10000 kms in my car

At the turn of the decade (2010), I crossed the 10000 km mark in my lovely Swift car. Been a journey for sure. But, miles to go, in every way!

Met cousin at station & NRN

One of those things - a passing train in Bangalore on a Saturay night. And my Mumbai cousin and his wife in that train in a tier-2 AC bogie on their way to another place. They had informed us earlier that they would like to meet us at the railway station, as they would only be in transit elsewhere.

Pretty normal, one would think. But, when we reached the station and the train arrived, we learnt from my cousin that Mr. N.R.Narayana Murthy had gotten off the same train in the previous station! Now, NRN travelling in the Indian Railways was news enough. But, the fact that he got into the train in the middle of nowhere (Mantralaya) was even bigger news. I mean, the man could easily fly down in a helicopter to Bangalore; or hire a Merc or a BMW and get back home by road.

But, he chose Indian Railways. I guess that talks about the character of the man - the simplicity, the practical way of looking at his life i.e. Indian Railways has the best transport network in the country & he was able to use the time in the train for himself; as against his regular schedule of being perenially busy and surounded by a slew of people. Apparently (according to my cousin), NRN was clad in white kurta-pyjama and was scheduled to leave to London on Monday.

For my own satisfaction, I saw the ticket chart outside the bogie that my cousin & NRN were travelling in. Sure enough, both their names were there. Only that, the famous scion of the Indian IT industry had his name printed as NARAYANA. Nobody would have guessed - by looking at the chart - that it was the name of the face of the Indian IT industry. I guess, it is pleasant to say, Narayana, Narayana, as in the old epics.

Good experience - for my cousin. And great insight into the practicality of the great man.

Calendars...

That's the thing with calendars. They are one of the most static items in the world. We probably underestimate the value of a calendar, given the busy schedules in our lives these days. I know so many people just longing for the weekend, or ever so often looking forward to a long weekend.

But 2011 is different. We are not going to get too many long weekends. Worse, we are not going to get too many public holidays as well, given that many holidays this year fall on weekends. Hence, it is going to be tough to club that weekend getaway with a Friday or a Monday and make sure that you cover that many more places than before.

Such scheduling in a calendar year only means that one needs to be extremely well planned in chalking out one's holiday plan. Remember, you plan on the handful of long weekends, are going to be the same periods in which many others would be making similar holiday plans. Hence, you need to be sure that you are smarter in the planning of your holidays, and quicker than the rest.

The other great thing about calendars is that, while one year(like 2011) will make all of us feel miserable at the paucity of public holidays, there will be other years when long weekends will be the norm, rather than the exception. So, bide your time, save money, and plan for those particular years, starting now. After all, inflation and calendars(long weekends) will come and go. But the number of places you want to see is endless. So, plan for the long weekends in maybe 2014, starting now!

Sticking to your roots

I am increasingly observing a particular pattern i.e. the number of show-offs and folks with attitude that I am encountering seems to be on the increase. And I am not referring to folks I don't know at all. If anything, these are people who I have seen through all my growing years, and infact, elder than me. They were then pretty much from the same background that I was from, but, credit to them, the efforts in their professional lives has yielded them stellar results. Good for them, and credit to them. And glad that they ended up being successful people.

But, that success seems to have gone to their heads for sure, albeit in different ways. Some of them are still in India (and hugely successful), while others have ventured abroad and made it big. Fair enough. However, their success has changed them in ways that I had not fathomed or expected. They have become people who find immense thrill in ridiculing India, while others seem to be living the life of a foreigner, living right here in India.

Imagine this - you are invited to somebody's house and you tell them that you will be there after a particular time on a Sunday evening. Now, given the traffic conditions, almost every Indian I know understands a delay. The least you expect is an sms reminder at the designated time, saying that they are expecting us! How ridiculous is that for an Indian living here in India? Maybe, I cannot blame the person, as the expectation in foreign countries is to be on time, even for social visits. However, our host conveniently forgot the travails of getting through tough traffic that make our best attempts to be on time, rudderless. And this person I am referring to, goes abroad every month on projects etc and hardly lives in India. As far back as I can remember, he was NOT like this before he became the big shot that he is today. But, at what price?

