Fathers & Sons

A posting by my brother on Facebook of some old snaps of my father re-triggered a wave of nostalgia and introspection.

The snaps were of my dad as a young father.  The snaps captured him well.  He had what is called style - his dress style would put James Bond (whose keen fan he was) to shame. And everything about him spelt under-stated elegance.

There is much to admire in my father - his courage, the way he organised his career and life, his focus, his self-confidence, his razor sharp sense of humour, and the young age at which he achieved success .....

I still remember the bed-time stories he used to narrate, and the extremely animated discussions about anything under the sun, we used to have around the dinner table.  The real life lessons that he passed on to me had immense use to me in my own life and career.

Often when I think back about him I get a deep complex - will I ever be as good and as successful as my dad?  Will I be as good a father as he has been to me?

I think deep within, every son carries a certain awe about his father.  This awe only becomes stronger as the son becomes older and approaches different life stages that his father too must have gone through.  All the questions on life's trade-offs and the kinds of compromises he might have had to make for the sake of his family - all this makes better sense to me now.

I am deeply grateful to my father, and I hope I will someday have the same courage and wisdom he showed in the way he lived.

Aarti Nayak - the rising talent on the Indian classical music scene

Thanks to the live web-cast of the Music event coinciding with the Punar Prathista in Mangalore, a lot of us got exposed to the rising talents in the musical field within the community.

What amazed me was the huge number of high quality music talent that was on display - the GSB community is indeed highly gifted in the performing arts.

One talent indeed stood out - and this was Aarti Nayak, the daughter of Pundit Ramrao Nayak  Despite her youth she showed amazing control over her voice, and sang some very difficult compositions such as the opening "Srinivasa.." in Raag Hamsadhwani.  Here is the link to the recording of the program - definitely worth a watch.




She was ably supported on the harmonium by Sudhir Nayak who played some difficult pieces exceptionally well, and on the Tabla by the renowned Pundit Omkar Gulwadi.

I predict Aarti will go a long way. 

The GSB Community

For the past decade the GSB (Gowd Saraswath Brahmin) community has been in a stage of siege and decline. The community (which has Konkani as its mother tongue) is tiny - just about 400,000 - and scattered all over pockets of western and southern India.  So there is no single geography cluster where the community is concentrated - which makes unifying the community - and sustaining its language and unique traditions - very difficult.

Historically, any community which is less than a million strong and is not geographically concentrated tends to gradually lose its identity and gets absorbed into the local dominant mainstream - so there is a real threat of that "Indian homogenisation" happening to the GSBs within this century. Moreover, the turbulence witnessed at the spiritual leadership level in the last decade did not help matters - it sowed dis-harmony, and many GSBs lived up to their (dis)repute of being "Kokkes" or those who cannot bear to see others within the community prosper.

Which is why the recently concluded 16 day Punar Prathistha of the Sri Venkatramana temple in Mangalore was a water-shed event for the community.  It was extremely well-organised - and the unity and the spirit shown by the community was remarkable.  Many of the youth were also involved, and it was wonderful to see some of the youth taking the initiative to do live web-cast of the event for all the 16 days on the GSB community portal - enabling many GSBs from all over the world to participate in the function, and hence witnessing the possible revival of the community feeling.

I for one am now quite happy and optimistic - I feel the negativity that had engulfed the community will disappear, and the community will start displaying the vibrancy, pride and spirit that had always characterised the GSB community.  And it gives me the hope that the GSB community will continue to survive and prosper for many more centuries to come.

On Becoming A Good Manager

It was disaster waiting to happen.  I got over-ambitious and tried to prepare 4 dishes simultaneously today.  Trying to juggle the brinjal subji and the broccoli saute that was on fire, I dropped the mustard seed bottle and spent half an hour cleaning up the kitchen floor.

No doubt cooking teaches best the skill of multi-tasking under severe time pressure - and also helps understand one's own strengths and limits.  Not surprisingly, in my experience, women usually tend to be better managers - their multi-tasking skills tend to be fine-honed due to their greater exposure to cooking at home.  And I mean no disrespect to male managers, some of whom are also very good at cooking.

Which brings me to the other point - it suddenly dawned on me today as to why the worst couple of managers I have ever encountered also happened - paradoxically enough - to be women.  On hind-sight it is easy to explain - I know for a fact that both of them hated cooking.

Prosperity

Rich is when you can afford to buy most things you aspire for, and hence you buy it.

Wealthy is when you can easily afford to buy most things that you once aspired to own - but somehow you are no longer interested in acquiring such stuff.  You are happier with simpler stuff as a matter of choice.

Being Wealthy is more enduring.

Here's wishing all my friends prosperity for 2012.  

Positivity

The world's rarest stuff is not money - and nor is it love.  It is the positivity quotient - whether a person has the ability to impart positivity in any environment or situation.

