Disappointments have a special way of showing up just when
you don't need them most. That is the first thought to cross my mind as I
watched the train leave the platform. We were supposed to be on that train; however,
we could only watch it with dismay from across the tracks. It was a holiday
that we had been looking forward to for a very long time; I kept thinking as we
dragged our bags back home. If only we had left five minutes earlier, if only
there wasn't that much traffic on the road, if only the cabbie had taken a
different road; if only...this hadn't happened to me.
Even if this had to happen, I wish it wouldn't have happened
today. No!! how could we have missed THIS trip!! The mind wouldn't stop calling
this unfair and curse life for being unjust at times. 'At times?!?!'...a second
thought smirked its way in. 'Are you not
lucky that life is unjust to you only at times. Don't you feel lucky to have so
many things come so easily to you?' An image hurried across my mind.
Every time I passed through the market to pick to the
missus, I saw this couple sit near a turning. Weary faced, probably in their
80s, this couple sat by the road selling petty things like combs & draw
strings; things that don't cost more than 5-10 bucks and things that you would buy
only occasionally. How much would they be making daily? 50-60 bucks? or 100 at
best? I wonder how fair life would feel if at 80 you are to sit on the road
daily to earn 100 bucks in an expensive city like Mumbai.
Circa - Summer of 2006. We were on our way back from Inox Adlabs, Wadala after disappointedly watching The Da Vinci Code. A little ahead of the theatre, towards the highway, we crossed what was going to be my first work place after my MBA. That got us to discussing the vagaries of my travel to Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) Ltd, which was oddly located on the Eastern Express highway, a little before Chembur. Mayuri (fondly referred to as MJ), in her usual candid manner, poped out with a suggestion: “Teja, why don’t u consider buying an autorickshaw and leasing it? That way you can travel to and fro work for free, and also earn rentals!!” Laughter burst immediately, but little did any one think of the economics of MJ’s idea.
Back to 2011 – around the first rains of the season. There exists an unusual relation between rains, potholes and autorickshaws in Mumbai. Inadvertently, with each passing rain, the number of potholes in Mumbai increases at an exponential rate, no matter how often they are repaired. Similarly, one wild shower can cause most autorickshaws to breakdown, irrespective of its age. Surprisingly, no manufacturer has paid any attention to this crucial detail – maybe in next meeting I’ll point this out to them.
In case you are wondering if I have changed my mind about the blog title from ‘economics of…’ to ‘distress of…’ - not just yet; hang on. The reason I ramble about these issues that, had it been for them, then I would not have yet completely understood the economics of autorickshaws. So, getting back to the story, somewhere around the ascent of this year’s monsoon, I was stranded on my way home in a broken-down autorickshaw. Out of curiosity (an-analytical-mind, afterall!!), I initiated a conversation with the driver as to why these autorickshaws break down. As the downpour gained momentum, our conversation drifted from the problems to the finances, and revelations happened.
Being an analyst, I simply couldn’t resist the temptation of running the numbers on an excel sheet and calculating the IRR (Read more on IRR here). While my first calculations stunned me, I later realised my folly. Nevertheless, I thought this would be an interesting post, and hence here it is. Lets first start with the assumptions:
The second part of our vacation was a trip to the Gir National Park / Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat. This was a rather unplanned trip as we had no idea as to how we were going to get to the Gir National Park from Palitana. The only thing planned for the trip was our place of stay – Hotel Anil Farm House. With some asking around, we figured that there was no direct way to get to our second destination. Thus began our half day long road trip, starting at 5 in the morning with a cab from Palitana to Songadh, a 6 hour long bus ride from Songadh to Junagadh, and finally 3 hour (for a distance of 50 kms) auto ride from Junagadh to Sasan - the village around the Gir National Park. (click here to see the journey on a map). Normally, its much simpler to get to Gir from Mumbai – you either take an overnight train to Junagadh and then a bus (recommended over an auto-rickshaw) to Sasan or an early morning flight to Rajkot and then a cab/bus to Sasan.
