Daily

Nothing like a good Tull CD, a book on Steve Jobs, laptop on the lap...tracing data on companies on the net. Repetetive and mundane tasks tend to get easy with all these add ons :)
This is awesome weather to be here or to go on short week end outings around Bombay... Lovin it!

World Music

I have no idea why seasoned stage performers especially belonging to the South Indian "factory" of prodigies refuse to learn proper English, practice the introduction or better still have a professional compere take over the role...

A sweet repetoire of music got a little on my nerves thanks to the bad presentation by the main guy. The Brazilian pianist and Fazal were both amazing and looked like 2 shiny diamonds set with some okie doke stones...I guess a genetic quirk gives all the three brothers a naughty but obvious intelligence that is very endearing. A morning after a good music concert always feels good but in this weather it feels like a blessing.

An evening with a sweet friend who tries hard to scare me with her negativity but at the same time pushes me to be positive about my stupid issues is just so beautiful as well.

Thank you.

Mukta

I do think Mukta's posts make me feel more alive than just about anything else in my world today. Thank God for both, Mukta and my life. :)
The girl is poetic beyond belief and words just flow... Perfect.

The Engineer Brahmins

Another friend of my family donated large sums of money to ensure that the "Brahmin" way of life continues. I wonder why these engineers who make big money by forsaking all that the original Tamil Brahmin lived on in the ages past wants poor or orphaned young boys to continue that way of life. These guys themselves moved across the seven seas, built a fortune or worked some place else and then they come back home or better still just sit there and send money to keep the Vedas alive. Why should a child follow the old rituals just so you can claim that you have paid back to your roots? I wonder...Will any of them even teach some basic stuff to their own children?

They expect them to learn the Sanskrit scripture by rote with no thought given to explaining anything just so that the future continues to have a gurukkal in all the new temples that we build and a Brahmin to conduct his grand children's wedding in the true Tambram style...even if said grandson is marrying a Australian or maybe, God willing another Indian at best..certainly not much chance he would marry another Tam bram...

God, how will you quell this hypocrisy? I rather prefer all those uncles of the past who retire from a life well lived and well traveled, and make a conscious choice at 60 to learn what they did not learn earlier..that is a choice you make for yourself. Not just foisting it on some poor soul who expects that you give him food not for some selfish purpose but because it is your duty and his right to life.

It is raining :)

It is funny how we feel happy when it starts raining and the skies are grey. I painted my fingernails for the very first time and I think I like it. I am sure I would never have done it in summer. It is just something that happened because the city looks lovely despite the clogged drains. The view of the sea at any time of the day is awesome!

I think I just love Mumbai in the rains. J

One Year since MJ and LexSite…

It was really odd but my last day at LexSite was made even more memorable since I heard of MJ's death while in the office building my resolve for my first "date" lunch with my soon to be ex-boss. J

I watched "This is it" yesterday and kept thinking about any significance I could attach to these 2 occurrences, in retrospect. There really is no comparison between my life and that of Michel Jackson. However, given how my next 2 jobs have turned out, maybe I should have waited for a better opportunity before taking the plunge. I don't know. I could never have survived in what is today a completely different set up and I am glad I got out when I did. I have no regrets on leaving LexSite or joining DJ. The international exposure was indeed fun and if that had been a product I could sell, maybe I could have stayed on.

That my professional life has become too fluid and has lost all shape and form is true but I think I can say that I do not regret any of the changes. I may have made bad decisions but it was most certainly time to move on.

2009-2010

Around this time last year, I was looking forward to a new job with an MNC and some serious shift in my general role and profile at work. Today, I realize I was never really cut out for that or for the kind of low end technology profile I have since changed into. I shifted 3 jobs in one financial year after staying in the same place for 10 years… 10 years is a long time, but to find a role that gives me the adrenalin rush of a commercial deal closing, the success of a well run seminar and the fun of interacting with different personalities and explaining a software solution to meet the needs is just so tough.

I hope in this June, I once again find a good role and am able to shift to a new job where I can spend the next 10 years. Or I could leave the city I love and find my fortunes elsewhere…

MNC’s in Rural India – Jekyll & Hyde?

There is the story of MNCs spending on the rural economy to do well in the long term and gain advantages in terms of CSR. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB127296168752486467.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read#

I also know of stories where HLL has made specific efforts to destroy the production of "arita" a fruit that was used predominantly across rural India as an effective hair care solution. Arita was sold cheap and was easily available till HLL realized it was unable to sell its chemical formulations simply because of the availability of cheaper indigenous solutions. They created a strategy that would eliminate competition.

This story is not much different from the way food production has changed in India from the many varied regional varieties like ragi, bajra production and consumption giving way to wheat that can then be refined and sold.

Where is the CSR?