tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84903402011-12-14T19:04:47.448-08:00How to enjoy your stay in India if you are posted there working for a Silicon Valley company, a BPO company, or a start-up, or just taking a break.kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.comBlogger2441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1141129256341416122006-02-28T04:19:00.000-08:002006-02-28T04:20:56.353-08:00I am winding up this blog...Thanks everyone who stopped by and read, and linked to this blog. <br /><br />Happy blogging y'all!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-114112925634141612?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1138161899528206852006-01-24T20:02:00.000-08:002007-01-05T02:48:12.083-08:00<!--<br />google_ad_client = "pub-7828517945214643";<br />google_ad_width = 468;<br />google_ad_height = 60;<br />google_ad_format = "468x60_as";<br />google_ad_type = "text";<br />google_ad_channel = "";<br />google_color_border = "FFFFFF";<br />google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";<br />google_color_link = "0000FF";<br />google_color_text = "000000";<br />google_color_url = "008000";<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"<br /> src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"><br /></script><br /><br />If you are going to San Francisco you might want to check out the Vedatanta Society building located on Webster Street. Check out how the building looks in this video clip <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SEj9UZnoMpU"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SEj9UZnoMpU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>here.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113816189952820685?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1136933494509728452006-01-10T14:38:00.000-08:002006-01-10T14:51:34.546-08:00According to a news report in <a href="http://ia.rediff.com/money/2006/jan/10jet.htm?q=tp&file=.htm">Rediff</a> Jet Airways buys out Air Sahara. This is an interesting development in the Indian aviation sector, considering that Vijay Mallaya of Kingfisher Airlines was making a fierce bid for Air Sahara. Apparently, Mallaya withdrew from the bidding war, making way for Jet.<br /><br />This acquistion maybe a harbinger of sorts and we can expect to see more action in the domestic aviation sector as well as the International sector. In the past India has been one of the underserved areas in the International aviation sector. The reasons for this state of affairs are numerous and some I suspect had to with protecting the Indian domestic players. But in the past few years things have slowly been moving in a new direction, and we can expect to see more action with the introduction of new technology, planes and players in India. One downside to this growth will be demand for aircraft crew and pilots, and I suspect the Indian aviation industry might face an acute shortage of trained pilots in the near future. The attrition rate of pilots from Indian Airlines and Air India might also increase significantly.<br /><br />I hope that as end-users we don't end up shelling more money for our tickets. And, my other question is if Jet will improve the quality of service on Air Sahara. Sahara planes have a difficult time sticking to their schedule, and are quite inefficient in communicating the arrival and departure of their flight in a timely manner.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113693349450972845?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1135961267302293952005-12-30T07:25:00.000-08:002005-12-30T08:47:47.380-08:00SMS or Short Messaging Service is the default mode of communication for many cell users. The other default method of communication is the "missed call" phenomenon. The "missed call" is a very interesting trend, and a fascinating one. Talk about eeeking out every paisa from your service provider :-) <br /><br />It is wonderful to see how the world of mobile communication is morping and changing in India. Millions of users have access to mobile phones, and millions of SMS messages fly to and fro between various cell users all over India. Not email, but SMS is the preferred mode of communication. Interestingly there appears to be a limit on the size of the SMS...it is generally about 160 characters. An upshot of the spread of this technology is the new lingo that is being created on the fly. On a personal note, I am sometimes lost when I have to decipher these cryptic SMS messages.<br /><br />The mobile phone has also turned out to be a new medium for advertisers and advertising revenue. It is an economical way to use your advertising money. You can send one message to many users...that is broadcast the message to a huge user base.<br /><br />Besides advertisers, other savvy organizations and institutions have discovered the power of SMS. One such institution are the temples in India, who have discovered the power of technology and telecom to deliver rich media solutions to their clients. There are two temples that appear to be in the forefront of implementing IT solutions to make the whole process of praying and seeking blessings a relatively pain-free and hassle-free process. No more pushing and shoving, and jostling in a tightly packed room. Sit back, relax, have a cup of tea and seek your blessings from the comfort of your living room. Welcome the world of virtual living.<br /><br />Siddhivinayaka Temple at Prabhadevi in Mumbai has a website with all the works. I have passed by this temple numerous times, but have never stepped in.<br /><br />This is a temple that almost everybody in Bombay appears to visit. It is a "must-do" thing for the folks from the entertainment world. The "60 Minutes" interview of Aishwarya Rai was partially shot at this temple. More recently, Abhishek and Jaya Bachchan were seen praying at this temple. Then there is the famous story of the lady who loves everything that starts with "K"...the head of Balaji Productions...her name slips my mind...who walks from her home in Juhu to the temple. And, that is quite a walk.<br /><br />The temple appears to have embraced technology completely. They have an official <a href="http://www.siddhivinayak.org/">website</a>. You can send donations by downloading a form, and those of you who live outside the country, don't worry all your security and firewall concerns have been addressed: there is a special payment gateway to handle your donations. Not only do you have a choice of banks to route your donation, but you also have the option of using your credit card. Note that there is no bank charge for this transaction.<br /><br />No time to go for a puja at the temple? Or live far away and cannot drive or fly down? That is not an issue. You can sit in the comfort of your house, and depending on your Internet connectivity speed, you can watch a live <a href="http://www.siddhivinayak.org/livewebcasting.htm/">webcasting</a>. So, finally I was able to see a bit of live puja through my broadband connection. I no longer feel guilty for not having stepped into the temple. Whew! What a relief! Look Ma, I had a darshan of Ganeshji.<br /><br />The latest feature that the temple has added is SMS. Yes, you can send SMS prayer requests. The temple has teamed with <a href="http://www.mauj.com/">Mauj</a>, mobile games and content provider for the SMS service. The temple's CEO (yes, there is one) mentioned somewhere that they have not advertised this feature to many people, and yet they have got thousands of SMS. Probably the CEO has not heard about the power of word of mouth advertisment in India.<br /><br />Other temples are not being left behind in this race, and are fast adopting and utilizing the latest and greatest technology. (I wonder if some of the temples have an IT department? On second thoughts, I think not. They might have outsourced it.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tirumala.org/">Tirupathi</a> in Andhra Pradesh, the temple which is supposed to have crossed the Vatican in its earnings, is also an IT enabled organization compelete with website, edonations, audio and SMS. (When I checked I got an error from their audio page...somebody needs to check on that and fix it.) They don't seem to have live webcasting. The temple has a call center that handles "queries" from people, and the SMS component is another way of reaching out and getting Lord Venkateshwara's blessings. Tirupathi gets about 14-15 million people a year and that is almost the size of the current population of Bombay! No wonder IT is being harnassed to help sort the log jam.<br /><br />Indian temples are not the only ones embracing technologies, other religious institutions appear to be on the same path. In the US, many churches have their own radio station, and if you missed a sermon, you can download and listen the sermon on your iPod. I am sure that mosques, Buddhist temples, Parsee temples, and synagogues and other religious institutions have adapted and adopted similar technologies.<br /><br />As this year draws to an end I am mulling my options. Should I watch the live webcast from Siddhivinayaka and seek virtual blessings, or send an SMS prayer request to Tirupati? I wonder if there is an URL that I can send asking for a particular prayer to be recited for me? (There is a business idea for somebody looking to start one.) Or, do I brave the cold and trek to the nearest temple? Who knows? I might just sleep in after the New Year's celebration.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113596126730229395?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1135117047725536302005-12-20T14:12:00.000-08:002005-12-20T14:17:27.740-08:00From my various trips to India it sounds like the school structure has undergone quite a bit of change. In fact, it has become quite Americanized. I don’t hear kids talk about quarterly, half-yearly and annual exams. Instead, I hear them discussing about their unit tests, weekly tests and semester exams. Quite a few of them have computer classes from their primary class! By the way, have you seen those mini-suitcases that these kids haul to their classes? The bags these kids carry rival the roll-on carts that I have spotted in various school corridors in Silicon Valley.<br /><br />I also noticed that there is an absence of fear among many of the young students. There is no fear of that dreaded progress report card, and whether that promotion to the next standard has come through.<br /><br />As kids our lives were structured around these dreaded exams and quizzes. These exams were punctuated by well-deserved holidays. Right after quarterly exams we had the Navaratri and Diwali holidays. New clothes, good food and cash gifts from our parents made us happy campers during this festive season.<br /><br />But, all good things have to come to an end, and it was back to school and getting our act together for the half-yearly exams. Our maths teacher who was always behind her schedule would fret about completing x, y, z chapters before the exams, and we would be asked to do extra homework or “sums homework,” as we called them.<br /><br />On the bright side, some of us were able to bunk classes the legit way. The reason? The annual Christmas play and Christmas carols show. I always managed to land a role in the play and was a member of the choir. This was a perfect excuse for me not to attend those dreaded ‘maths” classes, and in the last minute I could be seen busily cramming the formulae without a clue on how to apply them to the problems and solve them!<br /><br />I would be off to the roof or “terrace” of the house to study. And guess what? Every terrace in the neighborhood had kids like me cramming for exams. We could be seen pacing back and forth on the terrace and busy “mugging” and learning things “by heart.” Our parents kept a scorecard by pointing out so and so was up studying in the terrace at such a such a time. Believe me there was a lot of competition and pressure to do well in the exams.<br /><br />The half-yearly exams were typically held in the second-third week of December, and by 20th of December or thereabouts we would have the Christmas Play. Generally the last day of school would be half-a-day, which meant that we could go home by 2 pm or so. For two weeks we had our winter hols, and this was the time for us to goof off. But forces outside our control conspired against us and invariably we would be stuck inside the house.<br /><br />What were these forces? The first was the fact that December was the tail end of the retreating monsoon and the potential for heavy showers and thunderstorms. I am not a rain-person and don’t enjoy sloshing around in the rain- clogged streets. And traveling to our favorite destination Bangalore was out of the question since it was typically very cold during that time of the year. So, we generally did not travel during the month of December at all.<br /><br />The second factor was that December was some kind of “masam” or religious season –the month before Pongal-- when religiosity was its peak. (I don’t remember the exact name for this “masam.”) We would be woken up every morning at 5 am sharp with the muezzin’s call for prayers. I did not need any alarm or wake-up call, the muezzin’s call for prayers was sufficient to wake me up. This was just the beginning of the day. There was more in store for us. Starting at 5.45 am we were subjected to loud Tamil religious songs from various loud-speakers. You could listen to MS, and others sing holy bhajans and other religious songs. And the few times that I stepped out of the house, I vividly recollect our neighbors busy sweeping their front-yards and drawing kolam on the cleaned surface. And mind you it was still dark outside at this time of the year.<br /><br />By 6.15 am the milkman would come with his cows and buffalos and shout, “Ma, pal, ma!” This was a signal for my mother to step out and watch him milk the cow. The goal was there would be no “kalapaddam” or adulteration of the milk. My parents resisted buying the “packet milk” from Aavin for the longest time. We were probably one of the last ones in our block who finally caved and started buying Aavin milk.<br /><br />Unlike in the US, we did not exchange gifts for Christmas. Our biggest treat was New Year’s Eve when we would be allowed to watch TV until midnight. This was the time when Doordarshan had finally started showing programs from other TV channels. What this meant was we could see Surendernath (I think that is his name) the famous Hindi/Rajasthani “hasia kavi,” and other Hindi programs. This is when we got to see a good portion of Hindi programs in Madras.<br /><br />And the day after New Year’s was our last day of hols before school opened on 3rd January.<br /><br />If you cut to the present situation -- many schools have shortened their December hols to just a week. I found out from the kids in my extended family that their schools will stay open until December 24th.<br /><br />And for me hols has become “vacation.” Christmas time means flying home for “hols” for many desis in the USA. I am going off on a vacation to catch some rays and bask in the sun, and not wear all these layers of clothes to ward off the bitter winter of New York.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113511704772553630?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1135056231969029052005-12-19T21:18:00.000-08:002005-12-19T21:23:51.980-08:00It is past mid-night and the talks between the negotiating parties has broken down, and from all indications it appears that NYC transit strike will be on. And boy that is not good news for folks in NYC and surrounding areas. Millions of people travel to Manhattan from the outer boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx ...) and states like New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Some of these folks who use non-MTA transport system maybe lucky, but if they need to use local trains they are screwed.<br /><br />You can read more about the strike, and the latest news in <a href="http://nyc.metblogs.com/"><br />Metroblogging NYC</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113505623196902905?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1135031649744723512005-12-19T14:15:00.000-08:002005-12-19T14:34:09.816-08:00Like millions of people around the NYC area I am starting to fret if the NY MTA will call a city-wide transit strike. There appears to be no solution in sight between the negotiating parties. The talks continue, and this protracted negotiations are causing a lot of uncertainity and anxiety for commuters. Unless an eleventh hour agreement is arrived and signed, it seems like that this strike may take palce.<br /><br />I am not alone in thinking that this strike will cause a huge traffic jam problem, and generally make peoples life miserable during this holiday season. Everybody needs a little bit of cheering during this cold, gloomy and cheerless winter season in New York! (People, sunshine is a rare commodity during winter months.) <br /><br />I believe that after Thanksgiving, Christmas time travelling is one of the busiest times of the year. Can you imagine the thousands of passengers who have to make alternative arrangements to get to the airports, bus stations, and train stations? I shudder to think how badly packed the roads will be to LaGuardia and JFK, and to the various train stations starting from Penn to Grand Central! And now imagine all those tourists and people coming to NYC to celebrate their Christmas and New Year. They might end up being stranded for long at the airports waiting for a ride to go their homes, hotels, hostels or friend's house. There are only so many taxis and limos and vans in the city that can ferry people over. This is going to be a nightmare!<br /><br />I am keeping my fingers crossed, and hoping that this matter with the NYC transit system is sorted out, and not left unresolved like this. This uncertainity about whether the NYC transit strike will happen today, tomorrow, or next week causes anxiety, stress and uncertainity for a millions of commuters who don't need this at this time of the year.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113503164974472351?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134973738143504242005-12-18T21:54:00.000-08:002005-12-19T07:10:56.130-08:00It was with shock and horror I read about the awful tragedy of Prathiba, a BPO employee who was raped and murdered in Bangalore. <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=84118&amp;headline=Bangalore~BPO~staffer~raped,~murdered/">Read here for the story from Indian Express</a>.<br /><br />And I got thinking to see if there was a technology that is instantly available for companies to track the drivers that provide transportation and logistics services to these firms that work round the clock. Typically third party vendors provide these transporation services to the IT and BPO companies. This unfortunate incident could have been avoided if some kind of tracking techology had been installed to track the movement of the vehicles and their drivers.<br /><br />I researched on the Internet and found out that there are companies in India that have an instant and off-the shelf solution available to track the drivers of these cars. Among others, there are two companies: <a href="http://www.mobiapps.com/">Mobiapps</a> and <a href="http://www.mobiance.com/">Mobiance</a> that provide a tracking service appear to be a good fit.<br /><br />Mobiapps offers a traditional GPS solution that requires a tracking device be installed in the vehicle to track the movement of the vehicle and its driver. From what I can gather Mobiapps requires a chip in a device that can help in the tracking of vehicles. This might be an expensive proposition since a special device needs to be installed in every vehicle to track its movements.<br /><br />Mobiance, on the other hand, uses something called location-based services. It appears that they use the location of the mobile phones to track the movements of the mobile phone user. So, this appears like a feature -based service that a telco or wireless provider offers to their end-users. This technology does not need a chip or a special GPS device to be installed in the vehicle. Therefore this might be an economical solution that can be instantly deployed by the transporation and logistics provider to the IT and BPO companies.<br /><br />Since there are technologies available to track the movement of the vehicles and their drivers, it only seems logical that BPO and IT companies make it compulsory to install such a service in all their cars. There are thousands of female workers that work round the clock in various IT and BPO companies, and every step must be taken to protect their lives.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113497373814350424?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134971657238781462005-12-18T20:42:00.000-08:002005-12-18T21:54:17.283-08:00Whenever I am in Bangalore my nieces and nephews know that there is a trip to the bookstore in store for them. This has become a ritual and the kids shamelessly question how much I intend to give each one of them to buy their books and CDs in the bookstore. They have the option of going to Gangaram’s or Landmark at Forum Mall.<br /><br />How times have changed since I was a kid growing up in Madras. We had limited options and lending libraries were our main source for reading new books and comics.<br /><br />As kids buying books was a treat, and we got a monthly allowance to buy whatever favorite comics or storybooks, or novels we wanted. I remember our monthly trips to Higginbotham’s on Mount Road, or the bookstore in Pondy Bazar. And when I was a little older I learnt how to buy books at the famous Moore Market (which is long gone), or the pavement book vendors on Mount Road. The one exception to this routine is when we traveled out of station when we would get a special treat and could buy books at the railway station or on our way to the airport.<br /><br />I remember how my siblings and I would pool our money and buy Amar Chitra Katha, Classic Comics, Phantom, Tarzan, Secret Seven and Famous Five. These comics would then be bound with a nice shiny red leather (rexine would be a better description) with gold embossed letters, and these were then lent to our neighbors and friends, and in return we got to read new books and comics that they owned.<br /><br />But, none of us had access to Archies, Little Lotta, Sad Sack, Richie Rich, Commondos, Star and other American comics. These were very expensive to buy and therefore this was not a high priority "buy" item for us. But there were a few lucky friends who had access to these comics via their aunt or uncle in "foreign" who got them these glossy comics. But for the rest of us who could not get these comics we had a different source. This is when the famous lending libraries of Madras played a crucial role in our lives, and I am guessing it played a similar role in many thousands of other people's life in Madras. To get our regular fix of these comics we would go to the local lending libraries where for a couple of rupees we would rent these comics to read. The goal was to read them as fast as possible, pass them on to our friends. In return we got the books and comics that they had borrowed. This pooling of resources meant that we got to read quite a whole range of comics and books.<br /><br />There were quite a few famous libraries that we would travel every week to get our stash of books. There was Pick and Choose, Ramona’s, Raviraj, Perfect Lending (I think that is what it was called) and a bunch of neighborhood libraries that were essentially dives whose walls were lined with bookshelves.<br /><br />Pick and Choose on Thirumalai Pillai Road was the place to go for all the American comics, and later on novels by James Hadley Chase, Mario Puzo, Sidney Sheldon, and not to forgot those staple novels Mills and Boon, Barbara Cartland and Georgette Heyer. And if you knew the owner of the library then you got first divs on the new comics and books. These new editions would be kept in the drawer and given to you as a special favor. <br /><br />Ramona Lending Library on Nugambakkam High Road near Sterling Road was another hot favorite. The stern looking Punjabi gentleman (or was he Sindhi?) maintained strict record-keeping of his inventory, and nothing escaped his eagle eyes. I remember as an unsmiling and strict looking guy who never played favorites. Every book that was borrowed from the library was entered in neat-bird-like scratch into these huge ledgers. Each member had a couple of pages devoted to their activity in this ledger. The only time Dame Luck smiled on you was when the stern-looking gentleman’s wife took over the running of the library for the day. And, believe you me this was a rare thing. <br /><br />The third one in the library pantheon was Raviraj Lending Library on Usman Road, next to Panagal Park and opposite Thangamaligai. Every time anybody from our house went to buy sabzi at Panagal Park, we would get a life to the library. This was a 2-storeyed library and had wonderful books, and the best part was that the library's lending charges were the most economical. What that meant was that a rupee would go a long way.<br /><br />Besides these three libraries there were other sources for getting books. This was the circle of friends in our schools who would get books from their respective neighborhood libraries, and naturally we had access to more titles. <br /><br />As we grew older the pressure to read and return the books increased enormously. I believe that is the reason that many of us developed the habit of speed reading and instant and on the fly book reviews. From middle school onwards when Mills and Boons, James Hadley Chase, Agatha Christy and others entered our lives, we would get peer-reviews. Essentially this heuristic device helped us navigate the wonderful world of books. Remember that we had no Internet access, and no Amazon reviews to look up before buying a book.<br /><br />As we grew older the kinds of libraries we visited also changed. Slowly we ventured to the British Council or BC, and the USCIS on Mount Road. This is where we got to read Punch, The Economist, The Sunday Times, and a host of wonderful new authors like the Durrell Brothers, Catherine Cookson, Evelyn Waugh, Victoria Holt, and watch films and videos. It was at the USCIS that I first saw videos of Alistair Cooke, and ABC News hosted by Peter Jennings.<br /><br />Somewhere along the way we got introduced to the concept of mobile library, where magazines were delivered to your doorstop for a small feel. This was a wonderful concept that allowed us greater access to a whole range of magazines that were otherwise expensive to buy. Basically you got to keep the magazines for a day or two, and then got a new set of magazines.<br /><br />Later on in my travels I discovered that this concept of lending library was a quaintly Madras thing. Yes, there were other cities that had lending libraries and their share of BC and USCIS, but I do not think many of them had the range of lending libraries that Madras had.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113497165723878146?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134750204859435112005-12-16T08:22:00.000-08:002005-12-16T08:23:24.873-08:00Growing up in Madras, (I have a hard time calling it Chennai...I grew up in "Madras, Nalla Madras" as MGR or vadiyar would sing in his movies) we used the trusty Pallavan Transport (the Madras equivalent of BEST) to ferry us across town. It was not until high school or Plus Two that I got to use this well-run bus system. But not using the bus system did not preclude me from listening to my classmates interesting bus journeys when they took the bus back and forth from the school.<br /><br />In a vicarious way I got to know the various routes, the bus driver and the conductors, and had already created little mental maps of each character. Years later these mental constructs helped me identify the various characters when I started using the bus system. That is when these characters morphed into real people. With his brown leather bag tucked under their arm-pit, the conductor would jauntily stand on the top step of the bus, and check to see if the commuters had their passes, and would go down the aisle to help people buy their tickets. (New Delhi is the exact opposite. The conductor sits at his appointed seat and refuses to budge. Since the aisles were very narrow in New Delhi buses, often people were unable to buy their tickets, and get a free ride! You could spot the newbie on the bus by their bewildered expressions when they got pushed around by people.)<br /><br />I digressed. Back to the Pallavan transportation. Bus number 10 had a driver who spoke "Sen Thamizh," or pure Tamil and would quote couplets from Tiruvalluvar. I believe ths was the bus where the conductor would not let you board unless you wore footwear. “Kal anni yenggai?” (Where is your footwear he would question). Bus number 9's conductor was a kind and gentle person, who always stopped the bus for his passengers. You always got a seat on this bus. Bus Number 42 had a grumpy conductor, who always screamed at people. But it was bus number 25c that fascinated me the most. This was the bus route that held the most interesting stories for me. There were a bunch of girls who used the bus, and would always talk about their bus conductor, and the rest of us would listen with rapt attention. These stories were recounted during our hour-long lunch breaks.<br /><br />Bus number 25c ran on Kodambakkam and Nugumbakkam High Road (actually this used to be a narrow 2-lane road, and not a highway by any stretch of imagination). And the conductor of this particular bus was a carbon copy (or attai copy as they say in Tamil) of Superstar Rajnikanth, fondly referred to as "Rajni," by his fans. This guy sported the same haircut and moustache, and delivered dialogues just like him. Now, this was the height of the Rajnikanth phase in Madras (the height of Rajni's fame continued to grow, and still persists today). There were two camps in school: The Rajni camp and the Kamalahassan (or is it Kamal Hassan, he changed the spelling of his name when he started acting in Hindi films) camp, and in my school the Rajni camp won hands down.<br /><br />Rajni was the Superstar, the hero for many of my classmates. "Ayyo Rajni padam," squealed this particular girl every time she passed by one of those gigantic hoardings on the road. She would even scream at posters that were stuck on walls with "Stick No Bills," labeled right on top of these kaleidoscopic posters. (I guess the huge billboard still stands outside Woody's bang opposite the US Consulate. And there are similar hoarding opposite Safire cinema must still be there. I am sure there are a lot of changes now). <br /><br />Now, this particular gang that traveled on 25c consisted of Rajni fans, nay worshippers, who saw every movie of his. Weekends were spent watching his movie in a theatre. They would even bunk school to go and buy the ticked in advance for the opening day show. So it was like a dream come true for many of them to take this bus 25C to school with the faux Rajni. Because of the timings of the bus these girls were routinely late for school and assembly. (We started our day with Assembly. It was compulsory to attend Assembly. Students would take turns to play "Chopsticks" until the regular piano teacher came and we sang our hymns). <br /><br />The Rajni gang got away with coming late for school for quite some time. They would delay their departure home to take that particular bus with that particular conductor. Many would stay behind after class and participate in extra curricular activities just so they could take the 5.30 pm bus, whose conductor was the Rajni look-alike. <br /><br />But in life all good things come to an end sometime or the other and my classmates luck ran out. They were forced to abandon their late bus just so they could reach school on time. Apparently, their late arrival was noticed by the "Princy," who recommended that stern warnings be issued to the group about their late arrival. Instead of taking their favorite bus with their favorite conductor they were reduced to taking an earlier bus. And, this bus could not have been anything close to their previous bus. This was a “Ladies Special,” bus which had a very kind and low-keyed conductor, and not anything like the next bus that had the dashing faux Ranji. I don't know if they have still run these Ladies Special buses in Madras, but this was a great concept and many of us felt safe taking this bus.