Silence is GOLDEN in BCCI

It was the 19th over of the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings final of the IPL6 when the ball was given to Lasith Malinga.  When he ensured that more than 36 runs were required of the last over, it was time to rejoice for all Mumbai fans like me.  But that was not there.  The recent events that had unearthed about spot fixing leaves a big question mark not only on the tournament but also the BCCI which manages it.

BCCI or Board of Control for Cricket in India is the autonomous body that regulates cricket in India.  It was made autonomous to promote the game of cricket which is a religion and people swear by it and the players who are worshiped as demi-gods.  There are astronomical sums of money in India and this can be proved by the fact that around 80% of the revenue of ICC (International cricket council) is due to BCCI.  No wonder BCCI has supreme clout and time and again it has used it for its ulterior motives.  

The power, glamour and money has increased so much in BCCI that heavyweight politicians and businessmen alike have not been able to stay away from it.  Sharad Pawar, the 'badshah' of Indian politics ousted long time administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya to grab power and still is a force to reckon in BCCI long after retirement.  And all big politicians entered the game and the battles from the Parliament were expected to be fought on this turf as well.  But curiously enough that has never been the case.  They have colluded together and probably shared the cake as well.  Because it is not common that Arun Jaitley of BJP has a closed door meeting with Rajeev Shukla of the Congress and team up against an ace businessman and Chess Federation and BCCI chief Narayanswami Srinivisan who himself has amended the BCCI constitution to continue as President as well as own a team in the cash rich IPL.  Conflict of interest but Srinivisan will still say I am wrong.  One of the main reasons why there is so much interest in being the President of the BCCI is the power as you virtually rule the game.  Even the captain of India, M.S.Dhoni was gagged at the press conference (he happens to be the Vice President of India Cements owned by Srini) about questions related to spot fixing understandably on orders of Srini.  Such is the power that cricketers like Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar did not speak a word about it while the IPL was on.

The recent controversy of spot fixing in which there has been clear evidence of Srini's son-in-law involved and his team CSK in a difficult situation as it can be suspended under clause 12.3(c).  But all this while the growing chorus not only in BCCI but also in the "Mango People" about Srinivisan resigning has been answered by "I am innocent and will not resign" or stern silence by the man himself.  Pretty obvious for a man who has created one of India's largest cement companies daring so many storms.  It is more of a prestige issue for him which he will not give up so easily.  It is better to be silent and not react is his stand right now.  But this should not be tolerable as it has resulted in the brand IPL taking a hit and the confidence of all in BCCI dwindling. 

IPL was an answer to the Subhash Chandra's ICL which was formed to give a chance to upcoming players. Not only was it crushed by the genius Lalit Modi but he also made sure that the IPL had glitz, glamour and the moolah.  Mukesh Ambani, the flamboyant Vijay Mallya and King Khan owned teams which added to the success of auctions.  But it could not be managed by the people who forced the creator of the league into exile.  Drugs, fixing and bending of rules surfaced and dragged the league into controversy.  So much so that all the matches after Sreesanth was arrested were referred to as fixed matches.  A dropped catch was referred to as clear case of match fixing.

Being a not-for profit organisation promoting cricket it is not liable to pay taxes except for the IPL where the BCCI paid taxes to stall probe before the truth about money came out.  Various PILs about BCCI have been unanswered and it has daringly kept itself out of RTI as well.  But all know about the cash rich BCCI. And instead of being silent over any questions there are a number of things that can be done by the BCCI.  It can promote and fund other sports in India.  The sight of Saina Nehwal doling out the Champion of the match award in the finals was good.  A little step but surely gives limelight to sportspersons who would have otherwise not got due attention.

As for the mess and the unaccountability BCCI must come make itself more transparent and disallow politicians from the governing team.  Honest and scholars of the game and people who have profound knowledge about the game should be allowed.  Ex-cricketers like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble who are gentlemen of the game must be roped in to achieve the true goal of BCCI.  If politicians continue to squeeze money from BCCI as well and start ruling over the body, cricket will be the first religion to be denounced by the people.  As a cricket fan I have lost faith in the BCCI and the game of cricket.  Hope I am not among the first to denounce the religion and its Gods.

Reliance - My first employer!

It is said that never criticize your employer.  If its your present employer then you shouldn't as it can go against you in the backdrop of office politics and vendetta; if its your ex-employer then never criticize it in front of your new employer as it creates a bad impression about you bitching.  In my case both are not true - for now - so I can vent my frustration now that I have resigned and not joining any corporate in near future.

