Back to School

It is September 1.

According to the Vedic Calendar, it is Chaturthi h. 06-33, Asvini Nakshatra h. 54-16, Vriddhi Yoga h. 48-41, Balava Karana h. 06-33.

Aanish and Ayaana have been back to school for a couple of weeks and a new routine has set in our daily life. There was the usual excitement about new classes, new friends, meeting old friends, getting new books & supplies and meeting new teachers. Ayaana is continuing Bharat Natyam lessons while Aanish plans to continue guitar lessons. Ayaana has moved out of the primary block. She will be leading the school assembly next week and will lead the singing of the Indian National Anthem (yup - she has memorized this).

Aanish has an interesting program this year with some exciting classes. His business studies class is quite fascinating and is focused on turning 9th graders into real business people.

The road to school has been upgraded (it was a bumpy rocky road for miles) but there are more kids in school this year. So the trip to school still takes about 40 minutes.

A new director of administration is in charge this year and discipline has been tightened. Strict guidelines for hair (short for boys, shoulder length or tied up for girls), uniform and behavior have been posted. iPods and video games of other students have already been confiscated for the academic year!

Move aside Mel

Bollywood beats Hollywood once again! If you thought that Mel Gibson's troubles with the law when he had the altercation with cops last year was a big deal, you have seen nothing yet. Two of the biggest stars of Indian Cinema have been sent to jail within a few weeks.

Sanjay Dutt was charged with possession of illegal arms about 14 years ago (yes, yes ... that's the pace of the legal system here) and has finally been convicted of the crime and sentenced to 6 years of prison time. He started his jail term a couple of weeks ago causing huge distress to movie producers who have millions of dollars invested in films starring Sanjay Dutt on the production floor.

Meanwhile, Salman Khan (another Bollywood favorite) has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for the shooting of two black bucks (considered to be a protected animal) during a hunting trip in 1998. Salman is expected to be arrested today.

As expected, the news media can't stop talking about these and you get to see/hear friends, families, lawyers, cops, news analysts, film industry colleagues all expressing their opinions!!

Saare Jahaan Se Accha

If you want to get a feel for the vitality in India, you must visit the country around August 15th - India's independence day. This year, the country is celebrating it's 60th year of independence. While there is a lot of hope and optimism about the country's future, there is also a growing recognition about the problems (poverty, overpopulation etc.) among all. The newspapers today were full of debates and discussions about the progress made since independence and the way forward.

At the office yesterday, folks split up into three teams and competed to create an exhibit that represented India. These are the guys who represent the future of India where nearly 50% of the population (500MM) is 25 years old or less. It was a fascinating experience to view the country through their eyes. One exhibit represented India as a growing sapling (high prospects) on a rock foundation (difficult circumstances). The second had the country represented as a pigeon in a cage with the door open. The cage is open but the bird has not flown out yet. The third was full of optimism and was a celebration of the country's achievements and prospects for the future.

The residents association at our building had organized an Independence Day celebration complete with flag hoisting, march past, children's concert and breakfast. A school next to our building had their celebrations at 10AM with speeches and patriotic songs. The theme in all these events was pretty consistent - future looks bright and there is no stopping the young, bright and talented of this country. But there is also a tremendous responsibility to ensure that the opportunities are made available to all (250MM still live in dire poverty!).

Jai Hind!

Enchanting Tamil Nadu

The children's summer vacation was coming to an end last week and we planned a quick last minute vacation to Tamil Nadu. We decided to visit the famous temple city of Mahabalipuram (also known as Mammalapuram) and Pondicherry (famous for it's French Quarter - a'la New Orleans). We took a train to Chennai where Mona and the kids spent the day sightseeing while I spent the day at work.

Next day we drove to Mahabalipuram - destination GRT Temple Bay. This is an exquisite beach resort and a must-stay during any visit to South India. The kids absolutely fell in love with our beach front villa and did not want to leave. Game room (X-Box, table tennis, dart board, carroms and more), Infinity pool, fabulous restaurants and organized tours - you name it and they have it.

The highlight of our trip was a visit to see the old and ancient temples built during the fourteenth and fifteenth century. These heritage sites have been well preserved and are quite a sight and experience. The recent Tsunami has uncovered a few more temples under the water and a small boat ride from the resort takes you to close to the spot where you can see the roofs of the temples under water.

We thoroughly enjoyed our 2-day stay here and moved on to Pondicherry. But more on that in a future post.

Bangalore Monsoons

The monsoons have finally arrived in Bangalore but so far they are nothing compared to the rain that we have seen in Mumbai. It rains hard several times a week. You don't get to see this kind of rain in Los Angeles so it is a new experience for us. Monsoon rain creates some unique challenges for people out here.