<br /><br />Finally, when I started using the Pallavan Transport I chose the safe and non-threatening ladies bus. But in my later years I did manage to catch a glimpse of the Rajni look-alike conductor in bus number 25c. And, yes he was an "attai copy," of the Superstar. I also got to travel on bus number 9 and heard the conductor speak chaste Tamil.<br /><br />A few years ago, on a visit to Madras I took a bus for old time's sake. I chose to ride a late afternoon bus to take me to the British Council in Mount Road. It was a harrowing experience and did not leave pleasant memories. I have since learnt that sometimes it is best not to re-create past memories. Everything changes, and the only thing that has not changed is your memory/is of the place or event, and that can never be re-created. That is why memories acquire a romantic and rosy tinge as years go by.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113475020485943511?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134746365330338282005-12-16T07:15:00.000-08:002005-12-16T07:19:25.343-08:00The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has called for a partial strike involving private bus lines. What this means is that we get to use the subways and buses for today and the weekend. The MTA has set a new deadline for next Tuesday. We will have to wait and see.<br /><br />I think many people, including me, will probably end up using "Gyarah Number Bus" ...use our legs to transport us across town.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113474636533033828?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134696782754598492005-12-15T16:50:00.000-08:002005-12-15T17:54:09.960-08:00New Yorkers depend on their trusty network of subways and buses to get around this huge and well-organized city of grids. Using the efficient and dependable network of subways and trains they get to different parts of New York within minutes. But, it looks like this trusty transportation system is going to come to a grinding halt.<br /><br />New Yorkers are gearing up for a major public transportation disruption on Friday, December 16, 2005. Starting at 12.01 am on Friday, trains and buses in the city may come to a grinding halt. And going by news reports the chances of a settlement being reached between the transporation workers and the government appear slim.<br /><br />The reason for the disruption is that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) contract with the city government comes to an end and they want a new contract with new terms. The 34,000 members of MTA will go on strike even though technically public employees cannot go on a strike. The last time MTA went on a strike was in 1980 and that went for 10 or 11 days and cost over $1 billion to the state.<br /><br />If the MTA goes on strike over 7 million people will be hit by this strike. Imagine that is almost half the population of Bombay, and imagine if the trains and BEST went on strike in Bombay. You can picture the kind of impact of such a strike would have on the people of Bombay. Now, factor in the cold weather in New York city, and it is going to be tough and miserable to walk those long blocks to get to work. The wind chill factor alone is enough to deter me from stepping out and walk the streets of New York. The Bombay equivalent of this weather factor would be the relentless monsoon rains.<br /><br />Having had ample notice about the impending strike New Yorkers have turned to the web to arrange for their transportation. The ride share page of Craigslist is filled with over 100 + postings with people asking for <a href="http://newyork.craigslist.org/rid/">ride shares</a> here.<br /><br />Others like the <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/">Zipcar</a> sent out an email offering free shuttle service for their commuters. Here is what they had to say:<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;">On Friday, December 16th, from 7:30am to 7pm, we will be offering freerides to and from downtown. Designated pickup spots are located on theEast and West sides of Manhattan. Just look for the Zipcar employees and banners.</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;">The shuttles will be picking up and dropping off at the followinglocations: -</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;">Upper West Side: H&H Bagels (80th &amp; Broadway) to WTC -Upper East Side: H&H Bagels (80th &amp; 2nd Ave) to City Hall-Grand Central Station: 42nd &amp; Lexington to City Hall-Penn Station: 31st and 7th Avenue to WTC(We would have loved to offer the shuttle service to the folks inBrooklyn and Queens, but due to traffic restrictions on the bridges weare unable to do so. Sorry!)</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;">Of course, you can also be dropped off between the pickup and drop offlocations if your destination is on the way.And, hey, if there is no strike, we'll still be offering free ridesduring the morning commute from these locations so come by and takeadvantage! </span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;">Happy Zipping!</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#3333ff;"></span></em><br />The city has recommended that High Occupancy Vehicles (sounds like high networth individuals) have at least four occupants travelling in the vehicle if they use a highway or a bridge. The city has also devoted some space on its website for contingency planning. You can check that out <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/transitinfo/html/home.shtml/">here</a>.<br /><br />Others like About.com have also pitched with suggestions for commuters on how to plan for alternate travel plans. You can read about it <a href ="http://manhattan.about.com/">here</a>.<br /><br />The timing of the MTA strike could have another economic impact on the city and the state and that is the holiday retail earnings will be badly hit. The last few days before Christmas is one of the busiest shopping days, and that is when major retailers rake in a good percentage of their profits.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113469678275459849?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134351844371467612005-12-11T16:42:00.000-08:002005-12-11T17:44:04.436-08:00A couple of recent news articles on India caught my eyes. The first one mentioned that the Fast Moving Consumer Goods, or FMCG as they are fondly called, is back on an upward trend and the figures for the month of October underscores this recovery. The second piece of news from Associated Press said that the number of Internet users in India is currently about 38.5 million users. This number is expected to double in the next couple of years, and one indication of that is in the explosive growth of cyber cafes or cybers or Internet cafes. In 2001 there were 18,000 such cyber cafes reports the AP, and it is expected that by this year end there will be more than 100,000 of these cafes. The report also pointed out that online shopping is on the rise in India.<br /><br />There are various other statistics available about the retail sector, the real estate sector, automotive sector and other sectors. In each one of these sectors the arrow is pointing upwards, and each of these sectors is poised to grow in the next couple of years. These stastics are tidy numbers that neatly packages to help us understand the macro picture. If you disaggregate the strands and look at the reality on ground, what you see is a vibrant consumer culture. Consumers in India are going through a phase of discovery of new products, goods, services and slowly as the market matures this will be followed by consumer delight.<br /><br />I was lucky enough to see the real picture in various parts of India because of my year long stay in various parts of the country. It was fascinating and absorbing to see how people's behaviour was being moulded and changed on the fly with each passing week. Viral marketing is at its best in India, and word of mouth acts as the best form of advertisement for new products and goods. This is true whether it is young school going kids, young adults, or home-makers.<br /><br />Take cell phones for instance. India has one of the fastest growing markets in the world in this sector, and each month thousands of new cell phone users are added. Cell phones have become so common that many have more than one. While living in Bombay, we had to get our airconditioner serviced and got the recomendation of one from our general contractor Mr. Mistry. Mr. Mistry was the handyman for the building and could get you a carpenter, a plumber, a driver, or anybody else you needed to fix a problem in your apartment. Ram Saran, the airconditioner technician, who was an independent contractor, called on my cell phone and fixed a time-slot to come to our place. He took a look at the airconditioner, quoted a price, and got working. Within minutes of his arrival his cell phone went off, and after a couple of minutes, another cell phone went off, and I saw him pull a third one out to check an SMS. I was taken back, and wondered what logic dictated his posession of three cell phones?<br /><br />When there was a lull in his cell phone conversation, I asked Ram Saran to explain why he had three cell phones? And his answer was simple. "Two phones are for business purpose. I only receive incoming calls in them. All incoming calls are free. I cannot afford to loose business, and if my first cell phone is busy then customers can call me on my second phone. And my third phone is for personal calls. I buy pre-paid card for Rs. 200 and use it to keep in touch with my family."<br /><br />DVDs, CDs, VCS etc are a must-buy item for any family in India. Did not get to see the latest film? No problem, wait a few weeks and you get the film on a VCD for Rs. 150-200, and you can sit in the leisure of your home and watch it on a big-screen TV. I do not have the figures for the sales of these goods, but I would guess that the growth rates must be pretty high judging by the amount of money people spend on them. It is not uncommon to come across people who have huge libraries of their favorite DVD/VCD collection. Young school going children swap VCDs and DVDs of the latest games. When I go to India my young nephews let me know that they are not intrested in anything from the USA. Instead, they want me to give them their gift money so that they can buy a game of their choice in India. And between them they have a respectable collection of games and are always on the prowl to buy the latest title. Mind you, they do not have access to the Internet to gather the latest information. But what they have instead is access to instant information through their friends network.<br /><br />Homes. Perhaps one of the biggest discoveries that I discovered is in the home furnshing and decor segment. Many people set aside a sizeble budget to buy furniture and other accessories for their homes. Quite a bit of money is also spent in upgrading the kitchen. People no longer want just a counter top with the stove. There is growing demand for modular kitchen cabinets, marble top counters, bigger capacity fridge, microwaves etc. When I spoke to a couple of kitchen cabinet outfits in Bombay and Bangalore they mentioned that they are unable to keep pace with the demand, but consumers are willing to wait to get their kitchen outfitted. The budget for kitchens start from the low thousands and goes up to a few lakhs. "A good, well-fitted modular kitchen adds to the re-sale value of my apartment," pointed out a home-maker in Bangalore, who was busy doing comparison shopping of various vendors.<br /><br />Cars and scooters. The four-wheeler and two-wheeler sector is going through a boom, and this is evident in the crowded streets of various cities and towns of India. This is also evident in the huge automotive shows rooms that have become a fixture of many cities and towns of India. This is also evident in the attractive loan and interest rates offered by many banks. Recently, when Maruti introduced an upgraded version of their small passenger car called "Swift," demand outstripped supply. People who booked their orders in June/July could pick up their cars only in Oct/Nov time-frame in some cities. Recently a friend bought a Swift in Bangalore but pulling considerable strings with the dealer. SUVs or vehicles that look like SUVs is proliferating. You have the Tata Sumos, Toyota Qualis and Innova, Mahindra's Scorpio etc that cost anywhere from Rs. 6 lakhs (roughly about S12,000) and upwards.<br /><br />Perhaps the biggest delight is in the new shopping malls that are popping all over the Indian landscape from Dehradun to Hubli, from Nagpur to Bhubaneshwar. It is impossible to get your foot in the door in any of these malls during the weekend, when people are packed like sardines in a can, but are happy to go about in their discovery of new perfumes, books, clothes, footwear etc. <br /><br />The story is the same across the board in India. One of the most interesting changes was in the cinema halls. Gone are the old multiplexes. Instead, there are new ones with the latest technology. Take the PVR chain of theatres for instance. They have segregated their movie theatres into different classes like Gold, Europa etc. For instance for Rs. 500 a pop you can get to sit in a plush lazy-boy kind of chair in an exclusive theature in the Gold Class category. Before the movie starts you are presented a menu, and can order for food worth about Rs. 1450 from your seat. You can either order the ordinary popcorn, or choose to have a nice hearty soup or a slice of pizza. The steep price has not proved to be a barrier. People are willing to fork out the money for once in a life time experience.<br /><br />This phenomenon is not confined just to the large cities, but can be found in other bigger cities and towns. An interesting development has been the market for second-hand goods. When our neighbour in Bangalore recently bought a new fridge and a cooking range, their domestic help offered to buy their old fridge and cooking range from them. "It is easier for me to cook and store the food in the fridge for a couple of days during the weekday," explained Parvathi, who bought the second-hand fridge and the stove.<br /><br />While many researchers and analysts harp on India's IT and BPO industry, I belive the real story and growth is in the nascent retail and consumer market in India. This is where the real growth and money is.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113435184437146761?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134252965580628552005-12-10T14:07:00.000-08:002005-12-10T14:16:05.590-08:00Many of you may have read Amy Waldman's four-part series in last week's New York Times about the roads in India and its socio-economic impact on the society. If you have not had a chance to read it, please do so. It makes for some fascinating reading, and those who criticize forget that it took an American to travel the length and breadth of India to write this fascinating account.<br /><br />Waldman has answered readers questions online and you can read about it <a href="//http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/international/asia/09indiaq.html?8dpc/">here</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113425296558062855?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134140342282554372005-12-09T06:45:00.000-08:002005-12-09T06:59:02.316-08:00I do not want to crow in delight, but I did gaze into my crystal ball in Septemeber 2004 and predicted that the day is not too far way when Bangalore will be re-christened as Bengaluru. Going by the current political debate it appears that the city will undergo a name change in the near future. It will be interesting to watch the developments unfold, and see if there is any kind of debate on this, or if will be a unilateral decision from the powers that be.<br /><br />While we are on this name changing trend, I have a suggestion. Let us all change our names and go back to the original spelling. So, for instance if I lived in South India my name would be prounced as "Kamlah" the middle syllable will be stressed. But, if I lived in the North, my name would be spelt differenly and the first syllable would be stressed. How do we resolve these regional differences?<br /><br />I wonder which city is going to change its name next? Kanpur maybe? Remember how the British spelt it? Cawnpore? I wonder if the original name of the city is Kaunpur? Similarly, Lucknow may undergo a change and you might see it spelt as Lakhnav, or something approximating it.<br /><br />Maybe we should change the name of India itself. Why India, which is derived from the word "Sindh" or "Hind" (depending which theory you subscribe). I know, I know many refer to it as Bharat, but maybe we should find a neutral name for the country? Instrestingly, the Chinese still refer to Indians as "Indhus" or "Hindhus" in their language...be it Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka or any other Chinese dialect. That is how people from India were historically referred to by the Chinese and the word has passed from one century to the next.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113414034228255437?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134139379073979652005-12-09T06:42:00.000-08:002005-12-09T06:42:59.090-08:00'Fess up. Anytime you plan a trip to India the first thought that you get is all that home-cooked food you can get to eat. And invariably the first comment you will get from other desis is, "Aacha khana milega. You lucky guy..."<br /><br />Never mind if you are a student, a home-maker, a programmer or an executive...food dominates your thoughts when you are visiting India. And have you noticed how many of us start nit-picking the minute we board the aircraft and comment on our plate of Indian food? To be fair, the quality of Indian food has improved vastly and is palatable, but no that is not sufficient for us...we still crave for the best.<br /><br />So, the minute you hit your hometown your mom would have prepared all your favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner food items. This is in stark contrast to your hurried breakfast, lunch and dinner of cereal, sandwiches, soups and TV dinners. Yes, you might cook every other day, but it is not the same as food cooked in India. The food does not same the same when you pull it out of the freezer, nuke it and then eat it. There is something missing there, but over time you get used to it, and live a compromised existence.<br /><br />Besides home-cooked food, you probably are eager to hit your circuit of "food addas" for your favorite dishes. <br /><br />Now, that long preamble sets the stage to describe my tryst with food when I was in India for two weeks. So, while in Bombay I finally made it to the famous Trishna Seafood restaurant tucked away right behind Rythm House in Kala Ghoda. The food is very good and one of the reasons for this is that the dishes are totally smothered in butter, a forbidden food item for many of us. Of course, kulfi was a must. There were no questions asked when we were prompted for desserts. We made sure we had room for that delectable and sinfully rich kulfi.<br /><br />I was also lucky this time to be able to visit the Ripon Club, a Parsi club, where I got to taste a typical Parsi chicken dish (the names escapes my mind at the moment), and a scrambled egg dish that consisted of haldi and tons of kothmir. This club is also located in Kala Ghoda and is about 135 years old. Of course kulfi reared its head again as the dessert of choice. Need I say more? We were all yea sayers, and guiltily spooned the rich concoction into our mouths. We were each stealing furtive glances to see if the other person was demolishing the dessert with the same speed. What do you think?<br /><br />While in South Bombay I made a foray into Parsi Diary Farm, a 100-year old institution that still makes sweet-meats (remember that word?). But, the difference is that most of the mithai makers are from Rajasthan. Besides mithai, they also sell Kulfi (I decided to pass on it) yogurt, flavored milk and regular milk. I picked up some mithai like lagan nu laddoo and some gooey looking jalebis and nibbled on them throughout the day. The trusty bottle of that hand sanitizer proved to be useful to clean my hands and greedily reach out for another small bite of jalebi.<br /><br />While in Bombay, I make it a point to have a Gujarati thali. Nothing comes close to a Gujarati thali with its endless katorees (cups) of sabzi, dhal and other preparations. If you can wrangle a home-cooked meal from a friend that is the best thing, or else there is the Thakker Club. No, it is not a club, but an old, established eating joint located behind Marine Lines in South Bombay. The food in this place is heavenly, and people swarm to your table eager to fill your constantly depleting plate of food. Rivers of ghee flow from the chapattis, and the mithai is out of the world. The shrikhand and other sweetmeat simply melt in your mouth.<br /><br />I was lucky to also have some Guajarati khana at a friend’s place while I was in Bombay. I love the whole ritual of eating out of a Guajarati thali, and of course the ghee is constantly dripping off their famously thin rotis. (In the US one of the best places that serves a good Guajarati thali is “Jai Bharat” in Artesia, Los Angeles. They make the best rotla sag, and thepla, and other Gujarati dishes. They also maintain a pretty clean kitchen.)<br /><br />I have an incredibly sweet tooth and have been known to travel long distances for the right mithai. Bombay, I discovered, does not have any good mithai shops. Yes, I know I got mithai from Parsi Diary, but that was out of nostalgia than for the quality of the mithai. It gave me an opportunity to talk to the interesting folks at the shop. Yes, there is also the Tiwari mithaiwallah in Juhu and somewhere in South Bombay too, but the sweets were disappointing. So, I was really looking forward to my one-day trip to New Delhi where I had carved out a couple of hours to go to Bengali Sweets and Nathu Sweets near Barakhamba Road. Both these places held fond memories for me of having spent many summer and winter evenings eating a plate of gajjar halwa or ras malai, and then packing a bunch of gulab jamuns for my friends who were unable to make this long trek from South Delhi. <br /><br />As we were driving down Barakhamba Road and made our way towards the two sweet shops I had visions of being torn between which mithai I need to choose and take with me. I made a quick sortie into Bengali sweets, and then changed my mind and darted across to Nathus. Sure, I was torn between all the different mithai and had a hard time choosing. The one thing that I find common in most mithai shops is the changing nature of the mithai itself. Now, many of these sweets resemble French pastry complete with that cherry on top. And some resemble a white version of Godiva chocolates since they are shaped and molded like those bite-sized chocolates. All this is very confusing for me, when all I want is some good old mithai that is full of flavor. , I am never sure how these new-fangled sweets will taste. I stuck to buying kalakandh, raj bog, something called a nut halwa, and ghujiya. My eyes popped out when I noticed the ghujiya, which is a sweet associated with Holi, and I quickly ordered some gujiyas. <br /><br />So, armed with my bundle of sweets, or should I say my bundle of joy, I happily stepped out of the shop into the car. Well, folks the sweets were a bit disappointing. The ghujiya did not measure up to my taste buds...it was missing something, and that was the burst of flavors of khoya when you bit into the ghujiya. Instead, the filling was some indescribable thing…that is no words exists in my vocabulary to describe the taste. The kalakndh was also a disappointment. Nobody seems to be using the real things when making mithai. There is maida and other items included in the preparation that robs the sweet of its essence.<br /><br />So, my quest for good mithai provided to be not that successful in either Bombay or New Delhi. And, my last hope was Bangalore, which is a foodies paradise. People of this city have always been food lovers and I remember as a child going to various restaurants in Bangalore. You see going out to eat in Madras was not the done thing when I was growing up. Most of the cafes and coffee-houses catered to male clients, and I am still not sure why. But, we were allowed to pack our food and bring it home. And, god forbid if I stepped into a military hotel in Madras for a bite of their food, all hell would break loose. The only exception was the Nair chai kadai, where a gang of us would descend to have that famous meter coffee or tea. The other exception to eating out was the old Woody's and the new Woody’s. The old Woody’s was a drive-in place where the waiter came and fixed a steel-tray to the car window, and your ordered your idlis and dosas and had piping hot filter coffee.<br /><br />I digressed. Back to Bangalore, which has eating joints everywhere you look. There is the traditional South Indian fare, and there is the more exotic Chinese, Japanese, Korean and now Italian food. In-between these categories is that all encompassing category of multi-cuisine food. Of course while I am in Bangalore my sorties to restaurants diminishes quite dramatically since I get to eat home-cooked food of idlis, dosas, rotis, dal and sabzi, and kheer, my all-time favorite dessert. However that does not preclude me from doing some window-shopping, and buying some mithai.<br /><br />Interestingly some of the better mithai is available in Bangalore. Even a regular food store like Sunday to Monday (I am not sure of the exact name) has a mithai counter and they sell some really nice mithai. And, of course there is Krishna Sweets with its piping hot Mysore pak and Sri Mithai with its kalakandh and sandesh, and KC Das with its chenna preparations. You can get some really nice kheer kadom and mishti dhoi at KC Das that has outlets in almost all the major areas in Bangalore. <br /><br />I also lucked out while on a hurried trip to Malleswaram to stumble upon an old sweet and savory store run by a bright-eyed, alert and clean-shaven Tamilian, who was so happy to hear me prattling away in Tamil. Malleswaram is what is described by many as old Bangalore complete with narrow roads, small and crowded shops and no parking spots. This old, sparsely-stocked store had a wonderful name "Love Luck," and is located on Sampangi Street. The store had a single 60 watt bulb illuminating the room, and neatly stacked on the counter were plastic bags filled with murukku, cheddai, adarsams, appalams, and nylon mixture. And it was here that I got my cache of adarsams, chikkis, and other South Indian sweet meats. Along with that I also got some murukkus, adai, and mixture. <br /><br />Now that I am away from India, I am rationing my cache of mithais, mixture and murukkus, but unfortunately it is a loosing proposition. Better sense does not seem to prevail, and often we find ourselves gorging on these "bakshanams" or tiffin items, and the rate at which the food is diminshing I suspect we will be out of our cache by this weekend. Blame it on the snow and the cold that make us prisoners in our own home and we are reduced to consuming cups, and cups of adrak chai (not that weak concoction that Starbucks sells as chai) and of course you need something to chew when you sip your Brooke Bond tea. As I notice the diminishing food supply, my mind is buys plotting on when I can make another trip to India to stock up on food, and eat some good home-cooked meals.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113413937907397965?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1134068984921345112005-12-08T10:30:00.000-08:002005-12-08T11:09:45.003-08:00This axiom hold true for every observer, whether you are an NRI, or somebody returning to their native village, or a city where you grew up....when you are away from a familiar place for an extended period of time, your eyes tend to look at the changes that have taken place. Your mind does a "diff" of what was before and what exists now, and the resulting delta tends to be interesting. And, it is this delta that you tend to look at, marvel about, and talk about. Talking about change does not mean that you are looking down on somebody or a society. Talking about change helps you understand and marvel how change occurs, and in what direction it occurs etc. etc. <br /><br />Looking at the changing face of airports in India makes me nostalgic and reminds me of a different time and period growing up in India. <br /><br />When I was a kid we used to refer to airports as aerodomes and planes as aeroplanes, and our dad would always point out the hangar where the planes would be parked...Fokker Friendships, DC10 etc. There was only one airline: Indian Airlines with its white and orange colors. Aiports in those days used to be sparsely populated, and you barely had any intense security checkings like the kind you have now. Today, you have to go through about 3-4 security checks before you are allowed to board the plane. In those days you boarded the plane by walking upto the plane and climbing the stairs where you would be greeted by a smiling air hostess with a namaste. When you deplaned, the air hostess would bid you farewell with a smile and a namaste, and you walked down the steps and walked across to the aerodome. <br /><br />All that has changed with the changing economy with India firmly established in the emerging or developing economy category. People please note that the old world collapsed with the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It is no longer kosher to refer to countries as first, second and third world. Those terms are meaningless since they referred to the cold war world order with the capitalist and communist camp with the iron curtain firmly in place in Eastern Europe. So do yourselves a favor and refer to India as an emerging economy. Yes, for those nay sayers Communism is still alive and kicking, but the cold war world order with two super-powers does not exisit any more. Those who refer to India as a third world country are doing the country a big disservice.<br /><br />Getting back to airports. Today, the airports are crowded with loads of passengers waiting in the terminal with a fleet of aircrafts crowding the tarmac. It is somewhat of a high pressure situation to travel by plane in India. Sometimes, it takes longer to reach the airport, complete the formality and board the plane. Compounding the situation is the fact that proper announcements are never made for boarding aircrafts. You are reduced to asking your neighbour if the announcement for fligth so and so has been made. <br /><br />Is it only me, or have others noticed how the buses that ferry you to the aircraft merrily honk away? The first time I heard a driver honk I jumped out of my skin since it was such an unexpected sound, but now I have gotten used to it. But, there are always other surprises in stores. Like the last time I was in Bangalore airport, we nearly got run over by a jet taxing to its spot. The bus driver was happily driving us to the plane, when he suddenly spotted an aircraft heading his way. He tried to reverse the bus, but there was barely any room for him to back up. So, we all watched open-mouthed (luckily no mosquities or flie got into our open mouths) as the plane turned and made its way to its spot. The wing span was barely a few meters from the plane!<br /><br />Here is a tip for those who are planning to visit India. One of the best airlines to fly is Jet,and you can get good rates when you book online, especially if you use Indian Rupees. For some strange reason everybody in India thinks that people who live outside the country are rolling in money and can afford to pay a whole lot more. I hear that KingFisher is also a pretty good airlines. Deccan and Sahara I am told do not serve food on their flights, and they are perpetually late. Deccan probably takes the cake and I have had personal experience of having to wait for hours for a flight to land. And, their ground staff and flight information is sub-par. Indian Airlines has spruced up its act, and you can get some really good fares when you fly off-peak hours. Off-peak is generally from 10 am to 3-4 pm.<br /><br />One of the reasons that air travel has taken off in such a big way is that the price difference between travelling by train and plane has become insignificant. This is especially the case if you are travelling a/c 2nd class or a/c chair car on some routes. It is perhaps far more economical to fly than take the train.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113406898492134511?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1133970834918672182005-12-07T07:17:00.000-08:002005-12-07T07:53:54.930-08:00The last time I used Bombay's domestic airport was in late June, just before the big Bombay deluge. