Changing face of Onam

Onam in a far off desert in Kuwait is not quite the same as it was back in Kerala.

You would have noticed that I used the word 'was' and not 'is'.

Even in Kerala, Onam has been commercialized beyond recognition, both in Urban and Rural areas. The spontaneity and naturality that marked Onam during the Agrarian period of yore has long since died. There is nothing surprising about it, for Onam has always been an Agrarian festival, literally the harvest festival of Kerala. With Agriculture in the doldrums, people not depended on Agriculture for a livelihood, the economy moving towards a Services economy, the whole State dependent on money flow from the Gulf, and Cable TV packaging Onam during a 3 day Advertisement cum program with stilted/jaded/cinema based/artificial programs, the Onam has changed beyond recognition. The commercial aspect of Onam and the move towards a 'progressive' society is clearly visible in Kerala by just looking at the special offers, banners and posters put up by the Commercial establishments.

Even the Sadhya (feast) is made of ready to make items. It was not so in earlier days. Onam normally denotes the end of monsoon, and the beginning of harvest. Fresh paddy, bananas and vegetables from your own backyard and agricultural field were available in plenty. This was used to prepare the feast. Hardly anything other than the pulses and other ingredients were purchased from the market.

Fresh rice, vegetable for Sambhar, tomator for rasam, coconut which is an ingradient of all dishes, milk from the cows in the house, curd from this milk, bittergourd/banana (both raw for chips and ripe)/ Chena/ White and yellow pumpkins/ drumstick - all were in house products. The banana chips were made inhouse in pure coconut oil (households had enough and more coconuts which were dried and send to local oil mill for coconut extraction - I remember doing this chore when I was in school) and the payasam was again made of Coconut milk. The only major expense in the household was for buying new sets of dresses. But even here, a handloom Set Mundu for ladies and a simple handloom white dhoti for the men were locally made and cheap.

The household was virtually a closed system, unlike today where everything has to come from outside. Since all the members of the family (it was joint family then) had to put in a collective effort to convert the raw material to the final finished product - the feast, there was a sense of team work and comaradiere.

Today, with nucleus families being the vogue, and people not having ownership in agricultural produce, the omni present money has started raising its ugly head. People get a feeling that since they earn enough, money can purchase anything, forgetting that the taste and the feeling lies in the collective effort of the people of home who take pains to prepare for onam which can not be substituted.

I am not for a moment saying that we should not have moved away from the agrarian economy. I am just pointing out certain things we have lost forever, for good or bad - a part of our wonderful culture and past. But life moves on.

Who Cares?

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) propose to introduce a three-minute complete airport closure before and after the arrival or departure of any VVIP flight at all airports across India. This would mean that airports would be closed for six minutes in case of a VVIP movement. No closure of airport is required for VVIP flights at present as per the instructions of the home ministry. VVIP flights are, however, to be given priority landing.

This is really ridiculous. The common man is tired of roads being blocked to allow VVIP's(and in India every second guy is a VVIP) motorcade (comprising of not less than 10 cars) to pass through.

Now, the much harried Air Traveller, who has to bear substandard ground facilities, delays in flights, delays in landing, poor baggage clearance, choked airport car parking to wait in the air to allow VVIP flights to land. It is not a question of 6 minutes. An Aircraft that is scheduled to land, if not allowed to do so, have to fly another 30 minutes to again get the approach to the runaway. Imagine the quantity of fuel being burnt. This is a national waste. But who cares?

Strategies to tackle your enemies or competitors

How do you handle your enemies or your competitor?

There are 6 distinct methods to tackle your enemies/competitors as per 'Panchatantram',

1. Peace,
2. War
3. Retreat
4. Entrenchment
5. Seeking the help of allies or
6. Intrigue

But how do you choose the ideal strategy. Again let us hear what Panchatantram has to say,

Make peace with an enemy who is as strong as you are, for, in a battle between equals, the victory hangs in the balance, never fight unless you are sure of success. Never make peace with an enemy who is unethical. He is bound to flout the peace terms at the first given opportunity. Such peace wont last long (It is why India should never make peace with Pakistan).

Only intrigue is effectual when your enemy is powerful. The wise first puff up the enemy and afterwards destroy them. Find out your enemy's weak points and then take advantage of them at the opportune time.

Read the full Panchatantram if you are a Management Professional. It is worth it.

My mood these days

"Velicham dukhamanunni, Thamassallo sukhapradam"

Loose translation - "Child, light denotes sadness, it is darkness that gives comfort"

Off blog till sunday

Most likely to be off blog till Sunday. See you then.

Gordian Knot

In ancient Macedonia thinking was much the same as it is today. Little kingdoms fought bitterly for their lands. Pretenders rose and fell. No one had vision. None had a plan. All was struggle. Except for one–one gained his rule easily.

He was Midas, the poor homeowner. Day by day Midas struggled just to get by. Each day was a "challenge" for Midas. He lived in a marshy area of Asia Minor then called Phrygia. Lore has it that years of civil unrest and aimless wandering of the Phrygians had led the elders to call a meeting of the high council to decide which warring faction would rule next. An ancient oracle had foretold that a man with a waggon would eventually come and end their constant quarreling. Midas wandered into town with his ox-cart while the high council met, discussing the oracle’s prediction. The oracle’s prediction had come true. Midas was appointed king.

As a reminder of his good fortune, to thank the gods for his rule, and to celebrate the end of aimless wandering for the Phrygians, Midas erected a shrine and dedicated his waggon to Zeus. Instead of being yoked to an ox, Midas placed his waggon in the center of the acropolis yoked to a pole with a large knot. Curiously, the knot was an intricate and complex Turkish knot, having no ends exposed. Hundreds of tightly interwoven thongs of cornel-bark made the knot an impressive centerpiece for the shrine. There it remained as an important symbol for the Phrygians.

Month after month the bark hardened, and stories grew up around the shrine. It was eventually moved and housed near the temple of Zeus Basileus in an ancient city called Gordium, ruled by Midas’ father Gordius. Gordius, being the proud father that he was, encouraged the lore about his son’s now famous shrine. People speculated as to its purpose. Most regarded it as a curious puzzle. Eventually, an oracle foretold that whoever loosed the Gordian Knot would lord over the whole of Asia. The lore grew and grew.

Over the years people living near Gordium looked upon their puzzle relic with great pride. It became quite a tourist attraction and generated lots of revenue for local business. Residents considered it the duty of every wanderer to visit their shrine and attempt to solve their puzzle. They regarded it as extremely unlucky for visitors to leave their city without trying to loose the knot.

No one knows how many visitors attempted the puzzle of the Gordian Knot. One thing is certain. Only one man solved it. We know him as Alexander The Great. He did go on to conquer the world and rule all of Asia. Alexander considered his victory over the Gordian Knot the most decisive battle he ever fought.

