Of days we remember

A group of my friends meets to discuss soul searching questions like how does one live a purposeful happy life. Recently we talked about the purpose of commemorating dates - birth(day)s, anniversaries (of events and people), graduations and so on - in our lives. Dates are an opportunity to reflect on the paths taken, the successes achieved and the lessons learnt. They are also a way to remember the people who came into and those who left our lives, and to renew our old resolutions and make new ones.

With this thought, here is this post, to commemorate a day in mine!

Life Changers - Finding meaning through Amy

As I look back, whenever I thought I was struggling (professionally or personally) in life is when I have done the most meaningful work. This post is meant to be a part of the series of reminisces of those time periods.

A few years ago, I was involved with an organization dedicated to the cause of the domestic violence victims in the tri-state (New York - New Jersey - Connecticut) area.  Let’s call it – ‘Life-Changer’. Life-Changer is very particular about confidentiality to ensure the safety of their clients and people who work with them, their staff and especially volunteers.  It office location and shelter addresses are secret. It doesn’t give references to its volunteers. It also avoided social media presence and web activism till recently.

Apart from the fact that women’s causes naturally resonate, a big reason I joined Life-Changer was guilt. I regret not doing enough for someone very close who went through a tough situation in her life. But as I look back I realize that the work I did gave me a sense of purpose to anchor my own life. Apart from helping with their outreach, marketing and activism, I worked closely with few of Life-Changer’s clients. This portion of my work was the most rewarding.

On my first such case I advocated for Amy (by now you know that’s not her name). Amy married someone from her own country and moved to the United States with him.  She needed to get a US passport for her recently born baby. The Life-Changer staff member who was working with me had told me the details of the case. Amy had been here for less than a year. Like many women who move with their husbands, Amy wasn’t eligible to work, and had no source of income.

I met Amy at the steps of the court-house. This was her third visit. Passport application for a child needs to be signed by both parents. Only problem was that Amy’s husband deserted her before the child was born and Amy had no idea where he was.  We said hello and talked a bit using signs. Amy spoke little English. This was a woman living alone with a newborn baby in a shelter. Amy was in a country different from her own; she was not very fluent with the language and had almost no support structure. For someone going through all this Amy was really strong. I was worried earlier, but I realized apart from the language, Amy didn’t need me much.

We went in the court. I did my part – filled up the baby’s papers, presented them to the officer and just before she was about to put the rejected stamp on our application - told her Amy’s story, mentioned the relevant exception to the law and presented the documentary evidence. She was sympathetic and filled an additional document to expedite the case while we were standing at the window and the others were waiting. I thought she must have seen many such cases before.

Amy was happy when we came out of the court.  She understood that her application was accepted because the officer hadn’t given it back to her. I tried to tell her that she should get her son’s passport in week to ten days.  I wanted to walk with to her public transport location and make sure she could take the right route to the shelter. She politely refused. As we said good-bye she hugged me. I watched her go. Amy was ready, to take the world on her own. She would be first of the many women who I will learn from.

Now that I am in a different geography, not actively involved I think I can actually use the real name instead of Life-Changer. I should think about that.

Book Update :  After my recent tryst with psychology and history am back to fiction. Read, 'A Walk Across the Sun' and 'The Girl Who Played with Fire'.  

Every great man has a secret .. and it's not a good one

We often idolize men who are successful and ascribe to them greatness which is a heavy burden. It is in this light that the rest of this piece needs to be read. My point, which I give three examples for, is that we are all human. If one avoids the baggage of expectations, it is easier to accept people without the need to be blinded by their greatness.

In his book on the life of Socrates, Paul Johnson, the historian, writes about Socrates' average looks and pleasant demeanor. Socrates is very well respected today for his contribution to ethics. Paul writes that all great men (and women) are difficult to live with. Something only their spouses know. Socrates never wrote anything himself and most writings from the period focus on the Greece while Plato focuses on his ideas and philosophy (or rather Plato’s interpretation of Socrates' ideas), so we will probably never find out for sure.

John F. Kennedy, the president whom America loves, had an affair with a nineteen year old intern. Saw the interview of the lady yesterday during a news magazine. The interviewer used pretty strong words to describe the relationship between a forty-five year old man in the position of power and a nineteen (how young that is ?) year old girl.

I am a great fan of Apple’s products. I use some religiously. Having said that and having eulogized the man who wanted to make – and actually made - a dent in the universe, elaboration is needed.

