All are unequal, but some are more unequal than others!

There has been enough discussion especially in the  'West' about inequality - Piketty's book and the alarming surprise - it is an alarming surprise only if people have been blind all along.  I read - Professor Janet Gornick (GC Political Science and Sociology), who serves as Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) Center Director and Director of LIS in Luxembourg, delivered a keynote address to the United Nations General Assembly, on Tuesday, October 7. Her keynote address was hosted by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) of the UN General Assembly.  I happen to see the video and was once again disappointed.


What is US/UN 'concerned' about, all of a sudden?  Definitely it is not about the 'world'.  Both Piketty and Gornick, disregard the 'state' of more than half the world's population.

Like Piketty, Janet's 'concern' is yet again about the 'high and upper middle income countries'.  Her first slide itself is a give-away - and a big yawn for those who are in the red, in the image above (pun intended).

It is hard to ignore a racist 'neutrality' in even dealing with inequality.  South Africa incidentally ranks the highest among income inequality among 'high and upper middle income countries'.  Let us not go into Apartheid!  If there is enough 'inequality' to cause a roar in countries, which only have a fraction of the population that China or India have, shouldnt all these 'inequality' experts be living in China or India to do live 'study', if not 'research'?  Or is it that they consider China, with its 'communist' Government, and India, with its 'socialistic' principles enshrined in its constitution naturally 'devoid of inequality'?

Inequality needs a global perspective and we have to go beyond the you-are-richer-than-me or manager-is-richer-than-worker mindset, which often provoke immediate and instant chord with most people.  This leads to a systemic and orchestrated diversion from the focus on the elephant in the room.  Middle class itself is not a monolith

Asia’s middle classes, poor by US or EU standards, are globalization’s winners

US is definitely in the focus, because population in US is increasing mainly because of immigration.  Immigration statistics clearly show that the population growth is not simply because  of increased fertility in Americans.  For example, China has a 'one child' policy and Chinese immigrants into US obviously can reap the benefits of 'escaping' from their country.  Unlike say India, where immigrants into US can claim lack of 'colleges' or 'opportunities' in their home land, reasons given by Chinese to migrate into US cannot be the lack of 'facilities' or 'infrastructure'.  In semiconductors, for instance, most of the fabrication happens in the Chinese mainland.  Walmart and the likes procure most of their wares from China, which has become more of a production warehouse.

As population increases, through immigration or otherwise, there is an increased or frantic search among people to 'differentiate' from others.  Inequality is the only way they can differentiate from others and there is a definite and systemic way to perpetuate inequality.  Whether it is high costs for education, lack of funding of primary education, schools etc grabbing from poor the 'Right to Education' and 'Right to Information'.  Strive towards perpetuating inequality is reinforced, not by the rich themselves, but more often by the noveau-riche or wannabe-rich.  Nepotism is the starting point of corruption and inefficiency - because one way to get a 'favorable' treatment is to act like masters, be servile to their thoughts and deeds and more importantly, turn a blind eye to their 'errors' of judgement (who knows, we may have to run back to them for a favor tomorrow?).  Inequality pushes people into the zone of asking for favors, not on merit but on everything except merit.  Inequality is thus the fountainhead of corruption.

Sign of times in the sands of time

Not that I aimed to blog regularly when I started to blog. Given my inherent nature, rather distaste to stick to a 'routine', it would be indeed shocking if my posts were 'regular' and on 'selected' topics. I guess since my return to Chennai, I have been preoccupied with lot other mundane or rather mechanical events of life. To summarize on things that happened since my last post, I am inclined to think that we are well and truly in the stage of post-postmodernism, rather pseudo modernism.

triteness and shallowness resulting from the instantaneous, direct, and superficial participation in culture made possible by the internet, mobile phones, interactive television and similar means: “In pseudo-modernism one phones, clicks, presses, surfs, chooses, moves, downloads.”

I should add - I personally find it disgusting where people's beliefs are being fed into and Goebbel's truth is being institutionalized.

Postmodernism is apparently a 'narrative' where apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place. I never knew what these 'modernism', 'post modernism', 'post postmodernism' etc are and in fact I instinctively detested 'ism's. Now reading about them, they look to be like an exercise of giving some name to trends. I think the next trend has to be or is already a phase where people will look out for 'quick solutions' (click, move press etc) and there will be lot of p...s, I mean providers to pander, I mean cater to these 'services'. The tragedy of it is that I have to witness it in real time :( With the likes of Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and Goebbels of spectrum etc, we are truly well set, if not already into it.

Mount Vishnu of Mount Road extols further

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fields questions when he travels abroad but has held only two press conferences and two interactions with editors in Delhi in the past seven years. As for interviews, he has allowed himself to be questioned by an Indian newspaper only once and never by an Indian news channel. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, too, has not really been heard from at close quarters except for the briefest of triumphal soundbites just after the Rajya Sabha passed the Women's Reservation Bill. These are extraordinary facts by any yardstick.

You should not only govern, but most importantly seen and heard to govern. To sound like Krugman, it is hard NOT to be cynical.

What is the next media ‘bite’?

India won the World Cup ‘as expected’ but no, no month long celebrations. We simply cannot afford such things, rather BCCI cannot afford to waste time without milking the cash cow. The next show, i.e. IPL IV has to begin and 'story less' media will catch up with that. Starting a TV channel is a pain, but watching it is miserable! There are nearly 40 Tamil channels (maybe even more!) but most of them are not independent. Sun News and Sun go together, Kalaignar News and Kalaignar TV go together, Jaya News and Jaya TV go together etc. It is the so-called ‘national’ TV channels which are having a real problem. I am not sure of the intention of starting news-channels that too in English! They discussed the 'toss' issue for hours when the World Cup finals was going on :D

Having started it, 'news' channels have no option but to ‘sensationalize’ anything and everything possible under the sun. Now it is ‘Anna Hazare’ time, I am not at all surprised that they have made something out of nothing issue. When I first saw the headlines ‘Supports swells up for Anna’ early this week, with TN elections around the corner, I thought may be someone has ‘insulted’ Annadurai, late CM of TN. Then I heard that he is driving out politicians from his place of fasting, I dismissed him from my mind as some sort of ‘eccentric’ and not at all surprised to see

He is described as obstinate and impractical.

It looks like the media has no one else to go behind and they have taken up this ‘story’. I just looked up as to who he is and what he was upto. I was 'spot on'-found it really weird and in particular looking at the new Lokpal bill

Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public.
Lokpal will be much more than an Advisory Body. It should be granted powers to initiate Prosecution against anyone found guilty.
Lokpal will have police powers. To say that it will be able to register FIRs.
Lokpal and anti corruption wing of CBI will be one Independent body.
The punishment should be minimum 7 years and maximum up-to life imprisonment.

I guess this Anna Hazare has falled in love with the Tamil film அந்நியன் and demands such provisions. As if the existing courts are have hardly any case, as if the existing policemen have hardly any case to investigate, this new ‘movement’ has gone into it. Not surprising, young-patriotic-Indians have gone full steam behind Anna!

I heard that lot of IT professionals (கறைஜீன்சு) are queuing up to rally behind Anna Hazare and down-down the politicians (கரைவேட்டி). I am reminded of a mail that was sent to me long back-