We come across many gordian knots in our life, both personal and professional. And we do most of time believe that these knots cannot be solved. But remember, if you think and act like Alexander the Great, you can. That should be ones aim in life

How will our Country achieve great heights?

The ruling party headed by a foreign born lady who rarely gives an interview, a heir apparent who refuses to take up a Cabinet post that could have given him some administrative experience, a PM who is at best a failed economist and at worst a dummy, all other 'leaders' paragons of psychophancy,

The major opposition party who refuses to correct themselves, led by a 82 year old who is past his sell by date, a President who can hardly win a seat by himself, next generation of leaders who have no mass following, and the whole party in a total bankruptcy mode, both politically and ideologically,

The aam admis own party, the Left, more Capitalist than the capitalists themselves, amassing wealth for the party, led by an Intellectual Asshole apparichik who has never one an election in his life time and who is surrounded by a coterie who doesnt know that grassroot politics is, suffering critical infighting, forced to support corruption and anti people activities,

A host of Regional parties, all formed because of the ambitions of a single person, with hardly any political ideology than to get power through hook or crook and to hoard wealth for themselves, stoking casteist and communal feelings, aligning with anyone who will give them a share of the pie, and focussed on dynastic succession,

None of the above parties having any grassroot leaders who are in connect with the common man.............................

Pray tell me how will a Country progress and achieve great heights????

no blog

Occupied with work. Hence no blog today

Supremacy or Popularity?

People, especially in Kuwait, always talks about the lack of gratitude of someone whom they have helped in their life. They have nothing but bitter stories to tell about how the beneficiary turned his back once he has got what he wanted.

I too have had my share of experiences. Why are people like this?

We need to understand two things. No man can ever forgive his protector. And there is no loathing a man harbours more intense than that towards his benefactor.

People dont like to be indebted to someone. It reminds them of an unsavoury past they are trying to forget.

It is the strong, intelligent, powerful and the rich who are always hated. If you are weak, you would not be hated. If you are poor you would not be hated. You are not hated despite your strength, intelligence, power or wealth; you are hated BECAUSE of your strength, intelligence, power and wealth. One can have supremacy or popularity, but never both.

The BUJEE!!!

In our times, we called them 'Bujees', short for Buddhi Jeevees, or an intellectual person. This word is always used in a tone of respect, envy and quite a lot of sarcasm. A more apt translation would be 'Intellectual Asshole' (IA).

Let us stick to the term IA. Now, what are the traits of a IA. Well, he (don't know why, this is always a 'He' and not a 'She'. I am not implying for a moment that there are none in the fairer sex, it is just that I have not come across many) will have to be a dreamer, reader, thinker, opinionated, well educated, sporting a beard (beard and intelligence are somehow associated) that he stokes regularly while thinking, generally reticent as the IA is not supposed to speak much, will have a serious disposition to life (meaning he won't joke or be frivolous) , a rebel by nature and as such a misfit and generally to make a long story short, a pain in the ass. Quite a few of them will be smokers, drinkers and drug addicted though there are exceptions. The IA should never give a straight answer and have to use as much complex words which no one understands as possible.

Now, how do one attain the IA status? Well, I can say that you don't get it that easily. You really have to work for it diligently. Years of reading, forming opinions, opposing others viewpoint, thinking out of the box (whether the solutions are practical or not) and regular practice will make you eligible for this title. You should also express your opinion on every topic under the sun, whether you know or not, at every single given opportunity. It helps if you really have a core competency in one area, but definitely you should have more than passable knowledge on other areas.

Once you are an Acknowledged IA, life changes dramatically. Every one (poor ordinary folks, friends and foe alike) turns to you for opinion on divergent issues. Some examples of the questions are given below with the IA's probable responses,

"I am married for the last 4 years, but have no children. What should I do?" - and this to a IA who is a bachelor!!!.

The IA stokes his beard, goes in deep thought and when the other guy is bored to death says slowly, "Well, there are many solutions. You can go for Artificial insemination, adopt a child, rent a womb if your wife has a problem that prevents her from conceiving or introduce a neighbour to your wife if the problem is with you. By the way, when was the last time both of you had a check up with the doctor together?"

"How can we? I am in Kuwait and she is in India, and I have not visited her for 4 years"

IA is deeper in thought now, "Umm ........... that could be a real problem. Now let me see what I can do about it. I am travelling next month .........................."

Another case,

IA gets a call " Can you give me the reference book for Consumer Behaviour?"

IA doesn't have a clue. But with Google, he has is more effective. He goes to Amazon.com and types CB in the search column and gets a list of books. Now he is ready,

"I would recommend you to read Schiffman. It is a good book were the concepts are juxtaposed in a logical manner to enable comprehensive transfer of thoughts and ideas about the behavioural aspects of consumers with respect to their predispositions towards products and services. It is especially noteworthy for.................................................................... "

Here is another one,

"What do you think will be the reason for monsoon failure and its impact on Indian Economy?"

"The vagaries of monsoon has always been a source of mystery to the mankind. Scientists have been working on a reasonably acceptable model for predicting the monsoon with an acceptable confidence level. The reason monsoon failed could be just that the El nino factor in the south pacific ( remember he doesnt have the faintest of idea what this is) did not form as it should be. It is also possible that there just were not enough rain clouds over India. And it could also be due to Congress returning to power and the Gods wanted to punish the Indians for re-electing Manmohan Singh. Now the impact could be the GDP not growing at the anticipated rate of 6%. We may end up a growth of 4.873467890213%. Since the global economy is in recession, we may find it difficult to import food and as such may have to pay higher prices leading to a cut in the defence outlay that can adversely affect our level of preparedness to counter any cross border adventure by our arch rivals Pakistan who is internally disintegrating due to the US drone attack on the NW frontier that has caused considerable resentment in Pakistan which worries the Obama Administration who might attack Nicaragua to divert the attention of the American population from their military failures in Afghanistan, where Karzai might win a rigged election which has long term geo political implications for the region................................................. "

Let me take a break from my writing my autobiography :)

A forgotten man

Can you identify the person in the picture? A forgotten man who should not be forgotten.

He is Pingali Venkayya (1876-1963), the person who designed our National Flag. He was born in 1876 in Bhatlapenumarru, near Masulipatnam or the present day Machilipatnam of Andhra Pradesh. After finishing his primary education at Challapalli and secondary education at the Hindu High School, Masulipatnam, he went to Colombo to complete his Senior Cambridge. He enlisted himself for the Boer war in South Africa which began in 1899. While in South Africa, he met Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.On his return to India Pingali Venkayya worked as a railway guard at Bangalore and Madras and subsequently joined the government service as the Plague Officer at Bellary. His patriotic zeal, however, did not permit him to stagnate in a routine job. His insatiable thirst for knowledge, took him to Lahore where he joined the Anglo-Vedic College, where he learnt Japanese and Urdu.During his five years stay in Lahore from 1901 to 1906, Pingali Venkayya became very active in politics. He met many revolutionaries, and started planning different strategies to overthrow the British colonial rule. Pingali Venkayya met the veteran leader of India Dadabhai Naoroji at the Calcutta Session of the Congress in 1906. From that time onwards, Pingali Venkayya became vigourously involved in the struggle for National Freedom.