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I used their domestic airport a couple of weeks ago. They have a new domestic airport under construction (Mr. Hafeez Contractor of the Hiranandani Gardens fame is in charge of it) and it looks good, and everything is streamlined. <br /><br />The minute you enter the airport there are booths for various airlines, and then you step into the main hall...and it looks like a regular airport that you see in the USA. They have nice long counters with clear signage, and none of the pushing and shoving that you encountered in the old airport where people jumped lines at will. Remember those horrible stodgy looking pillars right behind the counters? No more of that in the new airport.<br /><br />Once you check in you walk over to the same old shops from the old airport...only these are now pushed to one corner, which I thought was odd at first. I thought a bit more and figured that the reason they have pushed to one side is to contain the unruly foot traffic in any public space in India.<br /><br />The one thing that I missed this time was the interesting jabber that I could tune in at will while waiting to board the aircraft. I did not encounter any of that. This could be because I was either taking the early morning flights or late night flights, and none of them were during the off-peak hours which is when the more interesting people travel. <br /><br />On a morning flight to New Delhi all my co-passengers were grim looking business men toting their computer laptop bags. Many had a copy of either "Financial Express" or "Economic Times" in their hands. Of course, you could not miss the cellphones....some of them were still stuck in the old mindset of showing off their cell phones...they were clipped to their belts much like people used to clip their pagers in the last century. There were about 3 women in the morning flight, and the rest were all men, who by strange coincidence happened to know each other. So, I got to evesdrop on business type chit-chat of who was leaving which company etc.<br /><br />New Delhi domestic airport has not changed as dramatically as the Bombay one. It was relatively easy for me to get one of those pre-paid taxis. I paid a flat fee of Rs. 100 and got a ride to my hotel in South Delhi. I hopped into a comfortable looking Amby driven by an earnest looking Bihari from Bhagalpur. We had a starting problem....remember the starting problem that used to plague Amby cars? I think there was a problem with the alternator, but that is a different story. Anyway, he jumped out of the car and joined 2 wires and co-opted another driver to hold those wires steady while he started the car and viola! suddenly the car jumped, and then sputtered and jumped into life. He slammed the bonnet shut and we chugged down Dhula Kuan (sp?) and RK Puram to the hotel. The first thing that struck me was how wide the roads were in Delhi, and how fast we were able to travel. The traffic was orderly and not like the bumper-to-bumper traffic you encounter in Bombay or Bangalore.<br /><br />Bangalore airport...well, if things go as planned there should be a new one at Devanahalli which is miles away from the center of the city. The existing airport belongs to HAL...it is a nice, clean and kind of cosy airport. And it is always a pleasure to see those young ladies from Kemps Corner beam and offer you a stem of red rose as you exit the airport. It is a whole different story when you drive out of the airport and hit Marthahalli...you witness the famous Bangalore traffic jam right away. Kya witness? You are right in the "beech" middle of the jam!<br /><br />Need I say anything about the chaos that ensues everytime we board our international flights from Bombay? I do not why they cannot get their act together. Everybody is herded into that tiny hall, and then all hell breaks loose when the flight is announced. There is no orderly procession...instead everyone is jostling one another like they are boarding a public bus that is going to leave us behind if we don't get our foot into the door. While we were jostling to get into the plane, I spotted the grey-haired MF Hussain being wheeled away in a chair with a serene smile pasted on his face. I have a plot brewing in my mind...the next time I am going to declare that I am handicapped and my arthritis is acting up and I need a wheelchair. This way both my husband and I can escape this jostling and board our flight in utter peace and quite. Watch me sail past you with a serene smile pasted on my face!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113397083491867218?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1133884605425789562005-12-06T07:18:00.000-08:002005-12-06T07:56:45.490-08:00India Shining? Remember the slogan coined as a tagline for BJP's re-election? Well, it did not do wonders for that party, but the tagline stuck on and every once in a while it pops up in my head. The Indian economy is booming when compared to the tired and mature US economy. The upbeat attitude and the number of businesses locating to India continues to grow.<br /><br />I was away from India for 2 months and recently went back for a two week whirlwind trip touring through Bombay, New Delhi and Bangalore. I must confess that the changes taking place in India are mind-boggling at times. If you live there, you probably do not notice the changes, but if you step away and come back the changes are noticeable. <br /><br />The first thing that I noticed was that the stock market is still going strong. It pierced the 9,000 mark, and everybody seems to be playing the market and are eager to get a demat account (I believe that is the name of the account to trade shares).<br /><br />The second thing that I noticed was the real estate market is still hot. For instance, in Bangalore apartments are sold the day they are advertised in the newspapers. The demand seems to be outstripping the supply of apartments. Never mind that the infrastructure in the city is still a bit of a problem. The same is true for Delhi and Gurgaon, where the appreciation of property is going through the roof.<br /><br />The third thing that I noticed was that air travel has become a common phenomenon, and getting tickets is becoming increasingly difficult. The number of airlines has also increased. Kingfisher is now trying to bid for Sahara Airlines, and Spice Jet has taken off, and there are other airlines that provide air services between second-tier cities. Bombay's new domestic airport is fantastic...it is still under construction, but the airport has a look and feel of an international airport. On the other hand, Madras International Airport is very practical looking, complete with green pedestal fans mounted on pillars at regular intervals. Sad to report that the jabber in the airport is no longer interesting and entertaining. <br /><br />The fourth thing that I noticed was that the quality of Hindi films has probably dropped. They all appear to have the same story line and the same item girl performing in all the films. It looks like Mr. Hashimi (sp?) films have more or less the same story line, and he plays more or less the same character, and there is lot of body contact with the opposite sex. And, most of his films are shot outside India. His latest film was shot in South Korea.<br /><br />The fifth thing that I noticed is that the Laloo Prasad phenomenon has finally waned. The aloo in the samosa has become stale, and Mr. Prasad is no longer in charge of Bihar. But, don't write off this seasoned politician as yet. I am betting my bottom dollar that he will be back in a couple of years in a better form.<br /><br />The sixth thing that I noticed is that the number of restaurants opening in India is increasing by the day. Every other day there is a new restaurant opening in Delhi, Bangalore, Bombay or Madras. The latest flavor of the season is Italian food. There is Monza at Phoneix Mills, there is Olive Cafe in Bangalore, there is the Vetro at the Oberoi, Bombay and many more. Eating out is now the done thing for many families in India. Along with the growth of Italian restaurants is the growth of multi-cuisine restaurants. I am always at a loss about multi-cuisine restaurants since I do not know what kind of food to expect in these places. I yearn for restaurants that served only Andhra Food, or Punjabi Food, or Gujarati food...these multi-cuisine restaurants that serve a mish-mash of everyhting from Gobi Manhcurian to Pad Thai with aloo gobi and paratha thrown in for good measure leaves me confused. And, many times the kitchen does not do justice to the Indian food that is served in these restaurants.<br /><br />These broad observations clearly underscore the fact that the Indian economy is vibrant and growing. Of course, you can arrive at the same conclusion by looking at the traditional metrics like GDP. GNP, etc etc. Word of caution ... there is a flipside to it and that is that the fuel situation can have an adverese and immediate impact on the economy, along with any number of other varibales that are constantly lurking in the background.<br /><br />There are many other things that I noticed, but more about it later...stay tuned.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-113388460542578956?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1129138820452821562005-10-12T09:06:00.000-07:002005-10-12T10:40:20.513-07:00Remember GK? No, not GK Vale, but the motherlode of all conversation starters in India ...General Knowledge.<br /><br />I have yet to discover how this particular word made it into the of everyman and everywoman's lexicon in India. But, this is a word that says it all. For instance, "His GK is really awesome," translated means that this guy knows his trivia and all the nitty gritty details that in reality don't take us anywhere, but make us feel good, and for a second you bask in some kind of reflected glory.<br /><br />I was reminded of this word by my better half who commented on how when they were growing up and went to visit somebody's house the kid in the other house would invariably ask, "Do you read any general knowledge books?" This was a standard and predictable question that would be greeted with some form of amusement by him. And, of course they did not since they were brough up on a steady diet of wild, wild west stuff that consisted of Louis L'Amour (a fav author in many a Tamil home I am told), Oliver Strange, aircrafts and other sundry stories. Not for him the Competition Master, Readers Digest et al.<br /><br />But, in contrast to his upbringing there are are legions of kids who are being brought up on a steady diet of GK...well, this was a few years ago. Today, the kids are brought up on a diet of computer programming languages like I discovered a while ago, along with Takashi Castle, Pokeman, Digiman, Xbox, Ybox, Zbox, MTV, Oprah, Apprentice etc. And if the kid is sligtly inclined towards GK he/she will promptly ask you, "Do you know what Pokeman stands for?" with a certain knowing glint in the eyes that your answer will be negative. And if you happen to answer in the positive and tentatively suggest, "Does it mean Pocket Monster?" the kids face will crumple and he/she will at once demand to know how you knew the answer to that question. GK, my buddy, GK...you are always trying to increase your knowledge of trivia. It is almost like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebesgue_integral/">Lebesesque function</a>, and for all you math buff outs there, this is just to show that I know of this term, but my face will crumple if you ask me too many searching questions on what this is about, or how it works. I thought it kind of sounded cool and quite GKish to throw in the term in the conversation.<br /><br />Going back to the kids of today and their knowledge of computer languages, these kids talk about making logos, learning the commands to create a logo, and how to run programs. A fifth grader recently told me that computer programming is very boring and he finds Qbasic (or whatever program he was learning) really very simple and boring to learn at school! This kid could solve Sudoku in 15 minutes flat, while I ran to the bookstore and bought a book on how to solve Sudoku. I am still working on it....<br /><br />In contrast, we were brought up on a steady diet of GK books like Competition Master, Competition Success, Bournvita Book of Knowledge (is that the correct title), Book of Facts, 1001 Answers to questions you always wanted to know since you were born, but did not know where to find them or some such title. And of course, you had to read your classics right from Charles Dickens, to the Bronte Sisters, and good old Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain. Shame on you if you did not know that. And the works of the Bard had to be read. If not all, at least you needed to possess sufficient knowledge to throw in names like Hamlet, Portia, Hamlet, Romeo etc...and if you could throw in Puck and Titania then you had read "Midsummer's Night Dream."<br /><br />The purpose of all this extra reading was supposed to make you smart, and get you into that glorified career path of becoming an IAS or an IFS officer. The thinking was that if a kid was good in general knowledege then he/she would be a great candidate for the Indian Adminsitrative Services, the best career path for any kid. Or alternatively, you could get into the IITs and make your career as a great engineer. A degree in Liberal Arts was for those who had not made it in life, these were the people who could not cut it, or make it in the real world.<br /><br />But, not all lovers of GK become IAS officers or IIT graduate or engineers, they instead become ordinary citizens and go about their work and reconnect with the real world when they see Kaun Banega Crorepati, or some othe quiz show, or watch the king of trivia--Seinfeld on TV. I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason that Seinfeld is so hugely popular with the desi crowd is because he celebrates the trivial things in life and can have long, meaninful conversations on ordinary subject,as well as hi-brow subjects like GK. I can quite image a Seinfeld show on Einstein, and how they would have gone about disovering that famous theory of his...Kramer would have done all the hard research work, and Seinfeld would have given his final verdict.<br /><br />And for those of you who are still die-hard GK fans, here is a <a href="http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/"><br />link </a> that you might want to check out. It is all about Uselessology.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112913882045282156?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128920131780999522005-10-09T20:56:00.000-07:002005-10-09T21:55:31.816-07:00The devastating after efffects of the earthquake continues to takes its toll in India and Pakistan, with estimates of over 40,000 people dead in Pakistan according to media reports.<br /><br />Here are some organizations that need help and donation. This is a preliminary list.<br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.reliefweb.int">www.reliefweb.int</a> "The International Rescue Committee is dispatching three emergency teams to provide urgent assistance to earthquake survivors in the hardest hit districts of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. The IRC is accepting donations to support our emergency relief efforts. Please call 1-877-REFUGEE to expedite resources to IRC’s Pakistan relief effort. Donations can also be made on the IRC’s web site, www.theIRC.org "<br /><br />Americares <a href="http://www.americares.org">www.americares.org</a> is also organizing relief efforts for the earthquake victims. Log on to their website to find out how you can help.<br /><br /><a href="http://lahore.metblogs.com/archives/2005/10/donate_online_w.phtml/"><br />Metroblogging from Lahore</a> says that Mercycorps is looking for donation and you cann visit them at <a href="http://www.mercycorps.org/">http://www.mercycorps.org/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.jarkolicious.com/probes/2005/10/10/donate-for-earthquake-relief/"><br />Scott Jarkoff</a> has a link about donating to Unicef.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112892013178099952?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128828286949946082005-10-08T20:22:00.000-07:002005-10-08T20:25:14.750-07:00The Associated Press's Christopher Torchia reports that 18,000 people have been killed so far in the earthquake.<br /><br />"Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan's chief army spokesman, told Pakistan's Geo TV network early Sunday that more than 18,000 had been killed — 17,000 of them in Pakistani Kashmir, where the quake was centered. Some 41,000 people were injured, he said."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112882828694994608?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128798426565554822005-10-08T12:01:00.000-07:002005-10-08T12:39:14.510-07:00The USGC has some excellent information about the earthquakes, and the level of intensity, the areas that felt the tremors etc.<br /><br />For information of the earthquake 59 miles NNE of Rawalpindi and for the one 65 mile ENE of Mardan, Paksitan<a href="http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ous/index.html"><br />click here </a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112879842656555482?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128797736054124002005-10-08T11:37:00.000-07:002005-10-08T11:55:36.063-07:00The Oct 8, 2005 earthquake that killed hundreds of people and left a vast trail of destruction in India and Pakistan measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Pakistan, but the tremors were felt all the way from Afghanistan to Bangaldesh.<br /><br />Here is a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4323008.stm#map/">map</a>of the earthquake area from the BBC.<br /><br />The earthquake has come as a shock to many, and one of the reasons is lack of information. Having lived in the earthquake country, the San Francisco Bay Area, I can imagine the devastation and dispalcement that must have taken place in India and Pakistan. Many people in the SF bay area are aware of the various faults and where and how earthquakes may occur, and what precautions need to be taken For instance, all our vehicles were loaded with an earthquake kit and sufficient food, water and cash to last us a few days.<br /><br />I was curious to know what was the source of the earthquake and looked up the US Geological Survey website, which by the way is a good website to know and visit every now and then if you happen to live in an earthquake prone zone.<br /><br />The USGC has this explanation of why the earthquake may have occured, and makes for an informative read. I believe this earthquake is a jolting reminder that the Indian subcontinent continues to move northwards, even though many of us many not be aware of this subterranean move or drift.<br /><br />This what UGCS has to say:<br /><br />"Earthquakes and active faults in northern Pakistan and adjacent parts of India and Afghanistan are the direct result of the Indian subcontinent moving northward at a rate of about 40 mm/yr (1.6 inches/yr) and colliding with the Eurasian continent. This collision is causing uplift that produces the highest mountain peaks in the world including the Himalayan, the Karakoram, the Pamir and the Hindu Kush ranges. As the Indian plate moves northward, it is being subducted or pushed beneath the Eurasian plate. Much of the compressional motion between these two colliding plates has been and continues to be accommodated by slip on a suite of major thrust faults that are at the Earth’s surface in the foothills of the mountains and dip northward beneath the ranges. These include the Main Frontal thrust, the Main Central thrust, the Main boundary thrust, and the Main Mantle thrust. These thrust faults have a sinuous trace as they arc across the foothills in northern India and into northern Pakistan. In detail, the modern active faults are actually a system of faults comprised of a number of individual fault traces. In the rugged mountainous terrain, it is difficult to identify and map all of the individual thrust faults, but the overall tectonic style of the modern deformation is clear in the area of the earthquake; north- and northeast-directed compression is producing thrust faulting. Near the town of Muzaffarabad, about 10 km southwest of the earthquake epicenter, active thrust faults that strike northwest-southeast have deformed and warped Pleistocene alluvial-fan surfaces into anticlinal ridges. The strike and dip direction of these thrust faults is compatible with the style of faulting indicated by the focal mechanism from the nearby M 7.6 earthquake. "<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112879773605412400?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128720717755210072005-10-07T13:00:00.000-07:002005-10-07T18:24:48.846-07:00The Tamil DNA and food is a topic that has consumed me for many years now in a low simmering kind of a way, and it has been bubbling away in the cauldron that is positioned firmly in the back of my mind, and every now and then like a trusty <a href="http://www.unixgeeks.org/security/newbie/unix/cron-1.html/">cron</a> job will pop up to remind me that today is the day I need to make rasam and kootu etc. This is a topic where people can talk for hours, and describe with great love and reverence about the different types of rasam, and how if it is paired with sambhar, then the dhal can be omitted (note: the word omit is used anytime they talk about food, not the words exclude, or any other synony) , but if it just rasam then you thicken it with dhal, and how you need to pair the lemon rasam with this kootu, and the pepper rasam with that kootu etc. And, god forbid if you substituted toor dhal with moong dhal or the lowly masoor (orange) dhal, then there will be ever so slight disapproval that will emit from the gourmand.<br /><br />I have thought about this topic, participated and listened to extensive discourse on this topic, and have seen people perform somersaults and sing for their supper (not! but almost) just to have that good old, familiar sounding, and mouth-watering food like sambhar, rasam, dosa, idli, kootu served to them and help them reach that ultimate place of salvation called nirvana.<br /><br />I don't know about other folks in India, but I do know about the Tamil people's fondness for food from their land, and have heard my better half describe it is "food from the gods." (As if all the other foods were not from god, and were from some nether world. ) I take it back, the Gujaratis and Rajasthanis are also very partial to their food, and will go to any lengths to get their khakra, undhiyo, kadhi, batti, dal and churma.<br /><br />What I have noticed though is that folks from Tamil Nadu tend to be particular about being able to eat their cuisine for every meal of the day. At the most, they might make concession and be brave and eat chappati (it is rever referred to as roti or phulka, but chappati) and kootu (note: not sabzi) or have pasta or noodles that have been tempered with mustard, green chillies and red chilies. Not from them those one-pot meals that others like to resort to when they are jammed for time.<br /><br />Over the years after having lived and interacted with people from Tamil Nadu I have come to the firm belief that the Tamil DNA is definitely different. Their DNA comes encoded with rasam, sambhar, idli, dosa, kootu, thayir sadam, poriyal, narthanga urugai, paruppu podi, idli podi, sutta appalam , etc. They instinctively know that mooru or thayir sadam must be paired with vadu manga or citron pickle, and you are instantly caught if you eat your thayir sadam with sabzi like I often do, or eat it with papad, the north indian variety. You know you probably made some food-related faux pas, and sometime the only indication that you will get is the gentle, questioning raise of the eyebrow from the host or the hostess. Or, if they happen to be a good friend then a dismissive, "Ayayyo, try it with vadu manga, not the sabzi." I still have not developed a taste for vadu mangai, which is lovingly described by many as tender mango pickle. The way I see it ---it is a bunch of small, unripe mangoes that are soaked in brine for a few days, and then stored in a mixture of redchillies and salt. I may be way off the mark in the description, but that is what my non-Tamilian mind has come up with...<br /><br />I often picture their DNAs as having neat little compartments for each of these dishes. I think the food pyramid comes embedded in their DNA and the oxytocin helps them bond with their food. Before I proceed any further here are a bunch of definitions about what is DNA, and you can elect to subscribe to whichever definition appeals to you.<br /><br />"The substance of heredity; a linear molecule that carries the genetic information that cells need to replicate and to produce proteins and DNA."<br /><br />"The double-stranded, helical molecular chain found within the nucleus of each cell. DNA carries the genetic information that encodes proteins and enables cell to reproduce and perform their functions."<br /><br />"Deoxyribonucleic acid. The molecules inside cells that carry genetic information and pass it from one generation to the next."<br /><br />"A molecule that carries genetic information."<br /><br />I personally prefer the last definition since it sums it all up. There is definitely some kind of genetic coding going on here for years, and like evolution of human beings and other living creatures, their genes have also evolved and adopted and co-opted foods from foreign land or from the forbidden category like <a href="http://lamar.colostate.edu/~samcox/Tomato.html">tomato</a>, garlic, onion etc. What is native to their genetic make-up is <a href="http://www.plantcultures.org.uk/plants/tamarind_history.html">tamarind</a>, which the Arabs called as the dates from Hind (Hindustan).<br /><br />I have numerous stories in my repertoire of how people have traveled 80-90 miles on the weekends to eat idli, poodi and thenga chutney or dosai with sambhar, or good old meals consisting of sambar, rasam, poriyal, thayir and apalam. I have partaken dinner quite a few times with a particular Tamilian couple, who started off their dinner with a glass of red wine, and then sip their red wine with sambar rice, rasam rice, but then make sure their glasses are completely drained before they eat their last course, thayir sadam. My better half can go without eating the food of the gods for maybe 24 hours, after which he starts developing major withdrawal symptoms and pokes around the fridge to see if there is a smidgen of sambar left in one of the dabbas by mistake, or if there is any leftover rasam stashed away at the back of the fridge.<br /><br />This discourse only talked about the DNA part of the food, and there was no discussion about how to make these dishes and the various schools of thoughts that exist on how a particular dish has to be made, and precisely for how many minutes the sambar has to be boiled before it is considered done. This will be discussed sometime in the next few days.. Before I bid adieu here is something to think about...I wonder how the folks from Tamil Nadu will react if they knew that their favorite dish "rasam" was appropriated by the British into that very fancy starter soup called Mullingatawny Soup (spellings vary), and that in their version apples, chicken and bacon are added...<br /><br />(Note: various spellings have been used throught out the posting like sambar/sambar etc.)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112872071775521007?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128609301300381532005-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:002005-10-06T07:35:01.403-07:00Phone calls in India, as you might have discovered, can be a pretty interesting and entertaining eye opener. People in different parts of the country answer their phones differently. Of course, all coversations are public...it is like you are watching thousands of "Truman" show at the same time. Your whole life is out there for public display, and anybody can tune into the airwaves and listen in...and you have no firewall to protect those audible packets being transmitted over the airwaves.<br /><br />Living in Bombay proved to be an interesting experience, and people in that city certainly have a different take in time, and it is all about enjoying life and living for the moment. I will never forget the first time I heard someone answer their phone with "Bol." Immediately my brain translated that single word into English "Talk" and I thought this was quite a rude of answering the phone. It took me a whole to realize that it was a friendly way of saying "Talk to me."<br /><br />Now, compare this "bol" to the Delhi way of answering the phone. "Hello ji, kaun bol raha hai?" I am thinking, "Aarre...phone aap ney phone kiya, aur aap hum se sawal kar rahan hai?" Of course, that is not what I would say though. You identify yourself and ask them how you can help. Or, another familiar way of answering the phone is, "Bunty ghar may hai?" And, if you happen to be visiting Bunty's house and are a relative of his, you might wonder who is this person who wants to know where Bunty is. Or f if Bunty's mama answers the phone, she might say, "Arre beta thum. Wait karo, may abhi bulathi hoon." Then you would hear her holler, "Arre Bunty, Tinku dha phohe hai, beta." And, if it so happens that Bunty's papa answers the phone the chances are that he would holler and say, "Bunty twada phone hai," and go back to watching his TV show.<br /><br />Madras takes the cake I think, especially when it comes to this semi-business phone calls when they call your home phone. And, Madras is the one city that I know where these semi-personal calls start from 6.30 am onwards, and 7 am is kind of the peak time for all these calls. The caller will never identify themselves, but instead right away demand if so and so sir is home, and if he could speakto him. Everybody is sir in Madras. And invariably the caller would request that so-and-so revert back to them. Revert back, concerned people, are some favorite phrases used in the Madras phone circuit conversation.<br /><br />In Bangalore, I have been privy to many private calls only because these calls are made in public places like a mall or roads, and have gotten used to people saying, "Dude, where the f....are you dude? We have been trying to hook up with you?" Or, if it happens to be a local person you can hear them say, "Hail ri," or "Talk to me." So, I guess talk to me is quite a common mode of greeting in some places in India.<br /><br />In comparison to all these interesting and colorful ways of anwering the phones, I must admit that I have a very colorless and predictable way of anwering the phone. I say hello, announce my name and politely ask for the person I am calling. I guess I need to add moe color and zest in the way I answer the phone.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112860930130038153?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128607944435871402005-10-06T07:05:00.000-07:002005-10-06T07:12:24.443-07:00Do you understand Australian? If you don't mate, here is a <a href="http://www.20six.co.uk/weblogCategory/tc71mzg751f9?d=4.10.2005/"><br />list</a> that you can read to try understanding Australian English. <br /><br />This list comes from a desi in Australia, who has compiled it. It would be great if others could compile such lists from other countries, including India. Sometimes, it is tough to understand the lingo and slang in India, and you can mistake their use of lingo and slang as being rude.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112860794443587140?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128469711432067982005-10-04T14:56:00.000-07:002005-10-04T16:48:31.500-07:00'Tis the start of the Indian festive season, and it looks like the retailers in India have gotten very savvy with their marketing. There is now a well-thought through and systematic ad campaign targetting (sp?) various segments of the population, and it starts with jewels, and goes up to white goods (does anyone know why it is referred to as white goods?), cars, bank loans etc. I dunno if I am the only one, or others have noticed the trend, but diamonds are big in India. The papers and the magazines are filled with ads for diamonds this and diamond that, and not too long ago Page 3 of Times of India, which educates the youths of the country on fashion, dating etc, carried an article on what kinds of jewels metrosexuals should sport with their different attires. Hmmmm, I guess the coversation must go something like this: "Should I wear the diamond pendant or the thick Italian gold chain with this outfit of mine? Or should I just be myself and not adorn my body with any jewels..."