Mumbai's worries

Basab wrote a good post on Mumbai's problems and Navi Mumbai's attempt to solve them. I had no idea about the Navi Mumbai story. I now have an excuse to go to Navi Mumbai.

Back to Mumbai's worries--as much as Mumbai has problems, those very problems make it a land of opportunity. Traffic (or commuting) is a big problem. People with disposable incomes commute by hanging to rusty trains. People can pay. They want a solution. Those who can find it will create value and make money. Ditto with affordable housing. And so with other problems.

Renew Mumbai? Is it practical? Satellite city option is like setting up a special court to deal with a problem. It shows lack of confidence in the system. Time can tell us if it helps solve the problem. Navi Mumbai could, at best, postpone Mumbai's problems. It faces the 'old-truck' problem that a friend told me about. Current owners do not recycle their trucks. They sell it. Old-trucks continue to ply. Problems move - either physically or in time.

What's he doing? What's he thinking?

Samrakshan, Chennai. October 2, 2005.

Renewal

Kothagudem. Feb 28, 2006

The Bird

Lokhandwala, Mumbai. Jan 21, 2006.

Who is monkeying around?

Vijay does his best to mimic origins of mankind. Tonakel Camp, Chennai. Oct 8 2005.

Agni

Tonakel Camp, Chennai Oct 8, 2005.

No Objection for a No Objection

Rs.10 K net. That's decent money, even if you calculate in $. I decided to drag my feet to the RTO's office and discovered some startling facts.

I was planning to move to Mumbai. Trouble began. The most trying of the questions I faced was: Should I sell my bike and buy another one in Mumbai?

“Yeah, that is better. I can sell away troubles with the notorious RTO. And I will get an all new bike. Sounds like a good idea.”

I calculated the costs. It costs Rs.10 K net (cash for a new bike – cash received on sale). That is big. And what I learnt was a bonus.

The Ayanavaram RTO is nearby. It took just ten minutes. When I got there, an impersonal-old-white-washed edifice sang “you don't belong here.” I looked around to figure out what I to do to get an “NOC” (No Objection Certificate). No instructions that could ease the pain of an amatuer govermnet-office-goer. And fewer in English or Hindi. Frustrating.

“Dude! If you can't be friendly, you have to face it too” and I went straight ahead to wake-up the first RTO-employee-like homosapien I could find and ask “How do I get an NOC?” After a few “this way”s and “that way”s later, I find a gentleman who told me that the forms I should use are sold outside “near the koil.” There comes the first one. The first thing that you need in a government office is sold outside the office. And what I found seemed like an idea for a good B-plan.

I come outside and saw a thriving “RTO forms” industry. That chap has RTO forms, a public telephone and a kirana shop all in one. Revenue productivity (RP – whether you count in $/head or $/sq foot) will rival with that in Outsourcing industry. Not only is the margin comparable (a rough calculation shows he earns more than 35% gross margin), but he seems to understand his customers better. I get adhesive and a stapler free (on a use-and-return basis only) if I buy forms from him. He also gives you free advice. “What is the form for that?” or “Is this the right way to fill this?” No problem. He has all the answers. I later found the adhesive and stapler were loss leaders. The shopkeeper was an agent too. He first gives the adhesive and the stapler. He then offers to work for you. A good back loaded revenue model! RP estimates hit the roof.

After a marathon form filling exercise, I go and stand in a line. After 20 minutes, I reach the counter and the guy inside a jail like structure asked me to meet an inspector to get his 'initial'.

I ask him politely “Why the hell am I not told earlier?”
He knows the trick “I don't know. Go talk to him. Next..”

I 'go talk to him' and now comes the shock. If you want to get an NOC from RTO, you have to go the police station in Arumbakkam (that is 20 minutes away) and get an NOC from them. Gawd! Give me patience. It seemed like the circular reference error in Excel.

I did go the next day to the police station and got an NOC two days later. Now that I saw some progress, this is what I think of getting stuff done in a government office.

1. Along with all the documents, you need to carry patience to a government office.

2. All activity takes time. Not the night marish – months or years – but days. And they usually deliver in the promised time.

3. You don't have to grease any one. At least if all your documents are in place and your case is genuine. But the normal grease of a friendly smile will go a long way to ease the process. If you can't get stuff done, talk to higher authorities and ask for help. They are willing to help and explain.

4. Government works!

Heavenly Canvas

From atop a boat - Backwaters near Alleppey, Kerala. April 2005.

Who Am I?

At the entrance to the library, Vivekananda Puram, Kanya Kumari. April 2005.

Gandhiji's Statue, Sabarmati Ashram

Sabarmati Ashram. Ahmedabad. October 2004.

Festive Sun Set

Injambakkam. Chennai. Sept 18 2005. Behind me was Bay of Bengal.

Cool Greeting Card

I made this simple card for my friend and (obviously) I loved it! September 04, Hyderabad.

