Ramblings of a vagrant mind

Mahabharata by C Rajagopalachari – A review

2012-01-30T09:30:00.000+05:30

I would safely guess that many people in my generation would have grown up with Amar Chithra Kathas. The huge wealth of our literary epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata – provides fodder for these sets of very beautifully depicted illustrated stories. As I have been writing in these blogs, at this stage of my life, I am falling in love with Mahabharata again. It has definitely passed the threshold of infatuation!

Majority of my recent readings have been to understand Mahabharata and its characters closely. Now I have come in terms with the reality that, as I read more, more needs to be read and understood. At this juncture, I thought, a quick revision of Mahabharata as a story would help me. The result – Mahabharata by C Rajagopalachari – got into my reading list. Initially, I thought of only reading parts of it, but finally succumbed to the mastery of Mahabharata and read it cover to cover.

I come out with mixed feelings after reading it. The book I picked up is an old edition (1987). So my following observations may not be a true reflection of the latest edition.

Mahabharata can be read at various levels. At the surface it is a story of victory (recall that Mahabharata is also called Jaya) of good over evil. That is where I stopped as a teenager. When we turn worldly wise or even un-wise, we should study and uncover the epic further. As we embark on this mission to find what lies beneath, we always find another layer waiting to be uncovered. That is the beauty of any piece of art. Personally, I find it more exciting in literary pieces than in visual arts.

If one takes the time (usually we don’t) to go through the Forward and then read the book, Rajaji’s Mahabharata fails. The Forward talks about richness of culture, importance of dharma even in the present context. The text that ensues fails to live up these expectations.

At the very best, this book is a starter for you on Mahabharata, maybe good read in your teens, to understand the story, the various sub-plots and the characters. Here it does a good job. For eg, explains each day of the battle. For people beyond their teens it is a good refresher course. The book gives you the major incidents which have to be dealt deeper with your own thoughts or other supplementary literature.

Mahabharata in itself is packed with complexities. All these complexities are valid in our daily life. That is the reason why this epic is still valid in all its glory. We have Krishna, the God, who turns as practical as a human in many instances, upholding dharma. We have Duryodhana, who in all probability is loathed by the readers, but finally when he lay on the battleground wounded is showered with flowers from the heavens. My suggestion to readers of Mahabharata is to go beyond the story to understand the subtle differences in upholding dharma at various instances. My major learning has been that sometimes you take a stand to uphold dharma, fully knowing that you may be penalized for the action.

The characters of this epic brim with vitality of our contemporary life. It is very wisely said, ”Whatever is here is found elsewhere. But whatever is not here is nowhere else.”

(Re)Read Mahabharata!

Into the womb of nature – Vythiri resorts

2012-01-14T08:16:00.000+05:30

A type of fern commonly seen

The last four kilometers drive into the Vythiri resort situated in Vythiri village,Wayanad, Kerala definitely gives you a good idea about what to expect. The road with mostly gorges on one side and the fern laden walls on the other side is not very much a drivers delight, but destination will take away any of these frustrations. A place so tucked inside the town cannot let you down.

The 302 kms journey – 7.5 hrs with stoppages - from our Bangalore home ended at the wooden entrance of Vythiri resort. A very friendly and hospitable staff welcomes you to the resort. We had not gone in for the Tree Houses which are the most in demand. We preferred a cottage with wooden balcony overlooking a serenely flowing stream and dense lush green woods.

The best way to pass time at Vythiri resort is to idle. The air is fresh and the leaves pristine. The only sounds you hear are those of the stream, an occasional squeak from the monkeys and some tweets – I mean from the real birds. Don’t expect a spectacularly clean five star resort here. The supply of warm water is regulated, there are no televisions in the rooms, no newspaper awaits you in the morning at the door, your mobile barely catches and stays at the last bar. The paths inside the resort paved with rocks have a lethargic charm. They meandered smoothly between the shrubs and plants which bore flowers of various colors, shapes and sizes. As in any hill resort, the variety of flora is amazing. Vythiri resort has also gone a step ahead by having small placards bearing the basic details of the trees. These help the curious visitors, especially kids. I also spotted a couple of Malabar squirrels. The hanging bridge over the stream that took us to the restaurant is another place where my son had lots of fun.

The food is excellent. A great spread of food (mostly Kerala cuisine) together with some good desserts. I went on a non-chicken non-vegetarian diet since the variety of non-vegetarian food offered me good seafood – squids, prawns etc, fish, duck, kada (quail), rabbit and mutton. The very typical Kerala items like puttu (prepared in bamboo shoots), appam, kappa (tapioca) + kanthari mulaku (a special type of chilly) will satisfy the taste buds to the core. I am a strong believer of living the life of a Roman when in Rome. The food here goes with that. Since we spent the year ending days there, the resort had some programmes arranged to entertain the guests in the evenings. We enjoyed a Ghazal Sandhya (Ghazal evening), Kathakali performances and the New Year eve Back to 70s Bollywood event. The programs kept the couples and kids occupied. Other facilities include swimming pool, ayurveda center, spa, trekking trips and yoga.

The resort is a good destination for honeymoon couples. For couples with kids, like us, it might be tad difficult to keep the little ones occupied. There is a kids play area and some indoor games, but I doubt if there are any other activities round the year. We ventured outside of the resort on one occasion to visit the Banasurasagar dam and for an elephant ride at Pozhuthana. The other attractions which could be reached are the Kuruva island, Edakkal caves, Soojipara falls. You could avail Jeep services (the reception will get this done) from the resort. However I strongly suggest, if you are at Vythiri resort, stay at Vythiri resort.

The bridge

Vythiri resort could do much better on the eco-friendliness front. I could still spot some incandescent lamps. Another surprise element for me was they never asked me to give feedback while checking out.

What can you take back from Vythiri apart from the sediments of freshness? Very reasonably priced Lemon grass oil, various wood and bamboo products – lampshades, coasters, key chains, musical instruments etc, however make sure you get it from the right shop.

Some tips when you are heading out from Bangalore. Fill the petrol on the other side of the border, both ways. It also makes some economic sense to purchase some vegetables before you reach the Muthanga check post. Follow the warning at the room – Don’t keep the balcony doors open. We had a monkey visitor who slipped in through the door, took the biscuit packet and swiftly went out – all in 10s.

The route is pretty straightforward. Bangalore-Mysore-Nanjangud-Begur-Gundalpet-Moolankavu-Sultan Bathery - Meenangadi – Kapetta - Vythiri. From Mysore take the NH212 which leads to Kozhikode (Calicut).

The tranquility of Vythiri resort is set to seduce any guest. I don’t mind succumbing to her again during the monsoons when the nature is clad in her drenched green attire.

Myth=Mithya. A Review

2012-01-09T10:42:00.000+05:30

Dr. Devdutt Patnaik is the Chief Belief Officer at Future Group. This in itself is a curious statement for anyone to explore further about the designation, the man himself and the books he writes. It led me to pick up Myth=Mithya on a half price sale. Yes, half price accelerated the purchase decision. I was not disappointed by the book in anyway. This indeed serves as an excellent compendium and as a handbook on Hindu Mythology.

I consider myself fortunate since I got exposed to lots of stories and anecdotes of Gods and gods, Godesses and godesses, during early childhood thanks to my father and Amar Chitra Kathas. However, during school years when you are taught that everything has a reason, I started questioning many of these anecdotes for the ‘science’ behind them. I think there I stopped appreciating the stories and also lost interest in reading more.

It is after a long gap, owing to some of the recent reading based on Indian mythology and epics, I started exploring the topic further. Though Immortalsof Meluha is fiction, The Difficulty of being good talked at length about the relevance of some of the principles which has withstood time. Against this context Myth=Mythia is an excellent handbook on Indian mythology.

The book is more or less divided amongst the lines of Holy Trinity. Devdutt compares and contrasts Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma – their purposes in the creation, sustenance and destruction. Delving into many puranas and folklores, the author weaves many incidents which succinctly explains the strengths and weaknesses of characters who inhabited our childhood stories. Devdutt has a certain logical way of explaining things which is really appealing. He tries to bring about the differences very clearly in simple terms.

Concepts like Jiva, Pitr, Rituals, Devas-Asuras et al are explained coherently. The book gives you another layer of understanding while approaching the Gods and other characters around them. The logic flows right and you are able to connect most of the arguments and make sense to the stories you have heard.

On the flip side, this book has to be taken as a handbook. It is not very continuous in terms of narration. The author himself says that you can start reading the book anywhere. This is going to be reference book for me at least in the near future. I will go by the glossary when I turn back to this book again.