<br /><br />But, I digress...Kollu,Dasshera, Dusshera, Dasara, Navaratri bring different kinds of feelings and memories for me. Those words evoke some special images from the past, when everything was so different, and we were not caught up with this materialistic thread of our lives.<br /><br />The festive season begins with Dassera, Dusherra, Kollu, Gollu, Navarathri, Navaratra...however you want to call it. These 9 days of culminate in different kinds of puja, and I guss 10 days after that Diwali, Deepavali starts.<br /><br />I was quite clueless on how various parts of the country celebrated Navaratri until I moved to the SF Bay Area, which has Indians from different states. For me, Navaratri meant going for Kollu or Gollu puja, eating sundal (South Indian dish of black chana tempered with mustard, curry leaves and coconut shavings), and the 9 days of celebration finally culminates in a grand finale that was a combination of car puja and Saraswati puja.<br /><br />The best part was the kollu or doll decoration. I guess that is what it is called. Basically the living room would be turned into this elaborate place where dolls and artefacts of various kinds would be displayed in a series of steps or "paddis" that would be draped in pristine white sheets. (I am not sure why the dolls are displayed). Pople would let loose their creative streak, and build little towns, complete with houses, toy trucks and cars, that sometimes had real grass, acutally wheat growing on these little miniature towships. Often, people would also bring out their train sets that their dad would have gotten from England and America and display it for the public. Now, the grandeur of the celebration depended on the number of steps you had...the more steps you had, the better your kollu display was supposed to be. Then, you went around the neighbourhood inviting people to come and see the kollu and praise the handiwork, and in the process get some free "thindi," (food) to munch. And, if you happened to taking singing classes, then it was mandatory that you sing a bhajan. There was no escaping it. This was the time when girls would wear their best "pattu pavadai" (long silk skirts) complete with various jewellery pieces that their mothers had been dutifully and carefully hoarding for their daughters. I was always invited for these gatherings since we did not celebrate navarartri this way. For me it was loads of fun to walk around the neighborhood and participate in the festivities.<br /><br />What we did celebrate was the car puja and the Saraswati puja. For the car puja, the car would be washed thoroughly, and decorated with flowers and garlands, and smeared with vermillion and sandalwood paste, and dutifully the driver would place four lemons under the four tyres of the car, and drive over it. This was meant to ward off the evil eye. I forgot to mention, sometimes the driver would get creative and tie tender banana plants to the front of the car, in front of the headlights. It was quite a ritual that would start early in the morning, and finally a prasad consisting of puffer rice, spiked with gur and mishri would be passed around to everyone.<br /><br />What I remember of the Sarasawati puja was that we had a day off from school and would place the books in the puja room. I am not sure if we were supposed to study or not on that day. My recollection is faint on this aspect.<br /><br />Now, cut to the SF Bay Area, and suddenly I learn about how Gujaratis, Marathis, Marwaris and others celebrated Navratri. I had no concept of ras dandiya or dandiya ras, and the whole communal dancing thing. Neither did I know that none of these other communities held Kollu or this little doll exhibition show. What I learnt instead is that each community celebrates this festival in a slightly different way, and many of the older people fast for 9 days during this period. But, I never did once visit or hear of a kollu in Silicon Valley, and this could be because I was removed from the close-knit Tamil circuit. And then one year I got an opportunity to attend the kollu celebration in Silicon Valley, and I must thank a relative of ours for this and her enterprsing "mami connection" in Saratoga. She hats it when I refer to her cronies as mamis and their whole ladies club circuit as "mami connection." Saratoga is one of those quaint little towns in Silicon Valley that and is filled with Tamilians. I am not sure how this came to pass, but there is a huge concentration people from the Tamil community who celebrate all the festivals with great gusto. They fondly refer to their city as "Saratogam." I discovered that there is a whole kollu circuit that the Tamilians in Bay Area travel during these 9 days, and many travel 100-150 miles miles over the weekend and hit all the interesting points in this kollu circuit. Some of them have elaborate paddis and food spread. In some houses the food was catered by special caterers and there was a whole array of dishes right from the kitchens of Punjab to Kanya Kumari. Jostling for attention along with the humble sundal, were the yummy tikkis, regular samosas, cocktail samosas, bhajji, pakoda, alu bonda, dhoklas, thayir saddham, puliodharai, lemon rice, veg biryani, puri, paneer, etc etc. I guess the folks had pushed it one level higher, and took it a whole new level of celebration. This was maybe in keeping with that favorite phrase that you hear in the valley all the time...let us take it to the next level, or push it one notch higher. Now, as I travelled around this circuit, I kept bumping into the same set of people at every home during the course of the evening. The conversation did not vary much and this kollu celebration was a tailor made opportunity for them to catch up on which company was going IPO, what stocks are doing well, who has started what company, and who made how much money etc. Along with catching up on the news, these folks were also busy stashing food in various ziplock bags. One creative lady said that she has collected enough food for a whole week. While it was nice to go around and see Kollu celebrated in Silicon Valley, I somehow preferred the way it was celebrated in Madras, which had a touch of sincerity and innocence.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112846971143206798?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128392372284748212005-10-03T18:51:00.000-07:002005-10-12T10:48:20.426-07:00Thought there might be people out there who might be interested in reading about this article that I came across.<br /><br />The latest issues of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/">Atlantic Montly</a> has an interesting article on AQ Khan of Pakistan titled, "Wrath of Khan." This is the first of a 2-part series on Khan. The author of the article is <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/author/William_Langewiesche.jsp/">William Langewiesche.</a><br /><br />This is a rather longish article that traces the rise of Khan as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, and makes for an absorbing read. The author appears to have diligently traces the rise of Dr. Khan, and how he moved from Bhopal, India(sometimes in 1952 or so) to Pakistan, and then to the Netherlands to study. The turning point appears to have been the 1971 war and the developments after that. Dunno how many of you remember that famous Zulfikar Ali Bhutto statement about Pakistan's desire to create a bomb...I think there was some reference to eating a blade of grass to make it happen. Langewiesche then traces Khan's meteoric rise in Pakistan and the various channels through which he procured the components to make the bomb. <br /><br />This is just the first part, the second part will be published in the next issue.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112839237228474821?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128385017611840122005-10-03T17:10:00.000-07:002005-10-03T17:16:57.630-07:00"How come you did not comment on what is happening in your city," commented an old friend today. She was talking about the Khushboo incident and the suspension of license for Park Hotel. But, my friend had forgotten that it has been a while since I left Madras, now known as Chennai.<br /><br />I somehow have a hard time calling Madras as Chennai, I would much rather call it "Patanam" or just "Madras." Patanam is how the city is referred to in Tamil and Telugu.<br /><br />Compared to other cities, Madras was always known as the last bastion of conservatives when I was growing up. But, in the past few years all that changed, and from what I had heard, read and saw the city had kind of undergone a change. The winds of change from the North, and West had blown over the old Madras province,and thoroughly corrupted the denizens of this area. People bemoaned the fact that it was no longer the last bastion of conservatives. All the rhetoric aside, the city had its fair share of scandals and "chinna veedu," (small houses), which are euphemisms for people who strayed out of their so-called monogamous relationship and had a parallel home with another woman. But, these things were seldom talked about, or discussed in media. You simply heard it through the grapevine.<br /><br />Now, it is important to remember that Madras was, and is a big base for the entertainment industry, before the Telugu movie industry migrated north to Hyderabad. And, Hindi films were also filmed quite a bit in Madras. The fact that Prasad Studios and Gemini Studios were located in Madras meant that most of the post-production work for these films (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi) took place in these facilities. Why am I going into the details of the film industry? The reason being that quite a few of the interesting scandals occurred in the film industry, but people did not talk about it, and much seldom wrote about it. You would never hear of any of them admitting to these affairs etc. Ask anybody who is from Madras and I suspect that they will know of at least one such story. Madras had its fair share of scandals, some of them very well known. For instance, Gemini Ganesan, who is actress Rekha’s father, was known as “Kaadal Manan,” or “Prince of Romanc/Love.” Now, that is a sobriquet rich in euphemism.<br /><br /><br />All this brings me to this whole episode of Khushboo and suspension of license for Park Hotel.<br /><br />Apparently Khushboo made some interesting comments about pre-marital relationship, and the need to be careful. She made these comments for some magazine interview. Before she knew it, the whole thing had boomeranged and she had to cut short holiday trip to Singapore, and offer an open apology. Certain section of the masses revolted against her statement and staged a "hartal" of sorts. To top it, there has been a case filed against her. This is the same Khushboo, who was worshipped by her adoring fans who had built a temple for her. Now, if you look at the reality on ground, I don't think Khushboo made any outrageous remarks or suggestions, but was voicing her opinion that is probably rooted in some kind of ground reality. (Remember this is when the film "Saalam Namaste," the so-called rad film about live-in relationship was running in theatres all over India, and I bet even in Madras). I fail to understand why she should have been attacked in this way, when many film magazines talk about live-in relationships of the stars, and who they are going out with etc. Interestingly, this was also the time that Richard Gere and Kamal Hassan announced that they are going to join hands and spread the message of AIDS in South India. Pray tell me how does AIDS spread?<br /><br />I am sure the people of Madras and Tamil Nadu are also privy to all that is published and shown on air. I bet many do read Page 3 and get all the gossip, and read the attention grabbing comments made by some stars. I am sure the people in Madras and Tamil Nadu get to read these magazines, watch <a href="http:www.zoomtv.com”">Zoom TV</a>, and other film rags. Even their so-called yellow journalism rags must be running stories of this nature. After all, you need to have readership to run adverts and generate revenue. Running a newspaper is not a philanthropic activity. To have singled out Khushboo in this manner seems a bit silly and absurd.<br /><br />What is even more puzzling is the second incident that happened at the Park Hotel in Madras. Apparently some gatecrashers took pictures of couples dancing that made its way to a local newspaper, and the license of the hotel was suspended. I am not sure if the reason for suspending the license was because they were not supposed to hold such a party. From what I can read, guests at the hotel are not sure if they can continue to stay in the hotel because of what happened.<br /><br />The bottom line is that such kind of moral policing seems a bit arcane, absurd and farcical. Instead, people who have time, and want to police the public moral code should look at how they can effectively work towards the spread of AIDS, and provide sex education to the young and vibrant population of the state.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112838501761184012?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128180186841079612005-10-01T07:39:00.000-07:002005-10-01T08:23:06.950-07:00What kind of a vegetarian are you? Imagine posing this question to any Indian, and I am sure the universal response might be one of confusion, and quite possibly answered with another question, "What do you mean? I am a pure vegetarian. Or, I eat eggs, but otherwise I am a pure vegetarian..." You get the drift. Asking such a question might not cut it in India. We are either vegetarian or non-vegetarian, or if we happen to straddle both the food groups, we have no problem in confessing that we infrequently stray over and forage from the other food group. <br /><br /><br />But, ask the same question in America, and you will get a range of answers. You cannot automatically divide people into "vegetarian" and "non-vegetarian" category. There are all kinds of vegetarians like we must have had in the good old days in India. For instance, my <em>dadi </em>never touched garlic and onion, and would shudder if she spotted a pod of garlic anywhere in our kitchen. My dad, on the other hand, could not eat any dish that was not tempered with onion and garlic, but he would shudder if he spotted an egg on our dining table or fridge. I, on the other hand do not shudder at seeing any of these things, but have a difficult time handling red meat. But, I am slowly making my way way back to being a vegetarian for its less taxing on my system. This whole business of being vegetarian has become a sticky issue, and there are lots of politically correct terms that you need to be aware of when you turn into a vegetarian. I know of lots of American families, whose kids are strict vegetarians, and fixing the traditional American meal for Thanksgiving (Turkey is the main course, the middle course, and the last course for this meal) has become quite a challenge. <br /><br /><br />Now, why on earth did I start mulling over this most mundane of topics you might ask? The whole process was triggered when I was reading an article on Steve Jobs in the Economist, where Jobs was described as a pescetarian. If you are into etymology you might haved made an educated guess and said, "Ah, ah, so, Jobs eats fish every now and then." But, the Economist follows the rules of good writing, and always clarifies and defines any new terms that they use in their articles. So, there was an explanation for the term pescatarian as someone who eats mostly vegetarian food, but includes fish in their diet. Now, for all those with an enquiring mind, Jobs loves Indian food, and frequents Indian restaurants and orders take away food from an Indian restaurant in Menlo Park,CA. Apparenly he likes "dal/bhath."<br /><br />I was mildly surprised to hear about this sub-category in the vegetarian food category. Up until now, I had heard of vegans, and lacto-vegetarians. So, I decided to do some research, and viola the good folks at Whole Foods had a nice little write up on vegetarians, and the various sub-categories. You might want to take a look at this, for if you are a strict vegetarian, and happen to be travelling in the US you might suddenly find that your supposedly vegetarian soup uses chicken stock as its base! <br /><br />Here is the list from www.wholefoods.com website:<br /><br /><br />"Types of Vegetarian Diets<br />In general, a vegetarian is a person who does not eat meat, fish or poultry or any prepared products containing these foods. Healthy vegetarian diets (but not junk food vegetarian diets!) contain lower amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol and animal protein, and higher levels of fiber, magnesium, folate, vitamins C and E, carotenoids and phytochemicals.<br /><br />There are several different types of vegetarian diets, including:<br /><br />Vegans<br />This diet consists only of plant-based foods, excluding all flesh from animal sources (meat, fish or fowl) as well as any item made from animal products including dairy, eggs, honey and more.<br /><br />Lacto-vegetarian<br />This diet consists of plant-based foods plus milk products but no meats, fish, fowl or eggs.<br /><br />Ovo-vegetarian<br />This diet consists of plant-based foods plus eggs but no meats, fish, fowl or dairy products.<br /><br />Lacto-ovo vegetarian<br />This diet consists of plant-based foods plus dairy products and eggs but no meats, fish or fowl.<br /><br />Raw food vegetarian<br />This diet consists of only raw plant foods. In general, a person is considered a Raw Foodist if 75% or more of their intake comes from raw foods.<br /><br />Pescetarian<br />This diet excludes meat and fowl but includes fish.<br /><br />Semi-Vegetarian or Part-Vegetarian<br />Not technically vegetarians, but only eat meat, fish or fowl occasionally."<br /><br /><br />I guess I might fall under the semi-vegetarian and part-vegetarian category because every now and then I will forage from the non-vegetarian category.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112818018684107961?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128065983271143112005-09-30T00:11:00.000-07:002005-09-30T00:39:43.280-07:00One of the things I miss is being able to walk around in a city. I love to sit in a coffee shop and indulge in people watching. Unfortunately, walking around in India these days is not a good option. The only places you can walk around is in these new fancy malls, and a few other places. I cannot imagine hanging inside a chai shop in India indulging in people watching. It might turn out to be the other way, people may instead start staring at me! Yes, I have hung around in 5 and 7-star coffee shops, but that ain't no fun. Although the JW at Juhu is interesting. For starters, it is a regular zoo, with people streaming in and out, but you get to see some interesting folks, and of course the conversation in their coffee shop The Bombay Baking Company is invaluable. One time, I was an unwilling listner to a bunch of Punjabi women who had just returned for their globe trotting journey. It was quite interesting to listen to their observations on how so and so was doing well, and bought so and so brand name clothes and jewellry. And, here I was trying to desperately read my copy of the Economist, while noshing on my sandwich. The Leela in Bombay and Bangalore is also an interesting place to hang out and just chill.<br /><br />In the US there are a couple of cities that are great for walking around and people watching. San Francisco and New York rank high in my view, and Chicago comes close, and if the weather is balmy it makes it a lot easier to walk around. <br /><br />San Francisco is a walker's paradise, and all you need is a good, sturdy pair of walking shoes to walk up and down the undulating curves of the city. Little Italy on Columbus Avenue is a great place to hang out and sip coffee at leisure. You are bound to come across interesting and colorful characters, and you can spot the tourists right away as they ooh and aah over the picture postcards moments that they encounter every 10 yards.<br /><br />But, the place that takes the cake is definitely New York city. Manhattan is the place to hang out and watch the show. Each person on the road, curbside, train is worth watching. And, the conversations that these folks have on the road, over the phone, in the cafe...it is priceless. There is never a dull moment, and nobody has anytime to stop and smile at you. Everybody is busy hurrying and scurrying like busy little worker ants scurrying from one port of call to another. The best part is the dialogs you hear when you cross the roads. A hallmark of city dwellers is their healthy disrespect for traffic lights. The urge to cross the road at all times is strong. It don't matter whether it is red, orange or green, it is always green for them to cross the road. I remember this one time when I was crossing 36th Street and 6th Avenue and was waiting for the light to turn green. Displaying their healthy disregard, people were busy crossing the road, and trying to avoid the cars and SUVs that were trying to make a right. It was their turn to go. All of a sudden a pedestrian walked up to a SUV owner and showed his finger and started to roundly abuse him. The driver shot right back and showed his finger too. Now, the driver was not at all at fault, he was patiently waiting for the car in front of him to make the right turn, when the pedestrian flew off the handle. And what was the reaon for th ire? The pedestrian's gripe was could'nt the driver see that he was blocking the path for the pedestrians to cross the road! Except for me, nobody was paying attention to this whole drama, and I was lapping it all up, and admiring the fact that the driver did not back down, but came right back and gave a suitable answer to the pedestrian. Now, imagine something like this happening in India. There is no way that such a thing could have happened, unless of course a car driver knocked down a pedestrian. Then for sure I do not want to be a witness to the pandemonium that ensues after such an event.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112806598327114311?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128063534220508622005-09-29T23:13:00.000-07:002005-09-30T00:10:56.106-07:00I just finished reading Salman Rushdie's "Shalimar the clown," and quite enjoyed reading this tome of a book. Will this be his "magnum opus?" We will have to wait and see. I did skip a few passages here and there because I wanted to go on with the narration. It is a very different kind of a book from his previous novels.<br /><br />I would hate to give away the plot of the book, but I am sure many of you are already familiar with the broad outline of the book. The book is about an old-world diplomat...cold war period kind of person, called Maximilian Ophuls. I love the sound of his name...it has a nice regal ring to it. That is a fitting name for an old-world career diplomat. I guess Rushdie's stint as a jingle writer does inform his writings, and he is probably always looking for memorable taglines and names. Anyway, getting back to the novel, Maximilian is shot outside the doorstep of his daughter, and therein lies the tale. This whodunit book turns into a different kind of a book that is set against a vast canvas stretching from the second world war period to the 21st century, and specifically looks at the whole issue of Kashmir. Now, each reader will come away with different views, perceptions, takeaways depending on what they know, and how they feel about a whole constellation of issues ranging from religion to Kashmir etc. For instance, this book in a way traces how young, innocent people can get recruited by terrorist and also highlights how terrorism does not respect national boundaries. What binds them together is the cause, and if there is religion mixed into the cause, then it becomes a potent mixture. I am making it sound simple, and you all know that sometimes simplicity is never the intention of Rushdie. Rushdie's thinking tends to be on the complex side, and the fact that his novels are almost allegorical makes it a challege to figure him out. There are many interpretations already out there for you all to read about the allegorical nature of this particular book. Google them, and you will find them.<br /><br />In this book Rushdie looks at the whole issue of Kashmir, and there are some interesting observations that you will have to read for yourself and discover. Rushdie's grandparents were from Kashmir, and you can clearly see that Rushdie has done his homework on Kashmir, and International Relations. His degree in history definitely comes in handy when he writes these political novels that are described as allegorical.<br /><br />Here are some interesting links that you might want to read on Rushdie. <a href="http://www.moorishgirl.com/archives/003310.html/">Moorish Girl's</a> blog is an interesting eye-opener since it shows that Rushdie is a regular mortal like the rest of us, and does read other people's work, and does like to get an autographed book from other writers. Who knew! <a href="http://www.reason.com/0508/fe.sd.the.shtml/">Reason</a> has a pretty absorbing and interesting interview with Rusdie, where he discusses about free speech, US foreign policy etc. And who knew that Rushdie was influenced by those storytellers that we all grew up reading: Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking that Ophuls' English wife sounded like a Wodehousian character complete with the stuttering and all. Well, now the mystery is resolved. You can read all about this is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/25/AR2005092501449_pf.html/">Washington Post's</a> interview of Rushdie.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112806353422050862?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1128060449020525142005-09-29T22:49:00.000-07:002005-09-29T23:07:29.026-07:00Well, I never got around to seeing Paheli. I am not sure why I did not see the film...maybe because I could not stomach the thought of seeing SRK in a double role, or I was plain getting bored with SRK's brand of acting.<br /><br />There is defintely no dearth of opinion on how and why Paheli is India's nomination for the 2006 Oscars. <a href="http://bsubra.blogspot.com/2005/09/and-oscar-goes-to-mediocrity.html/">The Oscar goes to mediocrity</a> writes Bala Subra, and <a href="http://holdensays.blogspot.com/2005/09/paheli-is-indias-official-entry-for.html/">Ravi Handa</a> has a hard time buying into the fact that Paheli is India's official entry. And, <a href="http://patrix.typepad.com/nerves/2005/09/paheli_for_osca.html/">Patrix</a> is still trying to figure out how Paheli made it as India's Oscar entry.<br /><br />I have seen some of the movies that were in the run for the Oscars, and I think Page 3 was a pretty good film and captured the changing Indian social landscape. It was a pretty well turned out film. We will never know the real reason of how and why this particular film made it as the Oscar nomination. Could it be that SRK is in competition with Aamir Khan? Remember Aamir did have a pretty successful PR operation for Lagaan...connect the dots, connect the dots...those invisible dots.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112806044902052514?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1127961612123230642005-09-28T19:26:00.000-07:002005-09-28T20:16:35.636-07:00It is official...<a href="www.google.com/">Google</a> is expanding its office space. According to <a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/09/28/BUgoogle28.DTL/">SF Gate</a> Google is going to lease 1 million sq feet from NASA at Moffett Field.<br /><br />Moffett Field is located in Mountain View, which is where Google is headquartered. Moffett is right off the famous 101 freeway, and you can see the hangars from the freeway as you traverse up and down Silicon Valley. In fact, if you are lucky sometimes you can catch various types of aircrafts landing at the airstrip here, including the President's Air Force One. And, if you are really, really lucky you can see the acrobatic displays of the Blue Angels once or twice a year. Of course, this is nothing compared to the Blue Angels show in San Francisco where the foundations of the houses shake when these jets perform their visually stunning aerial acrobats.<br /><br />And interestingly enough Yahoo, Juniper Networks and many other companies are located a stone's throw from Moffett. Mountain View is home to quite a few enterprise hi-tech companies, and is a quite a nice little town, with lots of old charm still preserved intact. Of course, the prices of houses have gone up ever since GOOG went IPO.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see how the space will change with Google coming into Moffett Field area. The last time I was in the Bay Area was in April, and I saw that there was a whole lot of construction going on in the 101 freeway section, with more exit reamps being built etc. Mt View is also home to the famous amphitheatre, where many jam-packed concerts take place, and it is not unusual to see hi-tech honchos mingling in the crowd to listen to their favorite musicians and singers.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.com/">News.com</a> has an interesting article on how companies that expanded and moved into gleaming new offices were <a href="http://news.com.com/Photos+Silicon+Valleys+office+jinx/2300-1030_3-5884961.html?tag=nefd.lede/">jinxed.</a> Makes for an interesting read, and you get to see the gleaming towers of various companies that did not cut it once they moved into their swank new offices. Very few survived from what you read.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112796161212323064?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1127960762781194572005-09-28T19:16:00.000-07:002005-09-28T19:26:02.786-07:00I guess this should not come as a surprise considering that Ben Afflect was pretty active politically during the last Presidential elections. He backed Senator Kerry during the last elections.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/">The Washington Post</a> carried an article today where they say that Ben Afflek maybe seriously considering running for the US Senate from the state of Virginia. Apparently his wife Jen Garner and he have been hunting around for a house in the Charlottesville area. This should be an interesting race to watch if Affleck does step in to challenge the incumbent GOP Sentor Allen. You can read more about the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/26/AR2005092601991.html/">article here.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112796076278119457?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1127873517396795032005-09-27T18:39:00.000-07:002005-09-27T21:01:50.273-07:00Long time ago, when I was a kid I remember that the game of cricket had a different sort of appeal. My brother, sister and father used to sit huddled in front of our binary channel option TV and watch their 5-day test series. Sometimes they would get up at an unearthly hour of the morning to watch the game, or stay up late. And since my father never missed his puja, he would sit in his puja room with his battered National Panasonic short wave radio that would periodically crackle and hiss at the most crucial of times like when somebody has scored a sixer or declared out. Then as sure as the sun rises in the east my dad would raise his voice and ask, "What happened? Kissne sixer mara?"<br /><br />But the real exictement was when the folks went to see a real live match. If the match happened to be playing in our city, then my family would make every attempt to go and watch the match. And boy going to see a live cricket match had its own rituals that had to be followed. First, the menu would be fixed so that there is ample food in supply for everyone. Parthas, sabzi, raita would be the order of the day. Next, the driver would be given strict instructions to arrive on time and the route chalked out. Then, came the all important question of where the car will be parked. And finally, the day before the match the tickets will be scrutinized one final time to see which gate you needed to enter the stadium and confirm your seats.