கரைவேட்டியும் கறைஜீன்சும் சந்தித்தன எதிர்பாராமல்

கரை :"வணக்கம்"
கறை :"மன்னிக்கவும். அரசியலும் அரசியல்வாதியும் எமக்கு பிடிக்காது"
கரை :"ஹா ஹா..தம்பி, இதுவும் அரசியல் தான்"
கறை :"விட்டுவிடுங்களேன் வேண்டாம்.."
கரை :"காரணம் சொல் தம்பி"
கறை :"அடுக்கிக்கொண்டே போகலாம்"
கரை :"எங்கே ஒன்று, இரண்டு, மூன்று என்று வரிசைப்படுத்து"
கறை :"சொல்லில் சுத்தமில்லை. சொன்னதை சொன்னாற்போல் செய்வதில்லை"
கரை :"நீங்கள் உறுதியளிக்கும் தேதியில் பணியை முடித்ததுண்டா?"
கறை :"சரி..அடிக்கடி கூட்டணிமாற்றம், கட்சிமாற்றம்?"
கரை :"அடிக்கடி கம்பெனி மாற்றம்?
கறை :"நாங்கள் மாறுவது தொழில் வளர்ச்சிக்கு (career growth)"
கரை :"நாங்க ள் மாறுவதும் கட்சிவளர்ச்சிக்கும் கொள்கைக்கும்.."
கறை :"இல்லை பின்னால் இருப்பது பணமல்லவோ?"
கரை :"உங்களுக்கு எப்படி???"
கறை :"லஞ்சம், இதற்கென்ன பதில்?"
கரை :"வரியை குறைக்க எத்தனை தில்லுமுல்லு சொல்லு?"
கறை :"இப்படி பொதுவாக பேசக்கூடாது.."
கரை :"அதே..அதே.."
கறை :"விடுங்கள்…சட்டமன்றத்தில் எப்போதும் வெட்டி பேச்சு"
கரை :"அட..நீங்கள் மின்னஞ்சலில் பேசும் பேச்சு?"
கறை :"அதென்ன..நினைத்தால் வெளிநாட்டு பயணம்"
கரை :"அதென்ன கஸ்டமர் நினைக்காமல் அவரிடத்திற்கு திடீர் பயணம்.."
கறை :"பார்டீ பார்டீ(கட்சி)… இது தானா எப்போதும்.."
கரை :"பிறந்தா பார்டீ, போனா பார்டீ, வந்தா பார்டீ.. இரவில் பார் (BAR) , பகலில் டீ."
கறை :"அய்யா ஆளை விடுங்கள்..என்ன வேணும் சொல்லுங்கள்"
கரை :"ஒட்டு போடு தம்பி. உங்க கையில தான் இருக்கு எங்க தலையெழுத்தும், இந்த நாட்டோட தலையெழுத்தும்.ஒரு சாதாரண.கைநாட்டுக்கு இருக்கிற கடமை உணர்வு உனக்கில்லையேப்பா. உங்க வோட்டு வைக்குமே தப்பான அரசியலுக்கு வேட்டு..கறை கண்டுபிடிப்பதென்றால் வெள்ளை துணியிலும் கண்டுபிடிக்கலாம்..ஓட்டு போடு…இல்லையெனில் ஓ போடு (49 ஓ)...

Well, this too shall pass, the media will get another biscuit to bite and the soap goes on and on...

Born in England, died in India.

They say that World Cup has started in India. I heard that people died of heart attack seeing the first three matches of the World Cup. I would advise ICC not to hold such nail-biters because people will eat others head off :D By the end of 40-odd days of this so-called World Cup, some thousand records will be created which will keep some idiots happy.

The best part of it was that I did not have to even watch one full over in any of the matches. Just a look at the score card shows how much I missed :D Some may be happy to see Sehwag has 'equalled' Kapil's record in World Cup for the highest score in the match against Bangladesh. I was curious/clueless about New Zealand's apparently 'wretched' form these dayss and wanted to catch some minutes in their match against Kenya but before I could get to catch it on TV, I saw that it was over :D I guess one of the goals of the minnows is to 'postpone' their obvious defeat. First thing that they seem to do is to give some batting practice to the 'bigger' team. So that the match will definitely go to say 60 overs! That seemed to be the achievement of at least Canada in their match against Sri Lanka.

So-called experts were pretty late in even thinking, forget doubting, if ODIs have a future.

I think the part of the problem with 50-over cricket is that it is becoming very formulaic, and I think the Powerplays are contributing to that. I think the batting side is saying that we are going to go like hell in the power-plays and in the overs in between we are going to try and pick five or six runs an over without taking much risk so that we have wickets in hand. And if you've got a game of cricket where the batting is playing without risk and the fielding captain is allowing them to do that, then you've got a boring game on hands.

I guess a boring World Cup is written all over.

Update: 30 Mar 2011, 15:14 hrs IST

People can call me a 'cynic' for suspecting that the World Cup is 'fixed' to ensure that Sachin, oops Chennai Super Kings, oops Dhoni lifts the World Cup at Eden Gardens at Kolkota, oops Wankhede at Mumbai. I still feel that the entire thing is being 'orchestrated' to ensure Sachin's 'list of credentials' has a World Cup. At least to 'suspects' like me ;), the cat was out of the bag during the semifinals wheen it was shown on TV - . Well the match between India and Pakistan has started I guess just a few minutes ago, but why bother playing when the result is known. To add some 'authenticity', the Pakistani Minister warns his players not to get involved in match fixing. Dont bother guys, fixing has been taken care of :D

In Parallel…

If I thought of Cook-Levin as ‘doable’, then the issue of programming for multi-cores is more ‘contemporary’ if not imminent. Dr Dobbs Journal recently brought out an article where it cautioned that the ‘free lunch is indeed over’. I am not surprised because my article in IEEE Potentials last year mentioned the very same thing. In fact I had ‘reference’d the article by Larus of Microsoft. To quote, my point was simply this

It needs little emphasis that in 1978, 29,000 transistors running at 5 MHZ in Intel 8086 shot up in 2006 to 291 million transistors running at 2.93 GHZ in Intel Core 2 Duo, but Moore's dividend can increase only when systems and software really exploit the same. More importantly, future systems and software must be designed with the topology and architecture of the hardware and how best to exploit it.

I had told at least my friends long back when this ‘Core Duo’ (Intel’s) came, it was simply a waste of time and effort because unless compilers are going to use, applications are NOT going to see any benefit. Of course as I mentioned in the article,

Operating systems in conjunction with the hardware can off-load many of the software tasks to the hardware.

This too may not be effective for individual programs which will continue with the same ‘runtime’. ‘Think parallel’ is a bit more complex and follows the ‘not-so-obvious’ paradigm. ‘Structured thinking’ and thereby ‘structured programming’ is strictly sequential. Though the head is still one can we use multiple hands? That is THE question.
One of the key components of many algorithms (sorting to name one) is the swap functionality. Ranging from primitive (additive functions) to the not-so-obvious XOR capability, swap is critical. In college days, I used to write the swap of two variables in C without using an ‘intermediary’ variable as below

a^=b;
b^=a;
a^=b;

Now this also involves execution of three instructions – if there is a ‘swap’ instruction, it may be just a macro for three similar instructions. So the run time is the run time of three instructions.
I think multiple cores can solve this problem easily and do the same in one cycle. To just take two cores, Core 1 reads ‘a’ at rising edge of clock and writes into ‘b’ at falling edge. Core 2 reads ‘b’ at rising edge of clock and writes into ‘a’ at falling edge of clock. We thus use two cores sharing the memory to do the swap in just one cycle. This is effective usage of multiple cores. There may be many other macros or assembly instructions which could be ‘reworked’ to effectively exploit the hardware and thus run faster.

I don’t think there is any catch and would suspect at least Intel to be already heads up on this.

Cocoons! Here we come!

I joined Texas Instruments, Bangalore (before it became Bengaluru) on 3 Jan 2000 as a project trainee. It was my first day and so may be thinking that I was still a college student just on a 'visit', the first day was ‘off’. I think the first person to whom I TALKED was the librarian since I was there till lunch. TI had a good library – obviously I am not going to look at technical books on the first day. The first article that I read was ‘How to be a Star Engineer?’ – an IEEE article. It resonated a lot within me because I too didn’t feel anything was ‘tough’. It was the trivial issue which often takes up more of our time. A simple fact that I don’t like my colleague could delay my tasks! The tasks per se are not as challenging as say a ‘hard Sudoku’! A company would not recruit me for doing something which with all their expertise and manpower couldn’t do for years!

The ‘mass’ vs ‘class’ jargon was/is often used in films (especially in Telugu) and to draw a parallel with something higher, ‘HOTS’ vs ‘MOTS’ is something I could immediately strike a chord with as I studied in CBSE. So even when we were in college, even in ‘software’, ‘application’ software was called ‘mass’ and ‘systems software’ was called ‘class’. ‘TCS’ or ‘Infosys’ or ‘Wipro’ was called ‘mass’ while ‘Oracle’ or ‘HP’ or ‘Cisco’ was called ‘class’ mainly because of the large numbers that former selected and the fewer the latter chose. I was never a gregarious person and so it is obvious that I would have preferred company with fewer colleagues over a ‘mass company’. I was probably the first ever MCA student to be recruited in Texas Instruments and the only other MCA student too joined our adjoining team (later the teams were merged). The initial months or years were more interesting because it is always nice to be raring to go to office to ‘prove something’. Especially as a non-engineer, I was keen to ‘prove something to somebody’ (to put in ‘Citizen Kane’ terms). Even before I officially became an employee, my paper was accepted in VDAT conference. I learnt about some ‘device drivers’ to equipments in the fab (mainly ATEs) faster than ‘expected’, at least according to some. From conference at ‘national’ level, the next move was obviously go to international conference level. Though I was one of the co-authors in a paper in 2002, the paper for which I was the ONLY author in 2004 gave me probably more satisfaction. After having filed an application at USPTO, I was DONE! To quote Ian Chappell on captaincy

And the thing about this job is that it can wear you down pretty quickly. I just wrote about this a few weeks ago where I mentioned that I lasted four years as Australia's captain and I was done by the end of it, probably a little before the four years.