Steve Jobs, at one point in time, was not so favorably thought of by the FBI who had a file that recorded his drug use. Jobs' brash and unlikeable nature – especially in his early years – is well recorded in books. But this comment is sterner.

Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs’s honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals.  

Of course when you become Steve Jobs, your personal brand turns weaknesses into strengths and terms such as “reality distortion field” are coined. Other mentions in the FBI report – such as the fact that at least in the early part of his life Steve neglected his daughter and his girl friend - are corroborated in his recent biography.

I have great respect for Jobs, Socrates and Kennedy. But the gist of the story is that none of us is infallible.  We try but we are all human.  If someone appears faultless to you, it only means one thing, you don’t know them yet. On the other hand one of the first signs of knowing someone well is that you think almost everything about that person needs to be improved.

The article on Steve Jobs is here. Paul Johnson's book is called Socrates: A man for our times and is what I am reading right now .The then nineteen year old intern is now seventy eight and has written her story in a book.

Happiness : Do you earn to live or live to earn ?

The age old question! How important is money in our lives ? This what the recent coverage of the Facebook IPO reminded me of. A lot has been said about the IPO - the possible price per share (from ~$27 to $31) , the money various people will make from the founder, to the employees to their financial adviser - and how it compares with the other technology stocks.

A commentator on Bloomberg mentioned that Zuckerberg has never taken money out Facebook unlike the executives of few other technology companies that recently came up with IPOs. As you read the text of the Zuckerberg's letter to his investors you can't miss the fact that he believes in what he is doing. The letter is in part an attempt to build an ethos among the people associated with Facebook. 

Though there are a lot of ideas, the following few caught my attention:

...Simply put: we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services. 

... These days I think more and more people want to use services from companies that believe in something beyond simply maximizing profits.

Since the man is worth billions, you need to put his statements in context before you start renouncing the too much (or the too little) that you have. I agree that money is important because in a social setting or a relationship it often becomes a proxy for power and authority. I have a friend who insisted on paying (though we always split the check and paid him back) whenever we went out because he believed it gave him the power whenever there was decision to be made, even if was simply about where to go.

But the undeniable fact is that money is the means not the end, and the two are different. In the end Zuckerberg knows what is most important for Facebook because it is most important for all of us.
  

There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future. 

 ...it starts small — with the relationship between two people.

 Personal relationships are the fundamental unit of our society. Relationships are how we discover new ideas, understand our world and ultimately derive long-term happiness.

While I write this I am reminded of a conversation I had with a friend. I was at a crossroad unable to decide. She helped me think rationally with the simple question, " What would make you happy ?"  I am grateful for the people who enrich my life. I realize that they are the end in my life, and not the means and the distinction is critical.

But there is more worth reading in the letter. The full text is here.

The Anatomy of Loneliness

I often try to analyze human behavior and its underlying causes. Had things turned out differently I would have been a psychology professional. Since I am not, I try to train my amateur psychologist brain in other ways. My recent readings include studies on Loneliness. Research from University of Cornell (on a side note if you see their way of putting it, you would be mistaken for assuming psychology is all math) and Chicago finds that homo sapiens, in spite of our claims to be rugged individualists, have evolved so as to be successful in social setups. Our brains have developed to meet the demands of social living – language, relationships, coordination, and social hierarchies. Our defenses – teeth, claws (or lack of them) are insufficient against most predators. 

In this context loneliness – previously described using terms such as depression, shyness or low social skills - is concluded to be ‘perceived’ or subjective (versus objective) social isolation. For example, one possible reason can be when an early childhood attachment disappears. Even though you may still have other friends, the perceived loss is hard to fill. Another possible scenario could be the feeling that you won’t fit in a group of people at a party or social event. Even worse is threat that you won’t fit in your community or family because you don’t abide by the norm. Human brain is wired to integrate with society and actual or perceived threats to that integration cause it to be stressed.

In fact the study claims that loneliness (or perceived social isolation) drives behaviors and feelings such as low social support, shyness, poor social skills, anger, anxiety, lower self esteem and bad mood.

What I like about psychology (and research such as this) is that it helps us understand our feelings and behaviors. Knowing this if you (or I) are feeling ‘subjective social isolation’ – I mean feeling lonely or a misfit – the solution is not to press the panic button or shut out the world, but to seek social support. After all, only fifty percent of loneliness is hereditary in nature, so the other fifty percent (which I count as significant) is in your control. You might also want to reconsider how important it is for you to fit in.

