Dilli meri jaan

The capital of India is never prettier but in the months of November-February, the time when winter reigns, the time when fog and mist cover the sun, the time when chilly winds tend to bite your skin off, the time when small bonfires have people gathered around them making small conversation, the time when pyaaz ki pakaudi aur chai takes a new meaning. Add to it the world class and unusually empty roads if you are out in the freezing night, and you have got an unbeatable combo.

Ever since I did my schooling from Delhi, the city has been close to my heart even though I managed to come back to it only 8 years later for my first post-MBA job. Some good friends made over the time I was there add to the charm that the city possesses for me. Every time I get to visit Delhi (in the not too long duration of eight months that I have been away from the city), it is yet another episode, yet another addendum to the love affair.

The visit this time was to participate in the wedding celebrations of Kushagra, one of those ex-colleagues whose friendship was and is a cherished one. Married on the 11th in Jamshedpur, Kushagra and Anugya had kept a reception for friends and family on the 14th in Delhi. Although Kushagra had informed us of the event about a month ago, there was no clear or recent information on when and where was the event supposed to take place. Obviously not expecting an invitation card, it was still a little awkward to land up at some place on a whim only to realize that the event had actually been planned for some very close family and we were, after all, uninvited.

As we (Nishith, Himadri and myself) had almost decided to give the reception a miss and I had cursed my luck enough, though clearly half heartedly for landing in Delhi without any purpose, we suddenly got SMS messages from Kushagra which was, true to his character, barely 4 hours in advance. The tone of the message was awesome to boot suggesting as though there may have been some ambiguity on our front as far as our attendance at the event was concerned.

To cut a long story short, we did attend the reception and it was absolutely spot on, with the newly weds looking terrific in their synchronized ensembles. Anugya was looking particularly graceful and Kushagra was the image of a good boy, what with uncharacteristically well kept hair, to quote an instance.

I was accompanied to the Delhi trip this time by Priya as apart from the reception, there were some other family engagements in the city as well, which also went off pretty nicely although not without a good dose of situational humor associated with the same. The only regret I had was that the two day trip seemed too small to meet all friends, go to all places I wanted to visit and most importantly, have all the street food that I wanted to have.

As I took the metro to reach New Delhi station to catch the train back (yeah, I took the train both ways, air travel is way too expensive nowadays), I could but only marvel at the growth that this city has had over the last few years. Looking at the reservation charts to check where they had allotted my RAC seat, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself upgraded to the 2nd tier. Happy ending, what!

The Settlement exercise

In one of the most trivial and pointless exercises, some half a dozen of MBA grads from IIM Kozhikode's Class of 2006 came to the conclusion that a whopping 58% of the batch is now married and an equally staggering 8% has had one or more kids. The exercise was carried out in the serene environment provided by Ravi's lovely home and occasion was one of the big ones for Ravi and Deepti, the lovely couple's second wedding anniversary.

Yesterday being a holiday on account of Eid, I had spent the entire day lazing around and watching movies and flopping on the bed and watching some more movies and flopping some more on the bed. As I was about to see the long, weary day to an uneventful end, I received a call from Ravi to come to his house ASAP. Not given any reasons for this call and given such a short notice, I would have imagined something ominous but for the tone of Ravi's voice.

As I reached Ravi's place, I could hear the cheerful sounds from his flat and Priya (in Mumbai to resign from her job, as she put it) waving from the balcony. Already having sensed some kind of gathering of batch mates, the only surprise was the occasion. All the usual suspects were there and then some. The evening started out like all others, a little awkwardly at first with people asking each other about their jobs and work and similar stuff. Soon enough, the mood grew into a more relaxed one as the drinks came out and amidst the cheery toasts, the junta started getting nostalgic and got into talking about the campus. The same old jokes and the same old events got discussed yet again but like every other time, did not fail to bring smiles to each one of our faces.

It was in the middle of this nostalgic session that the discussion veered towards marriage and kids (some of the gathering being a little more than active on the matrimonial landscape definitely helped). Name after name was exclaimed upon as it was either proclaimed as having already tied the nuptial knot or gone a step further. Within hardly any time, all this led to the batch list coming out of Rohit's laptop and all of us going literally name by name. Some of the names had already started sounding unfamiliar and that is a shame really, considering that it has only been two and a half years since we passed out of campus.

For all the names that we collectively had a clue on, we updated their status as Married, Married with kids, or Engaged. People who did not fall in any of these categories were listed as Looking :-). While some people (especially Rohit who will probably mail the analysis to the batch, just for fun) were careful about putting people in categories where they did not have any clue on the actual turn of events, some others (including me) believed in the old adage of "Guilty till proven otherwise".

I am sure that the end result of the exercise set many people thinking, some thinking on why it hasn't happened with them yet, some thanking/blaming their stars for being blessed/cursed, while there were others who took the high point and thought dispassionately about it all. Whatever be the case, the "Settlement Exercise" had everyone enthralled till it was time for dinner and subsequent cake cutting and celebrations.

Cheers to Ravi and Deepti (not sure if I have spelt it right, two e's or an i?)!
Guys, wish you a very happy anniversary once again!

Not this time!

From whatever I have been hearing from people I have invariably been discussing the last few days' events with, I think that Mr. Joshi has hit the nail on the head with the following:

The night when I was almost a hostage

This is going to be one long post!

Even as I write this, two floors of the Oberoi Hotel Towers are on fire and explosions follow gunshots in what can perhaps be a final assault by the security forces aimed at flushing out terrorists holed up inside the Trident-Oberoi hotels and probably holding hundreds of people hostage.

As is a usual pattern now, I was in office last night with three other colleagues of mine, working on an important client presentation to have happened today and watching the fifth one-day cricket match between India and England. As we were celebrating yet another Indian victory and watching the post match presentation ceremony, Nitin got a call from his father asking him to take care while returning home as news channels started carrying the first reports of indiscriminate firing at the Mumbai CST railway station.

We were just debating if we should switch channels and watch some news when Ashish heard some shouting outside. As we ran towards the windows of our 9th floor office, we could clearly hear sounds of gunfire and see sparks flying in the building right across the road. This building opposite our office building is, of course, the now immensely-in-news Oberoi Hotel. It was immensely confusing as people started calling us talking about firing and bomb explosions in other parts of South Bombay while we, a bit ahead of the news, were experiencing something ourselves.

It was just a matter of time when we could see smoke rising through the hotel building, and filling the rooms overlooking our building. We watched in alarm as people broke open the window glass and were hanging out the window ledge in an attempt to escape the black smoke that could be seen enveloping the entire building. There were some people who broke these windows in panic and there were others (like the one I saw) very calmly going about his business of talking on the phone as he picked up a chair and struck the window pane with it. I might just have seen a terrorist!!!

As events started unfolding at a furious pace one after the other, the exclamations only grew louder. As we watched with open mouths, we heard an immensely loud sound and our building shook. Scared for our lives, concern fuelled a little more by the now-panicky voice of Ashish, the four of us (I, Ashish, Nitin, and Sameer) rushed to the first floor of our building just in case we had to move out of the building in a hurry. On our way down, we saw some people sitting in the lobby of Kotak Investment Bank watching the news with as much interest and concern as was almost flowing through our veins.

As we reached the first floor and were peering through the window on the side overlooking Oberoi's, we started receiving calls from everyone from family members to colleagues to the senior most of management (what with Ashish being very senior in the company, of course) as the news finally broke on news channels.

Mumbai was under siege as terrorists attacked some 12 centres, mostly in and around South Bombay. There was indiscriminate firing, and along with it numerous bomb and grenade explosions that rocked the city, killing and maiming people and the entire Government machinery.

I know that I should be probably ashamed of myself but I was actually enjoying the entire event, revelling in the undercurrents of uncertainty, fear, and unpredictability. The scene was no different for the others as all of us switched between watching the TV and looking across the road peering out of tinted glass windows and finally, having a laugh at how outdated the news channels were. As people hung out at window ledges, using white clothes as distress signals, some channel carried a report branding them as terrorists. Pray, why will terrorists hang out of window ledges carrying white distress signals?

As night progressed, police forces enveloped the hotel, spreading across the entire area and cordoning off all nearby buildings including ours. The army moved in at about 3 in the night but nothing was really happening except the incessant firing and occasional explosions that we could prominently hear. Our hunger satisfied by raiding the office canteen, we sat around, resigned to our fate but just as one of us dozed off looking at the same video footage repeated multiple times, we were disturbed by yet another round of firing or yet another explosion.

