China's Nobel nightmare, and lessons for India

It finally happened. Despite aggressive posturing by China over the past few months, the Nobel Prize Committee decided in favour of granting this year's Nobel Peace prize to Mr Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident.

What's the story?

Well, in the year 2008, before the Beijing Olympics were to be held, a group of prominent Chinese intellectuals and dissidents met to discuss and debate the issue of "Universal Human Values" and whether these truly are universal (and hence worth pursuing) or - as the Chinese Communist Party likes to put it - a Western plot to push its own values onto the unsuspecting East.

The meeting ended with the creation of a Charter called the Charter 08 - which was a declaration that certain values like freedom of speech and democracy are indeed worth pursuing, are universal, and hence even in China, they must have a possibility of democratic debate and ultimately, a democratic government system.

This was enough to enrage the Chinese government. Obviously! So they did what they are best at - a rapid crackdown saw most of these intellectuals behind bars, Mr Liu included. The charges were 'revolt against the state'. But what Mr Liu had done was not unique. This was the feeling in the minds of a large number of Chinese, although not many openly speak up in the Chinese system of perpetual repression of free speech.

This incident opens up a lot of issues worth pondering.

• How long can the Chinese trick of posturing (aggressively) before various world governments continue? Every time some head of state wants to meet the Dalai Lama, there is a stern warning issued by Beijing warning them of dire consequences. Even Norway was issued a similar warning recently (that relations will sour between the nations if the peace award was indeed given to Mr Liu). But Norway went ahead and did it. It's another matter that the Norwegian government is now trying to project that the Prize Committee and the Government are two distinct entities!
• What is the "Chinese model of growth" that so many of us in India are also enamoured of? Put simply, it is a model of forced growth, where one central planning body takes all the decisions, and simply puts them into execution. They do not seek anyone's views, permission or dissidence! They just go ahead and do it, Nike style! There are no courts to interfere, and definitely no free media to slow them down. This model has created an amazing material prosperity for large parts of the Chinese mainland, and has been touted as perhaps a model that India would be better off with. In short, this is a model that does not value democracy, and believes firmly in "ends justifying the means".
• A lot of Indians too have a feeling that perhaps this "Chinese model" may be better for India. They are lulled into thinking so because what we see around us is a lot of poverty, illiteracy and decadence. They see corruption, debilitating delays in the judicial machinery and horrendous inefficiencies. And they come to a simple conclusion - "Democracy is the main cause of India's backwardness".
• I beg to differ. I strongly feel that democracy is a better system and must be followed by India always. I feel that democracy is the only way the universal value of freedom can truly be practised in a practical format. So where's the catch then?

• Democracy is not responsible for our poverty and backwardness. The corruption and lethargy of the State apparatus is responsible for all this. We have to learn to differentiate between these two extremely different issues. If the State machinery is corrupt, inefficient and insensitive, that does not mean that democracy is responsible for it. It may mean the opposite - that despite democracy, the citizens are not taking these problems seriously enough to effect a large scale long-lasting change in the society.
• In fact, the Indian State has become a parasite - feeding off its own people, demotivating the honest & the enterprising. Ominous portents. Problem with large part of Indian media too - can't genuinely differentiate between the goodness of democracy (as a model) and the badness of our State's apparatus. They automatically equate the two - because we have so many poor, hence democracy is bad. How wrong a logic this is! I repeat my conviction - we are poor because our State does not perform efficiently, not because we are democratic.
• A final argument in favour of Indian democracy - it is a fantastic system of checks-and-balances, and generally is able to keep absolute power from falling into any one hand. And since absolute power corrupts absolutely, perhaps we are spared the tyranny arising from the same!

So my fellow Indians, the luxury of democracy is something we can surely live with! But the decadence of a deteriorating State apparatus is something we should all cry hoarse about.

Inefficient babus, corrupt netas, slow office procedures, lack of vision in project design and  implementation, amazingly slow judiciary... all these are eating into the vibrant democratic freedom that we have offered ourselves.

Let wisdom prevail. Let change come.

~

Finally, an iPhone.

Finally, an iPhone - a review by a first-time user.

After a 14 year love affair with Nokia, only briefly interjected twice by Samsung and HTC, I have finally moved on to the domain of Steve Jobs. The great, grand Steve Jobs. My new Apple iPhone 3GS has taken me - for the time being - to a different plane altogether now.