Of writing skills, personality and actors

“Style is tied to the psyche, and writing has deep psychological roots. The reasons we express ourselves as we do, or fail to express ourselves because of “writer's block,” are partly buried in the subconscious mind.” - William Zinsser in On Writing Well

Scary words. The author tells us that you can't express beyond yourself. What you are imposes serious limitations on what you can write. (Unlike filmi heroines who can express themselves so well without a clue of the language a movie is made. Telugu movie industry (rather audience?) are hardest hit.)

Is this true? I don't want to believe this. I am more inclined to believe that those who have good writing skills are merely better trained. (Like Kamal Hassan may not know telugu well. But he knows acting!)

And it seems more like a cap and not writing skills are a sort of “linear function” of your personality. Is the converse (who are able to express themselves have good personalities) true? (This should mean Divya Bharati has great personality!)

Work-life balance

What you want

What you get

Special Thanks to "Golden Florist", Kilpauk.

Top: Sept 4, 2005, Kilpauk. Bottom: April 10-15, 2005, near Rama's temple, Bhadrachalam.

Going Beyond Cost Cutting To Value Creation In Offshoring

Going Beyond Cost Cutting To Value Creation In Offshoring
Offshoring is here to stay, and as most analysts point out, the ‘Gold Rush’ is just getting started.

The actual articles does little justice to the heading and the preview line. Stay tuned for more action on the value creation and capturing front.

Happy Vinayaka Chavithi!

Picture - Sept 07, 2005. Vinayaka's antique idol collected at Jew Town, Cochin. April, 2005.

Good Monument, Bad Photography

I was split whether to post this one. This is Kutub Minar. It's a
fine piece of art. No doubt. But this picture is a bad example of
photography. Kutub Minar, Sept 2004.

A Brain Wave on How to Look for Your Soul Mate

Lazy Sunday afternoon. The make do blanket curtain on my window flaps vigorously as the breeze battles to enter. I pin the curtain with my head as I lean on the wall below the window on my Kurl-on mattress. The flapping has gone down but the auto noise outside my room spoils the perfect mood brought forth by “o sathi re” emanating from my laptop. The breeze is now restive to get inside and throws it weight on my curtain. But I won't let it go.

I desperately want to nail down the melogy humming in my mind all afternoon. I can't remember the pestering song. The lone clue was that Kishore Kumar sang it. Raaga.com has 23 screenfulls of Kishore Kumar songs. The hums multiplied as I prodded through the list that had “C A T cat mane billi” and the like a myriad times. The song is still elusive. Despite annoying “X O O M xoom daat caam” league ads, Raaga.com is still the best site for Hindi, Telugu and Tamil melodies.

(Caution: paragraphs below are male centric)

For once, I thought matrimonial websites changed the marriage broking business like Raaga.com did to listening to melodies. No way. Four to five of my-age friends were frustrated when I asked them their own tryst with bride hunt. A friend wondered “I have been looking out from long. Where have all those girls gone?” My question is, are you doing the search right? Particularly if you are looking for a well educated girl, which is a rare breed in India.

It takes two to tango even in the pseudo arranged marriages of these days. If you think you hooked up to the latest fad in the matrimony business and the search has to be easy because the Net has changed it all, wake up! The crowd that invades the Net does not mirror that in the brick and mortar world. Y! chat rooms and the blogs tell you the story. Most of the net inhabitats (in southern India at least) are twenty something males. Not the 'decision-maker'-parent of a bride-to-be. Many girls' “profiles” on the matrimonial websites are written promptly by girls themselves disguised as their parents or relatives. The decision-makers, for all practial purposes, are among the most computer and internet illeterate groups. If you put up your profile on the yet another matrimonial website and are awaiting a response, good luck.

Market place mismatch (I just put a tag on what I described above) sure has it role to play making matrimonial sites ineffective but the importance of the decision itself forces the parents to look for reliable sources of good grooms. They seek advice from their friends, go to marriage bureaus, and advertise in specific newspapers (in Andhra, it's Eenadu and in TN – The Hindu).

So the strategy for a successful search is not very different from what they teach you in marketing classes in b-schools. Look for the decision maker. Go do a song and dance in places where the decision maker goes when he/she is looking for your “product” so you can grab their attention and move your agenda forward.

If you choose to advertise in a newspaper, do it right. I gave an ad in a newspaper giving just my email id. It evoked luke warm response if not a dismal one. I readvertised after a couple of weeks with my telephone number and my cell phone was flooded with numerous calls. In majority of the cases, girl's parents don't use the internet or email. Period.

Well the third reason why internet does not work is that internet sites fail to capture the information that either the parents would like to give or the information that groom's parents look out for. [Without getting into ethics of it,] Wealth related information and dowry seem to figure among the first calls between the parties [unfortunate, but true]. Websites do not “capture” this information and hence provide partial information for “decision-making” (whether to contact the other party).

If you are doing the search yourself or if you are away in a foreign country, you are likely to rely excessively on the matrimonial sites. I hope the gyan given above will give you the wherewithall to get back into the game. Good luck.

Open Up. The World Is Waiting.

Shore Temple Park, Mahabalipuram. Aug 28, 2005.

Life is Not a Movie

No. You can't  ride a bike on a beach like they do in a movie.