As put by Devdutt, ‘This book explores the Hindu mythology. Behind the mythology is a myth. Behind the myth a truth: an inherited truth about life and death, about nature and culture, about perfection and possibility, about hierarchies and horizons. This subjective and cultural truth of the Hindus is neither superior nor inferior to other truths. It is yet another human understanding of life.’

A good read for someone who is interested in mythology.

Doing small things with love and passion

2011-12-12T22:18:00.005+05:30

My blog entry on The Winning Way -Management lessons from Sports touched upon the importance of ‘doing the 1% things (small things) religiously well.’ I also read Bill Taylor’s blog ‘TheValues Proposition: Do Small Things with Great Love’ recently at HBR online. On the surface these two pieces don’t seem to suggest anything similar. However, I felt there is something to be written on what could be read between the lines when you put these together.

The Bhogles talk about how individuals and teams achieve success by doing the small things (otherwise ignored as trivial) diligently and exceedingly well. Simple things like throwing into the wickets from the fielding position goes a long way in helping the path towards success. Bill relates his bad experience and quotes Mother Terersa , ‘"We cannot do great things," she famously told her followers, "only small things with great love."

In business and in life doing small things with sincerity, passion and love go a long way in bringing you success; at the bare minimum they reduce the chances of failure.

Organizations spend much time on strategy, slicing and dicing the market to understand the demographics, restructure the business models and many others. However many a times they forget, the essentials of staying connected with the customer and continuously communicating to them. Simple actions like a saying thank you to the customer, keeping a smile on your face when you greet them (even on phone), sharing good things that you do as if you are conveying it to a family member – all these help build a bond that will be difficult to break. And most of these come at no cost to the organization.

In large matrix organizations where managers find it hard balancing the organization priorities and time demands of the team these small things again work. Walking up to the employee’s desk on her birthday and wishing her, a short email of appreciation when the work gets done, a chit-chat on how the vacation went once she is back from it, a simple ‘hello, how are you doing’ when meeting her at the aisle are again easy tasks for the managers. The effort is very less here; however a few of these help strengthen the bond.

An employee is in most cases the face of the organization. So she has to perform as her organization would have in each and every interaction with the customer. She could do the small things expected out of the organization. Internally also needs to build space in the organization for her own advancement as well as for enhancing her area of influence in improving the organization processes. There are so many 1% things she could do to get into these positions. Being punctual to office and meetings, proactively communicating challenges, warnings, keeping the relevant people in loop while working on matters of common interest, being available during work hours all add up equity for her in the organization.

And finally most of these little things when done with great love and passion make a whole lot of difference in your personal life too. With technology available at our disposal, remembering important dates is easy, but many a times we conveniently forget. Wear a smile when you speak to people who you care even if you have carried some unpleasant events from office, put the phone away while having dinner with the family, have a short walk with your family regularly. When done with love and caring these help you with not making huge investments of time and money at latter part of your life. And these should also prevent some unpleasant incidents.

Let’s identify 20 small things we can do in our personal and professional lives. And let us do it with passion and love.

I can give you one more. Next time, when your FB friend’s birthday alert is shown, pick up the phone, call and wish him. You may spend 5 minutes more. But am sure he values this more that the two words you are planning to write on his Wall.

Puss in Boots - A review

2011-12-06T06:47:00.001+05:30

Image Courtesy - movies.yahoo.com

Being a Shrek fan, I was waiting for this movie – Puss in Boots. So I shamelessly confess I would have seen this even without my six-year-old son. Thanks to him, I am now a fan of animation movies, mostly from Dreamworks (yes, I like Pixar’s ones too). It is good to see animation movies getting technically sound through 3D, a story line and script that appeal to both young and the old.

Puss in the Boots is a story of valour, camaraderie, treachery and love. Doesn’t sound like an animation movie for kids? Right? The swash buckling cat - Puss in Boots from the Shrek series plays lead.

Puss and Humpty Dumpty are orphans raised by their ‘mama’ in the orphanage. They do some small thefts for fun till Humpty gets Puss in trouble. Their friendship breaks there and they part ways. Puss is misconstrued as an outlaw and he is forced to leave the place. The quest for magic beans makes them cross paths again. New characters come in to add color and twists – the dreaded robbers Mr. & Mrs. Jack and Jill, Kitty Softpaws (the cat without claws). Puss, Kitty and Humpty finally manage to get the magic beans and reach the goose which lays golden eggs. I don’t want to play spoiler, so I will leave the story alone here at this point.

What has worked well in the movie? 3D animation slipped in perfectly. The deserts, the growing bean stalk; the clouds are all captured elegantly with 3D. The fight and dance sequences are beautifully choreographed true to the spirits of Latino that Puss seems to portray. Story line and screen play are good beautifully interspersed with fables. I liked allusions to the incidents in nursery rhymes like the one where Mrs. Jill says ‘Ever since you fell down that hill and broke your crown, you been talking crazy.’ The voice over worked right - Antonio Banderas once again as Puss and none other than Salma Hayek as Kitty.

There are lots of dialogues worthy of getting your attention. In one of them, the suave one tells Kitty, ‘So, I have been thinking, Miss Softpaws, that when we go our separate ways, we can go our separate ways together.’

The kids will definitely enjoy the movie. However on the flip side, I doubt if the kids are entertained as much as an adult is. I enjoyed it much more than my son. The references to the fables and nursery rhymes are definitely out of reach for a six-year-old and not sure if an adolescent can catch them. The story also could get a bit complicated for the kids.

The choice to spin-off the Puss story from the Shrek franchisee is an interesting and a smart one. The movie stands tall on its own. In fact, it pulls Shrek’s fans (like me) and also tries to create a fan base of its own. I liked the dashing cat who wins (unlike Tom who invariably loses), rides horses, fights, and dances, falls for women and stands up for his friend.

Car 2 this year did not rise up to my expectations. Puss in Boots is surely a must watch. This could be the best animation movie of the year.

Hilariously funny

2011-11-21T08:54:00.001+05:30

Sequels are tricky business. I cannot remember a sequel that outdid its predecessor be it a movie or a book. As I wrote earlier, The Secret of the Nagas never rose up to Immortals of Meluha. Even Matrix2 and Godfather2 had the same fate. This is where ‘God Save the Dork’ by Sidin Vadukut stands out.

Like his first book – Dork – The incredible adventures of Robert EinsteinVarghese, this book is hilariously funny (yes, I meant that) I got it through Flipkart on a pre-publication offer. After reading both his books I am bowled over by Sidin’s capability to continuously infuse fresh humour.

Storyline remains more or less similar.Robert is in London working for Lederman who is Dufersne’s client. You know Robert Einstein is funny, thinks he is the center of the world, gets into problems and comes out of it by some streak of luck. As usual Diary is being told about his frustrations, his streaks of brilliance (SOB) which in a matter of few days turn out to be big follies, his attraction towards one intern and his ethics and values (defined and changed at his own convenience). We all know it. However it is the narration that keeps you glued.

People who would have read Sidin’s first book know he writes humorously. I think his strong point is to sew together an array of jokes through funny incidents, one-liners, characters and language. I am amazed how comically he describes certain events which I felt were more amenable to a movie perhaps. The microphone incident is a classic example here.

Sidin’s effective use of Mohanlal (leading Malayalam actor) is brilliant. Mohanlal almost becomes a character in the novel. The interesting conversation between Robert who is a huge Mohanlal fan and his French boss is perhaps the best in the book.

‘…I asked him if I could name it Project Mohanlal on our emails to each other in order to avoid suspicions. Unbelievably Dominic asked me,’ What is Mohanlal?’ I got quite upset. So I looked at him and asked him, ‘Who is Eiffel tower?’…’ I had a laugh riot reading and later every time I reminisce this.

If you look at this novel from a different layer, it is a satire on corporates, especially consulting. For me the novel worked at both levels. ‘Strategy’ has become the most abused word in many organizations and Sidin takes a dig at it.

If you segment the readers’ universe and try figuring out who Sidin writes to – it is - Mallu+Engineer+MBA+ Worked in consulting. For someone with this background, GOD SAVE THE DORK is a must read. Others will also find it quite interesting and a quick read. The character cuts a very easy and comfortable chord with many of you coming out of management schools. I bet many of Robert’s dialogues would have been already said many times over.

Robert’s success brilliantly and hilariously put in his own words explains his character quite well ‘Sometimes, Diary, in a man’s life he will reach a point where he is incapable of explaining his own success. Around him lay the fruits of his labour. Yet he does not understand completely what he did right. ….I sincerely believe that the mark of a truly successful man is the ability to look ahead, not behind. True greatness lies in not wondering how I reached here, but in seeking where to go next’.

