As you all know (since I do not fail to mention it in all my conversations) I have been travelling to India often in the past year and a half. The past 3 visits have all been to Chennai which happens to be the location of the company we are doing business with. The name of this company is Adventnet and they have a unusual product line called Zoho. Adventnet is well known in network management circles and Zoho is now making a name for itself. Rather than describe the various Zoho Products in any level of details, I will just say this; very soon (no prediction on the time line) you will not be using Microsoft Office. Check them out. Consider this para as a plug for Zoho.
Getting back to my topic; I usually take a cab to go back and forth from my house in Indira Nagar where my parents live when they are not in Delhi. Yup, my parents are very Cosmo. I get my cab from Sai Cab, decently reliable guys, average cars, and affordable (definitely a plug). The bill for the trip is 280 rupees and I always round it to Rs. 300.
On one of the morning rides I did not have change and that is also OK with these guys, they do not mind accepting payment the next day. In the evening I got both the receipts but the evening driver (heretofore referred to as Driver II) was a different person and I was wondering how I could ensure that the tip from the morning trip reached the correct driver (heretofore referred to as Driver I). So I did a quick addition and proffered 600 rupees and asked for 20 back (280 from morning + 280 from evening and 20 for evening tip, in case you are wondering). Needless to say these guys do not carry almost any money!! I got a little flustered and it showed in my face.
If you are wondering where this is all going, be a little more patient. The end is near.
Driver II was quite astute (he in my opinion is under utilized) read my mind clearly. He told me not to worry and that the Driver I from morning had given him the bill from morning ride and told him clearly that I would give 20 rupees tip for the morning ride and that he (Driver II) better see to it that it reaches him (Driver I). The man actually gave clear injunctions to ensure that that this seemingly small amount (for american: 20 rupees = 50 cents) reached him!! Yeah, I intended to tip him, but I was also merely rounding the number to make it easy on myself!!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
One year later
Last weekend I went yet another time to Bangalore and this time due to time constraints I took a Volvo bus. If you have not travelled by one please try these out. They are stretched buses with 2 wide comfortable seats on each side and a narrow aisle. The seats lean back almost horizontal and in the private operators there may even be leg support. Overhead rack for smaller luggage is available inside with a storage space for larger luggage underneath.
On the return journey we took the bus from Majestic. The trip itself was uneventful but the less said about Majestic the better. Never mind, I will say more. Banglore bus terminal is a mini version of their airport; messy, disorganized, chaotic. No one seemed to be in charge. The stand itself has long ago outgrown its capacity.
In contrast my eyes lit up when I saw the Chennai bus-stand. You have to take a look at this terminal Koyambedu. This terminal is almost futuristic and infact better than most airports in India!! Very huge with both local stand next to the intra-state/ inter-state stand. The only thing that would make this more useful is an auto stand that is also integrated into this stand.
Sundry comments
There was an usual sign on the side of a bus "Dehradoon education, available now in Bangalore". I tried to translate this to US English "Boston education, available now in DC". Did not make any sense.
I saw a Bar & Restaurant in Bangalore near a place called Minerva called "Coastarica". The question is do you trust his food and beverages if you do not trust his spelling!!
On the return journey we took the bus from Majestic. The trip itself was uneventful but the less said about Majestic the better. Never mind, I will say more. Banglore bus terminal is a mini version of their airport; messy, disorganized, chaotic. No one seemed to be in charge. The stand itself has long ago outgrown its capacity.
In contrast my eyes lit up when I saw the Chennai bus-stand. You have to take a look at this terminal Koyambedu. This terminal is almost futuristic and infact better than most airports in India!! Very huge with both local stand next to the intra-state/ inter-state stand. The only thing that would make this more useful is an auto stand that is also integrated into this stand.
Sundry comments
There was an usual sign on the side of a bus "Dehradoon education, available now in Bangalore". I tried to translate this to US English "Boston education, available now in DC". Did not make any sense.
