Blog with Me !

2008-07-22T19:46:00.001+08:00

I so felt like saying this....
...I am back.

I hope I stay here though...

Wake up call - chinese national woman soccer team

2006-09-14T16:09:00.000+08:00


a cool commercial made by Adidas, go soccer

tiger woods trick

2006-09-12T23:09:00.000+08:00


See what tiger can do

2006-08-27T16:38:00.000+08:00

I visited the fringe club last evening to listen to some Jazz. The Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra plays at the club, on the last Saturday of the month.

I had a great time, there must have been 200 people packed into a room all in awe of the music they heard. While listening to Jazz (I must admit I am not much of a connoisseur) I thought to myself, why is it that music makes us happy, or sad for that matter? On researching this I realised there were a number of studies that had been done on the topic, this is what I came up with:

"Music activates the same parts of the brain and causes the same neurochemical cocktail as a lot of other pleasurable activities like eating chocolate -- Serotonin and dopamine are both involved." - Wired

Yeah, I too didn't get it. So I decided not to pursue the "why" and decided to accept the fact that music does effect our mood, just like we accept that the sun rises in the east or that we can't put tooth paste back in the tube once we have taken it out! For once I didn't feel like attaching a reason, I was happy just knowing that music can make me feel good, allows me to dream - it takes me beyond the rainbow.

Over the Rainbow - was one of the songs sung at the concert, listen to it if you have the time. I would be interested to know if you, after listening to the song, found that pot of gold called happiness (well, atleast for a brief moment).

Though you don't need to tell me why.

2006-08-26T11:48:00.000+08:00

Racing the Planet with Nick

Nick Wai has been a good friend, recently he did something amazing. He volunteered to organise a race across the Atacama Dessert in Chile. He says that it was one of the most memorable moments of his life. He has also written of his experiences ... here.

Great Job Nick!

2006-05-15T20:30:00.000+08:00

Biggest Pan Cake I have eaten!

I didn't realise things would pan out this good.

2006-05-15T20:26:00.000+08:00

London Summer. Need I say more....

2006-03-17T02:37:00.000+08:00

Bebo White

Its interesting how people distinguished in a field only comment on that field, while many ordinary people like me talk of every subject under the sun like we were distinguished in each of them.

I had the opportunity recently to listen to two such distinguished gentlemen at the University. One was Mr. Bebo White. A techi such as myself, but unlike me, a man of few yet fascinating words.

He spoke on Web 2.0, the new web, not any different from the old, “Its more of an attitude” rather than technology he explained.

New web applications he said would be built to focus on the users, like blogs and wikis. They would also be more about functionality and ease of use and less about technology. Just as well that I am studying some finance.

Here is a list of some such applications :
yackpack – For talkative people.
Eventful – like a calendar.
SaveMeSite – For all you beggars.
Ohmynews – users act like reporters.

I waited eagerly for the Q&A session, there was something I had to ask. Wasn't user acceptance the most important factor determining the success of any new application? Recently a few of us at HKU launched Chuli-TextBook exchange and sale website. We got rave reviews from class-mates, they enthusiastically congratulated us on how useful the idea was, but almost a month into the project we have 4 users!! The importance of being accepted has never seemed more important.

2006-03-06T12:53:00.000+08:00

Managing by making mistakes!

What inhibits most companies from being innovative is the fear their employees have of making a mistake. That fear kills innovation! What we need is management (read HR) to encourage a thought process that encourages risk taking.

"Dont be afraid to make mistakes" is what they should encourage, but the risk should have been taken while trying something innovative.

At GE Jack Welch did it by setting stretch targets, targets so high that if one did not think unconventionally they would not be able to achieve it. Managers were not given disincentives for not achieving stretch targets, but were given heavy bonuses for achieving the stretch targets.

An MBA should teach students to be like this, my Strategy Professor always says, I want you all to be "real" MBAs, and I know that he is trying to tell me, "Son, don’t be afraid to make mistakes ".

“One successful internal entrepreneur told me that the secret to making things happen is not to get hit in the face in the same spot when management slams the door. You have to continue to approach an idea from different angles“- Neal Thornberry, Tapping the Internal Entrepreneur, BW

2006-02-23T00:21:00.000+08:00

Keep Running to stay at the same place...
I have been taking the Firm strategy class quite seriously and one thing I have learnt and would like to implement is innovation. So, I thought I would get my class mates to start writing for this blog. This way it saves me time too...sinister!

There is no better way to start running than to run a marathon and kitmun my MBA classmate from Singapore ran the Hong Kong marathon.

The HK marathon took place on 12February with a record 40,000 runners taking part in various distances of the 10-year old event. Standing at the start line on that cool sunday at 8:15, the demands of the event and the fear of being able to cover the distance slowly started to sink in. You see, all the training hitherto had been on distances of 33k and below and after 3hours in a run, the thought of covering another 9-10k is quite a differnet thing altoghether.
Anyway on reflection, i have put together some of the most memorable parts of the event which I hope will make for interesting reading to those who are interested in taking up the sport or dare and sharing their own insights about running.