There is a simple test for positivity.  In any encounter with any individual, figure out whether you are walking away from the engagement with a positive, negative or neutral feeling.  If you walk away from the meeting with that individual usually with a positive feeling, then that person has a high positive quotient.

People with a high positive quotient tend to see - and communicate - the positive aspect in any person or situation.  They are also persons with high self-awareness - who believe that reinforcing positive behavior (rather than criticizing negative behavior) is the key to bringing about change.  They tend to be keenly aware that most people crave for positivity from any engagement and that positivity is the rarest stuff currently.

Watch out for - and stay away from (if you have a choice) - people with a negative quotient.  How often have we encountered a person who normally leaves one feeling drained of energy and enthusiasm and feeling totally inadequate?  If we encounter such people often, then there is the real danger that we too will get sucked into the downward spiral of negative energy and thoughts.

So go ahead with a ready smile, a spring in your step, and a good word for everyone.  In these difficult times be that rare beacon of positive energy.

The Fly

I went out for my usual morning walk today, and a persistent fly attached itself to my head.  All throughout the walk the fly hovered around my head, getting into my eyes, buzzing into my ears.  I stopped several times and tried to fight the fly, waving my arms and trying to either drive it away or kill it - but to no avail.  The fly was very wily, and seemed to taunt me at my helplessness.

I started to walk faster.  The fly kept pace with me.

I was nearing the end of my 5 km walk, and the fly was still hovering around my head.  I started having visions of the fly following me into my house, and tormenting me for the rest of the day in my abode of peace, in my sanctum sanctorum.

I made a run for it.  I just started running fast.  Ran and ran.  Breathless, I stopped.  It was a long time since I had run.

The fly was no longer hovering over my head.  I had managed to outrun it.  I trudged back home, relieved, using a different route - did not want to take any chances.

I guess this was one of those problems that I was simply not equipped to fight.  In such situations it is best to just run and regain my peace.

The Closet Musician

An interesting article in the NYT caught my eye : it mentioned that staff at Goldman Sachs are required to keep a low profile about their extra-curricular activities.  Several Goldman staffers who gave public performances in music during their leisure hours have been "encouraged" to leave the firm as this was not in line with company policies.  "Bankers should behave like Bankers. You are not supposed to be known for anything else or stand out for anything besides your work" was how industry observers interpreted this stance by Goldman Sachs towards what their employees did during their leisure hours.

Several years ago at the beginning of my career in MR, I was in a similar predicament.  I was very keen on learning music during my leisure hours, and I actually enrolled for music classes after office hours.  Unfortunately I did not bother to keep it a secret, and very soon I started getting subtle and not-so-subtle messages that pursuing extra-curricular activities was not in line with what is expected from a junior Market Research executive - unless of course he is not serious about his career and lacks ambition. All serious and ambitious MR executives should be slogging away in the office late into the night as an indication of how seriously they took their career.  I seemed to have unfortunately sent the message that I had the time to pursue a hobby - and was not keen to sharpen my professional skills.

Managing one's career is a lot about managing perceptions - especially during the formative period in the career when a person is expected to be dedicated only to his career.  After the person has made his mark, then of course, one has slightly little more liberty in openly doing what one wants to do in his leisure hours.

I quickly corrected myself therefore - and made my affair with music such a closely guarded secret that not even my close colleagues were aware of it - and all because I was worried about being perceived as "non-serious" and uncommitted to my career.

Much has changed in the MR industry since then - and I am glad to say that the industry has become a lot more relaxed, and does encourage diversity in its talents.  I came out of the closet a few years ago - and am no longer embarrassed about talking about my passion for music and the fact that I play the harmonium.

So, I felt a bit strange reading the NYT article - I had expected the banking industry (especially investment banking) to have evolved a lot more quickly than the MR industry - but then life is always full of surprises.

Janki Nivas

My PG room over-looked the busy Ambedkar Road.  From my balcony I could see Parsi Gymkhana and the beautiful "Five Gardens".  From the window I could see bits of Ruia college.  Dadar TT was a 5 minute walk, and Matunga with its host of South Indian Restaurants and second hand book stalls was a 10 minute walk.  I could not - and still cannot - think of any place more centrally located than this in Mumbai.

My land-lord, Mr Abhyankar, was a kindly old gentleman.  The entire Janki Nivas - comprising of 8 apartments originally belonged to his father - but because of the tenancy act had passed on to various tenants.  Mr. Abhyankar therefore constructed a pent-house atop the building for himself.  None of his 3 sons lived in Mumbai - and hence it was more for the sake of companionship that they decided to rent out the  spare bedroom as a PG accommodation.

