai, sona chahte nai ab tuje soch ka

Should I swim or just float

2010-09-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Even though all of my teenage, seems like an old time now, was spent in Gurgaon I have come to detest living here for past many years. In fact after living in Hyderabad, Gurgaon seems to be a poor cousin of a third world country's city. Its good DLF and many others have built skyscrapers in the city otherwise it would have been difficult for everyone to be accomodated in the swimming pools on the roads here.

I think more than half the city roads are beneath rainwater. It is a good respite for the municipality here since there were no roads in most of the city. The other day I went for an evening run on the sector roads, it felt as if I am running on a mud track with pebbles and rocks on it. So with pounding rains the mess that the municipality didnt cover for years is now hidden. A friend of mine had a car mishap few days back, his car started to float over the water as he couldnt judge the depth of water in the street.

I noticed several signboards this time around mentioning "welcome to the millenium city". Its a bit watery welcome but atleast its there. The lack of storm water drains, sewage disposal and most importantly roads has never been taken seriously here. Whenever I think of venturing out in my car for a drive.....I stop thinking!! Today the choice is between whether to go to the club for a swim or choose my street for the same.......!!

From Indore with Looooove!!

2010-08-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

My work took me to Central India recently. Its 7th day now that I left that region and came up North. But that long trip through the heart of the country is still firmly etched in my memory. When at my office I dont really tend to meet interesting people, but when I travelled this belt starting from Pune then into Nasik, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Indore, Raipur.....couldnt complete the journey to Nagpur, it was replete with interesting instances that came my way.

Pune, Baroda and Ahmedabad dont qualify as the towns of Central India. So I will start with Nasik. Now in Nasik people had good time. Typically I meet developers or land brokers in all the cities but these people are time pressed. Now in Nasik people are soaked in the success they have had in their small city. But all said, they were nice and sweet. They may be "I am the one type" but atleast not "who are you type". Said to be clean (though I didnt really find it clean) but definitely green the city gives you a hill station feeling while still being industrialised.

But what was to come my way later on the journey was something unexpected. I flew from Ahmedabad to Indore in an all men-steward Jet ATR flight. The journey was long but no flight attendant to look at. This was an unpleasant surprise not at all thought about a jet flight. The answer to this mystery 2 days away. Now I entered Indore with an impression its a food lovers city and it prides itself as mini-Bombay. Yeah the airport is tiny, I remember seeing one conveyor belt. Salman Khan's influence in the city is seen easily. So I meet my driver very early in the morning or so to say I had to find the driver because laat-saab was in his car. The moment he pressed the accelerator he was also on his telephone almost doing his entire business while driving. The dude drives errr...flies the vehicle to a spot to my hotel and plans to leave. The guy was booked for the day but he had no intention to serve his duty or may be he was too busy and I was taking a lot of his time. Somehow he decided to then wait for me. Now enters the Salman Khan 2 of Indore, he (a landbroker???? powerbroker????) comes in denims with an aviator on his eyes and looks at me from head to toe. And then Oh!! Ashish Ji...!! The first thing he says is you know salman khan is from Indore, I said no doubt you are the second of the day. Now this man seems to know the city front to back and every influential person the city had, No points for guessing that he knows Salman Khan. Not just that when Salman comes to town he pays him a visit.

Now with 2 salman's in my car we leave for the day's visit discussing business etc. Now Salman 2 supposedly a land broker, takes me to the bigger land shark i.e. Khurana...errr Boman Irani (Khosla Ka Ghosla). My repeated attempts to clarify that I am not here for land purchase go unheard and one more man is piled on with me for site visits. Ok now atleast my purpose of seeing the city is solved. But in the afternoon something strange occurs. I am told to follow a Getz car. Thinking there are 1-2 people in the car we follow them onto a land parcel. The the doors of the Getz all open in tandem. Till date I dont have a count how many men stepped out of that car. One was Boman the other were the sidies. All gang up around me as if I had a box of money and would transact right there. I am told the nature of the site....I was about to say Mata Ka Mandir kaha hai?????

