The Mini India…. Naah Not Mumbai or Delhi..… Its Bengaluru!!!

Yes.. Thats just about it.. But why!!! Mumbai or Delhi have been the melting pot of various Indian cultures for decades…. Well I may be factually wrong but though Mumbai & Delhi may still have more migrant population, but the level of integration in Bengaluru is just amazing… In addition, per my humble views, Bengaluru has been the least intolerant… Let me explain why….

As a tamilian, I always knew Bengaluru had a sizeable tamil population. DUring my first visit to the city, I was almost shocked, when a driver in the old airport walked up to me and started talking to me in Tamil without me even uttering a word…. The telugu connection is well known due to the Rayalaseema boundary… But its almost amazing to know that there are localities were they speak telugu just like its Andhra..

Ok all said and done, wheres the migration angle come down… well we have an abundance of mallus as well.. Oh yes.. Mallus can be everywhere, didnt we know that our own mallu nair served tea to Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin….

We have the odiyas & Bongs invading Bengaluru like never before… during my last few visits I have noticed many shops with signboards in odiya & bangla!!! Even the rising population of the easterners in my office is an evidence too… And know what there are other north eastern brethren as well… The train and flight connectivity to other parts of teh country from Bengaluru is fast catching up and has seen an amazing growth… I dont say this… A host of people from caretakers of serviced apartments that form my temp. homes and conversations with colleagues indicate this….

There is a joke doing the rounds in whatsapp saying the languages of Bengaluru are C++, Python C# et al… I say the languages if Bengaluru are English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Odiya, Bangla, and ofcourse there is Kannada too :-)

Yes there are fringe elements who oppose this but on a whole Bangaloreans ( uh the real ones) seem perfectly at harmony… That makes Bengaluru the mini India!!!

PS: Well Bengaluru you may be so good …. but aamchi Pune is the place to be any day!!!!

Unity In Diversity

A lot has been said over the circular by GoI giving preference to Hindi on Social media.. needless hullabaloo given the fact that the circular in no way imposes Hindi as a national language..

Let us go back in time to understand.. when in 1965, GoI wanted to make Hindi as the Only Official language, many opposed and rightly so, due to which we are today where we are...

At that time a compromise was worked out by the LS government.. English as the official language, with Hindi given an equal status in Central Government communications and initially 15 languages in the 8th schedule of the constitution as official languages in respective states and regions , which shall also be used in parliament... the 15 is now 22...

English is in no way defined in the 8th schedule as its a foreign language..

All GoI Communications are in both english and Hindi with Hindi being used in all government functions .. Even in loksabha or rajya sabha the arrival of the speaker is announced in Hindi... All government websites have been in two editions... hence whether people agree or not Hindi is a DE FACTO National Language....

We have established a system in which english is given preference and its well oiled now.. People can learn and master the language.. Now should we accept a common Indian language as a link in our unity in diversity.. regardless of the fact that only 25% have declared Hindi as mother tongue, its a well known fact that among the Indian languages, its widely spoken and understood..

If the government gives priority to it in Social Media with an english comment accompanying it, People should be gracious enough to accept it and move on... It is in no way an Imposition of a language

If people can learn a foreign language like english for better earning prospects, they should be willing to learn hindi for integrity sake.. If they refuse its like cheating.. then dont say unity in diversity.. its a hogwash.. its only diversity...People are learning german, japanese what not to earn.. cant they learn a language of this country for the sake of unity? Are we not that mature?

No use in arguing everyone learn telugu, kannada marathi , dogra then we will build unity.. thats immature and idiotic..

KVS Schools have only English and Hindi as Languages..Better to make all schools teach English, Hindi and the local regional language as the third language up until say secondary level..

If we still cant accept, why call us one nation, why not United States of India as a fringe party suggested in its 2014 manifesto??? food for thought!!!

Indian IT & The Media

It was not until the late 1990s that the Indian media took notice of Indian IT firms and started their coverage as such... Typically there were 5-6 firms which received a major chunk of the coverage.. Infy, Satyam, HCL, Wipro, TCS & Cognizant in more are less the same sequence.. Infy & Satyam were headed by really flamboyant and media savy bosses back then... TCS was unlisted and CTS was seen an outside firm as it was unlisted in India ....
Then came the folklore which everyone loved... a disciplinarian boss, darling of the media, core IITans blah blah... Media was seeing only the rosy picture.. with information about the industry itself so sparse and the key players were either unlisted or did not live by the media, Satyam & Infy which warmed up to the media became quite popular..

Mind you the serious business media were carrying stories on all major ones and were always doing serious comparisons even when TCS was unlisted... but I'm talking about the general media, which mortals like me follow...

Media frenzy is like underworld.. u live and die by it, Satyam, AAP are all great examples.. so it was not a surprise when after a while of sluggish growth, media ruthlessly cut off the bellwether tag and I read some articles which late in 2012 said TCS is the new bellwether.. 7 years after listing... i found that funny....