Not surprisingly, I left Texas Instruments at the end of four years because I didn’t feel that there was anything ‘new’ to it and it had become sort of ‘formulaic’ and MOTS. Anything which involves an usage of ‘grey matter’ often interested me and this ‘assembly’ line work is of now use. In fact, when I was in TI they used to call ‘Physical Design’ as ‘layout factory’. My problem with factories was always that I was always never going to do well among cadets and one among many ‘workers’. Getting lost in the crowd was not my way of looking to the future. In my opinion, I was not restricted by my inability. I always felt that I could learn anything. If a person who has learnt NOTHING academically about electronics can file a patent from a semiconductor giant, that person should be given the benefit of doubt in any field. I was always cooking though I was not born with a silver spoon ;) I concur with Sanjiv Kapoor's interview recently -

Books for brides tend to spell out the simplest procedures. Does the “Wedding Collection” also start from scratch?

These are not recipes for people who don't even know how to switch on the gas. When people say ‘I can't even boil rice or make tea', they are not apologetic. They say it with some sense of pride, which is actually a shame.
This book is for this generation, for people who are interested in food and have some confidence in the kitchen. Yes, we do some handholding.

If at all there was any handholding for me, it was in the form of my grandmother giving instructions when I was 13 years old or so. I don’t remember my mother having any doubt over my cooking ability though I never really cooked when she was around.
Having moved to Chennai to work in a company at a lower pay with very few, if not none, knowledgeable guys around, if not for the financial factor (we need something to live after all!), there is nothing that mandates my persistent employment. I also see that with the current ‘depression’, companies wanted people to be like what Krugman had wanted Obama’s team to be.

One thing's for sure: The next administration's economic team had better be ready to hit the ground running, because from day one it will find itself dealing with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.

I think that there is a serious leadership vacuum in every aspect of life. The more tragic part of it is that people don’t seem to know what leadership is, itself. MBAs are only going to aggravate the problem because I remember asking my ‘bil’ who apparently did his MBA from a premier college in US – what do MBAs bring to table? What can they do which others cant? He said ‘structured thinking’. I think that is precisely the problem. They can only deal with situations which they already know. It is like the MOTS problem. As long as you have seen the problem before, you can solve it. What if it is an altogether new problem? In my opinion, leadership is all about DECISION MAKING. Period. You do not need any degree or in fact any schooling to make a good decision. It is just putting yourself in the best possible position to face any situation.

The dependence on ‘classroom’/’textbook’ coaching is actually detrimental to not just students, but all humans. To quote Ian Chappell yet again -

ANDREW DENTON: Is it fair to say you basically lived and breathed cricket? That’s where your head was most of the time?

IAN CHAPPELL: I’d like to think that I was thinking about a few other things. But I didn’t realise, actually, until I’d been retired about 18 months, and I said to my wife, Barbara Ann, I didn’t realise how I was simmering just below boiling point the whole time.

ANDREW DENTON: About what?

IAN CHAPPELL: I think it’s part of being competitive. I mean, I wasn’t trying to do it or anything,

IAN CHAPPELL: I think, as a cricketer or as a sportsman probably, or a sportswoman, to be successful you do have to live in a bit of a cocoon. You do have to, sort of, be a bit in your own world.

Also, I guess the other advantage that we had over the current cricketers is the fact that we had to work, which might sound a bit strange saying it’s an advantage, but I think it was because it was good for your cricket because you’d go to work, having made a duck, and you’d walk in and one of the guys who’s working in sales with you would say, “Oh what a useless so and so you are. I see you got nought on Saturday,” you know?

ANDREW DENTON: Yes.

IAN CHAPPELL: And so you weren’t, sort of, quite living in that cocoon where you only heard from your team mates what you wanted to hear.

I think we cannot let the future generations to be in the rosy comfort zone where they hear what they wanted to hear and blame ‘others’ for everything that went wrong. Having said that, I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Companies nowadays want the students to hit the ground running. This means that the student in his/her college life will practically have no time to look at anything else. It is often said about an American engineer – they know in and out of what they work with and nothing out of what works outside. ‘How to be a Star Engineer?’ has to be rewritten because cocoons are the one likely to succeed in the future.

State of the Union!

I have considered myself to 'chance' upon some events for no reason; events which range from mind-blowing to shocking. Events which often reaffirm my notions which often border on my 'intuitive' perception or 'gut feel'. The point is often I dont know why I did what I did to be the witness. Some events were really exciting most often on sports. The ones on top of my mind is Lara's classic match-winning knock and Nathan Astle's almost sucker shocker punch! Watching live, rather breaking news of 9/11 was equally sensational but somehow US was always 'far away'.

Today morning I watched the State of the Union LIVE. It seemed to reaffirm my perception of US! BBC summed it very well - what was expected to be a Presidential address that will give direction to the country in the current crisis, a damp squib would be a gross understatement. It was a big yawn to put it mildly. The US Prez spoke what was 'expected', atleast from me!

We believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still bound together as one people; that we share common hopes and a common creed;

In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It is how we make our living.

Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik

That's what Americans have done for over 200 years: reinvented ourselves.

Look to Iraq, where nearly 100,000 of our brave men and women have left with their heads held high.

Of course, as we speak, al Qaeda and their affiliates continue to plan attacks against us.

We will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you.

I will travel to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador to forge new alliances across the Americas.

In south Sudan — with our assistance — the people were finally able to vote for independence after years of war.

The United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people.

Brandon started a company in Berlin, Pennsylvania, that specializes in a new kind of drilling technology. And one day last summer, he saw the news that halfway across the world, 33 men were trapped in a Chilean mine, and no one knew how to save them.

We do big things.

Anodynes are fine, but if I thought I didnt get anything out of the 'State of the Union' speech, so too felt Krugman.

Overall, however, I have no idea what the vision here was.

I always thought Americans think too much of themselves and even more comical is the world media going gaga over Obama's election! I felt that Europeans rubbed it further by giving Nobel Peace Prize to Obama because of his 'intent' :)) If at all, there was any respect/dignity left in Nobel Prize, this took it. I remember reading few pages of 'The audacity of hope' in a bookstore in Indianapolis and was impressed with how Obama wrote (I know it will be 'proofread' and 'word-smithed').

Having said that it was ridiculous to see the world 'expecting' or 'cheering' Obama. I mean, I dont care who is the chief minister of Jharkhand or Madhya Pradesh. Why should I care about President of USA? :o It was even funnier to see desis support a Democrat. Desis should support a Republican because only Republicans have relaxed immigration policies. No surprises, one of the first things that happened after Obama entered White House was restricitions on entry to US. I didnt think anybody or any party can change a country over night or in a single term (Well, I dont think Obama will be Prez in the next term!). There will be not be much of a difference between Congress and BJP in India or Republican or Democrat in US. Didnt Clinton send so many troops ('Wag The Dog' you see!)? For starters, Obama showed that he is a 'stuntman' by taking oath on some Lincoln Bible! Anyway to sum Obama's 'speech' up in 'latest Tamil jargon' - சூர மொக்கை :D

TN elections are coming soon and I cant imagine any Tamil political leader worth his/her salt talking anything beyond Tamil Nadu borders. It would be really comical if they talk like Obama about Sudan. Even talking about Sri Lanka has lost its apparent zing decades ago. For all that I remember Rajdeep Sardesai's column in Deccan Herald comparing 'sprightly' Obama and the American 'audacity' with the 'senile' and 'family biased' Karunanidhi. No wonder, all Hinglish channels have been talking for decades about Jayalalithaa being a 'Prime Minister' candidate. Karunanidhi has at least never lost an election. Jayalalithaa has lost even an Assembly seat contesting at the term at the end of her term as Chief Minister. Maybe these TV channels will cover and analyze 'foreign news' much better than local news :(

love பண்ணுங்க sir, life நல்லாயிருக்கும்!

ஒரு காலத்தில் நண்பர்கள் பரிந்துரை செய்யும் படங்களை நாம் பார்ப்போம். என்னைப் பொறுத்தவரை அது தான் சிறந்த முறை. அவர்கள் நம்மை அறிந்ததால் நாம் அவர்களை அறிந்ததால் (ஓரளவிற்காவது) பரிந்துரை செய்யப்படும் படத்தின் மீது 'சரியான எதிர்பார்ப்புடன்' தான் செல்வோம். அதனால் பெரிதும் சேதமோ/வியப்போ வரப்போவதில்லை. 'சித்திரம் பேசுதடி' என் நண்பனின் பரிந்துரையில் தான் பார்த்தேன். ரசித்தேன். அவர்களுக்கு திருமணம் ஆகும் முன் சரியாக இருக்கும். அவர்களுக்கு திருமணமாகி விட்டால் அவர்களுடைய பரிந்துரைகளை நம்பாமல் இருப்பது நலம் என்பது என் கருத்து. நான் எல்லா படங்களையும் பார்ப்பதில்லை, குறிப்பாக நான் செலவழித்து படம் பார்க்க வேண்டுமென்றால்.