I eagerly wait for the next one. I also smell a TV series around the corner.

(picture courtesy - syahi.in)

The Winning Way - Management lessons from Sports

2011-11-14T23:01:00.001+05:30

I always had a close relationship with sports. Naturally as a kid the interest was in playing. Now, it is more about analyzing the games, sometimes understanding the business of sports and many a times trying to see it from a management angle. This made me pick up the ‘The Winning Way’. The Bhogles – Harsha and his wife Anita came together to write ‘The Winning Way – Learnings from Sport for Managers.’

I have constantly tried to draw parallels between sports and corporate teams, especially the team games and organizations. The selection, team work, team dynamics, goals, leadership all can easily be compared with the corporate teams. However, the time you get to make decisions, recuperate from bad decisions, failures etc are quite short in sports when compared to the corporate scenario. Consider a bowler having 15-20s to pick up the ball and bowl a great delivery, after having been hit for six in his previous ball. He has to erase the past, be in the present and give his best. You surely get more time in your daily work.

The authors state that ‘The Winning Way’ is the result of the success they had with their motivational series by the same name run at many well-known corporate houses. Harsha and Anita bring out several instances from sports; mainly cricket; analyze them and compare with the corporate situations. They attempt to identify what makes some teams win, be consistent in their success, while some others fail.

They talk about the Winning Triangle the three factors that define success – Ability, Attitude and Passion. I completely agree with them on the argument that talent alone has ceased to be a differentiator for success – ‘Talent opens up no more than the first door, occasionally the second.’ They bring out many examples including Sachin and Lance Armstrong who married ability with a strong work ethic and went behind their goals with lots of passion. Bhogles also gets a little bit deeper into performance goals vs. result goals and the importance of having both in your journey.

Once the way to success is explained, the book talks about the side effects of winning and how to ward these off. The hugely successful Australian cricket team in late nineties is elaborated. This gives us some key learning. There are comparisons with the Indian corporate who have been occupying lead positions for decades in their areas of operation.

One concept that really captured my attention was ‘doing the 1% things (small things) religiously well. In cricket, it could be trying to hit the wickets every time you throw the ball from a fielding position and in business it could be just sending a thank you mail to every person who purchased your product. These 20-25 small things, diligently done finally create a huge difference and help you succeed. The other interesting point is breaking the final goals into small packets and doing your best on each. There is an interesting example of the Australian cricket team on how they try to win each session in a test match.

The book also talks about leaders and how they are critical in helping the team succeed. Each individual in the team has a role to play and the leader rather than creating his clones, should aim at understanding each person better.

"For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack." – Rudyard Kipling

The book is written in a very simple language. Hence, a very easy read. Sports and many sports personalities are indeed subjects that give deeper insights into management, especially decision making. However I felt ‘The Winning Way’ lacked depth in many areas, while the authors were busy giving examples. I doubt if the insights are deep enough for tenured and mature organizations and managers, but it does give a few to the new ones.

A curious case of service recovery

2011-10-30T19:20:00.001+05:30

It all started with a seemingly innocuous act – to get some books for my son. Pratham Books (www.prathambooks.org) has been a favourite with me, as far as kids’ books are concerned. I have a good collection of their books at home. Also, this has been a regular gift from my son for his friends’ during their birthdays. This time around I decided to try buying online. I zoomed in on the offer of books worth Rs 240 for Rs 200. And this is where the trouble started. The online payment pages showed me Rs.240 and not Rs.200. 40 rupees does not matter much, but the glitch irritated me. After a couple of attempts I gave up, but not before sending a complaint to the (in)famous info@... Frankly, I never expected a reply, especially since it was Diwali holidays. Yes, I expected an automated response.

What greeted me back from the info@... id was the Brand manager (Purvi). Via email she assured me that the glitch was being looked into. She also looped in a couple of her team members. Purvi also asked for my contact details so that Pratham can get back to me as soon as it got fixed. I was still skeptical given the large amount of negative experience we have with customer support centers.

To my surprise, they did get back to me saying that the issue was fixed and I could go back to complete the transaction. I logged on again, to find that the issue was not yet fixed. Sent an one liner, ‘I checked, it is still not working’. I give up.

Next day morning, I got a call on my mobile from Purvi. She apologized for the technical glitch and their inability to fix it quickly. The statement she made next was the real shocker. ‘You are a committed customer. Thanks for your support. I request you to make the transaction of Rs.240. I will get you some additional books to make up the extra Rs.40.’ I agreed, went online and made the transaction. By that time there was a mail from Purvi to her team that I will be making the transaction and asking them to courier the order asap so that I get the delivery the next day itself.

As expected it got delivered the next day. A note from Purvi, apologizing again for the problems I faced and telling me she had put some material along with the package free, which is not available at the retail outlets. Thus an experience which started sour, ended with a sweet taste.

What Pratham Books did was a classic case of service recovery. However, this has become very rare in B2C scenarios. There are enough instances of businesses showcasing their customers in B2B landscape. But how many times you as a customer are appreciated for staying loyal to a brand? How many have told you ‘I appreciate you for your commitment’ to the brand? Yes, we know banks do it; through telemarketers and emails, ‘Since you are a very loyal customer of ours, we are happy to give you a loan at x% interest’. You know that all your friends come under this category!

I deciphered what went right with my experience with Pratham from a marketing and service delivery standpoint and here are my observations.

Pratham acknowledged the issue at their side.
A ‘named person’ came in to handle the situation.
Assured the customer the issue is being taken care of.
Kept the communication open and active..
When it could not satisfy the customer request, provided an alternate way.
Delighted the customer by ‘going beyond his expectation’ by delivering something extra.
Told the customer in as many words – ‘You are a committed customer and we appreciate it.’

For anyone sensible the above will look like everyday common sense. However, like one of my marketing professors used to say, ‘Commonsense is that sense which is not common.’

Some of the steps Pratham took could have been done away with; however they were sincere in their intention to solve the customer problem.

You may ask questions like, whether this is to be done to every customer, can we do this when the businesses have scaled up rapidly. My answer is Yes. With the amount of information, businesses are collecting about each of their customer or prospect, and having technology as a huge enabler, it is possible.

I believe these small instances of appreciation go a long way in retaining the customer. As a customer, we should also make that small step, may be a feedback email, telling them about the problems we face with the brands we support.

(Image Courtesy - Pratham Books)

Aleph – A spiritual journey

2011-10-27T20:58:00.002+05:30

Looking back, I have clearly moved away from authors in English. Though, I believe translations dilute the essence of the original, many of these literature pieces are my all time favorites.

What attracts me to Coelho is his narration more than anything else. The lucid language turns poetic at times and is loaded with subtext. Aleph is no exception. When I re-read the first fifty pages after I finished the book, I became richer in thoughts. I have started appreciating art in any of its form but only when it gives me this level of pleasure.

Coelho’s latest novel is autobiographical. The book starts with a deep conversation between the protagonist and his master. The author is facing a crisis of faith and spirituality. The master advises him, ‘You’ve got to leave…in order to return to the present’. The story attempts to sketch the ‘existence of a parallel spiritual universe that impinges on the world we live in’.

The publisher had planned a series of book signings and interactions in Russia. Coelho and his team took on the 9,288 km journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway to complete the signings. It is then, that a young girl, a brilliant violinist, Hilal joins them. She is not a welcome guest, however makes her way into the train. The train journey metaphorically takes Coelho and Hilal into their past to better understand the present.

Aleph as a concept still remains not fully understood by me. Coelho has been heavily influenced by Jorge Luis Borges’ idea of Aleph. Jorge also wrote a short story in the same name. He summarizes Aleph as ‘….this point where everything becomes one thing only’. The author gets very deep into his incarnation 4/5 centuries back where he gets connected with Hilal during one of her previous births.

The author plays with space and time and I should confess I have loved writers who do this.

‘Time doesn’t pass. We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; we are always thinking what we did, about how we could have done better, about the consequences of our actions and why we didn’t act as we should have. Or else we think about the future, about what we are going to do tomorrow, what precaution we should take, what dangers await us around the next corner, how to avoid what we don’t want and how to get what we dreamed of.’

Aleph is a point where space and time converge. It is at Aleph inside the train, that Hilal and the author experience the different level of energy. As the train meanders through the terrain, the story moves interspersed with conversations and anecdotes that build rationality around Aleph and reincarnation. Another key character is Yao, the translator. It is interesting to read many interactions between the author and Yao, specifically the one when they are practicing Aikido – a Japanese martial art.