Or, take the example of folks abroad who now hold senior executive positions that I know personally. This person has totally forgotten his roots, in the sense, that, he has the audacity to say, 'some bloody Indian stuff', and has changed his very Indian name to a totally anglicised version, speaks in a tone that makes you wonder whether he has even seen India, and even manages to be nasty with other Indians I know who may not be that successful (YET). Again, a person who made it big, but lost all Indian values (and my respect thereof).

I write this blog in wonderment, at the price many Indians I know are ready to pay, for their success. Is it even worth it? I can only compare a person like Tendulkar (who I don't know personally). But, the great man - based on ALL his stupendous achievements on a cricket field - appears to be humane, and grounded. And, in parallel, these folks I know personally who are not even half way to where Sachin is, have so much attitude.

Just not worth it. The biggest takeaway for me in all this, is to never forget my roots. If & when I become successful, I will make sure that I take extra precaution to be humane, approachable and courteous; rather than being, rude, arrogant and a person full of attitude. To hell with such people and their attitude!

Classical 33rd birthday - with cricket at the fore

I just turned 33 today. But, as ever, I only feel younger. If anything, I feel like I am only 20 years old today.

One of the last memories of my 19th birthday (in 1997) was a fantastic cricketing gift that I received from Tendulkar and Azharudding. This was on 4th Jan, 1997 at the Newlands ground, in Capetown against South Africa in a test match. It was a Saturday afternoon, when the magic of Sachin and Tendulkar just brought endless smiles to Indians, and specifically to me on my birthday.

On that particular day, the South African fast bowlers were on fire - Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock in particular. But, the customary flicks on the on side by Azhar and the straight drives and cover drives on the off side by the Little Master, were a treat to the eye.

13 years later, at the same venue, one of those 2 gentlemen, Sachin Tendulkar is still playing. He is still taking on the might of Dale Steyn and Morkel on a very good cricket pitch, with India having to bat extremely well to stay in the game and force the issue. The manner in which Gautam Gambhir and Tendulkar handle the pace and fire of Steyn and Morkel, was a lesson in that, if you stick at the wicket and keep trying, you can negotiate the toughest of conditions.

I somehow, get excited if India is playing a test match on my birthday in Capetown. Almost everytime that they have played there, the quality of the sport has been of the highest order. And each time, I have learnt that the toughest conditions bring out the best in you.

Newlands, Capetown, the Indian test match cricket team with the likes of Tendulkar, Azhar, VVS, Rahul, share a unique rapport with me on my birthday. The more they play there on that ground on 4th Jan, the better I feel. It's one rare birthday gift, if they play well there. Thanks guys!

The power of networking in the corporate world

It is apparent that the corporate world is full of inequalities. And the inequalities are not merely in terms of hierarchies, pay scales, hiring norms et al. There are numerous other things that are supremely unequal. For example, there may be a bunch of people in one company doing the same job in one department. Yet, only 1 or 2 people end up getting the spotlight – this despite, the rest of the team doing no less in terms of contribution or output. And there are just a few individuals who get more opportunities in their careers, than others.

I have often wondered why these things are the way they are. And I am convinced that it is the ability to network within a firm that makes the difference in opportunities.

There are people in a team who are much better at presenting themselves and even better at being perceived, by the choicest people in the firm. These sorts of people tend to be vocal, aggressive, assertive, opinionated, highly flexible to get their things done etc. What they are also good at doing, is project their outputs/deliverables to the target audience in an extremely convincing manner. Plus, the ability to have a general conversation on anything with the power-that-be, always helps.

There are other tricks to this networking as well - one of them being coffee corner conversations or lunch meetings. These are informal settings, which are not regulated by the confines of a cabin or officialdom. And both the networker – and the networkee- tend to be a bit more relaxed. These conversations often lead to opportunities that are never advertised or recommended by anyone. It’s the classic case of keeping your eyes and ears open!

I strongly believe that business schools, higher education should teach students that it is not enough to only good at your job. One of the key skills for career growth – apart from quality deliverables & customer satisfaction – is networking. This is one of the realities of today’s corporate world and there is no harm in education students that this is a skill that is almost necessary to grow in the corporate world.

This is not an essay based on any bad experience. But, a result of observation of how some of the most talented people at work, are also brilliant at networking. Good skill to have!

A Sachin vs a Dravid

I hate comparisons, but this is one comparison I couldn't stop myself from doing. Both are absolute champions in their own right, and each one of them has a space of his own.