<br /><br />On D Day, everybody would be up before crack of dawn, and people would get rolling and be ready to exit the house by 8 am to avoid traffic rush. (When I look back there was no such thing as traffic rush in those days ...compared to the horrendous situation that obtains on Indian roads today.) Lunch boxes had to be prepapred and fitted into a bag that was easy to carry. And the bag contained other useful items like towels, fruits and a precious pair of binoculars. And, a final item...a handy pocket radio, always referred to as a transistor radio in India. I never could comprehend why someone would watch a live game, and also have a pocket on at the same time. This puzzle was resolved when I went to watch one of these games in the stadium in what became my only trip to a sports event ever.<br /><br />I often used to hang around my family trying to figure out the rules of the game, and what was so fascinating about this game that I still don't understand completely. Even to this day, the fascination that the game holds for my family has failed to rub off on to me. Yes, I know the basics, but the nuances of the game still escape me. I take refuge and mask my ignorance by blithely proclaiming, "Oh, I am missing the sports gene!" While this remark never failed to draw a good response in the US, the same line fails to work its trick in India. Often, people will look at me as though I have lost my marbles, and some will even kindly offer to help me understand the finer naunces of the game.<br /><br />Anyway, going back to the good old days...I remember my classmates walking around with small pocket radios to catch up on the latest score, and keep pace with the leisurely pace of the game being played in some remote Carribean island collectively labelled as West Indies. Now, imagine my surprise when I landed up in New York and had a Carribean flatmate who looked puzzeled when I asked her if she was from the West Indies? "I am from Jamaica," she replied, and said that West Indies was only used in the world of cricket.<br /><br />Anyway, getting back to the good old days...there was not much money or endorsement opportunities involved in the game. Most of the cricketers held nondescript jobs in real life, and did not make a huge amount of money. But, suddenly in the past 15-20 years ever since I think Kapil Dev made his debut as a 16 year old ( I hope my memory serves me right here) there has been a slow change, and more money has started to pour in. First there were these free cars, and other freebies thrown in, and suddenly with the Kerry Packer night games there was more money to be made, and that was followed by the cricket games in the UAE that involved cash prize and other goodies. I guess that is when you suddenly saw money starting to pour into the game, especially in India.<br /><br />And now things have gotten so out of control that cricket teams around the world are constantly fending off one crisis or another. However, I guess the Indian cricket team has had more than its fair share of crises...these tremors that rock the team have been slowly climbing up in the Richter scale, and I guess that people have become inured to the current crisis ...the one between Ganguly and Chappell. It is such a shame that things have come to a pass in the field of sports. Sports is meant to be a team-building exercise, and is one where you learn to accept wins and defeats easily. It is too bad that this game has been thoroughly politicized.<br /><br />And I am not in the least bit surprised with the cricket committee's decision that Chappell and Ganguly must resolve their dispute and move on. That is just the cover story, and we will never know what happened behind the scenes, and how taut the tension must have been in trying to resolve the issue. And, I won't be surprised if money is at the bottom of this whole messy issue.<br />Sometimes, I wish cricket had remained unchanged like it was in the good old days, when there was not much money to be made. But as some wise soul once said, "Change is the only constant in life," and I think that adage applies to cricket also.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112787351739679503?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1127528844078906972005-09-23T19:22:00.000-07:002005-09-23T19:27:24.083-07:00KANK...that is the acronymn for Karan Johar's new production starring the usual suspects from Big B to SRK, Zinta etc.<br /><br />Apparently, the film is going to be shot in NYC. And, there are a few open slots for those wanting to make it to the silver screen. You can check out and see for yourself what kind of people they are currently looking to cast at <a href="http://www.craigslist.org">www.craigslist.org</a> and look under New York for the film/editing catgegory and you cannot miss the casting call....it is writtent right there for all of you to see. It goes something like this: Karan Johar's new film.....<br /><br />They have also advertised for dancers for the movie. But, there is a catch...you got to look Hispanic! I am sure that won't be difficult for us Indians to pass of as Hispanics.<br /><br />So, if any of you happen to be in NYC during the last week of September, this is your call....<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112752884407890697?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1127098907566710442005-09-18T19:29:00.000-07:002005-09-18T20:01:47.613-07:00Phishing (pronounced fishing) has been around for a few years now, but what is of concern is the increasingly convincing nature of the emails sent by these phishing people. I first noticed this a few years ago, when I started getting what looked like authentic letters from my bank. I smelt that something was wrong, when the email said that I needed to log in and change my password, and that I knew that this is something my bank never recommends via an email. But, to be doubly sure, I called and checked with the bank and they said they had not sent any emails.<br /><br />That was a couple of years ago, and I thought I had become a little smarter. But, a few days ago, I was almost duped into thinking that PayPal had sent me an email because the email subject header read: "Unauthorized access to your PayPal account !" and the body of the email was written in PayPal kind of style. But, there were 2 things that gave it away. The first was an email id, like a track number, for the email that I got. It did not seem right. And, the second is when I clicked on the paypal account, it resolved to a different url, but displayed the contents of PayPal site. Typically, many of us do not look at the URL address, but just at the main page, and we fall into their trap.<br /><br />Here is a sample of the email that I got...and please be careful when you open your email from one of your vendorts. The emails look authentic, and can fool you easily. Note they even use a secure HTTP address... When you get an email like this, please send it to the authentic vendor also, and this way they will know that their site is being compromised.<br /><br /><br /><br />Subject Heading: Unauthorized access to your PayPal account !<br /><br />"As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in thePayPal system. We recently noticed the following issue on your account:<br />We would like to ensure that your account was not accessed by anunauthorized third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but pleaseunderstand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.Case ID Number: PP-072-838-482<br /><a href="http://www.medicallab.com.tw/s/update.html" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=complaint-view</a><br /><br />For your protection, we have limited access to your account until additional security measures can be completed. We apologize for anyinconvenience this may cause.<br />To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal usedto make its decision to limit your account access, please visit theResolution Center <a href="http://www.medicallab.com.tw/s/update.html" target="_blank">https://www.paypal.com/</a> . If, after reviewing your account information, you seekfurther clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal by visiting the Help Center and clicking "Contact Us".We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.<br />Sincerely,PayPal Account Review Department"<br />(To make it look convincing they even had a paypal account number at the end of the email.)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112709890756671044?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1126793887300656012005-09-15T06:58:00.000-07:002005-09-15T07:18:07.346-07:00It appears there is no love lost between the IT industry and politicians in what was once a great little city. Aab there is "Pyar mein twist."<br /><br />The <em>Times of India</em> reports that Mukhyamantri (ironically, the name translates into Chief Minister) Chandru of BJP equated the IT folks to underworld dons!!!<br /><br />According to TOI this is what Chandru told:<br /><br /><br /><div align="center">"...<em><span style="color:#3333ff;">they are behaving like underworld dons and issuing threats to the governmnet. My advice is: Don't hold talks with them. If they want to go, let them go."</span></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"></div>With this kind of political advice, I am not sure if this state will make any further progress. Perhaps the officials in Bangalore forget that there are other states waiting in the wings to have IT companies relocate to their states. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are two states that come to mind.<br /><br />The meeting Chandru referred to in his remarks is the one that was held today between the Committee on Bangalore Infrastructure and the IT folks.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"></div><div align="center">The Times of India in his editorial (Sept 15, 2005) says:<br /><br /><em>"It took Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath to expose New Orleans' civic ills. It's taken a hurricane of a different kind to highlight the glaring gaps in Bangalore's infrastructure. The Bangalore Chamber of Commerce of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) announced last week that its 500-plus members would not participate in BangaloreIT.in, the prestigious annual meeting of the IT companies....."</em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><p></p><p>I would suspect that with this kind and degree of heated exchange, the Federal Government might want to take a dekkho and see what is happening to this once laid back town, and figure out how to effectively resolve this issue. </p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112679388730065601?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1126705507641997232005-09-14T05:35:00.000-07:002005-09-14T06:45:07.720-07:00This has been an interesting week to sit by the sidelines and watch the drama unfold on a large canvas in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state. The key issue has been that thorny one –infrastructure—and the debate is intense from all what we rea in the papers.<br /><br />The CM and his officials are probably hoarse from crying from the rooftops that they are doing everything to get the infrastructure in shape. And dutifully they tick off the projects in the pipeline, the International Airport, the new funds for expanding the roads etc. But, these are projects that will be completed sometime in the future after 3-4 years. And, what the IT folks and others want is action now, short term goals that can have an immediate impact. For instance, working on improving the condition of the roads would be a good starting point.<br /><br />It seems that the demands by the IT folks maybe supported by people from other quarters, so to speak. For instance, the Karnataka High Court has appointed a 3-member commission to look into this road issue. This commission was an upshot of a case that a private citizen registered in the court. And yesterday, the World Bank released a report on Infrastructure in India and Karnataka, and the state got a poor report card, and lagged behind the national average on infrastructure facilities. I believe the report has not pulled any punches when it comes to the state of affairs in Karnataka. For example today's Time of India says that according to the report there were 28 days of power outage in a month; lack of water supply; and no coordination between the various urban transport agencies.<br /><br />It is those who work and commute who know the real pain of traveling on pot-holed, waterlogged roads, and having to reach home and find out that there is a power outage. And what is even more worrisome is the rash of murders (not a string of murders, mind you) that have been on the rise in the city. Every day there are people who are ruthlessly killed, or robbed, while returning home late at night. These cases typically seem to involve the BPO and IT sector workers, who are stopped and robbed of their money, and other belongings, and then killed. Last week the Deccan Herald ran a story of how one of their journalists was attacked late at night. All you have to do is read page 3 of Times of India (not the gossip page 3) and the Deccan Herald and connect the dots, and see that there is a pattern that is a bit unsettling for commuters who travel late in the evening and night. Both men and women are targets of this heinous crime.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112670550764199723?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1126529784770301712005-09-12T05:40:00.000-07:002005-09-12T05:56:24.776-07:00Guess it is <strong>consolidation time </strong>in San Jose, CA and Redwood Shores, CA.<br /><br /><p>The news is out...<a href="http://www.ebay.com/">eBay</a> is all set to acquire <a href="http://www.skype.com/">Skype</a>. Reuters is reporting that the deal is worth about $2.6 billion dollars, and half of it will be paid in cash, and the other half in stock. Not at all bad for a maverick start-up that has a vast base of users.<br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.oracle.com/">Oracle</a> is acquiring <a href="http://www.siebel.com/"> Siebel</a> for $5.8 billion. Siebel is almost kitty corner from Oracle's headoffices, on the otherside of Highway 101. <br /><br /><p>Siebel makes contact center management (CRM) software, which I have used, and found that it was not very user friendly, and have heard that from many others who have used the software. Some have even complained that using the CRM did not help their sales pipeline, and this could be because of the ramp-up time to use the product. I have known many sales people go crazy at the idea of creating a Purchase Order (PO) for their clients. They would struggle with Siebel for a while, and then resort to calling up the Siebel pro in their company to do the PO. The problem was that when the software is installed from the off-the-shelf it is not easy to use, it needs a lot of tweaking and turning on various little bells and whistles to get it working. But, time is the worst enemy for a sales team of any company, and loosing a potential prospect and buyer can hurt the company's revenue. <br /><br /><p>On the other hand, SalesForce's CRM is a fantastic and actually increases your productivity. <br /><br /><p>I am guessing that Oracle will add this as a module in their ERP package, and make it work.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112652978477030171?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1126447362855415622005-09-11T06:24:00.000-07:002005-09-11T07:02:45.906-07:00The papers have been full of it for the past few days about the worsening infrastructure problems in this garden city, once a haven for retired person, but now it is the hub of technology activity. IT is something that everybody talks, and even the rickshaw wallah will try to fleece you, once he knows that you are from the "IT" industry.<br /><br />An interesting twist to the infrastructure tale is that the beleagured CM of Karnataka Dharam Singh has come out with an interesting assessment of this beleagured city's crumbling infrastructure. He first of all calls all these charges as "baseless allegations," and says that there is "groupism," and that the IT companies are indulging in "systematic propoganda." Hmmm...sounds like that old "Foreign Hand" catchall phrase that explained away all the problems that the country faced a few decades ago.<br /><br />On a more serious note though, the IT companies have been trying to get this issue addressed, and they did best with what was available to them. Many of the big companies had already said that they would participate in this year's BangaloreIT.in do, a rather hi-profile tech do. And in the last couple of days, the Bangalore Chamber of Commerce has announced that it will not attend the do. And, it looks like there are others who might do including the Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.<br /><br />The CM's comeback has been that the International Airport project is under way, and that the Metro Project will be approved, and that money has been sanctioned to build roads yada yada yada.<br /><br />The captains of the industry ain't buying into it anymore. And today's <a href="http://www.timesofindia.com/"> Times of India </a> says that the IT and other company honchos have suggested a two-pronged approach. Fix the current problems, and then think and strategize about long-term plans.<br /><br />It seems to make enermous sense what these people are suggesting to the CM and his government.<br /><br />This infrastructure problem is hampering the productivity of the folks in this city, especially the IT folks. Typically people in IT industries work long hours, and finish work and leave home rather late in the evening. Then, they get snagged in a horrible traffic jam that takes a couple of hours for them to reach home. One of them said that he has figured out that he reaches home faster if he leaves his office after 8.30 or 9 pm since traffic is less at that time. But, when it rains the situation is pretty bad. Many have to stop their cars, and wait for the rain water to drain out, before ploughing back home. Now, add to this another variable...those dreaded conference calls with your West Coast (US) client at 10 pm. That forces people to either stay back in their office, or try and make it home on time for the conference call. <br /><br />So, hopefully the private companies will find some solution and make it work for everybody in this city.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112644736285541562?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1126441987837023902005-09-11T05:23:00.000-07:002005-09-11T05:36:22.406-07:00I have yet to see the movie, but there has been a lot of buzz created about the film since it deals with that dreaded word, "a live-in relationship." It appears from the collections for the film that it is doing well at the box office.<br /><br />Now, while we are very forgiving and enjoy our Hindi films, others are not. And, here issomething that appeared in this weekend's edition of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a>. Anita Gates, the reviewer says this Bollywood movie must be "some sort of record for genre pileup."<br /><br />Here is some more on what she had to say about the movie.<br /><br />"Some Indian audiences are expected to find this film shocking because the characters have a sexual relationship outside marriage and occasionally use four-letter words (in English). It's sad to see that the movie's other attempts to be more like American films involve flatulence references and vomiting. At least those scenes are discreet. "<br /><br />You need to subscribe to be able to read NY Times.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112644198783702390?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1126025507344321952005-09-06T09:31:00.001-07:002005-09-06T09:51:47.353-07:00While everybody is focussed on the terrible aftermath of Katrina in the US, here in Bangalore we have had a milder version of it. No, there was no hurricane, typhoon or cyclone, just heavy rains, but it bought parts of the city to a standstill. I did not step out of my house for couple of days because the roads outside our place was filled with flowing water, even though this is supposed to be a highway, and a new one at that!<br /><br />For the past few days the local paper "Deccan Herald," has printed pictures of homes flooded with water, and people trying to save their possessions. The water in many areas was shin-high and more, but what made and makes this situation worse is the the crumbling infrastructure. For instance, in South Bangalore in an area called JP Nagar, the Puttanahalli lake overflowed and flooded the narrow kutcha streets and flooded houses in this area and supposedly there has been contamination of the water. And when the CM visited this area to survey the damage, one brave woman is supposed to have stopped the cavalcade and protested that he and his government do something. Apparently, many of the people have been marooned in their homes without water, electricity etc.<br /><br />JP Nagar is right after Jay Nagar, and home to a swank new complex called Brigade Millenium, and other apartment buildings. Besides these tall buildings, there are a series of kutcha houses that dot the kutcha road. I have driven down this road many times, and was astonished to see how poor the roads were in this area. Most of the kutch houses are located on the other side of the road, but at a much lower elevation.<br /><br />What the heavy rain has underscored is that like in Bombay, builders are constructing homes in swampy areas, and do not pay adequate attention to how the sewage and water pipes are laid. Out of sight and out of mind is the adage that comes to mind. Now, since these pipes are usually buried or out of our sight many of us do not pay attention to these things. It is only when something like this happens, we suddenly realize the short-sightedness of the constuction builders.<br /><br />I went on an accidental ( I had business and errands to run) survey of the city today, and saw some of the ravages that the rains left have behind in the city. The roads in Koramangala were shining in their true color--water logged and with crates in them. At one point I thought that all my teeth were going to fall off. That is how bumby the ride was.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112602550734432195?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1126025503679504652005-09-06T09:31:00.000-07:002005-09-06T09:51:43.713-07:00While everybody is focussed on the terrible aftermath of Katrina in the US, here in Bangalore we have had a milder version of it. No, there was no hurricane, typhoon or cyclone, just heavy rains, but it bought parts of the city to a standstill. I did not step out of my house for couple of days because the roads outside our place was filled with flowing water, even though this is supposed to be a highway, and a new one at that!<br /><br />For the past few days the local paper "Deccan Herald," has printed pictures of homes flooded with water, and people trying to save their possessions. The water in many areas was shin-high and more, but what made and makes this situation worse is the the crumbling infrastructure. For instance, in South Bangalore in an area called JP Nagar, the Puttanahalli lake overflowed and flooded the narrow kutcha streets and flooded houses in this area and supposedly there has been contamination of the water. And when the CM visited this area to survey the damage, one brave woman is supposed to have stopped the cavalcade and protested that he and his government do something. Apparently, many of the people have been marooned in their homes without water, electricity etc.<br /><br />JP Nagar is right after Jay Nagar, and home to a swank new complex called Brigade Millenium, and other apartment buildings. Besides these tall buildings, there are a series of kutcha houses that dot the kutcha road. I have driven down this road many times, and was astonished to see how poor the roads were in this area. Most of the kutch houses are located on the other side of the road, but at a much lower elevation.<br /><br />What the heavy rain has underscored is that like in Bombay, builders are constructing homes in swampy areas, and do not pay adequate attention to how the sewage and water pipes are laid. Out of sight and out of mind is the adage that comes to mind. Now, since these pipes are usually buried or out of our sight many of us do not pay attention to these things. It is only when something like this happens, we suddenly realize the short-sightedness of the constuction builders.<br /><br />I went on an accidental ( I had business and errands to run) survey of the city today, and saw some of the ravages that the rains left have behind in the city. The roads in Koramangala were shining in their true color--water logged and with crates in them. At one point I thought that all my teeth were going to fall off. That is how bumby the ride was.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112602550367950465?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125935930442573852005-09-05T08:35:00.000-07:002005-09-05T08:58:50.500-07:00It is a pretty interesting to be an observer in India and watch events unfold, especially when it comes to the "Red" Party in India. There appears to be some kind of an internal revolt, and some comrades are clearly embracing the free market economy mantra.<br /><br />First, the media said that the Left takes a left -- taking a stab at the internal bickering that arose from CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya defecting from the party's ideology line. The CM it looks like refuses to tag the party line, and wants to go where capital is available. He actually wants to rub shoulders with the "capitalists."He wants private companies to come and invest, and is issuing enthusiastic invitations to do so. Obviously, this rallying cry from the leadership of the traditional "Red" "Left" bastion state must have gone down the wrong way for the <em>apparatchiks</em> sitting in the party headquarters somewhere in New Delhi. In the meanwhile "the Buddha is smiling," it sounds cheesy, but I thought that kind of probably describes the situation. "The Buddha smiling," was the code name when India tested its first bomb. Mr. B's embracing of market reforms was something akin to that, and Mr. B said that the PM is on right path or something to that effect. Mr. B is turning out to be an interesting person to watch and is more than that "Ibsen-loving," person that he was made out to be when he came to power.<br /><br />Now, the Left takes a right refers to today' s "nod" (you know everything is "nod," here in India) from the "lal" party. Mr. Prakash Karat and Mr Sitaram Yechuri the high priests of the red party met with Dr. Manmohan Singh to discuss the oil price. Apparently, both the comrades are ok with the deal, and have given a thumbs up to raise the fuel price.<br /><br />For those of you interested in knowing more about how the Red Party holds sway over the present government, last week's "India Today," carried a cover story on Mr. Prakash Karat and his phenomenal rise to head the party as its youngest leader. Mr. Karat was responsible for starting the SFI at Jawaharlal Nehru University way back in 1970, and I guess JNU has never been the same again. I wonder what happens when Mr. Karat bumps into one of those ex-JNUites when he goes to the North or the South Block. Many of them are in the IAS and IFS cadre.<br /><br />It is surprising to see how myopic the Red Party is, and how their stalling tactics is not helping the country.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112593593044257385?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125744228957710802005-09-03T03:01:00.000-07:002005-09-03T03:46:59.533-07:00This morning's "Deccan Herald," had an article with an eye-catching title, "How bureaucrats resist all good initiatives." The article was written by Tavleen Singh, who has a regular column in the Indian Express.<br /><br />Tavleen hung out with the CM of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje for a day to see from close quarters what it takes to run a state. The major agenda for the day was Raje's interaction with NGO's who had interesting and feasible suggestions and solutins to solve some of the problems of the state. Of course, the CM had her band of advisors...bureaucrats.<br /><br />The take away for Tavleen was that while the NGOs were filled with energy and enthusiasm, the bureaucrats exhibited "negativity and obducracy." And she says that if were upto her she would privatise governance. Now, it to me that sounds like a good suggestion. There are many other instances when bureaucrats tend to be a major road-block, and there are times when it is the politicians and their political parties that prove to be a huge roadblock---Karnataka is one case.<br /><br />A fundamental question then arises: how do you deal with these situations? Clearly private companies and NGOs are able to do a better job and deliver what they promise. Why is that there are NGO's for every cause, for every sector, for every issues? You name it there is an NGO.<br /><br />Here in Bangalore there is an organization called <a href="http://www.janaagraha.org/">Janaagraha</a> that encourages citizens of this city to engage with the government. "Participatory Democracy," is their tagline. For instance, I was told by people in Koramangala that this organization has been trying to improve the roads, water etc condition in this neighborhood, but it has been an uphill battle. It was interesting to see that today's local papers in Bangalore were filled with stories on how the High Court has passed an order to look into the illegal buildings that have sprouted in this area. I am not sure if Janaagraha was involved in this effort. I suspect that they may have been.<br /><br />At a macro level I am sure all of us understand that India is going through teething problems, and that these were issues that other developed countries went through too. But, the point is that today the world is different, and technology, money and people are available to execute and complete projects. Why then is it difficult to execute in India? How come there is no political will to improve the infrastructure? Yes, there are some projects that are being executed, but when you look at the bigger picture, these are not sufficient for the country to ramp up quickly. How come there was a political will to pass a rural employment bill that assures 100 days of work? (I know the answer to this one...) Why is the political will selective?<br /><br />And what is worrying is that now India and China are being spoken of in the same breath in the international community by analysts and reporters. What people do not realize is that The People's Republic of China started modernizing 25 years ago when the then communist leadership of Chairman Deng Xiaoping introduced "The Four Great Modernizations." For instance, academicians who visited China in the past few years tell me that it is amazing to see how widespread the desire to learn English is. And that if they see people of Indian origin they at once break out and speak in English. These are anecdotal evidence, but it shows that one of India's selling point about a large pool of English speakers may erode very quickly. I am not sure how many of you study or studied in the US, but those of you who have know first-hand how hard-working the students from Mainland China are. I still remember how my classmates would study with the help of Chinese and English dictionary. They would first try and understand the concept by translating into Chinese, and then check to see if they got it right, and then learn the whole thing in English with the help of their Chinese-English dictionary. It was not an easy task, but that is what they did to compete in a US university.<br /><br />That brings me to the point that bureaucrats do not have to be road blockers, they can help in propelling India to the next stage. There are many people willing to give that push, and act as mid-wives for them to deliver the projects. There must be bureaucrats in the IT and Telecom sector that are working to help businesses in this sector. So, how come other bureaucrats are not following their lead?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112574422895771080?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125740170678199592005-09-03T02:19:00.000-07:002005-09-03T03:00:58.686-07:00For those with an inquiring mind, here is a bit of trivia. And for those of you who are avid fans of "The Apprentice," you might want to check out this blog site. As as aside -- I am truly surpised how popular the show is in India. I know of peole who will put everything on hold to watch this show, which I believe airs on Fridays at 9 pm here in India. I first observed this phenomena when the show aired in the US. My colleagues, who were all sales professionals, were glued to their TV sets to watch the show, and maybe (?) learn how to negotiate deals and conduct themselves in board rooms. "You are fired!" turned out to be a pet subject at water coolers.