There is a lot of two-wheeler traffic on the roads in India. When it is pouring hard, the roads clear up amazingly quickly and if you are in a car, you are zipping to your destination. Most folks however are not deterred by the rain and getting soaking wet is taken in stride. The children are loving this season and actually head out to play outdoors when it rains.

Occassionally water will seep into our flat and towels strewn around the place during heavy rains is not an uncommon sight. Mona also gets impacted by rain because her tennis lessons get cancelled! But at the end of the day, we all enjoy the rains! Water level in the lake across from our building is rising and the green cover in the city looks fresh and rich.

Fun in Fundustan!

We were in Hyderabad last week and finally made it out to Ramoji Film City. This has been on our list of places to visit for quite a few years and this time we were determined to make it part of our visit. Film City is the Universal Studio of India and has the credit (according to the Guinness Book of world records ... don't believe me? Check it out here.) of being the largest film studio in the entire world.

We did not know what to expect but were pleasantly surprised. Film City is spread out over 1.5 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds and is an attractive tourist destination as well as a successful studio for movie and television production. Indianized versions of popular Universal Studio attractions (stunt show, behind the scenes, tour through movie sets etc.) are combined with themed attractions such as a haunted house and a ride similar to It's a Small World!

No tour is complete without good food and this was no different. Our tour package included lunch at the 5-star hotel Sitara located on the grounds. All I can say about the food is ... YUM!

Potter mania hits Bangalore

Harry Potter is no less a sensation here in Bangalore than any other place in the world. The release of book 7 - Deathly Hallows was as heavily anticipated here as in any other major city around the globe. There was plenty of pre-release media buzz and Indian children were anxiously wondering the fate of the wizard boy - who would die and who would survive?

We had the book reserved at Landmark several days prior to the day of the launch. Saturday morning (D-Day) we set out to buy the book. Fortunately, there were no long lines and crazy crowds at the bookstore. There appeared to be an adequate number of copies for all. Aanish was determined to start reading the book at 7PM. I suggested that he wait until 8:17PM (77 minutes past 7PM). He started reading it the minute we landed at home with a plan to read about 100 pages/day. He finished it the following day!

The Hindu reported a sale of 20,000 copies in Bangalore on the first day! Clearly a global phenomenon.

Live Earth!

If you were at the Live Earth concert last week (7/7/7), we were there with you! We watched quite a bit of the 24 hour marathon concert held in over a hundred countries to focus attention on the climate crisis. One of the major highlights for me personally was to see a holographic image of Al Gore opening the event in Tokyo. Cool! It was fun to see the coming together of Genesis and Police, see Bon Jovi in New York and Shakira in Germany.

While we feel pretty good about our contribution to help solve this problem (significantly less trash, reduced power consumption, high degree of recycling etc.), we came up with an action plan to do even more. Aanish has the responsibility of turning off appliances that are not in use while Ayaana has promised to take shorter showers. I took an oath to reduce the usage of air conditioning in the office and Mona is already doing more than her fair share of this.

If you have not had the chance to see any part of this event, check it out online (YouTube, MSN etc.) and help save the planet!

Partying - Indian Isshtyle!!

The Mantri Sarover (building where we stay at) home owner association planned a big bash last weekend to celebrate the onset of the monsoon season and to welcome new residents who have moved in over the past few months. They promised an evening of fun, games, music and good food. We decided to give it a try and am glad we did!

The party was organized on the tennis court. There were probably over a 100 people (40 of them young children under the age of 10). While the kids were busy playing Treasure Hunt and Bomb the City, the adults were enjoying beer and appetizers (hot potato tikkis, chilli paneer ... yummm!). It was funny watching Aanish join the fun and play these games with 5-year olds! But heck, you can never stop being a child. Actually, he was not very keen on coming but his opinion changed when he won Rs. 500/- in a game of Tombola (also known as Housie or Bingo in other parts of the world). Ayaana enjoyed herself thoroughly and stayed back late even after we had gone back home.

The company was good. We met a lot of new and interesting people. Food was delicious. Music was a bit loud but you can't listen to Bollywood any other way.

Great party and we are looking forward to the next one.

A new Dawn of the Brain Gain era

In the 80's and early 90's, India was suffering from a massive Brain Drain. Talented and highly educated university students and professionals were moving to the US, UK and Middle East in hordes to create a better future for themselves. The India Boom has reversed this trend and the country is now experiencing a Brain Gain as many of these professionals are moving back in equally large numbers. These folks are bringing back world class expertise, overseas professional experience and higher education from reputed universities and helping to accelerate the growth of India Inc.

I recently met with Asif Noorani, who is a reputable journalist with a Pakistani newspaper, Dawn. He was fascinated with this phenomenon of returning expatriates and has written a piece in the newspaper. I get a mention in his piece as well! You can read all about it here.