Dealing with failures

Disappointments and failures – both professional and personal – are a part of anyone's life. How you deal with them shapes your life and that of others around you. People handle disappointments in a many ways ranging from inability to control their emotions with behavior such as stomping feet, shouting and throwing tantrums, to complete denial and building a shell around them so that failures can't be discussed. Both these extremes make life difficult – at work and home. This post analyses the consequences of your response to failures on your career. Response to failures can basically be of four kind

1. Aggressive - Lack of Self-Control, Shouting, Threats.
   
2. Sophisticated and shrewd blame game, Successfully putting the responsibility on co-workers, procedures etc
   
3. Remedial/Corrective – Finding where mistakes occurred and redoing things, correctly
   
4. Innovation & Abandon – Trying a completely new approach
   

I don't consider the silly blame game as a response. You come out looking even more idiotic and unconvincing. A particular response may have a very different consequence for you depending on your career level. For example, you can get away with option a if you are senior enough though it is highly likely that you have destroyed your team's morale. The table below captures the impact of these behaviors on your careers. I think most of behave in a certain way in a crisis because it has got to do with we are than what the issue is. Cognizance of our own behavior pattern is the first step in modifying it to something more appropriate.

Behavior/ Career Level		Aggressive			Blame-game	Remedial/Corrective	Innovative
Junior		Highly detrimental. Can even have immediate negative consequences.			Can be successful if well used. The key word here is sparingly, only when desperately needed. You can't afford to have a reputation for blaming.	Highly suited for repetitive jobs such as achieving the monthly sales targets	Mostly not welcome except for creative / non-repetitive jobs. Example – finding a new target segment. People want to know you can effectively follow directions and established norms.
Mid-Senior		Easier to get by than at junior level.			Not recommended. At this level people are looking at you to take responsibility.	Required as a part of managing others doing repetitive jobs	Needed. Welcomed more than at junior level. Be careful that innovation is not turning into escapism.
Executive		Though it appears that you can get by, there are huge disadvantages to behaving like this. It shows you not in control of a situation & can cause people to lose faith in your leadership			Since you have authority over & are responsible for everything, highly undesirable and ineffective	Needed. Shows that you are in control, and you can lead and teach	Required. Unless you have a different innovative idea for executing the company's vision, your subordinates won't have faith in your leadership.

 

We don't become different people in office. Most of us behave similarly in our personal life too, leading to same consequences. This understanding can help you & I become a better person.

Why Do I Volunteer?

The most important of life's lessons do not come to you while you are managing P&L's and fretting over project schedules. They often land in your lap when you take the time (or are forced to) to sit back and reflect.

Nice Guy is this American teenager I met during one of our outreach sessions. The weather was biting cold and we were distributing hats, gloves and sweaters. He told me he didn't need any. We started talking to the other kids. He stood in a corner and then came around to ask me if he could take a cap and a pair of gloves for a homeless friend who wasn't around. I have often met kids/ young adults do not trust adults immediately. One of the first lessons homeless kids learn on the street is that admitting you are homeless makes you an easy target for predators. I thought Nice Guy wanted this stuff for himself and he was either shy of asking or lying to us. Nevertheless, I gave him whatever he needed. He told me that he lived with his aunt in Brooklyn for personal reasons. He didn't give me the details and I didn't push. I thought his eyes were misty when he asked me, "Why do you do this?" I didn't know what to say. I had started getting involved with non-profits in the US initially to find something to do with my long empty days. But you don't want to say that. You want to give a grand answer about how you want to change the world. I blabbered something inconsequential.

Suddenly Nice Guy spotted someone. He called over and handed over everything I had given him. I tried to find out more about Nice Guy. He worked at a Pizza outlet. I asked him if he made enough money. I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to go hungry that night. He told me, "I work 12 hours a day and overtime pays very well. I can even buy stuff for my friends sometimes." He had applied to college and had received an admission offer. He was going to do a bachelors degree and major in finance to get a job that, "will lead to great career." (To put things in context he was most likely planning to work through college to pay for his tuition and living expenses). Nice guy didn't want anything from the world except opportunity and he had no complaints. We shook hands and I wished him well before leaving.

When someone asks me next time, "Why do I do this?" I think I know better. I volunteer because it gives me opportunities to meet people like Nice Guy. It motivates me and makes me feel grateful for what I have. For the sake of Nice Guy I also wish and hope that Finance does lead to a great career, in spite of everything that is going on.

Book Update: SuperFreakonomics (Levitt and Dubner) – The book is an easy breezy read with interesting stories. However some parts are oversimplified such as those about climate change solutions. Often correlation is taken causation. It looks like the interest of the authors was in telling memorable stories from uncommon point of view than real research.