எதைப் பார்ப்பது என்று நான் தேர்வு செய்யும் முறை விந்தையாகக் கூடத் தோன்றலாம். எங்கு பார்ப்பது என்பதும் ஓரளவிற்கு முக்கியம். நான் பெங்களூருவில் இருந்த போது முதல் நாள் முதல் காட்சி என்றால் பார்ப்பேன். ஏனென்றால் அங்கு படங்களை கத்தரிக்கும் ('super edit') கேவலமான பழக்கம் உண்டு, நான் பார்த்த திரையரங்குகளிலாவது :x 'சுப்பிரமணியபுரம்' நடிப்பவர்களின் தாடியைப் பார்த்து முடிவு செய்தேன். 'மதராசப்பட்டினம்' நான் பார்க்கவேண்டும் என்று நினைத்தது நான் பார்த்த காட்சிகளில் ஏமியும் சரி, கொச்சின் ஹநீபாவும் சரி நன்றாக நடித்தது போல் தோன்றியது. தமிழில் என்றுமே துணை நடிகர்கள் அற்புதமாக நடிப்பார்கள். பல நேரங்களில் அவர்களால் தான் பல படங்கள் சிறப்பாக இருக்கும். இயக்குனர்கள் பொறுத்தவரை முதல் படங்களைத் தவிர்ப்பேன், பல இயக்குனர்கள் ஒரு கதை/படம் இயககுனராகிவிடுகிறார்கள். நம்முடைய எதிர்பார்ப்பும் பொய்த்துவிடுகிறது. உ-ம் அஞ்சாதே. நான் பார்த்த முதல் பாலா இயக்கிய படம் 'பிதாமகன்'. எனவே இயக்குனர்கள் பேசுவதை வைத்துக் கொண்டு தான் தற்போது முடிவு செய்கிறேன்.

பிரபு சாலமன் பொறுத்தவரை 'கொக்கி' மற்றும் 'லீ' படங்களின் கதை பற்றி படித்த போதே மாற்று சிந்தனையாளரோ (different line of thought) என்று நினைத்தேன். குறிப்பாக அவர் கதைக்களங்கள் எளிமையாக இருந்தது. ஆனால் 'கிங்' அவருடைய படம் என்பதறிந்து கொஞ்சம் ஜகா வாங்கினேன். சமீபத்தில் பாலா அவரைப் புகழ்ந்து பேசிய போது முடிவெடுத்தேன் 'மைனா' பார்த்தே தீர வேண்டுமென்று.

பாலா மீது நான் வைத்த நம்பிக்கை வீண் போகவில்லை. மைனா அற்புதம். கலை வடிவிவங்கள் மனதிலிருந்து வரவேண்டும். அறிவிலிருந்து அல்ல. இளையராஜா அண்மையில் பேசும் போது 'இசை இதயத்திலிருந்து வரவேண்டும், மூளையிலிருந்து அல்ல' என்று சொன்னார். பாரதிராஜா ஒரு முறை பேசும் போது 'என் மனத்திரையிலிருக்கும் காட்சியை வெள்ளித்திரையில் கொண்டுவர முயற்சிக்கிறேன்' என்று சொன்னார். இப்படித்தான் இருக்க வேண்டும் என்பது என் கருத்தும். மைனா 'straight from the heart' என்று சில விமர்சனங்கள் பார்த்தேன். அதிலிருந்தே பிற படங்கள் 'from somewhere else (behind?)' என்று புரிகிறது. சில நாட்கள் முன் வெளிவந்த படத்த்திற்கு 'intelligent script writing' என்று விமர்சனம். என்னைப் பொறுத்தவரையில் அந்த படம் பக்கம் போகக்கூடாது என்று நான் முன்பே எடுத்த முடிவை பாராட்டிக்கொண்டேன் :D

மைனா வெறும் படம் தானே? அதுக் கூ......கூம் மேல சார்!

இந்த ஆண்டை 'மைனா' மூலம் தொடங்கியதில் உண்மையிலேயே மகிழ்ச்சி அடைகிறேன் :)

Changing the 'change'!

I am not sure if change is the only constant in the world, but in my house, ‘change’ is the only constant. I am referring to the ‘change’ as in currency of lower denominations, rather coins. Even before I returned to Chennai, I used to use my trips to Chennai for using the ‘change’ that my mother accumulates. I don’t think she is a numismatist but may be sense of sound of coins gives her security. As long as one is not penny wise and pound foolish, it is fine. Only ‘as long as’ :(

Bengaluru ‘demonetized’ the usage of 25 paise coins quite some years ago. None of the shop keepers or even bus conductors accept 25 paisa coins. I guess I would have been thrown out of the bus if I gave the ‘hard earned’ 5, 10 and 20 paisa coins that my mother accumulated with such panache :D Maybe Chennai always catches the bug the last and I saw on TV a couple of days ago that 25 paisa coins are going to be ‘declared invalid’ from June 2011! I don’t know whether I saw it coming long back that I started this changing the 'change' into notes/bus tickets long back. Bad news is that I am not still done :( Earlier I could relax if I missed an opportunity but now with this timeline in mind, I have to ensure that I wrap this job before say April 2011. For once, I think I will do it. Even before I saw the announcement on TV, I had used the coins to a great extent in the ever reliable (at least as far as change is concerned) Chennai buses. Maybe if I lived in South Chennai, I would not have been able to do that. Thankfully I am in ‘Central Chennai’ (at least according to me). So I can change the change ;)

Update: 20 Jan 2011, 10:30 hrs IST

Well, I underestimated my mother :( I was glad at accomplishing the task much earlier on 15 Jan 2011. I was exposed to some more 'treasure' today morning and have to see how soon I 'change' that. Heard of 'akshayapatra'? :( The treasure trove of 5,10 and 20 paise coins have to be dumped, so I thought. My mother says she collected those to put it in the collection boxes in temples! Nice place indeed. Worthless go to the worthless. Do you know what is 'divine intervention'? That means, God came down from heaven and took all those worthless coins. With due regards to Quentin Tarantino, Samuel Jackson, John Travolta and Pulp Fiction.

Update: 24 Jan 2011, 9:50 hrs IST

Well, I did it! Barring the 5,10,20 paise coins, I did the 'impossible', thanks to Chennai buses ;) 5,10,20 paise coins that I see as of now amount to Rs.5.40/- in total. My mother has already sounded the warning that there is more waiting to be uncovered :( Maybe that will be 'discovered' some other day while searching for something else. By then, usage of coins itself would have been deprecated! I found it strange that even the banks refused to take coins of lower denomination. If not banks, then who else? RBI? :( My father was saying that I should go to RBI, which I think is in Parrys or nearby. Going there to change this currency will be meaningless for even the bus fare will be more than that ;)

When the media delivers opinions, not news.

When MK mentioned that Raja was targeted because he was a Dalit, many found it a point to nitpick him for bringing in caste. For one it is comical to assume that caste does not play any part, in media of all places. I had already posted about the spectral comedy. It now looks like the media is insistent on running this comedy show. DMK is the basic target and its minister Raja being made the scapegoat. Now they have to keep targetting Raja and declare It’s official: Raja pressured judge and to quote

Chandramohan, appearing for a father-son duo, Dr Krishna Moorthi and S K Sridhar — who were facing CBI inquiry in an MBBS marksheet forgery scam — had met Regupathy at his chambers and handed over his mobile phone saying Raja was on the line and wanted to speak to him regarding the case.

I am reminded of the joke

If I say 'Chandrika Kumaratunga who studied in the same school as my mother, is on the line, talk to her on my mobile and Eelam will born the next moment', should people suspect my mother or Chandrika or the school where they studied? What sort of a comedy is this? Though the case is not related to spectrum, the ex-minister is and media cannot stop dancing midway. They have to continue that act.

I was relieved to see some good articles on spectrum in the media, at last. Express Computer was the first and to quote,

It's a case of better late than never. Half a decade after 3G made its mark in developed countries (a decade in some), India has finally decided to embrace this technology. Considering that the pay off in 3G's case can take anywhere from six to ten years, have Indian telcos bitten off more than they can chew?