Anyhow, the reason for Infy sluggishness was attributed to the MD, 3.0 strategy and what not... but one man stood out and made a revelation, albeit late, to me which seems likely cause.. Chairman of Manipal Institutions and Infy veteran Pai has said that lack of empowerment among senior executives may have caused some of the sluggishness...

In the end all this drama and hype boiled down to just CEO selection... Naturally, the way the company has been operating and given the media limelight there will be many contenders for the top post...

Not many media reports are to be seen on the top execs of other firms.. no one knows the VPs of TCS ot CTS or wipro beyond the C level or the ones who are not in the board...Infy names keep getting published every now and then...

There were some key exits in TCS just around the 1-2 year period before and after the transition in 2008...Wipro also saw some exits at the time of 2 CEO model...none of these was made headline material....

On the one hand people are somehow made popular and on the other , when they leave its being said that not all were high performers.. well if that is the case then how did they make it so high up to the corporate ladder?

The CEO succession could have been done in a muted fashion as well... TCS, CTS saw a relatively smooth succession and so did wipro after Vivek Paul and  2 CEOs to Kurien....

similar hype was made in replacing the exec chairman after murthy... Yes media would intervene.. they did so in the case of the Tata succession be in in 1991 or in 2012.. I still remember in 1991 when my family elders were quoting a media report ad said RNT is quite a surprise choice don't know what JRD is thinking..

and the noise around Rohan Murthy.. I still can't fathom.. Rishad Premji wa inducted into Wipro and has been silently working for more than 7 years.... I don't think there was ever such noise..

may be this noise was because of Murthy's own doing.. the kejriwalesque statement on wards of Infy founders will never work in the firm.. Why? is the firm too lowly for them? or are they not qualified enough.. it would have been better had he just said.. there would be conscious plan for the succession of he wards of the founders.. they can join and rise through the ranks per their interest and merit... I never heard such a positive statement from Murthy...

always I have been hearing comments with some level of attitude.. be it the comment attributes to him on love ur job not ur company...that was silly... or be it that comment/memo on people spending time in offices for free AC & net... well that's equally silly...

These things go unnoticed when success is the norm of the day.. and when success begins to get slow ( mind you no failure yet just slow success) the scrutiny is more minute..
That's why many media carried a series of articles which eventually seen as defamatory culminating in the notice for apology or court case... Well  let's see if this new mgmt. brings out any changes..

Money Money Money...

Somehow making a quick buck or having a keen financial sense is usually taken in a negative connotation in our culture.. Either one is hugely successful to change it otherwise keep hearing the cliched name callings..

The most stereotyped folks in this have been the marwaris...Typically shown in films and tv soaps as shylocks who are ruthless or blindly following the footsteps of family elders into the family entrepreneurial set up... Many whatsapp jokes and twitter trends also seem to mock on the same trait..

The marwari blokes I have met since my college days have given me a new thought process.. All of them successful in their own right and have a very keen financial sense and approach to making money...

This is about few such interesting people.. ( Not Birlas or Goenkas or Bajajs) just AAM marwaris ;-)

Person 1 : Classmate in College - Family settled in TN for a while.. family business deals with some electrical fuse making etc... bloke joins IT in college.. after the second year suddenly makes a comment.. my Dad wasted 3 lakhs for the capitation fee. he could have put me in DGD Vaishnav (one of the famous colleges in chennai run by marwari trust) and given me that money.. I would've already started a business... He went  on to join MBA in oz land .. did not hesitate to retuen when the course was not as expected.. (Reason given - UG i had do to however it was, PG i need it my way)... joined  a entrepreneurial PGDBA course.. started the dealership of a German Carmaker in Chennai, now dealership spread across major cities in TN.. Just rocking entrepreneur... People may say he had the financial backing but the way he shaped his career is inspiring....

Person 2 : Casual Acquaintance during a bus journey from Pune to Mumbai.. Family of jewellers and shylocks.. did his engineering on merit.. set up a small startup specialising in digital signatures and PKIs .. had coop banks in MH as customers.. after a while sold the product to a mid sized IT firm and joined their product division.. has a good shot at C level now...

Person 3 - Neighbour.. Jeweller and shylock background.. Dad offered to fund any biz he wanted to set up.. dude did an architect course.. took a bank loan and is growing his design studio/firm now...Definitely in for a long innings of success

Person 4 : Another Neighbour .. Some family business in MP or CG... bloke is an auditor with a top consulting firm... immense knowledge in financial matters courtesy the education and the DNA ... from the looks and interactions definitely will retire early and do something on his own...