Things were fast getting out of control and all the fun and excitement had given way to this nagging fear at the back of our minds. Some of the guys went into a panic mode and that was not helping either. I could almost feel my feet shaking every time I went into the room facing the Oberoi's. On one of these visits to check the situation outside, I could see someone strolling on the ledge on the topmost floor, carrying something that appeared like a torch (and perhaps a gun as well). On another, I could see (or imagine?) snipers hiding in the NCPA building alongside. As day broke, we thought it was probably just the tail lights of cars reflecting in the darkness but as per latest reports, snipers actually opened fire on the Oberoi's and guess what, they were firing from the NCPA.

The whole night had passed and the terrorists were still there holding up and the army all across, trying to get in the building in the best possible manner. In the early morning light, things were only prophesising the doom to follow. As we came down to talk to the security guards of our buildings, we could see the army guys in the compound and the entire area seemed to have been converted into a military cantonment. As we asked permission to leave, we were not prepared in the least for the way we would be led out of the back door and allowed to leave.

Sunil, my driver, after having spent the entire night on the streets on the Marine Drive in the middle of action had managed to get the car out by that time. As we rushed out to join him and started getting as far as possible from the site, he recounted his story of how a grenade exploded right in front of him, shaking the cars around, including the one he was sitting in. Dropping Nitin and Sameer en route, I was just wondering if things could very well have been closer and how God was kind to spare me the agony that so many others faced.

Three images will always remain in my memory reminding me of the night when I was almost a hostage, one of that guy breaking the Oberoi's window pane so coldly, the other of the guy strolling on the top floor window ledge and the third of people waving white flags in exasperation, piteously asking for help. God has been kind, may He bless all those affected by this tragedy and those who caused it.

Mode C: A brief glance down Memory Lane

I don't know why but a thought suddenly came to me making me look back at this blog and see how it has come up over the last four and a half years that it has been in existence. Since May 2004, I have written a grand total of 237 posts (including this one) with the last 37 having taken three full years. The first two years having been spent on campus with so many events unfolding almost every other day can probably explain this.

Another noticeable fact, at least to me, was that there have been two relatively long periods of near complete silences on this blog, the first one after leaving campus and before joining my job from March to May 2006 (3 months with no post). The second one, of course, is attributable to the life threatening accident that I had last year and ranged from February 2007 to March 2008 (1 year and 1 month with 3 posts). Other stand-alone silent months have been March 2005, January 2006, September 2006, December 2006, and June 2008.

May 2004:
No. of posts: 25
Date of first post: 03
Title of first post: One long day
First paragraph of first post:
Another day passes with neither news nor immediate hope of the IIMK results. It is strange, the way this thing has started getting a hold over me. Even after busying myself the whole of the weekend in finally completing the book, Lord of The Rings, I could not help thinking about what will happen.

June 2004:
No. of posts: 08
Date of first post: 01
Title of first post: Working for free
First paragraph of first post:
I have been working for free once again, and that too during my last few days at Infy. I know that it may sound like cribbing but I am ready to challenge anyone who says that they love working and that too, with the knowledge that they will be leaving the company for good in another three days.

July 2004:
No. of posts: 19
Date of first post: 07
Title of first post: Inside God's own country
First paragraph of first post:
Finally, I am in IIMK. After a short and almost uneventful stay in Chennai, I had to pack my bags for another trip, this one much smaller than the marathon Buxar-Chennai one just a couple of days back. With the bag already spilling over and the suitcase packed as tight as any suitcase could possibly afford to, I had to bring my favorite Globus bag in use and the helmet was another addition.

August 2004:
No. of posts: 19
Date of first post: 07
Title of first post: A pi in the face of adversity
First paragraph of first post:
Yann Martel exceeds himself and any other writers of a similar genre as he describes 'The Life of Pi'. The book is a treatise on so many things. It delves into the rationale behind zoos, the psychology of animals, the importance of religion and faith in one's life and above all, the life of a stow-away, the things man can be compelled to do...and so much more that after reading the book, the reader is mentally exhausted because of having to take so much in. Yet, the story doesn't drag, once it has entered its flow. Admittedly, the first fifty-odd pages move slow as we are introduced to the character of Piscine but as soon as the protagonist's nemesis, Richard Parker, comes into being, the complexion of the story changes completely.

September 2004:
No. of posts: 21
Date of first post: 01
Title of first post: Dahi vadai...garam samosa...masala dosai
First paragraph of first post:
I had promised...to serve masala in this post...and so be it. At the risk of sounding some people off and even making my reputation of being the official gossip even stronger (if at all that is possible), I am back with another story...nay, not a story but as true a representation of thoughts as possible. Well, it has hardly been a point of contention...my facts, that is. What has been worrying people is either my take on the facts and their portrayal as I do it, or the effect of that portrayal on things that are held sacred (the institute name, for example...however, I do not really think that IIMK is such a weak brand after all).

October 2004:
No. of posts: 13
Date of first post: 03
Title of first post: 9 days and 1250 kms in God's own country
First paragraph of first post:
It has been a record 20 days since I last wrote in this place in spite of there having been so much to write about in all this time. A term ended at IIM Kozhikode, the end-term exams got over with their own share of highs and lows and most importantly, I am back from a road trip through the length and breadth of Kerala. It was always there somewhere in my mind...the idea of a road trip. I remember being impressed with stories of people who traveled across the country or even the world on their vehicles to promote world peace or some other such junk. Despite not feeling too strongly about the idea behind these trips (world peace, et al), I always used to like the concept of being free with your time and resources and going out in the open with no care in the world. In short, it will suffice to say that the idea of a road trip was not a novelty or impulse for me.

November 2004:
No. of posts: 08
Date of first post: 11
Title of first post: Not Fair
First paragraph of first post:
There are times when happiness knows no bounds and yet there are others, when there is no limit to the tears that come to the eyes. Some people say that this is what brings balance and fairness to it all. But why does it have to be like that? Why can't joy and sorrow be in moderate measures at all points in life?

December 2004:
No. of posts: 11
Date of first post: 06
Title of first post: Of winning hearts and heartlessness
First paragraph of first post:
Life does seem to have taken a strange turn this term. I have long forgotten the concept of trying to start some serious studies and change myself as per an 'IIM'. In fact, to be true and honest, I never had the misconception that I will find the need and moreover, even if I did find the need, the motivation to change myself, IIM or no IIM. And that is what happened. As I have been cribbing over the last few posts, I gave another door-waala-salaam to the studies and went on another trip to another inter B-school festival, this time at TAPMI, Manipal.

January 2005:
No. of posts: 03
Date of first post: 03
Title of first post: Happy New Year!
First paragraph of first post:
Bombay, or Amchi Mumbai, as the locals call it lovingly and often with an awe-struck catch in their voice, is one of the cities that has its own memories for me. Not that I have been to this place many times, but despite the one time that I have been to Mumbai, the city haunts me whenever I am thinking of something fast and big, both at the same time. Having decided not to spend the new year in the train from home to IIMK, we (that is Aditya and me) had planned to make Mumbai the stopover for the night of the 31st and most of the day of the 1st. Aditya, of course, had his own plans of dumping me somewhere for the new year's but unfortunately, could not devise a suitable plan for the same in time.

February 2005:
No. of posts: 10
Date of first post: 01
Title of first post: Is it the end...or the beginning?
First paragraph of first post:
Two days of frantic activity preceded by three weeks of hope-despair, action-inaction, love-hate, brightness-gloom, success-failure, evolution-apocalypse...Backwaters 2005 has come and gone and left me all drained. There was a time when we had been thinking of scrapping the event altogether and there is now, when we can't help gloating over the congratulatory mails coming in from different quarters about the professionalism of it all.

March 2005:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

April 2005:
No. of posts: 11
Date of first post: 15
Title of first post: Getting a hold over my self
First paragraph of first post:
It has been four days since I joined PwC (as the HR guys requested, I must be careful how I write it, even if it is in the short form...in full, by the way, it is written as PricewaterhouseCoopers with only the P and the C in caps). These four days have been a little confusing, at times raising my hopes and at others, dashing them right down the ground. However, I am rushing myself in excitement of the new things that have been happening in my life without really being what could probably be called systematic.