After 2 eventful days in Indore I finally depart from the city, taking the same flight I boarded in Ahmedabad, this time to Raipur from Indore. Here is when the mystery of only male stewards unravels. People climb up into the plane many probably for the first time. But this isnt about those first timers. It is about one person sitting the row behind me and old shaky fellow. He rushes in the queue to board first.....and asks ye gaadi raipur jaegi na!!. He places himself comfortably in his seat but by the time I sit he starts coughing. I may never have heard or seen someone coughing this loud that too with a thin frame like his. It seemed to me soon the heart would come out of his mouth. As I looked back just to check whether I have a safe enough distance from his so that in case of that eventuality the heart doesnt land up in my lap. I prayed that this should not happen. The flight leaves Indore and this guy is asleep. But it lands in Bhopal in 30 minutes and guy wakes up. Then itall starts. He picks his phone makes a call presumbaly to his son and to read what I am gonna write next you will have to close your ears.....errr eyes....!! His first words of wisdom were "MAD** C*** apnee MAA KO BULA" followed by "BH** CH**...." and then it goes and on. The mystery of only male stewards is now wide open in front of me.

As this continued I witnessed a passenger moving towards the cockpit and then never coming back. I thought may be he was some airline guy and since the luggage area in ATR is in the front he may have deplaned from there. But when the flight landed at Raipur I noticed the pilot, co-pilot and this elusive personality emerging from cockpit!!. Now what was he doing inside and where was he doing what he was doing....!!!

bargained for the ticket made to sit on the floor? Here I was in Raipur the capital of the fastest growing state in the country. When there is nothing in the city then growth is the only thing to be there. Raipur was a 3.5 days struggle as there was nothing there that I could in terms of work or leisure. Thinking there is business there I planned longer visit but the turmoil I went at Raipur with bad food and dirty city was didnt leave me easily. The flight out of Raipur was cancelled. There were n o ACs in the airport and I was stuck. As in the entire there are just about 6 flights that come into and leave the airport. When I could never make it to Nagpur that day I returned to Delhi later in the night. I walked about 500 mts to my plane. The morning flight that was cancelled was parked there. no hangars for storage...

Central India was fun, but could not manage the real centre of India i.e. Nagpur. I was hoping I would go to the zero mile marker in the city. May be in future.....

KITES....

2010-05-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Cant sleep before putting down a few lines about the not so memorable...and very forgettable , but still highly awaited movie KITES. It starts with a scene ditto to The Kite Runner, then runs like any other bollywood movie and then enters Barbara Mori.

The interesting thing to note from here on is that the movie is no more a hindi movie or an english movie. It probably becomes a spanish movie out of Mexico may be because the film industry there is too tiny. Barbara is very much a look a like of our desi sensation Sameera Reddy. And whatever Barbara did Sameera would have done happily at almost no fee, so as to be able to be casted next to Hrithink. As there is a big language divide why go so far in the west, they could have patched a gaon ka panju and similarly gaon ki tamilian girl. They would have had a very remarkable similarity to this situation.

Hrithik only fires for the first time towards the end of the movie and kills a few. But all through the movie many die saving him!!! At a time the movie looked to be heading The Duplicity way, but traces its bollywoodian roots. The Hrithik's gun shoot scene reminds of the Tom Hanks movie, Road to Perdition.

In times of crisis these people should have spent the same amount in India and created some demand, instead they tried to revive the US economy by shooting there entirely. And then smartly finding a bigger fool in Reliance ADAG (no points to guess)in India. So Indian shareholders ended up financing a trip to US-Mexico-back to US-then again Mexico...

Gotta go now...

The Power Equation of IPL

2010-04-23T01:07:00.001-07:00

It is proven yet again that in India just everything is intertwined with politics, cricket for that matter was always known to be a sport in which the parliamentarians are deeply interested. Our old brigade of MLAs and MPs may not ever have played cricket but they hold the top offices. My theory on the IPL tries to establish a power equation that may satisfy the various constraints and conditions of the IPL Fiasco.