I have always considered myself a rationalist. Hence, without any second thoughts I have always ruled out reincarnations and to a great extent avoided the contours of spirituality. I can substantiate these actions of mine, by calling Aleph a work of fiction. However, as I mentioned earlier, Aleph in context with some of my other readings and observations have clearly challenged my existing beliefs. Like what I recently heard ‘What is the guarantee that the world belongs to the living, it could well be with the dead and their spirits, since they outnumber us by far.’

Are these actually Nimmitas?

PS: I am enchanted by the 9,288km journey. Want to do it. Also would like to find the Aleph, go to the past to understand the present, though the author has clearly said that any return to past with no knowledge of the process can have dramatic and disastrous consequences.

The Difficulty of being good – on the Subtle art of Dharma - A review

2011-10-09T18:15:00.000+05:30

I am sure many people from my generation, especially the ones who did their management education, had looked at GurcharanDas with awe. He was one of the first Indians to make it to the top of corporate hierarchy in MNCs. As a reader of quite a few of his columns, I have always silently admired his vast knowledge and lucid analyses.

The Difficulty of being Good by Gurcharan Das tackles the question – Why be good? The book, quite a fat one, is definitely not a quick read. Even with all my enthusiasm, early morning reading in the balcony and late night readings, it took me a while to complete. And I am sure I will be re-reading it, at least in parts in the future. One thing is for sure – this is for the discerning reader.

In this book, Gurcharan goes deep into Mahabharata, the literary epic. As a small kid, I had devoured Amarchithra katha and listened eagerly to stories of mythology told by my father. I had my heroes. The mad race of competitive education and the corporate life together with my own disdain for anything godly, godlike moved me away from reading these classics again. I took shelter under some borrowed philosophies and some non-English authors. However, at this stage, when I moved into the second-third of my corporate life, I have started contemplating on some very basic questions. And these have been constantly challenging some of my views embossed through education and ‘worldly wisdom’. When at the receiving end, many a times I have asked myself “Why be good?”

This book came at the right time into my reading horizon. The book analyzes some characters, situations and their dilemmas. In its essence, Mahabharata tells us a story of war between the sons of a blind man and a man who is too weak to risk coition.The winning leader is Yudishtira, a man who did not want to fight.

Finally his army wins not by fair means but by deceit. Mahabharata is more about fallible characters than the untouchable super heroes. Many a times we find Krishna, with clever tricks goading the Pandavas into fighting.

Gurcharan takes a closer look at Dharma. He brings in different perspectives. The reader is provoked to see Dharma through various tinted glasses. The dilemmas that the characters face on Dharma are evoked beautifully. For eg, consider Arjuna’s predicament. When faced with his elders and relatives on the battle field, he is torn between his duty of ‘being a soldier’ and ‘duty not to kill’. He is coaxed to take up the arms by Krishna who urges him to ‘be intent on the action’ and ‘act as you choose’. Also read this in the context that Mahabharata says Ahimsa Paramodharma.

The author pauses the events, whenever required, and analyses the situation. I believe in this thought pattern while reading any book, but here the splendid way of narration helps.

Gurcharan has all the essential ingredients to make this book a success. The author recounts the story of Mahabharata for those who are unfamilar with the epic. To bring into context his arguments, he dwells on the situations. Draws a lot of parallels from Greek literature, contemporary life, realpolitik and his own experiences. These give you the practical applicability. What I liked most and kept me hooked was the freedom the reader gets to see various perspectives. In short the author does not give answers.

After this book, I am definitely revisiting the epic, Mahabharata.
The questions I had may have multiplied, but it has definitely given me a construct to find answers. I now appreciate that dharma could be contested, subtle and ambiguous. And this will alleviate my internal frustrations to some extent. I come away from the book that much more wiser.

Beautiful Imperfections

2011-09-23T23:38:00.001+05:30

It is not for the first time, that a peculiar combination of words has triggered my imagination. I still remember reading God of Small things in a train to Anand, Gujarat back in early 1998. ‘Sourness of the steel bus rails’ from the book pushed my limits of imagination. I liked the interplay of words. I tried to smell the metal that holds the berths in the train. I became more convinced about written words being more powerful than the visual medium. Visuals kill imagination.

This video shared by my friend, Janet through FB, took me on another trip.

Beautiful Imperfections – could not have been more painfully beautiful. I went deep - created mind maps, examples across all the spheres of life. The journey was many times arduous, akin to that of the mother’s with a growing fetus inside her body (though I would never experience it). In the 10^th standard Malayalam textbook I studied, MT speaks about this. Compares mother’s pain to the one he suffers with a germinating idea waiting for its birth – to be written. I have felt this discomfort before. Some of the blogs here are products of that sweet labour. Some of them are pre-mature babies, hence underdeveloped. I hope this one belongs to the first category.

Relationships, especially personal ones thrive only when we appreciate the beauty of these imperfections. These come in different sizes and shapes – from physical appearance to the foibles. In most cases, when partners are in relationship, the physical flaws get evened out fast. You will overlook a slightly deformed nose or a scar on the forehead. However, it is the incompleteness in the character that stands the test of time. Look within you before looking outside – you would have encountered some imperfections in your partner which you are still trying to correct. And perfect is how you define it. When you first encounter this slight blemish in your partner, you tell yourself, that’s fine I will try to change that. However things mostly do not happen to your liking. The imperfection stays on. The relationships flourish and last longer when one learns to see the beautiful side of these shortcomings. You will appreciate that crooked nose, the clumsy way in which your partner crosses the legs, sneezes…when you realize that your companion ceases to be him or herself without these shortcomings.

I feel, when it comes to professional life, especially in the corporate, it becomes a lot trickier. A third person – the organization - makes it murkier. It has clear views on perfection - being Six Sigma compliant or zero percent non-compliance, hundred-percent utilization and the like. From my experience, a manager’s job gets real tough. He is not given the leeway to appreciate the beautiful imperfections amongst his team members, on the other hand, in most cases asked to correct those faults. A maverick manager who tries to substantiate the need for these small imperfections is usually asked to get the team in order. In the quest of perfection, managers create clones of the ideal employee.

I consider myself a maniac for perfection. And I have always tried to perfect the Perfect. However, knowingly or unknowingly I have been trying to acknowledge these peccadilloes both in personal and professional life. As a husband, father and friend I am fairly successful, even going to the extent of stressing my imperfections and requesting others to appreciate it (or rather live with it). In my work life, I am far from perfect in appreciating beautiful imperfections. The organizations’ priorities weigh heavily on my shoulders. But as a manager, the onus is on me – first to see these imperfections and then to start appreciating their elegance. Maybe to get these working in an organizational construct I might need to make the perfect parts (strengths) more perfect so that the imperfections (weaknesses) are less noticed. And in this pursuit I will learn to respect them for who they are, and not as the products of an assembly line process. I hope I become perfect in comprehending the beautiful imperfections around me!

The Secret of the Nagas - Reviewed

2011-09-10T16:38:00.000+05:30

I liked Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi. So like Rashmi Bansal I was waiting for the sequel. Hence rather than waiting to rummage through the book racks to figure out where it is, I went straight to the librarian and got it. For starters, you can read this book as standalone. However having read the first part, surely enhances the understanding.

The Secret of the Nagas starts from where Immortals of Meluha left. The Tibetan warrior is pretty much settled with Sati and chooses Kashi to be the birth place for his kid. He still smokes weed. He still keeps his throat covered. And he goes behind the hooded Naga who killed his friend Brihaspati and is stalking his wife.

The book is pacy as its predecessor. It is written in ‘unimaginative’ language. So don’t hope you can visualize the landscape when you close your eyes. The details are sketchy even though we might be looking through the eyes of a person reaching the city for the first time. The philosophy bits (between Shiva and the Vasudevs) are hollow and amateurish. There was also mention about radio-waves which I felt completely unnecessary. Wondering why the editor did not get it. May be next one may have the ancient equivalent of ‘cloud computing’.

This book brings in a handful of new characters around Sati mainly. Some of them at least, remained not properly developed, especially Ganesh. If you have your basics on Hindu mythology right, it becomes easy for you to predict the fate of the characters. This becomes a giveaway. For egg, even though Parasuram comes in as a dacoit, you can safely assume that this cannot last for long. However I liked Amish’s attempt (though not blatant) to say that the rules of yesteryears (read superstitions) had some logic at that point in time, which may not stand good as years pass by.

As the title says, the plot of this book is to un-earth the secret of the Nagas. I doubt whether it has been fully revealed, however lot of it is in open and we see the other side of Nagas.

So my verdict -The book did not live up to the expectation levels set by the first book. But so does many of the books and movies with sequels. Godfather was also not an exception. But I will not recommend not reading it.

