Make in India

Shri Narendra Modi, Honarable PM of India launched Make in India (http://www.makeinindia.gov.in/) a new campaign to attract foreign investments in to India's growing needs across diverse industries.

While it is common for countries to run campaigns and attract investments, Mr. Modi's strategic thinking and charismatic personality has enabled an effective roll-out of this unique campaign. Mr. Modi's impeccable clarity of thought, vision and confidence gives a convincing touch.

The website is quite comprehensive and provides good research materials for the prospective investors, industry experts and the academicians.

According to this website, India's Automobile industry will be the 4th largest automobile market by volume. About 2.13 million vehicles were produced in 2013-14. The rest of the narration is quite impressive. The emerging markets like India and China are already on the radar of the international community. An assertive campaign like this, followed by its effective implementation and support will go a long way in boosting not just India's economy but the entire world community.

Love for Cricket

This post is about my love for the game of cricket. While in Grade 3, I bought a pair of wicket keeper gloves from Olympic sports stores in Bangalore. Syed Kirmani, the famous and successful Indian team wicket keeper was my inspiration. He is one of the best wicketkeepers India ever had.

Those days between my 3rd and 6th grade, we went almost every weekend to the greenfield playground watch the league matches. As I watched number of matches, it became clear that the wicket keeper plays a key role and I was more firm on pursuing it seriously.

I will not forget my high school days for the "short" cricket we played before the school started, during the lunch & other break times. The school would start at 11 AM and we would reach the school around 930AM to play cricket. The cheap and bouncy "rubber" ball was the choice since it was easily available, presented no injury risks to any anyone. There were 2 major teams in the class and we always eyed defeating the other!. The team combination remained pretty much same for the entire 3 year period.

When we moved to Koramangala during my 6th grade, it opened up different and vast opportunities to play serious cricket using "cork" and leather balls. We had a fantastic team with fast and spin bowlers, excellent batsman with heavy hitting skills. We practiced every evening in one of the major roads (no traffic then!).  During summer vacation, we played almost 4-5 matches a week. Our key opponent team lived in the police quarters that boosted of a collection of large playgrounds for cricket, hockey, soccer, volleyball and basketball. Most of the playgrounds had restricted entry, but our friends(opponent team!) had free access to all the key grounds. As the days went by, my wicket keeping skills improved dramatically. I was known for taking difficult & diving catches and stumping skills. My batting skills (left hand) improved over time. Within 2 years I moved all the way from the tail end batting order to the top. During this time, our team got several opportunities to play some real cricket: leather ball, rolled down mat, all white apparel!. Those were the experiences we would recollect for number of years.

I reached the "zenith" of my wicket keeping experience while working at company V. We had a wonderful talented team and a spirited captain. We participated in one of the local leather ball tournaments and had some thrilling wins in the qualifying round matches. I remember playing a winning role in the semi-finals where I took 2 spectacular diving catches, followed by 2 stumping opportunities and did not concede a single miss or a "bye".

I had a fair share of injuries and some funny moments while wicket keeping. During the initial days at Koramangala, my cousin came to watch one of our cricket games. He was amused to see my slow batting average( 1 run in 25 balls) and I got out making just 5 or 6 runs. Though we made a deal that no one will know, he informed everyone in our extended family and friends. While keeping wickets I have been injured number of times either due to mistakes or misjudgments in catching the ball. Coming back from a cricket match with a swollen thumb or a finger used to be very common. My dad's magical massage skills helped relieve most of these aches. I was once hit by a speeding ball on my chin. The split second delay in my reaction had a punching effect on my jaws. I remember falling to the ground and seeing "stars" like how TinTin does in his comic books :)

fingerprints and technology

Biometrics has seen some major advancements in the last 10 years. Finger printing and other techniques are adopted by various countries to collect the information of their citizens and the visitors.

India's UID (Unique identification Program) is supposed to be the largest deployment of the biometrics solution. This program will provide an unique ID card (called Aadhar) to approx. 1.2 billion people!. Hats off to the folks who conceived idea and building the solution.

Nandan Nilekani, who spearheaded the UID got significant recognition from the Congress party, which has nominated him to contest in the upcoming parliamentary elections during April 2014. 

Check out the links; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometrics and http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html for more information.