A bite, anyone?

Having observed the consistent failure of Nokia to provide a really good smartphone that could stir my fancy, I clung to my 3 year old E90 (Nokia Communicator) with all the loyalty I could muster. But it just did not measure up to what the world was now becoming.

Media played its role too. Apple turning into a tech company with the world's highest market capitalisation, and laudatory reviews appearing persistently in global media played their own part. The clincher perhaps was a full page article in last week's The Economist which talked at length about the travails of Nokia. Somehow, I thought, let me try this new stuff.

So here I am with my new iPhone 3GS - 16 GB. Do excuse me, as I write with some enthusiasm! I am using this stuff for the first time, and as someone who can appreciate the beauty of original thinking, I think I am in love with a lot of what it has to offer.

But first, the precautions:

1. As a Nokia enthusiast, it will take some time to get adjusted to an iPhone. The first 48 hours are most painful. The thought of switching back to Nokia crossed my mind several times, but I persisted, and tried to learn all the features. And it worked!
2. The interface is everything. Apple wants you to enjoy the iPhone. One cannot really use it - one has to begin to enjoy it. Then you start becoming a part of Steve Jobs' vision of technology serving man, and not the other way round.
3. The iPhone is symptomatic of the new world of smartphones that will be the lingua franca of the mobile industry in years to come. Even at the entry level, chances are, iPhone like features will be industry standard. But iPhone is not built for India! It's too smooth, too shiny and too soft for it. That's a huge minus, and hence one needs to be physically very cautious while using it.
4. Learning the on-screen typing will take some time. It is not easy. Nokia enthusiasts accustomed to the tough qwerty keypads may find it frustrating to actually focus their minds on individual alphabets as they pop up in big sizes (beautiful!) as you type from the onscreen keyboard. It takes some time before you realise the wonderful magnifying glass waiting to be at your beck and call!

Now, the adolescent moments of joy!

1. The touch experience is breathtakingly beautiful. It just rolls! And rolls! And if you learn it fast enough, and move your fingers 'across', it rolls even faster. This is pure joy. Seamless, non-jerky, non-discrete. Silicon Valley has scored a big plus over Scandinavia, in touch.
2. The way Apple has ensured simple tasks remain simple, in a touchscreen environment, is praiseworthy. To delete an sms/email, just wipe your finger across and the red coloured delete button appears for you! It sure gives you a sense of control.



iConic

3. The icons are outstandingly beautiful. Steve Jobs' love for calligraphy, simplicity and beauty is all too visible in the way each icon is designed and placed.
4. SMS experience is totally different. Instead of being stored as discrete pieces of communication (like in most other handsets), various SMSs exchanged between any two people are shown in a series of communication bubbles. That changes everything! You can view your entire conversation with someone over time, not just pieces of it (though there is a major minus in it, which I will mention later).
5. Typing, copy-pasting, deleting is all very intelligently designed. A new user must spend some focussed time learning these tricks of the iPhone trade, to fully release its raw power and energy.
6. Setting up the phone is a lovely experience. Smooth as silk, everything settles down quickly, and the unique packaging (in which it arrives) makes you scared at first (Oh my god!, this is so different.. I hope I can handle it) and delighted soon thereafter!
7. Managing pictures and videos is really very cool. In fact, the entire phone - oops, device - is all about its "cool" factor. It is very visible that Steve Jobs and his team have done everything possible to retain the "cool" factors even while the device goes about handling the most mundane of tasks. Making calls, for example. The way the list of calls made (recd/missed) is displayed, and gels with creating new contacts is superb. It is extremely user-friendly once you master it. It takes some time for that, though.
8. The device's homepage icon management is classic. You can do anything you want to - this is one freedom very few companies offer. You can create multiple home pages, with any possible arrangement of icons. That is the extreme to which you can push customisation. And it really helps generate a sense of ownership in the owner's mind (it did, for me!). The way a folder gets created is classic - just drop an icon "into" another icon, and presto! the folder is ready - it uses commonsense.