Monsoon Landing

From the hot and dry climate of Los Angeles (90 degrees+) to torrential rains of Mumbai!

I have never been in Bombay during the monsoons so it was quite an experience for me. Mona sent me an SMS while I was at the Kualalumpur airport indicating that the Bombay airport may shut down because of the monsoons. All passengers had their fingers crossed as the flight to Bombay took off from KL. Fortunately for all, there was a brief respite from the rain when the plane arrived in Bombay.

Over the next couple of days, the rain was non-stop and the downpour brought over 10cm of rain just on Saturday. City services were crippled and streets were deserted. Over 40 people have died as a result of this year's monsoons. But spirits are still high and Mumbaikars are getting on with life despite the rains. Bombay has seen worse in past years! The drainage system is going through an upgrade to deal with the heavy monsoons but the project is not scheduled to be completed until 2011.

Bad 'Air Day

So I am in Binghamton, New York on Monday and have a flight scheduled to Boston on Tuesday morning at 7:30am, scheduled to arrive in Boston around 11:00am.

05:45am - Wake up grumbling
06:30am - Scramble out of the hotel and leave for the airport
06:50am - At the airport and checked in (Good!)
07:30am - Flight leaves on time (Great!)
(BTW, Binghamton airport is a charming little airport.
On this day, there were a total of 5 flights departing this
airport between 7am and 3pm.)
09:00am - Land in Philadelphia on time (Good luck continues ....)

This is where the horror begins. A couple of half-hour delays in the departure are announced after which the flight is cancelled. Some weather related problem somewhere in the country has messed up US Airways and all flight schedules have gone awry.

We manage to get ourselves on a 12:30pm flight which in turn is delayed by a few minutes (no big deal!). We board a tiny plane and quickly settle in our cramped spaces only to discover that the plane has been overfueled and will have to be defueled! There is also some paper-work induced delay. 30 minutes later, we are finally ready for take off.

We arrive in Boston around 3:30pm minus Todd's checked in luggage. Another hour later we leave the airport without his bag. Finally arrive at the hotel at 5pm - almost a 12-hour adventure!!

America's Favorite Pastime

Good to be back in Los Angeles once again! One of the highlights of this trip is attending a baseball game with family. Inspite of spending twenty years in the US, America's Favorite Pastime has somehow never managed to become mine. I have not been able to get into this sport. Not sure if it is out of loyalty to Cricket or what.

But I must admit that I had a lot of fun when all of us went to the Angel Stadium to see the Angels play Pittsburgh. Richard and Kanan invited us to the suite (which is really the only way to attend a sporting event in the US). Got a chance to catch up with family and friends which is always a treat. Anupam uncle gave me a quick tutorial about baseball which made the game even more enjoyable. Of course the usual frills of attending a baseball game (hot dogs, pizza, popcorn, cotton candy, nachos, beer etc.) were all there.

Best of all, Angels won 10-1!!

Airline Efficiency?

I have been doing a fair share of flying while in India and have been very impressed at the ability of all airlines to minimize ground time. Planes land, passengers de-plane, new passengers board and the aircraft is back in the sky in less than half hour. But before you start giving a lot of credit to the process efficiencies, 6-sigma and ISO-9000 programs within the airline companies, I believe that most of the credit needs to go to the passengers.

As I have mentioned in a couple of my postings before, Indians do not like to wait. Earlier this week, I was observing passenger behavior sitting at the Hyderabad airport. Even before the plane has landed, passengers are already crowded close to the gate. As soon as their plane lands, more passengers huddle around. As soon as the first boarding announcement is made, ever passenger is up, in line and pushing ahead to board.

Of course, getting off the plane is no different. You can sense the urgency among fellow travellers to tear off their seat belts and lunge for their hand luggage the moment the aircraft touches down. Despite pleas by the air hostesses, folks are up and getting ready to de-plane before the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign has been turned off.

So - much credit to the passengers for the increase in airline efficiency (and profitability!)

Chief Destruction Officer!

I have never heard this one before but according to a quote attributed to Tom Peters in The Hindu, he refers to CEOs as CDOs - Chief Destruction Officer! Highly compensated guys who work tirelessly to blow up their own companies before their competition does.

In an uncanny replay of a similar scenario that is being hotly debated in the US, CEO compensation is the topic of discussion these days in India Inc. According to today's editorial in The Hindu, Indian CEOs are much better off than their counterparts throughout the world when their compensation is taken as a percentage of their company's profit. If the salary difference between a CEO and the company's lowest paid employee (x1000) is a cause for angst for many in the US, consider that the difference is between 15,000 to 20,000 in India.

Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, urged companies to take a hard look at this issue and of course prompty came under fire because his suggestion was considered as anti-reform!