A lot of the delay in 3G roll outs is attributed to the government shuffling its feet over granting 3G licenses. The auctions raked in spectrum worth Rs. 67,710 crore, a figure that was almost a hundred percent more than the government's expectations. Also, when licenses were given out, only three of the nine telecom operators (excluding the state-run BSNL and MTNL), namely Reliance Communications, Vodafone and Bharti, won the Mumbai and Delhi circles, which are the most expensive. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Reliance Communications agreed to pay Rs. 3,317 crore ($737 million) and Rs. 3,247 crore ($722 million) each for the most sought after Delhi and Mumbai markets.

Amidst the euphoria, industry observers are worried about the 'curse' of successful bidders paying through their nose for the licenses in addition to capital and operational expenses, which could eat into the operators’ profit margins. This, in turn, could dampen future investments. As it is, intense price competition is steadily eating into mobile operators' earnings and ARPUs have dropped below Rs. 200 per month per customer.

The implementation of 3G services would require significant investments (firstly on spectrum), in establishing and then maintaining network infrastructure.

According to research firm ICRA, this is expected to lead to greater reliance on debt and pressure on return indicators in the short term. The numbers are staggering. Telcos paid $1.6 to 2.6 billion for their 3G licenses and, in each case, they will be looking at infrastructure costs of $500 to 700 million, according to analysts. “These are huge outlays; equivalent to 40% to 50% of a year’s revenues,” averred Windsor Holden, Principal Analyst, Juniper Research. It’s not dissimilar to the Western European experience where operators paid exorbitant sums for 3G licenses in 2000. “Those operators are still trying to recoup the costs of their investments, ten years on,” he added.

If that is about the basic aspects of 2G/3G, the editorial in Economic Times nailed it.

Let us look at a similar situation in Britain. When Britain allotted 2G licences, they went through a bureaucrat’s version of an auction — prequalifying bidders through criteria like knowing business plans, their capital base — that Prof Paul Klemperer of Oxford derisively calls ‘beauty contests’ . They could raise only 44,000 pound through this route. Subsequently, Klemperer conducted the 3G auctions, where he raised a whopping 2.2 billion pound for the government and the consequent near-bankruptcy for the bidding firms. But no one in UK used this benefit in hindsight and criticised the 2G auctions.

மீனுக்கும் ஜாமீனுக்கும் வித்தியாசமே தெரியாதது போல, 2Gக்கும் 3Gக்கும் வித்தியாசமே தெரியாத கககபோ !@#$% இந்தியாவிலும் தமிழகத்திலும் இருப்பது விந்தையல்ல :x

If Karunanidhi is 'criticized' by media for taking up the Dalit card, the behavior of the media does not seem to indicate otherwise. If the media can be that clueless, rather cast(e) to call Jayalalithaa as one of all the PMs in waiting where her occupation is given as 'Agriculturist', nothing more needs to be said. There is an orchestrated move in the media to help ADMK or prevent DMK 'somehow' in the elections due 2011. If DMK could lose in 2001 for no reason, it could repeat in 2011. I for one do not see why DMK should lose, rather more importantly why ADMK should win! None of the candidates that I voted till date has won and so I dont matter, rather, I cant help ;)

Ashes 2010

It was always called the ultimate contest in cricket that has lot of ‘history’, ‘tradition’, ‘legends’ and maybe even myths surrounding it. England is a country that also talks too much on technique, spirit, class etc which is just peripheral to the actual game. At least I have no doubt that they look down upon Australia and I remember Ian Botham’s quote during 1992 World Cup in Australia – something on the lines of

It would be lovely to beat the 11 member Australian team in front of 11000 convicts.

Though English media may criticize Jardine for the ‘Bodyline’ series, I always thought there was nothing wrong about it and was glad but not surprised that Ian Chappell echoed my view. After Shane Warne and McGrath retired after winning yet another Ashes, this is probably a good chance for England to win it especially in Australian soil.

Though Ian seems to think that Australia may eventually still win.

This time a pundit will have to earn his money, and even McGrath could be made to look human. I've finally settled on Australia as slight favorites, purely because they are playing at home and because of the likelihood of at least one Ponting batting masterpiece. However, I'm posting that prediction with fear and trepidation, just like Nathan Hauritz waiting for the phone to ring.

I don’t think so and posted my comments as well.

I see Strauss being a more of a serene and calm captain which will put the dice in favor of England. In fact, Petersen may be a 'threat/danger' according to Australia but Strauss, Collingwood, Anderson and Swann are going to be the Ashes-winners for England in 2010. The last thing England wants to do is to talk a lot. It would be good if Strauss advises some of his mercurial players to be quiet. Yes, Petersen is surely one of those!

Strauss may play the way I think he will play. Let’s see who wins the Ashes 2010 – Ian or me? :D

Spectral Comedy!

Right from day one, when Cho Ramaswamy mentioned in Thuglak’s annual function about the ‘spectrum scam’, I found it ridiculous that there has been a scam of the order of lakhs of crore rupees! Even more comical is that the minister in question A Raja was in the centre of the scam which apparently happened in 2007 and for two years the opposition did nothing. UPA came back to power in 2009 with even better majority! Now I don’t know what was the stupid provocation for an ‘audit’ and stupid CAG has ruled that there has been a loss of 176,000 crore rupees. I simply couldn’t believe this comedy. If I expected some ‘sanity’ in Hindu, I did get some glimmer when it voiced the need to heed the call.

While denying any wrongdoing, he has insisted that he was persisting with a well-established policy in handing out 2G spectrum on a first-come first-served basis, instead of taking the auction route. This is no doubt true but serious questions relating to procedural irregularities and revenue losses remain.

There definitely would have been administrative corruption but not to the extent that Cho or opposition, forget CAG claimed or to say that it has a 'scam written all over it'. The cat was out of the bag, when report did not single out Raja. So what the heck is really happening? Hindu a few days later ‘concluded’ that flawed process, failed outcome is the moral of the whole ‘story’.

It is now a common conclusion that the procedure for the allocation of spectrum in 2007-08 for the second generation (2G) telecom services was flawed, and grossly so. When there were many more aspirants for the licences than there was frequency spectrum, and an auction should have been the obvious method to decide on the winners, the licences were handed out instead in a non-transparent, first-come-first-served basis and at a low price set seven years earlier. These are the charges that the former Union Minister for Telecommunications, A. Raja, faces, and the ones that forced his resignation.

I ‘intuitively’ felt that something was wrong but did not know to spell out what. Only for a short time. I re-read the news and it was very clear.

Ms. Gupta said the figure of Rs.1.76 lakh crore was reached on the basis of the 3G auction held earlier this year, in which the government mopped up over Rs.67,000 crore. “The quantum of loss is presumptive, we have only tried to quantify the loss,” she added.

The controversy is regarding 2G spectrum and how can they evaluate it based on 3G spectrum? Devil is always in the detail and I am not sure if even the ministers don’t know how to quash this spectral comedy. 2G spectrum is a primitive telephone network with no great ‘applications’ to run on the same. 3G spectrum on the other hand can allow mobile TV, video conferencing etc. Most mobile phone users are unaware, rather don’t care, about the phone network but the operators are not going to give them the option of going for 2G service. So by default it has to be 3G service for ALL USERS.

Without knowing anything, it has been labeled a scam and the minister has resigned as well. To 'quote' the climax of the Vadivelu comedy,

மீனுக்கும் ஜாமீனுக்கும் வித்தியாசமே தெரியாதது போல, 2Gக்கும் 3Gக்கும் வித்தியாசமே தெரியாத கககபோ !@#$% இந்தியாவிலும் தமிழகத்திலும் இருப்பது விந்தையல்ல :D

Update: 23 Nov 2010, 9:00 a.m. IST

I dont know if the minister did not know or was not able to explain, but news on mobile number portability, yesterday 'exposed' the business (d)evils.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has finally announced the roll-out of mobile number portability (MNP) facility in the country, beginning with its launch in Rohtak district of Haryana on Thursday.

Mobile number portability was initially proposed to be implemented across all metros and in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by 31 December 2009. The DoT later changed the deadline to 31 March 2010, and subsequently to 30 June 2010.

Mobile phone operators want to keep using the 'existing' backbone, ie BSNL, for years and decades to come, but as mobile subscribers would know it is simply 'not reachable'. No wonder, 3G was indeed rightly auctioned.

Blog is not autobiography!

'What is your career goal?' is a question that many like me would have faced. I never ever had a specific career, forget company, in my mind but always thought that I should spend some part of life writing a book. A book to un-complicate some domain that I worked in, especially semiconductor industry. To adopt Krugman's words, I am a ruthless simplifier. I do not think that there is anything that I cannot come to grips with, especially in the mental domain (of course not necessarily in the physical domain!). Fiction writing or 'synthesizing a new story/plot with message, humor etc' is not my cuppa. Writing an autobiography is naive according to me, not because 'normal, boring life is so boring to write' but ideally there should be no audience for an autobiography, no matter whose it might be. I never liked all these 'make-believe' or 'personal development' books either, for one it is for the mentally deficient and more importantly it is of no use for people who can think. Maybe the 'theism' which is so rampant in India has made people to seek more and even more Gods and God men/God women whom they can just follow for anything and everything.

