Of Swamijis, cults, crooks and Indian economy

As cult leader Nithynanda is caught in a sex scandal and his organization torn down in India, it is time to ponder on this spread of cultism and proliferation of “holy men” in India. I asked spiritual oriented elders in my family about this and they believe that such enlightened masters are very few in any society. They come once in a generation. But India has now got millions of such guys who claim to be “enlightened”. How?

Since 1990s, the “holy men” count in India has grown manifold. (If only India had half as many scientists as saints we would invented time machine.) They come in all forms, all kind of hairstyles and all kind of fashion. They all establish a big temple and organization around themselves, throw out some general good statements (like Dont be evil, don’t lie"), quote from Hinduism’s holy scriptures and sooner or later the sheeps in Indian society will declare them as saint and god.

Till late 80s there were only a handful of these groups, but suddenly what happened? Is there some cosmic event that created 1000s of saints out of ordinary mortals? Well, it has probably got less to do with religion and spirituality than about economics.

As India got economically liberated in 1991, people particularly those in IT found new wealth, new dreams and new environments. When wealth comes so sudden, so is fear, anxiety and doubt. People were also more staying more away from families and work pressure & competition. They took on more adventure activities like hiking and river rafting to relieve the pressure, but it was not getting enough. They needed some spiritual adventures. Everybody wanted a slice of this nice thing called “enlightenment”.

In economics supply always meets where there is demand. In come all these ordinary joes in saffron. They claim to have an answers to these spiritual problems. They throw out good feeler words and slowly build a cult. Most of these cults are centered around India’s IT clusters – in Bangalore and elsewhere, because that’s where the main market lie. These fellows also frequently visit the US, where diaspora Indians, hippie Americans and Caucasian females – provide a very lucrative market to them. They collect a lot of money, build huge temples and (sometimes) even some good things like schools and hospitals. They create an aura where everything in the ashram moves around them.

As they say about “markets are the best instrument to separate money from the fools”, the Indian IT folks were pouring money on these cult leaders. There are 3 day, 3 week and 3 month courses on enlightment from these cult leaders that charge outrageous sums of money. What these paying guys were secretly wishing is for a short cut road towards spiritual enlightenment. And everytime they wish for these short cuts they strengthen the crooks and charlatans.

Green hunt and India’s war on ultra left-wing

After dilly-dallying for a few decades India has stepped up the war on India’s left-wing Maoists who seek to bring an ultra-left communist ideals to India through violent means. Operation Greenhunt seeks to deploy 20000 paramilitary troops in the communist affected regions and smoke the terrorists out. It is probably India’s biggest anti-terror operation outside Kashmir.

India’s “revolutionists” come under the banner Naxalites named after the town Naxalbari in east India from where they originally started the movement. Though Indian government understates the problem, it affects 220 of the 450 odd districts of India apart from the neighboring nation of Nepal.

The issue partly stems from the fact that India’s development doesn’t always reach the interior which is beset by a variety of problems including faltering agriculture, encroachment from unethical corporations and greater competition for the rich mineral resources – all the problems that afflict sub-saharan Africa. There is acute poverty that politicians and bureaucrats have not always addressed.

It is a well known phenomenon worldwide that regions far away from oceans and major waterbodies will have significantly lower development, but various Indian government failed to appreciate this fact and add greater developmental measures to compensate for this handicap. The red-belt (red stands for communism) also doesn’t have a major city apart from the tech center of Hyderabad near it and that has deprived the locals from modernization and urbanization. Most of the villages don’t even have electricity and social ills like hunger, illiteracy and infant mortality is rampant.

While the problems are genuine, there are some evil elements that try to make use of the issue to implement their extemist ideals. The Naxalites are a brutal organization and have conducted many a brutal beheadings in Taliban style. Like Al-Queda they are highly decentralized and very sophisticated. This kind of barbarianism is further disconnects the region from world economy and exacerbates the poverty.

Over the decades, Indian governments have thought this as a law & order issue that must be dealt by the provincial governments. However, the provincial government lacked the resources and determination to put out the menance. So, finally Indian federal government has started this war that now has 5 batallions and 20000 paramilitary soldiers on the ground.