The Wharton India Economic Forum: Healthcare (India versus US)

On Saturday, March 27, 2010 I attended the 14th Wharton India Economic Forum. So I believe the event started in 1996 marking five years of liberalization of Indian economy. There was an impressive list of speakers. You had people from Private Equity, Information and Technology, Social Sector, Healthcare, and Education and Training. There also was panel of woman leaders talking about issues of glass ceiling at workplace.



In the morning, I attended the healthcare panel. I found the Sangita Reddy, (Director, Apollo Hospitals) had the most memorable insights. She pointed out the efficiency of health care services in India by comparing the back office & administrative costs in the two countries; 7 percent in India versus 25 percent in US. I am impressed that India has basically managed to keep the cost of a by-pass surgery stable for 27 years despite the high rate of inflation. She underscored her point by mentioning that Indian doctors were more willing to do a 'Beating Heart Surgery', a very complicated procedure that saves costs and has a greater probability of recovery. Apparently, 97 percent of heart surgeries are beating heart in India versus less than 10 percent in the US. You would think that a country as technologically advanced as the US would have adopted an advanced technique. This underscores the discussions about healthcare that I have with my friends, some of them healthcare professionals. They insist that in India doctors are more efficient and more willing to actually 'treat you'. My take on this has always been that a society with such a high instance of law-suits and 'do no harm' principle causes doctors to cover their backs first with multiple tests, before initiating any treatment. The inefficiency in the system is greater because the payment is made by a third party. Since the money appears to go from the insurance company's pocket, neither doctors nor patients are concerned about efficiency. Remember, your insurance premium is actually a 'sunk cost', money that you have spent anyway.



Bhargav Das Gupta, CEO and MD, ICICI Lombard talked about the new products to finance healthcare in India, especially for really poor people. The low penetration on insurance (less than 5%) is an opportunity for insurers, but the low awareness a huge challenge. Only yesterday I was reading how Indians do not care much about health insurance. There was the perennial subject of drugs patents and generics and branded drugs, and the long winded process to discovery of new drugs. What really stayed on with me was an interesting tit bit about ingenious water filters. Homi Khusrokhan, Advisor to Tata Healthcare explained how the Tata's successfully developed an extremely cheap water filter that removes 99.7% bacteria from water using burnt rice husk and nano silver, without power. On a personal note, I really liked Khusrokhan, the man had a wealth of experience with a really humble Lucknowi demeanor. The composition of the panel was extremely impressive. The organizers had ensured that there were representatives from delivery (Apollo), pharmaceutical (GSK and Excel life sciences) and the payers (Tata Healthcare, ICICI Lombard and GSK Venture), ensuring that all aspects of this complex issue are covered. I hope to write about other panels and speakers in my later posts. In the meantime you can have a look at the complete list of speakers & panel members here

Books Update: I am back to fiction for the time being. Finished 'Memoirs of Geisha' sometime back. Loved the portrayal and discovered few unknown aspects of the traditional Japanese culture

Canadian Impressions: February 2010

Recently, I was in Canada for a few days. It was my first visit ever to the country, and left me desiring for more. Canada may not appear foreign if you are an American, because you don't need a visa to travel there. But I did find Canada to be very different from USA. And, since I am comparing apples to apples - Toronto to New York - I think my impressions are representative. First, the Canadian winters. The average daytime temperatures are about 10 degrees lesser than those in the New York east coast area.

I landed there pretty early in the morning on a Sunday, 7 am, hoping to make the most of day (and also for some reasons beyond my control). We later walked the streets of Downtown Toronto scouting for breakfast. We moved from shop to shop looking at the operating hours. None of them would open before 10 am. By 9:30 am some Starbucks opened up. Though I was grateful, if you have been up since 3 o'clock in the morning, you want food by 9 am, not just a coffee with a snack. Lesson number one - Canadians are in no hurry to open their shops on a Sunday. Be prepared to wait till 10:30 am if you want a proper sit down breakfast. There weren't too many (rather any, when we started) people at the Younge Street - believed to longest in the world - even in the downtown area. Finally by midday few people started venturing out.

In a few hours you understand the reasons for the Canadian way of life. It was freezing. Further movement was subject to a hat and a pair of warm gloves. We finally gave up and had a juice and a pretty average Thai soup. The only thing great out the soup was the potion. I closed my day with a very early dinner. The biggest reason, almost all dining places closed by 6 pm. I returned back to the hotel by 6 pm to sleep for a good 14 hours. What better lesson in hibernation can you ever get.