Indians are so used to 'following' some one that they never seem to have the ability to think ON THEIR OWN. Ideas are borrowed, teaching is borrowed, IOU list is never ending. It is not surprising that the corporate world is filled with so many stinkers, whose thinking or the lack of it assumes colossal proportions. Almost all my managers in all the companies till now have come and said in a meeting 'This is a book that I have read recently and got some ideas FOR US to be more productive'. If a person has to be told or read some book to know the priorities or how to be productive, then the person should have never made it to the 'top' in the first place. This is another axe that I have to grind with reg MBA. If MBA means 'master of business administration', then for one they should NOT work UNDER someone, taking orders. MBA should chart the course for his/her company or organization; that is why (s)he is MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

Management is all about DECISION MAKING and this cannot be taught in any school or college. Decision making has to done with reference to the context that one is in. What Lee Iacocca decided may have suited Chrysler at that time. It may not be applicable to Hyundai in Chennai! In fact if things are managed in Chennai, the way it was done in Detroit or Seoul, it may backfire royally! If people are in a cocoon, they can never make good decisions especially in a position like a manager. Current generation is filled with people in such a small cocoon and clueless outside. Not surprising, we are clueless - where have all the leaders gone?

For starters, I think good managers should be very good in general knowledge and not horse with blinkers. I think captaincy in cricket is same as management in any domain. Harsha Bhogle in his interview with Ian Chappell wants to know

When is your book on captaincy coming out?

Obviously Ian Chappell will not write a book 'Learn captaincy in 30 days'! Captaincy or LEADERSHIP CANNOT BE TAUGHT. Going further down, we should first MANAGE ourselves to put us in the best position to succeed and more importantly covering up (AFTER KNOWING) our limitations, weaknesses and inabilities. The same has to be extended first to a small group, say team in an organization in a company, then grow towards to put the organization in the best position within the company, finally growing to the put the company in the best position in the industry and so on.

What about our 'history' or 'autobiography'? Autobiography always sounded like narcissism where TRUTH is never out. It will end up as a 'manual' which lesser or most mortals will follow word-to-word and miss the trees for the wood. I puked the first time I heard 'this is what Stephen Covey said', 'this is what Sri Sri Ravishankar said' etc. I don't have a problem with the authors but the problem is that most readers try to COPY the author and not the substance. That is why we have 'classical' types in everything - 'classical' music, 'classical' batting technique, 'classical' leadership (basically monarchy) etc. Reg blog, Krugman has a blog but that is not an autobiography! It is just his observations mostly on his professional domain, rather the domain that he is very much interested. Sure, the blog is mixed with comments which can be 'deemed political' but that is his way of looking at things. All of us are humans and bound to have different choices and likes. One more reason for my blog is that for those who have been 'in contact' with me, living far away may understand the blog better and can 'update' themselves on how I have (not) changed.

Final Diagnosis!

If I had 'boasted' of my health, then I also missed out mentioning my father's probably better immunity! In his family, he was probably the 'giant' in terms of height and weight, at least during olden days. Even now, he is the tallest and biggest in my family. So we were quite worried when he felt very weak, especially in the last few months, which probably reinforced my plan to return to Chennai. We took him quite a few times to different doctors when he had these recent spurts of fever, which did not even last one FULL day! We were just told that it is விஷக்காய்ச்சல் and the blood tests revealed nothing. My brother-in-law who is a doctor explained that blood tests reveal bacterial infection and not viral infection directly. When we admitted him to SRMC at the stroke of midnight with the point of at least observing him for a couple of days, the young doctors advised us not to admit him and by stealth gave a discharge summary that the 'patient has been discharged as per OUR request'. Obviously at 3:00 am, I was more worried about finding a cab to go back home rather than seeing the faded carbon paper to read what was written. It also seemed to indicate that they did not feel that it was serious enough to admit my father.

After the discharge which was nearly 2 weeks ago, I suddenly noticed my father shivering again. I was surprised because just minutes back, he had wanted to change TV channels to see Obama speak in India. My bil had indeed suspected Malaria when he first saw the medical reports given by the first doctor but it was news to me that there were different kinds of Malaria. There are no ‘golden’ malaria symptoms, applicable to all patients. In Arthur Hailey's books, 'Strong Medicine' or 'Final Medicine', I remember that it is mentioned that there are cures for surprisingly very few diseases. My bil had also mentioned that for some cases, blood testing should be tested when the patient is having fever. That was one difference between the previous times when we had admitted him in hospital/clinics and now. Now he was shivering and he was unable to move.

We admitted him in Vijaya Health Center. The confirmation of 'Malaria' was comforting because instead of the 'mysterious fever', it has at least become a known one. Also since the health center is walk able from my current residence, it will give us many more advantages like coming home to pick up some relevant documents/reports, in case it was missed out. The financial part is always tricky because Vijaya group was always known (at least to me) as a high cost medical care centre. SRMC had mentioned about Rs.4000-5000/- per day and I thought it was high, though not prohibitive. My sister who had worked with quite a few reputed Chennai doctors in her course of employment in India had advised me to check Vijaya because she said that going far to SRMC may not be worth it and Vijaya will also try to be competitive with other hospitals in Chennai. So I was better prepared now regarding the cost, though there was a minor surprise/shock here as well.

I had forgotten that in India hospitals too had become corporate. In my professional experience, I had realized that companies tend to sugar coat their job offers by having a high gross salary many of which are not received in any tangible form. The 'profit sharing' quote that was given in my first company was never seen on hand because the company did not make my profits during my stay but that bloated up the gross salary by at least Rs.32000/- ESOPs is another way of increasing the gross salary. In Govt jobs, the basic will be directly proportionate to the gross salary. In my last two jobs as an employee, viz NXP and AMD, my gross increased but my basic actually decreased! In case of hospitals, they quote low rates but I realized that there are many other components. Bed cost is kept low and is the one, that is 'quoted/advertised'. Nursing cost is the one that shoots up the expenses, irrespective of the fact whether there is good nursing or not.

Money is not something that you should look too much when it comes to medical treatment of your family. Still a costly lesson about how business is managed in hospital industry, not hospitality industry :))

Investing in India

During an inter-corporate competition in 2003 at Bengaluru, one of my responses seemed to have worked in my favor to be selected as a finalist in ‘Mr. Silicon Valley’ (I was part of the winning team in ‘Dumb charades’). It was similar to these ‘public contests’ where we had to complete the slogan and I had to complete ‘Money is …’. I wrote ‘Money is something but not everything.’ On stage, the judges apparently impressed on my response, asked me to further elaborate on my ‘point’. That was the point. I was not making a point! I just wrote what I felt.

It is no trick to make a lot of money, if all you want is to make a lot of money

Indeed I have felt this to be a truism, because the key is ‘all you want’. It is one thing to simply talk and another to walk the talk. With two of my classmates – Raghu Ganesh and MV Varadarajan, we initially did dabble with a measly amount of Rs.3000/- each. Apart from the fact that I contributed in the form of donation rather than real investment, I also did not like ‘trigger happy’ investment, buying and selling based on mood or paranoia. I did not want to invest as a ‘non-serious’ person. I wanted to start my serious investment at the time of resigning from my first job at Texas Instruments which coincided with the IPO announcement of TCS. All my sisters were married then and now I could afford to ‘risk’. In fact that was another reason why I resigned. I always liked tall people in corporate world, who don’t come in TVs and never give ‘media bytes’. TCS and CTS fell in that category.

Also given my visit abroad and the phase that India was in, at that time, I was more convinced that Indian business will show rapid progress. Apart from the fact that I had minimal expenses and that I had entered in to a home loan for purchasing a flat in Bangalore, I really went full length into IPOs and chose LKP for my demat account because they were the only ones who were willing to do it real quick. Other traders/investment companies asked me to come after a week, submit documents which I felt were irrelevant. Anything other than my PAN card is irrelevant for investment. I never wanted to dabble in the secondary market, despite so much of ‘prompting’ from LKP. For one, I did not intend to monitor the stock markets 365/24/7 and I did not want to get distracted from my job, which I was convinced, was my bread winner.