What I like (personally) are characters based on mythology getting the human touch. They are gullible, they can be seduced, they smoke and have their egos. Hence I will go ahead and read ‘The oath of the vayuputras’ (the next one in the series) albeit with no expectations!

Memories Green, Foggy, Fresh - Yercaud

2011-09-07T09:59:00.010+05:30

It is always good to have the hectic life in the city punctuated by short holidays. Short is a very important adjective since the opposite of it will leave you with tonnes of follow up. This mayl make you loathe holidays.

As I had indicated somewhere else on this blog, visits to other places have started to become less and less of sightseeing and more and more of rest. The sojourn to Yercaud end of August was no exception.

You don’t go to Yercaud to sightsee. You go there to get inspired.

Yercaud is a quaint little hill station tucked in the Eastern Ghats - 220 kms from Silk board flyover at Bangalore. No complications with the route. Hosur – Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Salem on NH7. Good road which leads into the Ghat trail with 20 hairpins towards the end for around 20 kms. A good pit stop for food for family with kids can be Kamat or A2B after Hosur. Given a choice I would have driven in one go, which would have taken 3-3.5 hrs. However I did not have the choice .
Yer means Lake and Caud(kaad) means forest. To make it more interesting we stayed at LFH – Lake Forest Resort. LFH is beautiful. LFH is located in a coffee estate. The main bungalow is from 1800s (built by Henrietta Charlotte Rosario) and the guest buildings – all nestled with nature – are built to replicate the English bungalow. LFH hosts a variety of antiques ranging from the 3 leafed fan, porcupine trunk, and wooden coats. The rooms also have a refreshing take from the past.

The places to see around and not different from any hill other hill station. You will have 3-4 points (vantage points to have a panoramic view of the hills), some temples, plant nursery. Yercaud is no exception. The highest point is Shevaroy (anglicized equivalent of Servarayan)point around 5326ft above sea level. Other points include King’s seat, Lady’s seat, Pagoda point (gets its name from the stone formations). These points satiate the shutter bugs’ hunger. Clouds are at your level and you will feel at cloud nine! At all these points you will have a temple. The shoulders of the not-so-wide road towards Shevaroy point are nearly washed off due to heavy rains. Hence drivers, be ready to make it to the shoulders carefully to give way. There is a rose garden, I hardly found any rose there (the gardener blames it on the rains). The lake offers you some ride on its chest. We were advised against Kiliyur falls because of the slippery conditions due to rains.

At Yercaud, we were welcomed with a foggy weather with light rains. I can visualize a book lover sitting at the verandah of his cottage at LFH gulping beer at night and sipping hot coffee in the morning, of course reading a book. I would advise travelers to stock up some beer. Though I saw a state-run wine shop, it did not look appealing enough. We also faced almost zero visibility while on a drive downhill from Pagoda point.

The stay made me up close with nature, albeit briefly. The deafening sound of silence in the nights and early mornings was interspersed with the contrasting sounds of mantises and birds. The leaves were fresh. There was some occasional breeze which just swayed only the top of the tall trees. The hexagonal tiles in the garden pathway had a greenish tint which made them blend with the nature. The flora was in full abandon - all hues and sizes. They are allowed to grow at their will here, the same ones you find domesticated and cut to shape in the apartment complexes. You could go for long walks in the morning, inhale fresh air, look at the vast expanse of green and watch the clouds caressing the hill tops. Gently ease into the nature. The only sound that might bring you back from this state is the rhythmic tone of moving water nearby. Everything looked in harmony. The milieu inspires you - to look within. It inspires you to look at infinity, inspires you to imagine what is beyond the limits. You see and hear each raindrops falling, the long hand in the clock moving, a small beetle moving up your leg. Time waits for you! So let it take over you.

What would you like to take back from Yercaud ? Some perfumes (there are some perfumeries), plants to embellish your garden. You also get the Ooty chocolates. More that these you take back memories - Green, Foggy, Fresh.

The China Fixation ? - A trip to Dalian

2011-07-31T10:11:00.009+05:30

China

always excited me. It may have to do with my political moorings during the early school days of life. When those views got moderated (rather adulterated) with the reality that life is,

China

was opening up to the world. Tiananmen Square would have punctuated my love towards

China

, but it was never a full stop. Coming into corporate world, at that in Information Technology, the China-India comparison was always unavoidable. Added to this was my stay in

Malaysia

, where I had the opportunity to interact with the Chinese community there and some good friendships.

Dalian is situated at the southern tip of north east China. The trip to Dalian was official (with Anoop). Had some time before the trip to chat up with couple of friends familiar with the area to figure out the importance of the place in the world IT landscape. The city has a large Japanese and Korean speaking population and hence boasts as a significant center for the outsourcing business.

Dalian is 12000 + sq kms and above 6m in population with a long coast line. This explains the cuisine in the area which largely consists of fresh seafood. We also get sea cucumbers and sea urchins apart from the regular prawns, shrimps and fish.

The visit was a different experience when compared to my visits to other countries. The first major challenge that a foreigner will face is the language. Only a few will speak / understand English. Getting around is not as smooth as in other places, however not impossible as some of the friends warned. The best way to handle this is to have the addresses of places you want to visit written in Chinese and showing these to the taxi drivers. We cannot do as Mohanlal says “Chodichu chodichu pokam’. We will have to ‘kanichu kanichu pokam’ (This one is for my mallu friends and I will not dare a translation that will kill the punch). The shopping at the local shopping street is also a real challenge to your communication skills. You point out the item you want to buy in sign language and the shop keeper will punch in the number (price of the item) in a calculator. You take the calculator back and punch in the price you are ready to pay. The calculator moves between the shop keeper and you till the deal is closed. It is finally worth the deal as you get some really good deals there.

Shopping is good if you know the right places. We were ably helped in the latter half of our stay by two of our Chinese colleagues. You get any thing from the curios, Angrybird key chains to electronics items at reasonable prices. Need to watch out for the spurious stuff though.

Substantial warnings about food were given to us by people who visited China earlier. I was skeptical about these since, as a person, I am not finicky with food – put in more plain terms I eat without any fuss. I loved the food at Dalian. There was great variety of the food I love – sea food. For starters on Chinese food, things are ‘boiled’ than cooked. The Indian way of cooking in many cases remove the nutrients, where as this is closer to the original. I also come across come interesting combinations – for eg. crab meat + fish.Why cannot we have that in India ?

Again, this said, communicating in a local restaurant could be tedious. A good number of them run without any menu cards. You go in, select – point towards - the ‘living things’ found in glass tanks and get them at your table ready to eat!

Food is not complete with out Hot pot. It is more of a ceremony than just eating. You have one or two simmering pots of stock/soup in front of you. The ingredients that go into them – various varieties of meat, sea food, and leafy vegetables are placed on the table. You cook these, take them out dip it in sauce and eat.

We had an interesting experience in one of these places. Wanted to find out what the meat in the shelf was. The waiter unable to get the English names for these started making the sounds of animals. It worked and we went for the ‘mooo…’ . I have to say he was pretty accurate.

I found the people warm and ready to help in most cases. However in many cases the spoken word stood in between. Again, this was the same case at Tokyo too. Hence no qualms. I know a week is too short a time to assess and pass a judgment on the attitude, but going by the first appearance I will go with the Chinese.

The weather was good with odd light rains, a bit humid due to the sea. So I was at home. Got to know that rain was really heavy soon after we left. Also temperatures can go down to -5^Oc. I guess this has to go with the mountains which are quite visible.

The local administration under the Mayor looked quite efficient, again comparing with ours. There was a Metro getting built, however the work was properly cordoned off giving no disturbance to the civil life. Same was the case with a 50+ storey building getting constructed right across the street to us. No dust and no hassles. The traffic was heavy, but roads being wide, better managed.

I was also a regular reader of the China Daily. The newspaper talked in depth about the government’s efforts on various areas - be it human rights or development. I did not find any strong critical approaches in print. Interestingly I came across an article, where the author was analyzing America’s stand of being critical of Pakistan and lenient towards India. The author argued that America has to show equal interest in both for better stability in the region.

We hopped couple of pubs to see the life. I am not a pub-goer at this stage of my life, but I had noticed patterns in this at some stage. And in most cases I found knowingly or unknowingly the pubs start catering to specific age groups/ communities. Found a pub catering to the teenage/just our of teens crowd, where as another one aimed at the foreigners.

We too had a pub anecdote here - In one of these, since we could not locate the drinks counter, we asked the waitress. She confidently showed us a direction. We were happy with our communication skills as well as appreciated her till we figured out what she meant was the Toilet.

Overall, I found the experience really an interesting and exciting. Looked like everything is smooth, though that is not what we hear in the media, especially Western more specifically on the Human rights. I will not be able to comment here.

