World of India!

Holy Cow !...Comes close, watches and walks off!...Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport

2011-01-30T23:01:00.006+05:30

Life detector test- January 2009

2009-01-03T10:10:00.002+05:30

Just checking to see if I am still alive in January 2009 :)

Bangalore's very own magnificent potholes

2007-09-27T17:33:00.000+05:30

You have read about me cribbing about Bangalore traffic in the preceding posts. The state of roads in Bangalore does not make matters any easier. Some one has now come with an idea to photograph potholes in various areas in Bangalore (www.bangalorepotholes.com). You can even search on your area to have a good look at the potholes you wade your way through on a daily basis! Splendid!

But i doubt if this site can succeed in its aim of shaming the local government into improving the state of affairs. These guys have a hide thats tougher than a rhino and given that Bangalore has been categorized as an A1 status city now by the Central govt., resulting in a fat increase in the allowances of the officials responsible for the infrastructure, this hide is likely to get thicker still.

But the effort has to be lauded. My only suggestion is that the site could do with a option which will enable a reader to rate the best pothole in the city!

Bakwas Bayleaf

2007-09-24T16:11:00.000+05:30

Bangalore is full of people and commercial establishments who think that their only calling in life is to plunder and pillage all those who work in the I.T sector. They have this quaint notion that we make money by the sack full and therefore are legitimate targets.

The people who run Bayleaf restaurant in Koramangala belong to such a breed. They have become inspired by this thought so much lately, that they decided to run a Goan food festival. Since, I am a Goan from my mothers’ side, I could naturally not resist and decided that this was an opportunity that was hard to miss.

1 fish curry, 1 fried fish, 1 steamed rice and 1 beer later – I realized that the only item worth eating is the steamed rice and the Kingfisher beer. If this is what passes for Goan fish curry, even the fish in the curry would have been disgusted. The fish fry did not have a trace of the famous Goan Reichado masala. But the management must be given full marks for being ambitious. Each item on the menu is priced above Rs.200/- taking the sum total of my misery to Rs.850 off, excluding the tip.

To their eternal misfortune the captain presented me a feedback form, which I duly used to massacre the food and the chef. To the captains’ credit, he sent over the chef to meet me and discuss the shortcomings, but that did not help my wallet regain its original size, of course.

Such is life!

Inexplicable...

2007-09-19T21:23:00.000+05:30

One of the charms of living in India is to discover that people from the most religious state in India-Tamil Nadu- have elected a chief minsiter who is a confirmed athiest and questions the very core of their beliefs about their religion day in and day out.

Bang Bang Bangalore !

2007-09-01T11:05:00.000+05:30

I am in Bangalore now since the past 2-3 months and have had enough time in the city to start spouting opinions on it like a water fountain : )

To start with , Bangalore is not as hot as many Bangaloreans want people to believe. The traffic has gone out of control and that is the single biggest factor driving everyone in this city mad. Things might improve when all the road building projects end- but don't pin your hopes too much on this too happen over the next 2-3 years. Parking spaces are few and far between and parking tickets everywhere are exorbitant (Rs.20-30). Its unaffordable even for us IT guys whom local bangaloreans think of as spoilt rich. So I wonder how the locals cope with these nonsensical rates.

Eating out is very expensive. Rentals are exorbitant- even in the outskirts and this is the only city where petrol station attendants in almost all stations will try to rob car drivers silly by playing all kinds of tricks. On the latter, I can write a book. In fact these days i am beginning to enjoy the battle of wits with these tricksters. The Chennai auto wallah contagion of total lawlessness has finally caught on with the Bangalore auto wallah and they are now vying with their Chennai counterparts for the top spot in terms of fleecing passengers (Chennai autowallahs still lead the race, but only marginally.) Road rage has become a hazard due to the traffic problems and going by the way a couple of my neighbours have behaved recently, it seems that traffic is making bangaloreans more and more intemperate even at their homes. And then, Bangalore goes on a curfew at 11:00 pm with all eating places shutting down. For people like me who have to stay late at office often, its a big spoiler.

The only solace in Bangalore is the weather. Its almost always pleasant and on this count Bangalore beats any big city in India, hands down.

But man can't live on weather alone (old jungle saying)...what say?

This Blog is not dead, Yet!

2007-06-09T14:21:00.000+05:30

Where is this blog disappeared? We will be back after a short commercial break...

National Anthem in Multiplexes in India - Teacher, leave us kids alone !

2007-04-28T09:38:00.000+05:30

Since a few years now, I have noticed a new trend when I go to watch the movies. Just before the movie starts the Mngt. "requests'" you to stand and pay your respects while they play the national anthem in the movie hall, just before the movie starts. This trend is true in almost all multiplexes in Mumbai and a few in Pune.

Now, no one will shy away from singing his own national anthem, but surely there is a time and a place for everything? What this drive amounts to is forcing people (since there is no choice but to stand up once a anthem is played, without that action signifying a dis-respect to the anthem, although Vikram Chauhan would dispute that) into displaying their love for their nation, when they have come to enjoy a movie. More importantly why do we as a nation feel the urge that our citizens have to repeatedly publicly proclaim and display the respect to the nation? Why can't our minders let us decide when we want to pay our respects to the nation and in what form? Its as if the powers that be have decided that the masses are a idiotic lot who don't have the heart & brains to decide this and therefore come up with this silly diktat.

At a broader level, nationalism and its jingoistic display is something that is becoming a feature of India and Indians. While at one end we have a whole bunch of people who have a massive inferiority complex about all things Indian, on the other side we have a equally idiotic bunch who see India as the be all and end all in everything on this planet ("ah, planes? we discovered it thousands of years ago! Nuclear bombs? Cmon, India discovered the Brahmstra as early as in the age of Mahabharata!). In the past decade or so, the much lauded 9% growth rate and the emergence of India in the mind space of the world at large, has given much ammunition to a display of nationalistic sentiment which is more often than not crass, rather than a genuine display of affection and respect for India and its culture. In reality, it stems from an inferiority complex about India and is an attempt to conquer this feeling of inadequacy with a desire to distinguish oneself through the concrete achievements of other fellow Indians on the world stage or even the much more abstract- 9% growth rate.

There is a thin line between being patriotic and being nationalistic. Charles De Gaulle defined this rather well when he said " Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. "

So when people pay respects to the nation and its culture of their own accord, it can be safely described as positive love. But when some one in the political leadership forces people to display such a respect, invading and not taking into consideration the context of time and space in which these people are, surely this is nothing but nationalism?

Einstein once famously castigated nationalism as an infantile disease and a measles of mankind.Going by recent evidence, it seems that the authorities, have decided that they want more of this disease shoved down our throats.

BCCI: The story of shifting blames and scapegoats

2007-04-12T22:50:00.000+05:30

Reason, fairness and willingness to take a loss sportingly are already absent from the Indian cricket fan’s dictionary. Add to that the post mortem masala being cooked up by an incompetent board – and I sometimes wonder if the World Cup debacle is not something we thoroughly deserved.

Fact is that team leadership and management was an utter failure, as evident from the first round exit in the World Cup. But how can we accept that the high and mighty have failed. So it’s time to play spin doctor. Let’s try to create false causes to hide the real reasons for failure – by highlighting rifts among seniors, trying to single out individuals like Tendulkar and Ganguly and so on. The first question anyone should ask is – why was there a rift in the team? Isn’t it the leadership’s failure if there is a rift? It’s the leadership’s responsibility to foster team spirit so that it doesn’t affect performance. Rift or not, you got to win some matches.

Another thing that’s being heard on and off is Ganguly’s performance. This kind of a farce probably can only happen in India, when a performing player is questioned in order to cover up the mess of the stakeholders trying to protect their rattling positions. A number of naïve fans are trying to blame his strike rate for the loss. These arguments have absolutely no basis. Without Ganguly, the losses would have been more embarrassing. The loss to Bangladesh wasn’t because of his run rate. India was reeling at 50 with 4 down. You don’t expect a player to hit at that time in a seaming wicket. One can similarly argue that India lost because Dravid failed to score against BD. He should have played a captains knock when much needed. If he could contribute would have posted a bigger total and have a much better chance of victory. That crucial loss to Bangladesh was what cost the berth to Super 8. Such reasoning however is as illogical as questioning Ganguly’s strike rate. Cricket is a team sport. Trying to single out individuals is a sign of foolishness, and doesn’t deserve any attention. Individuals sure carry their teams but at the end of the day, it’s teamwork that matters. And teamwork doesn’t happen in just one match or because of the performance of one player on a particular day. It’s something that gels over time, out of the team’s character, out of capable leadership. Rahul Dravid is a top class cricketer but an inept captain. And this is in no offense to the great player. But a captain needs to be a better man manager. If you can’t bond your team together you’re not fit to lead. And what does BCCI do? Reward a failed captain with another term. And besides, did we ever acknowledge that BD played superbly that day and thoroughly deserved to win?

Chappell should have been released right away, instead of giving him an opportunity to resign, which the wily old fox was clever enough to do anyway. Not only is he a bad mentor, he’s also an incompetent coach, trying to save his skin after the debacle. Now Chappell’s worthless post mortem is being glorified like a gift from above. Not only that, BCCI is sucking up to him to be some kind of counselor to India’s cricket. Who wants a losers’ opinion? You had your chance. You failed. Just leave. We don’t want excuses or reasons.

Then — the great Senior/Junior nonsense: This is another BS being cooked up to cover up the real causes for failure. What senior/junior? You perform – you play. Just as you inspire — you lead. You win as a team and also lose sometimes. When we win, no one says that we won because seniors played well. It’s just as stupid as it sounds. And all that hoopla about bringing in fresh blood is a pack of rubbish as well. Just take a look at the other seniors in the World Cup – Ponting, Jayasuria, Muralitharan and so on. Perhaps their boards don’t care about such political classifications as much.

And now BCCI is treating cricketers like school kids. Cutting down on endorsements, questioning players about talking to the media, deducting match fees for farting aloud in Chappell’s presence (okay, I made that up). Does anyone think that it will boost their morale and help them play better? If anyone’s questionable, it’s the captain and the coach.

BCCI needs to address the real causes in order to improve performance. The team is fine. There’s already great talent and potential. What’s missing is the teamwork to bring it forth. And what’s needed is a change in leadership. Not shifting the blame on scapegoats. I, for one, am looking forward to the breakaway league being proposed by Zee TV boss Subhash Chandra – if that forces the corrupt bureaucrats of BCCI out of their high and mighty horses.

Rufee

Iraq War collateral damage: Bush, Blair, Wolfowitz,Karl Rove and Scooter Libby

2007-04-12T18:56:00.001+05:30

Skeletons are tumbling out of the cupboard when it comes to people who played a key role in bringing about the Iraq war on, as it turned out, trumped up charges of attempting to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and collision with Al-Qaida.

First it was Dick Cheney's chief aide-Lewis 'Scooter' Libby - who went so far ahead to obstruct justice and make false statements to a CIA operative's identity leak. Kaarl Rove, Bush's closest advisor has been accused of initiating the leak, angered by the fact that the operative's (Valerie Plame) husband- a Congressman- had wrote a report indicting USA's involvement into the Iraq War. He was found guilty of obstruction of justice and is now firmly in the dock.

Then it was Dick Cheney himself, who although dis-credited for his hawkish role in the Iraq War, went on to be lampooned nationally and a favourite target to take jibes at (even by his own President) for shooting a friend (accidently) during a hunting expedition.

The President is also wounded mortally as far as his approval ratings are concerned. No President has had ratings this low for such a long time and who is reviled so widely internationally.

His friend across the Atlantic,Tony Blair, is nursing his wounds for not realizing his life ambition for leaving a legacy and a place in the history books as a man who brought about a lasting change in the U.K's political climate and thinking. A few weeks ago, he got a taste of how unpopular he has become , after he was fiercely attacked for preaching about the effects of Global warming while enjoying a 'carbon saturated' vacation across the Atlantic himself.

And now we have Paul Wolfowitz, the current head of the World Bank,who is caught with his pants down, after ordering a huge pay hike to his own girl friend in the World Bank.

Hmmm...collateral damage, wat?

Iraq War collateral damage: Bush, Blair, Wolfowitz,Karl Rove and Scooter Libby

2007-04-12T18:56:00.000+05:30

Skeletons are tumbling out of the cupboard when it comes to people who played a key role in bringing about the Iraq war on, as it turned out, trumped up charges of attempting to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and collision with Al-Qaida.

First it was Dick Cheney's chief aide-Lewis 'Scooter' Libby - who went so far ahead to obstruct justice and make false statements to a CIA operative's identity leak. Kaarl Rove, Bush's closest advisor has been accused of initiating the leak, angered by the fact that the operative's (Valerie Plame) husband- a Congressman- had wrote a report indicting USA's involvement into the Iraq War. He was found guilty of obstruction of justice and is now firmly in the dock.

Then it was Dick Cheney himself, who although dis-credited for his hawkish role in the Iraq War, went on to be lampooned nationally and a favourite target to take jibes at (even by his own President) for shooting a friend (accidently) during a hunting expedition.

The President is also wounded mortally as far as his approval ratings are concerned. No President has had ratings this low for such a long time and who is reviled so widely internationally.

His friend across the Atlantic is nursing his wounds for not realizing his life ambition for leaving a legacy and a place in the history books as a man who brought about a lasting change in the U.K's political climate and thinking. A few weeks ago, he got a taste of how unpopular he has become , after he was fiercely attacked for preaching about the effects of Global warming while enjoying a 'carbon saturated' vacation across the Atlantic himself.

And now we have Paul Wolfowitz, the current head of the World Bank,who is caught with his pants down, after ordering a huge pay hike to his own girl friend in the World Bank.

Hmmm...collateral damage, wat?

Pay for performance for the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI)?

2007-04-07T17:52:00.000+05:30

The BCCI's press conference could have passed off for comedy today were it not such a tragedy. Mr. Srinivasan, the boss of India Cements, who is also a Board member held the conference. The gist of his conference was as follows, although the bulk of the conference was him saying "you seeeee"....all comments in the brackets are mine.

1. Cricket is just a game and winning or loosing is part of the game. (Thanks - we never could have guessed.)

2. No- cricketers endorsing brand has got nothing to do with our defeat in the ICC World Cup, but yes, we want them to reduce the number of endorsements still. (Don't ask me by what logic. Srinivasan could have answered this with a minute long "You seee"......plus Srinivasan's India Cements employs Mr. Rahul Dravid- so one assumes that this endorsement would also stand cancelled , of Dravid decides not to keep it in his list of 3 endorsements?)

3. Sweeping changes in pitches, selection, ex-captains consultative committee, domestic cricket to be strengthened - blah blah blah ( ok, the Guiness book of records has just been shattered for some one making announcements without implementing the decision.Congrats Mr. Srinivasan)

4. No groupism found in West Indies. Everything wass hunky dory and players were in good nick (then why did u loose? You seeeeeeee , cricket is JUST a game, stupido)

So the BCCI has come down heavily on the income of players while retaining the right to make obscene sums of money, while displaying no commitment to its OWN performance.

How about 'Pay per Performance' for the BCCI instead and also limit on the max. number of endorsements/ sponsorships for the BCCI, since they are the biggest cause of our failure?

" You seeeeeee........"

BVP,AFMC,VIT, Trees on Fire - Rock on !

2007-04-07T08:34:00.000+05:30

Yesterday a friend of mine invited me to join him to watch a Rock Music competition at ABC farms, Pune. The contest was organized by a newly launched print Youth Magazine called 'Poora Poona'. Me and my friend chatted with Sameer Agarwal, the live wire behind the effort, who lamented that Rock Music in general is very purely supported by corporates and finding sponsors had been a very tough job indeed.

Be as it may, Sameer and his team put up a fantastic show to conduct 'Dhwani'07' they way they did. This is going to be a bi-annual event. So watch out guys.

To the contest itself- there were 4 bands who played. Teams from VIT college of Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth, Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) and one of Pune's most famous rock bands- Trees on Fire participated in the contest. I was surprised by the depth of talent in almost all the bands. While the teams from VIT and AFMC did well, the BVP band stood apart by the way they were able to play as a single unit. 'Trees on Fire' of course was of course leagues ahead of them all...Randheer Dange on drums, Robin and Sundar on the Guitar, Sharad on the vocals were all outstanding. When it comes to Rock bands the other bands should learn that its not just about how you sing and play- but also about how you perform these creative acts as a 'group'. Most importantly, a band needs to have that very undefinable of qualities which ' Tees on Fire' had in loads and that was the single most important thing all the other bands lacked, by an equal measure. For Chris sakes, AFMC and BVP appeared on stage wearing loosened up ties...! This is the 21st century folks, pl throw the ties out : )

After 7 good years I was in a place with so many youngsters and watching them all deliriously happy- flirting, dancing, drinking, smoking and abusing each other playfully- it was easy to go back in time, when we roughly did the same old things, in the same old way. There was something truly beautiful about the way these people were enjoying themselves so naturally and just watching it, made me feel good about many things.

After the concert me and my friend decided to check out Pune's most authentic Iranian restaurant -Nunoz- but that's a tale for some other time.
Poona '.

Subhash Chandra's India Cricket League - prepare your janampatri's : )

2007-04-03T18:21:00.000+05:30

Subhash Chandra of Zee Television in India has just announced a parallel DOMESTIC cricket league. I was watching the press conference, on T.V., where he announced the formation of the new'India Cricket League' as it will be called.

