I wasn’t completely off the mark!

This is in a sense a sequel to my previous post, titled “India, here I come!” In that I had expressed my thoughts on President Barack Obama’s India visit. The post dealt with the [over]reaction of the Indian media to such visits and our pre-occupation with absolutely inconsequential rhetoric that are so much a part of such visits of State Heads. Interestingly, I had also made some predictions/observations.

Now, we had a particularly interesting weekend visiting friends in Ohio and experiencing a “White Diwali” (yeah, we got 2-3 inches of snow!), and hardly had time to review what was happening with the Obama visit. This morning I reviewed some of the reports to see what the Indian media was gloating about. I realized I wasn’t completely off the mark. Infact, I did pretty well. Sample this:

In my previous post I had said: This is not the first US President to visit India and it won’t be the last.

Indian Media (quoting President Obama):  “I am not the first American president to visit India. Nor will I be the last.”

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In my previous post I had said: After Obama’s visit, we will gloat over how Obama said “namastey” or might have even mouthed a few well-rehearsed Hindi words.

Indian Media (quoting President Obama):  “…So to you and the people of India, on behalf of me, Michelle and the American people, please accept our deepest thanks. Bahoot dhanyavad.”

 “…Thank you, Jai Hind!,..”

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 In my previous post I had said: After Obama’s visit, we will gloat over how he loves Indian culture…

Indian Media (quoting President Obama):  “…my wife Michelle and I have experienced the beauty and dynamism of India and its people.”

 …” My confidence in our shared future is grounded in my respect for India’s treasured past – a civilization that has been shaping the world for thousands of years.”

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In my previous post I had said: After Obama’s visit, we will gloat over how he loves Gandhi…

Indian Media (quoting President Obama):  “Throughout my life, including my work as a young man on behalf of the urban poor, I have always found inspiration in the life of Gandhiji and in his simple and profound lesson to be the change we seek in the world. “

 “…I might not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world.”

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In my previous post I had said: …lofty statements of “common interest”, and all the rhetoric that will accompany it

Indian Media (quoting President Obama):  “…And it is my firm belief that the relationship between the United States and India – bound by our shared interests and values – will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century”

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 In my previous post I had said: After Obama’s visit, we will gloat over how he believes that India will be a “major economic superpower”…

Indian Media (quoting President Obama):  “…Instead of resisting the global economy, you became one of its engines – reforming the licensing raj and unleashing an economic marvel that has lifted tens of millions from poverty and created one of the world’s largest middle classes.”

“…For in Asia and around the world, India is not simply emerging; India has already emerged.”

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 In my previous post I had said: After Obama’s visit, we will gloat over how he sang praises about India and how “strategic” India is to the US…

Indian Media (quoting President Obama): “…India-US relationship indispensable”

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 In my previous post I had said: We will speculate and discuss what color sari Michelle Obama will buy…

Indian Media: On NDTV, Dr. Prannoy Roy and Shekhar Gupta were speculating about Michelle Obama’s wardrobe and whether what she was wearing was Zardosi work!! Someone please explain why this is relevant?

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I believe things ain’t gonna change, and that is precisely why all this misplaced focus by the Indian media  on seemingly irrelevant rhetoric gets to me. Maybe I’m just too cynical. Maybe I am a realist. You be the judge.

India, here I come!

Barack Obama visits India this weekend. Yeah, so what? That’s hardly news in India. For the past one month, I have been closely following the online coverage of media houses like NDTV, CNN-IBN and Times Of India among others. People in India are being dished out a ton of information, trivia, and “breaking news” about the visit. I have read everything ranging from how this will be a “landmark visit” (yeah, right!), “cement” the India-US bilateral ties, how India will be “firm” on visa and outsourcing, ask US for assistance in securing permanent seat at UN Security Council, to which school the President will visit, which Presidential Suite he’ll stay at, what he will eat, who he’ll dine with, what color kurta he’ll wear, what color sari Michele will buy, which elephant they’ll ride. I take back the last few. Got carried away:-) But can you blame me?

