Chennai autorickshaw

I have been to Chennai before and have heard the stories - from other people who have visited the city and even from natives - of how Chennai autorickshaw drivers' "rape you" (to borrow from a local friend) while charging for auto fares.
I thought of having some fun - had to go from GuruNanak college to the Madras Gymkhana Club and didn't have any idea of the fare. I started stopping the autos and asked for the fares. "130", "40", the auto went away (it wasn't as outrageous, you would soon see). "140", "40", "140", "40" some bargaining but no use. (I knew I was quoting quite low)
Next one said 110, again 40, some bargaining till I said reached my limit of 75 and he didn't come below 100. I thought I should have taken this one. Next one "200", "75" (couldn't say 40, it was no use anyways and had enough 'fun'). He also went after some exchange of numbers.
(Now you see quoting 40 was not that outrageou. Subconsciously I was starting my part of the bargain at little below half the asking price, so had it been this guy to come first, I would have asked for 75 and not 40).
Next one asked for 140 and we settled at 100.
I took auto more than a couple of times durring my stay in tthe city and realised offering half the asking price was not a bad strategy after all.
But one thing good about autos in Chennai is that you can readily get an auto from anywhere to anywhere at any point of time verry unlike Delhi.

(other thing I noted while being there was that young boys and girls look fitter than what the fitness of the screen superstars would suggest.)

Wonly 10 rupees sir

Inflation rate has slowed down to 6.82%, only statistically it seems but things which are of basic need are sstill expensive; a cup of tea For sure.

I landed at the Chennai airport and had this man help me take my luggage to the pre paid taxi (as far as that luggage is concerned, it was just an office bag with some clothes inside). " Thank you", I said, thinking since it was his taxi, it was ok for him to carry the bag. Turned out some one else was the driver and so this man now supposedly qualifies for a tip. Boss, I could have carried that luggage myself, I thought. Nevertheless, I started looking for some change in my purse but unfortunately there was none. I said "sorry" and gestured to the effect but the man started asking for some money for tea, which made me search more in case there were some coins (a cup of tea next to my office building costs Rs5/-) . Had none.

Even if I were to give him the tip, would have probably not given him more than 10 rupees. Given that he started by asking 'some money for tea', I thought he is asking for some coins and started looking in my bag before he added 'wonly 10 rupees sir'.

GIVE ME JOB

how do we know if its a novel way of job hunting or if its love for the director!

What kind of ad is this in these times - when a shrinking company brings only one thing to mind!

Killing me softly ...

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Sent using Nokia handheld device

Thank you England ...II

"And let us say thank you to England for coming back to our shores when they had every reason to be apprehensive, even scared. May be they still are but, they are palying cricket on our land, as our guests and we must applaud them for that."
- Harsha Bhogale' IE 19 Dec 08

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Sent using Nokia handheld device

Thank you, England and thank you, KP

A bit late in thanking the team but was quite busy with other household chores. The first test match is already on with England having a decent first day. (Could have had been better given the start they got)

To be back to a country where you saw a massive terrorist attack only last month - where foreigners, tourists and the rich were specially targetted, where the very hotel where you would normally stay was under seige - is in deed a matter of courage, in my view. How would you convince your wife and kids, your parents that the place is safe. You might know it because you have travelled to other places in the country but may be not your wife, kids or parents.

Some of my friends want to go to Bangkok for their CFA examinations this June but the recent events have made them rethink and may be opt for Singapore. This despite the fact that Bangkok now appears to be almost safe for tourists/visitors but why take any chance.

Negotiation lessons from Henry Kissinger

...'its a bad idea to have heads of state negotiating with each other at the beginning of the process. Most heads of state have highly developed egos and limited time. So if they meet in a short time frame and dont agree, you have no recourse left. So as a general rule, actu details should first be prepared at a lower level.

(something that happened at the Agra summit b/w the two heads, Indian PM AB Vajpayee and Pak President Musharraf)

(Read the complete interview at IE, 7 Dec 08)

Mumbai up and running ...