I saw a Bar & Restaurant in Bangalore near a place called Minerva called "Coastarica". The question is do you trust his food and beverages if you do not trust his spelling!!
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Gah-Rham Restaurant
This translation was forwarded to me by Jannavi
Gah-Rham Restaurant
5027 Garrett Avenue, Beltsville and Maryland 20705
Phone: 301-595-4122
As for Korean restaurant there is a large quantity, but price, taste and service etc synthesizing, you think that here reputation is best. When it is from the campus, when Route 1 it goes north, Powder Mill Road (Route 212) exceeds and goes a little (MVA compared to forward), is Seven Eleven in the left hand, is Gah-Rham on the reverse side. Because there is Korean restaurant classified by another in the same site, will try not to make a mistake.
Most the fact that it has popularity Buffet which is done in the lunch is the eating at will. Also the sushi comes out in addition to various cooking. But as expected the first-rate sushi shop it is not compared, to grasp, because you can eat building, if of price is thought, you think that it can be completely satisfied. If it is the dinner, the burning meat and meal served in hot pot etc are popularity.
Gah-Rham Restaurant
5027 Garrett Avenue, Beltsville and Maryland 20705
Phone: 301-595-4122
As for Korean restaurant there is a large quantity, but price, taste and service etc synthesizing, you think that here reputation is best. When it is from the campus, when Route 1 it goes north, Powder Mill Road (Route 212) exceeds and goes a little (MVA compared to forward), is Seven Eleven in the left hand, is Gah-Rham on the reverse side. Because there is Korean restaurant classified by another in the same site, will try not to make a mistake.
Most the fact that it has popularity Buffet which is done in the lunch is the eating at will. Also the sushi comes out in addition to various cooking. But as expected the first-rate sushi shop it is not compared, to grasp, because you can eat building, if of price is thought, you think that it can be completely satisfied. If it is the dinner, the burning meat and meal served in hot pot etc are popularity.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Roads in India and Software Development
Having traveled too many times to India, I am now jaded. I am no longer excited either by international travel for purposes of work or about the prospects of being in India. I no longer notice anything interesting at all. I suppose if a person lives 4 months in a year in a certain place it grows on you. It reached a point when I heard my mother complain bitterly about the beginning of summer heat whereas I found myself defending the heat; in fact I find that it is quite pleasant. Don’t get me wrong, it is warm and definitely humid, but nothing like late April or even middle of May when only (as the saying goes) “mad dogs and Englishmen roam the countryside”!!
As I drive through the roads of here in India, the one thing I noticed over the past two years is there is a lot of construction going on our roads all over India. On an idle whim, I began seeing if there were any parallel between the two processes, road building, and software development. If we could this is what I feel would the position of various cities.
Work with me here, OK!!
Bangalore would be in a state of perpetual requirements gathering. They will do one of the following
1) They will check of the roads are by any chance going through a rich neighborhood and if so raise so raise pro-socialist slogans and accuse the government of selling out to multi-nationals.
2) They will check if this somehow benefits Tamilnadu and raise the bogey of Kannada being belittled and tie the construction of the road to release of Cavery waters
Chennai would be in state of perpetual alpha with various major roads seemingly always under construction. One particular road called RK Mutt Road connecting Mandaveli and Mylapore probably has never been completed since the time it was laid. Construction and commute seems to have decided to co-exist peacefully!! Anyway the only topics that the government here cares are
1) 69% of all employees must be from minority communities. Woe betides the contract that is based strictly on merit.
2) Is the contract written in Tamil in triplicate? It does not matter that the officials cannot read it since their parents while touting the fact that Tamil is a classical language (someone please enlighten me what it means) gave them a convent education.
3) If either of these criteria is not met, both leaders will accuse the other of having treated the Tamils unfairly and call a bandh (it may sound interesting, but a sitting government not opposition calls a bandh; you are in power, how can you call a bandh against yourself?)