This is not the first US President to visit India and it won’t be the last. You’ll be naïve and stupid to believe anything concrete will come out of the visit. Yet, In India there’s a lot of song & dance going on for President Obama’s impending visit and media houses are milking it for what it is worth. The rest of us (sensible ones) know that these visits of State heads are only about symbolisms, tokenisms and political mumbo-jumbo at best. We’ll all eat, drink, shake hands, click pictures, have a customary press conference, say “Namaste” and then go our ways. Life goes on as usual.

In the US, there is a lot less theatrics. I hardly find any US air-time dedicated to Obama’s India visit. The print media also hasn’t been very enthused, except for the criticism of the President for spending $200 million every single day of his India visit and traveling with the largest entourage any US President ever has! There are occasional articles you will find about the President’s India visit, but for the most part these quite balanced and present facts for the way they are. Does Obama’s trip mean a lot more to India than to the US? You answer that.

The media in the US is pre-occupied with coverage and analysis of the recently concluded mid-term elections, where, as you may already know, Mr. President’s Democratic Party didn’t quite come out with flying colors. Most American people believe this is a direct result of his largely unpopular policies around economic stimulus package, auto industry bailout, healthcare reforms etc.  I’m not a political analyst and hardly an authority to talk on the subject but this is where the news is, at least in the US. Obama’s India visit is no big deal, not to the people of America.

In India, Obama is probably the only thing we’ll get to hear and read of the next 4-5 days. In the US, we’ll hear of the growing popularity of Republicans, debate 2012 and Obama’s Presidential future, discuss the World Series, NBA, NFL, NHL, College Football, maybe even watch and comment on Sarah Palin’s daughter’s participation on Dancing with the Stars. After all this, if there is time, we will squeeze in a quick 30 seconds footage of Obama shaking hands with Dr. Manmohan Singh!

In so many ways, India and US are opposite ends of the pole and so damn different. And yet, its unfair not to acknowledge the interesting dynamic that the countries share. US is so pre-occupied about itself, what it has accomplished and events that directly affect it. Indian media finds reason to highlight things that are not even obliquely related to it and then dissect and analyze and comment. We find associativity even in places where there isn’t any. It’s almost like, for every nation like the US, there must be one like India.

After Obama’s visit, we will gloat over how Obama said “namastey” or might have even mouthed a few well-rehearsed Hindi words. How he sang praises about India and how “strategic” India is to the US.  How he believes that India will be a “major economic superpower” to deal with in 20 years. How he loves Indian culture, food and Mahatma Gandhi. If we skim past the lofty statements of “common interest”, and all the rhetoric that will accompany it, we might be left asking ourselves: what was the big deal about this visit anyway? Did it deserve all the attention we gave it? Did we just squander 2 weeks of our lives focusing on something that will have no meaningful outcome?

The media needs to magnify this event and the “importance” surrounding it. Remember, they make a living out of it. You and I don’t. So, go ahead and celebrate Diwali, burst firecrackers, have sweets, throw a party, get drunk, take your dog for a walk or whatever else you do to have a fun weekend. Give Obama’s visit the credit and time it deserves. No more, no less.

What makes people tick – and oh btw, this is not a research paper!

Let me assure you that I’m no expert on behavioral sciences or the psychology of human interactions. Not even remotely that. What I am however, is a student and observer – of people. I always find it fascinating why some people get along so well with others and some don’t.

Look behind at your life – school, college, work, neighborhood, parties, bars – we all make friends and acquaintances all day, every day, through life. How many of these people did you hit it off with instantly? Actually, I don’t care how many. This post is not about “how many” people you make friends with. Its really about “why” you connect with some people, while you don’t with others. This has always intrigued me, more so after our recent relocation. Thankfully we’ve developed a great group of friends and I’ve managed to connect with some from school. And all the while I’ve asked myself – what is it that’s making us tick?