If Tendulkar has amassed 30,000 international test match runs, one can only admire the man and draw inspiration from his stupendous longevity and continuous run of achievements. Contrast that with Rahul Dravid (my senior in college!), and I just cannot stop feeling that had Rahul been playing in an era that was so non-Sachin, he would have reached the iconic status himself. This is not to demean the genius of Sachin; but, it is just to put in perspective that the contribution of Rahul Dravid has just been overshadowed by the Sachin Tendulkar era.

Look at it this way, for all the centuries that Sachin has hit, I can remember a Rahul Dravid's ton in each of those situations. You name it - in adverse conditions of New Zealand in Hamilton; in seaming conditions in Headingley; in tough conditions in Adelaide (a 233!); or in the heavy-weight and war-like game in Pakistan (a 270!). Of course, how will I ever forget that legendary 180 by Rahul at the Eden Gardens, against Australia (just as the world wrote justifiable accolades about that magical genius called VVS Laxman & his 281!). I even remember Rahul hitting a commanding 86 in 52 balls in one of the one-day games in Hyderabad that took the game away from the opposition.

He has done even more than may get noticed. The great Dravid has done wicket-keeping in ODIs, and then balanced that off with a top order batting slot. What does he have to show - more than 10,000 runs in ODIs, to go along with his 11,174+ runs (fourth place in the Test batting league of most runs scored). That is no mean feat. 28 Test hundreds - just one shy away from equalling 29 of Bradman. If that is not great, what else is?!

What is possibly Rahul's greatest personality trait, is that tough ability of not comparing himself with anyone; least of all Tendulkar. That is so tough to do in this sort of a competitive world & Rahul has held his own by doing just that. When the world was praising Sachin for all his achievements & a handful few writing about Rahul's epilogue in the last 2 years, the great Bangalorean did not submit to them. Nor did he react. He did what he knows best - going back to the basics, going back to the local cricket league (Ranji Trophy), going back to his roots, ironing out his game & coming back to Test cricket. What did he do on his return in the series against Sri Lanka ?Well, he did what he knows best i.e. let his bat do the talking - he scored a sublime 177 in Ahmedabad and an even better 144 in Kanpur.

The same critics who were writing his epilogue now talk about his contribution to Indian cricket and how it was important for Rahul to be there at the crease when India were reeling at 30/4 in Ahmedabad. That, is what is called a blue-chip cricketer. And Rahul is certainly a blue-chip that never hit the headlines, but kept contributing as a heavyweight of the Indian cricketing index!

Hats off to you, champion! You are a true inspiration to me - I cannot quite recall the number of times I have thought of a Sachin in various crises in my life; but when the crises has been extreme, I have never looked beyond you Rahul, for inspiration. You are a champion, a genuine champion! And don't let the fact that you played in a Sachin-era bog you down - you have your own individual identity that fans like me notice, admire, and truly get inspired from.

1 year in SAP and 1000 kms in my car

What is funnily coincidental about 28 Aug, 2009 is that I just finished 1 year in SAP. It is also during this particular week that I clocked the first 1000 kilometres in my new Swift car! I can only call it coincidental, because I am pretty happy with both the developments! For the first time in my career, I feel that I have a job that is contributing very heavily to my learning curve and to my future growth; and given that this is my first car, it feels even better to have hit the 1000 km mark at this time!!

As short and sweet as that!

Nothing can beat the feeling of achievement, not even money

I have been thinking long and hard about this. And also trying to see if I can get any evidence to prove/disprove it. And the more I think about it and the more I try to find evidence about it, I am convinced that there is some merit in the case.

Let me get to the point. My essential thought is, in life, is money the greatest satisfier? Or, is that feeling of achievement, of having done something in one's life more satisfying (most satisfying)?

In order to see the merit of this case (there are de-merits), I have been looking at a cross-section of people from different walks of life. Sports, writers, etc. Now, most of the examples seem to be glamourous. But across disciplines, I notice that the sense of thrill, elation, and happiness of reaching the pinnacle of your discipline, seems to far override any thought of money. Let's take the example of a Wimbledon champion - any champion at the All England Club more often than not breaks into tears on his/her victory. Any cricketing World Cup champion is overcome with emotion of having conquered the world - just think back to 1983, when there was no money.