Armed with the lessons of day 1, we begin day 2 in a relaxed Canadian way. Monday is the first day of the week and I noticed is the laid back and balanced Canadian life versus New York. The operating hours of a bank branch that I visited- 9:30 am to 4:30 in the evening. Compare it to 6:00 pm for a similar institution in New York. Or Indian public sector institutions, which work from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. ICICI Bank, a private bank I was closely associated with as a part of my job in India, has its branches open from 8:30 am to 7 pm. Indian public sector banks which used to have their customer service hours from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm, have extended them as computerization has reduced the amount of manual work involved. However, the merit of timings become apparent after 5 pm when the winds become really chilly. You feel a strong desire to not go out unless you really have to. But a lot of eating and drinking places are open late on weekdays. I mean late by Canadian definition – 11 pm. We adapted to style of Canadian commerce and skipped our breakfast for an early lunch instead.

The rest of our stay passed nicely. Though we saw all around the Downtown, the Financial and the Theater districts, I decided against venturing too far out. I also tried this great place that serves vegetarian cuisine from around the world. We also met an old friend Karan, who is now settled in Toronto. Few other takeaways from the visit, Toronto isn't full of Indians as a lot of us think. I spotted fewer Indians than I usually do walking in Jersey and New York. Karan insists that it is the most cosmopolitan city in the world though I disagree. I believe the place has far fewer people of Asian – Chinese, Korean, and Japanese – origin too. The population is largely Caucasian White. I didn't visit the Greek, Chinese or Indian settlements around the city. But it does have food from all over the world, lots of Thai places, tea houses, Chinese restaurants, Sushi places and Pizza outlets. The public transport if good with Subway in the north to south and streets cars (buses or trams if you prefer) that run on rails in the east west direction.

Colder Toronto weather; higher transient population or the tougher corporate life in New York could all be possible explanations. But all of them lead to the conclusion that Toronto is more focused on family and having a relaxed balanced life as compared to New York. (Btw, Toronto is a more expensive city than New York.)

HOPE 2010 New York: A lesson in involving volunteers

Last week, I got an opportunity to lead a team for New York's annual HOPE (Homeless Outreach Population Estimate) survey. I didn't know what to expect while entering the public school near 33^rd street. But there was anticipation because we were there to help the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) plan out their services. Outreach itself didn't scare me much. I have been doing that for three months for my own non-profit. Though the idea of staying out to walk the streets the whole night was slightly unnerving.

The volunteers signing us in were glad to find that I was a team leader. Good! The materials you need are on your table, they said. In the large room probably used for the school grade assembly I found almost 200 people sitting with their teams. I hadn't signed up with friends. It worked out well because I made four new.

The training, instructions, press coverage and all took us about an hour. Time the efficient me utilized for checking the maps and plotting our most efficient path one end to the other. It was good because we were given four staggered areas to survey.

We discovered before leaving we were one of the few teams with police escorts. Looking at our volunteer tags the MTA driver let us in without swiping our metro cards. Royal Treatment. We walked the streets for the next few hours, offered help to homeless that me met and even got a ride on the NYPD vehicle. When we returned, there again were clear printed instructions on what to do with the data we had gathered.

The whole event was very organized. The training material was simple with flowcharts, checklists and color coding. I shouldn't have been surprised. The material was designed by School of Professional Studies (SCPS), NYU for DHS. I made a mental note that to involve volunteers for activities like this you need to have material as crisp and clear as that. The organizers made sure we had everyone's contact information and note down ours. In a operation like this, steps like these ensure that everyone feels and is safe. Apart from a satisfying experience, I returned home with valuable lessons in how to best use of volunteers.

The huge difference in work-cultures

Yesterday, I was at the office of a non-profit I am involved with here in New York. I noticed something that made me think and compare the working styles and, the so called open door policies.


It so happened that a gentleman whom I recognize by face as the Executive Director, the senior-most person in the organization, walked over to a door in the hallway. Standing outside the room he asked, " Would you like to talk to me about that video shoot/press release (or something similar) right now." The lady inside the room mentioned that she was working on another project/assignment at that time. He responded with the equivalent of - Fine, we will do it at a later then. He later strolled over to my work-space, said hello, and inquired if he could ask a question. I must mention that we have never met formally, till today.