Pre-marathon:
The most difficult part of the marathon was the training and the sacrifices that came with it. Now I know why completing a marathon is such a celebratory affair, it is because it marks the culmination of months of arduous physical and mental training,

Logging mileage was particularly difficult as I tried my best to cope with long solitary runs in the cold weather. Just the thought of the first few minutes of bone penetrating cold right now is already enough to send shivers down the spine.

Never underestimate the importance of support.
In Singapore, the communal lunacy of a bunch of hard-core runners getting up at 4am to run 30k, lended some semblance of normalcy but when you are running alone in the dark at 6.30 in Hong Kong and battling curious stares you know how much you miss your friends, and then the loneliness sets in ……., and the wild cheers that used to greet me when I returned last from a long run seemed just so far away….

Hence, it was a crazy uphill mental battle and when I stood at the start line on 12th Feb at Nathan Road, I experienced the ironic relief that it was the end of a very tough fight....

During the run
Unfamiliar territory.
I never ran the course but it was excruciatingly boring, logging miles on the open highway where roads seemed to stretch on forever....

We had to battle wind chills and harsh winds running loops over two suspension bridges (Tsing Ma and Ting Kau bridge). And then there were two tunnels (one under a mountain and one which went under the sea) where the pervading sense of claustrophobia looms like a dark cloud over you.

Crowd support was also non-existent as the course ran through closed highways and bridges and tunnels. So it was really the inner voice that pushed those legs......

Greatest moments: (actually it was finding Fatima after one and a half hours)
Chewing on a chunky kitkat given out at 30k….it was the most heavenly taste of chocolate ever and the sugar high that came from it was most comforting ….and of course finishing the race at my all-time (actually only run 2x before) personal best (i had to double check that it was indeed 4:16) !

Worst moments
The agony of confronting a long steep ascent up a highway after emerging and climbing out of the Western Tunnel at the 36k mark, and the mental battle to put one feet infront of the other to slowly climb up the highway.

The frustration with my perceived timing when I noticed volunteers removing the traffic cones off the road and preparing the ready the road for traffic again created that feeling of defeat.
(read nine rules of surviving a marathon)

2006-02-22T02:11:00.000+08:00

Google of the Future.....

Here is an article on some scenarios of what google might be like in a few years.

The picture is created by a smart software that uses google images and makes a montage with it. If you want to know more, click on the pic.

2006-02-09T00:42:00.001+08:00

You want Moore? You can only get half .... says Demi Moore!!

" processing power of microchips will double every 18 months." - Moore's law

The S curve is used to depict how innovative technology takes time to "take off". This can be related to an intreresting theory by Bhaskar Chakravorti, a Harvard lecturer, the theory states...

"Technology's impact in the market will most likely proceed at only half the speed predicted by Moore." - That's demi-Moore's Law'

The rate of adoption of technology lags behind the pace of the actual technological advances because players on the demand side and the supply side are sitting on the fence and waiting to see what other players will do.

2006-02-05T22:10:00.001+08:00

Follow up on the post about my trip to China...

This is from the CIO.com site:

If you search for “Tiananmen,” you get peaceful photos of the Beijing square -- but if you search for common misspellings like "Tienanmen," "Tianenmen," or "Tiananman," you get photos of tanks.”

Now if they would just set that little “Did you mean” feature to suggest other ways not to correctly spell what you are looking for.

2006-02-04T13:00:00.000+08:00

Our trip to Stanley...

Its amazing what one can do with technology, this was a color picture, now in retro mode.

We are pravin, anna, thomas and me.

2006-02-02T14:10:00.000+08:00

The Land of the not so Free but the home of the Prosperous

I wish I could say that I am writing this blog entry from Shenzhen, China, but when I tried I could not open my blog page. “Blocked !!”, that’s the first thought that came to mind. And then I thought, “heyyyyy, I wanted to write something positive about China, and even then I was blocked from doing it”.

Now back in HK, and feeling empowered, I am writing my own series on China, the not so forbidden land.

Taxis and Economic growth
Traveling around Shenzhen there is a distinct grayness in the sky, but if you look past the smog you can actually smell prosperity in the air. Someone once told me about a test to measure prosperity and economic growth. No, it’s not a complex model to do with the GDP or Per capita income, but something as simple as looking into taxis and seeing if they are full. I was advised, “If you find it difficult to get a cab, you should be happy, because that means the economy is doing well”. I have come to agree, because I see that in HK and I saw it in Shenzhen. It’s amazing how theories can be simplified into something that one can actually feel in practical life.

Catapulted by Capitunism
For sometime now I have been trying to coin a term for the kind of govt. that exists in China. Undoubtedly communist, yet committed capitalists, I think the best I have come up with is Capitunist. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Capitunism is catapulting China forward and Shenzhen is a good example. Its economy is growing between 20-25% a year and has reached $35 bn. My Chinese friends tell me that this kind of development in cities is due to the govt. policy to reward mayors and the type to push for higher and higher growth. This growth then results in them being promoted sooner, even out of turn. Hmm…let me think, does this not sound like a private company - reward for results! While I was in Shenzhen I visited the largest seaport in the province, it was in a place called YanTian, literally meaning salt fields. And I was told that there were salt fields there a few years back. A board on the highway read, “This port contributes to China’s economic development”. Enterprise with Focus!