Earlier this month there was a reunion of people from Don Bosco Park Circus (DBPC), batch of ’95. A small group of 25-30 people met up at Calcutta. For obvious reasons, I wasn’t there but did manage to check out Facebook pictures and comments of the reunion. It was awesome and the guys seem to have had a blast. Among other things, what caught my particular attention was however a FB comment from a school friend who attended the reunion that went something like this “…we picked it up from where we left off 15 years ago”. Guess what, these are not people who have stayed in touch on a regular basis for the past 15 years. For all I know, many would have actually been seeing each other the first time in 15 years! So, how do people click instantly under such circumstances? Well, here’s my theory. But this has to be broken down into stages of interaction. I’ll address some of the stages that I find particularly intriguing.

1. School: Lets face it, in school we all have groups – based on shared interests (studies, sports, babes, booze, cigarettes…), pocket money, parents who know each other – it could be anything really. Many kids don’t even talk much to others outside their ‘circle’. But fast forward 15 years and things don’t seem that ‘closed’ any more. The primary reason in my mind is, as kids we are much more judgmental about other kids than we are as adults. Might sound strange, but hell, that’s my take. Life teaches us that kids who smoke when they’re 13 are not necessarily “bad”. Kids who top the class are not necessarily the best people to hang out with. As kids, a lot of our own self-assessment also acts as a barrier in us mixing with all groups – will these people accept me, maybe I’m not as cool or as brilliant etc. 15 years later, everyone is comfortable with where they are at life. For those who’re not, chances are they don’t even care. Result? Homogeneity prevails. Walls break down. Everyone becomes accessible. Beer flows:)
2. Work: Common bad boss, bitching about work, common enemies act as great unifiers and bring people together in a strange sort of way. Period.
3. Others: Here’s where I place people and acquaintances outside of work – people we meet via common friends, at parties, in bars, folks in the neighborhood etc. There is an interesting dynamic here that I have often noticed. Marital status matters. Unless you have a friend you know from earlier, what are the odds you will have singles socializing with a group of married folks, especially at gatherings where family’s involved? Kids matter. Having kids the same age acts as a great unifier. You talk of same experiences, challenges, share notes etc. Spending power matters. Like it or not, you will notice that you tend to spend more time with people who have the spending power as you do. Spending on similar things as you do also matter. But given all the above, what will eventually make or break a group of acquaintances is your own ability to make people feel comfortable in your presence. You will soon realize that the power to make people connect with you lies with YOU! Humor can be a great ‘tool’ to win friends. If you can make people laugh with you, you know you’ve won over them.

 What do you think makes people tick?

Commonwealth, Common wealth – same difference!

After all the negative mind/media share that the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games grabbed the past 4-6 weeks, I have to admit that it was a HUGE relief watching the Games’ opening ceremony. To sum up the cynicism with which we approached the Games, when they proudly announced “the largest helium balloon in the world”, my wife went “Yeah right! I hope it goes up!”And indeed it did!

Between the 60,000 spectators watching the event live at the stadium and million others watching it on TV, one would think that Kalmadi finally redeemed himself. He must’ve given himself some imaginary pats on the back for a job well done.

Was the opening ceremony good? Yeah, sure. Do we all now forget the reports of corruption and possible money laundering that surfaced over the past 6 months? Hell, no! Regardless of what Mr. Kalmadi and his ilk would like to think, the joke was on us. Every part of the world that broadcast the games, was in a sense waiting to witness a train wreck. And in all the words of praises showered about the games, there was a constant mention of the state things were at, even up until 3-4 weeks ago. I watched the opening ceremony on Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) and even there they reported of how many times (60 to be precise) the games were over budget and how “India managed to pull this off amidst challenging circumstances leading up to the event”!! Does this kind of reporting make me feel proud? You gotta be kidding me!