While brutal force must be used against the naxals, extraordinary care must be taken not to victimize those tribals who have no part in this. We don’t want to increase the ranks of the disillusioned. The federal government must also studiously monitor the excesses of the military force that is often an issue in Kashmir and the north-east. But, most importantly the root cause for the socio-economic ills have to be solved. The federal government must start a massive project to bring electricity, roads, markets and other infrastructure to these regions at war-footing. Integrate them with national & world economy at a great speed and bring substantial investments and development to this region. And anything that stands in the way of this development must be thrown out at once.

The federal government must also try to give more autonomy/separate statehood to some of the regions in the affected zone (including the creation of Vidarbha & Telengana) to prioritize the developmental issues that affects the red-belt. By separating the red-belt of Vidarba and Telengana we would free up the prosperous states like Maharashtra & Andra Pradesh to focus on issues different issues – like how to bring their regions to world standards.

Shiv Sena and MNS set new records in hating

The Sainiks first hated the Muslims and wanted them to get out. Then they hated and rioted against South Indians (particularly Tamils) in the 1970s. Then they hated and asked the north Indians to get out of the state. Then they hated the India’s arch rivals in Cricket – Australia and Pakistan and not play in the state. Due to this hatred and threats, Indian Premier League had to keep the Pakistani players out of the format in which they are champions and worsening Indo-Pak relations.

But, Sena is not contended. They hated Shah Rukh Khan (a resident of Mumbai and the top star of the Bollywood) who acted in patriotic movies including Swades and Chak de India. Then they hated the city born Anil Ambani (who ranks among the worlds top 5 businessmen) and Aamir Khan – the actor of Rang de Basanti & Lagaan. Well, these are all “outsiders” – those who are not native Maratis, so it is ok. But, they still don’t want to stop with that.

Now, they hate Sachin Tendulkar – the god of Indian cricket who is loved by people beyond regional, linguistic and national barriers, and a Maharashtrian himself.  Then they hated their political allies – BJP and the ideological masters – RSS. All because they dared to speak the obvious – Mumbai is a part of India and every Indian has a right to it.

As Sena, MNS and its followers keep setting the records on hating, we Indians need to ponder on what allowed these parties to exist and get votes in the first place. How can rational and patriotic Indians support such dangerous elements that threaten the fabric of India? The problem is not just in Maharashtra, but exists in some form or the other throughout India. Regional parties of Karnataka, West Bengal and of course the Dravidian parties of Tamilnadu used fear & hatred of outsiders to gain votes and grab power. They have manipulated their electorate and nurtured a sub nationalism that run counters to the one Bharat idea.

As Indians we need to nip this in the bud. Let’s get rid of parochial regional parties and support politicians with a vision to unite India and solve its real problems. And Maharashtrians and rest of India have a lot important problem of farmer suicides in Vidharba to tackle before discussing the stupid language imposition on taxi drivers. And Sainiks should also ask themselves if Shivaji Maharaj and Bal Gangadharar Tilak approve of their hatred of non-Maratis.

When will India and China overtake US in GDP (nominal terms)?

Here are some charts from Goldman Sachs research. China is expected to overtake US around 2035 and India is expected to overtake US in 2040 and then it will be the race between the two Asian giants.

Indian cities under threat from surrounding states

Today I was appalled to read the statement from a former Lok Sabha speaker (head of Indian legislature)  Murali Manohar  Joshi that “Mumbai is for only for the people from the state of Maharashtra”. Mumbai is the economic & entertainment capital of India and how can it be closed only to the people from its surrounding state? Mr. Joshi does not limit to just words but through his party has contributed to enough violence against “outsiders” – Indians from other states. Think of what would happen if NYC declares it is only for ethnic Newyorkers and start burning those coming from Pennsylvania or Maryland ?

The problem is limited not only to Mumbai but in other cities too. India’s tech capital of Bangalore experienced riots and violence against Tamils and other “outsiders” in 1990s, and some of its leaders blocked developments to the city like a monorail plan arguing that the Kannadigas (natives of the surrounding state of Karnatka) outside the city are being left out. The other tech city of Hyderabad is caught in a tussle between regions of the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a shame that 3 of the major tech centers of India are now a victim of such chauvinism and sub-nationalism that both threatens India’s unity and economy.

It is time for Indian government to put its foot down and reinforce the idea - “India is for all Indians” and there cannot be any linguistic/regional/casteist group that can threaten this idea of India. Any Indian is free to move/settle in any part of India and state/local government that thinks otherwise must be threatened with dismissal. Any leader who incites violence in the name of subnationalism should better spend time behind bars.