Living in Melbourne

Melbourne is one of the most active and vibrant cities to live. The city is a melting pot of ethnic cultures and food and nice & friendly people. Melbourne CBD ( central business district) / is a typical downtown with the right mix of high rise towers, companies with large offices, colleges, hospitals, specialty restaurants and small businesses. There is a good ethnic mix of immigrants from Asia, Europe and other places.

Melbourne has an excellent public transport system with a combination of buses, trams and suburban trains. The central district and the neighborhood suburbs are connected by trams that traverse through busy roads. The public transport system can be accessed with one access card called "Myki". Though it takes a while to understand "Myki", it is nevertheless very convenient to use.

The downtown or the central district is active through out the year. There are some specialty and regular restaurants that specialize in Italian, geek, Asian and Indian cuisines. The downtown is usually busy, thanks to the nearby universities and the other educational institutes. Formal dress code is almost the norm in the CBD. As the afternoon & the evening rolls in, the attention shifts to entertainment. Scores of street entertainers line up the busy river walks, key spots and demonstrate their special skills. There are a number of cool pubs and dining options in the city. "BYOB" - Bring your own bottle: is available in majority of the restaurants. They charge a small corking ( or opening) fees to cover the service.

Experience Australia

It has been long time since my last blog post, so happy to be writing again!. The following is the summary of my experience of living in Australia close to one year.

Renting an apartment
Finding a place to live took more time & energy than I initially thought. I realized quickly that the real estate rentals worked completely different than the US and India. In Australia, apartment rental amount is calculated weekly, but paid monthly. The rentals are astronomically high in cities like Sydney and Melbourne. The rentals (both renting and subsequent monthly payments, operational support) are managed by the real estate companies.
1. One needs to  view multiple websites, make appointments with the real estate companies to "view" the apartments. The properties are open for "viewing" for a very short window like 15 minutes on a wednesday or the week ends. Walk-in viewing is welcome but the challenge is to reach the place within that short period of time. key website; http://www.realestate.com.au; http://gumtree.com.au
2. The subsequent paper work takes a lot of time. It is common for the folks to apply concurrently for 4-5 properties
3. Finally when the application is approved, the apartment is ready for occupation. The apartment is mostly equipped with a electric or gas stove. The tenant has to procure the rest of the appliances :(. But there is a very good value chain of small retailers who sell used appliances and can even home deliver.

Some common experiences from self and my colleagues;

• Taking time off from office and head to the appointment, only to figure out you missed it by few minutes and the agent saying sorry..time up
• The attitude of the real estate agents 
• Too much use of the calculator to figure out the monthly amount
• Thoughts of unknown expenses in buying the appliances...
• Unable to view apartments after 5pm on week days or sometimes even Sunday.

In a nutshell, it is a unique experience and I somehow enjoyed going through this exercise!

Theerta Yaatra - Pilgrimage

During the last rainy season, we went on a pilgrimage trip to the famous places in Karnataka's "dakshina kannda". We made a wise decision of hiring an SUV as it helped navigate through the pothole ridden stretches and navigating through some badly maintained roads. Our initial itenarary was to visit Horanadu, Sringeri, Kollur, Murdeshwara, Udupi, Dharmastala and Kukke Subhramanya. Though time was not the constraint, the enduring rains and the associated mess forced us to curtail the number of places to visit.

We started off from Bangalore around 7 AM and finished off our breakfast on the Tumkur Road, just before the Kunigal cross. The ride until Hassan was a smooth one as the roads are wide and in excellent condition. However, this stretch does not have good restaurants. The rains continued to lash until about 5-6 pm and by that time we had traversed through pockets of coffee rich estate in the chikkamagalur district. We stopped at Kalasa, about 5 kms ahead of Horanadu. This brief stop at the famous shiva temple was quite refreshing. The ancient temple contains some intricate carving and the entire place carries some special kind of aura. We reached the Annapuraneshwari temple at Horanadu around 730 pm. Soon, we witnessed the famous arthi pooja at the temple. Numerous hand lit oil lamps provided an out of place experience. The temple is known for good hospitality and cleanliness. Unlike other places of visit, this place did not have any kind of "commercial" touch. We were served sumptuous dinner by the temple staff. We retired for the day in the nearby Durgamba lodge.