Steve Jobs and his digital world

9. The online iTunes store's width and depth surely must be huge, but I have not started using that fully so far. I guess it must be one of the most populated online stores, and options on applications must be varied and rich. My son's first horrified reaction "Dad, nothing is for free here!!!" proved wrong when we spotted the "Free" tab, and discovered a whole host of free goodies available. Now for an Indian user, that's really important :-)
10. The arrival of 3G networks in India will multiply the pleasure of using an iPhone. It is truly designed for that infrastructure only. The tardy speeds at present kill the joy of seeing a webpage load in all its glory, with easy navigation and delete options.
11. Using the phone in hands-free mode (without a headset) is very convenient as the on-screen icons are very large and clearly visible.
12. Spending time on online-social-networking (OSN) on this handset is very interesting. From feeling that you are on a miniature PC to enjoying the adjustable-screen-display-tilt feature, it glides fairly smoothly. Webpages are a breeze.
13. Emails are very smooth to manage. And the push-mail feature makes it very Blackberry like (though almost all brands offer this feature now). But I must admit - Blackberry is totally business-like in appearance and behaviour. So perhaps the iPhone is for evolved business-persons! Ha ha. And thank God they do not restrict the number of email accounts one can install.

But the product is far from being "perfect". Limitations are:

1. SMS communication thread makes it very difficult to identify the last received sms from any user (as it gets inside some communication somewhere!). It is only upon the first prompt that you can see the fresh sms clearly, and then it is lost inside the whole list of communication threads stored. You may change this through the settings feature, I guess, but the thread utility will be lost then.
2. Why, oh why, do you have to create a separate tool for a thing as mundane as a SIM card slot! It is a foolish idea. The pin just cannot be preserved safely for long. And since billions of other handsets in the world are easily working with a manually (and easily) openable sim card slots, why do we need a pin in the iPhone to accomplish that task?
3. It is clear that Steve Jobs did not have India in his mind while designing the iPhone. My small advice - please wake up to the subcontinent's realities, if you really want to crack the market here. The dust, grime, sweat, jerks, tumbles and drops here are unlike anyplace else. The iPhone is too sophisticated to become a mass product in India (which ultimately Apple will try to become). It catches dust easily, gets scratched very quickly, and the real danger of the windshield ruined to pieces is all too scary!! I have issued clear instructions to both my kids that the first one to smash my screen will have his/her PC confiscated.
4. The handling of the device needs extra care. Apple should put a good grip on either sides of it, that's leathery and rough, so we can hold it properly. Smooth metal is hardly the best idea!
5. Of course, it is costly!
6. The best way to silence an incoming call is to have an on-screen icon like most other handsets have, by default. The lack of this feature in the iPhone 3GS surprises me - is there some higher purpose here?  (you can silence it by tapping the volume-control switch provided on the left side)
7. I am still not able to see the "automatic into drafts folder" option for sms that you suddenly lose while typing (Nokia has this very useful feature). It is very irritating to lose a large w-i-p sms after typing out most of it!



Nokia's great vision

8. It is frustrating for a business user to notice the lack of a flash while taking pictures. It ruins many images totally. Nokia rocks in this feature! Apple iPhone 4 removes this anomaly, but it's fairly costly for that.
9. We all know that Apple is a closed universe - their own hardware, their own software, their own policies, and their own showrooms (mostly). So it will take some time before adjusting to this reality. This is in stark contrast to a very open Nokia system, that grows on you like addiction in no time. (the Ovi service never could catch on as much as Nokia would love it to)
10. The microphone quality is a bit inferior though, and one needs to speak loudly at times, when using the speakerphone mode.
11. The auto screen-tilt feature is not foolproof in the iPhone. It works best when the phone is held perpendicular to the ground, not when it is at an angle.
12. A big irritant is the absence of a "delete all" feature for sms and emails. How do you delete multiple sms / emails? One by one? Come on!
13. Big letdown - Battery gets drained very fast, not a suprise given the size of the display screen. So while one could get away with a 2 days non-charging period with the Nokia E90, here it's a tight situation, even with a low 'screen brightness' setting.
14. An advice to Apple and Steve Jobs - send a team of designers to India, and let them study the sturdy, tough, unbreakable (almost) handsets of other manufacturers that operate for the Indian market. In the long run, that learning will work wonders for Apple, as it goes about grabbing a meaningfully large share of the Indian market.

My verdict : If you are totally happy with your present handset (which most likely will be a Nokia!), no need to shift. You are in sturdy, solid hands. But if you have had enough, and want a complete change, iPhone it is.

