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 :))