From 1916, Pingali Venkayya started taking great interest in doing research for designing a suitable flag for free India. After carefully studying 30 kinds of flags from all over the world, Pingali Venkayya conceived the design of a flag for Independent India which became the forerunner of the Indian national flag on 15th August 1947.

The proposal for a tricolour National Flag was discussed at the historic Session of the AICC at Bezwada in 1921. ( 31 March -1 April, 1921). It was here that Venkayya took his flag design to Gandhiji. It was made up of two colours-red and green-representing the two major communities i.e. Hindus and Muslims. Gandhiji suggested the addition of a white strip to represent the remaining communities of India and the spinning wheel to symbolise progress of the Nation.
Thus the Indian flag was born but it was not officially accepted by any resolution of the All India Congress Committee until 1931. Gandhi’s informal approval made it popular and it was hoisted at all Congress sessions. Hansraj of Jalandhar suggested the representation of the charkha, symbolising progress and the common man. It was post independance that the “Dharma Chakra” which appears on the abacus of Sarnath was adopted in the place of the “Charkha”.

Interpreting the colours chosen for the national flag after our independence Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan explained that the saffron colour denoted renunciation or disinterestedness of political leaders towards material gains in life. The white depicted enlightenment, lighting the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green symbolized our relation to the soil, to the plant life here on which all other life depends. The Ashoka wheel in the centre of the white strip represented the law of dharma. Speaking philosophically, he remarked that the national flag ought to control the principles of all those who worked under it. The wheel denoted motion and India should no more resist change as there was death in stagnation.

India has moved on. The Indians swell with pride on seeing the fluttering tricolour. But spare a thought for the gentleman from Andhrapradesh who first conceived it.

The government belatedly recognised Pingali Venkayya by releasing a commemmorative stamp on his 132nd birth anniversary on 12th August 2009.

So whenever you look up at an Indian tricolour, spare a thought for the unsung hero who designed it

Missing the wood for the trees

"In 2001-03, the Registrar General conducted a survey to gauge the main causes of deaths in India. Heart disease came first (19%), followed by respiratory diseases like asthma (9%), diarrhea (8%), respiratory infections like pneumonia (6.2%), tuberculosis (6%), and cancer (5.7%). Applying these percentages to India’s annual deaths of around 9 million, we find that 1.37 million people die annually of respiratory diseases and infections, 7,20,000 of diarrhea, and 5,40,000 of tuberculosis. These are staggering numbers. They imply that on an average day, 3,753 people die of respiratory diseases and infections, 1,973 of diarrhea, and 1,479 of tuberculosis. Seen in this light, 20-odd swine flu deaths are almost laughably trivial. I do not laugh, because every death is a tragedy. But i am infinitely sadder for the millions whose plight has been swept out of public view, and is actually being worsened by upper-class panic." - Swaminathan Ankleshwara Aiyer in TOI

Swine Flue : Much ado about nothing? Or is it a case of missing the woods for the trees?

The noble and the ignoble

Compare and contrast the reactions of Prof APJ Abdul Kalam and Shahrukh Khan to the security checks by US officials.

Prof APJ Abdul Kalam quietly and in a dignified manner went through the security check despite him being in Indian soil and having diplomatic immunity as an Ex President. In fact no one knew about it for 3 months till a diligent journalist dug it out and made it public leading to a furore. Inspite of the overpouring emotions condemning the US Airlines action across the country, Kalam refused to be dragged into the controversy and kept a stiff upper lip. Only time he spoke on the issue was to deny the claim of the Airlines that they have apologized to him, which was just stating a fact to put the records straight.

Shahrukh Khan might be a celebrity in India and gawked at my millions. But he has absolutely no VIP status officially either in India or abroad and is not exempt from any of the procedures that you and me have to undergo. While it is true that the US immigration tend to go overboard with their secondary checks, it is quite normal. There was absolutely no need for Shahrukh khan to throw his weight around and make a big issue of it. If he doesnt like the procedure, he should not be travelling to USA. I have been made to remove my belt and shoe while boarding certain aircrafts which is damned incovenient for me. What do I do? Either I dont wear a shoe (I wear a chappal) or belt or I don't fly that particular airline.

The difference between Kalam and Sharrukh Khan has to do more with education, culture and words Shahrukh is not familiar with - humbleness and humility. SRK made an ass of himself during the IPL as the franchisee of KKR, but one suspects this incident in US was blown up to promote his latest film "My name is Khan". In that case, he needs to be hauled up. It is worth noting that SRK did not plan his scheduled program in USA after this incident. Had he done that as a token of protest, then I would have appreciated him. But then, he would have had to shell out lot of money to the organizers. So he ate the humble pie, made noises, got some cheap publicity and in the bargain sold our country's image down the line. It might not be a bad idea for the CBI to show the dossier they have on the bollywoods underworld connections to shut him up.

What a fall!

This is where you can get the cheapest food in India

Why does our Government don't do anything to control the rising prices of food items in India? The price of Dhal has hit the roof and is likely to go up further due to monsoon playing truant. One of the reasons is that our honourable Members of Parliament dont feel the pinch when it comes to rising food prices. They have an excellent canteen in the Parliament premises that offers highly subsidised food (when we say subsidy, remember that it goes out of the taxpayers money, which means that we are fattening these pigs ......... oops sorry the MPs.

The price list in the Parliament Canteen is as follows ,

Vegetarian thali: Rs 12.50
Non-vegetarian thali: Rs 22
Sada dosa: Rs 2.50
Masala dosa: Rs 4
Dal (assorted): Rs 1.50
Soup with one slice: Rs 5.50
Four chapatis: Rs 2
Boiled rice: Rs 2

There is not a single tea shop in rural India that will offer these ridiculously low prices for food. A good decent vegetarian thali costs Rs 30-40, a Sada dosa Rs 12-18, 4 Chappathis Rs 20-25 and so on.

The average worth of each MP in the current Lok Sabha is Rs 5.1 crore, and the average assets of each minister in Manmohan’s team is Rs 7.5 crore.