It all started in August last year when an uncle working with Reliance Industries for the past 20 odd years asked me what for my resume so that he could see if there were vacancies.  I thought it would be a cakewalk as it would be a recommendation and was excited because the company founded by Dhirubhai Ambani has been my all time favorite.  But it was no small deal.  I had to clear 3 interviews - one by a commercial guy who has spent pretty much his entire life in sourcing, one by a technical guy rather a guy who had been in R&D in Philips for a long time and ultimately the Chief Merchandising of Reliancedigital Retail Ltd.  I forgot a 12- minute 50 question test as well.  Though not entirely Reliance ( Digital is part of Retail which is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries), I took the job for two reasons - the eagerness to learn in the largest private sector company and also partly because it was frustrating to sit at home after my first recruiter delayed the joining date indefinitely and I joined as Asst. Manager in the Global Sourcing for the private label brand of Reliancedigital- Reconnect.

The first few days were spent reading the previous order files as part of my training - one thing I feel needs to be changed big time. There should be formal training and not just learn-as-you-work culture. But well I have no say in that.  Most of the documents made very little sense with costing sheets and copies of agreements - General terms and the Non Disclosure.  Thanks to my Gujarati background it was not very difficult to learn them.  Due to unavailability of a PC for some days I spent time reading these documents and some other info here and there.  But that helped me later in my 8 month stint as I had become pretty much comfortable in discussing and finalizing the agreements so much so that my senior manager would ask me to do the job after a couple of agreements and I would just ask him how important it was so that I had a fair idea where the relaxation could be given.

As I had made it clear to my Asst. VP who was our group head that I was interested in IT/Telecom and not accessories I got that to handle.  So the number of products I handled were far too less than my friend Saurabh who too had joined in the accessory department but the work was same if not more as the IT/Telecom was a dynamic sector with rapid changes.  You had to track not only the progress of products you have ordered and make sure they are technically perfect but also on your rivals who could just throw you out of competition with a better product priced below yours.  The initial 3 months were spent under Mr. Pankaj Deshmukh who was my manager and looked after phones.  I was fortunate to work under him as I have learnt tremendously not only working with him but also watching how he worked.  He taught me all the tricks required to survive and grow in the retail sector and much more. Working on Excel without the use of mouse to a great extent from not knowing excel is one of the initial things I learnt from him. I had modeled my working style like him with my folder arrangements in the PC ditto like his.  I shall be thankful to him forever. Another great person I met here was Mr. Ananthan Veeramani who headed the legal department.  Not much interaction with him but whatever little time I spent it was wonderful.  I was smitten by his humility and confidence about his ability to win a case which I overheard when I waited for 30 mins in his cabin.

Then came the reality and my Honeymoon period ( as my AVP describes the first month of any newbie) was over.  In spite of working in the warehouse on one occasion and leaving at the official time of 6 pm, my AVP was unhappy and for a long time kept taunting although jokingly.  Leaving early for freshers was a sin there -  "How can you leave when your boss still works?" was the argument.  So it was usually 7.30 or 8 in the evening before I left.  As suggested earlier I had little work which could be shown in the weekly reviews which landed me up in the bad books of the AVP and till today it was more of a bitter relationship with him.  But mind you, a man of his intelligence and sharpness is difficult to find.  It was great to see him provide views differing to others but made the most sense as was him giving ways to sort out the mess.

After 3 months I was out of phones and into tablets.  And this was with a different manager.  Someone who was very much with the typical working style of the organisation - unorganized and haphazard with focus on getting products on time and not too much on quality ( a typical sourcing guy).  At one point he and I were described as eating, drinking and sleeping tablets- if not digital then medicinal - by a vendor to a Chinese manufacturer.  It was difficult to adjust with him till the last day as he wanted everything immediately and wanted to conclude things before day end no matter what time it was. I somehow managed due to the initial training and kept both him and myself happy.