The interesting analogy Thomas L Friedman did still lingers.

“If India and China were both highways, the Chinese highway would be a six-lane, perfectly paved road, but with a huge speed bump off in the distance labeled "Political reform: how in the world do we get from Communism to a more open society?" When 1.3 billion people going 80 miles an hour hit a speed bump, one of two things happens: Either the car flies into the air and slams down, and all the parts hold together and it keeps on moving - or the car flies into the air, slams down and all the wheels fall off. Which it will be with China, I don't know. India, by contrast, is like a highway full of potholes, with no sidewalks and half the streetlamps broken. But off in the distance, the road seems to smooth out, and if it does, this country will be a dynamo. The question is: Is that smoother road in the distance a mirage or the real thing?”

Whatever it is I am all game for another visit. Thanks to all my friends and colleagues who made this visit to Dalian memorable.

Some more pics for friends at Facebook

Of Gorgeous Gorges and Falling Water - Hogenakkal

2010-10-23T19:02:00.013+05:30

It was a quick decision as far a trip is concerned, which is so unlike me. And this time we decided to have my cousin's family along with. The long weekend, thanks to Dussera, helped us make this one day trip to Hogenakkal Waterfalls on Kaveri river. Hogenakkal is in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu around 160 kms from Silk Board in South Bangalore.

We started in an Innova with 5 adults(including my amma), 2 brats (boys in pic) and one infant at around 7.30. The trip should ideally take 3 - 3.5 hrs to cover. The first tip for travelers to this place is to have breakfast at Hosur, since it will be difficult to find another good place to eat on the way. Else, as always you can carry food.

Some more googling will also help understand the name - Hogena-kkal - roughly translated as Smoking Rocks. Hoge is smoke in Kannada, Kal means rock. The water falling on the rocks give a smoky ambiance.

I had done quite a bit of googling to find the best route. And was confused on multiple routes and opinions on the condition of the road. However, we decided to take the Bangalore -> Hosur -> Rayakottai -> Palakodu -> Anchetty -> Pennagaram -> Hogenakkal. Immediately after the Dharmpuri flyover take right. There were no difficulties with the road though as expected there were a few rough patches as any one could expect on a State Highway(SH). The route is scenic with good vegetation including flower cultivations. I always prefer travelling on SH than on NH for this very reason.

We reached there by noon,walked around on the rocks moving towards the vantage position from where you get to see the main falls. The view was good, which would tempt any one to take the 'parisal' (coracles). The gorges are gorgeous. Coracle is a bowl shaped boat which can carry up to 6-7 adults. (If you could strain your memory, you will remember 'Dil hei chota sa..song from Roja which was shot at this place with coracles) Coracle rides are supposed to be organized, but the ancient art of 'bargaining will help. Finally you end up paying around Rs 150 per person (3-3.5hrs). As we had a critical mass we hired one coracle after our food (we had carried that).The ride was one of the best experiences in my life, especially when you get into the shade of the huge rocks. Even under the smoldering sun this brought winds and cool shade.If your 'coracle captain' is enterprising he could add zing to the ride. He can take you almost beneath some of the smaller streams breaking down in full force. Another trick he could do is the spinning of the boat with deft and strong movements of the oar and your coracle rotates at the same place.

The modus operandi is thus - You ride the coracle to the next point - walk - gets into the same coracle at next point (coracle is carried by the captain). This pattern continues till you reach the place where you started. At the hopping points you could engage in different activities - get near falls to have better views and photographs, take batch/play with water, eat food or simply waste time drenching in the scenery. You have limited choice of foods - fried fish, fish kolumbu (curry) and rice. For the fish lovers (the eating part I mean) don't miss this. You will also find oil-bottle-bearing-people looking for people looking for massage.

We got near the main falls.The views were awesome with water at its best strength due to the recent rains. This is another tip - to see Hogenekkal visit when there has been copious rains. But again rains should not hamper your day there. The falls are mersmerizing and I don't mind going there again just for the coracle rides and the fried fish ;)

The place is not developed and tourist friendly. One thing I am sure, if Hogenekkal were in Kerala, this would have been developed and promoted as major destination. I did not see any good eating places, places to stay except for a youth hostel, and no ATMs. These are two things to consider before you start off. At each vantage point you pay 2/5/10 Rs including forest entry. I am sure there this could be administered much better. Though multiple signboards told not to litter plastic, plastic is the the next abundant thing, losing out only to water. However we carried our waste plastic out.

This is a must see for people in Bangalore.

Dork - An enjoyable read

2010-10-10T08:44:00.013+05:30

'Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin "Einstein" Varghese' is Sidin Vadukut's debut novel. I am not a reader of whaty.com(Sidin's blog) but I should confess that I have read him at livemint, yes during my days with consultancy , he he !

This book, quite distinguishable for its bright yellow cover is a quick read. I personally finished it in 3 sittings, the last one being in the bus to work.

I quite liked the book for 3 things

1. Fantastic one-liners which most often made a smile in me, if not a laugh

2. The settings - B-School-pass-out, want-to-become-someone-very soon-syndrome - most of these which I could easily relate to

3. The undertone - whether the book meant it or not - the hypocrisy of the consulting world

The narrative - diary entries - might have been tested many a times. But, I felt, this best suited the author's style in this book. And may be Diary is the only friend to whom one gets brutally honest !

Einstein is dorm name of Robin Varghese who is passing out of a reputed B-School in Ahmedabad (No prizes for guessing the institute). The book is full of (mis)adventures of Robin who gets into the consulting world, thought not to his first choice companies. The rest are anecdotes of Robin - working with clients, relationship with girls, office politics which includes ass-licking, back-stabbing, (un)professional rivalry, his passing-out after drinking, You tube videos etc. Though some times the character tends to be unreal, the incidents were thoroughly enjoyable for some one like me with a similar background. Though I am not sure, if my father would enjoy the jokes. But finally I don't think Sidin is writing to him !

The one-liners are terrific. I am sure many of my co-passengers in the bus (where I read the last 50 pages) would have caught me laughing and smiling. The female characters don't have depth. Huh ! Do the others have ? Don't think so. However, do we need that ? Again, I don't think so. But I feel that female characters are trivialized, because that's how the industry works. At least it looked thus to me.

This is said to be the first of trilogy. And I am sure to pick up the next part. Trilogies piling up ?

If Sidin is listening a foot note - I wanted to read this book, the first time I saw it - Don't remember when. However, having given up my habit of picking up the roadside copies and gone into the traditional library mode, I had to wait !! Sidin may want to cover this angle when his next book comes out.

Overall a very good read !

(Picture courtesy - http://dork.whatay.com/)

The Browser is too young to be dead !

2010-09-19T01:27:00.002+05:30

I should confess that it was exciting to be devouring literature about Internet and future of World Wide Web. Early writings from Don Topsott, HBR et al were read in the library, discussed in hostel rooms. Predictions, extrapolations, assumptions on the future of the ‘networked world’, Internet channels, death of middle men, death of newspaper as we know it all were written. It was unfortunate to see the bubble burst as a graduating student; however it was definitely a required step in the evolution of this new media shaking out the non-sustaining models.

Slightly more than a decade later, reading The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet on WIRED brought back some of those memories. Though the title trumpets the death of Web, the text does not tow this line, at least I think so. The argument of the authors is that increasing amount of traffic in the internet are based on peer to peer application more that HTML or other protocol based content. A large number of people accessing the web from multiple devices including mobile together with the development of technologies including Ajax, Flash helped companies like Apple develop successful business models moving away from the browser.

However, I still think, browser still has some way to go. As mentioned somewhere else on the web, browser because of its unique features will absorb these changes and developers will be make the apps available on the browser.

One point I tend to agree is propagation of half-open (to distinguish from the proprietary systems). With peer-to-peer apps on the rise, and these proving more productive than the www, companies will be at least in the midterm putting their resources on the semi-open systems moving away from the dream of a fully open virtual world. As the article says ‘The delirious chaos of the open Web was an adolescent phase subsidized by industrial giants groping their way in a new world.”

We have seen lots of changes in the internet economy – from valuation based on eye balls, free content to paid content et al. In this wave, we are mostly watching monopolistic or oligopolistic tendencies of companies to control content (Apple), traffic (Google).

The inflammatory headline of WIRED has definitely triggered discussions. But the browser is still young to be dead.

When myth blurs into reality

2010-07-15T23:38:00.007+05:30

I have always relished to tread fearlessly on the contours of reality and myth.I subscribe to the 'fact' that beneath every myth there are multiple layers of reality.At these contours, it does not matter to me if I fail to distinguish what is reality and what is fantasy. When I am there, I would probably have the same feelings and thoughts of Shiva smoking marijuana.