Sasan, also known as Sasan-Gir, is the village near the Gir National Park and is located along the banks of the river Hiran. Most of the hotels in Gir are located in this village, and are thus along the bank of the river. While options are abundant from the Department of Forest’s Sinh Sadan to the Taj (which had been shut, but was to be restarted), there were two properties that we liked in particular and recommend to the budget traveller: (a) Hotel Anil Farm House and (b) Sinh Sadan. The latter is a property owned by the department of forest built in colonial British architecture, and is probably one of the cheapest properties around. Another reason why we like it so much is that no matter where you stay, you’ll have to come back Sinh Sadan for all your permits to enter the sanctuary, so then you might as well stay here – considering that you’d typically be entering the sanctuary at 6 in the morning.
Mumbai alone must have atleast ten recognised business schools, and each of these schools must be mentoring atleast a 120 student on an average, which means that each year Mumbai alone adds around 1200 MBAs to the country's job market. A similar number would be the number of engineers and doctors passing out each year. Add to this the CAs, lawyers, architects, and artists and you have around 5000-7000 students with a technical degree (other than a BCom/BSc/BA) passing out of various colleges and institutes in Mumbai. And what do all these people have in common? Well most, if not all, would have a dream to do something BIG in life! After-all, we've all been taught to dream and think big since childhood, haven't we? Strangely enough, no one ever bothered asking "how big is big enough?"
Lonavala has long been a favorite monsoon getaway for most weekenders in Mumbai and Pune. Situated amongst the picturesque western ghats, over 600 meters above sea level, this hill station is known for its waterfalls, dams, a candy-like sweet called "chikki" and a private city called Amby Valley.
While I have always preferred a weekend getaway to quieter, less populated places, Lonavala has been an exception. Its not the love for chikki or the huge dam (infact I have not seen the dam in the ten years of my holidaying in Lonavala) that take me back to this crowded hill station; rather its a small village a little before the amby valley called Jambulne. A little known place, difficult to traverse to without your own vehicle, it is home to a 25 acre forest land owned by the friend of a close friend's father. The first time I visited this place - I probably was a ninenth grader and knew little about trekking and camping in forests - I was spellbound with the beauty and serenity of the then huge forest land.
From then to about a few years back, I have been to the place (better known amongst us friends as the 'Farm') atleast once every year. Having born in a month that experiences peak monsoon, I have been lucky enough to celebrate many a birthdays in this heavenly abode just the way I like it - aloof. Three small tin sheds - a kitchen, a bedroom, and a toilet - was the only human construction initially, covering over a couple of hundred sq feet of more than one million sq feet of land available. The simplicity and closeness to nature - no electricity, no gadgets just some solar powered lights - was the main attraction of the place. It made the tedious travel to the place a looked after event each year. We would pack our bags with ready-to-eat food before taking an early morning bus from Mumbai to Lonavala. Upon reaching Lonavala, the first task would be to head to the market and shop for food, water and beverages before queuing up for a 17km ride in the local trax on a share-a-seat basis. The jeeps (or sometimes trucks carrying rocks for construction) would drop us at a junction from where we would walk up 4kms to reach the farm.
An unusual song from an ususual take on an age hold hero - yes I am talking about the song Tauba Tera Jalwa from the movie Dev D - has been topping the charts recently. A song sung and played a brass band - the ones that usually play during weddings - is an interesting concept, but has got little attention compared to its novelty. All attention, and deserving so, has been focused on A. R. Rahman winning the Oscars. But just like the brass band, Rahman has had too little attention in the past. The musician is a true genius - probably the best the industry has - and has been making the nation proud for quite some time. From the usual bollywood tunes, to the patriotic vande matatram and Jaana Gaana Maana, to the musical Bombay Dreams, to chinese movie scores to the Lord of the Rings - he's played'em all.
So whats common between A. R. Rahman and the brass band? Why would one want to talk about a little know brass band and A . R. Rahman?
Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has been in the news recently - for reasons quite appalling. The city has a habit of creating headlines and its people have acquainted themselves to move on despite all the negative news. From riots to bomb blasts to floods to gun and grenade attacks, the city has seen it all. Being born and brought up in such a city gives you the courage to face the worst of terrors and still continue living like nothing is wrong.