On numerous occasions I was entrusted the task of getting the SKUs to the stores on priority basis due to many festivals lined up.  This taught me how to have a great relationship with people as most of my work had to be done with friendship rather than authority.  It also exposed the vagaries of the retail sector. In the retail sector you are on your heels 24x7 and are required to solve the issues even from home on leave.  You had to don the cap of any person in desperate times.  I have had the privilege of working in almost all the departments in my short 8 month career from sourcing which was my primary role to new product development and even logistics and quality towards the end which were totally alien.  The knowledge I have gained here is phenomenal.  A job by default for an engineer i.e in the IT sector would not have been able to give me the same knowledge in 2 years as well. The icing on the cake was meeting Mr. Mukesh Ambani who stood just 3 meters away when I had taken a Chinese vendor for the special lunch in the same building where MDA(how Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani is addressed) has his office.

But now coming to the introductory paragraph of criticizing your employer.  I have just highlighted the learning above.  But the learning came at a price.  It was immense pressure for six days of the week. An hourly delay has earned me the wrath and anger of my seniors.  The pressure was so much that I used to get work related dreams even though I have slept without dreams all my life.  It was more after March when my best friend and colleague Saurabh left as I had no one to share the angst over lunch and in the bus rides from office to home.  I don't know if it was my inexperience or immaturity but the system out there at least in my team was ridiculous.  In fact there was no system.  Everything was done randomly in a very crude way.  No rules are followed to get the products but just timelines to adhere to and this affects later. Also the way the employees are treated was unheard of.  There was no restraint on language in the meetings which made the females lower their heads as also no respect for seniority. As far as I am concerned there was very little appreciation which over time finished my enthusiasm to work. And the reason was I could not play politics and please the superiors.  I made the mistake of calling a spade a spade in front of the boss which caused friction. The last few days I just used to stand and switch myself off to any comments positive or negative and prayed for the final day.  But maybe such mismanaged environment helped me grow and learn.

Finally I am no longer part of Reliance group.  Honestly speaking it was a mixed feeling for me as I went from one department to the other for clearance.  I felt unhappy as one after the other things were cleared and my feet were heavy when I was moving out.  But thinking of the tension and unhappiness it was good to leave with valuable knowledge and lessons for future.  There is a line in Mahabharata when Bhishma tells Arjun that Victory at any cost is cheap.  Similarly for me the knowledge and learning came at a very small price of a not so good working environment.  Time will prove whether I have more such experiences or better ones.

Infosys - My First Recruiter!!!

Some 4 months since I last got involved in one of my new found hobbies of blogging there has been a lot in the news for the company that actually handed me my first offer letter.  The company is Infosys.  It is a different thing that the date of joining or DOJ has had many delays and finally after about a year I might not be called an Infoscian at all when many of my classmates are going to join and we have received a committed joining date.

There have been 3 quarterly results since the time I have received the offer letter and 2 out of 3 have been much below the stock market and analysts' expectations.  The only time when it came out with good results was due to the much needed acquisition of Lodestone and its performance.  The news is worrisome because Infosys was once the poster boy of Indian IT's $90 billion industry but has since been overtaken by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), another great company.  But what is more disturbing is that smaller companies like HCL and Cognizant are growing at a much faster pace than Infy.  Started by N.R.Narayan Murthy and his colleagues, this company has had the best of talent until recently but is now facing high attrition due to non-hike in payments and no clarity on the future growth.

I had just started analyzing all news in detail and my penchant for the stock markets was growing in my late teens and one company that was on the recommendation list of all brokerage houses was Infosys.  And the inquisitive nature I have - which my friends usually blow out of proportion - I decided to analyze the company by myself.  As I searched it turned out that this company was nothing short of a course on how to become a successful company.  With Narayan Murthy as the Chairman, Nandan Nilekani was then CEO as far as my memory goes, Mohandas was the H.R head, Shibulal who is now the CEO was then head of operations - a role which I consider was the perfect for him.  I dont remember Kris' role then.  But this was a dream team.  Each one was a master in their field.  Nothing could go wrong.  People across industry lines respected this team for their acumen and knowledge and of course humility.  But over the years as per company policy, Narayan Murthy retired and the post was rotated to all the founders - a big disaster if I am asked.  As if this was not enough, Nandan Nilekani moved on to become the Chairman of UIDAI, something expected from a person like him putting the nation before the company he founded.  And that's when the damage slowly started happening.  I truly admire the ethics of the company but from a business point of view ( Gujju blood in me is speaking at this point :P)  it is not prudent to give the CEO's post to the co-founders in spite his strengths lying elsewhere.  Infosys is so tied to ethics and principles that Mohandas Pai, then HR head was sidelined for the post of CEO after Kris' tenure came towards an end and Shibulal the last co-founder was elected to be the CEO.  Though officially everyone has denied it, there have been indirect indications and it makes sense as well.  With Shibulal becoming the CEO, all was not lost - Balakrishna was still the Finance Head.  His competency is unquestionable in finance and he comes from the old school where aggressive acquisitions are a strict no.  But it also ensures that the company will never go bust like Satyam did.  But soon he stepped down to make for younger blood and K.V.Kamath, another of my favourites from the finance/economics background, who was inducted as Executive Chairman, seems not too much involved in the day-to-day affairs of the company at least by the public statements made.