Person 5 : Colleague .... Family has a roaring Garlic business.. only kid.. showed entrepreneurial talent as a school goer by persuading elders to set up a PCO and making a 50% profit margin.. sold me a lunch deal which was cheap as well as tasty...  has plans to make it big in business after a decade of corporate stint....

These people have definitely inspired me...not that i too will set up a biz... that is never my cup of tea... but the way they look at finance and success in particular, what motivates them is just worth understanding.. The fact is these guys have been able to break into new territories from a supposedly rigid structure...Wishing them all more success....

Well for greater facts about the famous marwari's do read the feature named "Marwari Power" by forbes India....

Dad with an unusual Job

I have already blogged about my dad's job ever since he retired about 7 years ago... but nonetheless with an IB man again at the help as NSA (2nd one after MK Narayanan), I thought it makes sense to write again about what my dad's job really meant to me at various stages of my life...

Stage 1 - Don't really know what that means

I was in primary school when we were asked to talk briefly about what each of our dads did for a living... and I was not really able to talk anything.. total blank.. all I was able to tell was my dad works in an office!!!! dont know which office.. those offices never really have an address!!!


Stage 2 - He does something scary!!!

This was when we moved to Guwahati... On my second day in Guwahati I woke up to the news of Rajiv Assassination and dad was away for a long time to office ... didnt really have an iota what the heck was all about.. overhearing a few conversations I could make out that the job was something really scary!!!

Stage 3 - Oh boy I love this stuff.....

This was a longer stage.. almost midway into our 3 year stay in Assam I had begun to develop some idea of the spy job.. at that point it meant they snoop on people who were bad ... this they did to save India....

Around the age of 12-13 only did I develop the full view of what IB is about and their mode of operations.. Back in Kanchi, it was a house cum residence and most of the times all folks at the office would be on field.. I was the unofficial phone operator...

Once or twice I was really in the thick of things taking messages on the log book about someone who was marked for either snooping or phone tapping!!! As a teenager that was really adrenaline pumping and jamesbondesque adventure....

Stage 4 - Ok I get it but Oh My God when will he return home safe !!

This was in the late teens when you really knew what was dad supposed to do in the week ... where there were sensitive political meetings or conferences where he had to literally crash uninvited or snoop some crackpot .. I still do remember in Crica 2002 Chennai Mayoral poll counting day, he went at 8 in the morning.. JJ rigged that counting heavily ( mind you polls were rigged still STalin was winning so this lady decided to rig counting) the counting went on for 2-3 days and dad was missing @home.. yup he did not return for 2 days straight... that was like nerve wracking

Luckily the Stage 5 didn't last too long.. some time during my college he went to work for Immigration and that was it...

But looking back I actually feel that he should have taken the extension they gave him and worked 1-2 more years back in the IB :-)....

Battleground MH

With the general elections finally decided and new government about to assume charge, many people think that the political dust will finally settle... To political buffs like me, theres always the next election to watch out for...

I have already simultaneously followed the South African elections, Afghan presidential poll round one and have started following Egypt polls.. up next are Thailand & Indonesia...

Moving back to India, the mother of all assembly polls is here... cut to October, we will witness the poll in Maharashtra ..my "home" state literally...

People tend to believe thats its curtains for INC-NCP after 15 years of (mis) rule....I think this poll will go down to the wire.. Notwithstanding the Modi effect, NCP can make a come back quicker than the congress and Pawars will throw every last resource available to hold on to their bastion.

Many have begun to write MNS off but Raj Thackeray is no pushover.. on the contrary, if he decides to project himself as CM designate, I think we have a match in our hands... Liberal view of RT is very distorted and people abhor his ways.. But he is a great orator with decent policies and can capture Modi like imagination among the public... Not to mention the fact that local BJP does not have a strong face in spite of Munde's presence...

Its best in BJP's interests to align with MNS else in case of a hung assembly or a slight UPA edge, media, opponents and pseudo liberals will pounce and denounce the so called bursting of Modi bubble...and they will be shameless to call for his resignation ;-)

It remains to be seen if this assemble poll is indeed a cliff hanger or a piece of cake for NDA...

Grass is always Green Abroad

The first time i went out of India was in circa 2006 to London for about 10 months. The duration of the trip was initially was for 6 months and then it got extended to a year, which I cut short to be back with my father as he was retiring... The first trip was all fun, I enjoyed... after that it has been mostly business trips with 2-3 weeks being the max duration outside India.. I enjoyed them as well as it would help me to see some places and have a different perception..This time in Switzerland for a trip, whose duration is again in the 6 months range...

I find it quite difficult. Primarily reason is the country shuts itself down on Sundays. Not even convenience stores are open. This is is like a bolt out of the blue for an desi guy who has been lured with the new shining malls that spring up in every corner of the city.. what would a poor guy who plans his shopping exclusively on sundays do... well grumble and change routine.. but as they say old habits die hard, I am still not yet up to terms with the Saturday shopping....its not about shopping.. on sundays its like someone has imposed Sec.144 curfew...