“Democracy” on Google
There was one thing I wanted to do when I went to China, type democracy into google and get blocked. I don’t know why I had that urge, but I think it’s got to do with the fact that I hail from the largest democracy on the planet, when something is taken away from you, only then do you realize the value of what you have…

…I hope we use this supposed “freedom” we have for the purpose of prosperity, because China is definitely using the supposed lack of “freedom” for sustained growth of its nation and its people.

2006-01-05T02:57:00.000+08:00

National Geographic: Best Picture of the Year

"Reminds me of the speed with rajbir and myself started running the marathon...
... before we collapsed in a heap while exiting the stadium" - Satyajit

2005-12-27T05:06:00.000+08:00

There is no such thing as bad publicity!

In the last few newsletters of the Economist, Mckinsey Quarterly and Knowledge at Wharton, I have noticed a number of articles that relate to India and China.

Out of curiosity, I went to the web site of each of these publications and searched for articles with keyword India and China.
The results speak for themselves:
Over the last 5 years there has been a compounded average growth of 17% and 22%, in the number of articles relating to India and and China respectively.

The graphs show the number of articles relating to China and India.

Both the countries seem to be gaining TOMA.
An increased number of articles in global and influential publications such as these, go further to demonstrate worldwide interest in this region.

2005-12-17T03:51:00.000+08:00

Everybody was kung-fu fighting

Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they did it with expert timing

Little bit of trivia. This song was produced by an Indian called Biddu.

2005-12-11T20:46:00.000+08:00

Who said Finance was tough!

While reading my finance book...I came across this gem.

"Buy low, Sell high, Play golf"

I like the subject even more now!

2005-12-07T15:17:00.000+08:00

A real Life Entrepreneur

Po Chung, my Professor for the entrepreneurship and creative innovation class, is the co-founder of DHL.

What I am going to write will be useful to all the budding entrepreneurs and also for the rest of us who, though working for some one else, have that little spark to be an entrepreneur. I hope this fans the spark.

Po Chung said that entrepreneurship in about salesmanship above all else. Why?
Because...
1. A startup has nothing – “you have to convince people to buy, to believe in your dream”.
2. Get talented people to work with you, especially if the salary isn't sky high.
3. Even getting suppliers is difficult when you are new to a business.

Here are some key points a sales pitch should have..
a. Quote existing customers, in order to instantly build credibility.
b. Describe the pain that the potential customer is going through and how you can solve it.
c. Speak the language of the potential customer.

Here is an example from DHL’s initial days..
HK was the R&R base for US troops during the Vietnam War. This would mean that cheques troops wrote in HK amounted to about US$1million a day. These cheques took 10days to clear, taking about 5 days to get to the destination and 5 days back.

Which meant that banks lost:
$280 in interest costs a day -> 10 days meant $2800 and multiply this by 250 days (avg time troops were in HK) and the cost to banks amounted to $700,000 a year.
There was the pain. And Po Chung spoke the language banks understood, that of money and savings. DHL would reduce the time to clear a cheque and thus solve the pain.

The rest as they say is history.

2005-11-30T03:14:00.000+08:00

Mentor

"In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcumus and a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his palace." - wikipedia

From L: Sylvia (mentee), Michael (mentor), Me (mentee)

HKU's mentorship program is into it's 9th year, and is now an establishment in itself.

2005-11-26T15:19:00.000+08:00

Why $5 Gas Is Good for America.

.... and the rest of the world. A witty article about a serious issue. Trends are already moving away from oil consumption to hybrids. Toyota, Ford, GM are all producing Hybrids that guzzle less fuel. Economics is making other sources of energy viable.

Like the author suggests, "Put the pedal to the metal" towards a world of multiple energy sources.

read more about it on wired

2005-11-24T23:04:00.000+08:00

The Last Colonial Oppressor

Chris Patten likes to call himself that.

He was at the University of Hong Kong a few weeks back and I had the pleasure of listening to a most interesting and entertaining talk.

Chris Patten is today the Chancellor of the Oxford University and finally cleared the doubt that, had for long been brewing in my mind. Why do we have Chancellors of University when they don’t seem to do much? Chris Patten explained, “How could we have Vice-Chancellor if there was no Chancellor!”

He told us how he was best known for leaving jobs rather than arriving in one. And on another occasion, while traveling in a US taxi he was told how like Chris Patten he looked.

Something that he seemed quite sure about was that the new world order had to acknowledge the rise of Asia, and especially China and India. There were suddenly a lot of fists being pumped in the Loke Yew Hall, and these included the fists of a few Indians who were there too. He spoke on how between the 15th and 18th centuries India and China collectively accounted for over 50% of the worlds GDP. He seemed confident that China would have the largest GDP in a few years. Here is something I said to a friend a few days back during our conversation about the economic rise of India and China, “You have 2.5 billion people growing economically, at an average of 8% a year”. I think this puts things into perspective.