May 2005:
No. of posts: 17
Date of first post: 02
Title of first post: Birthday celebrations and Patna eat-outs
First paragraph of first post:
It was really sweet of Shanu to have been waiting for me to cut his birthday cake. He has always been like that...a little partial towards me and that is to be expected, too. Despite being a cousin, I guess I am more of a brother to him than anyone could have been and he is the same to me. Ever since he started identifying people, he has seen me around and has spent quite a major chunk of his childhood playing, fighting, going to school, having fun with me. Having stayed with my maternal grand parents for my school education, I have always had the same amount of affection for Shanu as he took away from me, the mantle of being the youngest in the household.

June 2005:
No. of posts: 12
Date of first post: 03
Title of first post: Ye jo world hai na world...
First paragraph of first post:
Amitabh Bachchan tucks in his upper lip while he lets the lower one drool...the eyes are popped open and the eyebrows raised a little...Sharaabi, Laawaris, Amar Akbar Anthony anyone?
Abhishek Bachchan tucks in his upper lip while he lets the lower one drool...the eyes and eyebrows are covered with black glasses...ummm...he also has a red, heart-shaped balloon in one hand and his father's arm in another.

July 2005:
No. of posts: 16
Date of first post: 02
Title of first post: They are here...run!!!
First paragraph of first post:
Right from the mitochondria to the cells to the organisms to the planet and the universe, life has so many things and so many wonders hidden inside it that it is almost impossible to contemplate on what might happen next. This is the idea that had prompted HG Wells to write a story that turned out to be a sensational success, the stuff legends are made of, when relayed over the American radio one fine morning. The story comes back to treat us to the possibilities of annihilation, this time in the avatar of a movie. And before you reject it outright as a stale idea (after the success of Independence Day and even spoofs like Men in Black, the idea does seem stale), let it be known that the person who has directed this movie is none other than THE Steven Spielberg and the lead actor, none other than THE Tom Cruise.

August 2005:
No. of posts: 09
Date of first post: 01
Title of first post: Can you decipher this?
First paragraph of first post:
One of the courses this term that I have been really enjoying is Prof. Uday Damodaran's Portfolio Management. A change from the somewhat theatrical to a definitely more structured course being one important parameter that has grabbed our attention, there are several other reasons why there is almost full attendance in his classes, even if they are held at 7 in the morning.

September 2005:
No. of posts: 02
Date of first post: 02
Title of first post: Little updates from the little birdie
First paragraph of first post:
So it is about time I update my blog readers (I have ceased to wonder about the reasons for their existence apart from the ikka dukka ones I know of :-)) about what is happening in my life apart from the cribs and the rants and the sobs and the frowns. So here goes, something fresh from my garden, for all those who care to have a whiff.

October 2005:
No. of posts: 05
Date of first post: 08
Title of first post: I am alive...still
First paragraph of first post:
I have been meaning to write something on Mode C for long but fortunately or unfortunately, things out here in Paris have taken such a hectic pace that it has become increasingly tough to just keep abreast of the proceedings, forget writing about them at two places (the other blog is in deed alive, and doing well, thank you). However, Mode C and its readers (if they still come back to check, even if it is once in a blue moon) do deserve more than the neglect I have been able to offer so far.

November 2005:
No. of posts: 03
Date of first post: 05
Title of first post: Blog Mela Update
First paragraph of first post:
Blog Mela delayed due to unavoidable circumstances.
The Mela will be up by the night of the 7th of November India Time. Sorry for inconvenience, if any.

December 2005:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 02
Title of first post: Le Coupe de Feu...Perils lay ahead of you, Harry Potter
First paragraph of first post:
As the huge stadium comes into focus, and the magical creatures, witches and wizards cheer the seekers, beaters, and players of the teams of Ireland and Bulgaria, we dive headlong into The Goblet of Fire.

January 2006:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

February 2006:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 05
Title of first post: Too much water under the bridge
First paragraph of first post:
I can't believe that it has been one whole term since I last wrote on this blog. But believe it or not, this is true and for someone who used this blog as a tool to get things out of his system, I guess there were too many things bottled up this time to get out at all. Come to think of it, there are so many things that this blog needs to be updated with, that it is going to take me one lifetime if I start at it now.

March 2006:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

April 2006:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

May 2006:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

June 2006:
No. of posts: 03
Date of first post: 07
Title of first post: Still there
First paragraph of first post:
This is just to report that I am still alive and so is this blog. I will be back to regular posts pretty soon.

July 2006:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 22
Title of first post: Continuing from where I left!
First paragraph of first post:
The journey never seems to stop but there are so many stoppages en route that at times, it becomes very difficult to maintain the same continuity from one destination to other. While there was a time when I used to think, write, and act in a routine manner, life currently has stopped giving me the same privileges. It has become increasingly difficult to really reflect about anything. Memory seems to have lost the knack of keeping things in limbo for at least as long as there is time to analyze them for whatever physiological gains one might think of.

August 2006:
No. of posts: 02
Date of first post: 09
Title of first post: Dham dham dhadam dhadaiyya re
First paragraph of first post:
Pardon my language but Omkara could possibly not have been complete without the use of such and more foul language. Shakespeare would never have approved of the same, what with his medieval English ruling the roost as far as the original went, but in the Indian context, if Vishal Bhardwaj had to show the baser instincts of men, he could not have relied on the Gentlemen's language, could he?

September 2006:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

October 2006:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 25
Title of first post: DELHI - Flatmate required for a 3 BHK flat in Patparganj, East Delhi
First paragraph of first post:
1 Flatmate required on urgent basis for a 3BHK flat with details as follows
Location - Patparganj (11 kms frm CP, 8 kms frm Noida, close vicinity to some 5-6 malls, just off the National Highway and 2 kms frm Anand Vihar Bus Terminus so well-connected)

November 2006:
No. of posts: 02
Date of first post: 02
Title of first post: On a fine Delhi morning
First paragraph of first post:
It has been ages since I wrote my last real post on Mode C and the blog, I though, was as good as dead. But then again, as Pavan says he keeps hoping for, the suppressed finds utterance yet again and here I am, typing away on this keyboard of mine. It is a great morning in Delhi with just the right amount of chill, just the right amount of visibility or the lack of it, just the right amount of traffic and of course just the right kind of songs playing on the car radio.

December 2006:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

January 2007:
No. of posts: 04
Date of first post: 04
Title of first post: Adieu to my childhood, adieu to the child in me
First paragraph of first post:
As I left for the railway station, Pappumama's words kept ringing in my head (however melodramatic the ringing idea may seem), "kewal itna kahenge ki jis hak se nana nani ke samay aate the, usi hak se aate rehna" (all I will say is that keep coming with the same feeling of right as you used to during Nana-Nani's times). Will it ever be the same, I kept asking myself and despite the assurances I gave to a crying pappumama, I could not bring myself to believe that it will ever be anything close to what it was.

February 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

March 2007:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 31
Title of first post: Outclassed, outperformed, and outplayed
First paragraph of first post:
Inspired by a relatively superlative performance by a couple of players, Gaurav XI rode all the way to the lunch table in style, and in the process, comprehensively beat Kotak Wealth by 78 runs.

April 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

May 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

June 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

July 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

August 2007:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 23
Title of first post: Am I back or what???
First paragraph of first post:
Over the period that I have been absent from this space, I have been dead and re-born so many number of times that I have absolutely lost count. I never thought that I will be writing about all this but given the amount of time that I have at my disposal and given the fact that I can't make better use of this time at office, here I am, ready to recount what has been the most memorable episode of my small life so far.

September 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

October 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

November 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

December 2007:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

January 2008:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 14
Title of first post: Lull after the storm
First paragraph of first post:
Things had been pretty topsy-turvy over the last few months, what with the accident, recovery, joining work after such a big sabbatical, and many other things associated with the same. However, once things started getting back on track, there has been a sort of calm and dull cover enveloping the daily proceedings. In a nutshell, life goes by, currently, at an even pace without much to force the ripple, so to say, in the still waters.

February 2008:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

March 2008:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

April 2008:
No. of posts: 03
Date of first post: 15
Title of first post: A new update from a new city
First paragraph of first post:
There has been a lot happening around me that I should have written about but I guess I have been just plain lazy. It is difficult to put pen to paper or finger to key when you are engrossed with so much else that is going on in your life.