Let's see how this battle evolves in the months to come. It can move in any direction, as writing Nokia off may be foolhardy. They simply can bounce back with a disruptive product that again takes people like me to their fold (what a waste of money it will have been then!). For the time being, let me partake of life's little pleasures including wiggling icons, the silver-smooth Apple logo, and rapturous communication threads!


Thanks for reading, and have a good day!

A comprehensive, topic-wise and useful collection of my various posts and answers can be found here. Enjoy.

~

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Wisdom Speaks - Chief Justice (rtd) Shri R S Garg on his life and times

"As an MBA, whether you choose to be a Dream Merchant, or a Nightmares Supplier is entirely your personal choice."

It's not often that one gets to hear distilled wisdom of several decades neatly encapsulated in the form of wisdom nuggets, delivered articulately, in packets of digestible sizes. Today was one such event, when we heard one of the best speakers who has visited our campus.

As part of the Annual Positive Contribution Award series, PROTON was proud to honour Chief Justice (Retd) Shri R S Garg who recently completed a marathon innings spanning four decades, and retired as the CJ of the Guwahati High Court. Justice Garg then spoke eloquently about his life and times.

He connected the dots spanning a very wide spectrum of topics, including character, tactfulness, diplomacy, law, justice, adjudication, reasoning, communication skills, anger, hatred & love, right & wrong and career choices. It was remarkable to observe a senior Justice of his calibre and standing present the ideas in a language that 20-year-olds could understand clearly. That was surely the mark of a true master!

On preparation: The stage of life that young people are at, is akin to passing through a furnace. Just like cast iron, wrought iron, and steel are increasingly pure versions of iron ore, similarly a student has to pass through fire repeatedly to evolve from cast to wrought to steel. In other words, if you are scared of the fire, be prepared to live the rest of your life as a piece of cast iron. Similarly, a piece of stone can only be sculpted into a desirable statue by repeated chiselling with a pointed tool.

On self-direction: If you are an aggressive (but upright and reasonable) person, people around you will find your edges uneven, irregular and causing lacerations. Over a period of time, you can change the perception to someone whose edges are evened out and are incisive rather than bruising!

On persistence: A small piece of cork that keeps hitting a 1 ton steel plate repeatedly in a pendulum like fashion, may ultimately make the plate move. That is the power of persistence and tenacity. One has to persist; nothing happens overnight.

On arguing: Many people may relish winning arguments on the spot. But they may not be able to win the vanquished's heart(s). It is more important to handle a situation properly, than to win an argument. In other words, there is no point in winning the battle but losing the war!

On truth and perception: There is no absolute truth in this world. There are differing perceptions of reality as people have perceived them separately. So, the glass is half-full for some, and half-empty for some, but in all the cases, the glass remains much bigger and more profound than the contents! You are the master of any situation if you have access to the total truth, which is never possible. Real truth is always larger than the bits presented to us.

On communication skills: Having a good command over the language(s) and being able to speak them well is perhaps the most important skill one can possess. It is important to know that "good" is better than "better" as the former is absolute whereas the latter is relative. To tell someone that "I am like your father" may not go down well, but "In you I see my son", or "You are younger than my son" will have a totally different impact.

On the art of asking questions: It is an art to ask the right question : So should you ask a priest "Can I smoke while praying?" or "Can I pray while smoking?". The answers, obviously, will be totally different in these two cases!

On the art of apologising and letting go: Winning arguments is not necessarily the best option, as discussed. A great tool can be reflected in the approach - "If I am wrong, I am sorry. If you are wrong, let's forget it."

On lessons of life: While relishing a paan in Lucknow, a drop of kaththa fell on the shirt. The paanwala reminded the customer that "Janaab, this is Lucknow. You should bend forward, as even the paan here demands adab!"

Similarly, when someone gets totally fed up with a career, the juiciest fruits present themselves.

On diplomacy and wit: A young lawyer was aghast to hear a judgement that went against his client, despite excellent chances of success. Upon seeing frustration on his face, the judge reminded him of legal propriety suggesting a possibility of contempt of court otherwise. A senior had to gently submit to the judge that "My Lord, this lawyer is new and should be excused. In just a few days, no judgement in your court will shock him!!"

On education and motivation: One needs to be educated when one does not know how to do it. One needs to be motivated when one does not wish to do it. Knowing this crucial difference is the hallmark of a great teacher.