Equation 1

Money > Politics > Cricket

There is a lot of money in cricket in India, where there is none in any other sport. Money attracts the politicians who given a chance expand their wealth as much as possible. Therefore just about every state cricket association also is headed by chief ministers or MPs or their associates. Cricket is the pivot around which both these revolve, but cricket is the most inconsequential aspect of this equation. In this country of more than a billion the only sport followed like a religion is cricket, thus endorsements are plenty but market is common. Hence, all the money chases this game....the only other option for advertisers is Bollywood.

Equation 2

Pawar > Modi > IPL > Cricket

Mr. Pawar as everyone knows is one of the richet politicians and a sort of sugar baron on Maharashtra. With BCCIs chair under him he probably tried to use Mr. Modi to get back at Congress. Pawar seems to be a weaker member of the UPA, being the insider he knew about the "tale" of Tharoor and thought to use it against the Congress to probably put some pressure. But Modi didn't understand that he was the pawn..or probably he knew he was the pawn but given the circumstances he is empowered by Pawar to be the King. So leave aside IPL and Cricket there was whole lot about the team Rendezvous to talk about.

Equation 3

Opposition > Pawar > IPL > Cricket

Opposition was already houding the government with the Dantewada episode and the inflation issue. They latched onto the noise on IPL to create more troubles for the government in the Parliament. Pawar may have thought he would be off the whole IPL and the Tharoor mess, but he was wrong in thinking so. It was an open secret that the Chairman of BCCI, the richest cricket governing body in the World, would have vested interests. Layered transactions leading to investments into IPL and related parties.

Equation 4

Government > Opposition > Pawar > IPL > Cricket

No government will want to collapse dragged down by a controversy like this. As it would mean getting branded as "thugs" so in order to come clean the Congress led government is likely to please the general public and the opposition and also remain afloat.

Thus I arrive at the final equation as a summary to the theory

Politics => Money > Pawar > Modi > IPL > Cricket !!

The Year That Was!

2009-12-31T02:20:00.000-08:00

Hey 2009, why were you in such a hurry
you flew by even before I savored upon a handful of curries,

Seems like it was just yesterday,
as I stood by with a friend on a chilly winter night,
when you 2009 knocked at my door,
And said I am here now dont wish for more,
I beckon for you a period of love and fun, while nearby somewhere the fireworks galore,

Hey 2009, why were you in such a hurry..

It was in October O' 2009,
I realised that the spring the summer and the monsoon,
You brought for us had passed by,
and the winters were staring upon,

I sat back to reflect why O' 2009 you were in such a hurry,
the promise of fun and love was yet to be fulfilled
though O gone by year I was not very thrilled

Hey 2009, why were you in such a hurry..

As the last sun sets upon you, I site besides my computer and think O' 2009,
You were honest n truthful, but I was mean and not so thankful
You did bring a lot to me,
that O year gone by I didnt accept to agree
52 weeks and 365 days you stood by me
Delivering upon your promises but I failed to see

Before you close yourself to the mankind O' 2009,
Let me thank you for all your support and kindness,
may be just once but with my gratitude for you O'2009

Hey 2009, why were you in such a hurry..

Life cycle through liquor bottle/bottles..

2009-09-22T03:09:00.000-07:00

Drinking is an important activity for survival of any living being. So it starts from drinking milk to water and other beverages. But as a human ages and crosses the adolescence the avenues open up. In Indian context let him/her attain lawful eligibility (statewise) to savor other forms of beverages namely beer, whisky (IMFL), whisky (Scotch), rum, vodka, wine...

The rest of the blog is related thickly to my experiences and tastes and may not apply to everyperson who likes to be washed down in spirits regularly/often/occasionally/seldom.

How it all starts?
If you happen to be a good student in your school days whereby the whole idea of alcohol is a taboo it so happens that when you land up in a residential educational institution in your college days, in other places you cross the freshman year or you have a circle of friends who didn't satisfy the first crucial requirement i.e. idea of alcohol wasn't a taboo for them in school days, you get exposed to liquor. For the first timer who satisfies the first requirement after several nos the first few drops are thrusted down the throat by seniors. Our Indian roots then guarantee that with due regards for the social obligations, for sake of good relation and in order to obey the elders the first glass/peg/shot/pint goes down voluntarily but regrettably.