May 2008:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 21
Title of first post: Exploiting Market Imperfections and a visit to the scientist
First paragraph of first post:
I have been wanting to write on so many things over the past week or so but now that I finally sit to write, I can't recollect anything at all. Hopefully, now that I have started to roll, things will come back to me as I keep on writing and deliberating and moving ahead thus. So, before the first of these topics hit me, let me place it on record here on this blog that I am not that disappointed with Mumbai. In terms of roads, green cover and infrastructure, in general, the city obviously does not show even a light to the grandeur of say, a Delhi. However, in all other respects, it is not too bad. The work culture is professional enough (not to say that it is in any way much better than Delhi), people smile here, too and at times, also have time to exchange pleasantries. Taxi drivers are a pleasant lot and generally tend not to cheat you off your last penny (though the same can not be said of the auto rickshaw drivers at all). Traffic is bad but coming from the congested NH-24 in Delhi, that does not seem too much of a bother either. Trains, of course, are bloody efficient even though they are perennially crowded, smelly and sweaty.

June 2008:
No. of posts: 00
Date of first post: NA
Title of first post: NA
First paragraph of first post:
NA

July 2008:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 31
Title of first post: Professional Entrepreneurism
First paragraph of first post:
One of the activities that I have been involved in recently as a part of my work involves a major shift in strategy for the business that my company deals in. Although it is interesting to see how new things are unfolding and how life is going to change for all stakeholders of this new business sooner or later, what is more interesting is to observe the sheer inertia that governs the lives of people in any business. The resistance to change, in whatever format the change may be is so strong that it is difficult to envisage, forget execute something drastically different from what is already present.

August 2008:
No. of posts: 02
Date of first post: 12
Title of first post: One more time
First paragraph of first post:
It is time to give it another shot, take another chance and this time, do it with some faith and belief in the possibility of it working out after all. I am off to Kerala (to Thodupuzha, a place about 60 kms off Cochin) for the treatment of my peroneal nerve, and I am off for a good 20 days (a source of some envy at office, I am sure). For those who have been coming to this space over the last year, they would be undoubtedly aware of my condition which I keep bringing out in each of my posts in one way or the other (not that I can't help it but somehow, it does come out, what with it enjoying some tremendous top of mind recall).

September 2008:
No. of posts: 03
Date of first post: 07
Title of first post: A long vacation
First paragraph of first post:
A vacation of almost three weeks in Kerala is almost invariably associated with the image of backwaters, hills and lakes, house boats languishing in still waters, as if for eternity, snake boats famous on account of the race standing still or breezing past in all their glory, the beaches that are more pristine and yet less commercial than what the most exotic ones can claim to be. My vacation, however, was of a different variety. I spent three weeks at Thodupuzha, a small but busy town situated about 60 kms from Cochin right at the foothills of the Idukki district's ranges. Amongst a few other things, Thodupuzha is known for some Ayurvedic hospitals and treatment clinics that use the herbs grown in Kerala's hills, mix them with the hundreds of kinds of oils they have gained expertise on, and treat the most chronic of ailments with such efficiency as is rarely seen in any other contemporary form of medicine.

October 2008:
No. of posts: 01
Date of first post: 24
Title of first post: Cheers to the tough times!
First paragraph of first post:
October is almost about to end without a single post this month and that is something one can't allow, can one? So after thinking about what to write, even going to the extent of trying to copy ideas from some of the blogs I have got into a habit of reading every day, I have sat down to write...well, something.

November 2008:
No. of posts: 04
Date of first post: 04
Title of first post: What a Diwali!
First paragraph of first post:
It is that time of the year again when the streets are lighted and the mood festive, children out in the courtyards gleefully bursting firecrackers (the milder ones nowadays, of course), and people all decked up in their ethnic best. Diwali has always been one of the festivals I have looked forward to and it brings to my mind so many joyous memories of togetherness, with family and friends. This is one day in the year that I absolutely hate being by myself because it makes me feel really sad and grumpy listening to other people enjoy the festivities while I long for the company of my loved ones.

Just how hungry starts getting foolish

It has been ages since I last wrote a review of any sort and it has been one remarkable book that has made me take this up after such a long time. Titled "Stay Hungry Stay Foolish" after the famous concluding words of Steve Jobs at a B-School convocation, the book tells the stories of 25 IIM Ahmedabad pass outs who made it big as first generation entrepreneurs. The book contains stories as implausible as the ones of Naukri.com and Shree Renuka Sugars to ones as different from the league as GiveIndia and Ekalavya School.

All 25 stories in the book are as similar to each other as they are distinct which goes on to show, in my mind, the talent of the author, Rashmi Bansal, an entrepreneur herself. Rashmi writes a popular blog Youth Curry and is the founder and editor of the youth magazine JAM. In this book, written with as much fluidity as is found in her blog, Rashmi uses a generous dosage of her own insights, opinions, and views without introducing any bias in each of the stories. These insights, often expressed employing very matter-of-fact mannerisms (read, in italicized Hindi), are what make the stories believable and at the same time, grand and singularly unique.

The arrangement of author's thoughts is well brought out as it starts from her own notions and expectations about the entrepreneur and his/her story. Moving on to the facts, the author provides clear insight into the background from which these entrepreneurs started out. She then moves to the interview approach which is more like a free flowing thought expression than a Q & A. Even though it is obvious that the author had a certain set of questions she posed to all interviewees in the book, the way she has avoided putting the questions down and the manner in which she has stopped short of publishing responses to all such questions for all interviewees shows a fair amount of discretion.

The final section on advice for entrepreneurs is really icing on the cake as it puts across the personality of the entrepreneur and his/her story in a nutshell. Drawing from their own experiences, the entrepreneurs very succinctly put across their take on the entire journey and the struggle to achieve what they have. Although the takes are as different from each other as chalk and cheese, they still provide a profound perspective into the decisions that the concerned entrepreneur took and what anyone in a similar scenario should logically go for or avoid.

Notwithstanding the insights and views included in the book's narrative by the author, there still seems something missing as far as an independent take on the entire subject of entrepreneurship is concerned. An additional chapter on the author's own opinions, though not holding a torch to the other chapters which necessarily deal with all these fascinating stories, would still have gone a long way in threading the thoughts and ideas together. As of the moment, though there are many of them and this should be appreciated, they are just floating in the air right through the pages. For all you know, such a chapter may have just answered the question that the title of this blog post poses.

Before getting started on this book, I had thought that I will be able to truly relate to two specific stories where I have been personally associated with the protagonists at a professional level. However, it was a pleasant surprise to finally discover that my bonding with the book's stories ran deeper. To say that the book was inspirational and provided motivation would definitely be an understatement. I could almost see the past, present, and future of myself and so many others like me in one story after another and that, Ms Bansal, is quite creditable from where you stand as a debutante.

The curtain falls

It almost feels sad to see the pictures of Anil Kumble and Saurav Ganguly bidding their final adieus to world cricket. When we, as passionate yet unrelated followers of the game are feeling the pinch, it seems impossible to even hazard a guess as to what will be going through the minds of those two. Though called retirement, it is not really that in true sense of the term for these cricketers. It is not as if they have had a nine-to-five job for the last thirty five odd years and now that their sight and sharpness of wit are not as much of assets as they used to be, they are hanging their boots.

Here, these players are still in the prime of their lives (not even forty yet, any of them) and still it seems as if they have done grave injustice to their chosen professions and their employers by probably staying on for just that little bit more. They are fit, most of them, of course not as fit as a modern cricketer is supposed to be but still many times fitter as compared to many others their age. Unlike the normal retirees, they can not just sit in the verandah, on the armchair with the daily newspaper, starting to get used to the morning walks and carrying milk, grocery, and grandkids home (maybe not in the same order).

The only thing that is probably similar between other retirees and these players is that they have left an impression through their illustrious careers that can not be easily matched, leave surpassed. Having achieved in one and a half decades each of their careers more than other people do in their lifetimes, they do deserve their retirement. But ask them if they want it and the reply will be a vehement negative for who doesn't continue to yearn for the stage and the lights.

It is the limelight that has goaded them on, it is the praise and glory that has made them gun for more, it is the attention focused on each and every act of theirs that has made all their talent and lack of the same visible in zoom mode, and it is their accountability to the general public that has made them call it a day much before they would have liked to.

All good things must come to an end and if they come to an end in appropriate time, the better for them. (I am talking only about good things so any references, however much in jest, to any soap operas are not appreciated).

What a Diwali!