If the press conference is anything to go by, things are going to be entertaining in the India Cricket League. Chandra's rambling speech began by reciting a couple of jokes on the performance of the Indian Cricket team, one of which was slightly risque' but none got any laughs from the audience. Chandra then went on to narrate how the players in his team would be "scientifically" trained. "Sports Medicine would be introduced for the first time in the country"....hmmm......first time? He even explained what sports medicine is to the hapless journos ,who had no option but to nod. More initiatives? Every detail about the player would be maintained in a database....his performance record, his medical record...yoga, vipasana...psychologists, mentors....bhah bhahbhah, you get the idea.

All of which sounds great. Although Chandra made it clear that he won't challenge the BCCI's authority when it comes to who will represent the country abroad (as if he has a choice! The BCCI is the only body accredited with the ICC and right now, the ICC won't let Chandra knock on their HQ doors in Dubai much less discuss anything with him, right now) and even said that the BCCI is free to draw from his pool of players for international matches- its clear that he won't hesitate to slowly take over this privilege that the BCCI enjoys, if he can help it. This is sweet news to the average Indian fan, since the BCCI is a body that desperately needs to be challenged, so that the fatcats in the BCCI are kept on their toes. For much too long they have enjoyed a unchallenged sway over vast resources and influence with no accountability to the sport and performance.

Chandra;s own record at managing his company professionally though, is not very good. He is known to be a swashbuckling entrepreneur who has gone as far as he could , but reluctant to climb the next ladder in terms of professionalizing the group and its management and has consequently never attracted the right talent to manage his companies. If its one of Chandra's umpteen relatives that is going to manage his India Cricket League- good luck! But then, given that domestic cricket in India is anyway at its lowest ever- how bad can it get?:)

The high point of this announcement for me, personally, was when a rookie CNBC TV 18 TV reporter reported with bated breath, after the conference,that Chandra even intended to keep files on even the Janampatri's of the players in his league, when Chandra had clearly meant this only metaphorically : ))

But who knows? I was laughing- but given the rate at which Chandra seems to feel "gadgets" and "technology" is the only answer to the woes of the Indian cricket team-had he heard the reporter, he might actually have approved one more innovation to this Gentleman's game.

The Glass is half empty...

2007-04-01T13:59:00.000+05:30

If you were asked a simple question - What do you think of the world as it exists today? chances are that you would go into a long harangue about whatever is wrong with today's world. You would speak of a break down in law and order, destruction of moral values (whatever you mean by that) and...of course corruption...what else can you think of...hmmm..poverty, farmers committing suicide, pollution, global warming....and when you run out of problems to list, you can always complain about the traffic.

You are not alone. Reading back at some of my blog posts, I am surprised by how sarcastic and pessimistic I sound, in places.

This pessimism is not unique , of course, but rather universal. A survey conducted in the USA by the renowned National Opinion Research Center based at the University of Chicago, reports the results of interviews with more than 1,300 adults nationwide, comparing the current data with the results of the same survey taken in 1991.Among the current set of respondents to the unhappiness survey, a staggering 92% cited at least one "significant negative life event" in the past year. That number is up from 88% in 1991.

That's a lot of pessimistic people.

One reason why people are so pessimistic is that all of us have have lost a perspective into history. We tend to look at the past with a sense of romance and nostalgia- "The air was so fresh in 1952 in Mumbai" or " Everyone was so rich and happy in ancient India". Part of the reason for this nostalgia is that since we are constantly dis-satisfied with our current lives, we automatically tend to think the past was much better.

Stephen Pinker who was formerly with MIT and now at Harvard, and author of 'How Mind works' explains this beautifully. Bruno Giusanni wrote a post about it and explained it thus -

" He shows images of the Auschwitz concentration camp, which have been seared into our conscience in the XX century. During that century we witnessed a series of atrocities, from Stalin and Hitler to Mao and Rwanda. And the XXI century has not started better (Darfur, Iraq). But despite this perception of inhuman violence in the last 100 years, truth is that our ancestors were far more violent that we are, and today we are probably living in the most peaceful times in history.

The decline of violence is a fractal phenomenon, says Pinker, you can see it over millennia, centuries, decades (although there may have been a tipping point an the onset of the Age of Reason on the XVI century):

Millennium scale - Until 10'000 years ago all humans lived as hunter-gatherers, without permanent settlement or government. But recent research has revealed that the likelihood of violent death (that a man would die at the hands of another man) was of 50-60%. If we consider later civilizations such as the ones described in the Bible (about 3000 years ago), well, the Bible itself contains several passages like the one about "slewing all the males" (Numbers, 31).Century scale - Violence was common in European Middle ages and early modern times (while is rare or absent today): mutilations and torture were routine criminal punishments; death penalty was a sanction for a long list for nonviolent crimes; slavery; sadistic capital punishment (burning at the stake); cruelty as entertainment. One-on-one murder: criminologist Manuel Eisner searched historical records in Europe for homicide rates in the Middle Age, and determined a decline of at least two orders of magnitudes in homicides since then.Decade scale - Since 1945 in Europe and Americas steep decline in wars, armed conflicts, number of deaths per war per year. Since end of Cold War: similar trends.
So why are we so wrong about something so important? One of the reason is that we have better journalistic reporting which creates a cognitive illusion: memorable events are judged to be more probable (if we read every day about suicide bombers, we believe that's the norm); guilt; change in standards outpaces change in behaviour."

True, isn't it? In India, for instance, because of the recent media explosion, we are confronted with a expose' a day. Everyday we are being bombarded with news of how much violence and corruption exists in our country. Compare this to the amount of time & space that is devoted to 'positive' news and you will understand why we all feel so negatively about the world in which we live.

Burger King - killing me softly

2007-03-29T00:39:00.000+05:30

While reading feeds from 'TIME', the following news item caught my eye-

Burger King Going Cage Free

Turns out that Burger King has committed to begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not keep their animals in cages or crates.

Burger King will also give purchasing preference to poultry suppliers that use or switch to "controlled atmosphere stunning," which animal rights groups consider the most humane way to slaughter poultry.

Hmm...interesting, I suppose that should make the hens, the eggs they lay and the pigs which are consumed by Burger King customers a happier lot. After all they were being tortured and then killed painfully,earlier. Now they will be ecstatic that death will come faster and with much less pain. Hallelujah! Peace be on thee Burger King!

Disclaimer: I am a die-hard carnivore.

BLINK and you lose - the U.S Army's debacle in the Iraq War

2007-03-27T10:02:00.000+05:30

The mighty U.S defence machine will gobble up $532.8 BILLION dollars, in 2007. For such a well funded outfit, it seems to be doing remarkably poorly in Iraq, given that the insurgents number a few thousand and operate with weapons which can only be described as crude, compared to the sophisticated machinery used by the U.S forces.'The Hindu' reports the U.S generals as saying that their army is "outwitted" in Iraq.

Some excerpts from the news item:

In a bleak analysis, senior officers described the fighters they were facing in Iraq and Afghanistan "as smart, agile and cunning.By contrast, the U.S. military is said to have been slow to respond to the challenges of fighting an insurgency. The senior officers described the insurgents as being able to adapt rapidly to exploit American rules of engagement and turn them against U.S. forces, and quickly disseminate ways of destroying or disabling armoured vehicles. The military is also hampered in its attempts to break up insurgent groups because of their "flat" command structure within collaborative networks of small groups, making it difficult to target any hierarchy within the insurgency.Other officers said coalition rules of engagement were being used against the forces fighting the insurgency. "They know when we can and cannot shoot, and use that against us," said one officer, reflecting the comments of U.S. soldiers in the field. Another said recent video footage of an ambush on a convoy, posted on the Internet, was evidence that insurgents were filming incidents to teach other groups about American counter-measures."

All this is well known and already in the Public realm. So why am I repeating it? The reason is that the above news item reminded me of a chapter in Malcom Gladwell's latest book 'Blink'. In it Gladwell describes Paul Van Riper,a retired U.S army officer and a celebrated Vietnam vet being drafted in by the U.S Joint forces command (JFCOM) in planning a war game in 2000. The Pentagon spent a fortune on planning this war game which was going to be the most sophisticated and comprehensive war game in the Pentagons history. Paul was drafted to lead the opposition and be the rebel army leader in the Middle East. Paul opposition in the war game , the U.S team (known a a the Blue team in the war game) was given a sophisticated information system called the Operational Net Assessment, which according to Gladwell " broke the enemy down into a series of military, economic, social, political systems and then created a matrix showing how all these systems were inter-related and which links among these systems were the most vulnerable. The Blue team was also given a tool called the Effects-based operations, which directed them to think the conventional method of targeting and destroying an adversaries target. They were given a Comprehensive Relevant Operational Picture (CROP). They were given a tool for joint interactive planning. They were given an unprecedented amount if information and intelligence from every corner of the U.S Govt. and a methodology that was logistical and systematic and rational and rigorous.Paul's army on the other hand had roughly the same toys that the Iraqi insurgents have today.

The outcome?Red team (Paul's army) knocked the pants of the Blue team (U.S Army) by taking them by surprise in a series of guerrilla attacks and improvising. Ex: When the rebels came to know that their communications were being monitored, they used couriers on motorcycles. When the Blue team shut off systems for Paul's army to launch planes, he used a forgotten WWII technique to enable him to do so. Paul's army won the war game because they were - yes - smart, agile and cunning, with a flat command structure and ability to use the U.S army's known processes against them.

In the end a severely embarrassed Pentagon organized a second series in which they restricted Paul's army so much, that the Blue Team had to win. In essence the second round was rigged to create a false victory for JFCOM and its Operational Net Assessment Tool. Just in the same way that the CIA was to shortly present a series of reports which were 'touched up' or 're-interpreted' in a way which completely altered their meaning. The reports stated that Saddam Hussein was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction (which has been subsequently proved as a totally false acccusation) and that in turn, became the pretext to launch a full scale invasion.

But the perils of ignoring the lessons from that war game in 2000, have come back to haunt the Pentagon and its mean war machine. Much in the same way as the political fallout of the military defeat in Iraq has severely tarnished President Bush's political legacy and the reputation of the U.S forever, in the eyes of the world.

What goes around, comes around.

Cricket and India - Its the fielding stupid !

2007-03-24T11:07:00.000+05:30

Some time before the world cup started, I suspected that this world cup would be one of the worst for India. No, not because I am an astrologer, but because of the simple fact that it was being played in the West Indies. I wonder why so many people had such unrealistic hopes from the team when our record abroad has been so miserable. This record abroad is even worse when it comes to stronger teams like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand. This triumvirate has succeeded in changing the game and raising it to a new level, by adding an element of athleticism to the game, which was never a factor pre 1990's. This combined with many changes brought about to speeden up the game, has ensured that subcontinental teams who have not adapted well to the dynamics have been seriously exposed, except on home soil, where they continue to enjoy a slight advantage, yet.

The new twenty -twenty format, will speeden up the game even further and demand far more athleticism, which I suspect would make matters worse for us.

Then there is a resurgence of new cricketing countries, all of which, play the same style of cricket like the triumvirate(emphasising athleticism and agility in the field). These so called minnows (Bangladesh- coached by a Australian, Ireland and Canada) have more then proved this world cup, that they will challenge the current status quo as it exists and severely test some of the nations in the top league, despite their battinng and bowling beinng nowhere in thee same league as us, man to man. I wouldn't be surprised if one or all of them move up and better India , at least in the one day and 20-20 version of the game, in the next 4-5 years.

The mistake we are committing is that we are (again) underestimating our opponents and the efforts they have undertaken to change the paradigm of the game. We are still stuck to thinking about cricket as a game between bat and ball, where as the game has moved on, to bring an element of the 'body' in it.

Considering it in this light, is it really surprising that India should loose so badly when all our Stars are on the wrong side of 30 and those who are on the right side, would be thrashed by even the senior most members of the triumvirate, when it comes to athleticism in the field?

This is not to say that our limitations in the field are alone responsible for our poor performance. Of course, it is a fact that, we also failed in our traditional strength of batting. But evenn this 'failure' was induced by the teams that defeated us, by tightening the screws in the field and bringing about an unbearable pressure on our batsman.

The game has truly changed. Now lets see when the BCCI will 'get it'?

Thank God for the Bangladeshi cricket team!

2007-03-21T18:54:00.000+05:30

After Bangladesh defeated India, and Dravid commented that they fell short by 30-40 runs, the Bangladeshi captain took umbrage and commented that this was a sign that India had not accepted that Bangladesh played well and therefore won on merit. Although, frankly, its well implied in Dravid's remark that they fell short because Bangladesh played well.

This mild sparring aside, its great to see Bangladesh come into its own. For one, this means that now there is one more country against which we can loose. Secondly, we can tour one more country regularly and make good money all round. Thirdly, its one more opposition which has slow wickets and this is always good for out of form cricketers to get that once in a year century and cement their place in the side for two more years.Lastly, sub-continental cricketing boards stick together in matters related to ICC. So, it means one more vote on the BCCI's side, provided they "feed" the hungry and the powerful from the Bangladeshi Board.

With all these advantages, who but India's enemies can be unhappy about Bangladesh's victory over us? Let a million defeats bloom, I sayy...

Looks can deceive

2007-03-21T18:22:00.000+05:30

When I see a member of the female species I can rate her on 1-10, no problemo. If I ask another female whether she agrees with my rating, we are usually on the same lines. In other words, females are good judges of how attractive other females are to the male eye.

Curiously though, my powers fail me if I (not when !) were to try the same experiment on males. I can of course distinguish the ones who look like Greek gods or pigs and sneer at them both appropriately and give them a 9/10 or 1/ 2. But I can't seem to be able to pinpoint how attractive the rest of the boring middlers would be to the female eye.

The problem is that while we are quite specific about what we want from females (symmetry and/or size ) all around, the female mind seems to also consider other puzzling factors like, "smoulder", "intensity", "warmth", when it comes to the middler males.

Not a life & death issue, this. But I thought you would like to know about this curious state of affairs.

Bob Woolmer - a fine legacy marred by a troubled last inning

2007-03-19T00:38:00.000+05:30

Various T.V channels have just reported the shocking news of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer having died,after Pakistan's shocking defeat to minnows Ireland.

Woolmer was a controversial man having been attacked by numerous ex-cricketers as well as commentators, not to say the Pakistani cricket fans for his coaching methods. Lately Imran Khan had trained his guns on him accusing him of playing too defensively and of bringing the English county cricket mentality into Pakistani cricket, thus robbing the Pakistani team of their natural aggression. For this Khan had repeatedly demanded that Woolmer be sacked.

Sunil Gavaskar, another cricketing legend was never impressed by Woolmers excessive use of his laptop in coaching and mocked him many a times on T.V. Woolmer had a software which had the capability to analyse every ball that had been balled in cricketing history and he used computing capabilities to its fullest in devising is game plans. Gavaskar was never sceptical of this and opined that this was a mere waste of time, as cricket was played in the field and not on the dressing room laptop.

All said and done, Woolmer's methods were not without merit. He was the chief architect behind the South African teams amazing success in International cricket, since their rehabilitation into world cricket post the apartheid era. So successful was he in building an almost clinically professional side that Woolmer and his laptop became the talk of the cricketing world.

He was snapped up by the Pakistani Cricket board who hoped the Woolmer would work the same wonders with the Pak team. Here Woolmer failed miserably, but not on account of his faults, as much as that of the temperamental Pak cricketers and haphazard administration of the Pak cricket board. Perhaps for the first time in Woolmers life, his was expected to perform in a environment which was not predictable and therefore easy to analyze on a laptop. Which machine for instance could predict when Inzamam would be run out next, whether Shoaib would resort to dope to improve his balling speed, repeatedly question his authority as coach and even push him in front of T.V cameras? How could Woolmer predict the shenanigans of the Pak cricket board which was ultimately controlled by none other than President Musharraf himself and was run on his whims and fancies with administrators being changed like soiled cricketing whites?

Greg Chappel, another coach who is a stern disciplinarian is also running into the same problems in India, where discipline and authority are not very welcome to our cricketing superstars and our cricket board, which is run in a totally ad hoc manner.

Both these coaches are not used to sub- continental way of working. Neither are they familiar with the cultural context of the place. With their taciturn manner, both have been accused of acting aloof and not bothering to know the players and concentrating more on strategy /tactics, but in the process not even knowing their players as human beings. The western ways of communicating and working which are very goal and task oriented and to which the English, S.African, NZ and Australian cricket players are used to , don't seem to work with our sub-continental emotional lot.

So when the results did not come out to the liking of the public, the pressure on Woolmer was enormous.Finally Woolmer paid a price.Fittingly,he was last caught on camera packing his beloved laptop for good, before leaving for the hotel. But he will always be remembered for playing a big role in changing the game to where it is now.

Why India can still win the Cricket World Cup?

2007-03-18T20:04:00.000+05:30

After yesteredays defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, there is still hope !

Year 1981
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes
4. Pope Died
5. 2 years later India won the world Cup!!!

Year 2005
1. Prince Charles got married
2. Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe
3. Australia lost the Ashes
4. Pope Died
5. 2 years later India wins the world Cup!!!

Hat Tip: Hrushikesh

World Cup Cricket fever - Cricket's Greatest moments

2007-03-17T14:16:00.001+05:30

Now that the Cricket World Cup mania is starting to warm up, I chanced upon this wonderful clip capturinng some of Crickets greatest moments. nJOY!

Mallu in space along with Virgin !

2007-03-16T09:43:00.000+05:30

India's first space tourists is ready to fly and guess who can it be? A mallu of course, who else?