How can you expect these pampered crorepatis to understand the common man's plight. They, of course, don't venture out and reach out to the common man citing security concerns. Recently the Union Minister of State for Railways E Ahmed made a whistestop tour of Kerala to understand the plight of the railway passengers. Of cours he had a special air conditioned exclusive chartered train at his disposal. It is another matter that due to track congestion, his special train was delayed by a couple of hours.

Optimize your time

On friday I had called a prospective candidate for a Managerial post to my house to give him a feedback on his employment interview. The meeting was to be in my house due to the delicate nature of this recruitment that called for discretion due to the sensitive relationship we have with his current employers. It is to be said that we know each other fairly well professionally.

I called him up at 6 pm and asked him to come over. He said he can make it only at 6.45 pm as he had to pick his wife. I said fine. I have a bad habit. When people tell me that they will come at a particular time, I wait for them and get irritated if they dont turn up. I started getting jittery and twice picked up the phone to give him a piece of my mind. Finally, he turned up at 7.10 pm, a full 25 minutes late and gave me the routine excuse of getting stuck up in traffic (on a friday evening?). I didnt say much other that "Punctuality is a way of life. Either you have it or you don't. You have a right to do whatever you want to do with YOUR TIME but you have NO RIGHT to WASTE THE OTHER PERSONS TIME".

A very tardy person to begin with, I have made an effort to change and am rarely late these days. How do I do this? Simple. I don't cram my schedule. For example, on those days I have an IGNOU Class, I dont agree for any meetings between 5 pm and 9.15 pm, eventhough the class is between 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm. Though people might be offended initially when I turn downt their request, in the long run they tend to fall in line and start appreciating you.

So how do you go about if you are tardy.

One solution may be to do less, but Murphy's truism "Tasks always expand to fill the time allotted" ensures that you will only get less done in more time! Another solution is to use organizational tools that help you to work more efficiently. Though we can't make more time (there are only 24 hours in a day), we can make ourselves more effective.

Remember, always Commit less and Do more. This will thrill the customer, both internal and external.

Tryst with destiny revisited

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance .... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again." ................... Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his Independence day speech on 15th August 1947.

On its 63rd Independence day much of those speech still holds valid, albeit in a different manner. We still do have a tryst with destiny, one of becoming a global super power and we definitely should redeem our pledge - to work diligently and conscientiously towards contributing whatever we can and more to enable our country to attain that status. The moment is here and now, when the whole developed world struggled with recession, for India to step out from our archaic foreign policies to the new, and the soul of the liberated (mentally and knowledgewise) liberated Indians, long suppressed to raise their voice and be counted. And we, as a great nation, has to rediscover ourself all over again. For that to happen, every single one of us should take a rain check on where we are and where we want to be. It is not the Government's duty, it is our, each citizens, duty to protect our independence and take the country to greater heights.

Jai Hind!

Business loss due to poor service

Remember my earlier post on Indians not bothering to do the last 5%. Now here is a survey that shows the impact of what I blogged,

Business in India lose up to Rs11,640 crore in revenue every year due to poor service as customers abandon transactions or end relationships when companies do not meet their expectations, a survey says. "India loses Rs11,640 crore ($2.46 billion) due to poor customer service every year in revenue due to inability to meet customer expectations," a survey conducted by Greenfield Online said.India pays a higher cost of poor customer service compared to other countries. Businesses in India suffer significant losses every year due to poor customer service over the web, in the contact centre, or via mobile devices as consumers abandon transactions or end relationships when companies do not meet their expectations. The bigggest complaint was about trying to reach through to the call centre. 56% consumers admitted to having ended a relationship due to poor customer service, while 50% had an experience that made them more likely to do so in the past year. Indian customers felt annoyed by the inability to reach a human agent to answer a query or agents being poorly trained. Having to repeat information every time their call was forwarded to another department, long wait times to talk to a customer service executive and working with agents who were not authorised to make decisions also annoyed them the most. For transactions abandoned due to poor customer service, an identical number (62%) turned into business for a competitor, and 38% of transactions were completely abandoned and lost to all companies.

I dread to think what the survey will show if conducted in Middle East

How my hobbies helped me in my Career - 4

A hobby I picked late in my life was Cooking. Though I was quite comfortable making tea and coffee for self till I was 36, cooking a meal was beyond me. I took up the task of becoming a decent cook on my 36th birthday and gave a timespan of 4 years to achieve the objective.

There was a brahmin lady called Meenakshi Ammal who became a widow at a young age. She was a wonderful cook. In mid 1950s her nieces and grand nieces got married and set up nucleus families. They used to pester Meenakshmi ammal for recipes. Though cooking came naturally to her, she could not create recipes. She tried out each of the dishes, made careful note of the quantities used and then mailed it in inland letters to her nieces. Much later a relative of hers collected all these recipes and went around trying to find a publisher. He succeeded after 2 years. Thus was born the legendary cook book Samaithu Par'. This book is in 3 volumes and is the most authentic book on Tamil Brahmin Vegetarian Cooking. Millions of copies have been sold since. It has also been translated to other Regional Languages and English. You can get more details here http://www.meenakshiammal.com/.

To cut a long story short, this book was my single point reference. Initially I stuck to the quantities mentioned and later on I started improvising on my own. Like many other things in my life, I put my heart and soul into it and developed a passion for cooking.

Cooking, to me, is a very creative art. If one were to look at it as a chore, then one would never become a good cook. One needs to have a passion for it and should clearly enjoy cooking. 9 years on, I can safely say that I am more than a pretty decent cook.

Unlike all the other hobbies which are more self centred - be it reading, music, sports, photography, crosswords or astrology - cooking is extremely other person centred. This is the distinction. As a cook you get your reward when you see the happiness and contentment in another persons face on eating the dishes prepared by you. Cooking is all about giving. Understanding the taste preferences of others and meeting it. And it is a personal gesture. No amount of food purchased from hotels and served to a guest can compensate for the personal effort that goes into making a dish. It is a way of telling I honour you and am prepared to go that extra distance to make you happy. And this is highly appreciated by the guest. Our culture is made famous by the statement 'Adhithi Devo Bhava' and offering tasty food cooked by oneself is our way of realizing this.

More than anything else, cooking contributed a lot to making me a more open, understanding person and less self centred. Cooking is all about giving and this is one trait that always comes in handy in one's professional life.

In a world infested with 'takers', a 'giver' stands apart

Something .............................. repose

Finally was able to collect my M Phil Degree Certificate yesterday.

"Something attempted, something done, Has earned a nights repose" -Longfello

The Art of Letter Writing!!!!!!!!!

Australian humorist David Thorne is amusing. His approach to complainants are hilarious and worth reading.