The Immortals of Meluha, the first of Shiva trilogy by Amish Tripathi is a heady cocktail of reality and myth. And it hits the right chord with me. It was probably some time since I laboured my mind to read an Indian author. And I should say. I look forward to the sequels.

How many people will like Lord Shiva to take a human form, take drugs, make mistakes, curse...? Not sure. Though I don't have any research to support this, I have always believed that the Gods need not be always full-blown figments of imagination. Strong personalities existed with probably the same names as Gods in flesh and blood and the time and context gave them the halo - may be to boost the confidence of a completely demoralized nation, to effectively face a big evil or the like. And history has been always written by the victors. Hence it might be difficult for us to separate the reality from the exaggeration. But so be it, I don't care.

Amish writes about a near perfect land called Meluha (roughly Indus Valley) circa 1900BC.The land created by Lord Ram and inhabited by Suryavanshis face constant threat (?) from Chandravanshis who allegedly have connived at them making an alliance with the dreaded deformed terrorists - Nagas. The legends say that the man with blue throat - Neelkanth will arrive to when evil reached epic proportions. That is when Shiva, a Tibetan tribal leader with blue throat arrives.

This Shiva smokes grass, gets hurt in combats, goes behind his object of attraction, is undecided at times has turned deaf to pleas of help and most importantly is simple. Though the onus legend placed on his shoulders initially proves to be too much for a tribal leader to bear, Shiva rises to the occasion when needed. However there are enough twists to keep the reader interested. The story ends definitely pointing towards the sequel. Towards the last chapters of the book, we again find a confused Shiva unable to clearly distinguish good from evil.

The Immortals of Meluha is surely a page turner. Interspersed with nuggets of philosophy the book is beautifully packaged with myriad emotions. Of course, I liked the fact that Shiva is not a God,but a man whose Karma makes him the Mahadev. Amish has tried his best to give a reality touch to the 'concepts' like Mahadev,Vishnu. The arguments and their counters which come out in conversations also make it interesting reading, especially for those who wondered why there were disparities based on caste.

The book in short is a good read. It also reiterated my belief that mythical characters were created or given larger than life aura many a times by the situations and context. May be this is the same reason why I am a fan of magical realism.

image courtesy - www.shivatrilogy.com

A weekend of unexpected indulgence in Siva

2010-07-04T20:13:00.007+05:30

To start with I am not a believer in God. However, I have visited temples mostly doing the chauffeuring part. Temples - at least many of them which I have visited have been abodes of serenity and silence. This also acts as a pull for me.

It was a call around noon on the last Friday of June from my friend that made me devote the week to Shiva. A visit to Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu was planned. Couple of quick phone calls and our plan was drawn for the weekend.

As a parallel thread, I have been reading The immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi. This book revolves around a plot where the author portrays Lord Siva as a man in flesh and blood and not a figment of imagination. Not sure why , but I have always liked (be it movies or books) central characters who have shades of grey (if not black).

Since many of our folklores and epics have clearly demarcated the 'white' and the 'black' characters, my desire is rarely addressed. I also like authors who take the creative freedom to manipulate 'stories, esp epics and puranas, 'as we know them' and bring out good things of bad people like Chandu in Vadakkan Veeragatha and now Siva in The immortals of Meluha. The book is fictionalized and though there is little literary value I have been indulging in it.

Thiruvannamalai visit was a perfect setting against this background since it was the 'capital' of Saivites. It is situated slightly less than 200 kms from the Silkboard flyover in Bangalore. The route we took was quite non-complex. Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Samalpatti - Uthangarai - Chengam - Thiruvannamalai. People who are not familiar with this route which goes to even Pondicherry, should look for a right turn around 1 km after you take the left from Krishanagiri. This is an NH, however not very well laid, with rough patches. But is very much drivable. It took us less than 4 hours with decent stoppages in between.

Thiruvannamalai is town at the foots of Annamalai. Geologists consider this mountain to be older than Himalayas. I am not exaggerating when I say that the entire town and its small economy has developed as a result of this famous temple. There are also a few ashrams including Ramana Maharshi's. The place is also associated with 'fire' the central element in the panchabootha (five elements). Thiruvannamalai is also noted as a place of salvation as per the sivapuranas.

The complex is huge and well guarded on all four sides with high rise walls. The gopurams are majestic and the more you look at them the more you tend to appreciate the artistry of our earlier generations.As per the legends Siva who manifested himself into a column of fire asked Brahma and Vishnu to find the ends of it. Both fail. The manifestation of this is supposedly seen in rituals during Sivaratri and Karthika Pournami.There is also 'Girivalam' the circumnavigation of the hill which is usually done by the devotees on the full moon day. This is 13-14 kms long and is said to destroy the karmas of 10 million births.

The temple is majestic. However, I did not find the calmness and serenity I always look forward in my temple visits. There is 'special darshan' where you get 'nearer to the God' by paying extra. The interesting part of this was on our day of visit late into night I saw the rate as Rs 20 per head and the very next day the amount of Rs 50.There was also an elephant that will bless you if you give money. The well-trained elephant tucks in the coins you offer, into the tip of its trunk and gives it to the mahout who sat next to him.

Weekend was well spent with the book and the temple all pertaining the Siva, though the contexts to both are poles apart. The drive was good and we could pick up some very tasty mangoes from road side stalls on our way back.

Ruminating my rendezvous with WorldCups

2010-06-16T09:37:00.009+05:30

I too have some very distinct memories of WorldCup football dating back to my pre-teen years.

The first one goes back to 1986 Mexico. The years of black and white television sets and all the channels (the solitary one) being powered by Doordarshan (DD). I am not sure if that was the first year DD managed to bring it live. I used to be holed up at my uncles' place watching the midnight dramas - and the finals between Maradona led Argentina and Kalle (Karl-Heinz Rummenigge) led 'West' Germany along with his friends.The power went off during the half time with the mighty Argentina leading by a goal. In the spirit of the game we took the bi-cycles and travelled 3-4 kms to reach FACT Club House.The match was being played to a full house in the middle of night. Though I missed watching one goal live, they match was reaching its cresendo with 3 goals being scored in the last 20 mins. Anyways, 1986 was a Maradona year, also marked by the infamous 'Hand of God' and also the equally famous second goal in the same match.

The other memories were of the Golden Boot Man - Gary Linekar. I am happy to see both the greats - Linekar and Maradona still around ! 24 years later I don't want this to be a Maradona world cup again (I want Brazil to take it!)

I still remember vividly French keeper Bats saving Zico penalty and Platini consoling the other number 10 after that.(I think Platini also messed up a kick from the spot in the same match)

Another one etched in my memory is this Josimer goal against N.Ireland

1990 incidentally has not left much in my collections. However the Frank Rijkaard spits at Rudi Völler’s in one of the most forgettable matches between Netherlands and Germany (still West) stands out.

The next clear memories come when I was at KL - 2002. I had the golden opportunity to see the entire Brazil team(which went on win the Worldcup later) in action(including their benches). This happened at the Bukit Jalil stadium (if i remember right) before the WC when Brazil played the National team in their acclimatization matches in Asia. Even Emerson (who started off as Captain but had to give Cafu the baton even before the WC because of shoulder injury) was present. Being an exhibition match the entire team members had a chance with the ball. Though Brazil has been my favourites, they did not start as front-runners (I think they had a bad run at the qualifiers)

Even the hardest non-football fans cannot but get hooked on to it. Such is the frenzy especially over the English Football team there. Shall I call it the colonial hangover just like we have over other matters in India? Though England was never in my good books, the individuals were pretty close to my heart because of EPL addiction. And Brazil had to meet England. Skipping office mid way into the day I was in the local train heading towards a pub in the city outskirts where we had planned to gather. The SMS on my mobile ' Eng 1 Br 0' was disheartening. However ' we' managed to pull it out. Braving an army of English supporters at the pub, we (handful of Brazil fans) cheered our hearts out for the team, ably supported by Carlesberg beers. Our cheers were heard by Ronaldinho who delivered supporting the first goal and delivering a beauty of a ball (aided by Seaman's folly) to bring victory.

It was sad to see him red carded in the match.

I eagerly await for the main course of this WorldCup and I strongly believe it will be better than the appetizer. I cherish and chew these wonderful reminiscences. Looking into the future -2010 and beyond - I hope to have more of these - especially shared memories around these football carnivals with my growing son.

A commitment to keep this Environment day

2010-06-06T12:01:00.005+05:30

It has been the day I always wanted to do something - June 5 - World Environment Day. I am happy that I could do something this year, albeit in small way. My recent trip to Kerala and Kumarakom may have provided with the much needed momentum. Also it coincided with the Mango exhibition at Lalbagh gardens.

