A Tale of Two Businesses.....

Each street has its small shop, where one gets to buy grocery, provisions, newspapers, soft drinks and other articles of daily use. The shopkeeper is trustworthy and he personally caters to the needs of his customers. He loves children the most and always has special chocolates and ice creams for them. I grew up in such an atmosphere and loved Kumar Annachi, who ran a small provision shop at the end of our street.

All cities in India are dotted by countless such shops which are managed by Agarwals, Singhs, Nairs, Raos and Sens and Guptas. India entered into the era of globalisation and modernisation in the late eighties and early nineties, the concept of malls, where all items were made available under one roof began to gain acceptance among the common public. Shopping Arcades like-Spencer's Plaza, Singapore Shopping Centre, Forum, Shriram Arcade, Alsa Mall, began to do brisk business.

This led to the boom in the retail chain management. Brands like Lifestyle, Westside, Pantaloons, Subhiksha, Vitan made an entry into the Indian market. The convenience of a complete shopping experience appealed to the common man, and the early days of the IT boom saw the pay-packets becoming fatter. Suddenly there was a lot of money to spend and a lot of products to buy. The commercial boom had started.

Now Reliance has moved into the retail segment and started its chain of Fresh stores, which sells vegetables, fruits and provisions. Reliance has appointed people to source the vegetables and fruits directly from the farmers to avoid any brokerage to be paid to middlemen. The traders in Koyambedu one of the largest vegetable markets in India, have started a protest demanding Reliance to close down, as they say they are losing their customers.

Wal-Mart is all set to start operations in India through a tie-up with the Bharti(Airtel) group. If Bharti enters India, then it will be a catalyst in the death of small business groups. Already Walmart has led to the death of many shops across America.

On the flip side these entrants in the retail market promise to provide employment to around 75, 000 people by the end of the year 2007. Young men and women are gettting jobs as salespersons with a decent salary of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. So in a way it is good for the economy.

So how will the system work, will both sides co-exist or will the multinational giants take over the small traders, only time will tell.

So one more day is coming to an end, one more day on this planet, in this life, in this city. Got some bad news today. I was not selected in the Bank Entrance Exam that I had written in January, I had pinned some hopes on it. Well whats done is done, the past cannot be changed and no point in spoiling the present by worrying about the past and the future.

I might perhaps shift to another house, bring my mother and father and stay together, as mother keeps worrying unnecessarily. Let me see by God's grace I should get a decent house, finalise a deal and move in to the new house by May 10.

Hope everything goes smooth.

Madras Nalla Madras
If you have not done this in Chennai...

Chennai, no I will rather stick to good old Madras, it is a melting pot of different cultures with people from many diverse traditions living in this city. The I.T. boom has brought in more and more tech-people from all the stes of India and many people from foreign countries also.

The following is a list of things that one should experience in good old Madras.

1-Wake up to the melodious voice of M.S. Subhalakshmi singing Venkatesa Suprabatham.
2-Have a tumbler of hot filter coffee, follow it up with a plate of steaming hot idlies with sambhar and fresh cocnut chutney.
3-Visit the Kapaleeshwarar Temple at Mylapore and the St. Thomas Church.
4-Go to the Marina Beach, walk bare foot on the soft sand, and have molagha bajji(chilly bajji) and sundal with green mango.
5-Visit Valluvar Kottam near Nungambakkam and the Theosophical Society in Besant Nagar.
6-Go to T.Nagar, a place where you can buy anything, and make a visit to Saravana Stores to look at the crowd that comes to buy all things under one roof.
7-Travel by the Mass Rapid Transit System(M.R.T.S.) flying train.
8-Go to Spencer's Plaza and blow up your hard earned money on things you can buy at half the price in Pondy Bazaar.
9-Visit the Vandaloor Zoo, and the Children's Park at Guindy. Have a look at Gandhi Mandapam and drink a glass of lemon juice from the guy who stands just outside Gandhi Mandapam(It is the best lemon juice that you can get in Chennai).
10-Travel by an auto and haggle with the auto-driver before paying your fare.
11-Go to Burma Bazaar near the Beach Station buy dvds of the latest movies.
12-Go to Devi theatre and watch a movie. I guess its Sathyam theatre for the younger generation.
13-Look at the chaos and order with which the people perform their daily tasks at the Central Railway Station.
14-Have food at a Kaiyendhi Bhavan(Mobile eatery)
15-Buy second hand books from Moore Market and Triplicane.
16-Make a trip to Mahabalipuram, V.G.P. and MGM Dizee World.(The last option blows a big hole in your pocket)
17-Attend a music concert during the Marghazi Music Festival in December-January.
18-Watch the frenzy and adoration of cinema crazy fans during the first day first show of a Rajinikanth, Kamalhassan, Ajit or Vijay movie.
19-Watch a cricket match at Chepauk praying fervrently that it does not rain and stop the match.
20-Travel by the M.T.C. bus service.