I tried my best to recall anything remotely similar to that in my five years of experience in India but couldn't. I have worked in highly unstructured software setups and fast growing private sector insurers and have had some really great bosses. But the notion of hierarchy, and your boss having the final say on your time is embedded in our work culture. I don't think any Indian could have ever responded in the way the lady or the gentleman did. Our culture where age and position imply authority, is partly to blame. The expectation of deference to your superiors' wishes built into Indian nature, is further strengthened by the fierce competition due to India's huge population. As a result most of us fast realize, consciously or sub-consciously, that "Yes Sir" is the safest and often the fastest, route to career growth.


It is pertinent to mention that the non-profit actually serves Asian clients, including South Asians. The question is, if we can do it here, why not back home?

Indian winner at Spelling Bee: A story without a happy ending

Last week, in a repeat of last year a child of Indian origin won the Spelling Bee, a contest among American school going children, yet again. Infact of the 11 children who made to the final, 8 were of Asian origin, of which definitely 6 and probably 7 were Indian.

Its easy to be tempted and say Indians or Asians are a smarter race and overlook the logical and more rational conclusion that most Indian & Asian children generally end up working far harder than their counterparts. Read my article Indian winner at Spelling Bee : A story without a happy ending published on a website for South East Asians

Slumdog Millionaire: When the movie is better than the book

Last November (2008), I watched Slumdog Millionaire. I don’t think I can express how I  felt. Maybe it was one of those bad days when things are not going too well in your world. The movie was heavy with the harsh realities of the life of more than a third of the Indian population. I left the theatre with a strong desire to do something to make a difference and a desire to read the book on which the movie is based. This post reviews the book and the movie (maybe I will post an update on what I have done since then if it does end up making a difference in some one's life).
Slumdog Millionaire is based on the novel, Q&A written by Vikad Swarup, an Indian diplomat. Vikas Swarup, in an interview, mentioned that when Danny Boyle, the director of Slumdog Millionaire, told him that he would preserve the body of his book, Swarup should have realized that Danny would kill the soul. This heightened my expectations of the book. Such a dramatic and powerful movie can only be based on really well written-book, or so I thought. Maybe I should mention that I belong to the old school where books are better than movies, even if the movie has won six Oscars.

Anyway I got a chance to lay my hand on Q&A, now republished as Slumdog Millionaire last week, and I have the following comparison to offer. The movie is indeed based on book’s content and follows the structure of the book, as a series of questions on the popular show -Who wants to be a billionaire? That’s where the similarity ends. The book is no more than a collection of loosely bound short stories while the movie is solid commentary on Indian society with a focus on urban Indian poor. Unfortunately the book does not develop its characters, focusing instead on a series of disparate events, some of them unbelievable. While the movie floors you not only with its characters, but also by vividly capturing the life of Dharavi, believed to be Asia’s biggest slum, in the heart in India's financial capital Mumbai. If the purpose of the author was to make a generic commentary on India, he needed even more meat on the bones, which the book does not have. The author’s way of capturing the role religion plays in Indian society, through a protagonist with the name ‘Ram Mohammed Thomas’ (RMT) is far more unrealistic & ineffective than the movie’s depiction of a mob.
There are lots of other changes that the movie’s screenplay makes, small big and other small. It omits stories of RMT aka Jamal Khan (the name of the movie’s protagonist) as a bartender and his adventures in Delhi at an Australian Diplomats house. It also twists the story line, introducing an under world don while omitting a contract killer. Overall, the screenplay effectively makes a collection of short stories into a coherent movie, one that rises above its individual characters while reflecting the reality of life of the urban Indian poor. It however does this while ensuring that the characters are well developed. In this case the movie is far better than the book.

Working in a foreign land

In reference to my last post on February 15, the business week article by Vivek Wadhwa,(Senior Research Associate at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School), is a good read for facts & figures about legal foreign workers on H1-B & other visas in America

Wadhwa quotes research to point that H1 B's have aided innovation and made a significant contribution to patents. But what struck me was the fact that how even the legal migrant workers, even in the so called high skilled category are shortchanged - be it money, quality of work, benefits or promotions. With so many people still keen on coming and continuing to work here, I wonder if tougher immigration laws thus have the reverse effect then i.e, once people get in, they try to stay longer because its difficult to get in. Nevertheless, I am still amazed at people who consider themselves smart and intelligent taking professional discrimination just to stay here. I guess a lot of factors contribute, including personal. A female friend who is married to a migrant gave up a hugely successful career in India to come here. She joined the US operations of her company later, only to find second grade treatment along with the decrease in her responsibilities and stature. She now says that she has given up on career advancement.

Read the article, not just the body but also the comments to get perspective on immigration from both sides

What could $ 700 bn do!