India off-course suffers from many inherent problems; one of them being the Communist Party of India, which is part of the coalition government in India. As Mr. Patten puts it “India has a Communist party that still believes in communism”.

He went on to talk about Hong Kong, a city he has a lot of affinity towards. And the people here seem reciprocate, they have a visible liking to their “Last Oppressor”. He said that the Hong Kong community was liberal but not yet democratic. He said that Hong Kong had all the qualities of a successful democracy: an independent judiciary, clean police and a clean civil service. “When you look around Asia, HK has one of the most open societies”, he said. I second that!

Chris Patten has recently released a book called “Not quite a Diplomat”, though he did handle a lot of the questions relating to HK’s path towards democracy with diplomacy. He did answer one question un-diplomatically though; on being asked what would happen if China’s growth stutters, he said, “If China goes wrong – God bless all of us!!”
And I could imagine all the Anti-WTO protestors going – “so much for globalization”

2005-11-24T00:32:00.000+08:00

Ahoy Matees

"Arr, why buy a house, when ye can buy a house boat."
- Captain McAllister, The Simpsons (I grew up on the simpsons)

Capt. Govind (in the middle), my batch mate, he once offered me some Fuel from a ship that he captained. The ship carried 10000 tonnes of Crude. I Should have taken up his offer!

2005-11-23T00:06:00.000+08:00

Peter Drucker - Arguably the best management guru of all

Something interesting I picked up from a Businessweek article on peter drucker who recently expired at the age of 95.

" He taught generations of managers the importance of picking the best people, of focusing on opportunities and not problems, of getting on the same side of the desk as your customer, of the need to understand your competitive advantages, and to continue to refine them. He believed that talented people were the essential ingredient of every successful enterprise"

you can find the whole article here

2005-10-25T23:14:00.000+08:00

True Colours!
Anupam and me showing off our team colours.

2005-10-25T23:08:00.000+08:00

The Mighty Red Dragons !

The first module ended last friday and to celebrate the feat we were at a team building workshop at macau the next day.

These things actually work!! Made a bunch of really great friends.

This is one of our sober pictures though!

2005-10-10T02:02:00.000+08:00

When you get the opportunity...Sleep!

The MBA course sure does teach you sleep management. Here is a log of all the places i have dozed of at.. I shall keep updating it, so watch this space..

library.
Study room.
Bus.
Yes..even when i went shooting! I have a pic to prove it.
Outside class.
Inside class.

2005-09-26T02:20:00.000+08:00

Fire Away!!

Sunday, the only day I get "off" these days, well technically atleast. Today was special though.

Most MBA students would come to B-school and join a finance club or a investment club, I decided to join the Weapons and Tactics club I have only one explanation for why I might have done this, I must have been influenced by Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War" !

Anyway, I took the subway, to a place called Fortress Hill. I expected a prison, but came across a shooting range in an apartment block. HK is great at making something out of nothing; I am hoping it will do the same for me.

A few quick instructions about how not to point the gun at others, and we were firing away (pellets only). There were two types of scenarios. One, where you had a set of targets, and you had to knock them down before your opponent knocks down his; almost like a duel. In the Second scenario, you had to shoot at some targets behind wooden walls and through windows.

There were times when my pistols magazine dropped out while shooting because I pressed the wrong button; or when my gun wouldn't work because I had the safety lever on; or the time when I had to change my magazine in between and the magazine wouldn’t come out of the holster. But apart from these minor mishaps, I felt like Billy the Kid.

A Sunday well spent on acquiring a skill that is sure to come in handy in the corporate battles that I might have to face in the future.

PS: pictures will soon be up.

2005-09-10T18:41:00.000+08:00

Racing Into the Future

The races in Hong Kong, are part fo the local culture. Every wednesday trams, busses, MTR filled with people head out to Happy Valley (gee wiz!). There are the serious lot who win money, and there are people like Thomas (left most)and Me who go for fun and loose money.

2005-09-10T00:00:00.000+08:00

The University Main building

courtesy:University of HK

2005-09-09T21:45:00.000+08:00

HK: A Free Economy

I find that Hong Kong is a true capitalist (read free) economy. There seems to be no concept of MRP(maximum retail price). This was even more startling when I saw that McDonald's, the firm that believes in standardizing everything, actually has differential pricing. Supermarkets of the same chain, are more expensive in certain areas and cheaper in other places.

2005-09-04T18:10:00.000+08:00

HONG KONG

Hi guys, i have gotten back to blogging, this time i have re-surfaced in Hong Kong, i am here to do an MBA. Class starts tomorrow and I look forward to you coming along on my trip through the orient.

This picture should whet your appetite. It's taken from Victoria peak, behind the university.

2005-07-26T12:44:00.000+08:00

Are Economists Pessimists by nature?

In the paper
Reconsidering Expectations of Economic Growth after World War II from the Perspective of 2004 by Robert W. Fogel - University of Chicago, GSB, explains how many economists of the 19th and 20th centuries have been pessemistic about the growth of The world economy...here is an interesting quote from his paper.