<br /><br />I got to know of "The Donald" Trump's blog via NY Times. It made for some interesting read. The blog site is hosted by <a href=http://"www.trumpuniversity.com/"> Trump University</a>, and you need to register before you can browse. But I caught a glimpse of what it had to offer and was tempted for a moment to find out what it is to learn about success. The tagline boldly proclaims,"We teach success." But,I elected not to register, and instead continued reading the NY article. So, in a way it was my loss that I chose not to learn about Trump's brand of success. <br /><br />The blog is run by Trump and his band of experts. It should make for some interesting and insightful reading, nah!<br /><br />For those of you wondering why I am referring to Trump as "The Donald," that is how he was referred to by the US media in the 1990s. You knew who the media was talking about when they said "The Donald." Wonder who coined that name...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112574017067819959?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125735119481400052005-09-03T00:49:00.000-07:002005-09-03T01:11:59.526-07:00There is a new theory being postulated by some British scientists that the mad cow disease may have originated from South Asian countries. And their findings have been outlined in a paper that has been published by <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/">"The Lancet</a>," from Britain. This appears in the September issue.<br /><br />Listen to what the researchers had to say about their theory:<br /><br />“We do not claim that our theory is proved, but unquestionably warrants further investigation.”<br /><br />You can read a roundup on what I label as "preliminary" research in <a href=" http://www.redherring.com/article.aspx?a=13439/"> Red Herring.</a><br /><br />I wonder how this "further investigation," will take place? Will they collect data, and do a time series analysis? And then, see a pattern emerge? Or, will they collect data, and have the computer do a step-wise regression and spit out the results? What will they hyptheize about? Or, will they postulate a bunch of hypotheses and figure out which dependent variables explain their indepenedent variable? Anybody who has done any kind of statistical related research work knows that hypotheses and questions can be framed to support your conclusion. If you are good at word smithing, you can get strong evidence to support your hypothesis (es). It is all about open-ended and close-ended questions, etc. <br /><br />I suspect that it is not always easy to come to conclusions in such cases and that is why the researchers have issued a huge disclaimer of sorts and admitted that there maybe a few diplomatic eyebrows raised. A few? What about a billion eyebrows raised, along with a handuful of diplomatic eyebrows?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112573511948140005?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125671242858019452005-09-02T07:05:00.000-07:002005-09-02T07:31:10.486-07:00Thanks people for your comments on the infrastructure post.<br /><br />Arzan sent this link about Azim Premji's comment on Bangalore. Here's the <a href="http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?/"><br />link</a> I got thru <a href="http://soniafaleiro.blogspot.com/2005/08/but-whos-listening.html/">Sonia's</a> blog says Arzan.<br /><br />I guess the reason why there is a lot of attention on infrastructure issue is the ripple effect that it has on everybody...your time, work, mood etc. It has become a fundamental requirement, and can no longer be ignored. It is no longer in the "good to have" category. It has now become " a must have" category.<br /><br />The lack of proper infrastructure makes it difficult to commute from Point A to Point B. The reason that Bangalore's case is different is because private companies have chipped in to help, and in many cases have decided to create an alternative ways to deal with the problem. For instance, Infosys has built its own hotel of sorts within its campus for its corporate clients and guess. This is because of the runaway prices for hotel rooms in Bangalore ($300 and upwards for a regular room at a 5 star hotel. There are people who stay in Madras, and commute for the day to Bangalore. The reason is because of expensive, and many times fully booked hotel rooms.<br /><br />Agreed that infrastructure problems are spread all over the country, but in places like Bangalore and Bombay, which are major revenue generating cities, bad infrastructure impacts on productivity and quality of life. What is particularly sad about Bangalore is the political aspect, which is worse than some of the most corrupt states in the Gangetic plains.<br /><br />Perhaps it is good for companies to move away from Bangalore to other places. And, in fact companies are doing that. Mysore is one choice, and many are relocating to Hubli and Dharwar and as far as Mangalore. People who work in companies want to be able to save money, and lead a quality life, and are open to relocating to smaller cities and towns.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112567124285801945?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125667804678918182005-09-02T06:30:00.000-07:002005-09-02T07:04:46.223-07:00Reliance Headquarters or should I say Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai. The roads leading to the campus, besides the main entrance, are surprisingly narrow and filled with charter buses, where people clean their buses, and bathe at the same time. Located on Thane Belapur road, this is a nightmare of a road to travel. The narrow lanes are packed with trucks that are ferrying goods from the JNTP (port) to warehouses in Thane area. Traffic comes to a standstill, and you will be lucky if you can travel one km in 30 minutes.<br /><br />There is a saving grace and that is Palm Avenue, which is a nice stretch of road in Navi Mumbai. It is best to drive during late evenings, when the imperfections are hidden!<br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Thane%20Belapur%20Road.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Thane%20Belapur%20Road.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112566780467891818?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125667556936106382005-09-02T06:25:00.000-07:002005-09-02T07:02:34.080-07:00Talk of a planned city and great infrastructure. All you need is to cross the bay and drive into Navi Mumbai, and you will notice these unused railway stations. Bonus point for guessing why they are in disuse. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge...<br /><br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/KoparKhairane-RailStation-Oct6-2004%200051.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/KoparKhairane-RailStation-Oct6-2004%20005.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112566755693610638?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125667454163855092005-09-02T06:24:00.000-07:002005-09-02T07:01:30.523-07:00This shot of the bridge outside SEEPZ , Andheri in Mumbai. I am not sure how long this project has been underway, but it is a major choke point to travel from east to west Bombay. Right after this you hit the famous Saki Naka junction, where you can be assured of a good old traffic jam. A couple of months ago, the traffic jam from Saki Naka extended all the way to Juhu through the surface roads.<br /><br />Traffic jams are so bad in this area that it takes forever to reach anywhere. If you travel straight ahead you will hit Powai, which is another choke point because of the Vikhroli bridge that is being built. The choke point starts right outside IIT Campus, where the road curves, and boy! best of luck if you are stuck at this place. I will not even mention the Eastern and Western Expressways, and the different choke points there. <br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/SEEPZ%2C%20Bombay.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/SEEPZ%2C%20Bombay.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112566745416385509?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125667258352648752005-09-02T06:20:00.000-07:002005-09-02T06:56:38.606-07:00This shot is of outer ring road, and to your right is Sarjapura Road that will take you to Wipro's HQ, a sprawling campus. <br /><br />Notice the truck with that huge load? Now, imagine a huge line of these trucks snaking their way up this road for upto 20 kms. I know of instances when the cargo for the trucks showered on the the cars travelling behind it, and almost killed the occupants. This picture was taken just before noon, an off-peak hour. <br /><br />To the right of this picture is Sarjapura Road, which people still describe as a "halli" or a village. Sarjapura Road used to be a rickety, crate ridden, kutcha road for the longest time. But after Azim Premji threatened to quit the city, suddenly there is a lot of action and in the past few weeks, the roads have been miraculosuly cleared, and 4-6 lane road is being built according to unnamed sources. I have never dared to venture out on this road, but finally I said a prayer to the good lord, and ventured down the road and was surprised at the improvement. The last time I drove down this road was about 15 months ago.<br /><br />So, I guess the public-private joint act is working.<br /><br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Traffic-Bangalore-2005%20004.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Traffic-Bangalore-2005%20004.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112566725835264875?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125666981132270332005-09-02T06:16:00.000-07:002005-09-02T06:51:46.560-07:00When you drive on inner ring road towards Koramangala in Bangalore, you simply cannot miss the Dell and Microsoft buildings. But, when you enter the lane to go to these buildings, the roads are dug up and not in good condition. This picture was taken a few months ago, when a huge stretch of the road was dug up. This is what I mean when I say that the infrastructure is rickety and crumbling. <br /><br />Bangalore, a pensioner's paradise and haven, was not meant to be a metropolis, and there is no way the roads in old Bangalore can be expanded. It is physically not possible, unless the government pays the building owners, and relocates them. A new workaround that the city has devised is to turn some of the roads into one way. And, that I think has caused further confusions because not all motorists know about this.<br /><br />But, what is baffling is that new areas with new roads and infrastructure are sub-par.<br /><br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Bangalore_IBM-Dell-MS-office%20006.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Bangalore_IBM-Dell-MS-office%20006.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112566698113227033?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125666744046628002005-09-02T06:12:00.000-07:002005-09-02T06:43:39.173-07:00This caption is rich in content. That innocent one line says it all. I bet the intention of the auto driver was noble, and he does want to contribute to improving the air pollution situation in India. Why would he not? He too wants to breathe in clean air, and not breath the soot-filled air. Now, picture for yourself how much of air and noise pollutions these ricks, autos, phat phattis create. <br /><br />People need to commute long distances, and auto is a handy way to travel. However, these little motorized vehicles can be terrors and can snarl up the traffic pretty easily. Just this morning I was in downtown Bangalore, and was caught in another traffic jam travelling from Lavelle to Residency Road. After crawling thro an awfully slow stretch, I discovered that there were about 50 autos lined up outside a gas station. I thought maybe there is a deal at this gas pumpt that people do not want to miss. The reason? Apparently, this is one of the two gas pumps, where autos can get their LPG refills. Now, whoever thought of having such a facility smack dab in the middle of the city, and thattoo in a well-known choke point? These are the kinds of things that I fail to understand. <br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Auto-rickshaw-don%27t%20pollute%20001.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Auto-rickshaw-don%27t%20pollute%20001.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112566674404662800?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125666610831259692005-09-02T06:10:00.000-07:002005-09-02T06:35:08.996-07:00I thought people might be interested in getting some still picture images of Bangalore and Mumbai. These still pictures do not have a dynamic facet, but viewers can get an idea of how things are changing with respect to traffic and infrastructure. These are not the best pictures, but at least they let you see what the situation is like...<br /><br />I could not resist posting this picture of this huge Tata Sumo SUV that the Bangalore Police Highway folks use. I am not sure what they do, but I see them once in a while when I travel on Ring Road in Bangalore. This SUV actually cut us off and make a U turn in the middle of a busy highway.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Traffic-Bangalore-2005%20002.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #006600 4px solid; BORDER-TOP: #006600 4px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #006600 4px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #006600 4px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Traffic-Bangalore-2005%20002.jpg" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112566661083125969?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125587898079775942005-09-01T07:41:00.000-07:002005-09-01T08:18:18.100-07:00Clearly the Indian IT sector is doing booming business, and what with the latest news that Infosys, Patni and TCS have bagged a piece of the $2.2 billion deal from ABN AMRO.<br /><br />Bangalore is the engine that is driving this boom in the IT sector, but you need to be here to see the woefully inadequate infrastructure: be it roads, public transportation, water or electricity. All you need to do is drive around and experience for yourself the state of the roads, and the stalled bridge constructions all over the city. It took us an hour and half to travel 7 kms within the city during off-peak hour. And this was because a handful of protestors had parked themselves in front of the Police Commissioner's office on Infantry Road, and created a bottle neck. The radial streets that feed into downtown Bangalore are narrow, and not meant for heavy traffic.<br /><br />Add to this gnarly situation a liberal dose of politcal spice and you have a situation that is bound to spiral out of control, and force companies to relocate to other cities. The internal bickering between different political parties is not helping the situation on ground.<br /><br />It does not matter how you arrive: plane, train, bus or car and you will right away get sandwiched in a traffic snarl. The road outside the Airport is perpetually crazy...I have seen people hop off their taxis and autos and walk upto the airport, which is a good hike. The roads leading from the station are perpetually crowded. The bus terminal near Shivaji Nagar is worse than ISBT in New Delhi, and of course if you are bowling along the freeway in your car you will come to a crawl once you are in the vicinity of the city.<br /><br />Roads and Bridges: Most of the roads are narrow, and the outer ring road has become a truckers paradise. It is impossible to travel on this road if you are travelling from north to south on this road towards the airport. The situation improves a bit after the airport since trucks are not allowed to travel on this road until after 8 pm. Guess why? This is the start of the golden IT corridor that leads upto Electronics City. This is where you can see the gleaming buildings of Intel, Accenture, etc etc.<br /><br />The bridge near the airport has been at a standstill for 2 years, but just the other day I saw that they have started tinkering with the structure. This is worse than the famous "pit" of Boston, at least that is a much bigger and ambitious project when compared to the relatively simple flyover being built near the airport.<br /><br />Koramangala, which is home to IT honchos and IT professionals has huge crates on the road, and you are assured of bone jarring rides anytime you are in this neck of the woods. You can still see people bravely driving over "kutcha" roads.<br /><br />Now, the city government has come up with what seems like an ill-thought through plan of building an inner core ring road to the downtown and business areas. People cannot travel in cars into this section of town, but can only walk. Come on, give me a break! How on earth will this ever work here? For starters, where on earth will they find so much of parking space etc, etc. It probably makes sense to have some kind of check naka, or toll booth, to monitor the flow of traffic into the heart of the city, but to ban vehicles completely?<br /><br />Public Transport: The political bickering is huge, I mean it is really huge. Mr. Gowda, the ex-PM is oppposed to the Metro Project that is being floated for the Garden City. Instead, Mr. Gowda wants a monorail system. The reasons on why he is opposing the metro project is bit fuzzy, there is a lot of fuzzy math here. CM Dharam Singh, who is right now in New Delhi is supposed to have gone on a half-hour metro ride in the capital to personally experience this marvellous mode of transportation. I am not sure what this joy ride will translate in terms of real policy making decisions.<br /><br />Buses. Bangalore was never known for its bus system even in the best of times, circa 1970s and 1980s. So, you can imagine the situation at this point of time.<br /><br />Electricity and Water: What many people do not let you know is that if you live in an apartment complex, this twin crisis is effeciently handled. Therefore this becomes a silent crisis of sort, which is bound to surface sooner or later.<br /><br />Most places have back-up generators that kick in once there is a power cut, and the central backbone, the lift or elevator system is assured of continuing power supply.<br /><br />Water. These complexes buy water by the truck load and fill up the water tanks, and people buy bottled water for drinking purposes. It costs about Rs 75 for a 20 litre bottle of water. Now, you do the math and compute for yourself how much money an average family must be spending for their drinking water. This cost does not include the money that families have to fork out to the apartment complex for the supply of regular water. There are upscale neighbourhoods in this city where water is not potable. You know the quality of the water has been compromised when you wash your hair, and see clumps of hair falling. <br /><br />Is it any wonder than that IT companies have been threatening to boycott the IT.Bangalore event? Many companies have also made noises about moving out of the city. There appears to be some kind of middle path with the public and private sector colloborating to work on infrastructure projects. I hope that this partnership pans out for everybody's sake.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112558789807977594?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125568051539060682005-09-01T02:26:00.000-07:002005-09-01T02:47:31.546-07:00This is a mundane, but an important issue, since all of us have to do a fair amount of housekeeping to maintain a liveable place of existence. You know dusting, mopping, swabbing etc.<br /><br />After having lived outside India for so long, I find it a challenge to maintain a home in India. This is largely because there is constant cleaning and swabbing that you need to do on a regular basis. I got around that in our previous place by sealing the windows, and keeping the foot traffic to a minimum. This in turn cuts down on the amount of cleaning and swabbing you need to do. Many people found it amusing at first, but then realized that it was not a bad idea. There is absolutely no need to have a maid servant come in everyday to help with your housekeeping chores. How is it that when we go outside the country we wash our own plates and clothes, but find it difficult to do that in India?<br /><br />But coming back to why I find it a challenge...The challenge stems from the fact that I have become self-sufficient and pretty much prefer to do my own washing of pots and pans and clothes. This can be a great time-saver, and helps you become efficient. However, it is a daily chore to swab the floor. I have tried using the long-handled mop to swab the floor, tried the traditional way of swabbing the floor, but it is a loosing proposition. You have to swab the floor every other day period. There is no workaround to this issue and this is because the amount of dust that is generated everyday.<br /><br />I have tried having a maid come in twice a week, but that did not work out for two reasons. One she thought that it was strange that I needed her to work only twice a week, and secondly we could not agree upon a time.<br /><br />So, I struck upon the brilliant idea that there must be an outfit that caters to people like me. And it turns out that there are a couple of them. I called the Handyman office in Bangalore and was astonished to find that would charge about $80 or so, I think over Rs.3,500 to come and clean my place. When I explained that I only wanted somebody to help me once a week, the price was lowered to Rs. 1,500! And guess what? There are people who are actually forking out that kind of money to keep a clean home!<br /><br />It suddenly dawned on me that starting a janitorial service is an excellent business in India. If you streamline the process I am sure that there will be enough takers for this business.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112556805153906068?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125566332829994022005-09-01T01:46:00.000-07:002005-09-01T07:40:31.513-07:00I guess the global warming debate will finally be swept out from beneath the carpet, and put on the table. There are many environmentalists and researchers who have pointed out that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina/"><br />Katrina</a> is directly related to the <a href="http://www.climatewire.org/">global warming</a> issue.<br /><br />It was heart wrenching to see the devastation that Katrina left behind in the states of <a href="http://www.wwltv.com/"><br />Louisiana</a>, Mississipi, Alabama and others. Cities like <a href="http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html/:">New Orleans</a>, <a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/">Baton Rouge</a>, Biloxi, and Jackson.<br /><br />One of the victims pointed out that this their tsunami, referring to the Asian tsunami from last year.<br /><br />In times of crisis, the web and the world of <a href="http://www.technorati.com/search/">blogging</a> has turned out to be a wonderful resource to turn to and look for help and update. You just have to read the postings in Craigslist and see how many people are ready to help. This reminds me of how people came together during the Bombay deluge of July 27th,2005 when there was no sign of help from government agencies.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.instapundit.com/">Instapundit</a> has a detailed bunch of links to various sites and how to help the victims.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112556633282999402?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125498245660468042005-08-31T07:04:00.000-07:002005-08-31T07:24:05.706-07:00Today's Bangalore edition of <a href ="http://www.timesofindia.com/">Times of India </a> had an interesting article on how software professionals de-stress after a long and hard day's work. Many head to ayurvedic clinics or spas and for traditional massages. Apparently just this past year about 60 ayurvedic clinics and spas have sprung up in <a href="http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/karnataka/bangalore-map.htm/"><br />south west Bangalore</a>, the IT corridor that consists of Koramangala, Indra Nagar, ITPL, and Electronics City.<br /><br />People are willing to spend anywhere from Rs. 500 and upwards for their day out at these ayurvedic spas. I can already see someone picking up this story and giving it a nice spin...alternate medicine or traditional medicine rescues stressed out software professionals. Guess where these folks head to de-stress? No, not the gym. They head to ayurveda spas, which is a traditional medical practice that originated in India....<br /><br />A couple of months ago, the same paper carried an article on the increasing trend of software professionals seeking medical help to handle the stress-related problems. And sure enough the story was picked uo by someone outside the country.<br /><br />But, I think the bigger story is the non-desi way of de-stressing and that is going to discs (as they refer to discos in Bombay), clubbing or pubbing. All you need to do is head to any major hotel in the big cities, preferably after 9 pm, and you will see huge lines snaking outside the discos. Most of them are young professionals, who work in IT and BPO companies.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112549824566046804?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125316090075256702005-08-29T04:36:00.000-07:002005-08-29T04:48:10.080-07:00The print media has not devoted much time or space on the oil situation in India. What I mean is that while at the international level, there has been a steady increase in the price per barrel, I see no rise in oil price at the domestic level in India. Furthermore, the print media has not written much on the subject, save for the bid by ONGC or how the Finance Minister or someone of the other from the government has hinted at a rise in oil price. I am amazed on why there the talk or debate on this crucial issue remains at a low level. The oil prices in India are subsidized, and apparently the government owned oil companies are in the red already.<br /><br />It is almost certain that oil prices will increase. But, by how much and when? Are people prepared for the sticker shock when the price of petrol and diesel go up? I am not sure they are. I conducted an unscientific survey and anecdotal evidence suggests that people are vaguely aware that prices may go up.<br /><br />The other issue on which there is not much debate is the employment bill that guarantees 100 days of employment for people in the rural area. I am not sure that this is the right way to go about sorting this issue. How will the money be allocated for this bill, where and when will it come? Do the states have to pitch in on this? Gurucharan Das rightly pointed out in his article in Times of India (sunday edition) that such a will lead to more political problems and corruption. This is a huge step that the government is taking, and again there appears to be not much debate in the print media on this. I wonder how this whole thing will pan out, and what will be the political and economic significance of this bill say 2-5 years from now.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112531609007525670?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125287679519790912005-08-28T20:36:00.000-07:002005-08-28T20:54:39.566-07:00Today's copy of The Economic Times (<a href="http://www.economictimes.com">www.economictimes.com</a>) had Vinod Khosla, the VC from Kleiner Perkins, as its guest editor.<br /><br />Khosla outlined his areas of interests in India: micro-financing, wireless in rural and urban area, and bio-diesel among others. And the paper followed-through with articles and stories on these issues.<br /><br />I liked the choice of articles because it gave a different perspective on India, and outlined the growth opportunities in India.<br /><br />Apparently Khosla decided on the choice of lead articles for the front page, which included an article on the Left titled, "Left taking right turn? CPM on mission China." If you have not followed this particular thread it refers to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's take on privitization in his state. According to The Economic Times, the CM's statement "about the need for communist governments to 'perform or perish,' in a globalised secenario generated controversy..." The CM's remarks have stirred a hornet's nest, sort of, with everybody in the Left party tying themselves up in knots, and disagreeing (to put it mildly) with the CM's remarks. I only wish the Left could wake up and smell the coffee that is percolating all over India, especially in West Bengal.<br /><br />The Economic Times had this say about Khosla's choice of stories:<br /><br />"The stories on Reliance and the Left pary were clearly the stories of the day, he pointed out. No questions asked. "The PM would be happy to read the Left story," he quipped."<br /><br />But, there was one story they left out and that was the Rural Employment Gaurantee Bill that was passed in the parliament. Many analysts point out that this bill is a first step towards welfare state in India, while others have questioned on where the funds will come to support and sustain this project that guarantees 100 days of employment. It would have been interesting to read Khosla's take on this subject since it has far reaching political and economic consequences. Gurucharan Das had an interesting article that was published in yesterday's (Sunday) "times of India."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112528767951979091?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1125198095792796472005-08-27T19:56:00.000-07:002005-08-27T20:01:35.796-07:00This is a fantastic site for those of you who live in the US and are looking for apartments or buying a home. The creator of this site has fused google maps and craigslist.org and created this hybrid, but incredibly powerful and useful way of locating houses and apartments. Check it out at: <a href="http://www.housingmaps.com/">http://www.housingmaps.com/</a> A picture speaks a thousand words is very true in the case of house or apartment hunting. I wish someone would come up with something like this for India.<br /><br />It is interesting to note that craigslist has not caught in India. When I used the list it a few months ago, all the emails came from the US. You can check out listing for the metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore for the moment.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112519809579279647?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124858517070790852005-08-23T21:34:00.000-07:002005-08-23T21:41:57.076-07:00The media speculation about Google's new product launch has increased significantly in the last few days. Reports are that Google will unveil "Google Talk," which is an IM with voice chatting capability. Sounds like Skype to me.<br /><br />Here are some links on Google Talk:<br /><br /><a href="http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=USATODAY.com+-+Report%3A+Google+ready+to+walk+the+walk+with+text%2C+voice+IMs&amp;expire=&urlID=15247381&amp;fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fmoney%2Findustries%2Ftechnology%2F2005-08-23-google-im_x.htm&amp;partnerID=1661/">Google Talk from USA Today </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3529526/">Google to launch Jabber-based IM?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=169600460/">Google Unveils Instant Messaging, Phone </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112485851707079085?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124354307635815402005-08-18T01:29:00.000-07:002005-08-18T01:42:29.443-07:00It was 10 years ago in August of 1995 that Netscape, the browser company went IPO, and unleased the dotcom revolution. I remember those days since I was in the Valley, and lived not too far from <a href="http://www.netscape.com">Netscape</a> Headquarters.<br /><br />This is what <a href="http://news.com.com/A+decade+on+the+Web+with+Netscape/2009-1032_3-5406640.html/">CNet</a> has to say about Netscape.<br /><br />Anyone remember what they were doing in 1995, and if they were using Netscaper browser? I remember using Hypertex, a text browser and Mosaic prior to that. I am sure no one recalls Gopher from U of MN. We were happy using dial-up modems that were slow as molasses, but were real happy and enthralled by what we could do! I remember how crude the home pages were in those days...everybody who could surf had a website, and newsgroups were the new, new thing then.