But, more importantly Indian government should consider separating the major metropolis from their surrounding states and give them politcal autonomy – under Union Territories classification. China has this way and cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hong Kong and Shanghai are autonomous & don’t belong to other provinces. This allows the cities to pursue their development and handle their problems independent of their adjoining states.

Just like how national capital of Delhi was carved out of the state of Haryana, metropolitan cities including Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata have to be carved out of their parent states and be given autonomy as Union Territories. This will prevent different communities fighting to attach the metropolis to their own region similar to what is happening in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and will allow the city to devise its own transportation and urban development infrastructure.

Chandigarh, Pondicherry and New Delhi have had no problems by not being a part of a major province and I would like to see other metros too in this. There could be a unified city development council at the center that can manage and guide these autonomous cities.

And coming to Indian politics, if the national party of BJP doesn’t rein its ally Shiv Sena and get out of such narrow minded interests it will permanently damage its electorate in the rest of India.

Business models and Entrepreneurs

 

Wonder 1:

What is the difference between startup entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs? Is it that one of them has a great notion about business strategy while the other doesn’t? No. In fact, both of them don’t have a friggin clue about business models. The difference is one of them takes the forward step with a mix of guts, greed, passion and appetite for risk. The other doesn’t.

Wonder 2:

Why do all those strategy and business professors, with apparently lots of business ideas, don’t make a dime making something, while Steve Jobs or Larry Page who don’t write about strategy still make billions? The difference is the profs are waiting for a perfect business idea that satisfies all their models, while an entrepreneur lifts up his finger and just does it. The people who talk about strategy more often than not have little clue of actually building a business. They can talk & analyze post-facto, but cannot predict the success/failure before it actually happens.

Revival of religion in India

 

For a few decades since its freedom from British in 1947, Indian policymakers and thinkers tried hard to keep religion out of Indian society and politics. India declared itself as secular socialist and its first prime minister – Pandit Nehru, had his own inhibitions against religion. He wanted Indian’s dams and industries rather than temples to be the places of worship. The liberals sold the common people the idea modernism means keeping Hinduism out and faith & development couldn’t go together. It was as though secularism is a virtue by itself. It was as though one cannot enjoy the marvels of technology and religion at the same time – you have to pick and choose only one. They made it fashionable to become atheistic and educated people were abhorred from displaying their faith. Populist leaders broke Hindu idols in public ceremonies and political leaders tried to keep a completely non-religious aka modern outlook.

There were two ironies here. First, International economists call the Indian economic growth between 1947 to 1991 derisively as “Hindu rate of growth”  - for its lean and anemic nature, while during that time Hinduism had its lowest point as policy makers have successfully kept Hinduism out of the society. Second, the Indian liberals equated development with atheism by pointing to the West, where curiously religion had far more status than in India. While Indian populace were made to believe developed nations are completely secular, they were unaware of the fact that American goverment’s official motto is “In God we trust”, Head of British state also heads the Church of England and Shintoism & Buddhism continue to be a central part of Japanese society. Rather Indian liberals were enamored with the Soviet’s failed ideals of anti-religonism.

The liberals also forgot history. Almost every major civilization evolved with a religion at its core. Mesopotamians produced the first recorded religion, Egyptians had their Sun worship, Harappans had their Shiva like god, and Greeks and Romans came with their own pantheon of gods with Zeus and Jupiter as centre. There were no real atheistic civilizations. It was Renaissance in religion in the middle of 16th century in Europe that brought the continent to its central place in world history. In fact religion and cultural development almost always go together. By keeping out religion the liberals attacked the very glue that bonded the society. Faith plays a great role in spread of moral values and can also be a great antidote to urban crime. Without religion’s role in answering deep philosophical questions, societies can quickly unravel. Economic cycles can deeply strain people’s lives, as economies move from expansion to recession to expansion and if people don’t have the faith that there is some good being on top of the things, mayhem can result. A calm, non-violent, philosophical religion is a must for every society.

As the dawn of economic revival started in India in 1991, so did the start of the end of Indian secularism. As people started to get more educated, more of them started to believe in religion. they also came to realize that intellectuals like Einstein, Da Vinci and Gandhi had a faith to back their glorious work. The color of the religion matters less compared to the fact of possessing faith in something.