The initial hiccup and then pick-up!
Its always good to try the thing by yourself in absence of many/a crowd/a large gang/seniors. Now the question is what to drink. If you have the same background as mine and you also went to IIT and you satisfied all the traits of a first timer, the first decision that needs to be made is based on the size of the pocket/depth of wallet and then which one of rum/gin/vodka/whisky/beer/tequila..So what you want to/can/afford to have is directly proportional to the money you carry. Thus with due respect to Indian-ness in my case Punjabi-ness will opt for whisky for it sounds more Indian, its well heard in bollywood movies (Daroo is more synonymous to whisky) and appeared in more advertisements at that time than any other spirit and also because it takes time to know the other forms like vodka/rum/cocktails/draught beer/lager beer/strong beer and definitely not tequila. For the sake of simplicity lets leave out the Indian country liquor out of the discussion.

So the crucial decision is made and the affordability at the first time is higher because you haven't spent on "what will" become a new found pass time and probably no other activity drains you out more than this one. The first bottle/half/quarter/large peg/small peg called is the Antiquity the costliest of the IMFL and soon to become my favorite. A close knit group is formed who cherish the moments spent at a small shady bar discussing all sorts of things that can be discussed or after a few drinks even those which were supposed not to be discussed. As the number of trips to this local bar rise in number affordability goes down with rising expenses you start ordering an Imperial Blue, Bagpiper and such other brands to maximise visits. A whisky is a whisky and also an IMFL is an IMFL but as you become regular the tastes become more apparent and you tend to become more choosy. But affordability holds the key. Thus the trade off is between quality and quantity. This is when there is a likelihood of you making a choice of beer over whisky. A Rs. 60 beer is 650 ml while a 750 ml Antiquity is about Rs. 650. Even when you dilute the whisky with water the volume/re doesnt catch up :-). Hence, alcohol is alcohol so a beer is like whisky and a whisky is like a beer. But soon you become familiar to the reality that a beer is 4-8% alcohol and a whisky is a 40-50% alcohol.

After the baby steps its time to race...
The next stage is reached as your desire, to have more bang out of the buck/drink/passtime, grows you get introduced to other subtle forms of alcohol beverages which get passed onto you like any more normal beverage apart from say an old monk rum :-). Vodka in orange juice/screw driver, a vodka with lime, a gin, from strong beer in college days to draught beer during early career. Beer bottle orders become beer mug orders and a mug order becomes an order for a pitcher. Transformations happen. The biggest one of these being graduated to level of a Tequila. For the first time it takes guts/money/an understanding of one's capacity/a lot of convincing that a neat drink is not harmful/idea of accompanying salt and lemon :). Eventually you can stop worrying about any of these even lemon and salt :-)

As affordability increases you move from the small shady bar to a restaurant to a pub eventually you also get to learn that gathering at one's place is better than any of the other options. Your stickiness to a brand becomes more apparent so if the favorite is Antiquity its difficult to switch, a smirn off is smirn off and no romanov can replace it. Also foreign brands make inroads into the monthly budget. Hence, comes in a Johnny Walker, Black Dog, Teachers (all scotch) and more premium ones a Chivas,Glenfiddich, Corona for beer. Wine is a late addition amongst men but it does gain its own special place amongst others.

So by now Pappu has not just learnt to dance but choreograph as well. Many nights pass by getting very very wet and very very high!

IMFL: Indian Made Foreign Liquor

Just Copy Paste

2009-08-26T23:28:00.001-07:00

Here is an interesting article, I just copied it. Thought its very true in its original form and I cant replicate it that well

Forget About The Chinese Stock Market, The Whole Chinese Economy Is A Bubble Waiting To Burst
Financial commentators are obsessively debating whether the recent rise in the Chinese stock market means there's a bubble -- and if so, when it's going to burst.