I have lived through the riots, swan across in the floods, experienced the bomb blasts and witnessed the gun attacks; but such incidents have neither deterred my love for the city nor the respect for its citizenry. But a recent incident has rocked my belief in the sanity of the city's populace.
Bidding good-bye has never been an easy task. Especially when you have been associated with someone for over two years and it happens to be your first association. Over a week back, I was preparing myself for one such bid, and trust me I had never seen myself as nervous as then. When the final moment arrived, I was only a little better than speechless. Stumbling and stammering, I was hunting for words as if I was speaking some foreign language. And to make matters worse, the opposite having realised my plight and understood my motive was grinning mischievously. Phew!! I had never thought resigning from the job is such mountainous a task.
And why wouldn’t it be? A place that gave you your first shot at building your career, a place that trusted you when you were absolutely raw, fresh out of college, a place that gave you the much sought after ‘financial freedom’ would definitely be close to your heart. I have known a lot of people who have been able to absolutely detach themselves from their workplace, but that’s not the case with me. Agreed, I have never been the die-hard workaholic types nor have I ever sacrificed my holidays for that extra bit of work, I still hold my place of work in high regards. This is the place where I met some genuinely wonderful people in the form of bosses and colleagues, where I have learnt the art of analyzing businesses and where I had the opportunity to travel the length and breadth of the country.
Just like a coin has two sides, the going here has not always been as smooth as it may sound in my words. There have been tough times, there have been disappointments and there was also a lot of frustration. But, standing here today and looking back, there are enough fond memories to more than make up for the not so good experiences. As for the present, while I surely anticipate the new responsibilities at a new place, I surely feel bad for having decided to move on.
Curiosity is no strange an attribute to humans. The curiosity over an apple led to the discovery of gravity and sex!! Difficult to say which ones greater than the other but definitely more people are thankful for the latter than the former (had Adam not eaten the apple we wouldn't have been in existence!!). Anyways, allow me to trace the reason for this post. A week back, someone having stumbled upon my blog called me an avid blogger - which made me think whether I really am one? Looking at the number of posts I write in a month I wouldn't call myself a blogger, forget being avid. So i thought maybe its not about how much I write but about how many people read what I write. Well, that number wasn't really encouraging either (check the counter on the bottom of the right panel). So then I started blog-browsing and realised that the most read or most updated blogs are the ones where people write about their daily lives and experiences. Penning thoughts and experiences has been a practice of humans since time immemorial - a practice that created history, literally!!. But personal details have not been public except in autobiographies or until the recent internet era. For the kids born in the era of google, facebook and myspace making a public diary and peeping into other's such diaries is a common habit. As for me, blogging was always about penning thoughts, and just thoughts. I don't really appreciate someone peeping into my personal life so easily. Maybe that's why my earlier blog was not easily traceable (although I didn't write anything personal directly!!). As for those wirting public diaries, I doubt the completeness or honesty of such posts (no offence meant). I wonder how much would their conscious allow them to write all that they felt to the public at large. Wouldnt their conscious act as an editor or a censor board and cut down on details? I am not blaming them of dishonestly but then we all have secrets to hide, right? Some blogs that i read did mention a lot of those secrets, but then the author's identity was not revealed there. So what fun would one derive in reading half-truths (i wanted to write half-facts, but I am not sure if that is an accpetable phrase)? There is no clear answer to this question just as there is no right or wrong in penning a public diary. Its a matter of belief and mine doesn't allow me to pen diaries for the public (not like I pen one for myself). But one thing is for sure, by no means am I an avid blogger!! :)
I am no cynic, but sometimes I like to behave like one!!
India has moved from being a long time under-developed country to a developing one. The journey now advances towards the more sought after status of a developed country. Dreams are big - and so they should be. But the biggest of the dreams are fruitful only if they are backed by a determined action plan. Economically speaking, higher spend on infrastructure, higher conversion of savings into investments, promoting education, creating opportunities and an open economy are the actions that will convert India’s dream of development into a reality.