The economists in 1850 wrote that the progress of
the last decade had been so great that it could not possibly continue. And economists at
the end of the nineteenth century wrote that the progress of the last half century has been so great that it could not possibly continue during the twentieth century.

Will they be proven wrong again?

2005-07-19T13:10:00.000+08:00

Trip down Memory Lane – Bangalore Revisited
We paraded down the MG road, it is arguably the best known road in Bangalore barring, maybe the brigade road. Then there is the infantry road, the Rest house road, Levelle road, Richmond road, Residency road.

Interestingly, the MG road hasn't kept its original British given name. The Mahatma Gandhi road was originally called the South Parade road because it wound down the south-side of the Military Parade ground. Today, there is no bungalow of Victorian vintage that a century ago, almost certainly adorned South Parade, only a space age, steel and glass offices situated on MG road. The real estate boom has well and truly engulfed Bangalore, and if you listen in close enough you can almost hear real estate developers go Yahoo!

This is just a little taste of something I did a couple of Sundays back. Arun Pai, runs tours called Bangalore walks. He selects places of historical significance in Bangalore and walks inquisitive travelers like me down many a lane. For this walk he had selected, MG road, brigade road and rest house road. The not so arduous 3 km journey, took us a little over 3 hrs, and just as well; there was a whole lot of history that we needed to absorb.

We saw the Mayo hall and its complete contrast in the shape of the Horticulture building. We saw some exquisite Victorian bungalows that still stand on MG road. They take a little bit of finding, but the good part is that we felt like true treasure hunters. We saw the first KFC outlet in India and it was fascinating to see that this was the same restaurant that anti globalization demonstrators broke down some 8 years ago. They off-course hadn’t heard of Thomas Friedman and were foolish enough to think that the world was round. We then passed the building where only a couple of decades ago an Indian company started out flattening this world. The original Wipro building still stands tall just off MG road, and just looking at it made me feel a few feet taller.

Arun was quick to point out that he had a theory that Bangalore was bound to become the silicon valley of the East, according to him it could have been predicted a few decades back. Some of the facts he narrated made me a believer too. From then on the only thing I could think of was why I didn't know Arun then, more importantly, why didn't I know of this theory then. Real estate must have literally been dirt cheap then. I quickly but quietly asked him if he had similar theories about Mysore, Mangalore, Hyderabad or maybe Chandigarh. I think I’ll just keep to myself what he told me that fateful Sunday morning.

We were headed for breakfast, and I couldn't think of a better way to top off a wonderfully enjoyable Sunday morning. I for one, and I am sure all my fellow explorers, would take away a lot of memories from the lanes we traversed that morning.

That day we were yet another bunch of guys who were truly and surely Bangalored!

2005-07-18T19:48:00.000+08:00

Robbie, Girish (My roommate at IMT)...Brothers at Arms!

2005-06-10T15:41:00.000+08:00

Bangalore, Booze and Brains

When you thought that this city was all out of surprises, it threw one at me last eve. On a monsoon hit Thursday evening, Tarun and I made our way to a pub called Night Watchman. I know that’s not enough news to write a mail about, but wait…there’s more!

The USP at night watchman is that on Thursday nights they conduct a quiz,
aptly named ‘Brains and Booze’ thus making all the guys without the brawn, wanted.
In my case off-course, even the first part is doubtful.

So, having settled in and armed with a pen and cards with our table number untidily scribbled on them, began a night of learning.

The sequence of events goes something like this:
Play a song, follow it up with a question, give in the answers, listen to another song, Get the answer. And the sequence repeats for a while. Though, to make it even more fun You have rapid fire rounds. And off-course the Do or Die round, when I first heard of this round, I thought it was the booze, but there was actually a do or die round. Here 5 questions were asked and you scored for a right answer and points deducted for a wrong one.

We did and died!

It’s amazing what one can remember on a couple of drinks, I still remember a lot of the questions, Here are a few from last night.

Which is the oldest brand logo?
If you had ‘PEK‘ written on your luggage, where would you be going?
Who was the first Hollywood actor to endorse cherry blossom
Deep valleys caused by glacial movement, commonly found in Norway and Iceland are called?
What is man who sings at the lowest vocal range in a choir called?
Who was the highest prize winnings in golf in the 2004-2005 season?
What are the Airline code printed on Kingfisher airline tickets?
Which air line would be the first one to fly the Airbus A380?
Which was the first band to perform on the great wall of china?
What is the basic ingredient of Lip stick?
Which country does the liquor Drambuie come from ?
Which country has the tallest inhabited building?

The answers are given below.

Oh yeah almost forgot to mention, the winning table didn’t have to pay the bill,
We didn’t win, but hey who said playing was about winning. It’s about trying ….
even when one is a little high…hick, hick

It was great fun and a novel idea. I look forward to returning next Thursday ;)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Answers:

1. Johnie Walker
2. Beijing
3. Charlie Chaplin
4. Fjords
5. Bass (also Basso)
6. Vijay Singh
7. IT
8. Singapore Airlines
9. India’s very own - Euphoria.
10. Coco butter.
11. Scotland
12. Taiwan

2005-06-10T15:39:00.000+08:00

Nine Rules to Surviving a Marathon

On May 15th, my best friend and I ran the inaugural Bangalore marathon. It was one of many firsts. Apart from being the first marathon to be organized in peak summer, it was also the first marathon we had ever participated in. I aught to tell you right away, that we didn’t finish and we didn’t get a certificate. (So you can stop reading if you want to). But we did run 36kms and we came away (we’d like to think) wiser. Here is what we learnt.