 $700 bn is only 14% of the $14 trillion of the Mortgage Debt out in the US market

A huge chunk of the problem is thus out in the open. With about $250 out to capitalise banks, there is not much of money left there. Money goes a long way & you can't really over emphasise the how far can $700,000,000,000 take the world. 

In America you could buy Universal Health Coverage & pay health insurance premiums for all US citizens for six years.

In Africa fight hunger and poverty for 10 years. They only need $72 bn every year in UN funding.

Pay salaries of 22 million american workers for an year.

Finance Germany's annual budget (@$ 420 bn) for more than an year or buy Denmark (GDP less than $350 bn), twice.

This and so many other things that can be done with $ 700 bn are here. But we will end up spending it to pay the price of the asset bubble that has gone burst.

Life is not fair afterall.

Are any assets classes worth anything anymore

Am trying to make sense of the events of the last few weeks. First the housing bubble burst - real estate was not worth too much anymore (specially if had bought anything in the last few years); then the real estate based securities - the CDO (Collateralised Debt Obligations) lost value ;  then the Stock market - not just companies that had anything to do with housing or related securities even all those which had nothing to do with them. Stocks as an asset class are not worth too much, nor are mutual funds. And then everything together, commodities , crude & Gold. Nothing seems to be worth anything anymore. Yes we all know cash is King,  the big problem, we are not too sure of the bank where we keep this cash anymore. 

If you are an ordinary citizen of the world, who is a little aware of financial planning & diversification of wealth into asset classes, the question is where do you keep networth, (whatever is left of it) to preserve it ? Not to mention the inflation rate back home in India has been in the 11- 12% for a while, meaning wealth has been eroding for those who have been cash heavy at a rate more than -10% every year.

The big question is knowing all this what am I going to do.  The answer precious nothing. I am planning to ride it out & wait for a financial scene, when the behaviour of people and hence assets is saner, something I can comprehend.

Of sarees & kimonos

Ask most women or young girls around they would tell you that they find the saree a difficult garment to carry. Six metres of cloth wound over a drawstring skirt on your waist , then an edge pulled up across your chest , pinned up at the shoulder with one end handing loose at your back. All this and not a single stich. Don't contest that it looks nice, even sensuous if worn properly and in the context of Indian culture, draws respect in religious, family and even formal meetings. Infact in b-school saree was the de-facto dress for placements, worn by most if not all.

Personally I keep little more than an hour to dress whenever I have to wear a saree. But then random clicks and I know that someone from Japanese culture here in USA keeps 1.5 hours for dressing up in a Kimono. This sounds even more complicated.

A complete kimono outfit has three main garments: the undergarment (basically an undershirt and slip), the nagajuban -- the silk robe layered just over the undergarment -- and the outer robe. But in between and around those robes are nine ties and sashes, all of which must be secured at certain spots around the torso using particular knots. All 12 pieces must be properly arranged if you want to be comfortable and keep the robes from falling open.

However saree & Kimono are different you discover.

The key to the undershirt is to get rid of body curves. Unlike many dresses, kimonos are intended to hide a woman's shape rather than accentuate it. For slender women, that means padding the waistline; for full-figured women, flattening the chest -- either by wrapping it in a piece of cloth or by wearing a special, chest-reducing kimono bra.

The complete article from Wall Street Journal is here.
The thirteen step guide to dressing up in a kimono. Slideshow here
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Am bored of to & fro. Bailout, no bailout, whose bailout, debate or no debate and all other things related to that. But i you are working on developing the sequence of events & consequences as a case study for classes, let me know and I will participate. There is such here organization culture, negotiation politics, economics over realms of finance. I so want to document all that I am reading.

Places of Worship

Wondering whats happening to our places of worship. They are performing every other function than the one they are meant to do, to provide that close connection/ proximity to the supernatural power. Instead, they are becoming tourist centers with economies surviving on pilgrims. They are crowded, mis-managed and to add insult to injury you can buy a costlier ticket to an earlier/ faster/ closer 'darshan' (look) of God.

In the last 9 months I have made three trips. First to Shirdi in December 07, the second to Vaishno Devi in April 08 & the last one to Salasar in July 08. On all instances I was left with a bad taste. Huge crowd, loud, pandas/pandits or other people approaching you for special pujas, darshans and prashads, long lines, security & noise all around. There are cameras for security & also for beaming you the picture of inside sacred hall so that you don't spend too much time there.