For the past few results now, Infy is growing at a much slower pace of roughly 5%, while its peers have grown by 12-13% and even NASSCOM, the industry body representing IT, has said that growth will be 10% upwards.  Infosys which till date comes out first with the quarterly results - which sets the tone for stock market enthusiasts like me whether to buy or not a particular stock based on predictions how that quarter will be for others after Infy sets the tone - has been giving weak guidance or revising them downwards consistently attributing the same to weak demands and market conditions.  But when its peers can why can't it excel and prove it is the market leader? The reason is simple.  In this economically weak world, Infosys charges a premium for its work whereas its peers work on lower margins to get more orders and increase the business volume.  This has led to very marginal gain in business for Infy.

Too much bashing now.  Let's highlight the good part.  Infosys due to its conservative nature has a cash hoard of ₹ 22000 crore.  No small deal.  Only a few private companies have so much cash reserve and zero debt as far as IT as a sector goes.  This has been because Infy has stayed away from paying more in competitive bidding as in the case of Axon which was ultimately snapped up by HCL for $2.3 billion.  But it has been over-conservative.  With K.V at the helm we can expect the company to use its cash reserves more given that ICICI was built by him by deploying cash even if may involve some risks.  Another strength that the company has is the ability to bounce back.  Way back in 2000s when the dot-com bubble burst Infy was hit but it came back strongly.  On a personal note I predict the turnaround in the next 12-18 months with US economy coming out of the red ( the main business area of Infy) and hopefully more acquisitions by Rajiv Bansal, the current CFO.  

Infsosys' strength lies in executing the orders on time and even its competitors have admitted that Infosys never compromises on quality.  Well such quality delivery within the stipulated time does come at a cost.  As and when companies focus to quality, Infosys will be the first company to be approached.  What else can be done?  The company, in the interim, can work on lesser margins to get more volumes in this turbulent times.  That will be a difficult challenge for the companies playing disruptive pricing game in the market. Infy definitely has the appetite to take part in the game and win because it is debt free and has huge cash while others work on the debt model.  Another welcome change would be to see Shibulal back as COO and the CEO be someone made to be a CEO like Nandan Nilekani was.  On a lighter note, my friends, notably Saurabh Dwivedi, joining the company will take the company to greater heights.  ( he is going to hype me even more after this.) :P

There has been too much bashing of this iconic company but that is what tests the mettle of great companies- how they come out of it and prove to the world why they are the leaders in their domain.  Or as Sachin Tendulkar says that the stones thrown should be converted to milestones.  Although I too am not convinced with the management talk at present, I am sure time is not far when Infosys regains the crown it has lost.

Sunday Morning at beach- best recreation after 6 office days!!

Its been roughly 2 months since I joined RelianceDigital Retail Ltd. and as the impression of the group is, it will squeeze each drop of blood out of you to give you a truly global exposure along with a better bank balance as would be offered by others in the market. So its essentially a trade-off.  But what makes life more complex at an already demanding group is a boss who would want you to not leave before him and then expect you to work 12 hours to achieve in his words "2 saal kaam karo aur phir dekho.. life ban jaayegi tumhari".  Apart from it having ego clashes with him is the last thing I would have wanted.

All this makes office a truly challenging yet full of knowledge and valuable experience.  Starting the reverse countdown from the first minute you switch on the computer at work on Wednesday has become a routine. And on Saturday when you leave office as per schedule if lucky( working overtime for the first 5 days is common under my boss) and reaching home gives pleasure very few other things at present would give me.  And after a good night's sleep on Saturday, the only way to have a break and rejuvenate is going to the beach.  So in spite of sleeping around 1:30 am after a late night coffee with friends I was up at my father's first call (usually it takes him 30 mins to wake me up) to go to the beach.