Note: As of August 2012, there were only 2 big hotels for staying at Horanadu. Apart from this, temple management offers good number of rooms and suites but there is no guarantee of hot water supply. So, if you plan to stay for more than one day, better book your stay in advance at any of the above places.

The next day, we had wonderful & a simple breakfast at the temple. After offering prayers, we set out to Sringeri. Though it was drizzling, it was refreshing to drive through the thick foliage and the mountainous Malenadu. Sringeri had changed a lot since my last visit, which was approximately 25 years ago!. The temple complex has added on new buildings, temples, dining halls and yes a new bridge across the river to "Narasimha vana" which houses a temple and living quarters for the swamji and other ashramites.

Sringeri was more crowded than Horanadu. We performed pooja at the temple and set out for lunch. Here again, we were offered a mouth watering lunch. The hospitality here too is admirable as they cater to the continuous flow of the visitors. After spending couple of hours, we set off to Udupi and our goal was to reach there before the sunset. Our driver warned if we did not start early from Sringeri, chances of getting stuck in the dense fog was very high. On the way to Udupi, we made some quick phone calls to my close friend to get recommendations on where to stay and eat at Udupi. My friend hails from that place and offered some good advice and we chose a hotel about 2-3 kms from the famous Krishna Mutt.

It was friday and the inner sanctum was specially prepared for the pooja. The prevailing swamiji performed the aarti for close to 30 minutes. The drum beats by more than 10-12 musicians offered an excellent background for the pooja. Again, the dinner at the Krishna Mutt was awesome and mouth watering. We stayed on at Udupi for another one and half days, visiting the surrounding temples and the famous Malpe beach. Our next destination was Dharmastala which was about 4 hours away. We made a brief stop over at the Durga Parameshwari temple at Kateel. The temple is constructed by the side of a river and some portions of the temple are constructed above the river. The view of the roaring river, temple and the surrounding is breath taking.

We arrived late at Dharmastala, thanks to the pothole ridden roads and the tough hilly terrain. It was 930pm and we quickly had a darshan of lord Manjunatheswara. Continuous drizzling, non availability of accommodation made us rethink of the next steps. We decided to drive to our last destination in the trip, Kukke Subrahmanya. We reached Kukke around 130AM and were fortunate to get accommodation at a good hotel. The next half day was spent in having the darshan of the lord. Though lunch was available at the temple, we had to start immediately to reach Bangalore well before the mid-night. We had lunch at a restaurant, just before reaching Sakaleshpur.

In all, it was a wonderful trip. Some of the things we found common amongst dakshina kannada temples was the great hospitality, excellent food, traditional approach in conducting pooja, and the temple(s) being built around picturesque landscape. One should have ample amount of time & patience to visit all the places of interest.

Some tips for anyone planning to go to the above places;

1. If you are used to mineral water, buy in large towns or cities. Do not buy from road side shacks.

2. Temple food is simple, low in oil and hygienic. In case you do not like temple food, plan ahead because most of the restaurants close down by 8 or 830pm!

3. Udupi is known for some very good restaurants that serve authentic meals and masala dosas. Ask around and you will be surprised with the number of recommendations. Will provide some names in the next couple of days.

4. Stay at Dharmastala needs to be booked. The nearest hotel accommodation is at Ujire.

5. Do not underestimate the driving efforts through the western ghats. I would suggest hiring a car or preferably an SUV. These cabbies make numerous trips to these places through the year. They are well versed with the road conditions and the alternate routes.

Trouser hunt

Few months ago, I had to attend a conference in a different city. The day before the travel, I had given my suite to our friendly neighborhood 'istry' (ironing) shop. Though the urgency was explained, the ironing folks somehow delivered the jacket but forgot to return the trouser. I returned from work around 8:15 PM and we began enquiring the whereabouts of the ironing folks. None of the shops around had his address nor his contact number. We almost gave up, but a chance meeting with my dentist's assistant gave some hopes. The dentist operates out of the same building and some how his assistant knew where the istry person's house. She sent her son with us and we landed up in the narrow bylanes of the near by locality. We knocked on the door and found a different person living there, the istry person had moved to a new place near by!. The neighbors gave us the directions and the landmark where to look. We again began searching in the near by community. Soon, we 'discovered' at least 5-6 people who lived/operated in that area and none of them had any clue about our guy. Finally after asking some people around, we finally found our guy, who was kind enough to travel 2 kms and hand over my trouser. Though it was an annoying experience in the beginning, it turned out to be an interesting hunt. Not to mention we caught the attention of numerous onlookers in the local community, some of them came up to ask if we are from Police or some investigating agency :)

Bangalore - Pondicherry Trip

Pondicherry's new name is Puducherry..