My take? Who cares! What happens to the broader Chinese economy is what we should really be watching. It will have a far-reaching impact on the rest of the world -- much more far-reaching than a decline in stocks.

Despite everything, the Chinese economy has shown incredible resilience recently. Although its biggest customers -- the United States and Europe -- are struggling (to say the least) and its exports are down more than 20 percent, China is still spitting out economic growth numbers as if there weren't a worry in the world. The most recent estimate put annual growth at nearly 8 percent.

Is the Chinese economy operating in a different economic reality? Will it continue to grow, no matter what the global economy is doing?

The answer to both questions is no. China's fortunes over the past decade are reminiscent of Lucent Technologies in the 1990s. Lucent sold computer equipment to dot-coms. At first, its growth was natural, the result of selling goods to traditional, cash-generating companies. After opportunities with cash-generating customers dried out, it moved to start-ups -- and its growth became slightly artificial. These dot-coms were able to buy Lucent's equipment only by raising money through private equity and equity markets, since their business models didn't factor in the necessity of cash-flow generation.

Funds to buy Lucent's equipment quickly dried up, and its growth should have decelerated or declined. Instead, Lucent offered its own financing to dot-coms by borrowing and lending money on the cheap to finance the purchase of its own equipment. This worked well enough, until it came time to pay back the loans.

The United States, of course, isn't a dot-com. But a great portion of its growth came from borrowing Chinese money to buy Chinese goods, which means that Chinese growth was dependent on that very same borrowing.

Now the United States and the rest of the world is retrenching, corporations are slashing their spending, and consumers are closing their pocket books. This means that the consumption of Chinese goods is on the decline. And this is where the dot-com analogy breaks down. Unlike Lucent, China has nuclear weapons. It can print money at will and can simply order its banks to lend. It is a communist command economy, after all. Lucent is now a $2 stock. China won't go down that easily.

The Chinese central bank has a significant advantage over the U.S. Federal Reserve. Chairman Ben Bernanke and his cohort may print a lot of money (and they did), but there's almost nothing they can do to speed the velocity of money. They simply cannot force banks to lend without nationalizing them (and only the government-sponsore d enterprises have been nationalized) . They also cannot force corporations and consumers to spend. Since China isn't a democracy, it doesn't suffer these problems.

China's communist government owns a large part of the money-creation and money-spending apparatus. Money supply therefore shot up 28.5 percent in June. Since it controls the banks, it can force them to lend, which it has also done.

Finally, China can force government-owned corporate entities to borrow and spend, and spend quickly itself. This isn't some slow-moving, touchy-feely democracy. If the Chinese government decides to build a highway, it simply draws a straight line on the map. Any obstacle -- like a hospital, a school, or a Politburo member's house -- can become a casualty of the greater good. (Okay -- maybe not the Politburo member's house).

Although China can't control consumer spending, the consumer is a comparatively small part of its economy. Plus, currency control diminishes the consumer's buying power. All of this makes the United States' TARP plans look like child's play. If China wants to stimulate the economy, it does so -- and fast. That's why the country is producing such robust economic numbers.

Why is China doing this? It doesn't have the kind of social safety net one sees in the developed world, so it needs to keep its economy going at any cost. Millions of people have migrated to its cities, and now they're hungry and unemployed. People without food or work tend to riot. To keep that from happening, the government is more than willing to artificially stimulate the economy, in the hopes of buying time until the global system stabilizes. It's literally forcing banks to lend -- which will create a huge pile of horrible loans on top of the ones they've originated over the last decade.

But don't confuse fast growth with sustainable growth. Much of China's growth over the past decade has come from lending to the United States. The country suffers from real overcapacity. And now growth comes from borrowing -- and hundreds of billion-dollar decisions made on the fly don't inspire a lot of confidence. For example, a nearly completed, 13-story building in Shanghai collapsed in June due to the poor quality of its construction.

This growth will result in a huge pile of bad debt -- as forced lending is bad lending. The list of negative consequences is very long, but the bottom line is simple: There is no miracle in the Chinese miracle growth, and China will pay a price. The only question is when and how much.