I was expecting an almost deserted beach with high tide so that I could enjoy nature at its best and forget all the worries  (usually office these days) and enjoy.  But the beach was buzzing with people and unfortunately it was low tide.  Even this made a great sight.  Doting fathers teaching their kids badminton and cricket and giving them tips how to play, a group of bachelors playing cricket which almost prompted me to go and ask for inclusion in one of the teams, a big family playing kho-kho and other games just made the sight wonderful.  Walking a little further I encountered a group of professional players who seemed to be practising for their game. And finally going even further I found what I wanted- hardly any people and tiny white birds chirping on the watery sand while two fishermen tried for some catch just near the shore.

A pond was formed which had to be crossed to reach the sea.  The pond was pristine and silent and it immediately gave a peaceful feeling.  I took a few long steps to cross the pond and reach the edge of the sea.  Once I reached there I stood there gazing the endless boundaries and forgot everything else.  I spent 5 minutes out there alone until my father came calling for me and asked me to walk along the edge till the very end of the beach. It was so calm and quiet and refreshed each pore of the skin. Today I realized that being with God's creation is the only thing that can relieve you of unhappiness and stress. My philosophy of being involved in something that is your passion( in my case gadgets) will give you relief proved wrong, but for the good.

At the other end of the beach my sister got a few photos clicked and then irritatingly agreed to click a couple for me.  After three quarters of an hour in the sparsely dense area of the beach as we returned towards the entrance there was again noise which brought me back to the world and made me realize that exactly 24 hours later I will absorbed in daily routine and I had enjoyed my share of eternal satisfaction for the week.  I exited refreshed but still not satisfied.  To make up for the dissatisfaction I gorged on corn, coconut water and vada pav.  But I made a promise to visit the beach every week without fail.  And as I finish the blog Sunday has ended and 6 days of gruelling work at office starts. Sigh!

An institute called Amitabh Bachchan!!