Unfortunately, a major deterring force called politics stands between India’s dreams and reality. There is no denial that the both, the present and the past governments, have given a fillip to the infrastructure development of the country. However, there are various issues that stand as hindrances when it comes to infrastructure development. Those familiar with the news would know that land acquisition is one of the major hurdles that come in the way of development. Various projects approved by the center are stuck because of opposition from locals (who are ofcourse backed by their MPs/MLAs) either on environmental grounds or for higher compensation. Corruption and bribery further deter the quality of the work and whatever development takes place is for a short period. The bureaucrats, just before and election, will polish the roads and prvide water supply, and once the elections are done water can only be seen in the potholes on the road. Take any major highway/road/lane in Mumbai and you can bet your life that there will be more potholes on any given stretch than its length. Someone put it very aptly by saying “yeh mumbai hain…yahan pe kabhi sadak pe gadde milte hain..to kabhi gadde mein sadak”. The financial capital of our country, the Shanghai of India, has some of the worst roads than any of its metros.
Its not just bad roads that the country has to mend, there is another problem of similar scale about which very little could be done. The problem is that of the turmoil in the global financial markets. One news channel says, when the US sneezes, India falls sick. Very True. Just when Indians started leaving behind the memories of the dot-com busts and the various stock market scams, and we saw a higher conversion of savings into investments, the stock markets the world over have crashed. To make things worse, the real estate markets have also crashed in tandem, thus leaving very little scope for investment for the Indian Households. Add to that the various IPO scams and the sentiments are pushed further into the negative territories.
It is said that the Indian investors are not a very educated lot and driven more by sentiments than by logic. True, but not surprising. On the one hand, vote-seekers propagate the need for free education; on the other hand, the cost of education is rising leaps and bounds. Education, today, stands to be one of the very attractive investment avenues; and its takes no rocket-science in relating the attractiveness of a sector for investments to its profitability. Thus the sector has shed its social image and donned a corporate look. So what so the policy-makers do to overcome the problem of low-education? Well, they reserve seats for the SCs/STs up to higher education and push for such reservation in the corporate sector as well. All in the name of giving opportunities to the socially backward classes. Now, is a socially backward student wanted to study and had the ability to do well, he could have done so in his earlier years of education when he had the same reservations. If, inspite of backing his form school to college, he had failed to be competitive, why would you want to push him further into higher education and work-place. Anyways providing employment to educated youths is a problem and we add to it by pushing the non-performers just because they belong to some under-privileged caste. It is evident that all this is done merely for votes and there are no benevolent intentions here.
Most of the solutions to all problems have been short-term – all for the purpose of garnering votes and winning elections. Bureaucracy, corruption and a laid-back attitude have held the economy from growing as well as opening up. Inferior quality of work, delays and regulatory confusion have only added to the problems of the country. Most long term issues have been handled with a short term solution. We have managed to save our today, but at the cost of our tomorrow.
The problem, however, is not just that of an inefficient system, it is also that of an ignorant population.
Humans are one of most social animals on this planet. Whatever we do, wherever we go, we seek company. The innate desire to have someone witness each moment of our life - be it happiness, sorrow, triumph or failure - leads us to coexistence. Right from preschool to the hospital bed, we never fail to identify with like-minds and create that 'special' bond. Sadly, not all that is 'special' lasts long.
School friends...by the time you graduate, half of them are lost. Some because you cant connect to them, and some coz they are growing their mustache in some other nation. People you meet while you are finishing college (graduation/post-graduation), hmm , well you hang on to them for a while. But then, theres work that keeps you occupied and ofcourse there soon is a family to build and look after. So best friends soon become people whom you party with on birthdays and anniversaries, or have a drink with each time you have fought with your spouse. With time, most of them are also lost in transit, only a few remain (with whose spouse your spouse can manage to have a conversation). And ofcourse, there are some we find at work. But then, either you or they change their jobs..and shoowsh..the names are tucked away slowly into memory. Really sad, we spend so much time building relationships that we would care so little about in the future. Wouldnt it be better to have a few and hold on to them for a lifetime....or is it that you play safe by having many so that even if you lose some on the way, you dont find yourself walking alone??