If you have not done these things then you have not experienced the true spirit of Madras.

Anger-When I lost my cool?

I am calm by nature and even if I get angry with someone or something I do not show it out and I bottle up my emotions. But everything has an exception, and a small incident occurred on March 24, 2007 when I really got angry and lost my cool.

We had cricket practice, following the dismal performance of our corporate cricket team, in the league and our captain decided that we would train well and sweat it out in the nets to regain our form. I reached the venue, and our captain divided the team into three groups. One group that included me was sent for fielding practice. The other two groups were involved in batting and bowling.

I thought that maybe after 40 -45 minutes I would get an opportunity to bat, but I found out that all I and four other members of the team would only have fielding practice. All our hands were getting numb after almost 80 minutes of catching the ball, and no sign of an opportunity to bat, I lost my cool and threw the ball with all my strength at the person who was conducting the fielding practice.

The other guy also lost his cool and we had a war of words, and we would have almost come to blows, if the others had not stopped him. The incident was reported and the captain gave a lecture, stating that-"Cricket is not only about batting and bowling, fielding is equally important....."

I was really sorry and apologized to the other guy who was still a bit angry, but by the time we left the ground we shook hands and he said-"No issues."

I guess anger is nothing but temporary madnees that causes a lot of problems.

I hope I get to bat at the next practice session.

A look at life-If I was an auto driver

Everyday I commute to office by a share auto. A distance of about 3 kilometres. People living in Chennai and Kolkatta should be familiar with the concept of share autos. I have not lived in any of the other great cities of India, so I do not know if share autos exist there. The auto drivers have fixed rates. If you get down anywhere in a stretch of five kilometres, you have to pay four rupees, after 9P.M. at night the fare is five rupees. This fare system works on the Udhayam theatre to Guindy route. On the Porur to Adayar route the fare is between 10 and fifteen rupees. Each day as I travel by these share autos, I think on the life that these auto drivers lead. I have come to one conclusion, I have a big mistake by studying.

I should have finished tenth standard and started driving an auto. Just think after taking a look at these calculations. For an average student who does not study engineering, law or medicine, but some arts, science or commerce course, the fees from nursery to college graduation would range between 7 and 12 lakhs depending on the city and the institution that the student studied in, if its engineering, well then add another 3 or 4 lakhs to that number.

Suppose I own a share auto, assuming that I have taken a loan from a bank to buy the auto, then this is how my balance sheet will appear:

Monthly payment to bank-Rs 4000(for 3 years).
Monthly petrol expenses-Rs 4000 to Rs 5000.
Monthly maintenance expenses-Rs 1000.
Monthly mamool(bribe) to the traffic police-Rs 1000 to Rs 2000.
Assuming that I ply my auto on the Guindy to Udhayam route from morning 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. at night seven days a week, I should be able to make thirty to forty trips a day. On each trip(one way) on an average at least 15 people travel by the auto. So 15 multiplied by 4 equals to 60 rupees for one trip, a two way trip gets me Rs 120, So forty trips a day gets me Rs 4800 a day.
I will keep the figure to Rs 4000 for easy calculation.
So at the end of a month I earn Rs 4000 multiplied by 30, that equals to Rs 120000.

If I keep all my auto related expenses to Rs 15000 a month, even then I am earning about a lakh of rupees every month. Much more than many IT engineers and seasoned BPO executives.
Assuming that I am driving a hired vehicle, if I pay Rs 1000 to 1500 as daily rent, then I make about Rs 50000 to Rs 60000 a month.

I really feel I should have stopped studying and persuaded my parents to buy me an auto. Then I could have worn khaki shirts and moved about in Rajini style singing "Auto kaaran, auto kaaran, naan, naalu terinja rouute kaaran.."

That is life I guess, perhaps I am destined to be stuck to a desk job for life, missing out on the adventures of life.

Why Raj, Why...?

It was three o' clock in the morning, when I was rudely awakened from my sleep, by the ringtone of my mobile phone. At first I thought it was a dream, and I continued to lie down, but when the ringtone persisted I realized that it was not a dream and the phone was actually ringing. I looked at the number, and was surprised, it was a foreign number. I answered the call, it was Mr. Mishra, a close family friend who was settled in Germany. His son Raj was my classmate at school, and he was currently working in some research facility in Melbourne.