Another casualty of what's taking place in China is the U.S. interest rate. China sold goods to the United States and received dollars in exchange. If China were to follow the natural order of things, it would have converted those dollars to renminbi (that is, sell dollars and buy renminbi). The dollar would have declined and renminbi would have risen. But this would have made Chinese goods more expensive in dollars -- making Chinese products less price-competitive. China would have exported less, and its economy would have grown at a much slower rate.

But China chose a different route. Instead of exchanging dollars back into renminbi and thus driving the dollar down and the renminbi up -- the natural order of things -- China parked its money in the dollar by buying Treasuries. It artificially propped up the dollar. And now, China is sitting on 2.2 trillion of them.

Now, China needs to stimulate its economy. It's facing a very delicate situation indeed: It needs the money internally to finance its continued growth. However, if it were to sell dollar-denominated treasuries, several bad things would happen. Its currency would skyrocket -- meaning the loss of its competitive low-cost-producer edge. Or, U..S. interest rates would go up dramatically -- not good for its biggest customer, and therefore not good for China.

This is why China is desperately trying to figure out how to withdraw its funds from the dollar without driving it down -- not an easy feat.

And the U.S.. government isn't helping: It's printing money and issuing Treasuries at a fast clip, and needs somebody to keep buying them. If China reduces or halts its buying, the United States may be looking at high interest rates, with or without inflation. (The latter scenario is most worrying.)

All in all, this spells trouble -- a big, big Chinese bubble. Identifying such bubbles is a lot easier than timing their collapse. But as we've recently learned, you can defy the laws of financial gravity for only so long. Put simply, mean reversion is a bitch. And the longer excesses persist, the harder the financial gravity will bring China's economy back to Earth

How Prince Dance Group inspires us

2009-08-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

I must first put up their amazing act for those who havent seen it, and for those like me who are a great fan of their talent, hardwork, humility and innovativeness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtBrlAf2t18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq_NoGhvnsM&feature=related

Unfortunately the finals video is not still available. Though not a TV buff but once I watched the first episode of the program India's Got Talent I got glued to it like anything. Then it meant Saturdays and Sundays 9-10 pm of this show. Later for semi-finals the timings got extended, deservingly so because the program was high on creativity, entertainment, emotions and a respect for India's culture, traditions and talent.

What makes Prince Group a deserving candidate is their creativity and never say die spirit. Every act is highly unique and god know's where they get ideas from. I am sure there is direct connect to heaven's somehow as 2 of their 3 acts which were shown depicted Hindu god's in various forms. There were a few other entrants who performed traditional acts but theirs was not at all traditional. The delivered performance was highly modern and may be ahead of the time. I feel so because I never thought some people from lower middle class or labor class will emerge from Behrampur of Orissa to come up with such performance. And also because never has the reality TV shows captured Indian talent like this show. All others were mainly based on "Masala" content. I just wish a follow on India's Got Talent should be aired soon, because the Country of 1 billion will definitely have more to offer. I always felt Hollywood was way ahead of Bollywood, which I still feel, but otherwise I think our creative youth like Prince Dance group are not behind anyone comparable elsewhere. Its said "Bad times bring out the best in you" but these people have probably not seen good times at all, now is when their time starts. I hope they win more money and accolades.

Infact they were the first people for whom I ever SMSed on a TV show, later on I had to message for Rohan Group and Lokmanya Tilak Malakhamb group as well. But before this never ever I might have SMSed on a Reality show.

This is inspiring and it tickled some of my creative but now dormant genes. Their performance sent me back to IIT days and reminded me of PAF, Socials, Dramas, impromptu and Street Plays in many of which I performed or directed or wrote them as well.

My Favorite Tongue Ticklers

2009-08-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Food remains one of the foremost passions and I feel motivated to eat good stuff :) Though now I am at receiving end of this and have been heavily cutting down upon my appetite for such food :(. Based on my taste for non-veg (mainly chicken and mutton) and vegetarian (dals and vegetables) I am listing down a few eating joints where you can touchdown for a good meal.