Think of other streams, the Oscar awards maybe - a chap like A. R. Rahman grabbing 2 Oscars and performing at the top of his mark on the world's biggest stage; or maybe, an author who wins say a Pulitzer or a Booker Prize; a scientist or an economist winning the Nobel Prize; other sportsmen breaking records held for years; historians cracking the code on ancient myths; painters creating that one masterclass item that will put them above others (why do we have only ONE Mona Lisa?); advertising gurus, trying to get that ONE ad right, all their lives.

Simpler things, like a mother seeing her kid reach the top of his/her stream; or, a kid jumping around if he/she wins a prize in a school competition or tops his/her exam; a banker or a consultant getting past tough competition and scoring points with a hard client; a child's dream coming true - whatever it may be (Taare Zameen Par?); a childhood dream coming true; two people, a boy and a girl, growing up together, falling in love and getting married to each other; the birth of a kid; a student getting a rank in his/her university; winning a match or a competition for your school, college, university or country...the list is very long, and actually, endless.

In all this, I really do not see any evidence of the money factor adding to the thrill of the human being. As people, all of us have our dreams and aspirations (yes, monetary included, but not overriding, always). And, when we realise those dreams in real life, I doubt, if, at that moment of glory, one looks at the money. I am guessing that, that moment is for the person alone i.e. to sit back and relish the moment. Simply because he/she knows the amount of struggle that went into scaling that summit (whatever it may be).

Yes, the counter to this can easily be, that money is everything. But, for the truly passionate achievers, I would think, that money is a derivative; not the main thing.

Perhaps, there is no end to this argument. But, I would think, that for the truly passionate achievers, money is only a function or outcome of what they set out to do. Else, I doubt if the world would have progressed the way it has, across time i.e. if everyone wants ONLY money and no specific achievements, we would all be robots chasing currencies.

Like I said, an endless debate. But, I would think, that we need more passionate achievers, than currency-driven human beings. That is the one great way of ensuring progress. Else, money will come and go, people may not achieve enough to transfer a better life for the generations ahead.

Money, is passe. True achievement, makes life worth living.

My first drive on a highway- to Ramanagaram

I had not imagined that it would turn out that way. Nor did my friend accompanying me. Aravind and I had gone to our gym, like we have always, on any given day of the week. On reaching the gym, we were told that they are closed for the day. We had no prior wind of this and were caught off-guard, as we are generally serious about our workouts.

Given this sudden turn of events, we were wondering what to do. We were not in the mood to go back home immediately. At the same time, we were not exactly well attired to go to any public place like a movie etc - after all, gym wear is not exactly presentable! We trudged out of the gym to my new car and were generally wondering what to do next.

Out of the blue, I suggested to Aravind that it might make sense to go on a long drive. Both of us are recent buyers of our first cars and he completely understood the excitement that I was hinting at! On the spur of the moment, we decided to go past Mysore Road and enjoy some music along the way. That was the start of a very sudden weekend getaway on this lovely Sunday afternoon.

We crossed the city limits in about 30 minutes and hit Mysore Road. I soon realised that this was the first time ever that I was in a car of my own, on a state highway. The road was immaculately laid out and the weather outside was quite magical. I was as excited as a small kid boarding his first flight and being greeted with chocolates by a good-looking air-hostess!

Given that both of us are travel maniacs, we quickly sized up the situation and realised that this could be a fantastic, quick/sudden trip that can be converted to a memorable one if we stretched a bit. While Mysore is a good 130 kilometres from Bangalore city and was a touch impractical to achieve (given that we were well into Sunday afternoon & had a Monday morning coming up!), we decided to go to Ramanagaram - about 25% of the way to Mysore.

Ramanagaram, as the average Indian Bollywood fan would know, is the venue of that giant of a movie shot in the 1970s-Sholay. This is exactly where the characters of Gabbar Singh, Jai, Viru, and Basanti hit national headlines and captured the imagination of the Indian populace. And for us to see those tall hills, big rocks, and the paths that led to the top of the hills was indeed exhilarating. What added to the spice of the afternoon was the beautiful cloudy weather, with a tinge of sunlight peeping through the skies.

I was particularly excited when the speedometer in my car hit 100 km/hour. To do that on Indian roads in my own car, was truly a moment to cherish. I had dreamt of that moment for years. The fact that it happened without any planning and with no hint of a trip coming up, made it particularly thrilling.