Mishra uncle conveyed a shocking news-his son Raj had commited suicide. I was lost for words and I consoled the poor man who had lost his son. I was surprised because I had spoken to Raj ten days earlier, and he seemed fine although his voice sounded a bit shaky. When Mr. Mishra finished his call, I was no longer in a mood to sleep. I went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and poured myself a glass of milk, and went to the veranda.

I thought about Raj, there were too many memories, that had been refreshed by the depressing phone call. Both of us grew up in the same neighbourhood, studied in the same school, and were classmates from nursery to high-school. Then Raj enrolled for a course in Chemical Engineering, while I pursued a course in English Literature. Raj studied in Sydney and he topped the university, he received a gold medal. Things looked bright and rosy, and Raj got an opportunity to work in the research facility of a leading chemical company.

All through these years, we were in constant touch with each other and he even visited India to attend a mutual friend's wedding. He was an excellent student and a brilliant athelete, my mother always used to compare my report card with his, she used to say-"You spend all your time with Raj, why don't you get some of his intelligence, and score some more marks in Mathematics."

As these thoughts crossed through my mind, I wondered what prompted Raj to commit suicide. He was always the ever courageous boy leading the football team from the front, and never wished anyone any harm. He was happy with his job and had no complaints against anybody. Mishra uncle said that the caretaker of his son's flat in Melbourne had discovered Raj's body, he had hanged himself.

Why Raj, why did you do this, I don't know, you had such a loving family, a caring girlfriend, they were supposed to get married this October, why did you choose to end your life this way. I looked at the sea from my verandah, and saw the first light of dawn as the sun was about to rise in the east. The sun was rising as another son had set forever.

All that is left are memories, memories of playing games, watching movies, fights, now all those memories have become meaningless as the very person with whom I shared those memoreies has ceased to exist.

Had Raj accepted defeat? If yes defeat from what. All that we found was a suicide note that said-"I am tired of living in this world, I have no regrets, forgive me Dad, Ma and Anu(his girlfriend), perhaps we shall be happy in another world in another time."

A tragic end to a man who would have achieved something great.

Why I Blog?/ Why I Write?

I was happily blogging and asking my friends to read them and give their feedback. Everything was going smooth and I was getting a lot of good suggestions on improving my writing style and choice of topics, when right out of the blue, one of my colleagues posed a question-"Mahesh tell me why do you write?" I was silent, why did she ask this question all of a sudden, I thought for a while and said"I will answer this question through a post on my blog." So that is how I landed up writing this post.

Her question made me reflect on a lot of things, my childhood, my friends, my uncle, my school, my English teachers; all small factors that have shaped me into what I am today. I remember my English teachers in M.P. Birla School. Kolkatta. The first teacher who made a lasting impresion on me was Ms Rekha Gopinath. She was a Malayali and was an excellent teacher, all students in my class liked her and we used to eagerly wait for the third period of the day-English. She was a tall, dark lady and had a clear voice. I still remember the poems that we had in our Radiant Reader text books. She used to give us small assignments, essays to be writtten describing our weekends. It was fun and I believe the reason why I began to develop an interest in English, was those assignments that Rekha madam used to give us.

When I reached Class VIII, we had a English teacher who was a man. For the first time we were going to have men who were strict and carried a wooden scale or cane with them. We had Maths sirs, but the concept of a man teaching English was alien to us. He was Mr. Joseph Vincent, again a Malayali, and he really inspired me to study English with an almost religious fervour. He used to come in full shirts and Raymonds trousers and a silk tie, as they have in boarding schools in England. He was strict and we used to be afraid of him. But he was an excellent teacher and I still remember him teaching "Merchant of Venice," which was incidentally the first full length Shakespeare play that I studied. Then I shifted to small non-descript town in Tamil Nadu, called Tiruvallur.