It is that time of the year again when the streets are lighted and the mood festive, children out in the courtyards gleefully bursting firecrackers (the milder ones nowadays, of course), and people all decked up in their ethnic best. Diwali has always been one of the festivals I have looked forward to and it brings to my mind so many joyous memories of togetherness, with family and friends. This is one day in the year that I absolutely hate being by myself because it makes me feel really sad and grumpy listening to other people enjoy the festivities while I long for the company of my loved ones.

Luckily, Diwali this year was different from any of the sort and I was blessed with the company of my parents and more importantly, my Grandfather. While Papa was here about two weeks ahead of Diwali, Maa landed about a week later and in the middle (more towards the end, actually) of the Bihar-Maharashtra brouhaha, Baba accompanied with Bua came to town just a day before Diwali. In fact, I was so very worried that the plans of Baba to come visiting after so many requests from me and my sister may actually come to nought because of all this tamasha but thankfully better sense and peace prevailed and he was able to make the journey.

The love, affection, and blessings in the eyes of my family members is enough to make any day special for me and this Diwali was no exception. With a bhara-poora ghar, it was a completely amazing experience this Diwali and even though there was not much of firecracker bursting or diya lighting but even the bit that there was seemed blissful. After the traditional Lakshmi Puja and lighting of diyas, we started on a tour of Mumbai to experience the famous Mumbai style of celebrating this festival. It was an anticlimax, however, as we saw a deserted Juhu beach and negligible lighting even in the posh localities of Bandra, Juhu, et al. The only saving grace was Nariman Point and Marine Drive which, if you didn't mind the traffic, made you enjoy the proceedings with people out in the open, slowdown and markets be damned.

Baba's stay was just for about a week and what a packed week it was! From meeting relatives to planning outings to Lonavala, Khandala, movies, beaches, it was one roller coaster and the best part about it all was that Baba loved it. Except for a day when he was tired and slept through the day (after the Lonanavala trip), Baba's health also kept up with him by God's grace. In his own words, it was a very satisfying trip. No amount of material benefits of any sort could have had me in a happier state than the one I was in on hearing these words as I saw Baba and Bua off last night at the railway station.

Cheers to the tough times!

October is almost about to end without a single post this month and that is something one can't allow, can one? So after thinking about what to write, even going to the extent of trying to copy ideas from some of the blogs I have got into a habit of reading every day, I have sat down to write...well, something.

For starters, things are becoming increasingly mundane at work and have come to such a head that at times, I keep getting into one of those introspective moods thinking about the reasons for existence and all that. Broadly speaking, there is lack of enough work and even the work that is there lacks any amount of application of intellect, constituting things that any thirteen year old can sleepwalk through. There is a limit to which you can make excel sheets and send mails and sit angrily thinking about what is going on behind closed doors that does not need your presence and is yet obviously strategically important given the recent times.

I have even started questioning the reasons for joining this job in the sense that the expectations I had from it are perhaps not coming across the way I thought they would. In fact, while reading a book I recently picked up (more about the book in some other post), I realized how effective such a profile as mine has proved for many successful entrepreneurs when they started out post their MBAs. I had thought that it will be the same for me as well (even without the benefit of having read this book and known this fact earlier) but somehow, whether that will actually happen is now getting questioned.

On top of all this, financial services as a sector and even the equity markets are at an all time low and like always, I am short of confidence on job prospects in this area and more importantly, short of cash to buy anything at the bourses. It is so uncannily similar to such situations in the past that even my credit card bills at these occasions have been very close to each other with the difference between them hardly exceeding 5000 (the bills, as you may have guessed, are obviously in the higher thousands bracket for 5000 to be such a small difference).

The silver lining, of course is that it is festive season and Maa Papa are here with us in Mumbai to make my time at home real quality time. If things go right and Raj Thackeray and his counterparts in Bihar stop making a horrible mess of it, Baba and Bua should also be here before long and this Deepawali shall be one fantastic celebration for me...really looking forward to it all. Priya is super excited, as well and has already coaxed me into getting a 42 inches plasma and a home theatre system at home (there goes the secret of high credit card bills). In times of cost cutting, job layoffs, and job insecurity, here's to the Goddess of Wealth...cheers!!!

Touching...

The microcosm of existence that we have got accustomed to prevents any infiltration from events, people, and issues outside our domain of immediate concern. However, there still are certain things that touch you in a way different from others, perhaps this too because it puts your very survival under some sort of risk. Floods, earthquakes, famine and starvation, and in effect anything that adds to the misery of the human populace in general strikes an emotional chord somewhere. It probably does nothing more than that due to the high unpredictability associated with these events. We typically feel that since we do not have control over such an event happening, we are somehow less susceptible to being in the midst of something like this.

The reason why a Bhuj earthquake or a Tamil Nadu tsunami was just another newspaper front page for most of us was because it would have been a little far fetched to imagine that the same could happen to us sitting in Delhi or Mumbai the very next day. However, what is not so distant is what has been happening over the last few months in the name of religion and ethnicity. With things coming to such a pass that every Muslim colony, every bearded face, and every long kurta is being viewed with suspicion, it is difficult, nay impossible to stay aloof and not have an opinion or at least, a view.

Every weekend spent in a mall, a cinema, even an inconsequential market seems to be another weekend of survival. It is no longer the tsunami that can play havoc only with coastal towns, it is no longer the earthquake that can hit only geologically unstable areas, it is no longer the famine and floods that have been known to affect certain geographies of the country, it is something much more sinister and something much closer. It can happen to any city in the country, any day (even tomorrow or for that matter, an hour later) at any place (in the city center or for that matter, next to your home/office affecting you and your loved ones).

Real lives have been lost, hopes shattered and dreams brought to a cruel full stop in the face of these so called crude bombs that have plagued the metropolitan landscape of our country. Whether it is a Bangalore, a Delhi, or even a relatively less strategic Jaipur, the method behind this madness is very scary, to say the least. This method begets the question that what, if anything, has given rise to minds so focused on acts so shameful and denigrating, from the point of view of any religion that practices good over evil.

If you ask this question to the fundamentalist, the only answer you can expect to get is that the minority Muslim community never belonged. But what, pray, is the reason for this, you ask, and you remain unanswered because no one is bothered to go that deep. It is not that deep, either, if you come to look at it. It is the insecurity that has given rise to some people, whether belonging to the Muslim community or to any other downtrodden section of the society (the naxalites, the Tamil tigers, the ULFA, etc), to take up arms and do unto others what they do not want to be done unto them.

What makes them blow little children to pieces is, however unexplainable it may seem, the insecurity that their voices are not going to be heard, the insecurity that their families are not safe, the insecurity that they will be treated differently, the insecurity that they will always be biased against, the insecurity that has grown because of the general lack of means, education, and of course, by the fundamentalist politics that goes on in the name of reviving the mainstream.

Till the time such insecurity remains, till the time the light of welfare and more importantly, education reaches the darkest corners of each and every community, we can not hope to come out of this. Till the time such happens, all we can do is pray to the Almighty to soothe the hurt and those who have hurt and hopefully, there will be light. Even after we do see light, however, there may be a different problem, the problem of plenty leading to US style shootouts but hopefully, they would be more dispersed, subject to restrictions that our culture imposes on us, and most importantly, these once in a blue moon kind of events will probably shake the entire mechanism of Government and get handled in the course of maintenance of general law and order.

Robbed!!!

It was something that you have heard about so many times, laughed at each time you heard it, and cracked the usual joke about the foolishness of people involved in every such case. The difference was that this time, the joke was on me and by the time it got over, I was feeling like a complete stupid ass.

It was while I was getting back from office on Saturday. As the watch showed five thirty and I sat on the passenger seat of my car, admiring the pleasant evening and for a change, letting the cool strong breeze blow in through the rolled down windows, there was no indication of what was to follow. As we waited at the Mahim signal, waiting to get on to Western Express Highway, I was pretty relaxed, listening to the music playing on the car radio and thinking of the people I would meet at the party this evening at Ravi's new house. The seat belt was on, legs stretched, fingers playing with the cuff links, phone lying on the dashboard...