Roads in Bombay (oops I mean Mumbai) will be in beta state, mostly functioning wide roads, well laid befitting the financial capital of India. Only thing the roads will be built to handle capacity from 30 years ago!! When people complain about this is what would happen
1) The government would complain that Mumbai is for Maharastrians and the rest of them should leave especially those Tamil, Muslims, Biharis, UPites, people who have ruined "Amchi Mumbai"
2) Provide an impractical solution such as building a bridge that runs past (say) Lata Mangeshkars house. The resulting commotion will probably kill the initiative.
In Delhi, no one will gather requirements. The central government will decide arbitrarily that all 2 lane roads will be 4, 4 to 6, 6 to… you get the picture. Delhi will be as close to production quality as possible in India. Even roads 50 kilometers from city center will be built that are 6 lanes wide in each side built to international standards. One road will contain no less than 20 flyovers and as we all know since that is not adequate they are in the process of building 5 more. No one dare question the government’s rationale since we all know Delhi is the capital and it must be ready for Common wealth games in about 3 years.
As I drive through the roads of here in India, the one thing I noticed over the past two years is there is a lot of construction going on our roads all over India. On an idle whim, I began seeing if there were any parallel between the two processes, road building, and software development. If we could this is what I feel would the position of various cities.
Work with me here, OK!!
Bangalore would be in a state of perpetual requirements gathering. They will do one of the following
1) They will check of the roads are by any chance going through a rich neighborhood and if so raise so raise pro-socialist slogans and accuse the government of selling out to multi-nationals.
2) They will check if this somehow benefits Tamilnadu and raise the bogey of Kannada being belittled and tie the construction of the road to release of Cavery waters
Chennai would be in state of perpetual alpha with various major roads seemingly always under construction. One particular road called RK Mutt Road connecting Mandaveli and Mylapore probably has never been completed since the time it was laid. Construction and commute seems to have decided to co-exist peacefully!! Anyway the only topics that the government here cares are
1) 69% of all employees must be from minority communities. Woe betides the contract that is based strictly on merit.
2) Is the contract written in Tamil in triplicate? It does not matter that the officials cannot read it since their parents while touting the fact that Tamil is a classical language (someone please enlighten me what it means) gave them a convent education.
3) If either of these criteria is not met, both leaders will accuse the other of having treated the Tamils unfairly and call a bandh (it may sound interesting, but a sitting government not opposition calls a bandh; you are in power, how can you call a bandh against yourself?)
Roads in Bombay (oops I mean Mumbai) will be in beta state, mostly functioning wide roads, well laid befitting the financial capital of India. Only thing the roads will be built to handle capacity from 30 years ago!! When people complain about this is what would happen
1) The government would complain that Mumbai is for Maharastrians and the rest of them should leave especially those Tamil, Muslims, Biharis, UPites, people who have ruined "Amchi Mumbai"
2) Provide an impractical solution such as building a bridge that runs past (say) Lata Mangeshkars house. The resulting commotion will probably kill the initiative.
In Delhi, no one will gather requirements. The central government will decide arbitrarily that all 2 lane roads will be 4, 4 to 6, 6 to… you get the picture. Delhi will be as close to production quality as possible in India. Even roads 50 kilometers from city center will be built that are 6 lanes wide in each side built to international standards. One road will contain no less than 20 flyovers and as we all know since that is not adequate they are in the process of building 5 more. No one dare question the government’s rationale since we all know Delhi is the capital and it must be ready for Common wealth games in about 3 years.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Raag gets used to India
I sent this as an email to some of my friends on March 27th 2006 when I went to India on a business trip.