No guns, knives, bombs etc.

I am not kidding about this. I noticed this as I was waiting in the line for Security Check at the Chennai airport last night. Large flat panel monitors above the x-ray machines listed items that were unacceptable in your carry-on baggage. Here is a sampler:

• Brass Knuckles
• Crowbars
• Knives
• Golf Clubs
• Dynamite - other types of explosives are probably ok
  
• Razors - pretty normal .... but read on
  
• Gels including shaving creams - pretty normal ... but read on
  
• Books (1 or 2) - more than that could be construed as a weapon!
  

Items that are permitted:

• Shaving kit (without a razor and a shaving cream?)
  

You got my attention!

One thing you realize quickly when you are in India - there are a lot of billboards around here. And they are HUGE!!! If you are in a major city (and a not so major one), you can't help but notice the large number of billboards everywhere. And some of them are as tall as a building. Besides size, they use attractive models, catchy phrases, colors etc. to attract your attention - each one attempting to stand out in the crowd.

I was trying to figure out the popular categories and here are the results of my unscientific study. One major cluster is related to housing and furnishings. With a massive demand for housing and an explosion in the real estate market, it is hardly suprising to see billboards advertising a piece of heaven on earth (and some divine furniture to go with it). Then you have the clothing and the jewelry category advertising must-have outfits for discerning men and women. Of course, you have the usual others - automobiles, cell phones and banks. But by far the biggest category is Movies. The movie billboards are the biggest, the most colorful and unique in style and design. I guess this is a reflection on the huge popularity of the Bollywood, Tollywood and Lollywood industries in India. Larger than life images of Tough heros, Mean villians and Gorgeous heroines provide some distraction and relief during your daily commute!

Into the Green Paradise

We are back in the Southern State of Kerala - God's Own Country. This time we are in Wayanad, on vacation with our extended family. Four families, eight adults, six kids, one van and one SUV in a beautiful plantation resort for the weekend!

We spent the weekend at Tranquil Resort - a private coffee and vanilla plantation spread across 400 acres. Our hosts, Victor and Ranjini have created paradise in this corner of Kerala. Lodging include guest cottages, suites, tree house and even a tree villa! The interiors have been conceived and designed by the hosts themselves, who also live on the property with their daughter, son-in-law and two grand children ... and yes, a half dozen absolutely wonderful dogs. The hospitality and the service is out of this world. The resort has five chefs who turn out one excellent meal after the other.

There are nearly a dozen trails on the property, a comfortable pool, massage facility and games for the kids. You never have to leave this place to seek fun and adventure.

Harvesting Water

In a world where water is starting to become a precious resource, you can imagine the water crisis in a country like India where the population crossed the 1B mark a couple of years ago and industrial growth is accelerating. The establishment of large campuses by global multi-national firms and the explosive growth in massive residential complexes to house the growing affluent and the returning NRIs have increased demands on scarce water resources. In an earlier posting, I had written about the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu regarding the distribution of the Cauvery river. This sort of issue is not limited to this part of the country but is seen all over.

While travelling through Kerala a few weeks ago, I learnt about the phenomenon of Water Harvesting - which gave me a lot of hope. Kerala appears to have a highly developed system and infrastructure for harvesting rain water. The system involves capturing rain water from rooftops, capturing water from seasonal flood waters etc., purifying it and using it for a variety of purposes such as drinking water, irrigation, cleaning etc.

This technique has been extended to "Grey" and "Black" water harvesting. Grey water refers to used wash water from bath, shower, sink etc., while Black water refers to water containing fecal waste. To my amazement, techniques have been developed and perfected to harvest both Grey and Black water as well so that it can be recycled for a variety of functions.

It is heartening to see the efforts, foresight and leadership being made in this area to help in water conservation and recycling efforts!

Emperor of Fruits

If the mango is the king of fruits, the Alphonso (also known as Hafuz) is the emperor.

It is great to be in India during the heart of the mango season. Our visits in the last couple of decades have been usually during the winter so we have always missed the peak season (April/June). But now that we are here, we are thoroughly enjoying eating mangoes. The Alphonso is considered to be the best mango in terms of sweetness and flavors. It even has it's own page on Wikipedia, if you care to read more about this exquisite fruit.

We are pretty much in the peak season now and you can get the sweetest and tastiest Alphonsos at this time of the year. They run about Rs. 400/dozen - so you are paying around $1/mango. But when you sink your teeth into this juicy, sweet and succulent fruit, it seems like a price well worth it.

Just found out that the restrictions from the US agricultural department have been lifted on the Indian mango and starting in 2007, Indian mangoes can be shipped to the US. Keep an eye out for these delectable fruits at your local supermarket. You will never understand the joy of eating one of these until you actually try one!!