I should thank Jayakrishnan for his reminder on June 4 to visit Lalbagh. Both families huddled into the car to visit the place. Till date our efforts to have some potted plants bloom and colour our balcony failed mainly because the commitment was not there to make it work. However this time I picked up a plant with the commitment to myself that I will not let it die in my balcony. I will have a checkpoint in 2 months to see if my experiment worked. If it works, then I will have more of them adorn my balcony. All the best to myself!

Kids had fun though it is too early for them to understand the relevance of environment day. We helped them climb a tree. In short I could see my childhood through him. And yes we ate some mangoes and jackfruit.

Hopefully I will have a few plants at my balcony next year on this day!

Where the blue meets green - Kumarakom

2010-05-30T10:12:00.008+05:30

So finally we were also there. It will be no more required to excuse myself away from discussions on Kumarakom. For me, Kumarakom situated in central Kerala caressed by the backwaters is probably the epitome of Kerala Tourism Board’s relentless marketing campaign – God’s own Country. The place came into the spotlight with former prime minister of India, A B Vajpayee taking a vacation there and penning down few poetries.

Yes, it was a long awaited vacation with the family. Aadi’s vacation was to get over soon and I needed a break badly from the endless interviews and one-on-ones. Kumarakom, the sleepy village around 70 kms from Kochi city was the solution. The roads are ok to drive on.

Kumarakom, is essentially a peninsula with Vembanad covering the three boundaries. For starters, Kerala is blessed with panoramic expanse of water bodies. Vembanad Lake, the largest lake in Kerala is one such body. One more interesting fact about Vembanad Lake is that it is separated into two (brackish and pure) by a barrier (mud regulator) essentially to help the farmers and their crops.

We stayed at the ‘Whispering Palms’ (http://www.abadhotels.com/lakeresort/index.html) , a resort developed and maintained by Abad group and true to its name dotted with palms all around (see the video and hear the whisper J ).

The suite was backwater facing. Stepping out of our suite through the rear door (which happened to be the one which we ended up using most!) we were welcomed by the water body. An occasional water fowl looking for insects used to visit us at the lawn which separated the room from the lake. My idea of vacation has come to mean rest and laziness and it was the perfect setting I could have asked for. Lazing at the verandah in the bamboo chair, with a book I picked up recently from the library, sipping the morning tea (for a change not made by me), facing the morning breeze is the ideal setting I wanted. The hammock looked tempting, but for the tea in my hand. I could see country fishing boats of various sizes moving steadily North early in the morning. The water weeds which made a green surface towards the dusk near our resort were also moving away from the banks. An occasional houseboat cut my vision towards the other end of backwater. The palms whispered for sure playing chorus to the symphony that water made striking against the stones that protected the banks. Vijayalakshmi (the boat operated by the resort) stood majestically at the jetty (albeit a small one) waiting for her first customers.

Life is at slow pace there steadily through out the day. A far cry from our maddening days which accelerate from the time you wake up till you hit the bed again. I felt the resort was reasonably priced, maintained pretty well. I am a self-confessed fish aficionado (on the eating side, not on the rearing side). This makes me looking and constantly trying for newer (read tastier) varieties of fish dishes. I did not find much on this area in the resort menu. However the food was good except for this. The resort has other facilities like a swimming pool and an ayurvedic center. You can also avail a boat ride or else book your houseboat which will pick you up at the jetty. Another attraction I found there was a small lagoon exquisitely maintained. As daylight picks up the still waters covers itself with a green blanket arguably caused by the ecosystem it maintains there. You could spend enough time just sitting on one of the islands in that lagoon and doing nothing.

May be I am not to be blamed, the best thing I could have done there was to idle around!

We neither took the houseboat nor visited the bird sanctuary, since as I told earlier my priorities were different. The only thing I would have missed there was beer, which was not served at the resort. Yes, I agree that dampens the ‘spirit’ to some bit, but I understand one could carry them along, so there goes the solution.

In short, Kumarakom provides you a collage of picturesque memories intertwined with gorgeous water bodies, swaying palms, grandeur of greenery, the whispering wind, mouthful of ‘fishy’ taste and lots of time to idle. A must visit for anyone who values time !

The remains of 9/11- The Reluctant Fundamentalist

2010-04-02T09:52:00.003+05:30

Like Jesus Christ’s birth used to define, rather attempt to give us a sense of history, the 9/11 incidents have redefined time in the modern history of mankind. Political equations changed, polarizations happened, the nation which has been trying to police the world after the cold war era got a stamp of approval to do it for some reason.

Mohisin Hamid is said to have started his novel ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ before 9/11. I am glad that he completed it after the events. In a pre 9/11 scenario, Changez, the protagonist, would have been yet another character trying to discover where he actually belonged to – to his native Pakistan or to the country which made his life – USA. We have probably an overdose of these characters in our books, the only difference being they come from India rather than Pakistan.

But 9/11 incidents gave the character darker hues. I like it. Changez is a sophisticated product of American B-School starting his career with a reputed valuation firm. Life goes well, though he is also a part of a love-triangle where one of the characters is a dead man.

9/11 incidents acquires a character in the book. The very scenes of the collapse of WTC on the television bring in Changez a vicarious pleasure. The smile that Changez had at that time was the outburst of pent up emotions against the nation which ironically provided him his livelihood. The readers, especially the Western ones can debate this. For Changez, it was bringing America to knees.

The comparison to janissaries of Ottoman Empire captured as Christians and made to fight against their own men is a strong parallel. The best part of the novel is the turmoil that the main character goes through and the final inward transformation. I think that is the only reason for which I like this book.

On the literary side, I don’t have any take away. The bonus for any Indian reader is a Pakistani perspective to the tension at our border.

I feel there will be at least a few novels in the future written along the same lines – the anguish a sophisticated man from the Eastern world will have against the Western world.

Radical Islam Not Equal to 21st Century Marxism

2010-02-14T12:22:00.002+05:30

It has been sometime since I last pinged my blog URL. A change in job was welcome on the personal and career front, however tend to take some time for acclimatization and my blog bore the brunt. Anyway I think (?) I am back.

This topic has been there doing some rounds in my cerebral cortex. And one of my favourite authors Pamuk recently aired his thoughts on the subject in a recent interview. This accelerated ‘time-to-blog’ on the same.

The most obvious and probably the only strong common denominator for Islamic Fundamentalism and Communism perhaps is their ‘anti-western stance’. However this common thread has been strong enough for thinkers to suggest and write on Islamic fundamentalism taking over the place of Communism in the post cold-war era.

There are startling differences though. Communism on one hand is supposedly based on perfect science, while the basis of Islamic fundamentalism is religion. They don’t’ resemble each other in philosophical thoughts though some writers have tried to draw similarities.

Radical Islam to a great extent is the Frankenstein from the manipulated acts of USA. You could see that Taliban is a bi-product of America’s war to dethrone the erstwhile Soviet Union backed Afghan regime.

For US, facing Islamic fundamentalism is a big challenge since they need to isolate the ideology and the religion. US should, rather it should appear, that the state has issue with the ideology and not the religion. This is not an easy task, as I see it. To muddle this scenario we have other issues like nuclear armament of the Islamic nations and global warming. A still tougher job for the American negotiators will be to isolate issues and take sides.

US did not have to sacrifice lives to erase communism. However, the loss of its people and the cost of fighting radical Islam are raising quite a lot of questions for Obama. The enemy not being as political as in the case of Communism accentuates the whole situation.

Many a times I have felt that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism is a result of the vacuum created by the collapse of communism. Though the pro-West thinkers would be happy to equate Islamic radicalism as 21^st century Communism, this approach is handling the ‘current enemy’ is not going to get them anywhere.

In memory of that 'little jig' behind the wicket

2009-10-29T10:45:00.003+05:30

He was the name we as kids used to identify with cricket umpiring. And he is definitely one of the game’s best known umpires. The Santa like Shepherd (Do I know Santa?), looking back seems to me as a father figure for cricket.

It is sad to see him go, albeit he was battling the pains of cancerous growth in his body for quite a long time.

Shepherd came through as an umpire respected by the players in a day the officials were not supported much by technology and days when test matches were more common than other forms of the game. And for me, a test match is a skill-endurance test for even the umpire.

He will always be remembered. The small ‘jig’ or the ‘hop’ he does when the score is at Nelsons is unforgettable. Every time we see Nelsons in the scoreboard there is a high chance that we will remember him.

May his soul rest in peace and he be an inspiration to the many who aspire to be just umpires.

(Picture courtesy - BBC)