• 42 will always sound better than 21: 42.125kms is how long a marathon is. When we first decided to run we signed up for the 21km ‘Mini-Marathon’. Apart from sounding really sissy, we quickly realized that running a mini-marathon wasn’t sufficient reason to bunk office on Monday. Rule #1 – do something you will remember 10 years later even if you don’t succeed doing it. (If it gives you an excuse to bunk office on Monday – even better)

• Beer is not a carbohydrate: There are carbs and there are carbs. On Saturday night, like all true endurance athletes, we loaded up on carbohydrates – in our case, in the form of fermented hops and aged barley. As we were to realize next morning – we were far on the wrong side of the line that divides casualness and stupidity. Rule #2 – Casualness and stupidity are both unacceptable when your about to do something worth doing. Always, do your homework. Research, research, research till you know what works. There is no excuse not knowing your carbs.

• 5 minutes can loose you the race. (or) 5 minutes late and you miss your warm up. With the effect of the night’s carbohydrates still potent, we arrived at the stadium (just) 5 minutes late. This meant we got out of the car (no warm ups), ran to the sign up counter (still no warm ups), ran to the start line (still no warm ups), ran out the stadium and into the arms of a severe bout of hamstring cramps. Rule #3 – If your going to run for 6 hours then for God Sake take 5 minutes out do the warm ups!!! Alternate perspective for the super-achievers. The difference between the guy who won the marathon and the guy who came in sixth was 4 minutes 30 seconds. Do you want to be the guy who came in sixth?

• Keep your milestones in sight – make them your friends. When you’re in it for the long haul, time and distance become variable. The first 16 kilometers will feel a lot like the next 6. After that, you won’t have much motivation to run the next 3 (or 20 in the case of a marathon). So take it one mile at a time. Be enthusiastic to meet the next marker, and then the next, and the next…pretty soon your at the U-turn and life isn’t looking so bad. Rule #4 – Don’t run a marathon in 20 minutes (remember: You’re probably not a Kenyan). Be smart…take it a mile at a time. Celebrate each mile run and then set yourself a new target.

• Be careful at the U-Turn – I’m not even referring to the guy who missed the U-turn and was last sighted at Colombo. I’m referring to you and me – regular guys who start to think the half way mark is half done. You start to get complacent… or even worse (as in our case) overconfident. You begin to think the second half will be as easy as the first. Big mistake. Trust me…the half way point is the organizers way of telling you that this is where the pain is about to start. The sun is out by now and the cheering crowds have disappeared. Let your guard down for an instant, become overconfident …and your race will over sooner than you like. Rule #5 – Be prepared for things to get worse – they probably will. I’m not advocating pessimism but never uncork the champagne till the fat lady sings.

• Don’t write off the fat guy with cramps – Too many times in the race we overtook people who were slow or tired or faltering. Sometimes we found it funny sometimes we felt sorry for them. Five times out of ten, though, they came back out of nowhere and whipped us. Similarly, too many times we caught up with people who had earlier in the day looked like they were going to have a serious shot at the gold medal. Rule #6 – You never know where your competition is coming from. Don’t underestimate anyone!

• Knowing when to stop – Soon after the 32nd kilometer the body pushed the auto destruct button – eyes glazed, lungs crumpled and white-hot needles shot up the thighs with each step. I guess that’s natures way of politely suggesting its time we called a cab. That’s also the time when you realize that the guy you are is no match for the guy you’re going to become. Rule #7 – Keep running. There is always a little bit more in you than you factored for.

• There will always be another marathon – Coming straight after Rule #7 this one is a bit hard to justify. But sometimes no matter how you wish you could take that next step, its not going to happen. Believe me, its not mental – it’s a bio-mechanical thing when the messages just don’t reach the muscles anymore. And you will know it and you will hate it. That’s good. A bit of hate is good. But be wise. Sit down, take a swig of water, wave to the guys still running on, smell the flowers…well you get the idea. Rule #8 – There is no shame in quitting…as long as you promise yourself your going to do it again next year. A strategic retreat is better than permanent damage. Go home a stronger and wiser person and you are a winner already!

• Don’t believe anything you have read so far – Go out there and find you own marathon to run. Rule #9 – The only rules worth living by are the ones you write for your self.

So go on, put on your shoes. What are you waiting for…?

2005-04-13T12:17:00.000+08:00

Putting behind our initial fears of the whole trip being the biggest April fools trick ever, we left office for Kollur at 1 pm on Friday 1st April.

Kollur Kahan hai..

2 busses were organised for the 57 of us, 4 others would come in a car.The busses looked well maintained, though they weren't air-conditioned.That was soon forgotten though as the ever popular Antakshari, was sounded off at the back seats of our bus. We are no Kishore Kumars or Latas, but we tried our best to sing along.