While Hinduism had taken some bad elements (with the infusion of all those self-professed  Swamiji’s or “holy men”) there are many good elements too in its new flavor. The religion has become more inclusive with people at all levels now included in the new revival, not just the high class urbanistas. Various rural faiths are merged with the mainstream Hinduism that has added color and strength to the mainstream. Village deities like Aiyappan of the southern state of Kerala and Mariamman of the state of Tamilnadu, are now successfully merged with Hindu pantheon. Just like European Renaissance, Hinduism sprang back up – much to the chagrin of Indian socialists, and has slowly started to get official patronage too. Over the past 6000 years, Hinduism had survived many a crisis, and now it has survived one more at the hand of Indian socialists.

Role of media in impacting India’s foreign relationships

 

These days when I talk to my friends in Pakistan, China, Australia and elsewhere one common theme I see is their complaints on our media. As Internet has brought content around the world to anybody’s home PC, our media is gaining more attention and has become extremely notorious abroad. This attention is increasingly straining our relationships, as the recent Australian incidents have shown. Australians complain about the hysteric reporting of the crimes; Pakistanis, Banglas & Nepalese complain of the “arrogance” when it comes to media description of India’s neighbors; Chinese complain about jingoism and over-extended comparison with their juggernaut economy, and the Americans complain the overstressing the importance of Indian IT players and the ever present talk of the next “superpower”. English are more generous but they too are irked by the neo-Indian attitude.

With my overseas friends, I would often defend that given India’s democracy media is bound to have full freedom in expressing their thoughts. But, I’m myself not satisfied with the reply. USA and UK are also great democracies and I subscribe to UK’s Economist, Financial Times and Guardian and America’s Wall Street Journal, TIME and US News. However I don’t see the journalists there on a sensational spree. They take far less liberties when talking about other nations than when talking about their own. And when they criticize they try to be more sensitive. America’s journalists might slam Federal Reserve, White House or other authorities in strong language, but they talk respectfully about India and other countries. We should extend the similar respect when reporting about other countries.

Sensational reporting of the Australian attacks is the perfect example of what is wrong with our media. Our journalists fail to comprehend that assaults and other crimes are pretty common in the West and not always due to racism. When I lived in Baltimore, US I used to frequently see violent crimes in our city in vastly greater proportion than in major Indian cities. You can get mugged or even killed right in sight of Capitol Hill in DC whether you are white, black, brown or yellow. And Australia’s per-capita assault rate is 20 times that of India (UN crime stats 2007) and people in every demographic become victims.

Parts of Melbourne &  Sydney are pretty notorious for crime and given our population size in Australia (250,000) statistically it is expected that some of our guys could be in that victim list. Let us be aware of the statistics and be more sensitive towards the crime there. Nobody wants to be called a racist for no fault of theirs and by continuing to call them as racist would invite more ire & attack on our citizens in the future. Already Indo-Australia relationships are looking at an abyss, thanks to the media.

With respect to Indo-Pakistani affairs, I have often found Dawn to be a fairer observer than Indian newspapers. Our media should be less biased and patriotism should not color its perception of truth. Our journalists should be open to tell Indian people that India was not so innocent in Indo-China war, nor was our wars with Pakistan outright victories. Our soldiers fought bravely with conviction, but so did our opponents. We complain about vicious tactics of our enemies, but when you look impartially so do some our actions.

Part of our problem is that our journalists in top newspapers are significantly younger & inexperienced compared to their counterparts in the US & UK. They are given to more rage than reason. This makes it absolutely important for the media houses to train them on “International sensitivity” and encourage them to temper their language while firmly pushing their viewpoint. Media persons should be more rational than emotional, and facts & statistics should be their fundamental friend and not assumptions and accusations.

Let media be a bridge to build relationships with other societies. Let it not be an impediment to our society’s relationships with others. Let it not damage the hardwork done by our diplomats and non-residents. We fight so hard to build friendships with other nations - please don’t derail all of them with improper reporting.

India: A cop left to die while 2 ministers were showing the height of apathy

 

A cop was brutally stabbed by a couple of gangsters in a case of mistaken identity, in southern Tamilnadu in India. A government convoy accompanying 2 ministers happen to come that way. However, for the next 20 minutes they showed height of apathy and inaction as the cop pleaded for life and left to die. They claimed that they were waiting for an ambulance (that never came in the end). In the end the district chief took the injured cop to the hospital but it was too late.

Tamilnadu government must immediately fire the two ministers and suspend the cops who were at the scene. Inaction by public servant is as worse as committing the crime itself.

Warning: the video can contain gruesome scenes.

India – Aus: Crime rate comparison – let’s look at stats

 

Here are UN stats for crimes measured per 1000 people.