As the signal turned green, Sunil, my driver released the clutch and the car jerked forward slightly. All of a sudden, there was this noise from the rear at the driver's side as if some car had hit us from behind. As both I and Sunil instinctively turned around to look at what was the source of this noise, we could just see a youngish guy cursing aloud as if the car had gone over his foot. Smiling benignly on the regular Bombay traffic, it would have taken me hardly a couple of seconds to turn back and start looking ahead but these couple of seconds were good enough for the partner of this youngish guy to flick the phone, which if you remember was lying on the dashboard...yes, stupid me!

I discovered the loss almost instantly but not quick enough in the rush of vehicles trying to make the best of the just converted signal (what timing the rascals had!). Going to the traffic cop was no use as all he helped me with was pointing out the border of jurisdictions of Bandra and Mahim police stations. There was, of course, no point in going to the police station because the miscreants were beyond reach by now and the phone was switched off and the SIM discarded.

More than the phone's loss, it was the way in which I was made a fool of, which has been tormenting me. Had I been able to catch hold of those guys, even if they did not give the phone back, I would have loved to sock them one in the eye for the stupid idiot they made out of me. That was not to be, however, and stupid idiot I remain, but one with yet another lesson that will probably make me less of an idiot than I have previously been.

My next phone is going to be one of the least expensive ones that the market has to offer and which can give me the basic functionalities that I need. No more fancy stuff for me!

A long vacation

A vacation of almost three weeks in Kerala is almost invariably associated with the image of backwaters, hills and lakes, house boats languishing in still waters, as if for eternity, snake boats famous on account of the race standing still or breezing past in all their glory, the beaches that are more pristine and yet less commercial than what the most exotic ones can claim to be. My vacation, however, was of a different variety. I spent three weeks at Thodupuzha, a small but busy town situated about 60 kms from Cochin right at the foothills of the Idukki district's ranges. Amongst a few other things, Thodupuzha is known for some Ayurvedic hospitals and treatment clinics that use the herbs grown in Kerala's hills, mix them with the hundreds of kinds of oils they have gained expertise on, and treat the most chronic of ailments with such efficiency as is rarely seen in any other contemporary form of medicine.

Having heard about this form of therapy from a number of people and after my Mama had showed my nerve damage reports to one of the doctors at the Dhanwanthari Vaidyasala at Thodupuzha, I decided to give this a try. Taking the train to Cochin was a nice change from the short and sweet flights that I have got used to recently. The 27 hour journey was a great way to catch up with sleep, conversations with my sister (who accompanied me for a couple of days at the hospital before getting back to Mumbai and work), and of course with a lot of reading that I had been postponing for so long.

The treatment started on the first day itself, the 16th of August with some mild massages and pouring of warm oil on the affected area. The medicines were not really appealing to the taste buds but tolerable. What was not tolerable, however, was the food that I had to compulsorily eat because I was not allowed to go out of the campus of the Vaidyasala for the time of treatment and because there was no outside food that I could consume. The food was not even passable at times, with rice grains as big as peas, rice water served at dinner with salt and nothing else, puttu (a Kerala dish) served without any chutney, you almost choking on it unless passed down the throat with the help of some milk or water.

As days progressed, treatment became more complex and the masseur really gave it a go with some exotic oils, some strong massages, even some paste of cooked rice that felt really sticky and sick when applied over my entire body, and of course some increasingly sour medicines. Finally, when it was time to go, there was already some slight improvement in my condition with toes showing some movement in the affected foot. Of course, the problem is much more complex and slight twiddling of the toes is not going to be the end of my woes but at least it is a beginning. With the doctor so confident that it will take a maximum of 3 months for complete recovery, I am hopeful.

I have been advised as much rest as possible for about 2 weeks after treatment but with so much pending at work, I don't think that mental rest is an option but physically I can try my best to exercise my feet as little as possible.

Private Banking: Emergence and Growth

The Private Banking industry started out with the Swiss bankers in their immaculate black suits suitcase carrying avatar purposefully striding towards their destination. The element of secrecy and privacy associated with Swiss bank accounts became popular worldwide and even got into places like Bollywood movies (imagine something as remote as that recognizing their existence). As time passed, the Private Banker changed to being more than just a secret hideaway for the moolah that you want to become invisible for all practical purposes.

The Private Banker was already a friend of the client owing to the secrecy, and as a result, trust involved in the entire transaction between the two. This trust, as it expanded its reach, was now used by the Private Banker to act as not just the store house but also the advisor for the clients' wealth and thus was added the role of Wealth Manager to a Private Banker's profile. The aim of Wealth Managers was to not just protect but also manage and enhance the wealth of clients who could not afford the time, effort, or competence required to do it themselves. As global commercial banks got wind of the enormous potential of this market segment, you could see the bursting on the scene of large private banks like UBS, Goldman, and Lehman who wanted to get their share of the pie.

It was, however, difficult to wean away the client from the stronghold of existing Private Bankers because of the years of relationship that they had cultivated with the client. This led the large banks resorting to what they knew best, spending money. They built the most sophisticated of systems, got in the latest of technology, gave away the most exclusive and expensive of freebies, hired the best of managers (often from the same community that their clients belonged to), and in total, elevated Private Banking to an elite platform not seen before. Private Bankers, already part of a distinguished tribe, started getting treated all the more with kid gloves, what with the talent required to mix with the rich and busy being very rare and cultivation of the same not that simple.

As the concept of Private Banking accompanied by Wealth Management gained credence worldwide, it was not without its share of hiccups and showstoppers. Educating the customer was the biggest hurdle that the business faced and with different countries managing money differently, it was not a single stick formula that could work. What, however, went to the advantage of the early Wealth Managers and Private Bankers was that their initial target audience in Western Europe and the USA had fabrics of a common culture. With inherited wealth being the most common source of the riches in these countries, it was easy to build your proposition around the same.

The difficult part came in when the new age professional who believed in the equivalent of the Great American dream came about on the global stage and started demanding much more than the frills that the Private Bankers had got accustomed to pacifying the clients with. They wanted research, they needed financial planning, they needed a focused investment process which was scientific, logical and aligned to what they wanted to do in life. Technology in Private Banking got a new lease of life, more and more MBAs started getting hired, and concepts of Financial Planning, Portfolio Management, and investment theory started getting due importance.

However, till the time it was manageable, such theory was used as sparingly as possible with more form than substance. This was because the Private Bankers themselves had been relying on their gut and instinct in doing things like judging the client's profile, the market's risks, and thus the decisions as to the management and deployment to investments of the clients' wealth was more intuitive than guided by any scientific process. However, with demand growing for something more than just guesswork, Private Banks moved swiftly to processes and research and theory...and then came the disillusionment. Was theory perfect...Wasn't there enough and more scope for the instinct in a market that is not completely efficient and was guided at times by the investor psychology and other forces external to the market. The final transformation, as I write these lines, goes on even today and even in the most developed of markets as debates continue on the efficacy of theories alone and possibilities of scientifically and systematically combining logic with intuition.

India was, as in many other things, a late starter in this field. The traditional method of protecting and preserving money was gold which was stashed away below the bed, under the backyard, beneath the banyan tree. As India became more aware of the use that money could be put to, people started using banks and post offices (enormous contributors to the emergence of savings in India) for fixed deposits typically timed to meet one or more of their life goals...financial planning in its immature infancy. Finally, as the late 80s and early 90s dawned and the Indian economy started opening up, people got their first flavor of the equity markets. As with anything new that comes in the hand of the uninformed, it was a mess to start with. Brokers and NBFCs and scams galore led to consolidation amongst market players and emergence of market regulators that hampered even legitimate activities that could have resulted in faster progress of the Indian financial services industry. Bad taste due to some intelligent scavengers led to tightening of the clamps to an extent that what got done in those unregulated days got done and whoever was slower off the trigger is still waiting.

Private Banks in India are few and far between particularly because the licenses were granted in the golden days for entities to act as Private Banks but as each broker and NBFC started advising the client to invest in each and every security without any bias except money that it made for the advisor, things started getting bad. The emergence of Private Banking in India, therefore, was restricted by not just the regulators but also the equity broking mindset that the Private Bankers started with. With exposure to other asset classes never considered to be under the purview, there was no comprehensive Wealth Management ever. What this did was to delay the arrival of the phase where theory could gain precedence over instinct and consequently the phase where a combination of the two could be sought.