I don’t have any great philosophy behind carrying minimal cash. In fact when a thief broke into our house and stole the purses of my friend, my sister and mine, he would have gone Rs.4000/- or more from my friend’s purse, but would not have got more than Rs.15/- from mine ;) I thought that money in the form of money, i.e. currency is just garbage. That was another reason why I went into purchase of flat. It should be in different ‘forms’, which have differing levels of liquidity. Currency is ‘instant’, shares takes a bit of time, gold even more and fixed assets would take the maximum time. I believed that bulk of the finances should be in this ‘intermediary’ form, i.e. shares/mutual funds/gold.

I followed my ‘internal voice’ in choosing the IPOs and am not flippant. Given the political climate and trend, I was convinced that I can readily invest in ‘disinvestment’ IPOs. Though I sensed Depression which had effect on my ‘career’, I knew that my portfolio can only get a boost. Thus some of my stocks which were performing below par till say 2007 or 2008, have performed exceeding well in the last one year and my whole portfolio has shown 80% growth as on date. With an investment of more than Rs.1.2 million, that is a reasonable ‘success’ according to me. Indeed my recent investment in Coal India has met with an allotment of 199 shares. Hindu’s editorial just reaffirmed my opinion as far as Coal India is concerned that there is indeed a digging for value.

Coal India's initial public offer (IPO), which opened for public subscription on October 18, is expected to fetch over Rs.15,000 crore, making it by far the largest public offer ever made in India. Coal India is the only Navratna that has remained unlisted, and its entry into the capital market has been welcomed with a rare degree of unanimity by a wide range of analysts and investment bankers. Three of India's credit rating agencies have accorded the highest rating to the offer.

I am not sure of how this ‘IPO honeymoon’ is working in India. Especially when there is so much talk of recession, it really looks like the gap between haves and have-nots is increasing. I don’t see the reason why they increased retail investment cap in IPOs.

(Sebi) today raised the investment limit for retail investors in an initial public offering (IPO) to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh earlier even as it tightened norms governing the preferential issue of equity shares.

Already there is this comedy called HUF (Hindu Undivided family) and people are misusing this to the core. The increase of ‘retail investment cap’ is only playing to this gallery. I don’t know when or how soon will see the 'militant' reaction of the haves vs have-nots in India.

Islamic banking!

Early this year, my Wharton newsletter subscription enabled me to read an article about growing interest: Islamic banking expands from the Gulf to India. Now I read that PM asks RBI to look into Malaysian Islamic banking model. I had pointed this quite some time back in one Orkut community as well.

As a kid or a school boy, I had never thought much about other religions/castes, though I was brought up amidst really diverse people. Coming to think of it, I don’t think I can hope to even (seek to) meet such diverse people NOW. I was probably brought up secular unknowingly! It was in fact great that I never knew the 'second names' of anyone at school. It was always AR Suresh or KP Manikandan or R Gayathri, with most of us not knowing/caring what the initials stood for. We were 'natural' Periyarists, I guess ;) Similarly when I went to temples, usually accompanied by my mother, I hardly remember any 'human' form. Mostly it was the Pillaiyar, basically in the form of elephant, or Siva, aniconic representation for God in Shaiva philosophy. Since my sisters studied in a Christian convent, I came to know of Jesus as well. Islam was in some sense a pleasant surprise, though mostly our insight into Islam was burqa that only very few wore or the cap that some guys wore at their homes especially during some festivals. When I was doing graduation and my Tamil professor inadvertently sowed the seeds of non-existence of God, Islam acquired even more sense. I thought Islam is in fact atheism in the pure sense.

There can be only two beliefs. Either one believes that something beyond the power/will of humans, (is it 'unnatural' or is it supernatural? ;)), is dictating our course of life or one believes that there is a 'cause' for every event in life and nothing is unexplainable. I don’t believe in the former, so I don’t count :)) In the case of former, if we believe that 'supernatural' is indeed responsible, why should we give some sort of form to the same? Once we give form, why human form? Once we give human form, why male? All such inherent contradictions and loopholes led to the pantheon of zillion Gods in Hinduism, making it ridiculous. Even Christianity stumbled a bit, because the 'prophet' Jesus was taken as God by some people. On the other hand, Islam has remained strikingly simple, pure and powerful. To the point that they even resisted from creating a 'form', for the prophet Muhammad cartoon met with severe backlash.

I have come to believe that Islam is so profound that it is not at all surprising that people in the current environment of lower IQs and given 'posts' like mullah, ulema etc give their own version of Sharia. Though many idiots in India talk about Hinduism being a way of life, I think Islam should have made the first real effort towards religion as a way of life. While Ramayana and Mahabharata, the two epics of Hinduism, promote inequality 'religiously' to the point of perpetuating it in Indian society, I don’t think Hinduism has any 'code' for ethics or living which is FAIR. If 'formless' (rather Godless?) Islam surprised me, then Islamic banking was really an eye-opener.

Maybe courtesy my experiences till date have taught me that people are interested in us only if they get 'interest'. Of course, I do understand that a bank which does not know me, can lend me money only at an interest. Islamic banking which charges NO INTEREST is actually counter intuitive! The obvious ones or even the exceptional ones are not interesting. Ian Chappell talking about some of the good captains, listed out some non-so-obvious one like Mike Gatting and it does make it an interesting perspective. I did wonder how the hell can Islamic banking work. How can a Muslim lender, forget a bank, TRUST an unknown person lending money WITHOUT interest? Courtesy Depression, they are now trying to increase spending and one of the ways to increase spending is to cut down the interest rates. They have apparently brought it down to nearly 0% which is nothing but Islamic banking :)) Now they are wondering how Islamic banking has been functioning, as going by above link

Currently, close to USD 1 trillion is being managed by about 400-500 Islamic banks worldwide and by 2020, the figure is expected to touch USD 4 trillion.

I think the key here is it is not just the lending rate that is 0% but also the fact that savings interest rate is 0%. So no matter how much ever money that you dump into the bank and for however long, it is not going to increase a bit, forget multiplying! It is better to spend it than to just lock it idle in some bank for months/years. If Islamic banks have trillions of US $s, then it means that they can spend that money, rather lend it in countries which pay interest and thus the money multiplies even further. Islamic banking promotes spending, obviously in a non-obvious way. Islam goes up further in my ratings :)

Chennai attacked?

I am not sure if I should take pride in my 'immunity' mechanism, but I have been able to stave off rampant illnesses many a time. When chikungunya made a massive strike in Chennai, I was fortunately 'missed' while some of my friends spent weeks in bed to recuperate. Even if it is not fatal, it basically puts the brakes and it is very difficult on companies or people who depend on those affected. Couple of weeks ago, I heard of my chithi's daughter being hit by a mysterious illness and the body temperature apparently rose alarmingly. My Chithi reasoned that it was because of her visit to Bengaluru. Closer home, my father was attacked by some mysterious illness as well (doctor call it 'விஷக்காய்ச்சல்') and even after 3/4 visits to the doctor, we still are seeing temporary surges. Of course, given the age factor, low body immunity is also something that we have to take care of.

Unlike in case of chikungunya attacks, the current trend is spurious because the source remains unknown! In case of chikungunya, water and mosquito joined to create the problem and so some level of disinfectant spraying mitigated the problem. Now, the healthcare dept may have no clue. There is quite a bit of talk and discussion in different fora/media on neglected tropical diseases “killing India”. At the risk of sounding xenophobic, I remember the Thackerays raising an alarm connecting migrants to the raise in Malaria cases in Mumbai. The problem with the personalities involved probably resulted in denying any serious look on the allegation.

Chennai has been mentioned in the list of fastest growing cities by Forbes, especially about an addition of 100,000 jobs this year. Even the new secretariat in Chennai could only be built by thousands of workers from North. Of course, I do personally see lots of non-Tamils in the buses and even in my office. I have to say that I am scared of the prospect of changing demography in Chennai, if not entire TN. Atleast many of my thoughts are put into words by my fellow passengers in buses or trains, who too probably feel the same. Rather than the 'invasion' of people, I am worried about the 'invasion' of diseases. My guesstimate is that old-aged people are forming the bulk of population in Tamil Nadu, if not India. With their immunity being low - my father known for his robust health/body being kept low is a good indicator, influx is not about/just people but also of diseases. It is imposible to control contagion through air, after all of us need to breathe! All have the right to live.

Update 1 (17 Oct 2010): It looks like xenophobia (or is it?) has caught on in Germany as well. Merkel has said that 'multicultural' society has failed - 'integrate or emigrate' policy is finding another voice.

Update 1 (18 Oct 2010): It was indeed shocking for me to wake up in train before it reached Perambur to find 20 odd people sleeping in the floor! As usual, I wanted to get down in Perambur to go to the first compartment after engine. At the other end of the compartment, one lady was shouting at these guys, who dont know Tamil, for entering into 'reserved' compartments. I asked three guys who were sleeping in front of the door to get up so that I can get down in Perambur. They had the audacity to ask me to go to next compartment and get down from there! I guess the pent-up frustration is so much in people that to my surprise (infact delight) 10 other passengers came to my 'rescue' automatically, shouted the hell at these non-Tamils and drove them out even before the train halted at Perambur! What is happening to Chennai? :o

Applying Thought!