We Indians have a very short-lived memory. We forget the bad very easily, especially when we’re dished some good stuff that finds a mention in the global media. We’re so damned starved! We love to find an Indian connection, even at places where it doesn’t exist. For example, the recent news of an Indian-origin girl who won the US teen contest. Well, here’s the catch. She is a British citizen and still found a mention in our media! What gives?

That is trivial. Compare this to hosting the biggest international sports event we ever have! So, we’re all supposed to be happy and move on, right? Wrong!! Its events like these that make people with even half a brain realize that its a bad bad idea. This shows the entire world how we operate. It exposes the rampant corruption prevalent in every level of sports administration and bureaucracy in India. Between the IPL and the Commonwealth, the world knows India can host events of world standards, and the amount of corruption such events breed.

Mr. Kalmadi has given  Commonwealth its true meaning – “common wealth”. Common to all the crooks that put this shit together. Even at the cost of sounding unpatriotic, I have to confess that the Commonwealth Games does not make me proud. People like Mr. Kalmadi and Lalit Modi don’t make us look good. The sooner we realize this, the better for us. Jai ho!

Pictures or Words?

We’ve all heard the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”. No shit! It took me 33 years and one trip to an alien country completely detached from the English language to appreciate that. I made my first trip to Japan a couple of months ago. 1 in 20 restaurants (and that too by a pretty lenient estimate) in Japan have a menu in English. Its all Japanese language and pictures of plates of food. Well, if you’re adventurous with your food as I am, thats like playing Russian roulette. You see a picture, order stuff and have no clue what it is, till it turns up on your table. But then, if you’re kinda conventional with your selection of food, and Indian vegetarian at that, chances are you will try to locate an Indian restaurant in any part of the world. So did an associate of mine I was traveling with. We ended up one evening in an Indian restaurant in downtown Tokyo. The restaurant had an interesting card they distributed along with the menu to indicate how “hot” we wanted our Indian curry. Take a look at the picture below. It just blew me away! And here I was thinking language is a problem. A picture does speak a thousand words!!

That said, if you are a frequent traveler, seeing pictures of stuff you can’t carry with you on a flight is nothing new. Stuff like pictures of no sharp knives, no scissors, no gels, no aerosols, no nothin’ really. For me, approaching the security check, seeing the same kind of pictures over and over again at all airports is downright depressing. But hey, see the Japanese folks getting creative and replacing “a thousand pictures” with some witty words. If nothing, it did bring a smile to a bored traveler’s face!

 So, which side are you on - pictures or words? 

Incremental & Progressive Loot!

1. Modi

2. Modi, Tharoor

3. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar

4. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar

5. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje

6. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje, Praful Patel

7. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje, Praful Patel, Supriya Sule (Pawar’s daughter)

8. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje, Praful Patel, Supriya Sule (Pawar’s daughter), Poorna Patel (Praful’s daughter)

9. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje, Praful Patel, Supriya Sule (Pawar’s daughter), Poorna Patel (Praful’s daughter), Sadanand Sule (Supriya’s husband)

10. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje, Praful Patel, Supriya Sule (Pawar’s daughter), Poorna Patel (Praful’s daughter), Sadanand Sule (Supriya’s husband)

11. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje, Praful Patel, Supriya Sule (Pawar’s daughter), Poorna Patel (Praful’s daughter), Sadanand Sule (Supriya’s husband), KKR, Kings Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Jagmohan Dalmiya

12. Modi, Tharoor, Gaekwads, Sunanda Pushkar, Sharad Pawar, Vasundhara Raje, Praful Patel, Supriya Sule (Pawar’s daughter), Poorna Patel (Praful’s daughter), Sadanand Sule (Supriya’s husband), KKR, Kings Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Jagmohan Dalmiya, Samir Thukral

13. …Tomorrow, who knows? New day, new names!

This is Incremental. This is Progressive. This most certainly is Loot! Its our very own IPL.