Mallu's are anyway omnipotent in all parts of the world (when my colleagues first travelled to Schenzen in China to visit our office there and tried to track an Indian restaurant, they could only find a hole in the wall run by a mallu.) So its only appropriate that the first space tourist from India would be from malluland- Simmmbly right, I say. I can only hope that Santosh George opens an Idli Sambar stall once he is up there.

BTW, 1 crore for a ride to space is not as expensive as one would have imagined. I am sure Richard Branson's virgin can get the price down by half, once they start pulling in more volumes and if the first few flights work well (which means if people survive to tell the tale). So one can easily imagine the price coming down to aroudn the Rs.50 lakhs range- which I am sure, would even lead to queues of Sardarjis, Gujjus and of course, Mallus, in front of the Virgin Airlines office : )

No Public toilet ,No Pee - BMC's unfair Diktat

2007-03-12T19:23:00.000+05:30

The Municipal Corporation of Mumbai has started a campaign which fines people for littering public places or makes them clean the mess they created. A few weeks back, this campaign shot in the news when the BMC fined Tavleen Singh , a respected columnist , Rs.500/- ,when her dog was caught making a mess on the Marine Drive promenade. Tavleen, a hypocrite if there was ever one, made a fuss and protested saying that other dogs are making a mess all over Mumbai, so why should she (or her dog) be singled out. But the point was that this in itself doesn't give license to dog owners like Tavleen to dirty the city even more - although the fact that the BMC has a duty to make efforts at cleaning up the city is undisputed. But such is the attitude of even the city's elite. While they go around prescribing all kinds of solutions for India's ill's , these are the same people who fail to walk the talk (or clean up their Dog's mess when he takes one)- Tavleen being a prime example of this brigade.

But having said that- the BMC ( and other executive bodies) have a duty too. NDTV interviewed one person today, who was literally caught with his pants down- urinating in public. Now ,although this is a hideous thing to do, can you blame people when there is a complete lack of clean public urinals in our public places, in even our biggest and best (sic) cities? The city fails miserably in providing the appropriate public infrastructure to our citizens so as to enable them to follow good civic behaviour. Where, for instance, are the toilets? Where are the dust bins? Where is the enforcement of rules which facilitates people to walk along roadsides without danger of being rammed by vehicles or hawkers?

If the BMC was sensible (now that's asking for too much, I know), they should enforce rules in places where they have provided these facilities to the tax paying public. The public on its part should try and carry their litter with them home, if bins are not to be seen. I do this all the time, and its not at all difficult. But when it comes to the natures call, when you got to go, you got to go. Well dressed people can get entry into the toilet of a commercial establishment, but what about the millions of lower middle class and poor, who have no access to public toilets? Fining them, when the executive has failed to perform its legitimate duty is really a travesty of justice.

Corruption in India - The Supreme Court says hang the guilty !

2007-03-08T09:57:00.000+05:30

"The Corrupt should be hanged in Public"! Guess who made this quotable quote recently- The Al Qaeda, The Taliban, The LTTE?

It was a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

I don't know whether His Lordship was merely in a bad mood or genuinely believes in what he says. Or was this quote meant for consumption f the media to project the Supreme Court as a 'saviour' of the masses? Lately there have been a spurt of issues where the judiciary has been delivering judgements on subjects which ought to be handled by the executive. By tackling these issues head on, the judiciary has acquired an image that this branch alone is some how uncorrupted and better than all the rest.

Consider- the courts are deciding whether kids should be interviewed or not before being admitted to Kindergarten in schools. The court decided that the rule on overloading of lorries had to be strictly followed, which has led to a virtual chaos in a range of industries. Just yesterday, the High court in Delhi termed the decision of the Govt. to impose a peak surcharge on air traffic in peak hours as consumer unfriendly and asked them to relook into it. I can go on and on with examples where the courts seem to be judging matters, where expert decisions need to be taken and are going beyond the remit of interpretation of law.

Because the courts are seen to be taking the cudgels on behalf of the general public and because the reputation of the political classes is in tatters, the society in general more than welcomes the pronouncements of the Courts. More so, because in many cases the courts are seen as the last

Yet, the fact is that the convoluted judicial system, corruption and plain insensitiveness has led to a huge back log of cases (running into millions off cases) and justice being dispensed off after delays of years , if not decades as a matter of routine. This has actually led the society into creating a parallel judiciary- be it in the form of goondas, caste/village courts or other such extra constitutional authorities who freely dispense with their own brand of justice or what passes for it. And what have the courts done to stem this long standing problem? I haven't seen any court pronouncing that this "has to stop" - a tone which is usually used when confronting the executive. Did you know for instance that Courts in India STILL go on a summer recess, just like in the days of the British Raj- for 2 whole months? All work , except the most urgent grinds to a halt! This of course is over and above the already chock a block diary of holidays that any Govt. office has. What is the judiciary doing to reform this?

We, the people, should also understand the futility and the danger of relying and pinning too much hope on one pillar of the constitution. The fact is that the judiciary is not as sqeaky clean ,as it is projected it to be. Neither is it a expert on matters as far ranging as the education of 4 yr olds, pollution from automobiles, to whether or not peak surcharge is the right way to avoid congestion in the air. These matters are best tackled by the executive- who have the experience and more importantly, legitimate authority to tackle these decisions. The courts should only enter when a point on law is brought to bear on such decisions, not otherwise.

Democracy is a institution which is a system of checks and balances. Each pillar of a democracy needs to functions within its remit, while keeping the other institution in check. If we the people allow one to over arch itself, it wont bee long before this privilege is abused. Just look at the Army in Pakistan, which successfully projected itself as a saviour of the nation and under that guise usurped power and pelf, far beyond its entitlement, successfully trampling all democratic systems, in the process.

If we continue looking at the judiciary as the sole saviour, we would fall for the same fate or worse, be considered worthy of being hanged in public by a Lordship!

NDTV Profit v/s CNBC TV 18

2007-03-07T08:22:00.000+05:30

I watch CNBC-TV18 almost everyday but almost never watch NDTV Profit. Why?

Maybe I have so gotten used to the CNBC format because CNBC was around much earlier than Profit? But is this really true or are there deeper factors at work?

Lately, I have been reading Malcolm Gladwell's 'BLINK' and have been thinking as to how our instincts play a role in us liking or disliking a particular channel or anchor. Is it possible, for instance, that the only reason why I like CNBC more is because its anchors seem to speak English in a more 'comfortable skin' than the NDTV profit anchors? So better format or better analysis (after all both channel share virtually the same 'expert commentators') is just an excuse for my other subconsciously held biases like comfort level of anchors with English that are playing a role?

Come to think of it, I positively dislike some of the NDTV Profit anchors. Although they are as knowledgeable as others, I subconsciously brand them as 'tapori' (street loafers), becau of their rough tough looks. I hate one CNN-IBN (Sister channel of CNBC TV-18) financial analyst because of her accent ( I think she has a fake accent).

In fact , I have branded many NDTV profit anchors in some way as 'fakes' (my pet hate)- since many of them are not as comfortable in their English diction and in finding the right words to say, in comparison with CNBC TV-18 anchors. So in order to mask this dis-comfort, they tend to overcompensate or mask their discomfort (hence the 'fake' tag). But of course, its very easy to catch this discomfort and this makes you uneasy as well. And you don't to squirm watching an anchor struggle with words, do you? You want to concentrate on the markets and the analysis and be comfortable. I think that's why I prefer CNBC TV18...all the anchors they have are 'easy' and 'comfortable' with anchoring and this makes me feel watching them 'comfortable' as well.

Isn't that exactly what Prannoy Roy and Barkha Dutt make you feel, other than the fact that Roy also has 'Gravitas'- a very rare quality amongst anchors?

Wonder how NDTV missed this trick when they recruited NDTV Profit anchors?

Tom Peters warns the western world's workforce against India

2007-03-01T12:19:00.000+05:30

The Grand Daddy of Corp. Consultants Tom Peters has warned the workforce of the western world against the kind of outsourcing that is now being done out of India. In Tom's words that is - "bio-tech research and complex approval processes of complex loans". He congratulates India but stresses the need for the western workforce to have a " incredible, incredible, incredible sense of urgency" and the "need to work and work and work" and "repurpose, repurpose and repurpose" and fashion oneself into a "brand".

Last war cry of the Samurai? : )

Tom might be glad to know that the Indian finance minister, has now announced, in the financial budget for 2007, a move to start taxing Indian BPO's and also made it more expensive for them to rent the already costly commercial office space (the only two areas of the budget I differ on with the F.M- I believe BPO's should have been spared from the M.A.T. since they are still in the process of evolution, unlike the Indian Software companies which are already prize atheletes and therefore, rightly under the ambit of this tax. The other provision to levy service tax on commercial office space is also ill advised.)Both these provisions would hurt the Indian BPO's, but I am not sure that can still give 'The Last Samurai' lasting hope. : )

Chidambaram is hooted by India's greedy upper class

2007-03-01T11:29:00.000+05:30

So the Finance Budget is finally delivered. The stock markets cracked predictably. If you watch CNBC-TV18 and other business channels and listen to their anchors and the experts, you would well be forgiven to believe that the end of the world is nigh. Udayan Mukherjee, the Stocks editor on CNBC TV18, has been frothing in his mouth of anger against Chidambaram. One suspects that it has more to do with the tax that would be levied on ESOPs Udayan has received from TV18, than genuine concern for the Indian economy.

Its amazing to watch how selfish the Indian upper middle class and the rich have become. The mantra is more, more and more. All companies wants tax breaks (the honourable exception being Infosys), regardless of how much they are raking in. Equity investors have lost sight of the fact that they have already received significant largess from the F.M when he cut the capital gains tax to 0- if you invest inn equity for more than a year. If you are a trader- the tax is a measly 20%. But this has been conveniently forgotten and everyone's cribbing about the marginal dividend distribution tax that has been levied. Corporates have forgotten how corporate taxes have beeen reduced to very reasonable levels as have custom and excise duties.

Take Cement sectorr as an example. Cement companies are raking in the moolah at fabulous operating margins of 30 % or more. These companies are more or less monopolies in the region they operate in, and worse, their association is known to act like a cartel- while shamelessly advocating for more sops. Cement prices have increased from around Rs 135-140 to Rs 205-210 per 50 kg bag between December 2005 and May 2006 in the wholesale market and now ruling around the 240-250 levels in Mumbai. So prices have virtually doubled. But the fat cats in the cement industry continue to wail.

I can go on and on....no body seems to like that they haven't got that extra bar of chocolate, while the population which is living at the margins are fighting to survive. The fiscal allocations meant for them in the fields of education, water conservation, agriculture, health has been described snidely in the English Presss as 'Hand Outs', ' Preparation for the next election' and 'Dole'. While the fact that the F.M did not oblige the fat cats once again is being described with words like ' a lost opportunity','insipid budget' etc.

The greedy selfishness behind all this was, ironically, exposed by a well known and well respected analyst and fund manager- Sameer Arora who runs an India fund from Singapore. Sameer said that the finance minister has done nothing to damage growth which in any case is more or less assured, if corporates do what they are supposed to do and therefore its unreasonable to ask more. He advised the rest of the panelists to read the well known book -'Globalization and its discontents'- to become more aware about the realities of today's world around us.

I always had great respect for Mr. Arora as a analyst. But now, I must say, he is a equally good human being.

Press Information Bureau- Govt. of India web site blooper

2007-02-26T21:08:00.000+05:30

See the headline on the centre of the page? No its not in Chinese - its just unintelligible gibberish. Welcome to the homepage of the Press Information bureau - Govt. of India !

Maybe, just maybe the web sites of Indian corporates are better....

Hi5, Fark,Slide,Hot or Not?, Plenty of fish, Suicide Girls - what makes them tick?

2007-02-24T11:46:00.000+05:30

Some more good stuff from Guy Kawasaki. In this post, he interviews 6 successful entrepreneurs in the online space and they shatter some widely held beliefs about how businesses are born and run.

Jetblue apologises

2007-02-23T21:38:00.000+05:30

JetBlue, a U.S based airline, is having a torrid time. Thousands of people were stranded ,due to an operational fracas, some of them celebrities (like Tom Peters) and they were not a happy lot. Tom wrote a scathing attack on Jet Blue on his blog.
Jet Blues CEO however wrote a contrite "sorry' letter to is customers and frankly, its a nice one. Whether it nice enough for customers to fly back with Jet Blue- only time will tell.

I can recall a similar incident where a company from India failed big time. ONGC during its mega IPO messed up with its allotment process (or rather its registrar -MCS- did) and played havoc with the money of thousands of people (including me). I dont recall anyone apologising to me for holding my money with them without interest for months : (

But then ONGC never has to fight to get customers to survive....

Hum and search your favoutire tune with Midomi

2007-02-21T18:30:00.000+05:30

www.midomi.com is the ultimate music search tool because it is powered by your voice. Sing, hum, or whistle to instantly find your favorite music and connect with a community that shares your musical interests.

I tried to hunt 'Sex Machine' by James Brown and guess what? - it works !

Eklavya - not worth your hard earned money

2007-02-18T19:00:00.000+05:30

I had the misfortune of watching 'Eklavya' - the latest Amitabh Bacchan starrer. The movie is not so bad as to use the word 'misfortune', but the reason I used it is the money paid v/s value received equation.

Watching a movie these days in a multiplex has become a Rs.1000/- affair for a couple. The tickets cost us Rs.225 each, plus coffee, plus taxi fare and we were at the end of a thousand bucks before we realized it. A few years back, the same movie experience would not have cost more than Rs.300-400. Anyone who says inflation is a mere 6% must be joking.

Was Eklavya worth spending such serious cash? Not by a long rope.

The story in brief: Bacchan is the loyal guard of a royal household. Boman Iraani is the King and Sharmila Tagore the queen. Saif and Raima are their children. The queen dies (murdered by Boman after being enraged that Sharmila keep on mouthing Baccchans name on her death bed) . Through her letter Saif learns that Baacchan is his and Raima's true father. Boman Iraani plans to murder Bacchan, but Saif decides to kill the king to avoid that and save his real father. Bacchan is in the dark of this intrigue and kills the Kings brother and his son, after learning that killed the King. Through them he learn that they killed the King on Saif's orders and confronts Saif. The ending is a let down with Saif admitting to his crime and inviting Baccchan (Eklavya) to complete his 'Dharma' and kill him but Bacchan melts down and everyone lives happily ever after.Hush !

I should have realized the movie would be flawed the minute I heard Viddhu Vinod Chopra bragging about how he spent 8 months just visualizing how Bacchan's beard would look in the film. Its apparent that Chopra has spent all this time visualizing the look , feel and sound of the film- with the result that every frame, every detail looks and sounds good. If Chopra could have helped it, he would also have used technology to spray the smell of the desert in the theatre. Just a few days ago, I saw a report of how a phirang director served the audience food which would heighten the mood of his film at different points of his film. I am pretty sure the film was the pits, if the director felt the need to take the support of good food to enhance the mood of his film. If Chopra could have he would have done this too.

But in the process, the film has lost its soul- the screenplay and its characters. Not that the story line is weak, but the dialogues are so contrived and wishy washy that you are never really into the film and the characters. The aesthetics of the film hold your attention and your breath so much, that you are left too breathless to get into the skin of the characters.

Chopra has indulged himself thoroughly. Count the number of time drops of various shapes and sizes - from blood to water to sweat, fall while the camera dutifully captures not just the movement but also the sound. No opportunity is lost to show digitally enhanced sunsets and the ancient palace and the desert scenery soaked in them. Other characters of the film include wonderful period clothes,a vintage car, sundry knick knacks like the royal seal, handmade stationary and such like. You often end up feeling that the scene was shot to capture these aesthetics rather than the scene itself. The sound effects are amazing. The sound of all kinds of drops, flags fluttering, knives flying around...the phirang technicians hired for the job by Chopra have done what they were paid for. But the characters themselves slip away like water on top of a leaf in the process. The only exception is Boman Iraani who has outshone everyone including Bacchan by leagues. His portrayal of the insecure and unhappy King is worth applauding. Chopra would have done well to gift Iraani the Rolls Royce that he gifted Baccchan. The rest of the crew has done a ok job, except Raima Sen, who is laughable throughout (the curls of her hair falling down the side of her face have received as much attention as Bacchan's beard). Watch her flying the kite on top of the terrace and you wonder what she is upto.

One certainly expected more substance from Chopra, considering that he has produced the likes of Munnabhai MBBS and directed Parinda earlier. Films which hardly had any wizardry but which still held the audience because of the direction and screenplay.

For those of you who still want to watch Bacchan in Eklavya- watch it on a DVD and save yourselves the 1000 bucks.

Don't worry, be Happy !

2007-02-16T23:58:00.000+05:30

Guy Kawasaki, celebrated venture capitalist, blogger and most of all a wonderfully practical guy ( his blog tag line is 'a practical blog for impractical people) has linked to a map produced by Adrian White of the University of Leicester.

The map,essentially tries to provide a graphical representation of the state of happiness of people across the world. The study generates data from well respected sources (like the CIA and the U.N., incidentally the prime destroyers of happiness worldwide ! lol). But having said that, its a useful (however imperfect it might be) representation of happiness - in pursuit of which , after all, the world goes round.

I am happy that 'Gross National happiness' as a developmental indicator is gaining currency more and more in the lexicon of thought leaders wordwide. This concept is the brainchild of Bhutan King Jigme Sigme Wang Chuk and it is also for this reason I am happy to see Bhutan ranking a very respectable no.8 in the league of nations, on the happiness index.

And India? Wyaaa ssssss...........a lowly lowly 125 ! Really we must work harder to become happier,folks - wat? : )

Generally speaking, there seems to be a positive co-relation between happiness and per capita income of the countries.