Last week 'The Superstar of the Millennium' as voted by his followers or the BigB as he is fondly called by the media, Amitabh Bachchan, celebrated his birthday in a truly big style!  Each newspaper carried his pictures and interviews while news channels had special half hourly shows dedicated for the same- such is his power and charm.
The party was marked by the presence of Bollywood stars, politicians and Corporate world alike. So apart from the usual list of his best friends Anil Ambani and the Devgans, everyone from the legendary Dilip Kumar and the ailing Pran to tele stars like Sakshi Tanwar graced the occasion. Tweets by actors suggest that it was a grand affair. And rightly so- after all it was Amitabh Bachchan's birthday and even Rajnikant, who is conferred the title of the 'Super Human' on social networks came in to wish his dear friend. But what makes Amitabh Bachchan so special?And why did I call him an Institute in my title?
The answer is simple. Because he is one. If one observes his life closely and tries to ape even a fraction of it, he would have achieved a lot. I say that because I have tried it and it has helped a lot. He is and will remain a source of inspiration and a role model for me for the entire life.  He is my favourite actor and I have made it a point to watch each of his films except the infamous Aag solely because as a kid I have watched the original Sholay for some 30 odd times and I cannot think of it being remade. Each of his films has a different style and you can feel his energy and passion into the roles he enacts.  Be it Inspector Vijay in Zanjeer or Sexy Sam in KANK he has played each role perfectly. 
That was about films which all of us have seen.  But what truly differentiates him is not his reel avatar but his real avatar.  Having a superb baritone voice and a great physique he is the darling of the women- many half his age.  But his journey to the top hasn't been smooth.  The same voice was rejected by the All India Radio or the AIR.  Starting his career in Bollywood too wasn't easy.  He got his first hit after a string of 13 odd flop films.  Most actors today would have quit acting had this been their state.  But Amitabh Bachchan stayed on and went on to become the 'Angry Young Man' of Indian Cinema. But as the dictum goes 'kuch paane ke liye kuch khona padta hai' he met with  a near fatal accident on the sets of Coolie which has permanently damaged his internals.  Yet again he came back stronger and won the hearts of the people. 
By his own admission, politics is not his cup of tea and thus he failed miserably in politics. So much so that his best friends family turned into fiercest of enemies. But Amitabh Bachchan remained unmoved.  Around the same time his films flopped and his ambitious ,first-of-a-kind in Bollywood, company ABCL became bankrupt on some very unsuccessful films and a disastrous fashion show.  This made him a defaulter of loans and his friends had to bail him out.  To overcome the financial mess, he worked in films with the smallest of stars, asked for work from Yash Chopra and even took KBC against his doctor's advice.  He worked day in and day out to repay the debts and once again rise to glory. Today we hear of farmers and brokers committing suicide when they cannot repay.  But Amitji chose to fight and win the battle. Such is his will power and determination.Remarkable!
He is an excellent son and a great father.  Both his parents and children got the best from him and if Anil Ambani is true then Amitabh Bachchan took care of his parents like none other.  He sat for hours by their bedside patiently during their last moments.  We don't hear of many such incidents these days.  Another example of a pure human being.
Receiving awards is a normal thing for him now.  Be it France's highest award or an honorary doctorate, he does not become haughty.  Instead his humility increases by each passing day.  And that brings me to another quality of his- humility.  And sometimes he is annoyingly humble.  If you quiz him about how much would he give himself as an actor, you would never get more than half.  Getting a 5 on 10 is also rare.  Even though he is voted 'Star of the Millennium ' he has never had an attitude.  Rajesh Khanna once said in an interview that his super stardom made him feel like God but Amitabh Bachchan said that he never felt anything like that. It is this humility that rules the hearts of millions of fans who wait tirelessly each Sunday outside his residence in Mumbai to get a glimpse of the Shahenshah of Bollywood.  And he does not disappoint them.  After all these fans pray in numbers at the smallest hint of him being unwell.
He believes in helping the needy as well and will never go ga-ga over it.  Be it repaying the debts of farmers or helping Rohit Shetty's family in times of distress or the recent A.K.Hangal illness he helps in whatever way he can.  Real life stories of people having financial problems or unacceptance in society due to love marriages outside their caste touch him on KBC and he makes a genuine appeal to accept the couple to their relatives. Besides self donations, he has helped in lightning villages through solar energy and also helps in saving the tigers not to forget his self donation for the same.  A magnanimous star yet such a down to earth person.  People may hurl abuses but he will always be calm and never hit back in their way.
Inspite of old age and a busy schedule he never goes back on his schedule or is laid back.  He exercises regualarly to remain fit and I feel ashamed as I am not able to do so.  Once he has made a commitment he never goes back on it.  Immediately after recovering from his ill health a couple of years ago, he resumed KANK because it was on hold because of him.  He is the most punctual start Bollywood has had.  Besides he does not throw tantrums and does not have an air about being such a huge star.  Contemporaries and junors both consider him fun to work with due to this attitude.  He is also known to have a great rapport with people who have been with him through thick and thin.  His make up man, Sawant decided to make a film and Amitabh readily agreed to work for free.  He strives to achieve more each day.  He knows many languages, at least the basics to converse and yet he is ready to learn more.  Technology evolved in the form of mobiles and PCs when he entered his 50s.  Still he has mastered them all and be it early in the evening or late in the night he never sleeps without a tweet.  No Bollywood star has been able to do this.  Such a combination of qualities is rare.
A blog is insufficient to describe him but I've tried to list down a part of him here.  And I dedicate this to him on his 70th birthday.  He was, is and will always remain one of my idols and a source of inspiration.  And I know that he will be upset at the timing of this blog being posted.  He is a disciplined guy and swears by punctuality.  A clock can stop its tick-tock but Amitabh Bachchan can never be late.  So an apology beforehand. Amitabh Bachchan is truly Amitabha- or the name given to Gautam Buddha- as described by Anil Ambani in his speech.  His qualities clearly suggest he is not an ordinary human but a reincarnation of some great soul.  I bow down in respect!

When dearest friends go abroad... some forever!

While the Americans might be rejoicing their performance at the recently concluded London Olympics, I have never liked America very much ( both North and South).  Since I was a kid these two continents(some countries distinguish them as two continents and so it should not be a problem calling them as separate continents) have taken away some of my best friends and one will never be back.  

I very well remember when I was in the eighth grade one of my building friends and the only one of my age left India for Canada and has settled there since then.  But he flies down to India every year or so ( now maybe it will be even more given he has a job a Microsoft) and so it has never been that big a problem to stay far.  Ditto is the case with his two cousins who are also friends who had to go to the US for work and they keep flying between the two countries frequently.  But after that there was some respite.

Then again as engineering came to an end three best friends having plans to pursue their Masters in the US again started going there since last July and every six months there was an exit from India and my already small group of friends( given I don't socialize much and believe in having quality rather than quantity) became even smaller.  True that evolution in technology has given us Skype and Gtalk and I can video call them at the click of a button but it is never comparable to the fun and joy of the actual presence.  