This is how he responded to a Bank asking him to settle his dues failing which action will be taken against him,

http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html

Then an unfortunate neighbour 'intimated' him about the likely noise that might emanate from his apartment as he is having a party. Piqued at the behaviour of his neighbour for not having invited him, David set after him,

http://www.27bslash6.com/matthewsparty.html

Then his landlord made the mistake of taking him on based on a complaint received from his neighbours for keeping pets in his apartment,

http://standardmadness.com/offbeat/david-thorne-driving-his-landlord-crazy


And this, when his gym membership expired and he was send a letter to renew it,

http://www.27bslash6.com/buffed.html



How I wish I could think up something like this!!!!

Basis of Western and Indian Management

The western management system that evolved in the early 20th Century has been profoundly influenced by two powerful institutions - the Army and the Church. The Western nations always had global ambitions of annexing nations for their raw materials and cheap labour. They aggressively pursued this agenda through military operations that required a clear cut line of authority and a logistic support system. Religion has always been the foundation on which these campaigns were built. The Church had an expansionist agenda and sent missionaries far and wide to all parts of the world with an objective of converting as many as possible. Most of the times, the missionary had to work independently. But since the success of his mission was dependant on relief supplies, health care and education the Church had to establish a global network of communications and organizations that ensured the flow of goods and services. Also it was imperative that the Church headquarters received the necessary feedback. The ideal organization structure for the church, like the military, was line that ensured smooth flow of decision and instruction downward while the information flowed unhindered upwards.

The industrialization in West started with a similar aggressive agenda in early 20th Century. When the West ventured into business, it was logical for them to pursue what they know best and they replicated the structure and systems similar to the Church and Military in their Organizations.

One needs to understand the contrast in India. The temples never had a single control. The Hindu religion being not controlled by a single entity ensured that the temples were more a local issue than a central issue. Each temple were managed by the locals with the patronage from the King or the Jamindar. They never had an expansionist agenda. In fact, the temples tried hard to keep the people out rather than in. The whole structure was to ensure protection in the area of operation. Mergers between temples were unheard of. The decision making at the temple level was more consultative in nature. There was a core committee of temple administrators who were involved in key decision making.

India was a conglomerate of different small kingdoms prior to the colonization. Each small kingdom had under them many chieftains who lorded over their small area of fiefdom. They maintained small armies. The King maintained a core army but he could and did call on his Chieftains to send their men in case of a necessity. These small groups had different culture, organizational structure and their loyalties were with their local Chieftain than the King. Also, the armies were essentially for self defense and were rarely used for major conquests, though there are exceptions. But the exceptions were few and far between. The western style of army organization did not work with Indians. While western army focused on collective fighting, the Indian fighters were more known for their individualistic brilliance and valour. Even our mythology is full for individual valour – whether it be Ramayana or Mahabharatham. Kurukshetra War talks about formations – like Garuda Vyooham to counter Sarpa Vyooham. But once the fighting starts, it was every one for himself. Also, extensive consultations took place amongst the elders on the evenings of the war to arrive at the ideal strategy.

The Indian businessmen obviously followed the above when they started their operations. Also, they were very suspicious of the West post independence. We can thus see certain distinct traits in Indian system,

The hierarchy is based more based on Seniority of age than Authority due to position. (I can vouch for this, for when I took over Coimbatore Sales Area of HPCL as a 25 year old, it took me two years of bloody hard work to be accepted by the Petrol dealers)

Since we were not as rigid as the Westerners, a degree of confusion in systems and procedures is considered natural since there is no clear-cut division of responsibilities and authorities. People tend to be vague, philosophical and holistic than precise and logical

Trust and personal loyalty is extremely important and people are judged on the basis of their ability to be loyal to individuals, i.e owners.

Greater western influence over the years and a management education based on US style of Management has started making dent in our traditional management style. But its influence can still be seen and felt

Quality as a way of life.

The average Indian is industrious, intelligent, and disciplined. Indians, by nature, are extremely good at planning. But fail when it comes to fulfilling the plan. It is not as if he doesn’t have an implementation strategy nor the ability to execute this strategy. He does make a honest effort to implement. But, then he gets caught up with what is generally called the ‘last mile syndrome’.

Remember the Hare in the ‘Hare and the Tortoise’ fable? The Hare takes off in a flash and then gets complacent. He loses focus on task completion, takes a nap and is mortified to see the slow and steady tortoise in the finishing post leaving the Hare red faced with embarrassment. This might be an apocryphical story but this best illustrates the Indian mentality.

The Indian tends to lose interest once we have completed 90-95% of the task on hand. It is the last 5-10%, comprising mainly of finishing, attention to detail, polishing, ensuring quality, reducing errors, that would create a positive impact on our customer, reducing cognitive dissonance and ensuring perpetual customer satisfaction leading to repeat business. Most of our work, unfortunately, is usually a sad story of sloppiness, neglect and dangerous, even callous, and leaves many loose ends.

This has perhaps its roots in the Government and Public Sector controlled socialist economy that was prevalent in India during its first 50 years since independence. With products not having to be marketed in a competitive environment , due to licensing constraints, it was the norm to make substandard products and get away with it. How else can one explain a customer buying a brand new Ambassador car in 1980’s, taking it straight to a body shop, redo all the spot welding in the car and then repainting the whole car before he has even driven a single kilometer. The importance of quality workmanship was never instilled in us. With a couple of generations brought up in this culture, is it any wonder that we are known for shoddy workmanship, unreliability and poor quality. With this same generation training the current gen X people, there is no end in sight to this malaise.

This ‘chalta hai’ attitude should change if we, as a nation, have to achieve super power status. There has to be a paradigm shift in the way we think and work. This change has to come from within, every single individual taking a pledge to meticulously complete the task on hand meeting the highest quality standards. We need to take a leaf out of the Japanese who never compromise on quality. Post Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they channeled all their energy into creating a Quality Culture that is the envy of the world. The movement that started in 1950’s bore fruit in late 1970’s. Today, customers are willing to pay 50% additional premium for the same product made in Japan, as against those made in Hong Kong, Korea or China.

Quality is and should be a way of life. We should aim for zero defect in everything that we do, even the trivial.

(Hot) Air India

Air India has revealed its turnaround plan. Much of it will make the airline not Air India but Hot Air India as it looks like someone's pipe dream. Let us take a look at the salient points with my comments in brackets and in italics.

Turn around to be made in 24 to 36 months (Reasonable time frame, especially in view of the economy likely to revive during that period. But we have heard AI turning around and making profit for decades. All those promises have vanished into thin air the moment the airline gets additional tax payers money as subsidy. So why should this be different).