We crossed Ramanagaram and reached a place called Janapada Loka - translated in Kannada as the World of Janapada (a folk dance in Karnataka state). It was a lovely, low-key kind of a place run by the Government of Karnataka. The beauty of the place lay in the manner in which the history of the state was captured - it was a place that showcased the state's rich culture & heritage, had a museum full of old artifacts that were used in yesteryear in interior Karnataka, had colourful dolls replicating real-life artistes with great attire in folk dances etc. In particular, the magic of the Yakshagana form of art was brilliantly depicted in all floors of the museum.

Following the visit to Janapada Loka, we proceeded to the neighbouring building - Kamat Yatrinivas, one of the most famous restaurants in the state! There, we had great south Indian dosa, authentic Maddur vada (slurp!) and a coffee that was par excellence. For a non-coffee chap like me (tea -freak!), the coffee here was amazingly crisp and strong.

We finally trudged out of the hotel back onto the highway for our return journey home. The drive back to Bangalore was replete with a couple of rash drivers giving me an opinion or two about my safe driving on a highway + dumb auto-richshaws crippling the fast-moving traffic. Well, they need to understand that I was driving in a new car for the first time ever on a big highway! And in any case, even if I were a veteran highway driver, I don't think I will be a rash one.

I dropped Aravind at his place and came home directly. On reaching home, there was a sense of immense thrill and satisfaction of having driven a car on a highway and clocking very good speeds at that. An old dream, suddenly fulfilled. Like Aravind rightly said, the best thing to do in life is to take it as it comes - who in the wild world knew this morning that we would end up making a round trip of 100 kilometres, on the outskirts of Bangalore between 230 and 630 pm! That's life!!:)

Recession and curves...

I never knew that curves can make national headlines. I only know of curves being talked of in page 3 columns and by adventurous writers. But, this recession has changed that perception on its head.

We now have economists, policy-makers, bank governors, analysts, financial engineering experts, TV anchors, news reporters, authors, and people from every discernible walk of life talking about how the economic recovery will pan out. Some call it the U-shape curve, othes say its V-shaped, and more creative ones say that it will be a W-shaped curve, driving all of us along the path of recovery!

While that may be technically true (in economics, at least), I find it hard to associate curves with alphabets like U, V, or W. I mean, curves are meant to be naturally admired and not defined into specific alphabets, isn't it? I mean, the last time I ever heard of curves being viewed, but never talked about too much was during Baywatch days!

Ok, I may have stretched it a bit in this piece, but well, I think we lightened our lives a wee bit, given the treachery of this recession around us.

Congratulations, Nandan Nilekani!

It must be a matter of immense pride for a person like Nandan Nilekani to be called directly by the Prime Minister of India to head the Unique ID Authority in New Delhi. What a rare achievement that really is in Indian conditions! I do not know of too many top businessmen who have been hand-picked like this for a nationwide initiative in our great nation. Yes, we have folks from industry who are members of the Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, particularly. But, I don't think any of those industrialists really have received the kinds of accolades that Nandan recently has.

The media has harped on the fact that it is very common for corporate hotshots to move to roles in Government and public service, in western markets. That may be true, but this really is a different one, in our case. Simply because, it is almost a first that such a thing is happening in India. Secondly, the fitment of the man for the kind of role that the PM has in mind is pretty much unchallenged. Thirdly, it is also a tribute to the class of an Infosys that one of their top executives was handpicked for a national cause.

I am quite sure that the co-founders, employees and many other folks who understand the contribution of an Infosys to India, truly believe that the selection of Nandan is a tribute to the fantastic brand and cause that the firm stands for. Moreover, it is also a credit to this organization that it is indeed perceived to have added tremendous value to the nation in terms of positioning India's technology brand on the world map.

I have never met Nandan or a Narayana Murthy. But, given the publicity that their careers have received, it is only but natural that the National ID programme is given the sort of mileage that it is receiving. It is one thing to select a corporate hotshot with such immense credibility for a national cause. It is altogether another thing to lead a nationwide initiative that will involve problems of illiteracy, poverty, lack of access, unawareness and all the associated issues related to public policy. But, that is exactly where a person like Nandan possibly scores – looking at challenges, as opportunities, a lesson that I definitely plan to reaffirm to myself.

And to Nandan himself, he must be caught between the extremes of emotions and the extremes of 2 worlds. For a man, who walked out of IIT Bombay, learnt the strings of the outsourcing world in his first job, to engaging in the long, arduous and exciting journey of creating India's greatest IT brand, it must be nothing short of a choking throat that he is currently undergoing. The man, to his credit, has brilliantly maintained his poise despite admitting that he will miss his Infosys email id.