Hum to pagal Hai..

We were expected to reach Kollur by about 9 in the eve, but at 9 we were
at a small town called Shimoga eating dinner at a place called Food Fort.
A colleague heard 'Food Court' and promptly uttered India Sure is shining.
We still had 4 hours to get to the camp site. It was going to be a long night. The journey was made all the more excruciating seeing SRK on the tele trying to find his maya in Dil to pagal Hai. Maya god !! How did this movie ever become a hit?

Mookambika khush hua!

It seemed as though it would take divine intervention for us to reach our destination. That’s exactly what happened, we finally reached the Mookambika national reserve and our final destination Anejhari Nature Camp at about 1 at night. The reserve is named after Goddess Mookambika, who is regarded as a manifestation of Shakti, Saraswathi and Mahalakshmi. She is also known as the mother of the universe. The bus could not go all the way to the campsite so we had to trek for what seemed like an eternity to reach. Surprisingly the mookambika forests are famous for Tigers and Sloth Bears amongst other animals. Just as well that many of us weren't aware of this fact during the trek!

The igloo shaped tents seemed modern; they were made of nylon and had matting at the base. The matting really helped because the ground beneath was nowhere close to being flat. I got a tent near the edge, where the camp site meets the forest. The thought of being the first one to be attacked by a hungry tiger kept us awake, or was it the prospect of a drink or two? I don't remember exactly but it must've been the former.

The great Indian Rope trick..

One would think that the earlier you get up the less the rush for the limited toilet resources. But the problem is that all of us think the same way, so the earlier one gets up the more the rush for the Loo. That’s a piece of advice for the future. The agenda for the day way just to hang around, literally. Our primate cousins would have had the laugh of their life if they would have seen us on the ropes trying to cross from one tree to another. But what we lacked in skill, we made up in enthusiasm. We completed the Multi vine, the Burma loop, river crossing and rappelling. We had to wait hours on end to get a chance to behave like a monkey, but we waited, and waited and waited. Some watched, some slept, some played cricket. We had the inaugural Mookambika Mashes series, a hard fought best of three series, I was fortunate enough to be in the winning team. The mashes series will be a regular fixture on future trips. The trophy? a boiled potato.

Silent Dance

Turtle Bay, about an hour away from our camp site, was where we were to spend our evening. With fish in the water on one side and fish on the plate on the other, it sure was a fine opportunity to mingle with the rest of the guys.

The Turtle bay resort gets its name from the sea turtles that inhabit the beach during the nesting season from October to December every year. A pity, coz we were a couple of months off. But nonetheless there was a lot to do, we sat around a bon fire for much of the evening eating, drinking dancing and making merry. The highlight of the evening was without doubt the 'Silent Dance' performed by some of us in a not so sober state. No singing no music, only dancing around the bonfire.

When the organisers decided that this was going to be a communication event little they know that it wasn't going to be all verbal.

Devi's Temple

After our antics the night before, a visit to the famous temple of goddess Mookambika almost became an act of redemption. The temple is built on the foothills of the western ghats, it has a big quadrangle and the statue of goddess Mookambika is housed in a temple inside the quadrangle. It is said that Adi Sankara himself installed the image of Mookambika. The temple is situated in the banks of the river, Sauparnika. We reached the temple just in time to see something most of us had never seen before. The Temple flag was being lowered; the flag had, what looked like a lion on it. There were two men standing at one corner outside the temple, but within the quadrangle.
One of them had a burning torch in his hand and the other, a cymbal. Both seemed very serious and were instructing the by now substantial crowd to give way. Just as the flag was lowered they began to run at full stretch around the temple. Seemed like quite an aggressive ceremony. Another interesting thing was that the men had to remove their shirts before entering the temple. In the olden days
this was to see that all those who were entering the temple were Brahmins, but today it is more a symbol of purity.

Out side the temple stood an Elephant with a mahout. On giving the elephant some money he would bless you by placing his snout on your head. The elephant seemed very intelligent, he was saving time by collecting a number of coins at once and giving away his blessings and then returning the collection to the mahout. One devotee offered a banana and the elephant did what most of us would have too, put it straight into his mouth. Just before we got into the bus for the onward journey, we decided to buy a soft drink from a shop right outside the temple. The MRP read Rs15 but we were charged Rs20. Suddenly it felt as though, all the spiritualism was fine
but ultimately, it was demand and supply that made the world go round!

Don't Varahi be happy

We rushed to the kayaking site on the banks of the Varahi river. The Karnataka Power Corp. Ltd. operates a dam here and generates about 250mw of power. Talking of which we must have consumed a lot of our power trying to kayak down the river. A truly refreshing experience and totally worth the wait. The swimmers amongst us were extremely confident but that was only until the instructor told them that the non-swimmers were much better at this, as they, unlike swimmers, always followed instructions.

At the end of the run we were bundled into a Mahindra four-wheel drive, the sheer power of the vehicle is evident in this terrain. We returned took a shower under a sprinkler in a nearby farm and had a hot cup of tea.