Need I say more?

Back from the dead!

Just a note to people who follow my blog (which would be just a handful btw - I’m no Chetan Bhagat!) that I’m not dead. Just been busy and (ahem!) lazy!

A lot has been happening lately. I will soon be shifting base from Chennai. Been here the past 10 years. A lot happened in those years – a friend turned wife, a rock star was born in the winter of ‘04 and a boxer in summer of ‘08. So, you see, my hands are full literally. I’m so looking forward to the move. I’m hoping I will get more time to write. That was the idea behind this blog anyway – nothing profound, just to write.

So much has happened in the past couple of months that I would’ve loved to comment on – Pachauri’s disastrous predictions for the world, Pranabda’s budget, Tharoor’s “external affair”, KKR’s demise (again!) in the IPL, volcanic ash in Iceland – the list is endless. But hey, I’m sure I’ll always have stuff to write about. With a new place will come new people, new issues, new idiots making news. Doesn’t matter which part of the world you’re at – I will always find an excuse to write – like I just did:-)

Stirring the pot (no perverts, its not what you think!)

For die-hard cricket fans the last couple of days have been especially eventful. Lalit Modi has successfully concluded the auction for Season 3 of the Indian Premier League, and needless to say, made money out of it ‘silently’.  Some things however particularly drew my attention. Maybe it did yours too.

1) Pakistani cricketers ‘untouched’: A lot is being written in the press – both in India & Pakistan – about how Pak cricketers were ‘deliberately snubbed’, about how the treatment dished out to Pak players was ‘pre-decided’ and ‘politically motivated’. Some in the media claim that their reliable sources have confessed that the franchise owners had been asked to ‘stay away’ from Pakistani cricketers. Lets get past all these initial reactions and put this in perspective.

Look closely at the tabular representation above of the IPL 3 auction. Apart from Pakistan of course, 2 other countries drew my attention – Australia and Sri Lanka.

Australians have an equal right to get offended. I mean, you can hardly call Damien Martyn and Adam Voges as buys. Rajasthan Royals bought them at $100K and $50K respectively, and its out in the open that Shane Warne wanted them. Had Warney not been at the helm of Rajasthan Royals, what are the odds of Aussies going back home with a clean sweep like the Pakistanis? Very high! Is Australia crying hoarse that they are being targeted  because of the recent attack on Indians? No.

By the same token, Perera @ $50K served as a consolation for the Sri Lankans. But I doubt that there would have been as much noise if Sri Lankans went home empty handed. Or who knows, maybe the media would’ve cried aloud that the Indian government was avenging the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by boycotting players from Lanka!!

Either way, the fact is this. I believe that unless otherwise proven or openly confessed, we should just let go of this Pakistan auction episode. Well, the good thing is that it gives the media an opportunity to sensationalize an otherwise ordinary piece of news, and on a personal front, provides me with fodder for this blog;-)

2) Inventory, Stock, Player Valuation: What I also found interesting, but which obviously is not making as much noise, is the bid for someone like Kemar Roach. What has this man done in his 21 yrs of life to deserve this kind of money – and don’t forget – for one single season?!! We all know he has a name for being fiercely fast and his claim to fame is probably troubling Ricky Ponting at WACA and forcing him to retire hurt. But $720K for that? Thats a LOT of money being thrown around on promise alone.

But then, player valuation has been an oft-discussed subject with the IPL. So much so that in academic circles it is gaining importance and a lot of research is being done to arrive at an empirical formula of sorts for player valuation in IPL, not very different from inventory valuation, stock valuation etc. It even caught the fancy of the IIMs.

3) Silent tie-break: Last but not least, I found the silent tie-breaker thing quite intriguing. There’s nothing about the way the winner was decided by a secret bid of sorts, but I still do not understand Lalit Modi’s reluctance to reveal how much the winning team quoted. Maybe he took the name quite literally and ‘silently’ made money. Its funny why he refuses to disclose how much IPL is earning from the silent tie-breakers.