The change from a bustling metropolis to a small town was drastic. But I was fortunate to study in a school, which has some excellent English teachers. I studied in Sri Venkateswara Matriculation School, and the two teachers are Mr.N.Nagarathinam and Mr.V.S. Shiva. Both of them were excellent teachers, Shiva sir was a simple man and I have only seen him wear a white cotton shirt and a light colored trouser. He was a true follower of Gandhiji and led a simple and unpretentious life. Each and every student of Venkateswara School respects and admires Shiva sir and he is a living encyclopaedia, who can speak on any topic under the sun.
When I completed my schooling it came as a big surprise to my teachers when I did not write the Engineering/Medical Entrance and just applied for a course in English Literature. I got admission in R.K.M. Vivekananda College, at Mylapore in Chennai. It is a college that has an illustrious past and many of its former students are heading many companies across the world. In college I was influenced by two professors in first year. One was Mr. K.Venkatramana Rao and the other was B.Suresh. Both of them were excellent educators, and told us to cultivate the art of writing. In high-school, I had started participating in Creative Writing competitions, and college-life gave me the perfect opportunity to visit lots of colleges and take part in many competitions. I particularly cherish memories of Coffee House (Loyola College Literature Fest) and competitions in Madras Christian and Women's Christian College. All this while I was writing short stories and poems and in the span of the three years that I was in college, I wrote about fifty poems and some twenty short stories. I had decided that I would be a novelist and would write novels in the vein of the works of Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsyth. I dreamt of headlines, which proclaimed the super-duper sales of my novels, movie adaptations awards and lots of money.

I was all set to pursue my M.A. from Madras University, when I attended a Campus Interview in college. It was for selecting students who would be placed as Instructional Designers. The designation was new and unheard of, and I decided to take the written test alongwith 750 other students. At the end of the day, it turned out that only two out of those 750 students were selected and I was one of them. I had a job and a decent salary. Well all plans of a regular postgraduate course disappeared and I started working as an Instructional Designer. It took some time to adjust to the corporate world.It was like starting a long journey in a desolate jungle. Slowly I started writing courses and I began to enjoy my work. Thus writing short stories and poems transformed into writing full fledged courses on different topics for an audience whom I would never meet. It was an indeed fascinating experience, and I am still working as an Instructional Designer, but in a different organization.

Now to answer the question-"Why I write?". Well I really don't know, maybe it has to do something with my childhood. I was a very shy and silent boy. I had very few friends, but I loved animals a lot. I used to enjoy the company of dogs, cats and cows more than boys and girls. I loved playing with puppies, and I remember the scoldings that my mother used to give me. She used to say-"Even if you spend half the time that you play with your dogs in your studies you will top your class." I never did that and consequently never topped my class. I used to love Enid Blyton as a kid and used to fantasise about a world of talking animals, toys and dragons and princes. I used to write very small poems, of four to ten lines about my teachers, classmates and my favourite Enid Blyton characters. I wrote the following poem, when I was in the third standard.

GOOD OLD FATTY
I wish I was like you.
I wish I was like you Fatty.
Good old Fatty, eating icecreams,
And solving mysteries.
Playing with Buster and his four friends.
Wish I had a doggie like Buster and a friend like Bets.

This was based on the principal character of The Five Find-Outers series written by EnidBlyton. There were many such small poems and some mystery stories modelled on the adventures of Famous Five. My first recognition came when I won an Inter-School Story writing competition for students of class five, six and seven. There was no specific topic, we were given a word limit of two thousand words. I wrote a science fiction story titled"The Submersible," based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne. When the prizes were announced, I was shocked, I had never thought that I would win. I got a certificate and a book-"The Hound of Baskervilles" as the prize. After that I participated in a number of competitions right till I finished college and won a number of prizes. I believe that the first prize that I won acted as a catalyst, and I thought why not write, I can get more prizes. Initially it was the prize factor that prompted me to write. Then there were magazines like Gokulam, Tinkle and Chandamama that offered cash and free subscriptions as prizes. In college, I read the works of George Orwell and realized the might of the pen. I thought I would complete my post graduation and become a journalist. I still might become one, you never know.

I write because I love writing, I blog because it gives me an opportunity to express my views on the things happening around me. My articles are read by my friends and other people whom I have never met, they share their comments and we have healthy discussions. We may not solve the problems in the world, but the discussions do clear the misconceptions that any of us might have had. Sometimes it becomes a tool, which enables me to vent out all my frustrations and anger. On completing the article I feel refreshed and regain my tranquility. To conclude, I write because my heart directs me to write, and my mind prompts me to write what my heart directs me to write.
By the way this is my hundredth post.
Happy Reading and thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement.

Mission Not Impossible for Men in Blue

Dravid's men have left for the West Indies for the World Cup. They carry the hopes of more than a billion people. The team has achieved two series victories just before the big show, but the victories came on home turf, can Dravid inspire his team like Kapil did in 83.

My best wishes to the Indian Team. Guys bring back the trophy for us.

All readers support the team, it might not be the best, but cheer for them, they need our support.
Come on India kuch karke dikhao.