All in all, the entire trip was a great experience. If we are going to have more events with the same theme, I for one am glad that we solve communication problems in this manner.

Till we communicate again....

2005-02-11T15:05:00.000+08:00

Hi,

Have come back to blogging. This time, apart from articles I read, I intend to use this medium to write about the infrastructure issues in Bangalore.

The biggest hurdle India faces in it's economic progress, is poor infrastructure. Taking Bangalore as an example, I will blog my observations on it's progress in building Infrastructure.

Why Bangalore? Apart from the fact that I live here now, Bangalore is a good sample as it is arguably the fastest growing city in India. Realty prices are booming because of a mass migration of educated professionals into the city. Massive investment on the part of MNCs has been seen in Bangalore for the past few years now. Taking these facts into account, Bangalore should have invested in infrastructure projects to further it's growth. The question is, is it?

Through this blog I will try to keep you uptodate on the progress of infrastructure development in Bangalore.

Rajbir

2004-04-16T21:14:00.000+08:00

National geographic | How Slavery Helped Build a World Economy
Slaves in America actually built the economy that they are now. They were traded, sold and even
used as collateral. The worth of a slave owner included the value of the slaves he had.

2004-03-27T17:44:00.000+08:00

Energy sequrity is the what will be required in the future, and not only that, the energy must also be renewable. The danes sped ahead with wind power, the scots are leading the way with tidal energy. They are setting up tidal farms of the coast of scotland which will start supplying power to them in an attemp to erradicate their power shortages. This type of renewable source of energy must be looked at in the Indian enviornment too!!

Red herring | Tidal farming's new wave

2004-03-27T05:22:00.000+08:00

Interesting to note that there is no Nobel prize for maths! Prizes like the Abel prize, named after Niels Henrik Abel fill this void. This year it went to Sir Michael Atiyah and Isadore Singer for their "index theory". This theory helps figure out how many possible solutions there are to a problem. more..

2004-03-21T19:51:00.000+08:00

NASA has decided to stop servicing the Hubble space telescope, a pity because Hubble has been
of great service to the Scientific community. The Hubble, however, continues to serve. Recently
it took pictures of galaxies considered 13 billion lightyears away, 400 million years after the big
bang. Economist | Hubble's last stand?

2004-03-20T21:31:00.000+08:00

The fortune magazine recently ran an article on how Google is changing the face of Advertising. It is turning it around, from producers reaching out to an audience, to the audience refceiving ads when they search for something on google.

The idea is simple yet ingenious, products are associated with keywords, when one of the keyword is typed out by the user the companies advert comes up. The company that pays the most for a keyword gets it's advert presented first. When the user clicks on the advert, Google cashes in!!

more...

2004-03-19T13:40:00.000+08:00

Amidst all this debate on the IIM fee reduction, here is an interesting statistics, Of the world's 862 million illiterate adults, 61% live in India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Wonder if all the hype and media publicity is directed at the right place. If young kids won't get an education, they will never reach a stage where they will be part of an esteemed education institute like the IIMs, reduced fees or no reduced fees!

2004-03-19T01:40:00.000+08:00

Radio Frequency identification is the next big wave in technology. Scott McGregor of Phillips Semiconductor tells us a little more about them and their applications.

In the future they could be every where, from your cell phones to movie posters, that will tell you through your cell phone more about the movie and where it is running. RFID is coming

2004-03-08T18:17:00.000+08:00

An interesting article on an e-retailer adapting to local conditions of China.
Great learning for The indian market as well, as we have similar conditions here too.
Business Week | An E-Tailer with a Lot Riding on Bicycles

2004-01-19T13:26:00.000+08:00

A Novel Endeavor Benefits NetAid NetAid is an organisation that helps the needy using the internet. It has a number of Online Volunteers, one of whom wrote a novel in 30 days and raised $645 for NetAid. The money was raised through a blog such as this.

2004-01-15T23:52:00.000+08:00

Java Technology and the Mission to Mars
How java is involved with the rovers that recently went to mars, also has a link to a stripped down version of the software that you can download so you can view a simulated 3D landscape and drive the Rover around in it.

2004-01-09T22:48:00.000+08:00

Licence fees and GDP per capita: The case for open source in developing countriesGreat article on the relationship between licence fees of software and how it helps make a good case for open source software

2003-11-07T20:25:00.000+08:00

Hunting for use cases. An article on use case diagrams

2003-11-07T20:24:00.000+08:00

Software Engineering.
Modeling software

2003-09-17T15:09:00.000+08:00

"knowledge sharing" thriving at the World Bank A discussion on the use of knowledge management in the World Bank.
How they have put it to use and How knowledge management can be useful for any organisation.

2003-09-11T15:14:00.000+08:00

Revisiting MindTree-II
How the company survived 9/11, the economic slowdown, and even
managed to thrive.by Subroto Bagchi. Inspirational article, I liked
part II as it speaks more of picking yourself up when the chips are
down and less about the company itself.

2003-09-11T14:45:00.000+08:00

Cancun Delusions An informative article on the agricultural
trade barriers that are being discussed at the Cancun talks.
Interesting facts and figures.