Banks have their own process.. Some documents can be collected from the branch. but the main ones will be sent via post. The post box should have the name as same as the one in the letter, else the letter will return. Now how do I tackle with tis. I have to follow up with 3 different people that too between Monday to Friday 8 AM to 3 PM exclusively.. I remember, the last time I shifted homes in Pune, I had to go to the banks once, put in a request and bulldozed them when there was an issue..

Public transport, though efficient is boring.. if u miss the schedule the frequency is less...

One has to mandatorily eat either chicken or egg or cheese.. else its really time consuming to find a vegetarian food..cooking is out of the window as I cant cook for 1 person and also I cant cook consistently ;-)

The best of all... pressing one's clothes by oneself.. I rarely do that but now thats the usual thing.. more than my family, more than anything else, I miss my laundry service provider.. the uncle who knocks at my door every saturday, takes my clothes, returns them neatly pressed, even safe keeps them when I am out of town... sob.. sob..

I really still wonder how people can sty 4-5 years and then easily fit back to the Indian lifestyle.. 

Pseudo Secular Liberals

The leftist pseudo secular liberals in India have always been modi baiters. They thought anointing him as PM candidates will make their job easy.. alas they have been proven wrong atleast by the opinion polls.. Now it seems they can't stomach this and have taken it upon themselves and their poisonous pens to cry foul...I am deeply apalled by two such opinions

Shiv Vishvanathan on The Hindu

Calls himself a social nomad. Works at JIndal University - Now you know his antecendants
This fellow asks is Modi is really BJP and goes on to say people in BJP dont like him and Modi himself doesn't believe in the party.. As if he is a know all. And honestly I haven't seen him even raise a whimper on how congress in centered around one family and the heir presumptive's reluctance, lack of knowledge , competency et all... For that matter I have never ever seen him talk anything that makes sense....

Dileep Padgaonkar on The Times of India
His report on Kashmir is a sad story
He goes overborard and compares Putin, Erdogan, Shizo Abe & buckets Modi in this category
He rants as if Modi will go the same way and predicts it to be wrong.. This guy tals as if Abe visiting the yasukuni shrine is a crime.. Whatever the history might be, the yasukuni is a Japanese memorial for its ex soldiers... he calls them hyper nationalistic...
Not sure of the intention of these guys...

If they were so worried about the nation, why didnt they question a single scam? The 2g Scam came to light thanks to the relentless efforts of Subramanian Swamy.. The CAG Vinod Rai was responsible for bringing out Coal Scam.. even the CWG Scam was done in by TV journos.. Padgaonkar, Shiv and their ilk had nothing to do about it.. they didnt even question the mindless appeasement and division through muslim census in armed forces or be the archaic reservation etc.. They didn't dare to raise a voice against any of the policy paralysis..

They just want to create a panic and predict doomsday....do they have a solution?? really not..  really wonder what sort of education these guys received.. and hyper nationalism??? these guys are not even nationalstic.. not even hypo these are anti nationals... Padagaonkar had links with Ghulam Nabi Fai who was shamed in the US for using ISI funds to bribe US to influence kashmir conflct.. and he is being called an eminent journalist!!! Liberals don't know what is liberal and what is anti national.. that line is invisible to them..

The very secularism they are trying to defend is flawed in India..Secular means to be EQUI DISTANT from all relgions.. meaning relegion will not determine any poilcy in governance.. The only secularists are atheists and communists...Nehru redefined secularism as equal respect to all religions but he himself did not follow that.. When Sardar Patel & Rajendra prasad requested him to consider rebuilding Somnath and told him that to be really secular, majority sentiments need to be respected, he did not budge.. That very act destroyed the secular fabric he intended to build.. from them on secularism in india meant bending over to please minorities (read muslims & christians in particular) and communalism meant anyone talking about hindu aspirations

Shiv Vishwanathan in his article praised Advani, Jaswant, joshi et all.. Cmon Advani is 86.. and no one cried for him in 2009 when he lost.. They were praising secular victory instead.. They even said BJP lacks the wherewithal to be the potent opposition it should be.. when BJP assers itself by sideliening advani, the same gang cries foul. Jaswant was member of Darjeeling in 2009.. why does he need Barmer again.. last time he was ok with darjeeling because he came in at the last minute, this time he cries?? ha ha.. and whats wrong about moving joshi around.. he too is 75+  ..... We have a lame duck PM who never ever tried contesting Lok sabha and blaming a party who is trying to get their PM candidate elected?

If people are going to vote on the fear of persecution and not bothered about the economy then this country certainly deserves every scam.. here a bangaladesji can get a voter id in minutes but a genuine voter has to go through multiple hassles..

If these liberals want to preserve this sort of secularism then the country better be doomed!!