1. Assault: India – – 0.2/1000 Aus 7/1000. US – 7.5/1000

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_ass_percap-crime-assaults-per-capita

2. Burglary: India – 0.1/1000 Aus – 21/1000 US – 7/1000

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_bur_percap-crime-burglaries-per-capita

3. Murder: India – 0.034/1000 US – 0.043/1000 Australia – 0.015/1000

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita

4. Rapes: India – 0.014/1000 US – 0.3/1000 India – 0.77/1000

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_car_the_percap-crime-car-thefts-per-capita

As the India-Australia relationship getting heated up due to a spate of attacks on Indian students, it  pays to watch the statistics. Australian authorities and media have stated that crimes do happen in India and so there is nothing to be alarmed. Sure, crimes do happen in India and elsewhere. But, that is not an excuse. The reason for the crimes are more important. In LA more people die of murders every month than the September 11 attacks, but you cannot equate them both. In Mumbai more people die in metro trains every week than Nov. 26 attacks but they are not the same. What India is worried is whether the cause for the crime is racist. I’m sure most Australians are not racist, but you need to pursue the criminals to find if there is a small minority who are. You need to assure us that you are capable of arresting these petty criminals and prove without doubt they are not racially motivated.

But, more importantly, Australia’s crime stats are alarming if you measure per-capita. Except for murders, Australia has a worse crime rate stats than India. While it is fashionable to say that third world countries like India are crime-ridden and unsafe, the stats don’t say that. India has a lot lower crimes per capita than most countries and lower than we guys assume just that multiplying by billion makes it look big. Although I agree some of the crimes are not reported in India, still there is a huge difference. I hope you guys take the stats and use the crimes against Indians as an excuse to start a  war on criminals.

India – Australia on an ugly spat. Time for media to cool down

 

After the recent burning of an Indian student in Australia (following 2 murders last week), India is really angry with Australia. To make matters worse, Victoria police has not progressed much in these three cases. They entirely deny racist motive. What irks India is that after 100+ attacks on Indian students, Australian authorities have still not tightened up the screws.

While we may find issue with efficiency of Australian police, it is outrageous to term them as racist. Even though the cartoonist of the Delhi paper – who drew Aussie cops as the racist Ku Klux Klan members – says the exaggeration is to provoke them into a positive action, such things can really be offensive in the West. It is like those ill fated Danish cartoons. You don’t want to provoke an entire society just for the action of a few individual criminals.

Hopefully, India-Australia relationships turn to normal soon. Let that not get derailed by a couple of criminals.

Cricket Dream teams

My favorite teams in Cricket. Methodology – for each position the best player in terms of runs & average, and overall team balance

All time ODI XI

 

Sachin Tendulkar

Desmond Haynes

Viv Richards

Brian Lara

Gilchrist (wk)

Michael Bevan

Imran Khan ©

Wasim Akram

Allan Donald

Joel Garner

Muralidharan

Shane Warne (12th man)

Jayasurya had to omitted as opener because Haynes & Sachin are better batsman than him, Ponting is not here as Richards & Lara are better middle order batsman, Beavan is the most consistent at 6, Imran & Wasim are the all rounders. On pacy tracks, Garner, Donald, Wasim and Imran can decimate any order. On spinning tracks Warne in place of Donald could be lethal supporting Murali. Batting extends till No. 8.

All time Test best XI

 

Gavaskar

Sehwag

Don Bradman ©

Sachin Tendulkar

Viv Richards

Richard Hadlee

Gilchrist (wk)

Dennis Lillee

Shane Warne

Malcolm Marshall

Muralidharan

Wasim Akram (12th man)

Since No.3 is where most of best players play - Ponting, Dravid, Sobers, Hammond had to be unfortunately excluded in favor of the Don. Sehwag’s inclusion here will be controversial, but he is the only opener in the history with two triple centuries and overall batted with much better average & strike rate than Hayden & other openers.

Sachin – the greatest (by impacting 4 decades)

Sachin had made a mark in 80s, by being one of the youngest cricketer and playing the Pakistan series with a lot of spirit & courage. He is unarguably the greatest batsman of 90s, and among the  top 3 in 2000s, and will probably be a great batsman in 10s & probably retire by 2013. How many sportsmen (cricketer or otherwise) can impact their sport for 4 decades? His records will be hard to beat for a long time to come (unless ridiculously made batting pitches become the norm).