But the biggest blow was when my dear friend Priyanka aka my FFF left for her home country Chile after completing her graduation to be with her family.  And I call this blow the biggest of all because in all the above cases I have mentioned there is that feeling of safety that sooner or later all of them will be in India and the good old, fun-filled days will be back again because they have not settled there forever.  It is a temporary phase and will pass but this does not hold true for Piyu, as she is fondly called in the group. We became friends through a common friend Saurabh and in just three odd years it became a lasting friendship. 

Having studied in an almost boys-convent, I was a very shy and reticent guy.  Having friends with similar nature didn't help either.  It was only until I became friends with Piyu that I opened up and now I can proudly say that she changed me and deserves the entire credit for it.  I can safely say that she has an impeccable charm and a great power to attract people because of three reasons- one, I have hardly seen her have problems with people and if any they are for a very short period; two, because I would have never talked with a girl forget becoming great friends with the fairer sex.  It would always be a formal conversation, if any, before Piyu and three, she always had someone to help her out no matter what including me.  What she did or what changed me still remains unknown.  So first of all a big thanks to her for changing me and for opening me enough that I can boast of it in front of my friends. 

But besides this she has a great personality.  She was always jovial and went about troubling everyone in the group particularly Rohan ( who too is in the US) and me.  And I have not seen any other person who can take jokes on him or her so sportingly.  And that's what is remarkable.  It is easy to crack jokes on others but taking it on ourselves and enjoying it to the fullest is what differentiates people. Talking and chatting was never fun before. Apart from this enjoying food is her hobby and watching her is a delight.  And even though I clicked her pics while she ate(only because of the only fact that she is very camera conscious while she eats) she enjoyed her food very much.  

Apart from this her stay in India if observed carefully gives you many lessons in life.  Being a girl she stayed alone far away from her family for years and managed everything quite well.  Be it going to the bank or in the last few months managing the household chores all by herself, shopping and even staying alone without her family. But this did not affect her academics.  It gives important lessons in life.  Though reaching on time was always a problem for her, she completed most of the tasks on time( concessional delay is to be assumed) and that has to be learnt.

I am known to make enemies faster than friends and it takes a long time for me to make great friends( Akshay, Suneet, Nirjar and Abhijeet would endorse this).  In spite of this peculiarity my friendship with her became quite strong and I consider her among my best-est of friends in such a short span of time.  Skype and Facebook will definitely help in keeping touch but it will not be a fraction of the fun we had as a group.  I believe in being practical to the core and not displaying emotions easily but when she left I felt sad like never before and expressed it as well. Such was the power of her friendship on me.

Right from the time we became friends it was a known fact that she would return after engineering but it was hard to believe when the time actually came.  On August 7 at around 10:30pm when her aircraft started on the runway she uploaded a status on Facebook and I quote: " So this is it... bye bye Mumbai... you've given me the best-est memories one cud ever have!" and finally the time had come which I always secretly feared.   She will only be in contact via Skype or phones henceforth but never in person.  At this juncture I can think of only one quote " Happiness won't last, it will leave, without even the courtesy of a wave of goodbye".  Her company will always be missed.

Raj Thackeray's MNS: Real Navnirman or just another political party?

Media went ga-ga over Raj Thackeray's courtesy call to estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray when the later went for angioplasty last week.  Raj actually drove him in his silver Mercedes to the later's residence, Matoshree.  It was a perfect reunion picture just like in the Bollywood films.  After all it was 6 long years and numerous jibes and potshots at each other later that the camaraderie was seen.

For starters, Raj and Uddhav are cousins not only from the paternal side but the maternal sides as well since Balasaheb and his brother married sisters Meenatai and Kunda Thackeray respectively.  From a very young age Raj was considered to be the heir apparent of the Sena Supremo Balasaheb.  And rightly so.  Both are cartoonists, both spew venom on people other than sons-of-soil ie Maharashtrians, both look similar and both are big crowd pullers.  While Raj is considered to be ferocious in his attacks, Uddhav is mild and has a softer approach.  And so despite all this when Uddhav was crowned the CEO of Shiv Sena instead of Raj, Raj took little time in expressing his displeasure and left the party to form his own Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Raj Thackeray has always been the angry young man of politics.  He believes in the " laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi maante" dictum.  What he feels is right he will ensure others accept it as well by force if not by choice.  Whilst in the Sena, he was the poster boy who was seen giving "bhashans" around the elections and is also believed to be the face behind the Sena's vandalism.  The style continues today as well.