We recently visited Puducherry and the kids liked every moment of the trip. For me, it was a slight disappointment, as I had great expectations in looking forward for more attractions. Having visited Goa a number of times, I expected to see a similar "colonial" touch at Pondi. Except for a few streets where one gets the buildings built in the french style, the majority of the city looks like any other Indian city. I liked the walk along the tiled pathway along the Pondi beach. The absence of the vehicles during the evening is a welcome break and one can enjoy the peaceful walk. The Aurobindo ashram is a must see attraction, so is the auroville city. The kids had great time at the auro beach. Strangely, there is hardly any night life at Pondi. Restaurants shut down their shutters around 930 or 10pm. The pubs and the other watering holes close by 1030pm, again a disappointing aspect!.

The drive from Bangalore to Pondi took about 7-8 hours with some breaks in between. We took the most traveled route, ie via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Tiruvanamallai, Gingee and so forth. The stretch from Krishnagiri to Tiruvanamallai was worst, riddled with so many potholes, some competing with the craters on the moon. The return route was quite comfortable, we traveled from Pondi via Kanchipuram and then on the tolled national highway. Enroute we had a brief stop over at Kanchi for lunch. The meals at the famous Saravana Bhavan (hq at Chennai) was quite good. We had a quick darshan of goddess Kamakshi devi and left for Bangalore.

My suggestions to anyone traveling to Pondi;
1. Travel in a SUV or a Mini Van (especially if traveling thru Tiruvanamallai). I am glad we made that decision.
2. Leave Bangalore early morning and try the Kamat Upachar ( between hosur-krishnagiri) for breakfast. Adyar Anand Bhavan is too crowded on a week end/holiday.
3. Accomodation is available in plenty ( if booked in advance). Call the hotel before booking online, sometimes you are better off with the offline booking.

Bangalore-M.G.Road

We were out on the Bangalore -MGRoad recently. While parking was a non-issue at the utility building, we had to go to a place down the MGRoad, near the big Kids kemp. We decided to walk this short distance, however did not realize the efforts & the risks involved. There is not even 50ft of good walking path in this stretch of MGRoad. You will invariably find the cobble stones lifted, cracked or there is a driveway in to a shopping complex or an office. While expecting a smooth ramp up/down is a distant thought, the height of the curb varies from few inches to about a feet!. In some spots, the curb width narrows down to 2-3 ft!. Worst stretch is the one around the Mayo Hall, which is packed with lots of court houses. We had to make way through the 2 plus feet curb and the parked police vehicles. With the undertrials and convicts staring at us from close distance, it was really uncomfortable and unavoidable. Also, for the first time I came across a 'one way' walking stretch, where there is a line of people on both sides and whoever comes first gets the right of way!

So the Metro is the cause for all this mess. but as you know Metro is the elevated rail, what about the pedestrians below? The motorists add their contribution to the chaos. They don't like the people walking on the streets and will do anything to push them off the roads either by honking or who knows even knocking them down!. One of the guys on the bike used the curb as a detour to get through a crowded stretch and before we realized what was happening, he was gone!

Very soon, pedestrians might require a head gear to walk on the MG Road... :)

Karnataka Bandh

Bandh - Complete shut down!

The business, commerical establishments across the Karnataka state is being forcibly shut down by the ruling BJP government to protest against the governor's proposed disciplinary action!. Well, the complete shut down might sound absurd to the folks in the developed countries, it is a reality in India!. It is a mockery of the democratic setup we have!. The corrupt politicians don't realize the strain on the economy with a day's shut down. Millions of people depend on daily income, how do they survive? Also, what will happen to someone's planned birthday, wedding and other social events? Why should the normal citizen suffer for someone else's misdeeds?

It is time to enact a legislation (there might be one already!) to strictly ban any such 'bandh' across India.