Year of dreams

This year was not a dream year. But, it surely was a year of small dreams. Not coincidentally, I read "The Alchemist" atthe end of last year and probably that made a difference. I just pursued all the little dreams and happy that I did them. In no particular order:

1. I finised watching almost all movies listed in all of AFI's 100 year series (600 of them)

2. I biked the STP (200 mile Seattle to Portland on bicycle). It was a 3.5 year dream and afer two ligament surgeries, finally completed them this year.

3. I toured all the major national parks & monumnts in the US - Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Rockies, Yosemite, Arches, Wind Caves, Lassen, Mt. Rushmore, Death Valley... (20 of them)

4. I touched the Arcic ocean and drove the entire length of Alaska on a RV - for the first time

5. I rafted a frigid rapids near Glacier NP, slashedup the Class4 rapids at Yellowstone, enjoyed a day long raft in the warm Colordo and rated the Class 5 Husum waterfalls.

6. I flew in a small airplane landing on a Glacier near Mt. Mckinley and flew in a Helicopeter over Glacier NP - both firsts for me.

7. I drove 6000miles on a single trip alone for 2 weeks. I had half dozen other random drives

8. I moved back to India after 5.5 years.

9. I started my own company.

10. I learnt Scuba diving. Though I didnt get the certification, I had enough of experience une water.

11. Hiked Granite mountain and a dozen other peaks.

Now, time to achieve the bigger dreams and as we step into a new decade want to follow the path of the Alchemist and go where the heart takes me. A crucial decade in which I want to redefine my life.

New year resolution: Blog reguarly in Agni and EconJournal. :-)

SPS Rathore: Molestation, abuse of power, abetting suicide - but no justice done

A 14 year old budding Tennis player was molested by the chief of a Tennis association. Then he started harassing the family when they filed a complaint, leading to 11 fabricated cases against her brother and other cases against the family. Finally the harassed girl committed suicide. In a civilized society this guy should have been sent to the gallows or electric chair. But, not in India. This monster with his political connections became the chief of police and had more ammunition to harass the innocent.

19 years later court finally ruled on the case. The punishment: 6 month imprisonment. You must be kidding, Mr. Justice.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Om-Prakash-Chautala-shielded-Rathore-Ruchikas-father/articleshow/5376426.cms

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/19-years-later-ruchika-girhotras-tennis-partner-returns-for-judgment-day/556732/3

A day in Indian life

On most days these days, I visit the neighborhood temple in the morning, clad in tradional Indian wear. On one of my recent visits to the temple, an elderly gentlemen accosted me:

Stranger: What is you name?
Me: Balaji Viswanathan(huh, who is this guy?)
S: What is your father doing?
Me: Viswanathan.... (What does he want?)
S: Are you married?
Me: No, not yet (!$!$!$ Indians are famous for blunt questions)
S: What is your age?
Me: 26
S: Where do you work?
Me: I worked for Microsoft, and now building my startup (at this point, I wanted to really cut the conversation and continue with my business)
S: I worked as a senior manager @ Air India. I have a 24 year old daughter. She works as a senior software engineer in XXXX company. I'm looking for a well-educated son-in-law.
Me: ? (Well educated? You have come to the wrong place, buddy)... I'm not thinking about marriage now. I need to get my company stabilized before taking additional commitments.
S: That's ok. I have enough wealth. It's ok for you do your business.
Me: ?(If you have enough money be my VC and not my father-in-law :))
S: She is quite a beautiful girl and smart girl, but I have to ask her before finalizing this agreement.
Me: (Wait a minute.. who agreed to what here?) Sir, I said I'm not interested in marriage at present...
S: It's ok. I will talk to your father and convince him. You don't worry.
Me: ($#!$%#)
S: What's ur zodiac sign?
(Indians are pretty strong believers in astrology)
Me: Taurus (will you really allow me to get away)
S: (After making a minute of mind calculation) Oh, I'm sorry. This alliance will nt work, as her zodiac sign will not match with urs.
Me: (With a heavy sigh of relief) That's not a problem. I really need to get going. Nice meeting you.

Started a new blog for my startup

Just trying to chronicle my startup progress:
http://balaji-startupdiary.blogspot.com

Flunked my Scuba certification

I practiced for weeks underwater, but when it is time for certification everything seemed to go wrong. It was a nice day with sun coming out, but I got late getting to the site and got too much tension on the way. We started in our wetsuits and got down into the alki beach overlooking the ships entering the Seattle harbor.