But, he has been hailed as a master in handling clients, and people. That will be an extremely critical skill when he negotiates the ways of the Government of India. It will also be a big change for him in terms of lifestyle - imaging an IT czar shifting to a good, old-fashioned Ambassador car with VIP status and a Ministerial berth, after 30 years of corporate life!

Congratulations, Nandan! Hats off to you! You have certainly rejuvenated an old spark from school days, to do something for the country, in whatever shape of form that one can. Quarterly earnings are passe, now!

Archie proposes to Veronica! Betty, hang in there!

He did it. After years! Archie Andrews, the red head in Riverdale, proposed to Veronica in the latest edition of Archie comics. And I am thrilled to bits, simply because, it means, Betty Cooper is still single!

Betty is the type of girl that I would love to take home and introduce to my mom. She is down-to-earth, seems to have her priorities right & has her range of interests in life intact. So what if she is not as rich as that 'attitude-heavy' Veronica; Betty has character; Veronica has everything only from her dad with nil individuality. Ok, Veronica fans will counter by saying that she lives life king-size, can afford all the goodies in life etc. But, sorry, those things are ephemeral; Betty is the exact type of girl that I would call the most durable option a guy can ever consider. 

Archie is someone I am fond of, yes. But, the guy has seriously lost it in terms of being dreamy-eyed about Veronica. It is like saying every single guy in India will not settle for anybody less than Katrina Kaif or the old heartthrob called Madhubhala or Madhuri Dixit. 

Well, I think I need to get hold of this 600th edition of Archie comics. Been a while since I read it. But hey, Betty, don't you worry. You have enough number of guys out there that will root for you! Hang in there!

Indian National Congress to cross 272!

It beat all pre-poll predictions. Every discernible political expert had to swallow hard to digest the election results in India yesterday. For the first time in nearly 2 decades, India voted for a stable government. I last remember this being a foregone conclusion, before Mr. V.P.Singh thought it better to introduce caste-divisions in education (Mandal Commission, 1989).

But, irrespective of the party that has got the mandate, what is good for me to see is that India has voted in stability; a majority government. I was getting the strong feeling that the great Indian growth story that most pundits have been harping about for the last many years, was under severe threat, thanks to the constant bickering in the political class. More than anything else, fractured mandates always gave me the feeling that it was never economics at its best, but political convenience being accommodated into economic policies.

That should change now. And hopefully, the Congress will get a touch smarter and go into the government with some buffer i.e. not stop at the majority mark of 272, but go up to 300. Simply because they need to guard against elements such as Mamta Banerjee in this goverment. (remember the way she booted out the Nano project from Bengal?). I think she has 18 seats in Parliament from election. So if the Congress manages 300 seats, it will not be hurt even if Mamta misbehaves on the UPA's economic policies & threatens to back out- the Congress will still have 282! Am not trying to be pessimisstic, but realistic. Coalition politics has taught all of us in India, as to who is progressive and who is not. And it is better to take those lessons and be better off from such experience, as we enter a new phase of the Indian polity.

Of course, the best news for me is that the Left has been decimated. About time too, I would think. They are seriously not in sync with economic realities of the day. I mean, an average working class citizen cares a damn about regressive policies - he is bothered about his infrastructure, water, taxes, retirement kitty et al. Not some ridiculous trade unionist-led backward policies. Yes, those unions have their place in the economy - but more from a sense of participative & constructive dialogue with management/decision-makers/polity; not like the Left, who are so out of sync with economic realities. The anti-climax for me, is that the same leaders in the Left Front, live a very rich ostentatious life in New Delhi & talk about the lower classes and their lack of benefits in the trade unions. Hypocrisy at its best!

And to the man himself. Dr. Manmohan Singh. I had written a blog article about him a few years back in terms of not discrediting him etc. The man has gone about quietly doing his job, without compromising on his principles. He is also a classic example of a technocrat (NOT a politician) who knows what is good for India's economics. Singh is, indeed, King!

Let's see if this stable mandate translates into economic realities that we have been dreaming of & talking about for so many years. The Congress & the UPA combined cannot get a better platform than this to propel India well & truly into the 21st century. I live in hope now. The basics of the Indian polity has been restored - i.e. a majority mandate for a leading political party. That, I would think, is a good starting point.