Whoever said money can't buy happiness must be a real sore looser : )

Shivraj Patil, Mumbai Police and the NSA - will the real idiot please stand up?

2007-02-16T17:05:00.000+05:30

Terrorists operating in big cities: Patil ! Screams the headline from Rediff.com. The report quoted Patil as saying- "Terrorists are sneaking into big cities and operating clandestinely. They have been making their plans by hiding in the cities and will continue to do it".

Oooh ! Aaahh! Breaking news, saar! After having lived in the shadow of terror for two decades or more, and hundreds of bomb blasts altogether in almost all of our major cities, we Indians could NEVER have guessed that terrorists are "sneaking" into our cities and operating "clandestinely". This is such terrific intelligence our honourable Home Minister has been having in his heart, Saar! Just too much great, I am calling you.

Then there is our National security advisor who informs one day that "that some fictitious companies in stock markets of Mumbai and Chennai have been traced to terrorist groups". Now at least this is information of some use. But Mr. Narayanan gave us the bad news and shut up behind the wall of secrecy. Were we supposed to infer that stock markets are bad and we should close them down because terrorists are using them? Are we to infer that these groups have been caught or shut down, since the NSA was so openly talking about them in the media? What for God's sake is the objective of these haphazard remarks? A few months back the same NSA went on to talk about how dangerous it is to open infrastructure and telecom sector to our national security. Pray, if that is so, how are other countries accomplishing to be secure and also reform these sectors?

The babus and some ministers have become experts at diagnosing problems without suggesting a pill to cure the disease.Its time that they stop being alarmist and find solutions than offer cryptic remarks which are being interpreted by many as anti- reform and at worst alarm the entire general population.

Frankly I don't mind even them being anti-reform, provided they have a point of view and express it coherently and clearly. The way these guys talk, one would have to decode what they want to say using the Param super computer. Really, its about time these fudddy duddies belonging to the 60's and 70's were summarily replaced with some one younger and more in tune with the times.

Think I am done with govt. officials media communication bloopers for one day? Wrong.

Just a few days ago there was this hilarious news item where the Mumbai police explained on NDTV, as to how they are posting money orders and sundry financial instruments to the known addresses of absconders, and catching them when they come to collect the booty. It seems 10-15 absconders have been caught till now. The Mumbai Police it seems don't believe criminals watch NDTV news. Next thing you know they will begin to wonder why they are suddenly hitting a blank wall, come up with another super brilliant idea - and yes, then the mandatory press interview.

Harhar ! Yahi to maar kha gaya India : )

Incredible India - Best of Flickr pics (3)

2007-02-16T09:42:00.000+05:30

Cut to Shah Rukh Khan's message to the youth standing next to a 'Kaun Banega Crorepati poster' - the headline on Rediff said "Some times ideals have to take a back seat"!

Hmm...

Valentines day ! Dont read this great Beer joke : )

2007-02-14T17:43:00.000+05:30

Hat tip : Dave

Superpower India spends billions on war toys while millions suffer

2007-02-13T23:17:00.000+05:30

This blog has consistently advocated the futility of our governments obscene defense spend, as not only indefensible considering the endemic poverty that hundreds of millions of our countrymen are reeling under, but also wholly unnecessary considering the fact that both our neighbours, China and Pakistan, are nuclear capable and hence warfare- whether conventional or nuclear- is just unthinkable. While we suffer from internal strife, suicides of thousands of our farmers, malnutrition(a full 50% of our children suffer from malnutrition), illiteracy and almost a complete lack of public health infrastructure, our Generals, Admirals, Air Marshals and 'strategic experts' think nothing of lobbying for more untold billions being spent on toys on the ground, water and sky.

The recently concluded Bangalore air show was another such disgusting spectacle put up by India trying to show off its imaginary 'superpower' status. Western countries dutifully participated, patted India's back for its rise in the order of nations, while their mouths salivated at the prospect of the biggest air defense order worth 126 fighter planes worth $ 9 billion.

While our politicos and defense personnel partied during the air show, there were some quiet voices though, like Peter Foster of 'The Telegraph' who wondered if this wasn't ever so slightly crazy. Or is it just the two of us ?

Cadbury chocolates - with worm and salmonella flavours !

2007-02-13T15:18:00.000+05:30

Remember the Cadbury controversy in 2003 when worms were found in its chocolates? Sales plummeted 30% in India. Since then the company went on a brand building spree, recruited Amitabh Bacchan as its brand ambassador (Pappu Pass ho gaya!) and by all accounts, things are hunky dory. Cadbury's comeback is even more praiseworthy (from a marketing standpoint), when one thinks of the pasting Pepsi and Coke continue to receive in the market place. For all the hundreds of crores they have sunk in advertising, the smear of the pesticide controversy,just refuses to be wiped away.

But Cadbury has fallen afoul once again. This time in the U.K. Some of their chocolates have been found to contain salmonella and dozens of people fell ill. Of course its not easy to shake of authorities in a country like the U.K and authorities are all over trying to ensure that the company pays for its mistakes. So far this has cost Cadbury 30 million pounds (and counting).

And to think that I had an almost irresistible urge to go out and buy a dark chocolate while watching 'Chocolat', yesterday night! : )

Indian companies take on the world - but their web sites suck

2007-02-13T13:57:00.000+05:30

Some times you wonder if a company is serious about doing its business. Or whether it has just grown too big, too fast and now complacent enough, to take success for granted.

Take the web site of a major coffee outlet chain in India. Log on to it and you see- a blank page. Another television and Internet media group runs a web site which it advertised relentlessly on its own TV channel (obviously- free ka maal- who won't have it?). I was trying to log in for a week or ten days after the first adverts started appearing. They had taken a lot of effort in redesigning the site, it was clear. But one could never proceed beyond the first page, without running into a technical error. The site was virtually useless. Most Indian corporate goliaths have web sites whose only objective seems to be to prove that - yes! we also HAVE a web site- should some phoren partner ask. I am sure in 9 times out of 10, the phoren partner would be disgusted at what impression the site gives about the company. Many a times the web site actually do a dis-service to the company, rather than promoting them!

These are hardly isolated examples. Believe you me there are plenty more. Even the well established corporates of India STILL don't get it, that 'E' stands for 'E-Commerce' and not 'Egg', in 2007 .

Absent minded FBI

2007-02-13T00:30:00.000+05:30

I have always been accused of being absent minded by people I know. I plead guilty. But at least I am in good company!

The U.S Justice dept. inspector general says that The FBI (Federal Bureau of investigation), America's premier interior security agency, looses between three to four laptops- a month ! And he then goes on to say that the FBI is actually doing BETTER compared to its past record. He adds helpfully that the FBI does not know, after loosing these mean machines, whether the laptop lost contained sensitive information or not. Wired News reports -

In a report five years ago, the inspector general said 354 weapons and 317 laptop computers were lost or stolen during a 28-month review.

The new report found that 160 weapons and 160 laptop computers were lost or stolen over a 44-month period.

How's that for steady improvement?

A Florida fugitive - wrongly sentenced for 50 yrs, on the run and finally - liberated

2007-02-12T10:08:00.000+05:30

Orlando Boquete was sentenced to 50 years for a crime he never committed . He broke out of prison, on the run for 10 yrs till a DNA testing procedure proved his innocence.

The scariest part of the whole story is that DNA testing as a technique had been always available. But according to Jim Dwyer of the New York Times magazine who wrote this piece on Boquete's story:

"During the 1990s, many prosecutors in Florida, and elsewhere, fiercely resisted DNA testing for people already in prison. Such tests often poked embarrassing holes in the original investigations. After an innocent man died on death row — the prosecutors opposed testing until the man, Frank Lee Smith, was terminally ill — the State Legislature passed a law that explicitly permitted convicts to seek DNA testing, as long as they asked by Oct. 1, 2003."

How many Boquete's has India produced?

Incredible India - Best of Flickr photographs (2)

2007-02-08T16:41:00.000+05:30

Any wonder why there are no tigers left any more?

Sanjay Dutt gets bail and special treatment- once again!

2007-02-06T20:06:00.000+05:30

Sanjay Dutt 's bail is extended by one more day, after a string of judgements giving him special treatment. For similar offenses, other accused who merely watch films and don't act in them, have received harsh treatment. NDTV reports one relative of these accused as saying "The justice given to Sanjay Dutt should also be given to other families". I said what media is reporting now, long ago. Sanjay Dutt is being treated with kids gloves by the judiciary.

Will anyone answer why?

Is India ready to face the challenge of global warming and climate change?

2007-02-06T19:35:00.000+05:30

There are some events which are curve jumping, trend producing, paradigm shifting- call them what you want...just plain revolutionary. Some times such events occur ever so stealthily (would the Iraqis Americans have known how it would impact them when Osama Bin Laden was exiled from Saudi Arabia and decided to start attacking western assets worldwide?). Some times though, these events happen in the glare of the public eye, and yet few understand how deeply it would impact them.

This month, the European commission announced that it would unilaterally cut 20% of its carbon emissions by 2020 and go upto 30%, if the USA moved its ass, on its own emissions. This is not one of those hot air balloon announcements governments routinely come up with. The targets are binding and the EU is going to invest billions of dollars to achieve its goal. This was closely followed by the IPCA (Inter-Govt panel on climate change) report,commissioned by the United Nations, which essentially, sought the opinion of thousands of scientists around the world, to get to the heart of whether or not carbon emissions due to human activity are responsible or not for the spectre of global warming. The scientists unanimously agreed that the answer was a Yes. The mainstream European print and electronic media is awash with stories related to global warming like never before, so much so that these days, nothing other than related stories seems to capture their imagination. Its amply clear that the rhetoric around Global warming is no longer so, that Europeans (and Americans- except the USA Govt, it would seem) have accepted the inevitability of us having to do something tangible about climate change. The European Union in fact has gone as far ahead as terming this ' The Second Industrial revolution'. Now nobody, much less a Pan-govt. body, uses such words lightly.

What would change in our lives?Where to start? Every area of energy generation and industrial production would be impacted fundamentally. Our consumption patterns- what, where and how we eat, drink, travel,wear, live...everything and everyone of us would be impacted.

Yet, it staggers me to know that in India, this has not even registered, forget gauging its true impact. Not that news papers and news channels here did not do their two bits in running these stories. But other than doing the 'needful', no body has bothered to explain how fundamentally our lives could change within the next few years and over many many decades to come.It was a big disappointment, to put it mildly to watch our Indian media caught up with Big Boss, Rakhi Sawant, Abhishek-Aishwarya, KBC with Shahrukh and some such and gloss this over.

India's position on global warming is ambivalent to say the least. While we accept the need to act we are (rightly)putting the onus on developed countries who are by far responsible for Global Warming and would continue to do so going ahead. But having said that, we must also take this up as an opportunity to leap frog technology and avoid the costly mistakes that developed nations have already made. For one we need to move conscious towards sustainable modes of energy production and consumption both industrially as well as individually. This means that, for example, we need to dis-incentivize automobiles running on fossil fuels (Ex: Maruti, Hyundai and the rest) and incentivize those using non-conventional fuels (ex: Maini automobile produced REVA). The TATA project of making cars affordable to every man by selling it at 1 lakh rupees would ruin not just the TATA's (!) but also India and its environment. They need to be stopped, forcibly, if need be. Public transport ought to be encouraged and huge investments are needed to improve it. There would be a need to possibly reduce our dependence on mass farming and slaughter of animals for human consumption, since this is leading to slashing and burning of forests to feed these animals.The NTPC's of the world which rely on fossil fuels ought to be told to move on to nuclear technology and invest in technologies which aim to push emissions deep into the earth's surface instead of releasing them into the atmosphere.Companies like Suzlon which produce non-conventional sources of energy are India's new stars, in this future, and need to be given every helping hand.

This doesn't even scratch the surface of what we truly need to do as a society. Individually, nothing less than a fundamental change in our lifestyles is due or rather- overdue.

Are we warming up to this challenge yet?

Lights off at the Eiffel tower after the IPCC report on global warming

2007-02-02T18:44:00.000+05:30

The Shows over at the EIFFEL TOWER, which consumes 7.5 million watts of energy/yr, albeit only symbolically for five minutes (this pic was not shot at the same time), after the United NATIONS released a report finally giving its verdict on whether or not we humans are to blame for global warming and climate change (the verdict was a unequivocal Yes! from thousands of scientists).

Take a closer look at this picture, for this is how it is going to be, if we don't get our act together and turn to a more sustainable developmental model.

Sachin Tendulkar:Over-rated and over-worshipped ?

2007-02-02T17:50:00.000+05:30

A few years ago it was common to see cricket fans holding posters during matches proclaiming that if cricket was their religion than Sachin Tendulkar was their God.

But now the unthinkable has finally happened. For the first time, post the India-S.Africa tour, people seriously questioned whether Sachin deserved his seat at the table. For the first time, newspaper columnists who never dreamed of questioning Sachin's prowess, wrote long articles analysing whether the Tendulkar era was drawing to an end, or worse, was already a done deal.

One thing is for sure. Sachin Tendular would never join the pantheon of all time greats in the league of Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar. This exclusive club belongs to batsmen who, BY THEMSELVES, could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat or at least save the team some face, not JUST IN INDIA, but on any ground in the world. Gavaskar has an average of above 90 runs against the West Indies in the West Indies and that too facing a quality of bowling that is leagues ahead of any pace attack Sachin has ever faced. Bradman, could demolish any team he wanted, whenever HE chose to.

Sachin? Doubtless he is a great batsman, but NOT an all time great. It is a documented fact that whenever the Indian team needed Sachin during crunch times, Sachin has failed to deliver. Most of his big knocks have happened on Indian grounds in conditions he is well used to. This is NOT to say, that Tendulkar has never made a big knock abroad against a quality team, of course.But simply that, on balance, he has always been on a weaker wicket abroad, facing quality teams like Australia and Pakistan. His stats back this observation.

Sachin Tendulkar:

Mat I NO Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Ave 100 50 0
Career 378 369 36 14728 186* 152 146 44.22 41 75 17
At home 127 124 13 5174 186* 146 139 46.61 16 28 4
Away 118 117 8 3799 141 128 127* 34.85 8 18 8

Statssource:www.cricinfo.com

The above stats show the comparision of Sachin's Career summary (batting) against the 'unfiltered' results. They are then compared against Sachin's performance away from home against any team. Sure enough Sachin's average falls from 46.61 at home to a measly 34.85 away from home.

Now look at Ricky Pontings stats:

Mat I N O Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Ave 100 50 0
Career sum 266 260 31 9670 164 145 141* 42.22 21 57 16
Home 112 110 9 4088 124 123 119 40.47 8 26 8
Away 84 82 13 3268 164 141* 129 47.36 8 19 4

Statssource:www.cricinfo.com

Pontings average actually INCREASES away from home to a splendid 47.

So don't let Tendulkar's crackerfire 100 against the weak West Indies team recently in Baroda, fool you.He can be my god only if he scores at an average of 50 or above in the West Indies in the next World cup and more importantly help the Indian team to victory at least till the Semi-final stage.

If not, Tendulkar would have to resign himself to the ranks of ONE of the great batsmen of the world but certainly not THE all time great.

How much do Beggars earn in India?

2007-02-01T20:00:00.000+05:30

Kalyan who runs a popular blog has a good post (Hat tip : P.Anand) which tries to estimate how much beggars earn in Bangalore. He estimates that a beggar on M.G.Road in Bangalore would earn about Rs.24,000/- per month which is a little less that what a highly skilled white collar professional would earn.

Kalyan writes:

"12:09pm: Economics of Begging in Bangalore
Lately, I have been observing the beggars at all the traffic junctions in Bangalore when I'm stuck for a long time in traffic. I've noticed a very important pattern.

At any big traffic junction, the traffic at the signal has to wait anywhere from 120 to 180 seconds these days. A beggar can cover at least 30 vehicles in this time and at least 1 in 5, give the beggars some money. This money these days is anywhere from Rs 1 to Rs 5. I've even seen a guy give out Rs 100 to a beggar.

So at a 3 min traffic light junction, a beggar can make anywhere from Rs 5 to Rs 20. Even if we assume the lower limit, in an hour a beggar makes Rs 5 * 60/3 = Rs 100. If he/she works for 8 hours a day like most of us, he/she will make Rs 800/day.. and that's about Rs 24,000 / month.

Now Rs 24,000 / month is lot more money than what most fresh software engineers get paid these days. The beggars don't even have to worry about tax on the money they make.

Who says the money in Bangalore does not trickle down to the poor :)

Current Mood: amused"

While I don't dispute Kalyan's observations, we must still keep in mind the fact that most beggars in India are run by mafia syndicates, who usurp the majority of their earnings.So the 'real' earnings are probably a small fraction of this mind boggling figure. More importantly how many beggars can beg on M.G Road? Only those who are under the 'protection' of the mafia and the police and have 'bought' rights to that particular territory.

And what trials and tribulations do these people have to undergo to earn their keep? Rain, scorching sun, police lathis are the easy part. CNN-IBN recently reported on how the the begging mafia operates in collusion with a network of doctors to chop off healthy limbs of beggars.

Moral of the story? Don't envy your neighbourhood beggar- yet! : )

The Indian Air force wants "trans-oceanic" reach , ISRO wants to put an Indian on the moon, Vidarbha farmers want a life

2007-01-30T08:55:00.000+05:30

Three un-related news items that, in reality, are closely related.Comments in brackets are mine.
****************************
Gandhinagar: India needs (or wants?) an aerospace command to exploit the outer space and it will be established soon, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi said on Sunday.