Great one-liners -

"Do not just learn to sing a song, learn the raag"

"Do not just win the game, win the race"

"The glass is always bigger than its contents"

"There is no absolute truth - Truth is what appears to be true : plausible, reasonable, probable"

"Handling a situation properly is more important than winning the argument"

"You may disagree with others, but do it in a style that looks like an agreement"


We agree sir. Totally!
~

Pictures of the event may be viewed here - http://picasaweb.google.com/sm.ptuniverse.blog/ChiefJusticeRShriRSGargExpertGuestLecture?feat=directlink

Make a beginning. Then build on it.

Despite a challenging global economic situation and an extremely difficult local jobs market, we steadily kept working at opportunities and happily placed hundreds of our students successfully across corporates and sectors. 


Here I reproduce something straight from the heart of one of our most lovable Protons - Nirbhay. Enjoy reading! And students - there is a whole lot of learnings to be had from this experience.

"Greetings for the day! I am Corporate Proton Nirbhay Mervana. I was placed with Infomedia 18 Ltd. 3 months back. I am missing Proton & Protons everyday and memories which we got from there will be forever in our heart and learning from there are effectively working here in our mind.


I had successfully passed my 3 months at my 1st job at Infomedia 18 ltd. Time was full of learning at every stage of my work & from every person I met, they can be my clients, my colleagues, boss & management. But learning which got from you all (Proton) is quite amazing.


Sir I am experiencing here the same face corporate world which you show us in last two years and for which we were trained. We did not need to take more time to fit here because we experienced it so early during our sessions, projects & team activities at Proton. Here the same thing we are doing like plan your day, make daily report of your day, than update yourself with all the changes, send email proposals to clients, analyze your day what was wrong.


We are having morning assembly everyday were we have to share our last day experiences & learning with everyone so it will beneficial for others and at last manager will come on stage for new updates & plan for day, this everyday recall us our chaupaal.


We have to punch I-card for daily attendance punching deadline is 9:00 and at 9:01 our half day will mark, we are not allowed to attend session after bell rang. When some of our clients came to know that we did our management than they come in to very good discussion at time all inputs come from there are very useful.


Sir these are some examples which I shared with you above but all the other things which we learned at Proton are really valuable like grooming our selves well than dressing and walking we have walk 13-14 km everyday with bag on shoulder with sales kit.


Sir we can proudly say that Proton is shining everywhere like at Infomedia 18 during the training only Protons have started with toped daily quizzes. Other things in each & every discussion point put by Proton’s always appreciable, and they also very impressed with style of presenting our selves. We all 4 Shankit, Amit, Ruchi and me had dominated all the discussions. Our company has recruited students from all over India also from other colleges from Indore but Proton has differentiate themselves and our trainer also only knows we 4 as from one institute.


Now, I am going share something about my work at here. My first month of work not good as I was not aware from area, market & style of work. I was not able to convert sales for so many days but I never loss my patient, I took it as challenge & work with more passion. I thought that I will not be able to perform in the company who super brand in this product than how can I sell something else. I never afraid from sales pressure because if we are not contributing for which they are paying they will pressurize you nothing wrong in that.


But as hard work & efforts always pays in just my 2 month I was the most consistent performer of company. I brought sales continue 21 days. I also rewarded by my Vice President, Assi. V.P. and G.M. Sales. And daily appreciation which I got in morning was also very good.


My V.P. knows me by my name & also called me for meet. My A.V.P. gives my example to new joiners in training sessions, my G.M. & managers gives example to my seniors of mine that when Nirbhay who is new to market, company, area can perform than why you all can’t. They also send new comers with me for field training. I also got chance to take photograph with our Vice President with whom all the people want to take one photo & for me he told that “ Nirbhay ab 1 photo tere sath ho jaye ”


My all colleagues, bosses & managers are too good. They are very helpful and give proper guidance for everything to me. Working with these kinds of people gives very good feeling. I learn a lot from their experience & their leadership inspires a lot to all of us.


Sir, at last I can feel that in sales we have to be self motivated by our self only because our work can only motivate us and we have to enjoy our work so that our work will be fun like I am enjoying it a lot. We just have to feel our product as best than we have to give this feeling to our clients. I am able adjust myself in their culture & having a very good relationship with all. I have a lot more to say but if I will share everything it will never be complete. So in short I really thank ful to Proton family for all the support & learning which I got from there because if can compare Nirbhay on 1st July ’08 and today, I can feel that change & transformation.