I don't know if I am the only one here, but I would like my religious visits to be quiet, those rare opportunities to connect with my spiritual side. These visits leave me more tired and disturbed than provide inner peace

Btw : I left my phone & contact list in India. Yes yet again. Don't blame if I haven't called you if you haven't given me your number in the last few weeks

Books Update : Hannibal by Thomas Harris of the 'Silence of the Lambs' (Work in Progress)
Movie Update : Tropical Thunder (Genre : Comedy, Rating : Average). Ben Stiller is good and I did not recognise 'Tom Cruise' till the credits.

My adventure with the Mumbai Cops

Written sometime in June 2007

Declaration :This comes an educated professional running in her usual in the rat race with no links to crime scene/underworld etc.

Information : This comes six month late, but have moved to Mumbai. Have a car with a Punjab registration which after being damaged in an accident was parked outside my building with me waiting for a weekend to get it repaired, till one morning.

Just one morning while I was running behined schedule a little bit as usual, I saw two cops standing in the street where my car was parked for the last few days. I looked carefully there were cops, but no car. Oh my God! Did someone stole my car or what ? More than anything else I was shocked. Who would steal my car. To be fair it still runs, but nevertheless it is  almost a decade old, badly maintained, not cleaned for two months and at the end of it all, a B segment car in the middle of those newer Sedans.

Shocked at the thief whose standards were so low, I approached the cops . To my surprise the policemen jumped at discovering who the owner was. I was very pleased to hear that they had been looking almost the whole night. How concerned & dutibound, I thought.

I began talking and their questions went something like this

Who owned that car ?
For how many days was it here ?
Why was it there ?
When did it come ?
What was the purpose?
When did I last use it / Did some one else use it / The apparent accident that had happened / When/ Where etc etc?

I was shocked. What was going on ? Why was this policeman acting so weirdly ? The fact that the registration of the car is not in my name (The vehicle belongs to my dad and my parents are based out of Delhi) did not help the case at all.

And then the contours of the dramatic story unfolded.

It seems someone in the neighbouring building had intimated the cops last night of the suscipicious vehicle parked opposite his gate. According to him the vehicle was old, uncleaned, had an accident and, had a Punjab number. Clearly, this had to be bomb. These guys had been there since early morning trying to find the elusive owner & the scary bomb.

What happened thereon is history. I signed some papers (statement) went to the police station explained the case, and promptly gave my car to the nearest workshop for cleaning then & there. Inspite of everything that transpired, my interaction with cops was polite & cordial. I liked the professional treatment.

PS: That was the first time I ever went to the police station. Just recording another step in my growth as a person
Moral of the story : Keep your cars clean & get them repaired as soon as you have an accident.

It also happens in Delhi

It happened with me yet again. Had taken a day off to make good use of the Christmas weekend to go home. The three days home were great for unwinding and I really did not want to come back. (For those who me know too well, for example my parents, were surprised. I am not those very sentimental and mushy kinds) Never the less, I let home on Christmas night to take the Rajdhani to this city in the heart of India where I work

Now that I am absent minded is almost universal acknowledged. And I had the extra advantage of leaving a little late for the station. I went to station the train was already there at the platform. I frantically searched my name in charts. To my dismay, it was not there . It took me quite some disbelief to figure out that my ticket was not confirmed.

It took me good 15 minutes of talking to the TT to convince me how desperately I needed to be at work the next morning. Seeing no signs of me relenting the poor man gave in. That he too almost missed the train in this whole exercise is another story.

Once in I decided to call back home to tell them that I have left Delhi. I looked into my purse, then in my bag, then in my jeans pocket and then again in my purse. Quite a few rounds of these searches and realized the evening had been more exciting than I initially thought. I had lost my cell phone. Since was talking on the phone while on my way to station it clearly was not left back home.

For those who loose their cell phone for the first time are clearly unprepared for the loss of information it brings. I have since long stopped keeping people's cards or a diary. The 1.5 inches by 4 inches by 1/2 inch gadget stores all my contact numbers, to do lists, information etc. But this to is not the high point of this story.

The high point of the story was to be unfolded the next day morning. I landed in Nagpur and then reached office, to find out that dad had called someone to give a message. An autorickshaw driver had given my cellphone in the nearest police station to be delivered to its owner. In 2004 something similar had happened to me in Mumbai. But ordinarily I or for that matter no one I know would have expected this is Delhi. We just make certain generalizations of things and people around us.

Yet again life taught me not to make any assumptions

PS : If I haven't called you for long, please blame it on this incident. Its high time you give me a call so that I get your number again.