The Indian Air Force is in the process of establishing an aerospace command to exploit outer space by integrating its capabilities (can you pl learn to fly the Mig 21 properly instead?), he told reporters here.

"We are an aerospace power having trans-oceanic reach (fat use it is to us). We have started training a core group of people for the 'aerospace command'."

The IAF Chief was non-committal on exact time frame of setting up of the aerospace command (means you will not stop till you waste tens of billions of dollars in this unnecessary enterprise).
***************************
Nagpur: Five cotton-growers in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra have committed suicide after crop failure, taking the number of such suicides to 33 since the New Year.

Two of the five farmers who ended their lives on Sunday hailed from Akola district while one each was from Buldana, Nagpur and Yavatmal, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) president Kishor Tiwari said here on Monday.

In the 72 hours preceding this tragedy, eight other farmers had ended their lives, Tiwari said.

The previous year's toll in Vidarbha was well over 1,000 - almost at the rate of 100 suicides a month.
*****************************

Bangalore: An Indian will walk on the moon in 2020. Or so the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) maintains.

On ISRO's giant leap forward, Nair said, "If humans do not venture into space, the (our/my) future will not be bright. I don't think we can lag behind in this race. We must be in the forefront."

The budget for the man-in-space project is estimated to be Rs 10,000 crore-15,000 crore. The moon mission will cost much more (and money grows on trees in India).

Jane Goody can help 'Incredible India' !

2007-01-25T09:34:00.000+05:30

Jane Goody, the contestant on the now infamous show 'Big Brother' has been thrown out of the show by the U.K audience (she ragged Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on the reality show) and having got out, she's now "embarrassed" the Indian Govt., by accepting the offer made by the tourism dept. of India to visit India "to partake of and understand India's rich diversified composite culture." The Times of India reports that since Jane has now accepted the offer publicly in an interview, tourism officials are now squirming in their seats and that the Tourism minister Ambika Soni and the Congress party are not to happy with the advts. which were released.

When the Indian press reported the release of the adverts. at the height of the controversy, I was seriously impressed by the alacrity shown by the ministry in riding this wave of public interest about the show and Indians, and using it to promote tourism in India. But it now seems that my earlier opinion , that entrepreneurship and Government are oxymoronic in nature, still holds. Had this not been the case, the Govt. would have jumped at this opportunity and continued to ride the massive wave of publicity that has been generated. It would have been to desirable to hire a good event mngt. firm, televise Goody's travels in India widely, shower her with the best of hospitality and then get her to speak positively about her experiences during her tour.

Doing this would not only help the cause of better race relations (Goody has already tendered an unconditional apology about her behaviour) but more importantly, create an awareness about India among a section of U.K population that would, in the normal course, never have thought about visiting India, for a holiday.Spending five to ten thousand pounds on Jane goody can easily fetch us a few hundred tourists, who will spend , many time the same amount, immense good will plus invaluable P.R for India and its tourism potential.

Hair loss problems? Call Dr. Batra...er...Dr.Mukesh Batra...

2007-01-23T17:20:00.000+05:30

Some hilarious excerpts from the Rediff chat with Dr.Mukesh Batra. The persons named Dr Mukesh Batra, Doctor Batra and Dr Mukesh Batra ANS below, are actually fake users who'r using the name of the real Dr. Mukesh Batra and writing this in the 'questions' section of the chat . Lol's !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
teeef says, DR batra to kat leeye, ab bhai log aap log bhi kaam par jao and aaj ke baad aise 'bhairupiye' ke chakkaron mein mat pado, its better u people go to some good doctor. The whole concept of Dr Batra's is to make money.(full stop)
Dear Sir, My mother who is around 50 years old has black spots in her face..is there any treatment for this?
Babuji says, frauddoc! can you show your "doc" cert? was it issued by Idi Amin?
Dr Mukesh Batra ANS says, I am GONE. BYE FOR NOW. See you in my clinic.
bachee says, baldness thru heridity is curable..?
Dr Mukesh Batra ANS says, Hey...I got to go to DUBAI now. Sorry I am leaving with my girlfriend. CIAO
pappu says,
abbbc says, sorry sir, had u looked into my case the result would have shown,, but not with ur inexperienced set of docs in bangalore.
pappu says, r u there doctor or gone
ashutosh says, Dear Dr Batra, pls reply to me after smoke.
Dr Mukesh Batra says, Hang on everybody....shall be right back.
abbbbbc says, ur tretament is all fraud dr batra, with all due respect to u, but that is a fact. You hire all fresh graduates who have not got any experience in homeopathy and what you do is all pure business and no treatment. i have ur patient with no improvements in my 'thinning of hair'
Chat says, I think the chat window should be closed by Rediff sysadmin
susant sabat says, Sir Good Evening I have problem of isnopholia. I am getting cold regular interval
Babuji says, doc, why have you gone bald?
Babuji says, hello fraud doc?
Dr Mukesh Batra says, Hello Tel me.
Doctor Batra says, WAIT LET ME GO FOR A SMOKE, THEN I WILL COME BACK
shanoo says, Dear Dr. Batra, My name is Gurshant and 32 y / M, My height is 5' 10" and I wiegh around 95 Kgs and following are the diffuculties that I am facing. I have a high BP since long time, due to the regular medication I have devloped this serious ACIDITY, due to this there is constant heaviness and burping and also pain in the chest and upper back. I cannot concentrate on my work. Also can u suggest any medication for High BP. I know I have a very sedentary lifestyle, please suggest!!
anitakasturia@sify.com says, dR. WILL YOU AVAILABLE TOMORROW ALSO. I STILL NOT GOT THE REPLY. ANITA email anita_kasturia@rediffmail.com
vasudevannv says, REDIFF.. WHERE ARE DR ANSWERS???????????????
afzal_alam8 says, Dear doctor My fatahe(51) is Asthama patient, He is suffering with that since last 20 YRS. please advice what should i do
shanoo says, please answer the questions sir.. thank you
reddy99 says, sir iam also facing problem with dundruff. what is the solution
bala says, dear doctor, my mother is 52 years old, is suffering with pain at left hand thumb, at times she'll not be able to life an empty glass also. She also has swelling on left leg below the knee and it is numb at times, pl. suggest suitable medicine
Doctor Batra says, I AM HERE..
ashutosh says, i am 33 yr old male,and have acute allergy problem, i have got first major episode of allergy attack in 1998 when my eyes were swollen, itchy, red and eyelids were so swollen that my eyses were to total closed, it reduced on its on in 2~3 days time and then ok, since ten it has happened at least 20 times. my allergy starts sometimes with redness of eyes, sometimes with itchyness in throat, smtimes runny and clogged nose. pls adv

Ban on AXN and Priya Ranjan Das Munshi's hidden agenda

2007-01-21T11:49:00.000+05:30

Priya Ranjan Das Munshi has assumed the role of the nanny of India's television audience. He has just announced a ban on the television channel AXN for telecasting a programme called 'The World's sexiest advertisements'. I have seen the programme a couple of times and can aver to the fact that the programme telecasts advertisements that are extremely funny, well crafted and yes, with mature, but NOT tasteless content. In my opinion many of the Bollywood and especially the South Indian film songs telecast during prime time are far more suggestive and some times even pornographic in nature.

But who can agree with Das, who feels an irresistible urge to display his power and pomp. Here is a man who has been the President of the AIFF (All India Football Federation) since 1988. India continues to slide down the world rankings from 99 in the November 1993 FIFA rankings to 148 this November. Even the bit of separation that India achieved between its neighbours a decade ago has gone with the South Asian countries tightly clustered around with Myanmar at 150, Sri Lanka 156, Bangladesh 158, Pakistan 165, and Nepal 172. Read all about Priya Ranjan Das's record as, head of the AIFF, on www.soccerblog.com, here.

Kuldip Nayyar, one of India's most respected journalist has written the following about Das in The Telegraph-

"Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi was a hatchet man during the Emergency in India. What Sanjay Gandhi, who ran the country at that time, liked about Dasmunshi was his uncanny ways of needling the media, particularly the Ananda Bazaar Patrika group of newspapers in West Bengal. But Dasmunshi’s regret was that he never got the chance to legalise the illegal. Mrs Indira Gandhi was defeated at the polls......In the name of de-bureaucratising the ministry he has played havoc with its working. It has taken him time to place his “trusted men” at key places. Now that he has done it, he has the launching pad ready. Dasmunshi’s first salvo is the Broadcasting Bill. Luckily, the Left, the leading ally of the ruling combination United Progressive Alliance, has expressed its doubts. Post-Stalin comrades are sensitive to the press freedom. This has made Sonia Gandhi retract. Otherwise, Dasmunshi was all set to have the Bill passed in the current session of Parliament. Imagine what he seeks to do, as a few leaks suggest: The Government of India will have powers to shut down any TV channel or broadcasting station in “public interest.” Even a deputy commissioner can order local cable operators to stop disseminating any programme from any channel.This is a crude form of censorship, authoritarian in content and in violation of Article 19 of the Constitution which makes freedom of expression a non-negotiable right of any Indian citizen. But then Dasmunshi is a practical man who has learnt from the days of the Youth Congress that it is the power that counts, not principles. The difference between what he did during the Emergency and is doing now is that he had to circumvent the Constitution then to impose censorship but today he brazen-facedly brings a Bill to muzzle the media. I am amazed at the audacity of the minister when he argues that the Broadcasting Bill is “media-friendly, progressive legislation, not seen anywhere in the world.” The word, progressive, must have undergone a change since he has become minister. Dasmunshi has singled out the English media for attack. “Do their journalists enjoy freedom in their own organisations and is their work not subjected to pressure from the management?” he asks. I can assure him that “the pressure” which he talks about is the fallout of the Emergency. That was the watershed. That was when established administrative procedures and conventions were subverted for the benefit of individuals, who had contacts at the “right places.” When the government could do so, why not others?Never before had the newspaper management dared to suggest even indirectly what to print or not to print. The chit “BM” (Business Must) was thrown in the wastepaper basket whenever received in the editorial room. Since those who gagged the press during the Emergency got away with the crime without being punished, the newspaper management has followed suit. The press freedom has been the casualty from those days. Dasmunshi’s Bill, if pursued, would have reduced the constitutional guarantee to a farce."

So shameless is this politico that while he seeks to ban T.V channels and impose his brand of puritanism and piety on Indians, he himself is free to abuse the power he has. A few months before, many in the Indian media widely reported the fact that Das ensured that Doordarshan, a state broadcasting channel cover the Doorga puja's that his wife participated in on Prime Time news, for more than any other important news worthy event of the day!

The issue is not just about AXN and the ban on this one channel. The issue is about the unbridled abuse of power that ministers like Das indulge in and their blatant attempt to control public and private media, so that they tow the line they are told.

Misery and heartache in Chennai

2007-01-20T22:18:00.000+05:30

HudsonDino has written a nice piece about his travel to Chennai. I must confess that whenever I see a foreign tourist on the street, I feel a twinge of pity for him, for all the travails and shocks I know she has to endure or is enduring -the constant haggling, the ever present danger of being cheated in every transaction, and in some cases, out right stealing and even physical violence. As a foreign tourist, who is trying to taste the REAL India on the street, you would have to bear and beat all of this, make no mistake. It is only if you are the five star variety, can you afford to buy 'protection'.

And in Chennai, why just for a foreigner, even Indians who are not native to Tamil Nadu routinely face a torrid time. In fact, I remember saying to a visiting English colleague, who I had taken out for dinner once, that I felt as much a foreigner in Chennai as she must feel. I have lived in Chennai in two different stints for almost a year and, I must confess I hated the place. It was probably largely due to the fact that I was quite lonely in Chennai,staying away from family, friends and living alone for the first time in my life- than the city and the people itself. But the Chennai autowallah (See pic of the perenially not working Auto meter!) and the insularity which any one who does not understand Tamil feels in Chennai , did not make life easy. Then there were other minor, but collectively important irritants. The beer (yes - even Kingfisher, tastes different); some of the better alcohol brands are completely unavailable;finding a woman who is easy on the eye is awfully difficult anywhere; the weather is muggy and gnaws at your energy while you get haplessly sweaty and wet down to your underwear, if you walk for even 10 minutes, outdoors; the food can get dreary after a while- how long can you appreciate sambar, curd and rice ?; Chennaites have this dreadful concept of 'private' parties rather than going out to a public party and when I stayed there, affordable North Indian food was not so widely available, as I have heard it is now.

So when actress Meera Vasudevan says "Come and explore with me, the real Chennai Macha" on Discovery Travel & Living, I for one, would say " No, Thanks. Not again"!

But what the heck- HundsonDino loved it, at the end of it all. I am glad his story had a happy ending.

He must be the hardy type.

How to attract women? How to attract Men?

2007-01-19T00:44:00.000+05:30

Researchers who publish 'quickie' research need to be put in a zoo. You know the kind of research I am talking about...Eating raw cabbage can prevent heart attacks! screams one headline and should you start to eat cabbage, some one else will publish another piece claiming it can give you Cancer, if not AIDS. But researchers also know that this kind of research is a sure eye grabber. So they keep up with it and publish the sham underbaked results of their torture on mice, monkeys and pigs, with disturbing regularity.

So was anyone shocked when the following headline was published and commented on widely, in some of the best newspapers and television channels around the world.
The mating game: Women play copycat, men look out for rivals
So what was the fuss about?

Yahoo!U.K has published the following AFP report

"A lonely man desperate to find a girlfriend might be well advised to hire a few women to smile at him -- and let female copycat genes run their course.British psychologists have discovered that, when sizing up a man, a woman takes her cues from other women around him. If those women are looking happily at him, that has a big influence on the woman's assessment. The more female smiles there are, the likelier she is to consider the guy a catch."

Now,can anyone answer one basic question for me? Why would women smile at a man, in the first place, for another woman to become jealous and attracted to him? Obviously only if they find the guy attractive! So where's the question of women being attracted to a guy because other women smiled at him?

If some one from Scotland gets hold of Mr.Benedict Jones of the University of Aberdeen and socks him, for carrying this 'research' and wasting the time and energy of millions of males around the world, I would be grateful.

Mumbai's Beer Can serial killer strikes again and so does the Times of India

2007-01-18T09:05:00.000+05:30

The Mumbai Beer Can serial killer is suspected to have killed another victim on Marine Lines. However, there is not much of fear among the general populace, since the killer seems to be striking at only street homosexuals.

And if it is anything related to the Gay community in Mumbai, can Ashok Row Kavi resist commenting on it : )? The Gay activist has deemed it fit to issue a statement rubbishing the profiles released by the Police about the killer and stating that in his (Kavi's) opinion, the killer was a well to do person, probably owning a car and not from the middle/lower-middle/poor strata, as the Police seem to believe (or what Kavi believes the police believe)!Kavi has come up with this theory because the killer has left a trail of Kingfisher beer cans at all his crime scenes and Kavi says that Kingfisher beer cans are routinely consumed by people in cars- so the killer must be a well to do person. Hmm...why can't he be the employed driver of some one else's car? And its just not true that beer cans are only favoured by the well to do. I have seen many not so well to do people consuming beer from cans and not the glass bottles, purely because with disposable cans, your cash your outgo is only Rs. 35 for Kingfisher (mild) beer, whereas if you buy a 650 ml bottle of beer, you have to shell out almost double the amount.

In a related event, the Times of India has pulled another coup of sorts, when it comes to photographing people. Earlier it had done so when an intrepid photographer in Bangalore insisted on capturing the pictures of India's finance minister on a family outing, despite the ministers protests, and was lambasted for doing so by the minister. Today, the Times of India's Mumbai edition has published the photographs of a woman with her full name, who has claimed that she has seen the killer with a knife, when she was walking by Marine Lines. Splendid! So all the serial killer has to do now is to trace this woman and...

Why are some of our media people so hungry for an 'exclusive' when they know that it might hurt the people concerned? So that they can then move on to suggest the solutions to all the nations problems, in their editorials, sanguinely?

President of India A.P.J.Abdul Kalam asks a question on Yahoo! Answers

2007-01-17T12:32:00.000+05:30

President A.P.J.Abdul Kalam has asked a question on Yahoo! Answers :

What should we do to free our planet from terrorism?

Read my answer by clicking HERE. Many people have tried to answer the President including Kiran Bedi, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Leander Paes, not to mention Batman! You would need to scroll down to read my answer filed under 'Uncommon Common Man'. Vote for my answer : )

Racist Indians protest racism against Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother

2007-01-16T21:10:00.000+05:30

Shilpa Shetty's co-participants in 'Big Brother' are being accused of racism. According to NDTV, 2000 viewers have found it fit to complain to the U.K. media watchdog about the racist slurs used against Shilpa.

NDTV asked whether racism is a reality for Asians abroad and 95% of the viewers said 'Yes'. Is anyone surprised?

Perhaps the better question to ask would have been, is racism a reality in India? The unpalatable answer to that would be that ,as Indians, we are arguably the most racist people on earth. The Brits and Americans are angels compared to us. Look at how systematically upper castes discriminate against lower castes, or one religion discriminates against another, in our country. To look at how our entire lives are ordered around our caste, community, religion, state, even colour of skin, one just has to scan through the matrimonial ads in any newspaper!

Racism in India is not even limited to the uninformed and the less educated. It is as prevalent amongst our most erudite and educated. To give just one example, a famous prominent socialite fromMumbai, made a public comment in a news paper, that if the municipal ward where he stayed ( a elite city area) was reserved for SC/ST/BC candidates, there would an automatic erosion in representative standards- automatic!