--
Regards,
Nirbhay Mervana
BDE- Infomedia 18 Ltd."

Needless to say, you need to begin. You just need to begin. It does not matter where, or how, or at what level. Once you start, then there is no looking back at all. You can utilise your entire education to build with what you have started.
~

In a blinding flash…

Two days ago, in the afternoon, my colleague rushed to me to inform me of the accidental death of one of my students.

News of death, though faced on several occasions, always comes as a bolt from the blue. A humbling reminder that we are, after all, only humans. It comes as a simple message from almighty God himself – “remember, your date is due. And no one shall be spared.”

It is only when one is put into this thinking process that one begins to question the fundamental assumptions on which life is conducted, and our daily affairs are managed. Some such simple assumptions are 

• We are going to live for a long long time
• We are not going to die in the foreseeable future
• Our loved ones are going to be around for a long long time
• The deepest of pain will never be part of our lives
• The biggest of tragedies cannot happen with us
• Life will continue to offer its bounties to us regularly
• We can plan our lives, and can carry out those plans

As days pass by, and we age, we fondly look back upon the years on the footprints of time, and recollect the good moments we have enjoyed. Many of us must feel the sense of loss (having enjoyed those moments so much) and we long for those sunny days to return. But once gone, they are gone for ever.

So the lesson – Living for today’s sake is quite important. Perhaps as much as planning for tomorrow.

And then we start wondering – is all this action really worth it? By “action” I refer to the daily headaches that we encounter and the daily schedules that we set for ourselves. We really do not find a strong answer anywhere but the Bhagwad Gita. It tells us the route to salvation – and that’s fairly simple – to enjoy the karma of existence with full spirit. To devote oneself to selfless karma (now that’s quite tough in today’s Kalyugi times) is the route to salvation. This human existence (and other yonis as well) have no option but to dedicate oneself to the day-to-day tasks of existence and hope for ultimate salvation. The only difference perhaps being that as a human we are conscious of this cycle!

I add one thing to this – In addition to the day-to-day tasks of existence, let us strive for excellence as well. God surely will love us for that.

I remember various Insurance agents telling me about the fickle-minded phenomenon – “life”. In fact, the entire insurance industry works on the simple selling of the idea that death is for sure. How effectively do they sell it to us, depends on their individual skills.

So – Buy a lot of insurance. For yourself, for your loved ones.

We start wondering about the relationships we live with, the amazing web of give-and-take that we encounter every single day of our lives. Friends, children, parents, loved ones, relatives, colleagues, co-workers – every single interaction that we have is unique, never to be repeated ever. I particularly recall the last part of the seminal movie A.I. where the robot David asks the super-beings for just a chance to be with his human mother once, and they grant it saying that “the fabric of space time is such that once they recreate anything, it can live only through one day when it vanishes forever”.

So let’s respect each interaction as unique. A never-to-be-repeated experience.

As I spoke with the father of the departed soul, I got emotional and could feel the pain totally. It must be such a tearing pain for a father who is made to bear a loss like this one. I had tears in my eyes when I spoke to him, and I hope he has enough strength to bear this loss. Destiny can be so cruel to some! It's almost unimaginable how the family will cope with the tragedy. God be merciful.

Dear Proton Vivek Singh Yadav – rest in peace, dear friend. You will be missed always.

Life and love

Love and death

On the eternal footprints of time

Are temporary human constructs

To be savoured

Till they persist, till they exist

For the waves of time's irresistible push forward

Remind us without fail

That we are creatures frail

Not to last

But our unique images

Will live on

Forever

In the hearts of those whom we loved!

~

Winners and Losers - a policy perspective

I recently visited Hyderabad, and had the opportunity to inspect closely the technology city they have built over the past decade, over a rocky terrain (literally). My hosts were kind enough to drive me around, and show me the complete landscape from various vantage points, explaining the workings too.

It was quite an eye-opener, not that we are oblivious to the state's growth (having read in the media so many times).. but seeing it firsthand is always an eye-opener (literally!).