<br /><br />Of course, prior to all this and IM there was the "Talk" feature that was available in Unix machines. I am sure those of you who are Unix users remember that feature.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112435430763581540?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124289938038322492005-08-17T07:41:00.000-07:002005-08-17T07:45:38.046-07:00The comrades must have celebrated their minor victory when they stymied the Government's attempts to disinvestment the profit-making Public Sector Units. There are 13 of them and the Congress-lead government wanted to disinvest through a strategic sales option. Apparently, this is not a transparent way of doing business.<br /><br />But, the real story is that the Left is against disinvestment, and they are really good to spinning their arguments. Their assumptions and paradigms might be flawed, but they can argue nonetheless, and they can wear you down...<br /><br />Wonder how this one will pan out. There were some murmurings that IPO maybe a way out for the IPOs. Hmm.....<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112428993803832249?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124287480314841292005-08-17T06:54:00.000-07:002005-08-17T07:09:19.400-07:00Pom-pom for Vivek Paul from India Inc writes the Economic Times in today's issue. <br /><br />Get this ...this is on the front page. Pom-pom? I guess India Inc (good knows who all are included in this catch all phrase) played the cheer leader squad as Paul took center-stage to edit the paper. I think it is great that the papers are starting to loosen up and get on with the times, but I don't think they need to get extra casual with their words and phrases, and go overboard with some of their new and creative ideas to increase the readership. Imagine the Financial Times of London having Sir Richard Branson be an editor for a day...actually, on second thoughts that won't be a bad idea since he knows how to play to the gallery.<br /><br />Getting back to the story....the opening line read like this:<br /><br /><strong><em> Shake, rattle, and Paul!</em></strong><br /><br />I guess the ET staff was jiving to some good old 60's music and having fun.<br /><br />It does not stop there..."India Inc cheered their daily dose of ET as the edition dated August 16 arrived with that billion-dollar touch of Wipro's outgoing CEo and Partner, Texas Pacific Group, Vivek Paul."<br /><br />And then the paper has a laundry list of who praised Paul for being an editor.<br /><br />I wonder if one of the corporates will allow the Editor of Times of India to run their operations for a day? Now, I think that is a capital idea.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112428748031484129?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124207032944554492005-08-16T08:31:00.000-07:002005-08-16T08:43:52.953-07:00Back again about my phone problem that continues to hiss and spit at me whenever I call.<br /><br />The phone rings late in the evening and a confident sounding voice asks me: "Madam, your phone is not working?"<br /><br />Hmm, I think to myself...she is talking to me now, is she not?<br /><br />So, I let her know that precisely, and correct her since I have a bee in my bonnet,"You should not have asked me if my phone is working. Instead, your question should have been is there a problem with your phone."<br /><br />"OK Madam." she responds.<br /><br />So, I am waiting for her to ask me the altered question, and guess she picks up on the cue and asks, "Is there a problem with your phone?"<br /><br />"Yes," I promptly answer at which point she puts me to a techie, who speaks only Kannada. Fortunately, my husband's uncle was visiting with me and he intervened and took the conversation from that point on.<br /><br />Now, it just so happens that I had described the phone problem to this uncle and told him how the phone company had sent a couple of techies who had no clue what was wrong with my phone, and blamed the DSL part of the phone company for my current problem. I called the supervisor at the call center and had these techies describe the problem to the supervisor in Kannada. I do have to ramp up pretty fast and move beyong the basic Kannada that I have managed to master. So, this call late in the evening from Tata was a follow-up.<br /><br />Cutting back to the uncle who was handling the call, I overheard him describe the problem and suggest that they get a static reducer device attached to the phone jack and that should do the trick. <br /><br />The verdict is that in the next 24 hours this problem should be fixed. Remember that it was originally meant to be 12 hours, but that was 4 days ago.What is another day I tell myself.<br /><br />Static Reducer? I asked the uncle. Why, that is what I have been telling these good and wonderful folks along only I called it noise reduction devic.<br /><br />"Stgatic Reducer describes the problem better within the cultural context. Plus, you need to know how to coax these people to deliver."<br /><br />So, there you go: you either SCREAM from the top of your voice, and go to the other extreme and cajole these good folks to deliver.<br /><br />That was a useful tip that this uncle shared, and something I should learn to implement.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112420703294455449?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124173725053385972005-08-15T23:14:00.000-07:002005-08-15T23:28:45.060-07:00Vivek Paul, the ex-Wipro head, who is now part of a VC company played an editor for a day, and I guess he must have enjoyed it. He was the guest editor for The Economic Times for a day, and you can see the results in today's copy of the paper. <em>www.economictimes.com</em><br /><br />Read for yourself. Here are a couple of headlines that I picked out, and it definitely sounds like Paul was editing a college newspaper. But having worked in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can safely say that Paul must have conducted this like a sales training workshop in a typical IT company in Silicon Valley. Typical of such meetings is the rah-rah, and feel good feeling that is stressed, and everybody comes away feeling good. Anybody been to a meeting like that? You know what I am talking about...good food, rah-rah-talk, and then a company dinner where everybody just hangs loose.<br /><br />So, back to the The Economic Times. Take a look at these headlines:<br /><br />"Third World India @ First World Speed."<br /><br />"Independence Day Ain't No Kidstuff."<br /><br />"Balance Sheet Sings I've the Power." (I have got the power. Remember that song?)<br /><br />"Dude, Don't Split Head Over Hair."<br /><br />I can see a definite American slant to the headlines, and it tends to be a bit on the causual side.<br /><br />My only peeve is why use the term "Third World." People use this term in an imprecise manner and it is time that we dropped such phrases. Third World in IT speak is a "LEGACY" term. <br /><br />Third World is a throwback from the Cold War days, and somebody in France came up with the term where the US was First World, the USSR and it satellites were the Second World, and everybody else belonged to the Third World. I am being a little light-hearted about this, but you get the picture. These terms no longer apply.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112417372505338597?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124107038012216422005-08-15T04:45:00.000-07:002005-08-15T04:57:18.023-07:00Dude where is the party? is a desi movie that came out a while ago. <br /><br />I first saw it in the US a few months ago, but watching it on TV in India is far more entertaining. The caricature of the South Asian community is very funny, and I can instantly connect with the movie...especially, the desi restaurants in US. In the movie the restaurant is appropriately named "Bombay Palace." Check out the ridiculous turbans these dudes wear in the restaurant, complete with strands of pearl and crystal dangling from their foreheads! (Other exciting, but predictable names for Indian restaurants in the US include Shalimar, India Palace, India Oven and Taj Mahal. I kid you not, check it out for yourself there is bound to be a Bombay Palace or a India Palace in your neighborhood in the US).<br /><br />The move basically examines the tension between the older and younger generation of the desis, and what makes it even more funny is that it is set in a college environment. The young desis want to be cool and hip, and not pursue traditional options like engineering and medicine.<br /><br />The director has also captured the undercurrent of tension that exists between the ABCDs and FOBs (Fresh of the boat as the students from India are referred to, and they generally tend to be geeky grad students).<br /><br />The movie has its moments, and if you can lay your hands on a DVD, go ahead and watch it.<br /><br />Kal Penn of course has done a fabulous job in this movie.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112410703801221642?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124088302794003282005-08-14T23:35:00.000-07:002005-08-15T04:45:30.286-07:00Yesterday's Times of India (Sunday edition) carried an article on what Independece Day means to Shah Rukh Khan.<br /><br />Here is something that caught my eye from the article:<br /><br />"Though I'm accused to being allied to certian camps in the film industry, I'd like to believe I'm largely apolitical and non-partisan. <<em>em>I'm an island unto myself. Dare, I say, India is like me too. It hasn't allied to any super power. Easy does it, is our philosophy."</em><br /><br />This whole paragraph left me a bit confused. Khan was perhaps alluding to John Donne's famous poem "No Man is an Island," which goes this way:<br /><br />"No man is an island, entire of itself<br />every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.."<br /><br />What further confused me was Khan's reference that India is not allied to any super power. What super power is he referring to? If you go by the cold war paradigm then there is only one and that is the US, the other super power-USSR-no longer exists. <br /><br />Has he not been following the news? India is moving closer to the US and the PM mentioned the growing Indo-US relationship. Perhaps, India is still non-aligned but with a tilt to the US. Anyone remember that phrase? India is non-aligned but with a tilt towards the Soviet Union.<br /><br />On the whole, I was not sure what to make of Khan's take on the whole issue. Maybe someone can throw some light and help me understand?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112408830279400328?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1124087221549247662005-08-14T23:01:00.000-07:002005-08-14T23:27:01.640-07:00Happy 15th to everyone.<br /><br />I was up at the crack of dawn (not exactly), but anyway right on time to catch Dr. Manmohan Singh's Independence Day Speech from the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi.<br /><br />Dr. Singh in his usual understated way delievered his speech that touched all the important points: economic development and the policies to help the rural and farming sector of the country, relations with the neighboring countries, India-US relationship. The entire gamut.<br /><br />"The Garibhi Hatao" reference by the PM brought back memores of yesteryears, this was a favorite slogan of Mrs. Gandhi. The PM also referred to the Rural Employment bill that insures 100 days of employment to people in the rural area. This is a noble idea, and is probably a subsitute of sorts for the welfare system that is missing from India. But the question is what impact will this have at a macro level? How will it impact the fiscal policy of the country? <br /><br />Dr. Singh rightly pointed that there is nothing that is stopping the country from continuing with the current 7% rate of growth, and that the country is at a historical juncture and should grab the opportunity to move forward. He was also correct in pointing out that the only obstacle is from inside the country (I wonder what he had in mind when he mentioned that). <br /><br />But, it has not been an easy path for the PM. A couple of days ago Reuters had a newstory out that spoke about the challenges that the PM has been facing and continues to face ever since he became the PM. One of the obstacle is the one from the Left, and the other is apparently a growing difference with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. The "Economic Times" carried an article on this last week.<br /><br />The PM is treading a bit of a rocky path, and hopefully he is allowed to deliver on what he has in mind for the country. He is an astute economist, but has to come to speed when it comes to politics. Politics is not an easy game to play, and is one of constant change and manoeuvre.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112408722154924766?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123993617534303622005-08-13T21:23:00.000-07:002005-08-13T21:32:49.110-07:00Nah, such a thing does not exist.<br /><br />Well, it turns out that there is a gender bias in the way men and women blog. This "he said" "she said" bias was the basis of study by the <a href = "http://www.glam.ac.uk/news/releases/003056.php/">University of Glamorgan.</a><br /><br />Check it out for yourelf.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112399361753430362?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123940008565400372005-08-13T06:33:00.000-07:002005-08-13T06:59:58.463-07:00Hiranandani Garden is located in Powai. Bang opposite the complex is the sprawling IIT campus and the Renaissance Hotel. From what I hear this place was not all that badly hit in comparison to the rest of the city.<br /><br />This huge complex was conceptulized by <a href = "www.hafeezcontractor.com/">Hafeez Contractor</a>, who is also involved in the upgrading of the Bombay domestic airport. It is a self-contained place that has everything including a 3-star hotel and is a popular place for Hindi film shooting.<br /><br />You drive around the lake and hang a right that will take you to the hotel, and if you drive straighton you will hit Aarey colony road. This is one of the greener parts of the city, and if you really looked hard you will find a board for Balaji Telefilms rubbing shoulders with dairy farms. Film City is not far from this area.<br /><br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Hiranandani%20and%20Renaissance-June-July-2005%20009.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Hiranandani%20and%20Renaissance-June-July-2005%20009.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112394000856540037?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123939887075541152005-08-13T06:31:00.000-07:002005-08-13T06:46:32.713-07:00Aarey colony is an area that is sandwiched between Goregaon and Powai.From what I hear this area was impacted quite a bit by the deluge.<br /><br />Aarey Colony is perhaps the only green patch in Bombay, and is filled with diary farms. I could not resist taking a picture of this one. With a name like that I wonder how the quality of the product will be...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Aarey%20Milk%20Colony%20001.jpg'><img border='0' style='border:4px solid #006600; margin:2px' src='http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Aarey%20Milk%20Colony%20001.jpg'></a><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112393988707554115?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123939782968193882005-08-13T06:29:00.000-07:002005-08-13T07:03:57.730-07:00A view of the Bandra-Kurla complex before the deluge.<br /><br />The Bombay deluge of last month was filled with stories about the famous, or should I say the infamous Bandra-Kurla complex? This strech of land with its gleaming skyscrapers was one of the main reasons why the flood water overflowed and impacted the poor folks in Kalina, Kalyan Nagar etc.<br /><br />The complex is built on a wide swathe of reclaimed land and damaged the drainage system of this area. The by-product of building this complex was a well-known one, and there are reports that point out the ecological disaster that was waiting to happen. Guess it had to take a deluge like last month to highlight this problem.<br /><br />This swanky part of town with its brand new buildings is home to IF&FS, Citibank, one of the stock exchage buildings that I forget, Citicorp, Wockhardt, and a whole bunch of well-known companies. <br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/50/Aarey%20Milk%20Colony%20003.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #006600 4px solid; BORDER-TOP: #006600 4px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #006600 4px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #006600 4px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/204/2011/400/Aarey%20Milk%20Colony%20003.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Bandra-Kurla complex.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112393978296819388?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123908135659079752005-08-12T21:36:00.000-07:002005-08-12T21:42:15.660-07:00This is a repost.<br /><br />This is another episode that highlights why India is India. "Yeh India hai, kya karogi?"<br /><br />Middleware - The Indian version is diametrically opposite to what you might be thinking.<br /><br />If you are a techie you are probably thinking about the middleware that sits between the front-end and the back-end of the application, you are probably thinking of 3-tier and 5-tier architecture etc etc.<br /><br />According to Internet2 website ( http://middleware.internet2.edu/) the definition of middleware is:"Middleware, or "glue", is a layer of software between the network and the applications. This software provides services such as identification, authentication, authorization, directories, and security."<br /><br />Dispel all these definitions and notions of middleware. Indian middleware is entirely different. Indian middleware consists of facilitators, agents, touts etc etc. These are the people who constitue the "glue" of the Great Indian Network. These are the people who can provide you identification, authentication, authorization, directories and security of the Great Indian Network and the various applications.<br /><br />Identification: A well-connected agent can provide the right identification to you. Forget your passport and driving license. A good agent is a pre-requisite.<br /><br />Authentication: A well-connected agent can help shorten the paperwork trial and provide you with the right stamp of authentication. People working in government offices feel comfortable if you come through an agent. I have had first hand experience on this. A well-connected agent can effortlessly sheperd you through the 3-way TCP/IP handshake in a jiffy. They can go through any firewall, DMZ, deep packet inspection, LDAP,Radius etc etc.<br /><br />Authorization: Need I say more on this one? They can get you through any VPN (Virtual Private Network) in a government office.<br /><br />Directories: Again, a well-connected agent can work wonders. They know the directory structure of the relevant backend.<br /><br />Security: A well-connecgted agent can provide PGP and will have the right stamp of security approval to walk you through the bureaucratic maze. Do not have any expectations about trying to understand the process, and do not ask questions. If you do, you will be the one has to restart the process and will be reinventing the Great Indian wheel.<br /><br />For the past 2 months I have dealt with the Indian middleware, and have had my way smoothened, and requests for tasks completed within the blink of an eye. The Indian Middleware has come into play whether it is dealing with an advocate, government offices, house, phone, car, you name it...they are the people whose stamp of approval can make the difference between heaven and earth. I say heaven and earth because a faulty agent can ruin your day.<br /><br />Sometimes you might get a faulty agent who can test your patience and drive you up the Great Wall of China. This happened to be a month ago when I had to deal with a particular government office in Chembur. A faulty agent almost runined my day, but the timely intervention of a good agent helped save the day.<br /><br />Initially, I was resistant to the Indian Middleware, but have learn through my errors that it is best to go through this well-established layer if I need to be efficient and happy. Did I forget to mention that there is a transaction cost involved anytime you use the Indian Middeware? Do try and get a list of the transaction cost before you initiate your request. What will we all do without them?<br /><br />My mother is right, "Yeh India hai, kya karogi Kamla?"<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112390813565907975?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123907424666749662005-08-12T21:09:00.000-07:002005-08-12T21:30:24.676-07:00I am back again with another edition of Yeh India hai.<br /><br />Ever since I got my DSL, I have had static, noise, hissing, buzzing that makes it difficult for me to talk on the phone. I have cajoled, shouted, and tried every trick in the book but no one has shown from Tata to fix the problem. "Madam, the people have just left and will be coming to your place anytime today madam. I assure you." Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!<br /><br />I finally relented, and picked up the phone and called the famous call center people of the aforementioned phone company. As you know, I know the song and dance routine with this company and preempted the call rep's annoying questioning by imperiously announcing (after the pleasantries were done and over with): This is so and so, and yes I own the phone." <br /><br />Hit by this unexpected imperious nature of the call, the customer rep guy meekly answered, "Ok Madam, what is the problem, can you describe it?"<br /><br />Promptly my phone started hissing and spewing venom at him.<br /><br />"Do you hear that? That is the problem."<br /><br />"Ok madam, this is just for outgoing call?"<br /><br />Now I was completely taken aback by his logic...why would it occur only for outgoing calls, and not incoming? For heaven's sake voice data flies back and forth ...<br /><br />Anyway, he came back and gave him his standard answer of fixing it in 12 hours. That is it! That did it! I just asked to be connected to the technical department and heard a familiar voice, this is somebody that I have spoken to quite a few times I think.<br /><br />He asks for a description of the problem and the phone line obliges promptly. At this stage, I am very impressed by my phone's prompt respones to the problem. Since he is techie I told him that this problem can be fixed if he can get me a noise cancellation device and fix it. As a seasoned DSL user, I know that this is one of the annoying upshots of getting a DSL connection.<br /><br />I quickly realized that this was not going anywhere and asked to be connected to the supervisor. And I get connected to the supervisor who speaks to me in a very confident American accent, I think that is what he wanted to imitate, "What is the problem Kamla?" The phone responds and I explain to him how the problem can be fixed. We spend a few minutes and I end by stating firmly that this problem needs to be fixed. By the end of the coversation the guy had lost all his accent, and I could hear the strong regional influence.<br /><br />Anyway, in a few minutes I get a couple of calls from the local phone technicalwala who declares: "Madam, I am told your phone is not working, and you are not able to make calls? Can you cofirm please?"<br /><br />Helloooo. My phone is working, but there is lot of static and hissing.<br /><br />What do you think my response would have been? No, not of anger but one of utter resignation. My deepest fears had come true: people really have a hard time taking down the problem or shall I say writing and describing the problem in a precise way. There is always a huge element of impreciseness (is there such a word) that just makes it difficult to execute in an efficient manner.<br /><br />Well, 12 hours have come and gone, and there is still no sign of the phone guy. Thank god that I have skype and my cell phone.<br /><br />My mother is right, "Yeh India hai, kya karogi Kamla?"<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112390742466674966?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123843721364027632005-08-12T03:26:00.000-07:002005-08-12T03:48:41.373-07:00Ever since the world of TV went from binary mode into a multi digit mode, it has been a haven of sorts for TV viewers in India. That is one school of thought. Then there is another school of thought that says otherwise and points out that there are barely any good shows, and that none of the TV stations are worth watching.<br /><br />I belong to the moderate school that says that there is the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to TV in India.<br /><br />There are some good shows in variou channels and I like to watch a combination of BBC, CNN, CNBC, Zoom, HBO etc.<br /><br />Some of the shows I like to watch because enquiring mind wants to know include Koffe with Karan (numerology dicates the spelling of the show), Pooja Bedi, Simi Grewal and Lolla Kutti (the beauty on duty.)<br /><br />I love to watch these entertainment related show to catch up on what is happening in the world of glitz and glamor. They don't in anyway compare to Entertainment Tonight, Inside Hollywood, Extra! Extra! in the US.<br /><br />If you have not seen Lolla Kutti, this is a funny show and I usually have a fun time watching it. The show takes my mind off these vendors and their false promises about completing the work in my flat gets me all riled.<br /><br />But, I think I have been missing out on the regional TV channels. Apparently there is a show on Sun TV called "Pepsi Uma," that has been on air for nearly 10 years. When callers finally get through to Pepsi Uma most often they are dumb-founded at their luck and blurt out, "Ayyo, we never though that after all these years we will have the luck to speak to you!" The show airs on Thursday evenings, and I have made a note of it and hope to watch it next Thursday.<br /><br />These call-in shows are very popular in all the languages right from Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. I have paused briefly and caught snippets of these shows while channel surfing, which is every 4 seconds. It is an eye-opener and underlines this whole notion of consumer delight that you see in India. The sheer delight that people experience in being able to pick up the phone and call into a show is unbelievable.<br /><br />There is another genre that I forgot to mention: The God channels. There actually exists a GOD channel that is beamed from the US. When my husband and I relocated to India last year we would tune to the channel just to catch the sermon since it remined us of our weekend TV surfing in the US. It made us homesick, but now we have gotten over it. Anyway, there are God channels for every religion: Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam etc. And the most popular person perhaps in the God channel is Swami or Guru Ramdev, the yoga guru. People swear by this guru and maintain that they have been cured of their illness because of his yogic teachings. The yoga fad is another new thing in India. I succumbed to this fad and got a VCD of Ramdev, but have to find time to pop it into the DVD player and start my yoga.<br /><br />I can write a thesis about TV in India, but I think you get the picture of how things have changed in India since you caught that boat to the US....<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112384372136402763?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123842222493137762005-08-12T02:55:00.000-07:002005-08-12T03:23:42.506-07:00Anytime I get mildly annoyed (a massive understatement) with a vendor, shopkeeper, etc, my mother will at once try to smoothen my ruffled feathers and pronounce: "Yeh India hai, America nahi. Kya karogi?"<br /><br />This is India is my mom's standard response for anything that does not work out or pan out.<br /><br />Is it just me or have you noticed that queues or lines grown horizontally in an exponential manner? I have yet to see people line behind one other. If you have not, watch for it the next time you go to a store, a cinema theatre, a hospital, a anything for that matter.<br /><br />I had to go to a hospital sometime ago and get this I had a prior appointment to meet with the doctor. Everything went well and I took my seat and expected to see the doctor at the appointed time.Well, it came and went, and there was no sign of the doctor seeing me. I walked upto the receptionist and patiently waited for my turn. And when it was my turn I found that that 3 other people besides me had a question. All of a sudden these people had sprung up on either side of me.<br /><br />Looking at the harried receptionist I decided to come to her rescue and said in a firm voice: "Excuse me, it was my turn to talk to her. And, how do you think she will be able to answer all your questions at the same time."<br /><br />There was a sudden hush, and the gentleman next to me said, "I am sorry madam, I was not knowing you are asking questions," and another gentleman said, "Madam, I also have to ask question, we can adjust know?"<br /><br />"Well, I am sorry I have waited patiently and it is my turn to ask her the question," I told both the people.<br /><br />When I returned to my seat my mom said, "Kamla yeh India hai, America nahi beta."<br /><br />She maybe right, but why do lines grow horizontally in India?<br /><br />Another time I was in the foodcourt at Forum mall, a favorite haunt for the BPO types, and waiting to buy my lunch. As usual there was a long line, and I was famished. It was well past my lunch time, and I was in mood to suffer fools gladly. I had just started to order when a voice piped up from behdind: "Dude, give me a bottle water da." That was enough to get me annoyed. I turned and told the guy icily, "Do you mind, I have stood in line and am ordering my food." The guy merely grinned thinking who was this person and what is she talking about. In hindsight, I wish I had told him, "Dude, take it easy man. Take a chill pill dude, and let me order my food." But those oneliners never come to my rescue when I need them.<br /><br />A friend of mine recently bought a new washing machine, and discovered that the warranty card was missing. She was promised that it will be sent to her in the next couple of days. A week goes by, and she calls the call center to find out where her missing warrant card was. "<br /><br />"Yverybody has a call center these days," my friend pointed out in a frustrated voice. This is my favorite part: all call center people will ask you a list of questions that just kills me. After the questions were answered my friend was informed that the card would have come with machine. This continued for a couple of minutes with call center rep insisting that the card would have come with the machine, and my friend disagreeing with her. Suddenly the call center rep said,"Madam why are you loosing your temper?" My friend was floored but recovered her wits swiftyly and told her: "There is no card and I have been trying to tell you that for the past few minutes, and you won't listen!"<br /><br />Only in India.<br /><br />A few months ago my friend's place was burglared in Madras. They discovred the burglary when my friend suddenly woke up from her sleep and discovered the burglar, the goonda, the thief, the robber, the chor standing right near her feet. It was well after midnight. But unfortunately, the thief absconded (remember this word?) with the money. They called up the police station to report the robbery and the policeman asked her, "Have you caught the robber and is he with you?" (This sounds much better when it is uttered in Tamil.)<br /><br />HellllllO! If she had apprehanded (remember this arcane word) why on earth would she call the police station?<br /><br />"Yeh India hai. America nahi."<br /><br />In spite of these frustations, life is never dull in India. "Yeh India hai, America nahi." The trick is to take a chill pill and have appropriate oneliners handy as comeback lines when you find yourself in a fix, and fear that you are going to loose your cool and blow that fuse.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112384222249313776?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123759504504052412005-08-11T04:18:00.000-07:002005-08-11T04:25:04.506-07:00Aamir Khan has been on a publicity spree all over the countryside. I read his interview in couple of film rags (yes, I read them regularly to keep up with the latest and greatest in the entertainment world), and every channel you click he appears to have been there and done that. I guess the one that I am curios to see is on Zoom with Pooja Bedi.