I took a day off from work to see my parents in Delhi over the weekend where I met some classmates of mine from Delhi College of Engineering (Friday). It was nice after 3 years to meet them all again. This time we met at Sandeep's house. He is a DIG!! (Observe how well I drop names and my relationship to important people). Well he lives in a decent area near Delhi University and has a huge flat with 3 servants, couple of drivers, and 2 person security detachment!! It is all very impressive. Anyway my friend has this house servant, medium height but looked rather ferocious with a mustache big enough to hang on!! But when he talked to you it was obvious he was a meek man, someone who would not say boo to a mouse. After a while I heard my friend's wife call out to him, guess what his name was; Ghabbar Singh!! I kid you not. Poor man saddled with a name like that. Later Sandeep was kind enough to lend me a cell for the day and told me that since the airports come under his supervision, he would have one of his men come and escort me around and then take the cell phone back. He used hindi to say this "Mere aadmi tumse airport mein milenge", I could not resist asking him, if he was going to add "Tum mujhe woh phone vapis de do nahin to mein Ghabbar ko tumhari ghar bejh doonga"!!
It is astonishing how quickly acclimatized I am becoming to India; not just getting used to more obvious things like hot weather and dirt, but to the roads and the driving habits. In fact I have now become inordinately proud of my driver's skills. On the way to the office there is a place where the road goes from 4 lanes to 2, actually it really does not, but the drivers merely go over the yellow line and drive on the other 2 lanes. Did you not know that lanes don't matter? Then very logically there is an extremely narrow bridge, that allows only 1 lane in each direction. In this stretch, my driver was playing chicken with a bus to our left as to who could get ahead. Earlier I would have cringed, but now I found myself rooting for my driver and thinking, if he could only shift a little faster after each stop he could really get ahead.
When he finally put our nose ahead and won the race, I almost put my hands up. YES! You have no idea how happy I felt at my driver's achievement. But in India I have learned that managers and bosses (addressed as Sir) do not behave in this undignified manner. Observe again how used to India I have become. Note the repeated use of the phrase My Driver.
Last week I asked the my driver to turn into Brigade Road to see what is it that people are raving about. It is extremely crowded but I suppose it is the place to hangout. As we were stopped at another of the traffic jams, (I will no longer explain that I was stuck in a traffic jam, the only reason traffic stops is for a jam), I saw a couple of young guys riding on a motor cycle. The guy in the back had his hand on the shoulder of the driver and in his left hand he had a paper bag with something to eat. Periodically he would put his hand in the bag and eat something from it. Then he did something that surprised me, he took another piece and lovingly fed the driver!! I tried to picture Ravi's reaction to this, but failed!! (Let us say, Ravi is allergic to men touching other men and leave it at that).
We had interviews yesterday during the day at the hotel where I am staying. We invited about 95 candidates and only 55 came for it and we made offers to 3 of them of which I am happy with maybe 2. It is hard.
Later in the evening I went to a mall since everyone talks a lot about them. This one is called Garuda Mall off of MG Road on a road called Commissariat Rd. It is hard to imagine the crush of people, the beleaguered air conditioning was working hard but it was still so warm inside. As far as the mall itself, it is nothing to write home about. 6 to 7 floors tall with a food court on one floor, theatres on the top floor and shops everywhere with mostly over-priced items.
I took a day off from work to see my parents in Delhi over the weekend where I met some classmates of mine from Delhi College of Engineering (Friday). It was nice after 3 years to meet them all again. This time we met at Sandeep's house. He is a DIG!! (Observe how well I drop names and my relationship to important people). Well he lives in a decent area near Delhi University and has a huge flat with 3 servants, couple of drivers, and 2 person security detachment!! It is all very impressive. Anyway my friend has this house servant, medium height but looked rather ferocious with a mustache big enough to hang on!! But when he talked to you it was obvious he was a meek man, someone who would not say boo to a mouse. After a while I heard my friend's wife call out to him, guess what his name was; Ghabbar Singh!! I kid you not. Poor man saddled with a name like that. Later Sandeep was kind enough to lend me a cell for the day and told me that since the airports come under his supervision, he would have one of his men come and escort me around and then take the cell phone back. He used hindi to say this "Mere aadmi tumse airport mein milenge", I could not resist asking him, if he was going to add "Tum mujhe woh phone vapis de do nahin to mein Ghabbar ko tumhari ghar bejh doonga"!!