The cheerleaders at the IPL

They are eye-catchers for sure & they get the crowd extremely excited by their wonderful expressions of happiness near the stands. I am talking about the cheerleaders at all the IPL games in the current tournament in South Africa!

Every time a batsman scores a sixer or hits a boundary in the IPL, the crowd erupts. That has always been the case with cricket, right? At least, the one-day international variety of cricket changed the involvement of the crowds immensely at cricket stadiums. But, what we are seeing in the IPL is new. Something, all of us had seen on television while glued to the NBA action every year - those games had extremely colourful cheerleaders with their pom-poms & going berserk every time a three-pointer or an aggressive basket was scored.

We see that translated, adapted & now extended to cricket. Right, into our own game! That has created ripples in our midst, simply because, whenever a four or a six is hit, we now have cheerleaders leading the crowd with the cheers for the respective teams that they are supporting.

I am not too sure if these girls actually understand the game in depth (no offence meant to the fairer sex!), but they have added immense colour to the way the fantastic game of cricket is celebrated. We now have dancing steps, pom-poms, mini skirts, sleeveless tops, songs, fast dance, tap dance, break dance, jumbo smiles and colour of various types to go with every smash hit to the fence by the batsmen, or, wickets taken by the bowler.

There are various types of cheerleaders too - the extremely vivacious, the pretty, the genuine beauties, dance experts, others who are there for sheer flamboyance & looks etc (am not getting into the details in public!). There was a commentator recently in one of the IPL matches who said that the batsmen were incentivised to hit the big shots towards the cheerleaders & getting the momentum in their favour! Now, that's called incentive, for sure!!

The whole thing may be an outcome of successful sports marketing (a field I'd love to be involved in)! And it has changed the way the game is being celebrated. More than anything, the IPL has combined fantastic marketing with the thrills of man's old celebration, dancing. And to get to do that in a global scale, in front of the whole world, in extremely regulated conditions (no obscenity allowed, technically!) has changed the crowd's involvement in the game. I wonder if this can be extended to badminton, hockey, or football...!

Warren Buffet & Bill Gates at Harvard- good CNN show

I have this back of the mind feeling that CNN is a channel that only cares about stock markets, CEOs, and high profile delegates & journalists reporting from the best places in the world. They sure did live up to their reputation today, on their show Back to School, where they hosted two extremely rich people of our generation - Bill Gates & Warren Buffet.

It was a unique show where these 2 vastly admired gentlemen demonstrated how their temperament and personalities are so diverse, yet, effective towards the things they do. These two guys were at Harvard, that famed institution, giving out tips to current students from various streams, about how they got to where they did in. And not all of what they said was purely related to their work life - there were good jokes, extremely good one-liners, talk about deeper issues affecting mankind, what are some of the mistakes they made, how their average work day looked like, the real story behind the first time they met in 1991(Bill nearly didn't make it as he was busy in office) et al.

I found the show quite freewheeling in nature, where young to-be-graduates asked these two men questions, only to try and learn what worked for them so very well in their lives. I particularly found Warren Buffet to be extremely chirpy.I thought he had a brilliant presence of mind to quip and create some sensational humour on stage that had the students in peals of laughter.

Very nice show, CNN. Well done. The punch line for me was Warren Buffet's answer to the last question by a student, 'how do you measure success?'. The investment banking legend said, when you are old, my age, and have friends & family and business associates still caring for you and loving you and making time for you (though they may not have the time), that is the biggest success possible; 'coz everything else, is passe.

Sanity...after the recession

A lot has been written about the current downturn being the worst ever seen in the last century (ignore the 1930's Great Depression, for a second). And enough has been said about the credit excesses of the American financial system that had such a wild & cascading negative effect around the world.

I just feel that the lessons learnt from the last 8 months will lead us to a world that will be quite regulated. More than anything else, I am convinced that we will enter a world that will restore some level of sanity in the way business is done. The economic boom for a majority of the time in the last 2 decades, had led to wild business excesses that were never caught in the light of the good times. But, the current recession has taught us that bad things will be found out eventually & people will have to pay a price for continuous excesses.

I therefore think, that in a strange way, this killer recession of 2008-09 was a much needed correction factor for the business world to be given a serious wake up call. I just hope the lessons learnt now are only used to create a saner environment in the future (am convinced, it is required).