I remember that a few days ago, a senior journalist from a local media house at Indore had interviewed me, and in the volley of questions, there was this one about "how can Indore and MP be made an IT hub like Hyderabad (and Bangalore)?".

I am now in a position to answer it better!

Let me list the things that actually work in favour of making a particular city a "hub" of something. Let me generalise my thinking, and offer a broad perspective. What I write now applies to all success stories, and the lessons are of enduring value.

1. Political will to transform the status-quo: The whole story starts with a fundamental change in the ruling political party's point of view. When that party sees a big opportunity to make a positive difference (howsoever selfishly that might be construed) and when it starts to articulate a policy based on this changed perspective, things start moving for the first time. Nothing at all will happen without such a political will from the top. It is sad, but true. That "one" person at the top proves to be the harbinger of positive development, and without that person, all dreams are but just dreams.
2. Personal mission of the top politicians and bureaucrats: It is not enough to have an amorphous vision from the "Party". You need someone, some "one" to take personal charge of the mission to make that difference. You need that one charismatic and sensible leader who makes this vision his/her own, speaks about its need, and then goes about implementing the same. While this happens, the party at large has to support this "one" person, and not pull him/her down, which may happen in case the vision is truly compelling and may end up making him a star!
3. The first breakthroughs: Once the mission is articulated and starts to take shape, the first breakthroughs must happen rather quickly. All stops need to be pulled out for that. Realising fully well that there will be others in the race to attract the same few companies that set up shop as the pioneers (in that state), speed is all too crucial. The machinery has to move very fast, in a lubricated manner, to attract the best of breed corporations (of that particular sector) and help them start operations. This again, requires personal commitment from the top political leadership. There are bound to be significant hurdles in the way - of every nature - and they have to be strongly (brutally) pushed aside for the new vision to take shape. Yes, a democracy tax needs to be paid (in terms of legal wranglings arising out of differing perceptions in matters like land acquisitions etc.), but all that has be contained to a level that does not throw the mission off the track.
4. Building on the first breakthroughs: As soon as signals are apparent that the first breakthroughs have been achieved, the system needs to quickly build on those. The success stories need to be circulated to other majors of that sector, so that they are prompted to invest quickly, lest they should miss the bus. Roadshows need to be accelerated in this phase.
5. Healthy overall eco-system: A virtuous cycle automatically builds up in this process. Good companies, good humanware, good support services, good public response - they all end up supporting each other. The region's economy starts to transform. Things look positive for every stakeholder. This is perhaps the most important aspect of a big victory. Isolated success stories of individual companies may not make that big a difference (WalMart in Bentonville, Arkansas surely is an exception!) but a whole set of factors surely does.
6. People's support for the change: It is interesting to note that largely, the people of Andhra have not supported the IT cyberisation of Hyderabad. This is obvious from the fact that the pioneer Mr Chandrababu Naidu lost elections due to oversell of the IT story. But the people did not say - "throw out the IT companies". They simply said "Enough of all this - now focus on the villages". That is a big eye-opener. Those who got in, stayed there. They were not charged in a hostile manner. They continued to operate profitably.
7. Consistency in policy: What is good about such stories is that the next government (of a different political party) finds it profitable to continue the old policies below-the-radar as that helps the international image of the new party in power. This has happened in AP. Policy continuity was welcomed by the IT majors operating there, and the virtuous cycle continued to benefit thousands.
8. Good luck! No matter how much one plans, ultimately a lot of it boils down to sheer good luck. States that have successfully managed to bring a revolution (in some sector) owe a lot of it to the positive confluence of a lot of factors many of which surely they could not have controlled. So lady luck is always to be sought in abundance!

Unfortunately, if we talk of IT, my state (Madhya Pradesh) has missed the bus. None of these factors seem evident, and yet there are hopes expressed off and on in media about a positive possibility. It is not happening anytime soon! Interestingly, winning states may lose in other fields to losers (in IT for example), and so on. But the lessons must be learnt fast for that to happen.

The horrible truth is : these states (like Andhra Pradesh) have built the critical mass in IT infrastructure already. It is all too easy for an IT major to set up shop profitably there - everything is readily available. So with every passing month, the entry barrier for the other states goes up significantly. Why should I, as an IT major, even bother to think of any other state when established solutions are already available? So honestly, when someone tells me that they have constructed one huge building (call it an IT park) and that will be the IT hub of a city, it sounds like a cruel joke to me, as cities like Hyderabad have hundreds of those-sized buildings already brimming with action, life, hope and revenues. It's not about a building, it's about a whole friendly ecosystem. I am not a pessimist, but this surely beats all imaginable heights of optimisim!