Focus on low-cost carrier for high density ports from September with 70-75% of domestic flights to fly as low cost under the brand Air India Express and the Airline is exprected to earn Rs 180-200 crore through this (Low cost airlines the world over has never been able to sustain profits even in the medium term. This premise of AI that it can successfully run a profit making low cost operation with its huge baggage of ageing aircrafts, highly paid PSU staff and bloated management is someones pipe dream. For any organization to adopt a low cost strategy and succeed it needs to have the following advantages, as per Strategic Guru Michael Porter; Sustained Capital Investment, Intense Supervision of Labour, Process Engineering Skills, Products and services designed for ease of manufacture or use & Low cost distribution system. Our national carried fails to pass muster on even one of these parameter. Then, pray, how will this strategy succeed?)

Plans to create a subsidiary for MRO, ground handling and cargo unit which would lead to almost two-thirds of the 32,000 staff going out of airline operations, thus lowering the aircraft-to-employee ratio to match global standards. Logic being that the ground-handling subsidiaries of Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines account for almost 40 per cent of revenue of the parent company, whereas AI currently earn only two per cent (This is only shifting the problem. The employees will be moved from AI roster to the the subsidiary roster, whose accounts will be reflected on AI balance sheet. It is another matter if AI were to divest this operation fully. The reason why Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines have 40% of its revenue from ground handling and cargo operations is because they have the advantage of having the biggest two hubs in the world -Frankfurt and Singapore. Also, both airlines have clear focus on their cargo operations, whereas Air India scantily pays attention to the cargo division, which is less glamorous but more profitable)

Air India, which has over the year lost its market share, is expected to lose over Rs 7,000 crore this year. The carrier is also overburdened by its working capital borrowings worth Rs 17,000 crore. Airlines is facing a cash-flow problem and is unable to service its interest and debt liabilities with internal resources. The airline also said to go for an IPO in the next 18 months (The question that remains unanswered is why has AI lost its market share. It is understandable during recession for revenues to drop. But to lose market share? AI should explain why NRIs and Indians travelling abroad almost always never opts AI as their first, second or third choice Airline. It has to do with the culture and value system of the organization that treats Indians shabbily. With Indians being so mobile globally and travelling more than ever before in the history, AI has to have a relook at its strategy and focus on Indians rather than foriegners as its prime target segment. If they make a sincere effort in changing their approach to Indian citizens, give them top class service and special offers, be courteous, be more sensitive to their needs and run the operations on schedule, I am sure Indian travellers will reciprocate and start patronizing the Airline. It is not that other airlines are great when it comes to serving the Indian passengers. I have found them to be condescending and at times downright patronizing. If they still fly in those airlines, it is only because Air India is terrible. Improve the service by at least 60% and you will see customers flocking back)

Finally, if AI were to be turned around, it has to be allowed to operate as an independent entity, with the Ministry of Civil Aviation having absolutely no say in its operations for the next 36 months and may be forever. Elect an eminent board, get the best talent in the Airline Industry in the top management, have an intense program for retraining and re orienting the staff, re brand, re package, focus on efficiency, cut down on routes, follow a focussed differentiation strategy of targeting Indian travellers, give them time to turn around and we may yet have an Airline that we Indians can be proud of.

It pays to be a criminal undertrial

It pays to be a criminal undertrial!!!!!!!!!!!

Prime accused in 26/11 terror attack case Mohammed Ajmal Kasab has refused to eat food and thrown away utensils in his cell saying that he wants to have 'mutton biryani'.

The most famous inmates of Chanchalguda jail are certainly making themselves at home. After ensuring the availability of quality food, comfortable bedding and visual entertainment, Satyam scam-tainted B Ramalinga Raju and company started playing shuttle badminton in the jail premises last week. And in another departure for the star inmates, the jail authorities have provided them with English language newspapers and magazines. As for the other facilities, all the three Satyam scam accused are being provided B class facilities on the orders of the court. Although they have orderlies to do the chores of cooking and washing clothes, perhaps because they want the food to taste like home-made, they prefer to cook it themselves.

How my hobbies helped me in my Career - 3

Music was in the air in the house when I was a child. Mother had learned Classical music and Veena, as most Brahmin girls of those age did, before she got married. Life was a struggle for a Bombay born girl to move to Radhapuram in Tamil Nadu, which did not even have a proper toilet or electricity in 1954. She was just 18 and never pursued her music. She blamed father for not encouraging her, but father's version is that she couldn't take his well meaning criticism and sulked, leading ultimately to her Veena gathering dust. When my sister, who is 4 years elder to me, was into her teens, she was taught Veena. In fact she studied Veena for 8 long years. Neither was she interested nor was her mercenary Veena Master. For him, who was a lecturer in the music college, taking music lessons twice a week was a livelihood rather than a passion. Sister got married when she was 22 and never even looked at her Veena. This was more like our school college studies which we forget the moment the examinations are over.

Father wanted me to learn Mridangam, a percussion instrument. But the young boy had other ideas, for he wanted to be the next Sunil Gavaskar. The 1970's was the golden period of Malayalam film songs and the 1980s that of Tamil Film songs. In addition, one was able to listen to the soulful singing of Mohammed Rafi through Binaca Geetmala, broadcasted by Ceylon Radio. Radio was the major source of music. Record players, tape recorder came much later. Brother was the only person interested in Western Music, and the only Western music I liked was ABBA. Palghat Music Sabha organized one concert per month and parents were regular to the concerts. Though mother learned music systemmatically, father had better 'Jnanam' (Knowledge). His phenomenal memory helped him to remember ragas and recall later. I used to skip the first 2 hours of the concert and will walk in only for the last half an hour when 'thukkadas' (or smaller compositions) were sung. They were not heavy classically and it appealed to a teenager.

I finished my graduation and joined MBA, and carried with me a transistor radio which had both MW and SW (there were no FM stations those days). The nearest Radio Station was Kozhikode, which had a reputation for programs of highest quality. Many illustrious literary giants worked in Kozhikode Radio Station and they left a vibrant culture and a rich legacy. One day, I happened to go to a Madurai T N Seshagopalan Concert in Thali in Calicut. The intention was to leave the concert hall after half an hour. But I was rooted to my seat on the floor by Seshagopalans virtuosity. 4 times during the concert, I felt hair standing up on my arm as the music took me to a different world. I became a convert there and then. With a hard nosed determination which I thought I never had ( I was an easy going person and still is) I started listening to Carnatic music programs in either Kozhikkode or Madras radio stations or even AIR Banglore. There were concerts, music lessons and other music related programs. I used to read the Radio program column first thing in the morning and note down the station and the time of the program. It was an amazing 2 years, during which I was exposed to the genius of the Maestros from Chembai to MD Ramanathan to Ariyakkudi to DK Pattammal to Maali to Sheikh Chinnamoulana to Lalgudi to TN Krishnan to Chitti babu to TN Seshagopalan to the child prodigies U Srinivas, N Ravikiran and Gayathri. I had the privilege of listening to some wonderful concerts in Delhi during winter when I went to visit my brother. By the time I got my MBA Degree, I had also become very proficient in Carnatic music and was able to identify more than 120 ragas. Of course, I had a ready reference source in father, whenever I came home. But I must have listened to hundreds and hundreds of concerts on radio.