...the business of life has resumed. But don't talk of spirit, it's a city without options!
(The Indian Express - Sunday edition dated 7 Dec 08)

Nothings

Myself clicked by my other half

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Sent from my Nokia handheld device

Depression and the current scenario

depression in 1929 happened because of drought and not because the stock market tanked. It was largely an agrarian economy then and drought obviously led to what it led to. To compare that situation with todays isn't really the right way to look at it.
It will take some time (?) to ride out the current storm - the concerted global action will have its effect. The system needed to be shaken and thats whats happening so let there be only depression in history - we are fine with one reference point.

will try to look for more on the topic and post. Till then lets keep working hard and not lose our job. Do value added work, try not to get irritated by what your boss says etc etc

E71 (2 of n) - Sportstracker

Sportstracker is a cool application that helps you with your jogging exercises. I just installed it (seating in cab on my way to the office) and played a bit with it. If I get it right, the utility works using GPS. It locates your position and then tracks you through this GPS. It then provides you with much details like your speed, distance covered, altitude etc and displays and analyses the same with various graphs (speed vs distance, time vs distance etc - a real business phone, hmmm :-) ). Though I am not sure how many would actually use this utility given that you will almost always doubt the accuracy of data and using GPS means extra mobile charges (I think). And in my view ipod's add-ons might be more reliable, easier and cheaper. You might also not want to carry this device to jog (ipod is much lighter and looks cool too).

Install sportstracker from Menu>Installations>Sportstracker.

Nokia E71 (1 of n)

Really a lovely phone and really liking the ability to use multiple application at the same time. You can simply pess the menu key and then can goto any application you, the other application keeps on running in the background and there appears a small symbol on right top of the application which tells you which application is still on. You can just select exit from options and close the application. Though I am not sure how it affects you if the application keeps on running in the background.
What I am not liking is the way you save the files transferred through bluetooth - the file after getting transferred goes to your new messages, from there you open it and then save it again. Now imagine getting a bulk of images/songs transferred to your phone and then saving them individually. Quite painful. And if you want to see those pics in a sequence or listen those songs, the above exercise becomes all the more painful. I just hope there is a better way of doing the above.
Anyways I love my phone :-)

Attitude towards work

A bad start to a new week (not that Mondays mornings bring any excitement but thats not the point). First the cab came pretty late to my place (could have easily got half an hour of extra sleep, c'mon its winter, Delhi winter - you are always short of sleep) and then when it came, it was in a pretty bad shape with the spare tyre kept below the rear seats and the area not properly cleaned (see pic). I obviously asked he driver to clean the area and if its possible to keep the spare tyre in proper place. He said the cab met with an accident and the hook where which holds the tyre got broken (i didn't buy it but hardly had a choice). Now comes cleaning the area part, the driver would do it with most hesitation and then wouldn't do it properly, Here comes the stubborn side of me as I ask him to do it againn and do it properly. The driver reacts as if I asked him to do the most pathetic thing in this world in front of his girl friend and says what's wrong with this, "if you want to go then sit or let it be, I own this cab and am not a driver of this cab". Am I pissed or am I pissed. I didn't ask him to do anyhing wrong or demeaning and talks to me like that (he's got to do it) but thats not the idea of this post.
The point "I own this cab and am not a driver of this cab". I mean if you this cab and are driving this cab, you should be doing willingly all the more. In fact you should have it cleaned it at your place if you find it so humiliating. That shows the attitude you have towards your work. You need to have a positve attitude towards whatever you do. If he had promptly cleaned when asked to do, I would have felt good only and would have probably forgotten that the spare tyre is also kept at the back. Wouldn't have wasted time arguing and calling here and there. In the meantime my colleague ( a senior person in the company) tells me 'looks like its us only who would agree to all kinds of client requests...seems like only we are in need of work'. That shows his attitude to work and is probably the reason for his successfuk career.

(and in the meantime the driver finds a flat tyre and then breaks the jack while trying to fix it, is still standing there while we call a new cab and leave for office. You pay for your attitude, in this case, so philosophically, right there).

Obama and equality in India

People can't stop raving about how Obama further shows America's dynamism and link it up to the state of affairs here in India.
I pick up the following from Indian Express and a bit of my own
Facts show how slow and halting America's own march to progress has been. When Obama was born in1961, the marriage between his Black Kenyan father and White American mother was illegal in as many as 19 out of 50 states in the US: The Constitution of lndia, on the other hand, enshrined, in1950 itself, equality as one of the foundational principles - we had the first muslim president in about 20 years after partition and BR Ambedkar, a dalit, was the chief architect of our constitution, we already had a lady prime minister and so on.

No doubt America is the greatest land of opportunities and truly truly rewards meritocracy but it would not be fair to unnecessarily demean ourselves and not look at facts in their entirety.