So drop your outrage fellow Indians : ). Big Brother, above, is watching.

Is 'Big Boss' scripted?

2007-01-16T11:05:00.000+05:30

Both me and my wife try to catch up on 'Big Boss' - a reality show telecast on Sony, whenever we can. One of the main attractions of the show, for me at least, is that it is 'cheap' (whatever that means). Since I also like Govinda and Shakti Kapoor, you can probably gauge, one of the genre's of entertainment that I dig.

My other pre-occupation while watching the serial, is to find evidence for the nagging suspicion that the show is in fact scripted and not a spontaneous one, as claimed by the producers.

Yesterday, I found one.

It so happens that at the start of the programme, SONY showed a teaser where they showed the sultry Kashmera Shah being smuggled in the house where all the participants are locked in and stealing the ginger which Ravi Kishen likes in his tea. Then the show started with a shot of the participants waking up from their sleep. What does everyone and most of all, Ravi Kishen talk of the exact same morning? Tea of course! He speaks of how he would like a steamy ginger waali chai or words to that effect. What a co-incidence!!!

And who do I think will remain in the house at the end? I think Carol will take the cake, for being the likeable, non-political person, she seems to be.

Burkini - first look

2007-01-15T18:07:00.000+05:30

A not so teeny weeny swimming costume for Muslim women designed by a company in Sydney , Ahiida

Pic Courtesy: http://www.mondo-canuckistani.blogspot.com/

John Grisham hauled to the court for playing detective in real life

2007-01-15T10:40:00.000+05:30

Author John Grisham of 'The Firm' fame, amongst many other worldwide hits, is now himself in the dock. It seems that Grisham couldn't resist getting to the bottom of a mystery involving anonymous letters received by the wife of the head coach of his son's baseball team. Grisham probably thought that given his writing experience in crime, this would be a breeze.

Things went horribly wrong when the object of Grisham's investigations (another parent) filed a suit against him, for securing information submitted by her in the school for handwriting analysis purposes.

Now a Judge has ruled that Grisham must face trial in this case and the hunter has become the hunted!

Mumbai socialites vomit racial bile ahead of BMC elections

2007-01-14T00:11:00.000+05:30

P.Sainath of 'Everyone loves a good drought' fame, has written a brilliant piece exposing the activist socliates of Mumbai whose activism is limited only to giving interviews on television screens or dirtying the Marine Drive with their pedigreed dogs pooping all over the promenade.

These armchair activists are now casting open racial slurs by stating to the media that because their wards are reserved for the SC/ST/OBC's, in the upcoming BMC elections in Mumbai,it automatically means a lowering of standards. This is not only patently false (for the simple reason that the so called people with higher stds, from these societies are not capable of even coming out to vote, let alone dirty their hands in the hustle bustle of democratic elections), but more importantly a racial slur which tries to typecast caste with ability.

This is not an accident. Open shameless attacks, from upper castes, of this nature, under the guise of a desire to keep standards high, which are actually nothing less than a need to further and perpetuate selfish hold on resources and opportunities, have been a feature since some time now. The difference is that these attacks are getting uglier by the day and there is a urgent need to tell these people that such attacks wont go unanswered.

I am glad Sainath has done this.

Veer Sawarkars IIT educated grandson - a Beggar in Pune

2007-01-13T17:20:00.000+05:30

Channel surfing today i happened to tune in to a local cable channel which was showing the local Pune news. Since they seemed to be interviewing a beggar, I was a bit surprised. It turned out though that this beggar they were interviewing was none other than the grandson of one of India's greatest freedom fighters, Vinayak Sawarkar, who was also the founder of the Hindu Mahasabha, an ultra right organization.

The person in question was the son of Prabha Sawarkar (Sawarkar's daughter) and what's more an IIT engineer by education who has now fallen on to bad days. It seems that this person has worked across the world for his job with the U.N. and had married a Thai woman, when in Thailand. This led to his family ex-communicating him. On his return to India, he neglected his health and was also afflicted by a back probem which has now made him almost immobile. This led to him having to quit his job and slowly to penury and begging. He told his interviewer that should he receive medical treatment, he can easily get back to a job which will enable him to earn enough to support himself.

What a story! A highly educated IIT engineer, grand son of Sawarkar (who has been an inspiration to the entire right wing movement in India and has a following even after so many decades which must surely run into tens of millions of people) with a job with the U.N and now a beggar!

Now that this cable channel has broken the story, lets hope that organizations which deify Sawarkar, help his poor grandson, who is literally lying on the streets, in front of the famous Sarasbaug Ganapati, in Pune.

Update: Sahara News has just reported that a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activist has taken this guy to his home.

Incredible India - Best of Flickr Photographs (1)

2007-01-13T13:16:00.000+05:30

There are some wonderful photographs that various people have captured on Flickr, which are sadly lying neglected. To feature those, I will publish a few of the most special from here and link to them (click on the picture to view the rest of the series). Here goes -

India plays it smart at Wagah border Vs Pakistan

2007-01-12T17:27:00.000+05:30

We have all seen the Wagah Border ceremony on T.V, where soldiers on both sides indulge in a dramatic show of sorts and try to outdo each other when it comes to stomping their feet, closing the border gate with a flourish and similar shows of 'national might'! Now India has asked its soldiers to tone down this unnecessary show in tune with the times and finish their bit in a business like manner, instead of a show of hostility.

This is one of the wisest decisions we have made and although it sounds trivial, carries deep significance. Its evidence of the fact that India is 'moving on' and has realized the futility of martial shows like these which belong to another day and age. India realizes that engaging in these kinds of spectacles, merely underscores our own inadequacies and its time that we engage our attention to more meaningful and real issues ,that both our nations have neglected to grapple with.

The contest, if at all, should really be about sustainable economic strength, quality of life and ultimately, the state facilitating, in whatever way it can, a happy life for its citizens and not military rhetoric, histrionics and build up of killing machines, at the cost of our deprived populations.

That India was the first to realize this and implement it at Wagah shows who is ahead of the race right now. Pakistan's President Musharraf has already realized this when he said just a few days ago publicly, that Pakistan's needs to compete with India on the economic front and peace with India is the need of the hour. But it's a sign of how deep rooted attitudes are when you hear Lt.Col., Tariq Janjua, Commanding Officer of the Pakistan Rangers at Wagah railing against the Indians for toning down the show at Wagah when he says

"The Indians should instead show their will for meaningful peace by stopping aggression in Kashmir and try to resolve real issues," he said.

Well, the old habits of old men....

Vishnu idol found in Russia - is Lokmanya Tilak right about the origin of Aryans?

2007-01-12T11:57:00.000+05:30

Here's an incredible story written about by credible sources.

" An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia's Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities."

This reminds me of Lokmanya Tilak's thesis that the Aryans originally came to India from the Arctic Circle, in his book 'The Artic home in the Vedas'. The idea is said to have struck Tilak while reciting the shloka from the Rig Veda, a copy of which was gifted to him by Max Mueller, a celebrated Indophile and Scholar. While reading the Rig Veda, Tilak was struck by the statement `Suryodayat prak bahuni ahani asan' meaning `many days have passed before the sunrise'. This phenomenon occurs only in the Polar region and the logical conclusion therefore was that the original home of the Aryans was in the area of North Pole.

Not so noble questions to Nobel laureate, Robert Aumann

2007-01-11T16:42:00.000+05:30

Sidharth Rao, founder of Webchutney, a well regarded interactive media firm, has written a good post on obnoxious behaviour of some of the Indian audiences while attending a lecture by an Israeli Nobel Laureate (who may not be such a noble man, himself, after reading info Sidharth has dug up on Aumann!).

Believe me, I have seen worse.

Psst....Aumann, a hard line Jew, is planning to visit Kochi to meet the Jews living there. Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the South Indian erstwhile state of Kingdom of Cochin which includes the present day port city of Kochi.

Why did a Extra Terrestrial U.F.O take off from Chicago's O'Hare International airport?

2007-01-10T11:05:00.000+05:30

This report from Newsweek, might just make you think twice, if you are sceptical of the existence of Extra terrestrials and their magnificent flying machines (U.F.O's).

This is the first time I have read a mainstream publication seriously questioning the credibility of the U.S. Government on this matter.

On security checks using racial profiles

2007-01-10T10:47:00.000+05:30

My mother-in-law seemed quite happy over dinner a few days ago. A wealthy widow has bequeathed a substantial sum to the NGO she runs and her barrister wanted to transfer the cash, she informed me. Her only problem was the Barrister wished to transfer the foreign currency, by courier and that would be an offence under FEMA. I asked her for the print out of the email and read it. I then had to break her heart by informing her that this was a email scam and the man was just trying to fleece her. Reading the language in the email and having received several scam emails from Nigeria earlier, I said, " probably a Nigerian guy living in London..". Was I stereotyping an entire nation and profiling all Nigerians as fraudsters?

I am looking back at this incident which happened but a few days ago, after reading that a Nigerian minister has protested that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are insulting Nigerians and treating them with utmost contempt, when they travel on their airlines, during check-in procedures.

Perhaps. I do not know the exact details behind the accusation except what has appeared in print.But at the same time it is also a fact that Nigerian fraudsters and criminals are active almost throughout the world, in various criminal activities, especially in what is now known as the 419 crime or Nigerian email scam.

This email scam has spread its tentacles, thanks to the reach of the Internet, so far and wide across the globe, that this one scam alone has imprinted Nigerians with the stamp of criminal behaviour, in the minds and files of Police Depts. across the world. Matters are not helped by the fact that many Nigerians have emigrated from their country and live a difficult life in their chosen country and some of these individuals take to crime. In India, for instance, many Nigerians are known to be active in drug peddling, in many big cities in India.

Neither the 419 email/postal scam (named, incidentally, after a penal code in Nigeria) nor drug peddling is the exclusive preserve of Nigerians, but the bitter truth is that, the proportion of Nigerians involved has been found to be on a higher side. A contributory factor is the rampant corruption in evidence in Nigeria, which allows criminals to go scot free, despite police from various countries trying to solicit co-operation from Nigerian authorities.

Given this body of knowledge, and given the statistics of Nigerians apprehended and convicted in foreign countries of many serious crimes, including drug peddling, would you support the airlines that take extra precautions by checking Nigerians, more rigorously ?

Take another example. It is well accepted that terrorism is a global phenomena and terrorists belong to different religions. At the same time, it is a incontrovertible fact that Muslim terrorists and their attacks are the dominant feature of terrorist phenomena worldwide, not just in terms of their reach, but also in terms of sheer numbers. According to statistics of the National Counterterrorism Center, a national government organization of the United States, Islamic extremism was responsible for approximately 57% of terrorist fatalities and 61% of woundings in 2004 and early 2005, where a terrorist perpetrator could be specified.

Give this knowledge, if a police officer (belonging to whichever religion, himself), be more on guard when a Muslim passenger comes for a security check at an airport, would you understand it as a necessary precaution or would you term it as discriminatory?When the Khalistan movement was at its peak, was it not natural for security personnel to be more on guard when checking Sikhs? After all Khalistanis did not have members belonging to the Muslim religion, as far as I know !

All security screening techniques have to necessarily incorporate forming 'profiles' and profiling as a technique necessarily has to depend on information (often historical) and its analysis, which isolates distinguishing characteristics and patterns, of the criminal or criminal behaviour. These characteristics might be pertaining to looks, income, psychological make-up, socio-political dogma or - religion,race. But unless this analysis is performed, profiling is impossible and without profiling, looking for criminals would be like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

Does this make me less angry when I was frisked more stringently than normal at various international airports? No. But can one understand the rationale' behind it and accept it as inevitable and even necessay? Definitely.

Stereotypes of Bengalis, Maharashtrians,Punjabis, Gujaratis....served grilled !

2007-01-08T15:06:00.000+05:30

The Bengali: Most Bengalis are in love with themselves and believe passionately in the theory that eating fish heads is what powers their battery. The trouble is that the fish in the Sea of Bengal, looking for revenge, are starting to mutate in a manner that is leading their asses to assume the shape their heads. I shudder to think what would happen to the world when the Bengali continues mouthing 'Intellectual' stuff in a few thousand years, as is his wont now.

The Maharashtrian: His name art 'inferiority complex'. He tries to hide it by acting superior, shouting about his glorious heritage three hundred years back and such like. But in this brave new 'baniya' world where the shop keeper is the new warrior, his goose is cooked and what's more- he knows it.

The Punjabi: The Punjabi is India's Amriki, foraying into lands unknown to open the Dhaba and wahe guru di kripa, take over the place. Confidence is his strong suit and he genuinely believes that the civilized (oye,chak de phatte!) world starts in Ludhiana and ends in Chandigarh.Rapacious, noisy animal.

The Gujarati: Together with North Indians, in general, Gujaratis are past masters at hogging public spaces. But his own flourish is evident in the way he dirties it with farsaaan, sewai,dhokla and asssorted snacks.Families are pests as travel companions. Generally industrious when it comes to sitting on his ass at the cash counter for long hours.

South Indian Software techie: The English stinks but he doesn't- thanks to two baths in a day. Software is the new Southern Railways, Bay Area the new Mylapore. The women are smarter (and more articulate) than the men, in general, and they both know it.Appearances are kept outside to save face, but once at home, fear takes over.Fear of god,fear of appa,fear of amma, fear of wife.The only thing he is not afraid of, is fear itself.

Mallu Omnipresent: He can be found everywhere except in his own state,where he is hell bent on harakiri. 100% literate but completely unemployable. Is curiously schizophrenic in terms of twin tendencies of both helping fellow mallus outside the state and also pulling them down, when they try to climb out of the basket. He accomplishes both tasks by joining an union.

The Bihari and the Bhaiyya:Cockroach like survival instinct allows them to survive anywhere. Can get restless if things are working out smoothly without their pushtaini 'jugad' systems. A very common name is Scam Kumar.Has left farming for the fertile fields of IAS, IPS where the 'jugad' is alive and well.

The Aspirant: 'Inadequacy' thy name, Aspirant. Always seeking the Ultra cool, Ultra chic orgasmic moment, but never quite there.

Urban Ultra cool: has figured out sex & computers before he was 5. Likes to portray cool aloofness but is frighteningly ambitious.Sickening power of self control and an ability to say 'no' to temptations, before his CAT,GMAT, GRE exams. His moksha is to be a multi-millionaire and get that ultra-chic chick.

Urban Ultra-Chic Chick: A sub-type of the category above,she can feign a foreign accent at a seconds notice and shed it the next moment,when haggling with the Bhaiyya taxi wallah.Can speak Hindi in a foreign accent if and when needed. Known to scare sophisticates from abroad with her knowledge of what's in- abroad mein ji.Moksha means marriage to a multi-millionaire munda. Her last unfinished business in Chic-land is to appear dignified even on the pot.THAT will be the day, I tell you yaar...

Tavleen Singh wants her dog to poop freely in Mumbai

2007-01-06T20:52:00.000+05:30

If you ever have had the opportunity to read Tavleen Singh's rantings in the Indian Express, you have probably read this. In a column titled 'City plights' in June 2006, Singh cries plaintively thus-

"It is the humble view of your humble columnist that the greatest failure of governance in India is that the average Indian lives in conditions so unsanitary they would be declared unfit for humans anywhere else in the world. As someone who has had the good fortune to travel far and wide may I say that nowhere have I seen towns and cities as disgracefully unplanned and as filthy as ours. In the villages the majority of our citizens live with open drains, rotting garbage, unclean water and without sanitation. In the cities things may be marginally better, but the reality also is that half the population of Mumbai lives in slums that are unspeakably squalid. And, things are not much better in other metropolitan cities."

The humble columnist then goes on to suggest a host of solutions. Don't bother to read them now though, since it emerges that Singh herself is part of the problem rather than the solution. This humble columnist who has prescriptive dawas for all of India's problems, has been caught red handed with her dog who was pooping on Marine Drive. What's more, when the BMC demanded a fine of Rs.500/- she refused.In fact when the 'Mumbai Mirror' asked her the reason, she admitted herself that she has been caught two three times earlier and that she had refused to pay the fine earlier too! Her reasoning is that in cities like New York or London, the Municipalities there have put in place systems which ensure that rules are followed like special bags and bins. Since there is no such provision, she reasons that her dog has got the license to continue dirtying Marine drive, since " its dirty anyway". And isn't it Tavleen's responsibility to carry her own scooper and bag along?She adds " if my dog does not do it, there are other stray dogs who are doing things all over Marine Drive. There are human being defecating all along the coastline". In other words, since this issue exists, Tavleen feels that she can legitimately add to the problem.

Municipal commissioner R.A.Rajiv who was also interviewed put it well when he said

"... just because there are stray dogs doesn't mean that pets should be allowed to do the same".

I have a solution. Expel Tavleen out of India. If she lives in New york, her Dog can poop wherever it wants. Tavleen will be happy to scoop it, since its in New york or London that she is scooping poop and that carries its own prestige, after all. Aur fine dena padega to New york mein diya na...sadi huyi Mumbai mein to nahi diya?

Philanthropy in America - surprising facts

2007-01-06T00:52:00.000+05:30

The Economic Times (dtd.Jan 5th'07) has printed a Bloomberg report, which gives some surprising facts:

- Last year, Americans gave away a quarter of a trillion dollars in charity (that is Eleven lakh, twenty five thousand CRORES, in Rupee terms).

- Three out of four Americans make charitable donations every year,$1800 , on an average. This is five times more than Germans and seven times that of an average Italian family.

- Self-confessed Conservatives are a percentage point or two MORE likely to donate to charity than self-confessed liberals.