<br /><br />Khan's publicity trail reminds me of how Hollywood operates, and how the actors fan out and cover all their bases in print, radio and TV.<br /><br />Well, coming to Khan's blogging, I believe that he is not a prolific blogger. He could have had a ghost writer do all the writing and kept the thread going....<br /><br />I checked out his blog on Mangal Pandey on MSN...and it looks like Khan has not entered anything new since the 8th. He has got some messages out in response to his fanmail, and then there are 3 pictures of him with his laptop. The laptop looks like an older IBM Thinkpad for I noted the famous red button that those laptops have...I could be wrong.<br /><br />I am not sure if the movie got much mileage out of this blogging experiment. Well, I guess they did since people did write about it.<br /><br />The film is due to release tomorrow, and hopefully I get to see it in the first week.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112375950450405241?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123758731298776002005-08-11T03:46:00.000-07:002005-08-11T04:12:11.336-07:00It has been an interesting few days here in the stock markets. Watching from the sideline I am fascinated with the upward movement of the stocks...they seem to be edging towards that 8000 mark, and many point out that this upward swing is largely due to Foreign Institutional Investors money coming into India.<br /><br />After a 3 day decline, the market has regained its lost momentum.<br /><br />A related development is the interest being shown by the hedge funds from the US. Recent reports clearly suggest that quite a few hedge funds are heading to Asia, and India is definitely on their radar.<br /><br />Interestingly, when I talk to private investors all of them say that they are not investing for the moment because the price is too high, or they feel that a correction is long overdue in the market.<br /><br />As an interested sideline observer I would be curios to see what will happen to the market with the continuing increase in oil price. Surely, the oil prices India will go up and that will have an impact on the market?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112375873129877600?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123747626985312062005-08-11T00:52:00.000-07:002005-08-11T01:07:06.993-07:00I think I am the ustad of setting up homes in India. Set up 2 in a year's time from scratch as I like to repeat like a broken record. So, if anybody wants advice on this subject contact me, and I can give you the Dummy's version of "How to set up home in India."<br /><br />For the past 6 weeks week I am stuck at home trying to get the kitchen, grill, bathrooms etc fixed.<br /><br />Dealing with vendors is not an easy task. Set the ground rules early in your engagement. You take control and structure the payment to be made. In hindsight, I think it makes sense to throw in a bonus if they complete work before time. Remember though that you cannot penalize them if they do not complete their work on time. It does not work that way here. There is no better business bureau here, and you want to be careful not to upset them. You need to remember that their network is much stronger than yours.<br /><br />The kitchen person promised that he will finish the work in 4 days. This was the same vendor I used in Bombay, and I thought I had ironed out the wrinkles. How wrong of me to think that way! It has been 15 days and the work is still underway. The vendor must think I am some kind of a divine entity since he does not call and let me know if any work will be done for the day. I have to call him after I spend the first half of the day waiting for them to show up.<br /><br />The grill guy took 6 weeks to complete the work. He was supposed to be done in 2 days. The minute my husband stepped out of town, the guy came with shoddy grill work and got very upset when I asked him to fix it. To make things worse he took wrong measurements and delivered badly made stuff that he refused to replace. Elders in my family advised me that it is best not to annoy him since there could be some unwanted consequences (Read in between the lines). But, when time came to get his payment, he was there bright and early to collect his cash. I had to put up with his shoddy work. It is simple economics: demand is more than supply in this hot real estate market, and the guy does not care if I don't refer any new clients, because the market is already working in his favor.<br /><br />The carpenter is a whole different story...he took measurements 2 weeks ago and promised to send in an estimate. I am still waiting.<br /><br />In my experience the only vendor who is fast and efficient is your local cablewala. He too has reasons for being efficient...he probably wants to carve a niche for himself before the big players enter the field. Hathway has already introduced set top boxes in India.<br /><br />The bottom line is that you will get annoyed, and mad when dealing with them, and you will feel frustrated. You will feel like you are loosing your marbles and ready to tear every strand of your hair from your aching head. DON'T. Just chill like they say here, and pop a movie into the DVD and watch. It is amazing how relaxed you start to feel after a while.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112374762698531206?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123746201918329662005-08-11T00:39:00.000-07:002005-08-11T00:46:30.376-07:00The Oxford Dictionary has included some desi words like Hinglish (my favorite word), desi, agitation, lehenga, mehendi etc.<br /><br />The word that caught my attention was agitation....I think the day is not too far when other words like revert back, concerned person, timepass will be included in the dictionary.<br /><br />The most interesting word is revert back...I continue to be fascinated by this word and use it liberally when I am in India. It is amazing how quickly I get a response when I use that particular phrase as opposed to "Please have him/her return my call, or call me back."<br /><br />Until I revert back, stay tuned for more musings from my end.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112374620191832966?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123745689744314552005-08-10T23:31:00.000-07:002005-08-11T00:34:50.656-07:00We were in Bombay when this movie was released. There was a lot of hopla surrounding the release, and the word out in the street was that it is a fun movie. Endorsing the view was a prominet Bombaite who writes regularly in various publications...she gave it a thumbs up!<br /><br /> I am always skeptical of anything that comes from Balaji Productions, especially the TV serials. There is not one serial that has a good, healthy message. Instead all of them stress on the tension that exists between family members, especially the women.<br /><br />I thought I had missed out on a good movie. Parineeta is another that I did not see.<br /><br />So, yesterday in my weekly foray into Landmark I browsed in the VCD section and spotted the movie. The salesperson also mentioned that it was a good movie.<br /><br />By now, you probably know where the review is headed.<br /><br />Save your rupees and dollars...it ain't worth it. Yes, Ritesh (sp? everybody spells their name differently since numerology dictates their luck...) was good, and so was Ishaa Kopikar as a police inspector. Anupam Kher is a consistent performer, he always delivers.<br /><br />But, the movie did not gel in the final analysis.<br /><br />This is not a regular movie, but a product endorsement film. There were products shown on every other frame right from a kitchen store to Garnier, MTV etc. I think there is a laundry list published at the start of the film.<br /><br />It takes a lot for me to say that a movie is not worth watching. I can sit through all kinds of movies, including Govinda. I personally think Govinda's films are great--- warts and all since his movies make you laugh, and he has no other pretense. I usually find something good to say because I know what it takes to make a film. I grew up watching how they got made, and the blood, sweat and tears people put to create their celluloid magic. I distinctly remember how people wait for the first day's collection reports to dribble in from various cities and towns. But, sometimes the celluloid magic does not work all the time in spite of their hard work.<br /><br />Yeh to film kool hi nahi tha! Masti was a better film. If you missed Masti, watch it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112374568974431455?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123738283959323502005-08-10T21:51:00.000-07:002005-08-10T22:31:23.983-07:00I guess it has been an interesting week in terms of politics for the following reasons:<br /><br />Nanavati Report on the 1984 riots and its political fallout.<br /><br />Rumors of PM wanting to resign.<br /><br />Karntaka kichdi.<br /><br />Justice Nanavati's report has created a political storm of sorts, and led to the resignation of Mr. Jagdish Tytler, who maintains that he is innocent. PM Singh promised fresh examination of the 1984 riots, and one of the cabinet ministers announced that there will be no commissions, just an enquiry. This political polemics between a commission and an enquiry is a direct throwback from the Raj days when they used similar phrases. I wonder what the technical differences are between the two though.<br /><br />The Economic Times reported yesterday that the PM considered the option of resigning. I don't blame if Dr. Singh considered the option given the political tamasha that the Left has staged. The Left has a long range of issues where it takes exception to Mr. Singh's actions: ranging from India's ties with the Capitalist US to the disinvestment of PSUs. I say give Dr. Singh a break...this was the same man who a decade ago pushed the Indian economy out from the stifling license Raj. India cannot afford to sit on the sidelines anymore and watch the economic developments of the rest of the world.<br /><br />However a spokesman from the Congress denied that Mr. Singh considered the resignation option at all.<br /><br />If the left wants to help the downtrodden masses then they need to find something else to do rather then create unnecessary hurdles for the PM. Even Prof Amartya Sen has commented not very flattering on the Left...I watched him on the TV the other day and I do not recollect the exact words he used. And the professor is a world Yes, in a democracy it is a healthy sign that the opposition questions, probes, challenges the government, but when it pushes the envelope too much then that needs to stop. Just look at Calcutta and West Bengal after Mr. Jyoti Basu left the helm of affairs...the state is suddenly waking up to embrace free market and capitalism.<br /><br />Karnataka...the good folks who drive me around Bangalore inform me that it is only a matter of time before fresh elections will be called. In the meantime Dewa Gowda is in New Delhi to meet Sonia Gandhi. I wonder what kichdi he is cooking up there in Delhi.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112373828395932350?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123690783835376582005-08-10T09:10:00.000-07:002005-08-10T09:19:43.843-07:00I guess the pressure from within and outside the Congress Party built up to such and extent that Jagdish Tytler went ahead and submitted his resignation letter this evening. Tytler said that he wants his name cleared in this matter.<br /><br />Tytler was the Minister for Non Resident Indian affairs.<br /><br />When the Nanavati Report was released a couple of days ago, there was intense media scrutiny on Tytler's response to the report. Tytler was defiant in his response and kept mentioning how the Congress Party was backing him up. Mr. Tytler did mention that the "ilzam" (the accusation) was incorrect, and that nobody in the past 21 years has ever accused him either.<br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day responded to the Nanavati Report, and said that cases will be reopened related to the 1984 riots.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112369078383537658?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123573714667038572005-08-09T00:26:00.000-07:002005-08-09T00:48:34.720-07:00I wrote on this topic a few months ago, but have got requests to write about this.<br /><br />So, here you go....<br /><br />Rule Number One: Do not have any preconceived notion about how you want the apartment to look etc. This may sound difficult, but try to go with the flow and you will find it a lot easier to handle the upheavels in your life.<br /><br />Rule Number Two: Forget time managment, throw it out of the window when you are setting up home in India.<br /><br />Rule Number Three: Factor in 50-75% extra time, effort, energy, and money if you have vendors painting, building your furniture, or re-doing your kitchen etc. Vendors are totally unreliable and will come up with a laundry lists of excuse on why there is a delay. Do not let them take control of your life. You plan your life, and let them know when you will or will be available. I have learnt this the hard way...setting up home in 2 different cities in India in less than a year.<br /><br />Rule Number Four: Do not buy a car, rent a car from a travel agency and get a good deal worked out. If you do the math, there is not much that you will save, plus you have to deal with the headache of insurance, drivers, repair, theft etc. Our rented car was stolen in Bombay, and the police were unable to trace it. This was stolen from Hirandanani Gardens, a nice neighbourhood of Bombay.<br /><br />Rule Number Five: Get a washing machine and dishwasher. People frowned when I got a dishwasher, but soon realized how independent my life was since I did not depend on my maid to do the dishes. These two will be really good investments, and you will not regret it. If you live in a rainy place like Bombay, you can chip in and buy a dryer to make your life hassle free.<br /><br />Rule Number Six: If your company is paying for accomodation think of renting a service or fully-furnished apartment. This saves you the trouble of setting up a place from scratch. If you are moving to India for a longer period, don't bother carting all your belongings. It is better to shed your furniture and other stuff and travel light. You can buy them here, and while it be a little costly, it is worth it. We carted our stuff from the US, and I regret that we came here lock, stock and barrel. We should have travelled light since carting stuff around in India is not an easy affair. Yes, you have professional packers and movers, but they end up making mistakes that may prove to be costly. Plus, you don't have storage facilities like what is available in the USA.<br /><br />Rule Number Seven: Avoid driving if you can. I might sound a bit extreme, but trust me the amount of traffic combined with novice drivers does not make for easy navigation. I believe India has the highest number of automobile related deaths.<br /><br />Rule Number Eight: What to get. Tablets, Laptops, PDAs, portable printers, digital camera, original version of your OS and other software and ethernet cable. Ethernet cable may sound like a mundane thing to get...but while cat 5 cable is easily available it is not easy to get them crimped and fix the RJ-45 connectors. Wireless modems are a bit unreliable since most homes have concrete walls. Having extra ethernet cable gives you the independence to set up your LAN, and get all your rooms Internet ready.<br /><br />Rule Number Nine: Broadband connection. IT is difficult to get good, reliable connections. In Bombay I had a Hobsons Choice and went with Hathway, which used to drop connections regularly. In Bangalore, we have Tata's Broadband. The only problem is that my phone has lot of noise since the good folks at Tata did not put a noise cancellation device. I have to live with the constant hissing and spewing over my plain old telephone line.<br /><br />Rule Number Ten: Give yourself time to settle down. Do not make the mistake of promising to join work within days of landing. Get 3-4 weeks off before joining work. These few days will prove to be crucial in laying the foundtion for your stay in India. This time is required to get your PAN, PIO and other cards organized. You will find that otherwise most of your paperwork will hit a roadblock.<br /><br />These are some broad guidelines, and ask your family and friends if they have any suggestions on relocating to India.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112357371466703857?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123571568515450712005-08-08T23:50:00.000-07:002005-08-09T00:12:48.526-07:00Well, the news since yesterday has been the findings of the Nanavati Commission that was set up to find out about the riots that broke out in 1984 when Mrs. Gandhi was brutally gunned down in broad daylight.<br /><br />The Telegraph in its online edition (<a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com">www.telegraphindia.com</a>) has this to say today:<br /><br />"The Nanavati Commission has done what it could — found “credible evidence” against Jagdish Tytler and suggested reopening of cases against Sajjan Kumar, both Congress leaders. And a Congress-led government has done what it could — let them walk free."<br /><br />This morning the upper house of the Parliament witnessed some interesting action from the opposition.<br /><br />What I found interesting is the Left's response to the commissions findings. I heard one of their leaders comment on TV that they do not want to make any comments at the moment since they need some more clairification (s).<br /><br />How interesting. Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.<br /><br />Aside: The left has been a thorn to Manmohan Singh's government on economic issues, and they are certainly not shy in voicing their protests and shouting from rooftops. The left needs to be re-educated about the changing world, especially after the collapse of the USSR and the breaking down of the wall between East and West Germany. I cannot understand why the Left is preventing the disinvestment of the Public Sector Undertakings. Margaret Thatcher did that in the UK 20 years ago and that resulted in economic growth. But pardon me, Thatcher is not the leader that the left subscribe to...The Left certainly is not well informed, and they need to wake up and smell the coffee that information is now widely available to the masses, who can<br /><br />Getting back to the original topic, I remember the 1984 riots. That was my first year studying in Delhi, and I vividly recollect the shock when we heard about Mrs. Gandhi's death. Along with other students, we went out to the city after the riots died down to offer help to families, and distribute food and clothing. I remember going out to Greater Kailash I and II and seeing the damage to the shops in this neighborhood. I recollect talking to Punjabi families who were angry, sad, bewildered and outraged at what had happened.<br /><br />After 21 years when a commission finally finds some evidence, but it falls on deaf ears.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112357156851545071?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123475020582846922005-08-07T21:13:00.000-07:002005-08-07T21:39:16.056-07:00I cannot believe that <a href = "http://www.abcnews.go.com/">Peter Jennings</a>, the anchor for ABC news is no longer alive.<br /><br />Jennings was suffering from lung cancer, and I was in the US when he announced to the world about his cancer, and how he will continue to fight it, and therefore scale back on his work a bit.<br /><br />I was hooked on Peter Jennings from the very first time I saw him read the news. I remember that as a teenager in Madras, I would make my weekly trip to the USIC on Mount Road to catch my weekly quota of news by Peter Jennings. And when I moved to the US for my studies, I automatically started watching his evening news on ABC news. My evenings started with Peter Jennings reading the news. I would delay going for my classes just to catch the headlines by him.<br /><br />Then, when I moved to the West Coast, I would rush back home to be able to catch the news at 5.30 pm. It was an uphill task navigating the busy network of highways to get home on time. I would get into work early so that I could leave on time to catch the news. During the dotcom book it was particularly difficult because of crazy traffic and you never knew for how long you could get stuck in traffic.<br /><br />I enjoyed the way he reported news. He had an old charm about him, and always seemed to maintain a certain decorum when he conducted his interviews.<br /><br />I am sure there are others that will miss him.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112347502058284692?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123427875467039192005-08-07T07:03:00.000-07:002005-08-07T09:47:10.600-07:00M. Night Shymalan ain' t the only desi around the Hollywood block.<br /><br />There is <a href = "<a href=">Jay'>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151540/">Jay</a> Chandrasekhar</a> </a>who has directed 3-4 films including the "State Troopers."<br /><br />Jay's new movie "The Dukes of Hazzard," topped the boxoffice this weekend according to Boxofficemojo.com. The film is is loosely based on a TV show of yester years. The film starts Jessica Simpson among others.<br /><br />You can read a review of the film in <a href="<a">Slate. </a><br /><br />Besides directing film, Jay is also an actor, writer and a stand-up comedian.<br /><br />His middle name is Jambulingam.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112342787546703919?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123423359371175712005-08-07T06:57:00.000-07:002005-08-07T07:02:39.386-07:00Another acronymn you say. But, this one you must be familiar with....it stands for "Kaun Banega Crorepati," hosted by Mr. Bachchan.<br /><br />It made its debut this past Friday, and my parents who call it a night by 9 pm, valiantly stayed up to see the entire show. Mr. Bachchan did a pretty good job as a host, and was completely relaxed and effusive...this is in stark contrast to the images in my mind of the very first show he hosted many moons ago.<br /><br />The Big B himself calls it "KBC-2."<br /><br />Apparently, the show is being dubbed for the audience in Tamil Nadu. All I can say is that the show will be robbed of some of the punch that Big B packs when he speaks in Hindi. And, I wonder how they will incorporate the English parts of his dialog. Will the dubbing artist speak in Tamil and English. I wish I could see a show and judge for myself.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112342335937117571?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123226767634013592005-08-05T00:19:00.000-07:002005-08-05T00:26:07.636-07:00"Siddhu thunder rattles parties," declares the "Times of India" in its lead story today.<br /><br />Now imagine the ousted Mr. Siddhu doing the <em>thandav nrithya</em> and rattling the party members. That is a sight to behold.<br /><br />Humor aside, the aforementioned Mr. Siddhu has been replaced by Mr. M.P. Prakash, who the TOI mentions is more at home quoting philosophy than navigating the choppy political waters.<br /><br />On Page 2 of the same newspaper another headline caught my eyes, "Timmappa induling in politics says Manjunath."<br /><br />Helllllllooo Mr. Manjunath, this is politics. Pray what will he indulge in otherwise?<br /><br />It looks like the embattled Mr. Dharam Singh, the chief minister, who was in Hyderabad has a new set of issues on his already overflowing plate.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112322676763401359?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123226388517939012005-08-05T00:12:00.000-07:002005-08-05T00:19:48.523-07:00Who wants to be a millionaire? The American host of this show was Regis Philbin.<br /><br />In India, the show is hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, and today is the day that the show makes a comeback. Like in the US, this show has captured the imagination of the folks in India, and this is a must see show. For instance, my parents will refuse to talk to me when the show is on. "Call me later," are my mom's instructions when the show is underway.<br /><br />This show marked in a way the rebirth of Amitabh, and the string of success he has had for the past 5 years. I remember watching the first show and somewhere in my diary I even noted what was the first question of the show.<br /><br />I distinctly remember that Mr. Bachchan was a bit awkward, and hot under the collar hosting the show. He was not his usual self, but over many shows he has grown comfoftable and is now pretty relaxed when he hosts the show.<br /><br />What has probably caught the public's interest is the rap like promo sung by Mr. Bachchan himself. "Hush, keep quite," admonish my nephews and nieces anytime they hear the promo. The song is a big hit with them.<br /><br />"Ummed se dugna," or loosely translated twice what you expect is the tagline of the revived show.<br /><br />People are expecting an "Ummed se dugna" performance not only from the participants but also the host himself.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112322638851793901?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123157003952369352005-08-04T04:44:00.000-07:002005-08-04T05:03:23.993-07:00<p align="left"><span></span><span></span>Acronymns....India must be the capital of acronymns. Somehow everybody, especially the media expects you to know what these acronyms stand for.<br /><br />"We are getting a 2BHK," said an acquaintance.<br /><br />Usually I am quick to figure out these acronymns. But even after a few long seconds when the bulb did not go off in my head, I sheepishly asked her,"What is a 2BHK"<br /><br />"Oh, a 2 bedroom, hall and kitchen."<br /><br />Now, I can swiftly figure out the ads in the real estate section of the newspapers.<br /><br />When I first started reading the newspapers, especially the business ones recently I was once again acronomically challenged.<br /><br />Read for yourelf and let me know if you can decipher these headlines. Mind you, all of these were in just page of the newspaper, and you can imagine what the rest of the newspaper must read like.<br /><br />"ONGC, SCI in blame game over Samudra Suraksha"<br /><br />"ASSOCHAM Study" (Of what?)<br /><br />"SAIL, NTPC JV merger" </p><p align="left">"SAIL BHP tie-up"</p><p align="left">Perhaps Bombay takes the case where the efficient denizens have reduced their handy 8-letter word time-pass into "TP." This is the city where FY, SY, TY is something you need to know. They stand for First Year, Second Year, Third Year students in college.</p><p align="left">Now that SMS has become a defacto mode of communications the number of acronyms have shot up, and I feel totally lost when I try to decipher those messages. I laborousily (sp?) spell out the words, and dot the i's and cross the t's. </p><p align="left">I must confess that I am fast catching up the acronyms and sprinkle them generously in my conversation. Now, I can read the newspaper without any hiccups in trying to figure out what they stand for.</p><p align="left"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112315700395236935?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123142865573566792005-08-04T00:57:00.000-07:002005-08-04T01:07:45.580-07:00I am always looking for interesting things to keep me amused when I travel. This helps to kill the ennui of waiting at airport. <br /><br />Have you ever been honked at the tarmac of an airport? At least I have not. But, a couple of months ago while flying out of Bombay to Bangalore, I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing such an incident. We were being ferried in one of those buses to our plane, and suddenly we heard blaring sound of a horn. Surprised, we all turned and saw a truck honking at our bus that was in its path. And heading straight at us was one of those jumbo jets. But, mercifully it was cruising in slow mo to its docking place (or whatever the appropriate terminology). Thankfully, the bus driver got out of the way.<br /> <br />This was also the day that I saw the first plane in Kingfisher's fleet. This was 2 days before Vijay Mallaya launched his KingFisher airlines. The plane was being worked upon, and even if you wanted to, you could not miss the HUGE letters that spelt out KINGFISHER in red color.<br /><br />I also think that ever since Jet went the IPO route their service has declined. The decline is ever so slight, but sufficient to be noticed by a discerning traveller. There has been a definite change in the quality of the food. Pre-IPO the food was definitely worth writing home about.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112314286557356679?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123133317837953902005-08-03T22:13:00.000-07:002005-08-03T22:28:37.843-07:00I was back in Commercial Street yesterday, but this time I got my news from the gentleman who drove the car. He religiously reads his Kannada newspaper and was update on the political developments in Karnataka. He knew all about the recent showndown with Gowda's party.<br /><br />"This government is in deep trouble. Now, there will be fresh elections," he tells me in Telugu since my knowledge of Kannada at this stage is rudimentary."It is because of Siddaramaiah that Gowda's party got respectability. I am sure he will leave the party and join the Congress," was this gentleman's take.<br /><br />He maybe onto something going by the high political drama that is unfolding. The Deputy Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah apparently is not ready to thrown in the towel and has thrown a political gauntlet on why he should resign.<br /><br />The following excerpt taken from today's Bangalore edition of "Times of India" reads like an arcane exchange in 19th century Britain. I am referring to the tone and the language used.<br /><br />"If Siddaramaiah is a gentleman, he should not stand on technicalities. He knows he has lost the support. He should immediately resign from the posts." This ultimatum was delivered by Mr. Thippanna of JD(S).<br /><br />The paper also has printed <em>in toto</em> aopy of the ouster letter. I wonder how many of us really keep up with our Latin and Greek terms...<br /><br />This week promises to be an interesting period in Bangalore in terms of political developments.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112313331783795390?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8490340.post-1123069379749406252005-08-03T04:25:00.000-07:002005-08-03T04:42:59.756-07:00I first heard about this from my husband last week. Listening to my recitation of the Bombay floods and how it brought the whole city to a standstill. His oneline response was: "This makes it a good reason for the corporate sector to make the city into a union territory." I squirred away that fact and kept tossing it around in the back of my mind, and figuring out the different facets of this suggestion.<br /><br />And guess what? This is precisely what members of the corporate sector put forward earlier today. It is not surprsing that this idea came from the corporate sector considering that many of them were caught in the rains and had to wade through waist deep water. Personal reasons aside it probably makes economic and political sense and probably makes it that much easier to manage a finite area. The failure of the administration to respond to this crisis was a major disappointment for this city that calls it the commercial capital of India. All its dreams to become another Shanghai evaporated into thin air after the deluge of last week.<br /><br />Probably this move will help focus on the infrastructure, real estate and other problems that contributed in compounding the situation for Bombayites last week. But, the downside of such a move is what kind of public policy and measures be implemented to manage the large transient and migrant population? This section of society was the worst hit by all accounts since they lost everything that they owned.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see how this move shapes up, and if it gains momentum in the near future...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8490340-112306937974940625?l=kamlasindia.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>kamlashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18149920615889040203noreply@blogger.com0