First blog by mobile

Writing this post from my newly acquired Nokia E71 that I was presented today, didn't know much about the phone until some tech savvy people in my office had a look at it and how this is the next phone that they are planning to buy. So it seems my wife has a good choice of phone or may be was lucky to meet a nice salesman. hope former is the case but fear for the later. Anyways I get a nice present on my birthday :-)

Palin has Pak PM's testosterone levels rising

"If he's (aide) insisting, I might hug" Zardari (link)

Tennis lessons

Tennis lessons
The Indian Express
Posted online: Tuesday, September 02, 2008 at 2347 hrs IST

A few short weeks ago, Roger Federer lost a prize that he had held for 237 weeks, and most thought that he would only give up when he retired — ATP’s ranking as the world’s number one tennis player. Now, as the first major tournament since he lost that ranking gets interesting, and with it Federer’s last chance to salvage something of value from his annus horriblis, the world looks to Flushing Meadows in New York. The Olympics are spectacular; the football World Cup emotional; but for lessons in how to deal with invincibility, overconfidence and inexplicable failure, few sports are more transparent than tennis. This weekend, as Federer tried to explain how his new-found vulnerability would affect his playing, an international audience was forced to adjust, with him, from a unipolar to a bipolar world.

Federer is a once-in-a-generation player, a natural, the Bill Clinton (Charisma, crowd-puller abilities and not Lewinsky-type rapport) of tennis. A year ago, he might have been — no, was — considered unreachable. And yet, there is always someone younger and more determined, someone who might initially appear pedestrian and yet manages to lay sublime greatness low — a Nadal, an Obama . Federer will try to defend his US Open title by finally changing his game to reflect his mortality; just as Bill Clinton eventually settled into playing the senior statesman at last week’s Democratic convention, rather than the role of the main attraction he has always considered his own by right.

For us, in India, these questions might appear theoretical. Indians do not, as a rule, have to consider questions of greatness. India is accustomed to smaller pleasures, three-medal achievements, bottom-of-the-table accomplishments — in sport, and elsewhere. And yet, there is something that should be kept in mind this week: goals that appear unreachable, leads that appear unassailable, are destined to be reached, to be successfully assailed. To the young — and India is young — belongs the future, inevitably. How the adjustment is carried out will make all the difference.

Colored comments are mine

Vijender kumar

Read at some places Vijender kumar can now hope to make a career as a model. Never knew the bugger is already a (part -time) model. Look Below - his pic and BBC's profile on him

"A promoter like Don King, a ring inside Madison Square Garden, and millions of dollars per bout. That is my dream, that is where I want to be," says Vijender, sitting in his newly built two-storey house in Kaluwas village.

by the way did you know Bhiwani is known as "Little Cuba" of India. For boxers coming out of the place, no no, not for drugs or mafia (beware of running into a jat(t) though)!

Phelps & Spitz

did you also think the left pic is some guy (resembling Phelps) wearing a halter top? ;-) ... sorry for the bad joke...

Phelps with his 8 golds and Spitz with his 7, for you guys ...

(Ofcourse I have resized the pics so that they load easily and my comments look more authentic )

Olympics & Cricket - II

Another day of boxing bout at Barista. This bugger disappointed too. But as said the point is Barista was full capacity with all the seats facing the TV set so much so that people from two different offices were sharing a common table.
Isn't it so much like cricket when people from all walks stand in front of the TV (the TV owner then has to move the face of his TV towards the public). or does it happen with all sports? (where you expect success)

Olympics & Cricket

Watched Jeetender Kumar's boxing quarterfinal match today. We (office folk) came to Barista (yes during office hours) especially to watch the match. Asked the Barista folks to turn off the radio/music and increase the volume of the television. Soon everyone inside the coffee shop got pretty excited and was glued to the TV set. Saw a guy punch in the air!. I am sure no one knew even a single thing about boxing, myself included but everyone was like 'maar sir par' (hit the head), 'jaat buddhi saala' (pyaar se bol rahe dhe), 'knock out'. Sushil Kumar won a bronze during the day, so obviously there was added hope from the boxer. The bugger disappointed! But that's not the point.

At the same time you had the second one day cricket match between India & Sri Lanka. The match was in an exciting phase and we are all cricket fans (have our cricinfo.com open while we work!). The point is if you have heroes in other sports(Abhinav Bindra & Sushil Kumar and now Vijender as I write this), you will follow that sport too. Yeah, I know its a chicken and egg problem but am sure you get the point.

Wall Street Analyst moves to India - II

A reinforcement of what I wrote two years ago:

Wall Street’s losses are fast becoming India’s gain. After outsourcing much of their back-office work to India, banks are now exporting data-intensive jobs from higher up the food chain to cities that cost less than New York, London and Hong Kong, either at their own offices or to third parties.


In addition to moving some lower-level banking and research positions to support bankers and analysts in New York and London, firms are shipping some of their top bankers from those cities to faster-growing developing markets to handle clients there.

Here is the complete article