I am not sure if it is the case of after-thoughts, that I did think of working in a company in Bengaluru, after coming to Chennai. Though I didn't have big reasons to complain here (infact more reasons to be content/happy), I don’t know if being in a 'permanent' job will be helpful in my matrimonial search and so I did seek for a role in permanent position in one of a 'services' company back in Bengaluru. Even though pay maybe only 'slightly higher', I thought a permanent position will be a 'promotion'. After initial discussions (technical and HR) in Chennai, which were very encouraging, I even planned to live in Hosur to reach Electronic City in Bengaluru. Going from my flat (near HAL) to electronic city will be simply energy sapping. Also I had seen in websites of some builders that there are company buses for employees in electronic city from Hosur. I can still live in Tamil Nadu after all! As always, there is this proverbial 'many a slip between the cup and the lip'.

In my experience, there are not many people working in my domain of work, i.e. DFT. It was thus intriguing all the more that DFT was slotted with back-end in the current company. Though it was mentioned for 'administrative purposes', hopefully the 'customers' don’t ever get to know that DFT is sitting under the 'Physical Design' umbrella! Even if we don’t know DFT personnel in other companies by face, through conferences and other forums, we can get to know the names (especially of experienced/'higher ups') and the bottomline is that there are only few. Though the pay was lower than the last company, where I was an employee as well (i.e. AMD), I still didn’t realize that I am dealing with an Indian company after all. Even in my current company, I got two 'offer letter's with differing pay.

HRs are probably the most hated personnel in the IT world. I haven’t seen till date any HR of the company that I worked in being 'praised'. It is also fairly obvious. The company is basically made of people who 'work'. Once a person enrolls into a company, he may not even look at the face of the HR ever. Maybe because of this, HR personnel want to exercise their power as much as possible before or till the person joins the company. The ten minutes of glory is important after all! Nobel Prize for Economics in 2010 has been awarded to people who have done great work about 'search costs' and its 'application' especially in job markets. In particular I was attracted by the following mention

Why are so many people unemployed at the same time that there are a large number of job openings?
How can economic policy affect unemployment?

If someone who is unemployed increases his, or her, search activity, it will become more difficult for other job seekers to find employment.

I am not sure of the 'appraisal' process for an HR - is (s)he rewarded if candidates are recruited at lower pay and lower job grade? - but the guys in this Bengaluru company were simply out of sync with what transpired in Chennai. The 'negotiation' started with a job grade and pay, both being lower than what was discussed in Chennai! I don’t know if going by the latest Nobel Prize on Economics, search costs are low in India and these people can afford to start their negotiations thus. Apart from this, their 'process' apparently demands copies of all certificates to be submitted BEFORE the offer is given. For one this is ridiculous. Especially for me! My first company, Texas Instruments, enrolled me as an EMPLOYEE before I even finished my MCA degree and here is this company asking for my Xth marksheet! Sure, I have given the copies of similar documents in the Chennai company but that is at the time of joining the company, not even before getting the offer. This company wants copies of all pages of my passport (both old and new), all offer letters, all exit letters, all F-16s for the 10 years! All this BEFORE EVEN GIVING ME AN OFFER LETTER!

Secondly, when I asked how to send all that, the HR says 'matter-of-fact'ly, 'Just scan it and send it', as if it is so obvious. Scanning minimum of 30 pages for all these documents will cost. WILL THE COMPANY BEAR THE COST? When I said that the certificates and passport are in my flat at Bengaluru, he asks when am I coming to Bengaluru or if my friends have the keys to my flat. What NONSENSE? If you want to recruit, you have to bear this incidental expense, atleast after I join the company. I told them over mail and phone the same - I WILL GIVE all this but after the offer is given, not before. Still I made two visits to Bengaluru and informed them. They neither showed initiative nor cooperation. They took refuge under 'process' of that company and the fact that I have to be 'understand'.

The best part was saved for the last. I am not sure of the provocation but the HR mailed responses ccing his 'higher up'. For a change, it was good that they made a direct contact (over phone) with me. I had apparently sent 'nasty' emails and that they are 'closing' my application. That was infact fine! What followed was - if you send any more mails, then I will take it up with your higher-ups and other forums! Maybe he thought that I am a 'spammer' or jumped the gun of taking to forums (what forums? sounds so ridiculous!) to prevent me from 'spreading the news'. He sounded like one who had worked in a Govt company, giving such 'veiled threats'. Maybe in times of 'recession' or 'depression' companies think that they can dictate the terms. Maybe they can, but NOT TO ME. Period.

Hey Ram!

Finally, Allahabad High Court has pronounced the verdict! There are atleast three good things about it. First, it has indeed pronounced the verdict. No nuisance of any further stays! Secondly, Enthiran will have a trouble-free opening (well, almost). Thirdly, the stock market SHOULD open with a big bang and hopefully my stocks will go up atleast for a few days :))

Almost entire nation was led to believe that the verdict will be in favour of Wakf board. Centre had cautioned states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka etc. Demolition of Babri Masjid cannot be given 'legal sanction', directly or indirectly. Just like the 'Ball tampering' issue, Allahabad High Court seems to have gone for a political decision, instead of a judicial decision.

Quite a few lawyers came on TV (I was seeing NDTV) and all of them were 'partially' right. The problem was that they were wearing other hats! Rajeev Dhavan did talk of panchayati justice and PP Rao echoed my question/thought as well -

When no one asked for division of land, how can the court divide it into three portions?

Of course pacifists from the Muslim side like Javed Akhtar wanted Muslims to give up the rights and 'accept' the verdict. There are those like Mahavishnu of Mount Road who believe that the intriguing compromise could work.

The best indicator could be seen very soon, especially in North India where Bihar elections is due very soon. Just when people were thinking why the BJP cannot go back to its ‘ mandir wahin banayenge' stance, this judgement might have come as a shot in the arm, if not a surprising shock for the party. The elections or the results for BJP could fairly indicate how communal people still are. I hope TN with its influx of north indian immigrants does not veer towards 'militant Hinduism' of especially these herbivorous ladylike men :(

Hey Ram!

I bet, we heard the last!

Now, Pak opener Hameed claims colleagues fix ‘almost every match’!

Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed has reportedly claimed that his teammates were allegedly involved in fixing “almost every match”, even before the dust is yet to settle over the allegations of spot-fixing against three fellow players during the team’s tour in England.

I do not expect that cricket can be devoid of such allegations or such scams. Infact, a few days when Ian Chappell spoke on Does ODI cricket have a future?

I think the part of the problem with 50-over cricket is that it is becoming very formulaic

And I think most people accept the fact that the problems with match-fixing in the late 90s and early 2000, a lot of it came from the fact that the players felt that they were playing in a lot of games that did not have meaning. Therefore, it was felt that it was easier to fiddle around with those games. So I have been a believer for a long time that the way to look at the cricket programme is to go for more quality and cut back on the quantity.

Actually when they were debating whether ODI cricket has a future, some of the Pakistan players and the betting syndicate seemed to indicate that it is test cricket where it is easier to involve in betting scandals. There are 5 days, 15 sessions and who is ever going to note that something strange is happening in one session! Test cricket is infact a recipe for all sorts of betting! It is also difficult to say what is result of betting. I saw certain no-balls in TV which cannot be 'planned' - foot was just over the crease!

When Manoj Prabhakar alleged that Kapil was part of the saga, many may have indeed said No Not you Kapil

Prabhakar smiles the smile of a man who knows it's a question that's always coming. "It's not the player everyone thinks it is. He's a bigger name ..." And then his smile fades, his mouth hinges shut.

"Oh, you mean it isn't Mohammed Azharuddin?" the reporter asks.

Many people were actually expecting Azharuddin indeed and infact, everybody would have accepted that he indeed was part of the betting 'brigade' WITHOUT BATTING AN EYELID. He was a Muslim, he chatted and laughed with Pakistanis etc!

I think the professional era has to do everything with this betting menace! In Pakistan, they dont know how long they are going to play and given the unpredictability of their career, they may think as well of making a quick buck, when sun is shining. Not long back, Australians were part of 'disclosures' what some would say as 'innocuous' information like weather or even team composition. In professional era, it basically boils down to earning in whatever possible way. If some can model, dance down the ramp and earn, why cant some others say team composition, bowl a few no-balls and earn? After all, they can argue it will not alter the result of the match!