It is astonishing how quickly acclimatized I am becoming to India; not just getting used to more obvious things like hot weather and dirt, but to the roads and the driving habits. In fact I have now become inordinately proud of my driver's skills. On the way to the office there is a place where the road goes from 4 lanes to 2, actually it really does not, but the drivers merely go over the yellow line and drive on the other 2 lanes. Did you not know that lanes don't matter? Then very logically there is an extremely narrow bridge, that allows only 1 lane in each direction. In this stretch, my driver was playing chicken with a bus to our left as to who could get ahead. Earlier I would have cringed, but now I found myself rooting for my driver and thinking, if he could only shift a little faster after each stop he could really get ahead.
When he finally put our nose ahead and won the race, I almost put my hands up. YES! You have no idea how happy I felt at my driver's achievement. But in India I have learned that managers and bosses (addressed as Sir) do not behave in this undignified manner. Observe again how used to India I have become. Note the repeated use of the phrase My Driver.
Last week I asked the my driver to turn into Brigade Road to see what is it that people are raving about. It is extremely crowded but I suppose it is the place to hangout. As we were stopped at another of the traffic jams, (I will no longer explain that I was stuck in a traffic jam, the only reason traffic stops is for a jam), I saw a couple of young guys riding on a motor cycle. The guy in the back had his hand on the shoulder of the driver and in his left hand he had a paper bag with something to eat. Periodically he would put his hand in the bag and eat something from it. Then he did something that surprised me, he took another piece and lovingly fed the driver!! I tried to picture Ravi's reaction to this, but failed!! (Let us say, Ravi is allergic to men touching other men and leave it at that).
We had interviews yesterday during the day at the hotel where I am staying. We invited about 95 candidates and only 55 came for it and we made offers to 3 of them of which I am happy with maybe 2. It is hard.
Later in the evening I went to a mall since everyone talks a lot about them. This one is called Garuda Mall off of MG Road on a road called Commissariat Rd. It is hard to imagine the crush of people, the beleaguered air conditioning was working hard but it was still so warm inside. As far as the mall itself, it is nothing to write home about. 6 to 7 floors tall with a food court on one floor, theatres on the top floor and shops everywhere with mostly over-priced items.
News flash - India beats Raag
I sent this as an email to some of my friends on March 23rd 2006 when I went to India on a business trip.
*** News Flash ***
Raag the ever timid takes strike. On Sunday, his first day he eats at the Chancery hotel and everything is good. The next days he feels emboldened and eats at the office cafetaria and everything is good (or is it?). Thinking he is very much the punter now he attempts to repeat the stroke and eats again on Tuesday at the cafetaria and disaster strikes. He is clean bowled and by the end of the of day, the bathroom is very well acquainted with Raag. Furthermore he has been reduced to fetal position all of wednesday and has retired from the test match!! Henceforth he has decided to eat idlis and dhahi for breakfast, pack idlis with dhahi every day for lunch and eat curd rice with pickle everynight for dinner, all only at Chancery hotel .
*** End News Flash ***
This is good for two reasons.
1) I will be able to survive India.
2) I can prove to certain people, notably my beloved wife Jannavi, my friend Jeshmi, and Jeshmi's mother that I am very easy to feed and I am not at all picky.
On the side, here are some phrases that are funny.
1) I saw a road sign "Hump here", there may even have been the ubiquitous prefix "Please" !! To the pure of heart and mind, go to dictionary.com and check out "Vulgar Slang".
2) My driver has a simple explanation for traffic in Bangalore "Bangalore roads very traffic".
If I like Bangalore for it weather, then I hate its traffic and its roads. The conditions of the roads are such that I think Bangalore is a dream market for shock absorber companies.
Speed bumps here are another story, I am not sure how it is elsewhere, but here I think they took the standard speed bump and then redesigned it in such a way that you cannot get over one at any speed without a spinal injury!!