In the current format, Private Bankers in India exist in many garbs, that of a Private Bank (very few), a commercial bank (most of them), equity brokers / portfolio managers (advising on some but not all additional assets apart from equity), or chartered accountants (preferred mostly by the typical lala running a small business that he knows the pulse of but hardly knows the spelling of finance). The advice that these Private Bankers provide their clients is guided by instinct and there is hardly any process that is followed to draw and implement any financial plan for the clients. Even the foreign players that have entered India in the recent past have drawn from Indian companies (essentially in the equity broking industry) and deal with Indian clients with locally doctored mindsets and have thus been unable to bring in the processes that they use with much success globally.

The Indian rich therefore is a poorly served customer today and the unfortunate part is that he does not understand the same and thus does not realize the need for change. The fortunate part, however, is that with global distances shrinking and the exposure that India's neo-entrepreneurs have achieved, they are demanding stuff that promises to expose a lot of frailties of the Indian Private Banks and drastically change a lot of others. New competencies are being sought of the employees of Private Banks with business schools adding courses on Wealth Management (I was just pointed out an advertisement for a chair in Wealth Management at ISB, the other day). Technology and processes are slowly finding their way into the psyche and operations of Private Bankers and they are moving to the retail format (as some of them like to call the introduction of "stifling" processes). With markets behaving the way they are and the customer getting more demanding, there does not seem to be any other recourse and the employees and management will understand it sooner rather than later if they are to survive in a market that is fast on tract to maturity.

India has traditionally seen things move with an extremely fast pace in recent times and in areas where we have lagged behind the developed world by decades, we have caught on and even gone a step ahead in a matter of years. So don't be surprised if Indian Private Banks not only get the systems in place but also find a solution to combining the same with pure gut before the rest of the world can realize what has happened. As India enters into the 61st year of its independence, let this be one more way in which our fantastically vibrant country proves itself to the world.

One more time

It is time to give it another shot, take another chance and this time, do it with some faith and belief in the possibility of it working out after all. I am off to Kerala (to Thodupuzha, a place about 60 kms off Cochin) for the treatment of my peroneal nerve, and I am off for a good 20 days (a source of some envy at office, I am sure). For those who have been coming to this space over the last year, they would be undoubtedly aware of my condition which I keep bringing out in each of my posts in one way or the other (not that I can't help it but somehow, it does come out, what with it enjoying some tremendous top of mind recall).

This treatment is a combination of the immensely popular oil massage therapy of Kerala and herbal and Ayurvedic medicines that have been part of almost all Indian treat-at-home prescriptions. With the pedigree well established, the only question remaining is if it will be good enough for my ailment which has been given up on by all and sundry medical practitioners so far. They all start out with the claim of solving this issue but that is only till the time the fees is paid. As soon as the proverbial signature is made, unwavering belief in the treatment's efficacy changes to an unexplained skepticism on life's uncertainties. From "this will definitely cure you" to "no one can guarantee anything" takes but just one signature and one swipe on the card machine.

All I am hoping this time is that things are not the same as they have been for the last one and a half years that I have been grappling with this problem. Well, grappling is perhaps not the right word because given the enormous amount of sadness in the world caused by enormous amount of problems, my sadness and my problem is not even a small fraction of the scary possibilities that are there. I have been able to stand on my feet, walk if not run, and overall carry myself pretty properly after all. The limp is all that remains and of course, the fear that if things do not improve, they may after all degrade to something much worse.

In fact, the reason why I am so worried about the alarming frequency with which the different forms of treatment are proving ineffective is only this. I am fine with things continuing the way they are, considering them parts of my destiny and learning to live with my condition in the best possible manner. What I think I can not handle, however, is if things get worse and the good fortune that I have been blessed with by The Almighty ceases to exist.

Here's to hope, and to Kerala!

Professional Entrepreneurism

One of the activities that I have been involved in recently as a part of my work involves a major shift in strategy for the business that my company deals in. Although it is interesting to see how new things are unfolding and how life is going to change for all stakeholders of this new business sooner or later, what is more interesting is to observe the sheer inertia that governs the lives of people in any business. The resistance to change, in whatever format the change may be is so strong that it is difficult to envisage, forget execute something drastically different from what is already present.

This becomes all the more difficult for an organization that is process driven like the one that I was working for prior to my MBA. In such an organization, the resistance part probably comes in much later and it is actually the fact that everyone is so used to blindly following existing processes that creates the hurdle. This is where you need the element of entrepreneurship to get out of this situation and give a good shake-up to the existing setup.

Having said that, if you look at organizations that are truly entrepreneurial in nature, it still does not solve the problem at hand. This is where resistance to change comes in not because the process of doing things in a certain way is very well defined but because defining any process, even if it is another process to substitute the current one or even the process of change, is the difficult thing in its own right. The lack of processes and professionalism makes the task of change or setting up a new process appear insurmountable.

So what, you ask, is the solution? Professional entrepreneurism is the answer that the Vice Chairman of my company provides. He is bang on target as far as spelling the need for this attribute is concerned, whether that attribute is already there in his (and my) organization may be something completely different altogether. Not getting into anything politically complicated, let me just concentrate on this phrase that caught on with me during last evening's webcast organized post the quarterly results of the company.

The phrase Professional entrepreneurism is amazingly self-explanatory and simple but achieving this is equally difficult. In fact, I believe that an individual at his/her own level can never be a professional entrepreneur, he/she can either be professional or an entrepreneur. It is not that individuals do not understand the need for being both but it is right there in our internal psyche to take that much amount of risk, to attribute that much importance to going ahead at any cost, to be that much driven by routine and to be that much guided by gut or by science.

The point that I am trying to make here is that though individually very few of us (oh yes, there are exceptions that prove the rule!) are able to act professionally and yet be entrepreneurial in our beliefs and thoughts, it is with a higher degree of probability that this can be achieved collectively. The thought processes and actions that an organization is capable of getting into are very much different from what an individual can ever hope of achieving. Application of cold objectivity and rationalization comes much more easily to an organization than to an individual. An organization may decide to be nimble on its feet through the very nature of its non-maneuverability...as a firm, you can be rigid about being flexible and no one can question you on that.

This means that the answer does not lie in trying to change the employee into a professional entrepreneur but in making the organizational fabric very professional and very entrepreneurial. This can be done by making sure that there is a basic set of beliefs or guidelines that need to be followed whenever anything is to be done but these are just that, beliefs and guidelines, nothing very specific that can kill the thought process. There should be guidelines for everything, even to change guidelines but never any process that is deep frozen and does not provide any room to go out of the box. Personally, I don't know how much of it is easier said than done but what I am sure of is that the way to do it is only by attacking the collective core and that there is no way that you can change the basic human psyche and the way human mind is conditioned to think.

Exploiting Market Imperfections and a visit to the scientist

I have been wanting to write on so many things over the past week or so but now that I finally sit to write, I can't recollect anything at all. Hopefully, now that I have started to roll, things will come back to me as I keep on writing and deliberating and moving ahead thus. So, before the first of these topics hit me, let me place it on record here on this blog that I am not that disappointed with Mumbai. In terms of roads, green cover and infrastructure, in general, the city obviously does not show even a light to the grandeur of say, a Delhi. However, in all other respects, it is not too bad. The work culture is professional enough (not to say that it is in any way much better than Delhi), people smile here, too and at times, also have time to exchange pleasantries. Taxi drivers are a pleasant lot and generally tend not to cheat you off your last penny (though the same can not be said of the auto rickshaw drivers at all). Traffic is bad but coming from the congested NH-24 in Delhi, that does not seem too much of a bother either. Trains, of course, are bloody efficient even though they are perenially crowded, smelly and sweaty.

Speaking of smelly and sweaty, it reminds me of last Saturday, at the end of which, I was in a pretty bad shape myself, thanks to some fair bit of travel across the city during the hot and humid afternoon in open taxis and autos. Starting off the day was the memorable trip to meet a SCIENTIST which happens to be one of the things that I have been wanting to write about. The trip was based on an interview on national television done with a certain scientist who has been credited with treating some supposedly incurable diseases through his herbal medicines. My Mama had seen this interview and wanted me to see this person for my nerve problem (a fallout of the accident I had last year). So it was that Priya and I reached this scientist's place in Versova on this hot Saturday afternoon. In the last few minutes of his sitting time, the scientist heard me out, barely trying to stifle his yawn while telling me at the same time that I should start the medicine and that the medicine will cure me totally. To top it all, this was done without even glancing at a single report of a single test conducted for this problem of mine. So much for the science part! All this was still ok till the time I was told that there was only one medicine that he provides for all ailments, whether it is cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, paralysis, or a nerve disorder like mine. To assume that this one-stop-shop for treatment of ailments will turn out to be better than all the specialised treatments that I have considered and decided against because of their inefficacy, was a long call to take. But I did take this call alongwith Priya and my Mama, and for all my so called education, I can not but hope for a miracle from this exceedingly highly priced herbal medicine (15 doses for a freaking 15 grand).