- In 2000, conservatives gave 30% more money to charity than liberals and most importantly the discrepancy wasn't a function of income. Liberal families earn 6% more than conservatives, on an average.

- The author of the study who wrote the book - ' Who really cares:The surprising truth about compassionate conservatism'- Arthur C. Brooks, an economist with Syracuse University, is a Democrat turned Republican turned Independent.

Indian Parliament - so funny, no?

2007-01-05T00:41:00.000+05:30

The web site of the Indian Parliament tries to infuse some wit & humour into what is otherwise, a dull, unimaginative space. Is it a surprise that the sarkari babus have done this in their own inimitable style? Sample this piece, in a dutifully dour section called (what else?) 'Wit & Humour'-

'NO STRUCTURE, HENCE NO INFRA-STRUCTURE'

Participating in the short duration discussion on the need to improve the infrastructure at airports in the country, on 20.12.2005 Shri Varkala Radhakrishnan while referring to the poor condition of the Thiruvananthapuram airport, said: I would not use the word ‘infrastructure’ as there is no structure. If there is structure, then only the issue of infrastructure will come. In that airport, there is no structure. It is more or less like a boat jetty or something like it”. There was all round laughter in the House.

Stomach splittingly funny, I sayyy Saarr....hee hee

Salman Khan wants Nithari serial kilers hanged !

2007-01-04T23:37:00.000+05:30

Salman Khan has taken another dash at baring open his squeaky clean heart. He has issued a byte on T.V, which asks the Government to hang (a thousand times, no less) the serial murderers in Nithari, Noida, who are accused of sexually abusing and then killing 15-30 children.

One if filled with admiration for Salman. His concern for the maintenance of law and order is laudatory. But hang on, let me jog my memory a little...isn't this the same guy who, in 2002, mowed down a person who was sleeping on the footpath, in Mumbai, and injured three others. Then, wasn't he caught hunting the endangered Chinkara deer, in Rajasthan? Cases slapped against him are still ongoing, at our judicial systems patented snail's pace. His turbulent,abusive relationship with Aishwarya Rai, at one point in time even forced Rai's parents to lodge a complaint against him.

Taking prompt note of Salman's concern for law & order, why not speed up the cases against him and hang him using the same rope used for the Nithari killers, not only for killing deer and a man, but more so for being cruelly hypocritical and blas'e.

Once is enough though, a thousand times would be overdoing a good deed.

This Cross-dresser T.V host is beautiful,famous and bi-Sexual ! Guess his country?

2007-01-04T23:02:00.000+05:30

A cross-dresser who is glamorous and a celebrity prime time television talk show host, who uses racy sexual inneundo liberally with his guests and is openly bi-sexual in real life? The show is extremely popular and so far, (its been on air for one and a half year already) there have been no audible objections to the host or its format. In which country do you think this can happen? The U.S, Netherlands, Germany or Brazil? Sahi Jawab- Pakistan! Hil gaye na aap?

The host is Ali Saleem, who becomes a beatiful widow,Begum Nawazish Ali on television and interviews, Pakistan's glitterati and top politicians, but alas, not yet, Musharraf! Pity, I for one would have liked to see how the General would have reacted, if Begum Nawazish Ali had lobbed a flirtateous glance of a grenade across.

Enron did not cheat ?

2007-01-04T09:15:00.000+05:30

Gladwell argues that Enron did NOT defraud shareholders and explains why here.

Customer complaints on Complaints.com

2007-01-03T22:58:00.000+05:30

Robert Scoble, legendary tech blogger, writes about how customers are writing about poor customer service on blogs or anywhere on the web, only to stick it into Google, to be recorded almost for posterity. He says-

"One thing I’ve learned is to always do a Google search on a business I’m thinking of working with. I add the words “problem” “complaint” or “rip off” or other negative words to their company name. If any blogger out there has complained, I’ll see that and be warned away."

Don't try this on an Indian company, Robert. Or you won't be able to buy anything : )

Even the most blue chip of Indian companies specialize in driving their customers to tear their hair out of frustration or worse, even blatantly attempt to defraud them. How many customers knock the doors of Consumer Forums and other redressal bodies, despite the claims that these forums are customer friendly? Most people, rightly or wrongly, choose to drop the issue and just change their product/service provider, if they can help it. Just goes on to show that whatever the claims about the effectiveness of these forums and other regulatory mechanisms, the system is still leaking and loaded heavily against the consumer.

The new way to hit out is to blog/write on the web about your bitter experiences. There are plenty of avenues where you can do this. Sites like Mouthshut.com invite users to post their reviews about commercial entities and are widely referred to by customers. Then, you can always blog about your experiences (or request a well known blogger to publicize your travails) and Google will help you dish it out to people who need to read it. Another effective way is to register a complaint on Complaints.com. This site acts like a public repository of customer complaints and it is upto the companies to check for their manufactured product/service and provide redressal. I checked on how many complaints were registered on for a few of the blue chip companies from India and the results were revealing:

ICICI bank : 82 search results on Complaints.com

HDFC:21

SBI:27

Maruti:16

All of TATA products/services : 152

Bharti: 10

All of Reliance products/services : 45

BSNL:51

MTNL: 52

Bajaj:10

Hero Honda :10

Air India :55

Air Deccan:17

These stats are of course not a TRUE measure of the problem, but surely they are indicative of the extent?

Air India, Reliance, TATA - wakey,wakey!!! ICICI? There is no hope for them.

Mallika Sherawat ko gussa kyon aata hai?

2007-01-03T00:49:00.000+05:30

Mallika Sherawat danced in Mumbai's J.W.Marriot for 10 minutes, realized it was being aired on T.V, and walked off the stage threatening to sue the Marriot for breach of contract. She was supposed to receive 75 lakhs for 'displaying' her 'talent' for 45 minutes.

And no, that's not her skin, in case the picture has transfixed you ...she is wearing a skin coloured garment underneath.

Talk about poor value for money!

Negroponte's Media Labs trumps India's SIMPUTER?

2007-01-02T23:25:00.000+05:30

I am thinking of getting a new laptop and forsaking the Thinkpad I am using, right now. Nicholas Negroponte who has launched the MIT Media Labs, has come up with a $100 laptop, which seems to be a very interesting machine. Its no Acer Ferrari of course, but then do most people need one, anyway? I think the 366 MHZ AMD processsor and the 512 MB flash memory, instead of a hard drive and 2 USB ports for additional memory, would do just fine, for some basic usage required for kids and the common man, wishing to surf the net. Whats more it has a brand new user interface that seems to be quite novel.

The MIT-ML was founded in 1985 by Negroponte and Jerome Wiesner, former president of the MIT and science adviser to President John F. Kennedy. "Inventing the future," is the vision of Negroponte and the objective of the MIT-ML's multi-disciplinary research, which is driven by emerging communication and information technologies.

Negroponte had tried to set up a Media Lab in India. But the project was wound up after the then Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Arun Shourie, disbanded the Indian Govt's participation. The trigger for the eventual calling off of the project seems to have been the demand made by the MIT for an additional payment of $5 million or $1 million a year over 10 years for the use of the brand name, Media Lab.Shourie had then said-"The contributions by MIT were not in evidence and MIT had not been put to any specific deliverables at the end of the year".

Pity, looks like Negroponte has managed to deliver after all.

The other low cost PC that was supposed to change the way low cost consumers would use technology was the SIMPUTER. But its hardware specs of

- CPU 32-bit Strong Arm SA-1100 RISC CPU running at 200MHz
- 24 MB Flash for Permanent Storage (DOC)
- 64 MB DRAM

seem no match vis a vis the Media Labs model. The SIMPUTER also costs Rs.9000/-, when farmers in Vidarbha are commiting suicide for not being able to repay loans as tiny as Rs.2000/-! The SIMPUTER does have a lot of features that the Media Labs model doesn't provide like an MP3 player and a variety of tools and applications that aim to make it a infotainment device. But its just too costly, for their target customers. Looks like the desire to provide more features has robbed the SIMPUTER of its basic aim to provide affordable low cost information technology solution for the masses.

Make a begining

2006-12-31T09:19:00.000+05:30

"And to make an end is to make a beginning." — T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

Fortune favours the brave

2006-12-30T10:39:00.000+05:30

While the Narayan Murthy's (founder of Infosys) and Sanjeev Bhikchandani's (founder of Naukri.com) of the world get all the press, there are plenty of small entrepreneurs who are doing extra-ordinary things in their own right. Their ideas, grit and ingenuity is no less laudable...indeed it often exceeds that of these luminaries in many ways, even if they haven't quite managed to make it that big, in terms of the moolah.

Take the case of Shirish Manjrekar , who is in the business of data management and data mining - of voters lists in Mumbai! Dainik Lokmat's Mumbai edition reports that Shirish has created different types of voters list reports which provide important electoral information to candidates. These reports are electoral information filtered on Surname (voter list based on common surnames), House (voters list filtered basis one dwelling), Building (voters list filtered basis one building), Age, Duplicate voters list (to prevent bogus voting) and Religion. These reports are invaluable to an election candidate to target his canvassing efforts and its no wonder that Manjrekar's reports are much in demand, for the last 9 years. Manjrekar says that he got the idea when he used to work as a volunteer for one of the political parties.

And then there is 17 yr. old Anita from Bihar, who saved Rs. 2500/- bought a box of bees and now earns a steady income of Rs.1,00,000/- off it. She has built her own house and also bought her brother a motorbike! This teenage girl from Bihar has been chosen the mascot for UNICEF, no less !

And what about the awesome story of Aziza Mohammand from Afganistan, about whom famous Venture Capitalist, Guy Kawasaki wrote recently? Guy wrote-" What’s the most inspiring story of entrepreneurship that you’ve heard in 2006? My answer does not involve two guys in a garage who sell their company to Google for $1.6 billion. No way...my answer is a woman who runs a soccer-ball factory in Kabul, Afghanistan."Read the Aziza Mohammand interview here.

These small entreprenuers need all the help and guidance they can get, but sadly most of our major Mngt. education institutes have largely neglected them, except IIM (B),which has recently announced that it would make special efforts, through its Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, to help small entrepreneurs who run businesses even in the non-tech area.

Britain pays back last installments of WW II debts to USA and Canada

2006-12-29T15:07:00.000+05:30

Did you know that Britain has been re-paying World War II debts to U.S and Canada, to this date? Yes, you heard it right. The last installments will be paid this year, before Dec. 31st'06, more than 50 years after the end of WW-II, according to this B.B.C report.

The amount repayed over 50 years has been more then double of what has been loaned, but considering inflation rates over the years, it's clear that Britain got a very good deal.

But that still doesn't take anything away from the fact that Britain did not excuse itself from the repayment, under the pretext that they saved the world from Hitler and Nazism.How many of us can put our hands on our heart and swear that India would have behaved as impeccably, and tried not to wriggle out, had we been in a similar position?

And now that Britain is free of this burden, how about asking them to behave as impeccably and give back our Kohinoor, which the Queen proudly sports on her crown, to this day? : )

Microsoft and Mallya try their hand at 'entertaining' to curry favour...and fail

2006-12-28T20:56:00.000+05:30

Microsoft heavy duty Windows Vista OS will debut soon and the company's dirty tricks dept. is fully geared up to meet the challenge. 'Wired' magazines blog has reported that Microsoft has presented selected bloggers with heavy duty Acer laptops loaded with Vista as 'gifts'. Apparently, Microsoft thought that the bloggers would 'take it, shut it and promote it'. But the lid is off and the shit is hitting the fan, across the web and blogosphere, with a few bloggers disclosing Microsoft's largesse. I am yet to read that they have returned the machines, though, after writing about it. Smart : )

Microsoft had also invited a few selected 'A' list loggers to meet Gates, a few weeks ago. Celebrated blogger and geek, Robert Scoble, posted an article on why these bloggers failed to ask Bill a single hard hitting question, during their meeting.

Scoble says- "Truth is that getting access to tech industry leaders is so rare that most people, if they do get access, turn into softies. Why?
Well, let’s assume I paid your round-trip airfare, hotel, bought you nice meals, and gave you some nice swag. Wouldn’t you be feeling just a little more generous toward me? But, now, let’s say I set it up so that every year I’d do the same thing but I’d put little hints out there that you wouldn’t get to come to next year’s shindig if you made any trouble.Or, even better, let’s say I just don’t invite any trouble makers at all."

Shame on you Bill. Looks like Warren Buffets company and friendship has not rubbed off any of his famous integrity on you, yet.

Closer home, U.B group chairman Vijay Mallya, was also in a 'extra-generous mood' recently, to the members of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC). I said 'extra-generous', because Mallya is well known for giving people rides in his private aircraft, hosting lavish parties, for the benefit of people whose 'co-operation' he needs, routinely.The King of Good times, was contesting for the post of the Chairman of this prestigious racing club and pulled all stops to ensure that the voting members had a jolly good time, what with wine (doesn't cost Mallya much, anyway), women and song (Sophia Choudhary 'sang', or at least tried to,while displaying her thoroughbred figure).

Alas! Members of the club had all the fun at Mallya's expense and then voted for Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla to be elected Chairman. Dr. Poonawalla had been smart enough to give presentations on his achievements and future plans, and not just host fancy parties with dumb belles jiggin' wit it.

How the mighty have fallen : )

Update:

Here's a list of 14 bloggers who have received the hardware and what they intend to do with the Microsoft Christmas gift.

Mauricio Freitas - Decides to keep it.

Scott Beale - Will probably give it away.

Ed Bott - Decides to keep it.

Mitch Denny - Gives it to her wife.

Darren Rowse - Will donate to charity after reviewing.

Barb Bowman - Decides to keep it.

Long Zheng - Will probably keep it.

Brandon LeBlanc - May offer it to blog readers or send it back to Microsoft.

Michael Arrington - May give to someone at CrunchGear.

Joey deVilla - Decides to keep it.

Marshall Kirkpatrick - Will probably return it to Microsoft.

Zen Heavengames - Decide to keep it.

Robert McLaws - Decides to keep it.

Chidambaram kicks the Times of India's butt over unauthorized pictures

2006-12-28T10:42:00.000+05:30

The Times of India (TOI) has managed to ruffle the Finance minister P.Chidambaram, no less. It so happened that Mr.Chidambaram decided to have a quiet family evening in a restaurant in Bangalore, when the TOI photographer repeatedly asked for permission to click pictures, which were denied. So when the family was coming out of the restaurant, after their meal, the obstreperous Times of India photojournalist, waiting on the sidelines to capture a picture, started clicking away, regardless. The F.M was upset at this intrusion and in an effort to avoid the photographer, tried to duck/turn right, on the steps of the restaurant. This led to a minor fall and a fracture to the F.M's right toe.

What followed was comic. After the furious F.M dialled some TOI head honchos, the resident editor and the photographer rushed to the hospital and destroyed the pictures before the F.M's very eyes!

Well well, rank hath its privileges. Would the TOI have even considered asking for permission to any other celebrity or have shown such alacrity in destroying the pictures, after the celebrity complained?

A global economic and stock market recession? Watch this space...

2006-12-27T20:43:00.000+05:30

The industrial manufacturing numbers, for the month of October'06 in India, came as a shock to many, who had taken growth almost for granted. It struck the lowly 6 odd % mark, for people who were used to the number hitting 13% routinely. The next day the stock market tumbled in a heap.

Many analysts predict this will be only a blip and the numbers will hit the usual range, from Nov'06 onwards. Hmmm...who knows? Investors are jittery and the markets are bound to be volatile, with people betting on both sides of the growth debate.

While we debate this topic in India, its useful to remember that the U.S.A is going through its own growth pangs. Except, the question being posed is not whethereconomic growth would surpass over what it was last year- but how far down the line, the U.S economy would recede. The much criticized, over leveraged housing market has finally collapsed in the U.S. A few friends I know who had cancelled their house buying plans, due to prices reaching stratospheric levels in California, where, reportedly, most of the excess occurred, are again contemplating whether they should make the purchase. This might mean two things: The housing market may not totally collapse and therefore the recession won't be that steep. Or, it might just be that we haven't hit the bottom of the U.S housing bust and there is more pain ahead, at the end of the barrel.

This has profound impact on the performance of Indian economy and therefore the Indian stock market, of course. For Indian investors invested moderately to heavily in the market, it would pay well to keep an eye on U.S economy numbers on a periodic basis and pull out at the first signs of trouble there. After all, if the U.S economy sneezes, it wont be long before India and China catch the cold and God forbid, a flu.

As of now opinion amongst analysts is divided. From Mark Faber to George Soros, every ones sitting on the fence and watching the horizon carefully. Its a bit like sitting in a boat, before deciding to venture in the ocean or pull out of the voyage, watching for the first signs of an impending disastrous storm. Except that, in this case, almost everyone is doing the same and there are very few who are brave enough to have left the shores. Hope this article, published in the Wall Street Journal helps you make up your mind, which way the winds are blowing. It paints a very mixed picture though, and I am not sure it will give you any definitive answers.

Superman Dean Karnazes

2006-12-27T00:18:00.000+05:30

There is man and then there is Super man. Dean Karnazes seems to fit into the latter category. I am speechless after reading this.

And I was happy with my recent record of a 30 minute brisk walk, 3 times a week...

Dec 26 Tsunami - waves of destruction

2006-12-26T14:13:00.000+05:30

Picture this-Exactly two years ago, a highly successful top notch regional executive, universally liked, based in Mumbai and working for a major multinational company, decides to go on vacation to East Africa. His immediate sub-ordinate from Dubai, suggests that their families head for a vacation to Galle, in SriLanka, instead. He agrees. After vacationing in a sea side Galle resort for a few days, they decide to leave the resort to move to another inland holiday spot. Just an hour before their scheduled departure from the resort when they are having their breakfast, giant waves from the sea strike the resort with full force.