Raj Thackeray is credited with quite a few things.  First of all he demanded that all telecom operators in Maharashtra should offer IVR services in Marathi along with English and Hindi.  The telecom operators had no choice but to abide by Raj saheb's wish.  Ditto with the agitation to have names of shops in Marathi as well.  Both the above demands were accompanied with warnings of violence.  I personally believe that violence is not good but his demands were completely justified.  Having traveled to many states in India I have seen both but it is only Mumbai where these things are not followed.  Though it is not a compulsion to have the state language as national language has utmost importance but then again Jawaharlal Nehru believed in the "divide and rule" policy which led to the creation of states based on language spoken and hence we have to bear the ill fruits of it.  So along with Hindi and English a mention in Marathi on signboards and for IVR is not a big demand.

After forming his new party, the MNS, during the initial years Raj was not very active.  He enjoyed his regular routine of a game of badminton at the gymkhana and other passions.  Only when the strong Maratha, Sharad Pawar mocked this attitude of his that he took full control of the day-to-day affairs of the party.  The people of Maharashtra have always liked Raj's oratory skills and this can be proved from the fact that inspite of being just a 3-year old party MNS managed sizeable amount of votes which created a dent in the BJP vote bank though it did not convert into seats.  Since then Raj's popularity has only increased.  The 2012 Municipal elections are a proof of it.  Not only did it rout Shiv Sena in its bastion of Dadar, it also got the post of Mayor in Nashik which is home to Chhagan Bhujbal, another heavyweight in Maharashtra politics.

People have shown faith in MNS particularly Raj Thackeray and he has not let people down.  His constituencies fare well as compared to others.

Raj Thackeray is a shrewd politician.  He stood for the rights of Jet Airways employees who were sacked and the decision as we can guess was in favour of the employees.  Another act of getting the marathi manoos vote for him was that he demanded reservations in the Maharashtra Railway Service and also created a ruckus at the examination center where the exams were held since his demands were not met.  Apart from that he is also an astute businessman.  A few years ago he bought land at Kohinoor Mills for roughly Rs. 400 crore and then sold it at an exorbitant profit of 400%.  Though Raj claims he had a minor stake and that he made very little profits it can't be taken for sure as politicians are known to hide or misrepresent their facts.

But things that make Raj Thackeray stand out are his genuine efforts to improve the condition of the state.  Recently he made his sainiks stand at toll plazas and calculate the amount of toll collected.  While calculations by him and the company may differ over the recovery cost and period he did bring out a few good points like if the contractor builds roads which develop pot holes within no time and give a pain to the commuters travelling, the commuter has every right to not pay the toll for bad services.  For me this was one of a kind approach for a cause which no one has given importance to.  Secondly while all of India's so-called "secular" netas like Digvijay Singh call Narendra Modi a communist and bring up the Godhra riots as they have nothing negative against him today due to his development policies, Raj called upon Modi and also toured the state to see how a state can be developed.  Even though Mumbai contributes to a third of tax of the country the roads are not even one third of the quality of what roads are in Ahmedabad.  Besides the irrigation facility for farmers is a boon in Gujarat.  This experience can be used in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra as well as there are suicides every now and then due to droughts.  This is something what the Govt. of Maharashtra should do but they criticize Modi while Raj has chosen to emulate his development policies.

Raj has ensured that none of his corporators are involved in corruption and also seen that only people with sound knowledge of rules enter the Assembly for which he conducted an exam for aspirants of tickets in elections.  But the biggest comment from him so far are his views on the controversial Belgaum status.  While politicians from both states argue over which state should get Belgaum and have been doing so for 55 years, Raj gave a simple yet mature solution of keeping Belgaum in Karnataka where it is now but the people should be given all rights and should be treated fairly.  Well what else do people want apart from rights and equal treatment.  This has by far been the best solution given by him.

So at the end of it, Raj Thackeray has been making the right noises and also taking correct decisions.  Though some of his policies may not be correct and his way of getting work done unacceptable to many, he is the best hope in case Maharashtra were to be amongst the best states in India. Well giving him 5 years at the helm is no big deal.  If inefficient people have got so many years which are wasted why not give 5 years to a man who wants to bring about a change or "navnirman".