For those who do not know, here’s how the silent tie-breaker works: in case of a situation where two franchisees end up bidding the full amount i.e. $750K on one player, the two franchisees would then bid by secret ballot and indicate an amount in Indian rupees that it would be willing to pay for the particular player. The team with the highest bid would win but the additional money would accrue to the IPL and not the player upon whom the bid was placed, who would get $750K.

And you still wonder why many regard Modi as a modern day marketing genius?

Jyoti Basu (1914-2010)…and no, this is not his obituary

Indian media has been awash last couple of days with the news of Mr. Jyoti Basu’s demise, undoubtedly the most famous face of Indian communism. But this is neither his obituary nor a life-and-times kinda post. A lot is being spoken in the media about his legacy – good and bad. Having been born in the state that he ruled over as Chief Minister for 23 years (1977-2000) and having lived outside it for the past decade and a half, I have the benefit of a unique viewpoint on Jyoti Basu’s contribution to the state or on Indian communism, at a macro level. BTW, did I say contribution? What contribution?

The fact that Jyoti Basu is a man of utmost personal integrity cannot be argued. The fact that he was a leader of the masses cannot be denied. The fact that the brand of communism that was practiced in West Bengal during his tenure as CM has harmed the state, forced companies to relocate, led youth to seek opportunities outside cannot be refuted either! Think about this – can you compare Bengal when he assumed office to the Bengal of today? Does Bengal feature in any discussion on progress, industrial or otherwise, in the country? Given a choice between Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata - how many people from outside Bengal would choose to live and work in Kolkata? Let me guess – how about zero?! And guess what – the others on the list are not even metros!

Why is it that a state that had serious advantages to begin with half a century ago, that was considered ”the place” to be, is not even on the discussion table today? We have to thank the Communist Party of which Mr. Basu was the head, for this feat!

I don’t have anything against Communism per se. I’m not even very well versed in their ideology. I see with my eyes and let my mind make its own judgments. I have to admit that the brand of Communism we have in our country absolutely sucks! Comparing with China is a favorite pre-occupation of this nation. I recently read an interesting bit of news that China had overtaken United States as the leading auto manufacturer of the world. Yes, you heard it right. China produced a little over 13 million vehicles in 2009 compared to the US at around 10 million. Guess where India is? We’re at 1.4 million! And what is even more astonishing is that in the year 2000, both China and India had vehicle production of 0.6 million units. Need I say more?

I am an engineer and cannot ignore the story that numbers can tell! I consider the proliferation of automobiles in a country as a metric of progress, as a sign of development. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Nissan, Ford Motor Co and Honda Motor Co are running their Chinese factories at full capacity, 24 X 7, overtime and weekend shifts, and still can’t deliver enough cars to meet their demand!

China is a communist country but is still growing at this pace because it has been sensible enough not to treat communism and development / industrialization as mutually exclusive. It has shown to the world that you can have a communist grip over the nation and still prosper – and how!

I condole Mr. Basu’s death but that cannot be the reason to sugar-coat everything and not be critical of him or what he stood for. It is a time for introspection – of trying to bridge the gap between what could-have-been and what is. Communists have to realize that the youth of the country (altho’ I’m hardly ‘young’ at 33!) do not care about ideology if it is detached from progress and prosperity – I certainly don’t! It is time to make amends of screw-ups of the past. Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, are you listening in?

Disclaimer: This post is completely a personal viewpoint. It does not imply my affiliation to any political party or ideology.

Google and China – Myth Busters!

I read an interesting article on WSJ clearing the air on the recent Google incident in China. Some of the misconceptions it tries to address include:

• Google failed in China 
• Google.com is not accessible in China
• Google has Gmail servers in China
• Google.cn search results are already uncensored 
• Google has identified Chinese dissidents as the targets of cyber attacks
• Google has already shut down its business in China