Mumbai: Blessed with best restaurants spanning just about every cuisine. When in Mumbai my disposable income was low so enjoyed mostly at places which I could afford being a student and later entry level employee into a private bank

1. Chakras (Saki Naka) : I learnt about lasagne at this joint.
2. SP (Sujata Palace, Powai) : Heard its no more remains opposite IIT Bombay gate, but it does exist somewhere else in Powai. Best dal tadka, roti and biryani. Alongwith a few spirits and the music played by SP I am sure anyone will be high in no time
3. Sheesha (Bandra): Kebabs
4. Omlette Pav: Fort Mumbai, a thelawala next to ICICI Fort branch
5. Bade Miyan (Colaba): Baida roti
6. Mahesh Lunch Home: Fort, for non vegetarian
7. 5 Spice (Mint, Mumbai): Chinese, brownies and other baked stuff
8. Maroush (Parel): Just enjoyed once its delightful chicken curry and kebabs, it much bigger bang for your buck
9. Pizzeria (Churchgate): Great ambience and Beer. Beer at this place tastes better because of the surroundings
10. Hanuman (Sion): Sunday afternoon special Makki Roti and Sarson ka saag
11. Bhagat Tarachand (Mumbadevi): Just about anything Marwari and slight panju. Loads of butter and Lassi. There are 4 of these next to each other, the best one in my view is the one which comes first when you are entering the lane from VT side
12. Aggarwal Dairy (Parel): Best sweet lassi
13. Pritam (Dadar): Ambience and Panju food, good starters

New Delhi and Gurgaon: Though i stayed in Gurgaon and still family is based there, Gurgaon lacks good food joints. Atleast till the time I was there.

1. Bauji da Dhaba (MGF MALL): Really good food and veggies.
2. Haldiram (NH8): Just about anything Haldiram'ish, jalebi adds to the delight
3. Natraj Dahi Bhalla (Chandni Chowk):Its difficult to even write about this place without a watering mouth. Its a great great food joint and you cant just stop at one. With Honey in the core of Bhalla its a great chat shop
4. Parathe Wali Galli (Chandni Chowk): Just go there eat well come home and snore hard
5. Blues (CP): May not be the best Pub in the city but I frequented it when in Delhi due to proximity to office. Spent numerous evenings with friends cribbing and bitching about the job, boss and anything worth talking about. Good repetitive music, repetitive but good! :)
6. Kake da Dhaba, Bhape da Dhaba, Shankar Market Rajma Chawal: All are tongue ticklers and on the Outer circle of CP
7. Nathus (Bengali Market): Jalebis and Chats :)
8. Himachal Sweet House ( Anand Niketan): Not sure if the name is correct, its a small sweet shop may look shady to some. But makes very tasty samosas and sweets
9. Kishu Di Hatti (New Colony, Gurgaon): Not sure if he exists now, but some of best dhoda and falooda kulfi
10. Om Sweets (Gurgaon): Chats...yummy Chats.

Kolkata: Most of the time I have been in Kolkata I end up eating at Taj Bengal

1. Sonargaon (Taj): Great food, try anything bengali out there. You will always end up eating more than your appetite.
2. The Hub (Taj): Great breakfast spread

Pune: In two months in Pune that I spent. I ended up eating at some of the famed small restaurants in the city

1. Koyla (FC Road): Not sure if everyone will like it given that its a 10 table restaurant. But it serves the best Dum biryani I ever had. Apart from that the ambience and Jagjit singh songs add to the experience of dining here
2. Manmeet Chat and Chaitanya Paratha: Light on pocket heavy on the stomach

Chennai: Amongst south indian dishes, Idli with coconut chutney is my favorite and then is chettinad chicken and such spicy chicken curries.