My ability to appreciate carnatic music went to a different level when I joined HPCL and we were posted in Chennai for the first 5 months. Chennai is the home of Carnatic Music. There are numerous sabhas who organized concerts of leading musicians round the year. I lived in a lodge in Mount Road which was well connected by bus to all concert halls. I had also suffered a crippling back injury while playing Shuttle Badminton and was in severe pain. Music was a way out for me as I was told that I may never play again in my life, a real blow to a sports mad youngster. I made it a point to sit through at least 5 concerts in a week and by the time I left Chennai, I had listened to most of the masters at least twice. It was a terrific learning experience.

I had continued my passion for music since then. A stint in Thanjavur, in the Kaveri Basin, the agraharams on whose Banks gave the music world most of its legends and proximity to Thiruvaiyaru where Saint Tyagaraja, the legendary composer, lived provided the right atmosphere to built on the hobby.

I never learned Carnatic Music, one of my two biggest regrets in life, the other being not studying Sanskrit. But I am grateful to God for giving me the gift to appreciate music, which I assume is in my blood.

How did it help in my career? Well, this was one hobby I persevered for years and developed through sheer hard work. I made gains inch by inch. At times it was tough. I even went through a period of music fatigue. But I was tenacious. I had to be bloody minded to attain a basic level of musical knowledge. As I said before, I was very laidback and many things came to me without much effort, including studies. But for the first time in my life, I slogged and I was convinced that if one had the passion, purpose of mind and perseverence one can achieve anything in life. This was a learning and came in handy much later in my career. Whenever I am at a disadvantage professionally or personally, I push my chin forward, tighten my belt, flex my muscles and prepare myself for the long bloody haul, for I am very sure that I will get there in the end, as I did with my pursuit of music.

Also, Carnatic music, unlike its north Indian counterpart, is very structured. At the same time it gives ample scope for 'manodharma' (individual creativity). But creativity and improvisation is of no use unless one has a solid foundation of the basics. This became my motto in life. Learn the basics, prepare a solid foundation, stick to it and THEN improvise or let go your complete creativity. The resultant feeling is one of pure bliss.

In the Courts of law........

"Give me 50 yrs in jail, but not death": Hanif Sayeed, the man found guilty of killing 52 people in twin blasts case, has understood the value of life. During arguments in court on Tuesday, over whether he should be hanged or given life imprisonment for his role in the terror attack, his lawyer said that Syed was ready to spend the rest of his days behind bars without ever asking for release on parole, provided he was not given the death sentence - Of course he will ask for life sentence for he knows that his terrorist friends will hold hostages and ask him to be released. I am not a great votary of Capital Punishment, and agree with our Judicial system that it has to be administered only in the event of rarest of rare cases. But, mindless killing of 52 innocents without rhyme or reason do come under this category. A person who blasts 52 innocents to pieces do not deserve any sympathy.

Kicking daughter-in-law or divorce threat not cruelty: SC - A husband and his relatives cannot be prosecuted for “cruelty” towards wife merely because the mother-in-law or other family members had kicked her or for that matter threatened her with divorce, the Supreme Court has held. Similarly, if a mother-in-law gives constant sermons to the daughter-in-law - or allegedly treats her shabbily by giving her used dress suits, it does not invite prosecution under Section 498A of the IPC, a bench of Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph said - I sense a business opportunity there. Anyone like to partner me for starting a 'Training Centre for Mother in Laws on how to harass Daughter in laws legally". We can make zillions. The Supreme Court has millions of cases pending and they have to come up with such ridiculous judgements. I am sure the honourable judges would have heard this case for at least the past 10 years. What a criminal waste!

The Government blundering along

For a Government that apparently won a general election with probably a renewed vote of confidence (though it has to be admitted Congress or UPA still did not get an absolute majority) and without the baggage of the left parties who were supposed to have shackled them in the previous tenure, the Manmohan Singh 2 version has been blundering along from one disaster to another.

First there was the considerable delay in forming the Cabinet. Then the imbroglio over DMK ministers and their portfolios when MMS was forced to concede defeat and allow the corrupt and inefficient Raja, against his wishes, to be a Minister.

Pranab Mukherjee came up with a disaster of a Budget, which blew away all pretensions about this Government being pro-reform. The focus on wasteful (in the sense that the beneficiary hardly gets the benefit with leakages in the system) social sector spending coupled with spiralling deficit has long term implications for the economy. We are moving back towards the disastrous policies that Congress adopted in 1970s and 1980s that led to the financial crisis in 1990's. This does not augur well for the country and has long term consequences.

The Prime Minister made a big show over 100 day programs of various ministries. Some of the ministers who took this seriously like Kapil Sibal found that there was no support forthcoming and retreated to the status quo. The 100 day initiative has died a natural death. And no word of PMs promise to 'eradicate' poverty within 100 days of coming to power!!!!

The spineless lack of response to the racial attack on Indian students in Australia left many wondering whether this Government cares for the Indians. The character of an individual or a Government is judged as to how they handle difficult situations and not based on how they run the show during good times. This Government let Indian citizens in Australia down very badly.

The bigger goof ups were to follow. The Sharm-El- Sheikh joint statement with Pakistan was where the PM blundered, and blundered badly. Allowing Pakistan to include the Baluchistan issue and letting Pakistan off the hook on terrorism did not go down well with even Congressmen, especially when the then Foreign Secretary Menon, who is quite articulate, let it slip that it was the PM who virtually ordered him to include these in the draft in front of Pakistan PM whereby not giving him a chance to correct a disastrous situation. That MMS did not stand by his Foreign Secretary when the roof caved in diminished his image further.

The much publicised Hilary Clintons visit (for god's sake, she is just the Foreign Minister of USA) where India fawned on her and the end used agreement signed by India for arms procurement strengthened the suspicion of many Indians that the PM is more of a poodle when it comes to USA and he will go to any length to compromise Indian interests for the sake of USA. In this context, one has to go back a year in time and the noise made over the nuclear deal for which MMS was forced to stake his Prime Ministership. A year hence, India has hardly got any benefit from the deal and USA has quietly shifted the goal post by saying we should sign the non-proliferation treaty, which in effect kills our nuclear weapon making ability.

In the month of April, a small US airline insulted the nation by frisking the much revered and humane ex- president APJ Abdul Kalam. It was bad enough that the security around Kalam was impotent when he was frisked, but the Government kept this under carpet for 2 months till a leak through the newspaper blew up the issue. Even now, a month after the furore, the concerned airline has not been taken to task.