Have we learnt the lessons, and are we willing to outdo others in other fields at least? With every major battle won (and lost), we do tend to come to final conclusions about the end of the world! But it is not so. There are always emerging industries waiting in the wings. Genetic science, renewable energy, next wave of Telecom and 3G.. it's all yet to happen. Business has a certain cruelty to it - successful empires often are left by the wayside when new ones emerge. So there will be another set of winners. And losers. Wait and watch.

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Obama solves Palestine problem, to move it to outer space

I wrote this article in a moment of agony, reading about the repeated Israeli attacks on innocent (?) Palestinians, and the utterly confused American stand on the whole peace issue that's going nowhere. The article presents a comical solution to the embroglio, and hopefully will force the reader to consider the sheer lunacy of the actual situation. The article also got published on a popular fun news site www.fakingnews.com Enjoy!
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Obama solves Palestine problem, to move it to outer space

Washington, DC, USA. In a surprising development late last evening, President Barack Obama (of the USA in North America), emerged from a 22 hours marathon meeting with representatives of NASA, CIA, FBI, Mossad, CBI, the BSP, Al Qaeda and the states of Israel and Palestine, to make a landmark announcement. He sounded optimistic, although desultory and shaky due to sheer fatigue despite consuming 43 cups of Starbucks discounted coffee with Dunkin diabetic donuts, while releasing his official press note.

Surrounded by all these representatives all of whom were equally shaky out of sheer fatigue, he said, and we quote. “The USA has realized that the tremendous efforts, time and resources invested over past 3 decades into solving the shitty Israel-Palestine problem have turned to precisely that – shit. There is more and more of that being generated with every passing week. Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s efforts to clean up the mess are leaving more of it (blush). Hence, in a multinational operation of unprecedented magnitude, all parties involved have decided to agree to a project in which the entire physical state of Palestine will be moved to the outer space, 33 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. This way, the problem will be solved forever.”

To the tumultuous cheer of the media persons present in the briefing room, the President continued, “We have also realized that the Israelis actually enjoy attacking, maiming, handicapping and killing the Palestinians. It goes beyond their call of state-duty. It is a form of national sports, and is used for daily mock training of their regular troops. Since this cannot be changed we decided to change the target itself. Now the entire state of Palestine, including the disputed settlements in the West Bank (and the Gaza strip) will be dug out till a depth of 500 m into neatly packaged chunks (with humans inside) using giant Caterpillar machines (for which contracts need to be taken out) and will be transported to outer space using giant tows tied to Saturn 22 rocket series (for which contracts need to be taken out). All these chunks will then be neatly assembled by the leading engineers from Toyota’s famous assembling units (that manufactured those brake-pedal assemblies that have led to worldwide recalls) and in a short span of just 29 years, the project should see completion.”

Upon media queries on what will happen to the people tied inside these chunks, the President replied, “They will be supplied enough food, water and sanitation facilities to last at least three decades. They can continue to enjoy their safe lives (better than what they would be back on ground anyway) and continue to reproduce inside. As soon as the assembling would be complete, they can emerge to a victorious settlement of their new found homeland. What Gods could not do, we will have done.”

To a question on possible Republican vetoing of the project later, the President accepted that it represented a tricky matter and that if the Republicans were to come to power anytime in the next 3 decades, they could reverse his administration’s call, and then the fate of the Palestinians out there would literally be hanging in the air. He offered no solution to that future emergency, denouncing critics as naysayers, and advising them to believe in the power of “we can”.

His address was transmitted live to the entire world, with an estimated 1899 TV channels beaming it live, and 11 billion humans watching it to their pleasant surprise, including some from the forlorn and forgotten islands in Micronesia, who could not hide their tears of joy. Out of sheer joy, thousands of Palestinians fired several rounds of AK-47 shots into the Israeli territory, killing hundreds of civilians who could not hold their tears of joy on this stunning development. The Israelis too returned fire out of sheer joy, and maimed an equal number of Palestinians.

[submitted by International News Correspondent Inane Stupidities Amplified (I S Amplified)]
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