I had a wet suit with tight hood and gloves to tackle the cold waters (10 C), masks with snorkel, weights to help me sink easily, BCD (a suit that is connected to air suply) to help me move up and down in the water, boots, fins to swim easily, cylinder with 2 regulators to breathe, gauges to monitor depth, direction, air pressure etc... Scuba is a sport with too many gears all strapped into your body :(.

The first few minutes seemed to go ok and I swam underwater about 100 some feet, when the dirty waters of Alki seemed spooked me. The salt water was bitter, visibility was not good with all those silt and I got extreme claustrophobic. The extra weights (I strapped some 40 pounds into various parts of my body to help me sink well) were awkward and it was tipping me onto one side all the time. I don't know what got into me, but the panic I felt was sudden. And I broke the cardinal rule of scuba diving - never panic. In that panic I lost all the rationility.

The regulator went out of my mouth and water salt started rushing into my mouth. I could not find the BCD regulator that will help me go from the bottom of the sea. Salt water filled my masks and I could harldly see a thing. In that panic, I took the emergency exit and zoomed thorough the top of the water and started gasping. And since I had all those extra weights to help me sink, I could not stay on top of the water and kept sinking repeatedly. The coast was just 100 feet away but water seemed to take away all my courage. Finally the scuba instructor pulled me out of the water.

Relaxing for a few minutes out of water, I wanted to go again., But, the one time panic was still acting on my brain and I could not act rationally underwater. The salt water was still producing all those nasty reactions in my mouth, but this time I calmly swam out of the water.

That confirmed my flunking the underwater diver certification. Maybe scuba is not for me. I donno. I still have this fear of open waters - having seen the brutal powers of water. Having once struck under a whitewaterstream and suffocating in a powerful rapid before entering a waterfall, maybe contributing to that effect.

I was so disappointed with myself and as usual I took up the 2 activities I enjoy. I went to the bookstore and spent some time reading and buying books, and then drove randomly. I went for 5 hours to go to beaches in Oregon, when the tiredness of the day started getting on me. I pulled up in a rest area and started sleeping in my car - usual stuff in my roadtrips. After 2 hours woke up, drove back, returned gear. I'm not ready to give up Scuba yet. But, I will hopefully get over claustrophobic...

Moving to India - part 5

Life is full of tradeoffs.

Top 10 things I will miss in India.
1. Driving my Mustang - it was my most prized possession and I thoroughly enjoyed driving. I could drive 1000 miles in a day in mountains and not feel tired. In India, I will have to use powerless car in hapless roads with nary a road discipline :(.
2. Splendid Seattle - I-90 is the road to the heavens and 101 is the boardwalk of utopia. I drove these roads dozens of times for 100s of miles with no end in purpose. Sometimes I ended all the way in Montana while planning for a 20 min drive. There is going be nothing like I-90.
3. Hiking - I throughly enjoyed the hikes of Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie forest. The peacefullness of Granite Mountain, crowds of Mt. Si, pleasantness of Rattlesnake mountain, beauty of Oyester dome and dozes of other places. In India I need to travel to the Himalayas (1500 miles away from my place) which I could drive in 20 mins from my place in Seattle.
4. My current home - It is a rental, but I got the home I wanted. Watching the sun rising over the entire breadth of Sammamish Lake, without even getting up from bed is something I will sorely miss. There won't be a lake like Sammamish.
5. Brilliant national parks - swimming in Olympic's crescent lake, biking the Tetons, hiking the Denali, driving through Arctic national refuce, sneaking for wildlife in Yellowstone, flying in Glacier park, riding a mule into the Grand Canyon, gawking at the Arches, rafting the colorado, trekking the Rocky Mountains, crawling into wind caves, camping in the red woods, walking the Yosemite - there is no place like America with accessible natural beauty.
6. Dollar - oh yeah dollar smells sweet even after its fall. One dollar is still worth 45 Indian rupees.
7. Efficient government services.
8. Civic facilities - clean water, cleaned up streets, no stray dogs etc.
9. Pretty energetic work environment
10. Most importantly the friends I made here.