The incident I described above does not conform to any of my thoughts about such things and yet, I acted in this non-conformist manner. To claim that I did this only to please my family members would be a lie to myself since at some corner of my brain, I wanted to believe in this treatment, however fantastic it seemed. Having all but lost hope from so many other 'scientific' quarters, and almost designated to lead a life with this disorder as a permanent part of my being, I reached out to this ray of hope, however bleak it may be. Doesn't it show somewhere that despite all the rational thinking that we are capable of, faith comes out the stronger in cases where logic and reason are not fast enough in their action?

On the work front, things are turning out to be quite a haze, what with me having to dip my hand in almost everything that presents itself for dipping hands into. I will try and write about all that I do in some other post but for now wish to share with my readers something of a management insight that I gleaned from one of the senior management meetings that I had the good fortune to be a part of. This meeting was called to discuss a new vertical that the company is going to launch and was aimed at kick starting the design of the operational and marketing framework for the new business. While discussing some operational aspect, a senior member remarked how and why we should not try to be perfect in all that we do. His logic was that there were imperfections in the market and the intelligent player is one who exploits these imperfections till he can and at the same time, is the first to find out when those imperfections are starting to get corrected. This is when the intelligent player makes the switch from playing to an imperfect market (and making his moolah while he does so) to initiating and setting up a perfect setup for a market that is fast on its way to removing its imperfections.

A perfect example was ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, which chose to play along with other credit card companies in charging annual and joining fees for credit cards till the game was there and available in the market. However, as soon as the bank realized that this was a temporary phenomenon that was about to go and that the customers were very soon going to be very demanding, they decided to act as destroyers in the market and pioneered the concept of Free-for-life credit cards. They had the last laugh since not only did they lap up the revenues till they were there for the taking, but once they realized things were changing, they were proactive enough to build a large market share by removing the market imperfections faster than the market itself would have been able to manage.

Needless to say, I was quite impressed by this line of thinking and though this does not reflect too well on the Indian markets and the players involved, it still is a very practical strategy. It still leaves the question, however, that if everyone tries to exploit the imperfections, doesn't it tantamount to the market and the customer always remaining imperfect, with no body breaking the shackles? In reality, however, this does not happen and the efficient market hypothesis takes over at some stage or the other and the trick is to be able to predict this point of inversion.

Of fifth graders, IPL, work and life

I first caught this show 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader' on television as I was aimlessly surfing through the channels on a lazy sunday. I thought it to be a nice format and then forgot all about it till Shahrukh Khan and Synergy Adlabs happened to it. And thus was launched 'Kya aap paanchvi pass se tez hain'. Though I missed the first episode (got a bit confused as to the dates), I did catch the other two and I must say that Mr. Basu impresses once again. Right from the TATA Steel Quiz all those years ago in Patna to Quiz Time, KBC, and now this show, I have always been a fan of Siddharth Basu, not as much for his quizzing talent (which, in itself, is remarkable) but more so for his ability to execute, without a fault. Consider the sets of KBC and the questions that stumped you just enough to feel that you can win, and just enough to make sure that you actually don't. Consider Quiz Time and the first ever popular quiz show on the Indian television, much before the current breed of reality shows had hit the boob tube.

Coming back to this particular show, the technical stuff is very much in place and very similar to the original, thanks to Mr. Basu and team. More than that, Basu's getting the hang of getting the right people for the job is pretty evident as well. I mean, who else but King Khan to pit kids against young and not-so-young adults, who else but King Khan to host a show that is supposed to be bubbly, energetic, and to a certain extent, kiddish, who else but King Khan to make a complete mockery (and yet be considerate enough to be polite all the way) of the contestants when they are not smarter than a fifth grader?

Fortunately or unfortunately, the people who have actually come on this show so far have not really been geniuses and the questions haven't helped either (well, some cases like the Is-Is-Istanbul and Karanchi-Lahore or revolutions around the SRK-sun were plain dumb). More than this, and definitely unfortunately, SRK has not been in his elements so far to be actually able to take the show to another level with his infectious energy. Whether it is thanks to his commitments to IPL, or unveiling of yet another wax statue of his, or his receiving yet another award in yet another award function organized by yet another magazine/TV channel, is open for debate.

Speaking of the IPL, things are going on pretty smoothly for the league now and just as the interest was about to be weaned away from the affairs on field, some things happened off it that brought the limelight right back. The 'Slapgate' and 'Cheeromania' were enough for even Dadas and Dadis who had not been clued in to the game's latest avataar to start talking about it. From news channels focusing only on the opulence of the game so far, and partly on the game, as well, this gave enough fodder to bring in other aspects of the drama to the public, and finally, it is the BCCI and the IPL franchise owners who are silently but surely, laughing all the way to the bank.

Work, on the other hand, is fast becoming a multi headed monster with too many things occupying my attention at the moment. Some of these are down right mundane and I do not wish to spend any more time on them but then there are others as well which are absolutely exciting and I can't wait to get going. However, as long as I am involved in these tasks, I shall be held responsible for their failure (if not the success, being just another cog in the wheel) and thus, have to give my whole and be on my juggling best as I go through late nights at work and at the same time, boring inerludes of sleep-inducing stuff during the day.

The personal life is not really kicking with work taking more of my time than I would ideally want but then I had anticipated this when I agreed to come to Mumbai in this role. Having been put into a position where I need to cultivate new friendships, and not having the ease of picking up a conversation with any and every one in the vicinity, is getting to be a pain, as well. I had assumed that life in Mumbai would be more social what with the IIMK people presumably hitting it big time in Mumbai, but I couldn't have been more mistaken. Distances play the spoilsport here in Mumbai, as well. Perhaps more so, since the distances are not just composed of the actual miles but even include the time constraints that many of us face in this fast and busy city.

Top of the mind

The Indian Premier League is currently enjoying a very enviable top of mind recall, and perhaps deservedly so. Even though a lot of people had anticipated the IPL to be one rocking extravaganza, the "Manoranjan ka Baap" (do catch the ad if you haven't already) was a pleasant addition. With perhaps the most potent combination of cricket and movies that is possible in this country, the IPL is fast on its way to become a path breaker and a trendsetter. Comparing it to its poorer cousin, ICL seems such a shame now, given the remarkably comprehensive way in which IPL has emerged victorious, be it in terms of star power, money, facilities involved to things as simple as graphics, advertisements, side shows (remember the Akshay Kumar stunts in Delhi?). 

Apart from IPL, the other thing that has been keeping me occupied is my 'gareebkhana'. Thanks to Priya, the place is looking so much better and livable now. We have got the bean bags, an artificial fountain, a whole lot of kitchenware, and of course with the maid having started coming in, the overall appearance of the place is so very neat and clean. In fact, on Sunday, as the last few hours of the three day vacation were coming to pass, I had this inexplicable feeling of contentment at having finally managed to stay in a kind of place and in a kind of style that I always wanted to. Of course, it would have been great if I could have managed it in Delhi, but even if the new salary here in Bombay allows me this lifestyle, I shall be grateful.

At work, it is productivity that we have been talking about. In fact, it is a very interesting and debatable issue as to what is a good metric for productivity. If and once you are able to decide on this metric, do you have the systems required to measure that metric, or before that, to even record accurately the inputs required to measure that metric. For me, it has been a little difficult and yet extremely interesting to come to terms with this search for this metric, with the system lacking any substance at all, and the metric's visibility being almost non-existent. I also look at this entire exercise with a lot of interest because I have been at the other side of things so far, responsible for breaking all the rules and being, more or less, part of the reason why this metric is being considered in the first place.

In fact, this has led me to a difficult situation with my friends and colleagues working in the position I used to work for. I am, now, on the other side of the table, doing things that they would hate, imposing restriction, rules, and unreasonable-sounding requests that I would have as vociferously opposed as idiosyncrasies of the management. This, however, is part of what I have chosen for myself so I guess I will have to live with it. It will not be easy, of course, because with time, what is right now just good natured banter and teasing might take the form of talking behind my back or open criticism.