Less said about traffic and traffic manners the better it is. In a traffic jam, everyone honks, although it is not clear to me yet why they do so. It practically achieves nothing at all. The other guys looks ahead and plows on ignoring it anyway and if he is unable to, he honks back.
Note - Bangalore-philes, please note that most of the comments above may apply to almost all of India. So please do not flame me.
*** News Flash ***
Raag the ever timid takes strike. On Sunday, his first day he eats at the Chancery hotel and everything is good. The next days he feels emboldened and eats at the office cafetaria and everything is good (or is it?). Thinking he is very much the punter now he attempts to repeat the stroke and eats again on Tuesday at the cafetaria and disaster strikes. He is clean bowled and by the end of the of day, the bathroom is very well acquainted with Raag. Furthermore he has been reduced to fetal position all of wednesday and has retired from the test match!! Henceforth he has decided to eat idlis and dhahi for breakfast, pack idlis with dhahi every day for lunch and eat curd rice with pickle everynight for dinner, all only at Chancery hotel .
*** End News Flash ***
This is good for two reasons.
1) I will be able to survive India.
2) I can prove to certain people, notably my beloved wife Jannavi, my friend Jeshmi, and Jeshmi's mother that I am very easy to feed and I am not at all picky.
On the side, here are some phrases that are funny.
1) I saw a road sign "Hump here", there may even have been the ubiquitous prefix "Please" !! To the pure of heart and mind, go to dictionary.com and check out "Vulgar Slang".
2) My driver has a simple explanation for traffic in Bangalore "Bangalore roads very traffic".
If I like Bangalore for it weather, then I hate its traffic and its roads. The conditions of the roads are such that I think Bangalore is a dream market for shock absorber companies.
Speed bumps here are another story, I am not sure how it is elsewhere, but here I think they took the standard speed bump and then redesigned it in such a way that you cannot get over one at any speed without a spinal injury!!
Less said about traffic and traffic manners the better it is. In a traffic jam, everyone honks, although it is not clear to me yet why they do so. It practically achieves nothing at all. The other guys looks ahead and plows on ignoring it anyway and if he is unable to, he honks back.
Note - Bangalore-philes, please note that most of the comments above may apply to almost all of India. So please do not flame me.
Initial impressions of India
I sent this as an email to some of my friends on March 21st 2006 when I went to India on my first business trip. During the past 6 years before that, I had been to India only once, for a very short while in 2003 and on a personal trip. Jeshmi is a friend of mine who grew up in more affluent circumstances and Krishna always had a sense of his own importance and hence handled these situations with a certain skill
All of you will find this funny, I walk into IonIdea building yesterday morning and the first thing I see is "IonIdea welcomes Mr. Raag Srinivasan" at the front desk !! Later in the evening the HR manager unloaded a boat load of butter on me saying "everybody is singing your praises". I could not resist asking her "what song were they singing".
It has been a while since I worked in India, so it is a little unnerving when people rush to open doors for you. You cannot leave the hotel room without someone outside saying "Good Morning Sir"!! I have to express a desire for water and 2 people will rush to get me bottled water!!
I am a misfit in this environment, but I can see Krishna and Jeshmi thriving in it lording over people although with Jeshmi we all know it is very natural for her.
There is a real class distinction (it always was there), although there are definitely more affluent people than before.
All of you will find this funny, I walk into IonIdea building yesterday morning and the first thing I see is "IonIdea welcomes Mr. Raag Srinivasan" at the front desk !! Later in the evening the HR manager unloaded a boat load of butter on me saying "everybody is singing your praises". I could not resist asking her "what song were they singing".
It has been a while since I worked in India, so it is a little unnerving when people rush to open doors for you. You cannot leave the hotel room without someone outside saying "Good Morning Sir"!! I have to express a desire for water and 2 people will rush to get me bottled water!!
I am a misfit in this environment, but I can see Krishna and Jeshmi thriving in it lording over people although with Jeshmi we all know it is very natural for her.
There is a real class distinction (it always was there), although there are definitely more affluent people than before.
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