Shashi Tharoor - a real hope(sans the Malayalam!)

I saw him for the first time on NDTV Profit today, joining a youth program.The agenda of the program was to find out what the youth of India care about in Indian politics - what bothers them most, do they care about political ideologies, how does a terror attack impact them, what does recession mean to them etc.

Pretty intriguing choice of panel too - an ex banker turned writer, an RJ, a VJ, a student from a famous Mumbai college and a student from one of the famous Mumbai families. AND, in all this, Shashi Tharoor, joining in remotely via satellite.

While the debate was animated and the young panel was pretty cut & dry in stating their expectations. But Shashi Tharoor held his own in all this - he understood outsourcing and its current backlash, showed enough knowledge about the interiors of India being plagued by unemployment etc. All this was a bit of a surprise to me, as I did not expect this up-market diplomatic veteran to be so well-versed with intricacies in India.

The punchline for me was from Shashi himself. He said, "People claim that I do not know Malayalam and have problems in connecting with my people in Thiruvananthapuram. But, I only have to say that I know enough Malayalam to understand your problems and even more, I know the right English and Hindi that will work for you in the Lok Sabha".

I just hope these are not mere words by a man who has generally been perceived as India's greatest diplomatic success - after all, reaching the position of the under-secretary of the UNO is no joke!

We need more such people. And to see the ABN Amro India Country Manager, the former CEO of Deccan Airways and this former UN diplomat, might just be the right triggers the Indian political system needs. My logic is that when veteran political foxes in India talk about banning English or banning computers etc, hopefully, this new breed of progress-oriented candidates, can keep the old foxes in check.

Government of India...please don't make us shameful

The government has done it again. They have forced the sporting authorities to rework their strategy and move out a signature event, the IPL, out of the country. While it may make eminent business sense for Lalit Modi & co to swear by the words, 'the show must go on', this move is also a reflection of the appalling state of affairs in Indian security. Now, I am no expert in security, but its truly unjustified to move a truly Indian-based event to a foreign nation and leave the cricketing public gasping for breath on television.

Yes, there are the fair claims of the country's general election being greater than any sporting event. There are also justified claims for prioritising national security over everything else. But what I have serious problems with is the utter arrogance towards the average citizen. Ok, the government may tell Lalit Modi and his franchise owners, that they are rich enough anyway, and don't need the IPL to fill their coffers. But, for the average citizen in the country who generally struggles to make a living, this concept of unadulterated, fantastic, action-packed entertainment (that was such a great marketing success as well), will now only have to be enjoyed on television.

I just wish the government did a little more about security. There are countries I know which make it mandatory for every citizen to work in the army for 2 years, as soon as he turns 16 years old. I wonder if such a system can ever come to India and, even if it does, if it will create that much-needed lift and drive to serve in the Indian armed forces.

Its all load balancing at the end of the day. We need sports; the politicians need their seats. While businessmen are smart enough to find avenues and alternatives to serve their cause, the Indian public is always left with a set of either corrupt,, or inept, or unwilling, or crime-tarnished individual seats, who hold the powerful seats in New Delhi. I just wish we had a better choice of candidates to elect from when we go to vote. Granted, everyone should vote and make their statement; but, if the very choices on the voting table are between corrupt, inept or unwilling folks, then, I wonder what the solution is.

I am disturbed at this ridiculous development today. High time the armed forces were positioned as super-premium careers, rather than a punishment in extreme conditions for the average Indian. Maybe, we should set up a legal or constitutional qualification that ALL ministers in the central and state government should have served for 2 years in the Indian army, that too at the border (near Pakistan), before they qualify to contest an election!

Public sector bank with FM radio in its office!

When I first heard it, I thought it was the sound emanating from the pocket radio of some high net worth individual who was visiting the bank. But, the audio sound persisted even after I noticed this individual (who I thought had a radio), finished his transactions and left the branch. It turned out to be an FM radio, with one of my favourite radio jockeys in 94.3 on air, that was actually owned and being played by the bank! That's when I realised that I was sitting in a completely revamped model of customer service, in India's most famous public sector bank. And it felt good to see them change with the times so well.

That was the new age of public sector banking right in front of my eyes - swanky office, air conditioned, fantastically user-friendly counters, friendly staff, highly computerized, good interiors, nice ambience and excellent service to boot.

And with FM radio, it sure is a catchy way of getting the generation next to bank with them!