Dunno whats the public opinion on this, but I surely would love to have a few good and long lasting relationships (friends i mean). And I wouldnt say I have been hundred percent successful with that formula of mine; there are a few that I wish would have stayed till date.....for them...this is something I found on the web..
The day that we first met,
in my mind I still see,
you sitting in the lunch room, looking for some company.
I alone myself, sat down with you that day,
neither of us knowing what the hell to say.
But we got through the awkward times, and quickly came to be,
the best of friends to eachother, we could ever be.
The closer we grew, the more we left, the other world behind,
just me and you we jumped into a new place totally blind.
We prayed together our friendship forever, and always would stay the same,
but time has passed, only memories last, and little friendship remains.
WE ONCE WERE ONE! I screamed at you, I want my best friend back!
But we both realized at once it was that bond we lacked.
You think it doesn't hurt me, to see us back to two, looking to my left and right to see there is no you.
But we both are moving on now, lets do it gracefully, I hope our friendship still lives on in you memory.
I always thought that news programs were meant to provide information about recent and important events. But reality seems to be far away from my understanding. With everyone wanting to broadcast a bouquet of channels, the number of news channels are, i believe, as many as the GECs (general entertainment channels). Its difficult to even spell out the names of all the news channels that exist today. Add to that the fact that all the news channels are 24 hours now.
No wonder than, that there is a lot of non-sense that is broadcasted on these channels. From Amitabh Bachchan feeling cold to Prince eating biscuit while being trapped in a pit to some UFO abducting a cow to NASA hiding an alien....you'll find it all on the national news channels. Well these are still events and maybe one could accept them as news. But for the numerous reality shows being telecasted on news channel - no comments. I mean what were they thinking?? I wouldnt be surpirsed if some time later we have snippets of the saas-bahu serials being part of news channels as well. Imagine a saree clad newsreader buried under tonnes of cosmetics reading out आजतुलसीनेमिहिरकोथप्पड़मारा....whoaa....
Maybe we should go back in time to the one hour news show on door-darshan. Atleast national news will remain national news that way.
Most Mumbaikars, particularly those traveling daily by road, would not be amused by the adjacent picture. Heavy traffic jams and break-down of vehicles at traffic signals are as much a part of Mumbai as is vada-pao. The time one spends traveling by road from one place to another has gone up significantly in the past few years. And the increase in travel time, instead of improving our patience quotient, has made us more impatient and irate, to say the least. The moment the traffic light turns green, the guy behind you starts honking - like he missed the pole position in a F1 race and now wants to rush ahead of everyone. Worst still, if - by chance - your car fails to start-up in a traffic jam, you have had it. The guys behind you will start a symphony of horns - just that this one is no music to anyone's ears. "Horn bajao...traffic hatao"..this seems to be their motto. Wonder how in the world will this honking help anyone in anyways. I mean common, the guys car's broken down. Nobody would like to stay in the middle of the road just like that. And all the honking does, if anything, is makes the poor driver sweat and increase noise pollution. Then some smart-ass dude from behind will stretch his vocal chords to advice you to move your vehicle - yes dude thats exactly what is not happening here, a@@hol#. Wouldn't it make more sense if instead of honking or screaming, the guys behind step out of their car and help you cart your vehicle to the side - solves the problem quickly and also keeps a check on the pollution!!
Maybe its time we graduate from "HORN OK PLEASE" to a sober "USE DIPPER" or even better "PLEASE WAIT FOR SIDE".
Inspiration is often linked to creativity; in-fact it is said to be one of the forces driving it. At times though, inspiration takes over creativity, leading to disappointment and disgust. I recently experienced such disappointment when i stumbled upon this forwarded email claiming that all the recent hit songs of a particular music director to be 'inspired' by songs from around the world. At first, there was disbelief, then disappointment and finally dislike. It is such a pity that someone has risen to fame on account of work that actually isnt his. Maybe this is not the first account of someone claiming fame on account someone else's work, but this definitely is the first time that evidence of such a shameful act is available publicly. Such acts makes one wonder if creativity is really in short supply; or is it that aspirations have gone so high that conscious is just a thing of the past? For long artists have known to be inspired by the work of someone, but such inspirations have been acknowledged. A blind reproduction of someone's work, without giving any credits to the original artist is nothing less than theft; and so a criminal offense. And since such work was done for nothing more than money/fame, such persons should be made to part away from all the assets arising out of dishonest work. Furthermore, lyrics, tunes and rhythms should be patented across the world so that such heinous acts can be curbed.