When the madness is over, it is established that everyone from the two families is washed away never to be found, except one child from the Mumbai based exec's family, who is found and bundled back home, traumatised. What was once a vibrant, loving family had been reduced to a minor statistic.

Did anyone of the couple of hundred thousands, including this exec. and his family, who were counted as dead, ever think that they would fall for 10-15 metre tall waves, coming from the sea, whose origin would be somewhere near Indonesia? Life is stranger than fiction.

The 'God knows how they came up with it?' pricing model

2006-12-26T12:09:00.000+05:30

When I studied marketing during my MBA, we were taught the funda of psychological pricing. We have all seen it in our daily lives. Goods or services priced below what the seller determines is the psychological price line of resistance, beyond which the customer would not buy or would think twice, before buying a product/service. So if that price line is deemed to be Rs. 100, the seller will price it at (say) Rs. 99, and so on.

BATA shoes pricing strategy is based almost exclusively on this concept and is almost legend in marketing circles to the extent they take it- shoes priced at (say) Rs. 499.99/-, for example. So much so, that Bata's pricing has become the butt of many a joke.

But now I have found a tough competitor for Bata, and this entity not only believes and practices psychological pricing, it also follows 'the god knows how they come up with that' pricing model. You guessed it right. Whenever anything can be described as 'God knows how...'- it has to be the Indian Government !

Some examples of inane pricing I recently encountered :

- Scene : Mumbai-Pune expressway; Status : A serpentine queue of vehicles at the toll booth; Price of one way coupon: Rs. 118/-. Nice and round isn't it? Not Rs. 100/-, not Rs110/-, not even Rs. 115/-...arre, 120 hi le lo yaar...! The result is the inevitable time taken to give correct change or collect return change.

- Scene : Govt. glidinng school, Hadapsar, Pune; Status: a 1 hour mandatory wait to take a joyride on Sunday; Pricing: Rs. 188/- per 10 minute ride; Question to the administrator: Why Rs.188/-, why not Rs. 190 or even Rs.200? Answer : A blank stare. The implication: Abe Ch***** , that's why we are a Govt. agency.

- Scene: Pune-Satara expressway; Status:A serpentine queue of vehicles at the toll booth; Pricing : Rs.11/-

And I can go on and on...but you get the point.

My theory is that some Sarkaari Babu must have spent quite some time doing complex calculations based on a pre-determined time when they would have to break even. Then based on the expected volume loads & costs, the price required to be charged must have been calculated. So if that price came to Rs. 118/-, that is what needs to be charged and not a penny more or a penny less. If he does, who knows, what sort of inquiry commission might be set up to investigate this 'irregularity'?

But then we must take solace in John F. Kennedy's observation- "“My experience in government is that when things are non-controversial and beautifully coordinated, there is not much going on”. If that truly be the case, I would happily pay the exact change for Rs. 118/-, every time, for the rest of my life!

Insane opposition to Helmets in India

2006-12-25T14:10:00.000+05:30

If some one was trying to save your life, would you protest against that person, for doing it without your permission? Would you go so far as to file a case against her/him in a court of law?

You think that someone doing so, would be crazy?

Well, would you call able minded, educated people like students of a well known law college, local members of the legislative assembly, an eminent sports medicine doctor and the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat crazy? Yet, these are the very people, who have opposed tooth and nail, the imposition of the rule sought to be implemented by the local authorities, to make wearing of helmets by two wheeler riders compulsory.

The evidence for helmets saving lives due to prevention of head injuries is irrefutable. According to research reports quoted by The Hindu,"in a mishap, this protective headgear is estimated to lower the likelihood of death by a significant 40 per cent and risk and severity of injury by as much as 70 per cent. When Thailand passed laws making helmets compulsory,the same newspaper reports that the country recorded a 40 per cent drop in head injuries and 24 per cent fewer deaths in motorcycle accidents." Helmets are compulsory in almost all developed and many developing countries. When Taiwan and Italy, where the number of two wheelers is significant, like us, made helmets compulsory, they could achieve a remarkable reduction in deaths and serious injury from accidents.

But in India, opposition to the imposition of helmets remains fierce, among some.The problem is that these silly sods have successfully derailed the imposition of helmets in Pune and now they are trying to do the same in Gulbarga.They object that this rule shouldn't be imposed on people. They want people to have a choice as to whether or not they would like to wear a helmet. But experience with people being given the choice, in this regard,has shown that people invariably end up not wearing helmets, despite being aware of their benefits. One only has to walk about any major Indian city where helmets are not compulsory to know that hardly 1-5% of the people choose to wear them, by choice.

The other objection that protesters came with, in Pune, was more serious. They claimed that helmets did not improve the chances of preventing mortality, as was being claimed by researchers all over the world. They paraded the opinion of a leading sports medicine doctor in Pune, who agreed with them. One does not know what ground breaking research this doctor came up with to come up with these fantastic conclusions, but he might be interested to know that even an apex organisation like the W.H.O, has endorsed the positive benefits of helmets and is trying to persuade countries to adopt this rule.

But when politicos, petty self-interests or plain stupidity takes over, can some one help you? Forget W.H.O, not even the Government of India, can help people when they won't allow themselves and others to be helped. And then these same people turn around and accuse the Govt.of doing nothing to improve road safety!

The opposition to the helmet rule in Pune and some other Indian cities serves as an excellent example of the self defeatist and crab mentality that some Indians possess, and would even be comic, had it not been so tragic and even, murderous. Like when yesterday afternoon, I saw a scooter driver dead near the RCF building in Chembur, Mumbai, with severe injuries to his head. Had he been wearing an helmet, he could have survived.

Vinashkaale Viparit Buddhi!

Only in India

2006-12-25T12:08:00.000+05:30

Boost your lazy colleagues productivity - by working harder yourself!

2006-12-23T23:42:00.000+05:30

Have you ever chaffed at how your colleagues are slow and inefficient compared to yourself? Of course? Well, now there is a way to improve those slackers !

Click here to read all about it.

IIT and IIM graduates follow Goebbels!

2006-12-23T21:43:00.000+05:30

If you scan through the media in India, you will be lucky to escape lascvisous praise for the IIT's and IIM's. These twin institutions take in a minuscule percentage from the lakhs of people that apply to be admitted. They are almost fully funded by the government of India and the student fees are heavily subsidized, despite the majority of students being from the middle class to upper middle class who can afford the fees, and despite them being assured of landing jobs with astronomical salaries.

Pre-liberalization,a majority of IIT'ians never stayed in India to take up a job here, in the public or private sector. They went abroad and lived there, after they completed their post graduate education there. It is only now that India is a growth story, that IIT'ians have suddenly discovered India and are returning in droves.

Who drove Indian indsutry in all these years? Graduates from Regional engineering colleges, private colleges and some notable IIT'ians like Narayan Murthy who came back during this difficult period to work in India or some who never went abroad (like my father in law, who chose to work with poor rickshaw wallahs in remote Maharashtra, after finishing his IIT and IIM education).

But the number of square inches devoted to the praise of these twin institutions would make you believe that they have single handedly made India to what it is today. One IIT alumni was quoted as saying there was no "alternative" to IIT in India!Perhaps he needs to be explained that the lakhs of software engineers in India today are not IIT products but alumni from Regional and Private Engineering colleges. They are the engine of India's software growth story- not IIT's and IIM graduates!

Don't get me wrong. I have the respect they deserve for IIT, IIM's and the contribution of some of their alumni. But the fact is that the majority of these have chosen to lead selfish lives, despite getting subsidized education from the Indian taxpayers. The fact that they are NOW coming to give back (like for the pan-IIT conference in Mumbai, where IIT'ians are debating nothing less than bringing a revolution of development in India and doing that using their "superb organizational skills") is a case of too little and too late.

IIT, IIM alumnus's Goebbels like propaganda, spreading falsehoods about the extent of their contribution to India's growth story needs to be urgently corrected. Someone needs to ask them a question- where were you when India truly needed you?

Update: Today morning, I was surprised to read the following news article in the Sunday Times of India which quotes President APJ Abdul Kalam Azad, titled " IIT value addition low- Kalam" and echoes the exact sentiments I have expressed above . In a dressing down to IIT'ians the President said "Almost 20 million children are born in India every year and 1% are admitted to IIT.They are the best in India; value addition by IIT is very low. IIT takes the best and delivers the best. However, direct benefits for the nation in terms of knowledge products and intellectual property is low (emphasis mine)" he said, addressing 4000 IIT'ians from 20 countries.

Who is the best copycat of them all? Bloggers or mainstream media?

2006-12-23T11:10:00.000+05:30

Bloggers are often accused to blaisely lifting material from 'primary' media like magazines, newspapers, T.V and radio and are therefore merely 'derivative'- as described by Malcolm Gladwell, who himself is a blogger but also writes for The New Yorker. Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson quoted Malcolm Gladwell as having said, "Blogs, which are mostly written by amateurs, couldn't possibly do what We Do. Instead, they mostly just comment on what we do, supplying low-value-add chatter about our stories that must not be confused with Proper Journalism or other Quality Content from us Professionals."

I have to say I agree with Gladwell. And like Gladwell says, I don't even think there is something especially bad about being a derivative. As long as I have something independent to say on that 'primary' story and have cited the original reference, I would in fact welcome some one doing all the legwork for me.

But, even Gladwell won't accuse majority of the blogging community, especially not the established ones, for committing plagiarism. Most would almost always link back to the original reference. Alas, the same cannot be said of mainstream 'primary' media. In India for instance, T.V channels routinely fail to name the channel who first broke the story. They will usually maintain a studied silence on the entire story, if they can help it. If the news item has to be mentioned, they will rather die than give credit to their competitor for discovering it. Bloggers on the other hand, almost instinctively, link back to the original source.

And this is not just an Indian disease. Take the example of a recent story NEWSWEEK broke on the health benefits of Resveratrol, in terms of arresting ageing (Issue dtd- Dec11th'06). The story was in fact written by one of the Harvard researchers, who had worked on the project, for NEWSWEEK. CNN (Not CNN-IBN) did a story on the same topic and telecast it in Asia, today. Did they 'link back' to NEWSWEEK, at least in passing? Are you kidding? CNN is part of the TIME Warner group which also has TIME, NEWSWEEK'S arch rival, in its bouquet. They telecast the story as if they had unearthed it.

If international marquee' names like CNN engage in this kind of behavior, why blame the poor little blogger surviving on Google Adsense dole?

Al-Jazeera's Ahmed Sheikh does some plain speaking

2006-12-22T20:40:00.000+05:30

Today, when the global world view of the educated elite is almost completely being shaped by the western media, which are more often than not biased and self serving, the advent of Al-Jazeera, which has very rapidly become the no.1 news channel in the middle -east and is rapidly expanding in other regions of the world, is a very important event. Al Jazeera claims at least 40-million viewers in the Arab world. In India, Al-Jazeeera news is telecast by India T.V.

Al-Jazeera Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Sheikh was recently interviewed by WorldPoliticsWatch. Read it here. It gives an interesting peek into the editorial policies of Al-Jazeera and the man behind the news.

Right to Information? Yes, but....

2006-12-22T17:17:00.000+05:30

Express India reports that the Home Ministry has refused to part with documents pertaining to Netaji Subashchandra Bose's disappearance, under the Right to Information act, because "The matter happened more than 20 years from the date of request..."

Attempts by the Government to muzzle the power of the RTI are nothing new. Its rather disappointing that a usually sensible and progressive P.M, like Manmohan Singh, has become a willing participant in this attempt. One way in which the Government tried to do this was to suppress the publication of the notings made by bureaucrats,ministers and other officials on files. The notings often are crucial to understand the nub of the problem and therefore suppressing the publication of this information is akin to rendering the entire act a toothless tiger. It was under relentless pressure from social activists and NGO's that the Government has had to finally buckle down.

And now this! If anything, the Home Ministry needs to publish the documents concerning Netaji immediately because they are so old! In many countries round the world there is a deadline, after which all confidential documents automatically become available to the public at large. The U.S.A for instance has this limit set at 25 yrs. On Dec 31st 2006, for instance, millions of pages of documents including those belonging to the FBI will be declassified. This requirement to automatically declassify documents after 25 yrs was created by Clinton but has been implemented by Bush, much to the surprise of many watchers. The New York Times writes "Gearing up to review aging records to meet the deadline, agencies have declassified more than one billion pages, shedding light on the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War and the network of Soviet agents in the American government.Gearing up to revieyw aging records to meet the deadline, agencies have declassified more than one billion pages, shedding light on the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War and the network of Soviet agents in the American government."

Ms. Nelson , a historian at American University is quoted in this report as saying- " “Americans need to know this history, and the history is in those document.”

Our sarkari babus obviously don't believe that we Indians need to know of our history. After all, who knows what skeletons might come tumbling out of the closet!

The code of the Pathan

2006-12-22T15:37:00.000+05:30

The Pathans are an enigma. They are known to be fierce fighters living in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and are known to be fiercely independent. This part of the world is truly a world onto its own, with seemingly archaic laws and social mores and yet the Pathans are also known to be some of the most generous and hospitable people.

The Economist has done a wonderful feature in which they try to decipher the code of the Pushtunwali. Sample this:

Pushtunwali's principles have not changed in centuries—certainly not since they were recorded by Victorian ethnographers, middle-class soldiers and civil servants: players of the Great Game. Most lionised the fierce tribesmen, who periodically murdered them. Some even swallowed a delicious Pushtun claim to be descended from a lost tribe of Israel. But not all Westerners fell for the Pushtun. As a reporter for the Daily Telegraph, attached to the Malakand Field Force, Winston Churchill wrote: “Their system of ethics, which regards treachery and violence as virtues rather than vices, has produced a code of honour so strange and inconsistent that it is incomprehensible to a logical mind.”

Must read.

Mittal 2- TATA 0?

2006-12-21T15:07:00.000+05:30

L.N.Mittal is continuing from where he left. The steel king has now taken over a Mexican steel company called Sicartsa for $1.4 billion. Here's a comparitive analysis of the bid for Corus by the TATA's vs Mittal's latest offer to Sicartsa:


	Corus	Sicartsa
Capacity (million tonnes)	18.2	2.7
Revenues (million dollars)	9200('06)	956 ('04)
EBITDA (million dollars)	520('06)	248('04)
Price offered/installed capacity ($)	527.47	518.51

It doesn't take much to figure out that the TATA's are paying a high price for Corus. Although they are paying only a marginally higher $527 per installed tonne vs $518 which the Mittals are paying for Sicartsa,we must remember that Sicartsa seems to be a highly profitable operation by all accounts, especially when compared with CORUS. I won't be surprised if it is the pension costs that are pulling down profitability of CORUS considering the size of its work force and the demographic profile of its workers. That fits in with why CORUS has made pension compensation guarantees such a major point in its sale discussions with TATA.Unfortunately, EV/EBITDA value in the Sicartsa deal is not readily available to compare it with the CORUS 6.2 times offer.

And TATA's have not even clinched the deal yet! By all accounts they would have to bid at least $10 billion to ward of another bidder viz.,CSN. That makes the bid even more expensive. No wonder the TATA Steel share price (listed in India) has tanked since the announcement of the bid for Corus.

The Mittal Arcelor deal was a share swap offer, ensuring Mittal steel did not have to bleed cash. TATA's, on the other hand are being asked to put ALL the cash on the table before being handed over the keys!

Most importantly there is a clear case for the Sicartsa acquisition with its plant and Mittal's own plant operating almost side by side. TATA's are , however, struggling to make a case for the strategic fit in buying CORUS, given that the Indian Govt. has restrictive controls on exporting Iron Ore out of India to be used in CORUS's mills in Europe and the fact that TATA's have committed that they won't lay off workers en masse' and keep production going like it is now, at least for a few more years.

All in all, it seems that after the Arcelor deal, this is the second deal where Mittal has shown his smarts. Mittal 2- TATA 0 ?

Will prayers save Sanjay Dutt?

2006-12-21T10:11:00.000+05:30

Sanju Baba has suddenly discovered the joys of social service, performed in full view of T.V crews. The other day he visited kids suffering from cancer.He has also turned fultu religious and is on to a 'havan -a -day ' schedule. Perhaps he believes that a pooja a day will keep the jail warden away! I found it hilarious that television anchors were trying to interpret Dutt's looking down with eyes shut, while performing the havan, as a sign of vulnerability and contrition. I might be a cynic, but having attended a few havans myself, I can tell you that in all probability, Sanju Baba was merely trying to shield his eyes from the smoke.

All this is not as innocuous as it seems, though. These well publicized social service missions, appeals from well known personalities to have mercy and poojas, I suspect, are all carefully orchestrated moves to influence the judgement and portray Sanju Baba as the good guy at heart who just happened to be at the wrong time at the wrong place. After all the judge cannot be approached directly, but then he sure must watch the tube in the evening!

So far it seems to have worked. Sanju Baba was not found guilty under TADA, while his less privileged co-accused were convicted under TADA, for exactly the same charges. Lately, Sanju Baba was given an extended bail, which even he, had not expected.

So don't be surprised if the final sentence is a lenient one. I for one, am rooting that Dutt gets what he deserves- which is to be treated like any other common citizen.

Update: News channels have just reported that Sanjay Dutt's bail has indeed been extended until Jan 18th 2007 ! Long live Justice!