Top 10 things I will gain in India.
1. Staying with my parents and family - there is nothing as sweet as a family.
2. Temples - I might be a rational, objective man. That doesn't preclude the fact that I'm a spiritual person.
3. Festivals - Oh yeah.
4. Food - I might like Thai and chains like Denny's and Subway, but there is no match for Indian food. And then Sugarcane in Jan, Mangoes and Jack fruit in summer and lychee's in winter.
5. Lower cost of living - Dollar buys more there. Even after the scorching inflation, India works to be a lot cheaper than living in the US. Particularly in the startup phase, I need to have as long a runway as possible.
6. No long winters. While winter is great if you are skier, but I stopped skiing after 2 seasons when I tore my ligaments. That means 6 months of year goes short of activities - in dark, damp, cooler Seattle winter. (But to compensate for no winter, Chennai gives you plenty of brutal summer).
7. No more restriction on activities. If you are a visa holder in any country (particularly in US), what you can or cannot do with your career is dictated by your visa. Now, I will be a free man.
8. I reactivate my old networks. For obvious reasons my network is a lot extensive in India and a lot of people in business that I know of.
9. Ability to access large, untapped markets. Indian businesses are sometimes run in stone age principles and there is a lot of room for improvement if I utilize my experience in US to make even smallest of changes.
10. Most importantly, I will be in India. My own little country. It can be poor, shabby, corrupt and diseased. But, it is a part of me and it is my dream to build the country I want, instead of just moving to some country that has already been built.

Moving to India - part 4

Now that it is clear (to me atleast) why I'm moving to business and why I'm moving to India, next comes what I'm going to do now. I have a few ideas, but I'm going to start from democratizing economics and finance. This crisis was a painful reminder of how little objective information is out there and getting used by common people. News sources offer pretty biased, subjective opinions on the eocnomy and financials, while common people need more of objective facts. The facts (in the form of government statistics and company earnings releases) are all public, but there are very little tools at the reach of common man to make sense out of them.

I'm really passionate about data and the tools to visualize the data. My goal is to have a central place where an objective (wo)man can access any major economic/financial data at the click of a mouse,visualize the major patterns that are occuring, and then make decision on investing, retirment planning and career moves based on it. This should act as a bulwark against the imbecile showmen and clowns in the media, who pretend to delieve advice on finance and investing.

Over the course of my work at Microsoft, I have made a lot of interesting friends and some of them will be a part in build this idea. My little venture is to start by the end of this year in Chennai, India and I will be joined by my partner and other people in the team early next year. It is too early to discuss the business plan and the product design in public, but this blog will publish it first when it is ready to go public.

Moving to India - part 3

Now that it has been decided that I am moving to business, the obvious question is where. I toyed around with building a business in US, Canada and Singapore, but finally settled for India. While India has always been a part of my dreams, there were two recent catalysts that helped me make the final decision that it is going to be India where I'm going to start my business from.

First is the movie Swades that still keeps troubling me after I first saw it 4 years ago. The Hindi movie is about an Indian-born NASA engineer who visits India to bring back his childhood nanny to US, whom he considers as his only relative. But in the process of convincing her to move from her native village, he undergoes transformation in his perspectives and finally quits being a rocket scientist to move to India.

My classmates and I used to argue whether the movie is practical, but that got me to thinking why it should not be practical. I thought one could be a rational engineer and a capitalist and make use of the wide market of rural India. As an Ayn Randist, I believed that building capitalistic temples - corporations, can do more to world's development than all the charities put together.

Second is when I visited India early this year, I saw this transformation in my village. (See post here) The village that could easily compete with the worst of subsaharan Africa in yesteryears, is not undergoing real transformation with capitalism and technology. The village school didn't have a building 5 years ago - but now classrooms have PCs and DVD players. The teachers talk about world issues, and villagers own pricey motorcycles, mobile phones and TVs (5 years ago there was not even a telephone connection to this place). But, while they had hardware, skilled labor was in short and the school had all their PCs shutoff since they didnt know how to operate it.

I think this is a beautiful platform from which India could be rebuilt. I'm not a social activist or some kind of social worker with elevated thoughts, but an ordinary engineer who thinks there is a symbiotic potential - I can develop India while at the same time developing myself. I know its human development index and economic indicators are among the poorest in the world - but the entrepreneur in me sees the opportunity rather than problems. I came to this position (however meek it might be) crossing through rural India, and it is time I made did something for it. I enjoyed studying America's history and now believe that the conditions in the late 19th century US that brought Ford, Rockefeller, Edison, JP Morgan and my other heroes, are pretty similiar to what India is having now. I dreamt of US for 2 decades, but I'm an Indian and it is time to apply what I have learnt to India.