1. Murugan Idly: not to be missed, just need to be ok with their hygiene levels

Hyderabad: Been here for sometime now and I like the food here. There arent many specialities (local) but overall restaurant quality is good in the city. Only drawback being almost all restaurants are multicuisine

1. Ohri's: No one in the city can not know the Ohri's Banjara, a landmark in itself. Offering 4 different restaurants. Each of those is good. But I love their Chat corner and Jalebis.
2. 100 Degree: again a Ohri right on the Hussain Sagar lake, great sizzlers
3. Waterfront: My favorite not for food but for ambience, lakefront and light music
4. Roll Call: A takeaway with pathetic hygience, but great kolkata kathi rolls
5. Shanghai Chef (Madhapur): Not for chinese but for Thai food. Bamboo rice and dumplings a must taste
6. Hitech Biryani point (Madhapur): Small and shady looking joint. But if you love spicy food its a good place. Dal fry and few indochinese items are just too great. ALso the egg curry is great with rotis
7. Malgudi: Appams, idiyappams and Kal dosa with south indian non veg curry, gongura mutton, chettinad chicken and chicken soups.
8. Chutneys: A must for everyone who visits the city. Only veg cuising primarily andhra. Steam dosa is a specialty here. Best part about the restaurant is the 4 chutneys that accompany the meal, you can eat just about anything alongwith them
9. The Chocolate Room (Madhapur): Its unique in terms of cuisine, only chocolate loaded food items. Pan cakes are a specialty

I missed out initially on Silpa - 108, which is where my kitchen has been located for past two years. Our cook Rajan Bhai prepares delicacies on our request and himself as well. Chicken curry, Pulao, Poha and chola bhatura prepared by him are just "awesome!" as our friend Chiru (Amit Jain) would put it and make Panju scream "Bahut Badia!". Rajan Bhai's preparation have helped all of us retain and grow our prosperity (bellies)

Above all these remains the home cooked food as no where else can you find the authentic Himachal cuisine :(, yummy chillaas, puris, rajma chawal etc etc.....

I am Spoilt!

2009-08-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

I have been in real estate for almost 2 years now and being in the business need to be proactively tracking infrastructure developments in various cities. Also for last 2 years I have been Hyderabad. Now even if I wasnt in real estate but in Hyderabad and would frequently use my car and fly in & out of the new Hyderabad international airport, I would have cribbed when in another city.

Because "I am spoilt Now" by a clean green city, with wide roads, relatively smoother traffic and a great great Airport. I used to Begumpet airport frequently till it existed, at this point I would also boast that my present Boss was the COO of the new airport :-). I was flying out of Kolkata yesterday, the flight was a 0650 hrs flight to Hyderabad and after an extremely tiring previous day I had to first manage to get up and then get to airport in time. Thanks to my bad health which didnt let me sleep properly and the wake up call by the Hotel staff that I was ready in time to leave. The driver was late and we had to rush to the airport, like every other thing in Kolkata moves slowly so does the VIPs. Used to Delhi VIP movements I was surprised that early morning a white ambassador escorted by several policeman was hardly moving at 30kmph and blocked the entire road. May be the minister's daughter was learning to drive.

I rushed into the airport only to find the place in commotion, the conveyors werent functioning. Kingfisher counters were thronged by people as if at a bus stand, the porters were moving checked in luggage on trolleys and there were two U shaped queues to the security check. Still no one was panicking because thats how the city functions. The policeman at security check mentioned to me that we need more x-ray machines, on this a socialist party representative would only say please dont put additional machines otherwise it may reduce employment. I breathed a sigh of relief when at Hyderabad airport, I never step inside this airport without admiring its passenger friendliness. Its extremely comfortable and arrivals or departures. It spoitl me so badly that I compare mumbai, delhi and all other airports to this one.

There is no need for baggage screening here, hence everywhere I go i end up forgetting to screen my baggage. You just keep walking straight to security check, while everywhere else you need to figure out your way to security check. There is a large shopping area and food court, for a few extra bucks you can eat what you would like to eat. And also available is beer at every food joint

The city brings a good night sleep every day for me, where else will i stay on a terrace flat overlooking a small lake and a five star hotel and not crib about the expenditure on rent.

I am scared at a thought of leaving the city and settling else where, which is one day very soon, highly likely. This one is in praise of city of nawabs.