Below are the links to the original compositions of some of our chart busters that i received:
The India story has been shining for the past few years, with the service industry driving the growth wagon. Its a wonderful journey the country has traversed - from being a primarily agriculture driven economy to one being driven by services. While internationally we may be one of the global service powerhouses, domestically, there is a huge scope for us to better our services. The public utilities, for example, are the most needy when it comes to realising the importance of service in today's economic environment. Recently, having shifted my residence, I requested the public telephone utility to transfer my phone along with the broadband connection. While it took them one month to transfer the phone number within the city (a process that should have taken 3-5 days), the broadband connection took two and a half months for activation. Of course it happened after rounds of phone calls and personal visits to various departments and offices, trying to understand the unique problem that each office defined as the reason for the delay. The matter doesn't end there; just two days after the activation of the broadband service I receive a bill from the department that does not specify the period of billing and has charges for broadband services amounting a cool Rs.11000/-.
So there begins another round of phone calls and visits to the offices trying to understand the nature of the charges and the services provided - when actually the line was lying dead. What was even more amusing was that while the metering department is at one station, the billing is at another station. So first u get clarifications from one office, then travel to another exchange and give them clarifications as well as request them for a fresh bill along with the rectifications. Again this doesn't happen as simply as it sounds; you have to traverse through various desks and floors before you are finally asked to pay the bill as it is and told that the amount will be adjusted against the succeeding bills.
While I was juggling through these exchanges and desks, a friend of mine was trying to book seats for his family to Pune in one of the Volvo bus services. Being a long weekend, there was a huge rush for such bookings and thus the bus seats were selling a 75-100% premium on the regular prices. After some bargaining and pleading, he finally managed to get the tickets, only to realise on the day of the travel that the bus is already full and his tickets are no good. The travel agent had sold the same tickets twice at different rates and the one who bargained lost his seats. And of course, nobody in the entire booking value chain owns up the mistake - everyone blames the other of having goofed up. So then, after a heated argument, all that the friend is offered is a honest refund of the amount he had paid in advance to book his seats. There go his weekend plans for a toss.
Maybe these small businesses are the next in queue to be enlightened about the term customerservice. Or maybe feedback should be imperative each time he has been served, such feedbacks be audited atleast once in a year and customer grievances be heard by some forum that has the authority to penalise the wrong doers . Further, various business regulators should set some service quality disclosure standards like the ICAI sets for financial reporting across the country, and the service audits should be made public. Maybe then our country will become a service powerhouse in the true sense.
Today marks the sixty first anniversary of the independence of a religiously as well as geographically diverse land called India. We Indians celebrate this day by buying flags from street children to be put up on the dashboards of our cars, watching patriotic movies and maybe eating dinner in some restaurant playing patriotic music. And the very next day, we are back - spitting on the roads, screaming on our cell-phones and begging in front of the rickshaw-wallahs, the babus in government offices and the like. A lot has changed in these sixty odd years of independence - the sarees have been replaced with mini skirts and low waist (or maybe hip) jeans, farm-lands have been replaced with industries and refineries, the authoritative brits have been replaced by the bureaucratic babus, rhythmic classical compositions have given way to new-age music inspired internationally or remixed locally, and above all the land of spices has been transformed to the land of cheap and skilled labor. Truly, India has made leaps of progress in these sixty odd years - specifically the last one and a half decade. However, what raises a doubt in my mind is whether the average Indian is truly Independent - in spirit and in practice?? It is still a nightmare to get work done from any public sector company, bribing is still the best way to move things at government offices and there is no accountability of any mistakes except for the common man not paying his taxes. Small businesses still struggle to get finance from banks, power and water are still a luxury for most, education is still an election agenda, privatisation is still a taboo and government can cap the price of any commodity whenever it wants. Maybe we need many more uprisings before we can really call ourselves "Independent".