Ignoring Kargil's 10th anniversary celebrations, not even querying Minister Raja when he apparently tried to influence a High Court Judge, accusations of partisan behaviour in the case of the Gas row between Ambani brothers and the hastily introduced bill on (non) disclosure of Judges Assets bill ................................................. the list of bunglings are endless.

The PM does need to buck up or we may end up seeing the reign of the Worst Prime Minister ever. The country will be the sufferer.

How my hobbies helped me in my Career - 2

Continuing my previous post on hobbies, looking back, Crosswords helped me analyze, think, rack my brain and identify the ideal solutions.

My father initiated this hobby. Though we share many interests, some of the family members were also interested in other hobbies we shared like Reading, Music, Sports. Mother was interested in Music, brother and sister in Reading, and brother again in Sports. Photography was my exclusive domain for you can't expect three Capricornians and one Taurus to have any kind of aesthetic sense. Crossword was where the minds of my father and me were in sync. He would get hold of the paper first in the morning. Since he had a photographic memory which would enable him to recollect a clue that has been once seen by him ( Phenomenal memory he had!!), he will write 12 of the 30 odd clues within no time. But his mind was logical and sequential, while I had and still have a beautiful right brain. The complex clues were my domain, whereas I get bored with routine clues and had no interest in them. He grudgingly accepted my competence in this area and appreciated my ability to find bizarre solutions to cryptic clues. Together we cracked the Hindu Crossword in an hour or so everyday. Crosswords improved my vocabulary and spelling tremendously. I started on crosswords way back in 1980s and has been doing it for nearly 3 decades now, though I lost a bit of interest on my fathers demise. Since the words were always associated with a clue, the learning was quick and efficient. Each clue presented a problem that had only one solution, the ideal one. One has to be tenacious to get that one solution. Jogging your memory, refering Thesaurus and cross checking with Dictioneries, every day started with a mini research. We would never rest till we found the solution to a clue. We threw back and forth various options and the mind worked like a Intel processor searching databases stored in the recess of the mind for any spark. And the euphoria in getting the right word meant we had a cause for celebration. One always needs small victories everyday to keep going. Needless to say Crosswords expanded the cubic capacity of the brain, made it active, fostered a spirit of quest and the need to accomplish a task begun (an incomplete crossword is very very irritating). All these skills prepared me to tackle the Knowledge Economy towards which we are progressing

How my hobbies helped me in my Career - 1

I have many interests in life. Each one of my interests/hobbies has given me an important trait or skill that has stood me in good stead in my life.

Take reading. I was blessed to have been brought up in an era and in a household that encouraged reading. I had read most of the classics by the time I was 15. There was no discrimination for I enjoyed Ivanhoe as much as I relished O V Vijayan's 'Khasakkinte Ithihasam'. The Somerset Maughm or O Henry stories juxtaposed between select stories of Thakazhi or Muttathu Varki. Odyssey and Rendamoozham both kindled my imagination in similar manner. I had equal facility in Ramayana and Mahabharatha. 1001 Arabian nights, Panchathantram, Aesops Fables, Grimms stories, Kathasarithsagaram all held me spell bound. As did the indepth novels of Arthur Hailey and Leon Uris. For an introverted boy in rural Kerala in 1970s, this was the way he understood the world beyond Palghat. The chance for interaction with the world beyond the sleepy Palghat was limited. Each novel, each story had many protagonists, many situations, how people reacted to situations, what leadership was all about and how devious people can be. It also helped to improve my language - I am fluent in both Malayalam and English. I had my initial education in Malayalam Medium and though I shifted to English Medium in Standard V, the school being a Government run one, I had to learn the English language on my own. In fact, I dare not speak in Public in English till I was well into my MBA. I must have read most of those books at least 10 times at various stages in my life and each time I learned something new, and am able to look at the book from an entirely different angle. For example, as a child I was thrilled at the story telling ability of Valmiki in Ramayana. But much later in life, I was able to read Ramayana with a detachment and with a critical mind whereby I looked for rights and wrongs, management wignets and the philosophical moorings. The reading gave me the ability to analyze a situation in depth, and look for out of the box solutions, a skill that I exploited to the hilt in my later stages of career as an Analyst. The story telling aspect of a novel had such a profound impression on me that I adopted it as the base when I am teaching Management.

Another hobby I picked up early in life was Photography. I am one of the few who started his photographic career in the B&W era and later migrated to Colour. More about that in another blog. The trick with photography is that your subconscious mind is always looking for an exception in the normal scenario. Normal scenes are no good for photography. It is always the strange colours, uneven lighting, rare people, unseen expressions, uncommon scenes that a photographer looks out for. And one has to be always on the look out for it. This skill developed over a period of time, along with my inborn sense of humour has gone a long way in looking at the quirks of the people and the situaion in a different way. Also, when you are a photographer, you have to look at the total frame, and have a wholistic outlook. It is a pure right brained activity. One has to not only look at a potential frame with ones eyes but one also has to use one's internal eyes (Aka kannu) to get the maximum effect. Thus was born another skill which helps me create visions for the Companies as a Strategic Planner ........... to be continued

Round up

Private airlines have threatened to suspend operations on August 18 if the govt did not give in to their demand for a bailout package of lower fuel and airport taxes - These are the same guys who talk about capitalism and need for Government to stay away from business. They are never tired of leaving the market to market forces. All this when they were making potfulls of cash. At the first sign of loss, they run to the government to bail them out. Any bail out package has to come from tax payers money. Why should we be made to pay for their inefficiencies. As such, these private carriers have not made payment for the Aviation Fule to the Oil PSU's and have run up huge credit. The funniest thing is that Vijay Mallya has offered equity stake to the Government. That is the last thing we want. Only 2% of India's population use air transport. We can jolly well leave them to market forces. If they are not able to be competitive, then they can sell their companies. There are always others who are ready to come up with a workable model. Read Capt. Gopinathans take on this strike. It is worth reading.

Air India asks for Rs 20,000 crore bail out - Why dont they turn to Buta Singh, the Chairman of SC/ST commission. His son Sweety Singh was caught red handed accepting Rs 1 crore bribe. I am sure Buta can shell out a few thousand crores. (Is there more to meet the eye on the arrest? Buta has a consitutional post from which he can be ejected only by an indictment by Supreme Court. It is no secret that Buta rebelled against Sonia Gandhi and contested as an independant in the recent elections. We know what happens when you cross the Super PM. But I am holding no brief for Butas of this world. They are pure unadulterated Cancer that gnaws at our nation bit by bit)

In the first high-level visit from India since the attacks, foreign minister S M Krishna leaves on Aug 6 to take stock of the problems faced by Indian students - Isn't it really prompt? Two full months after the attacks, Foreign Minister plans to visit Australia. And he will utter the necessary platitudes, have couple of good dinners and return. Spineless!!