On the ground-floor of the building was Savur's X-Ray clinic.  There was always a queue of people with broken arms and legs waiting patiently for the doctor's appointment. One other notable tenant of this building was the very famous musician and music guru Pandit KG Ginde.  Whenever I passed by his door on my way to the 4th floor, I could hear his sonorous voice carrying out riaz.

My land-lord and his wife treated me with love and affection - something rare in Mumbai where people barely have time to speak to others.  There were times when I had fallen ill, and it is my land-lord and his wife who had taken care of me.

However, despite the over-whelming advantages of my new PG, it had one strong disadvantage - and that was the noise of the traffic on Ambedkar road.  It is one of the broadest roads in Mumbai - and one of the busiest.  Throughout night and day, the snarl of traffic will reverberate in my room.  My land-lord and his wife were both hard of hearing - and I suspected this was because of constant exposure to the traffic sound.

The first couple of nights I could not sleep - but then I got used to the sound and started sleeping soundly (forgive the pun).  Or perhaps, I thought, I was going deaf already.

Paying Guest in Mumbai

"Watch out for land-lords trying to palm off their daughter to you" was the advice given to me by my aunt when she heard that I am shortly headed to Mumbai, and will be looking for Paying Guest (PG) accommodation.

My first PG accommodation was in an old ramshackle villa called Norman House in Agar Bazar, Dadar near the Portuguese church.  The land-lord - a crafty old Anglo-Indian - charged me Rs 500 per month for a bed in a twin sharing room (this was in the good old '80s).  The "twin sharing" room soon accommodated an extra 2 beds which made for indeed very crowded living.

Wanting my own private space, I briefly moved into my own separate room in another PG place near Kaboothar Khana in Dadar.  The experiment was short-lived as I realised that I was living in a house that had a drug addict (and with all its attendant problems) - so soon I was sheepishly back at my old PG in Agar Bazar.  The land-lord triumphantly told me "I told you so" - and increased the rent to Rs 600 as punishment for my treachery.

One met varied people as room-mates in the PG.  In fact it was like a railway station - with people coming and occupying a bed for a month and then moving on. In the course of a few months I befriended a team of encyclopaedia salesmen, a steel salesman, a telephone salesman, a chemist, and a mystery man who used to sleep throughout the day.  One of the room mates was an estate agent, and he told me about an excellent PG facility located in Hindu colony in Dadar TT.  It was a single occupancy room (a real luxury in Mumbai) with a balcony, and the land-lord only wanted Rs 800 per month as rent.  However, apparently the owners - an aged Maharashtrian couple - insist on carrying out a detailed interview with aspirants, and had rejected several aspirants to the room.  I anyway decided to try my luck, and went to meet them at their house.

I had tea with them on their terrace over-looking the busy Ambedkar road.  Something in me must have clicked - for soon they told me that I can move in.  A room to myself - finally!

The changing art of counting heads

The Economist in a recent article gave some interesting facts about how Population Census is carried out in different parts of the world.  I learnt some surprising aspects:

1. I always assumed that Population Census has to be done physically i.e. someone has to go and physically visit each house and assess the number of people.  This was actually so in all countries until recently.  However,  increasing privacy concerns - and rising costs - is changing this.  In countries like Germany, Census is carried out almost entirely virtually - through accessing government databases such as National Employment records, birth and death registers etc.  Subsequently, only 10% of the sample is randomly selected for a physical old style face to face interviewing for the purpose of verification.

2. Interestingly - for this 10% of the selected sample - there is a penalty if they refused to co-operate with the enumerators.  This is unthinkable in traditional Market Research.

3. This pattern of using secondary sources to carry out the population census is becoming more and more popular - 17 countries in Europe do it in this manner.  And even the US is planning to shift more and more of its census data collection to online.

4. The US currently carries out its Population Census still in the old fashioned manner (as in India).  It cost them USD 43 (i.e. about Rupees 2000) to count each person.  The equivalent cost for counting each person in India was only 40 cents (i.e. about Rupees 17). 

For me there were 2 important take-outs from this article:

- Data collection,  even for something like the Population Census, will increasingly move to a secondary data collection methodology using online databases.  Hence with the national biometric ID being issued to every Indian, it is possible that the Census methodology as we know it today will vanish within the next couple of decades even in India

- The other take-out is the cost.  If data collection continues to be so cheap in India then there will be no immediate cost incentive to move to a Secondary data collection system as in other countries.  The only reason why India will abandon the face-to-face primary methodology and move to a secondary system would be in the interests of time and accuracy.

Forgotten Greats : Mehmood Dholpuri

Just came to know from Shubha Mudgal's column in Mint that Mehmood Dholpuri, one of the well known harmonium players, passed away on May 25th.  Even though I am an avid follower of developments on the Indian music scene, this news was hardly reported by the media - sad that such a great musician passed away relatively unnoticed.

Dholpuri initially played the Sarangi - and then later moved on to playing the harmonium.  As a harmonium player he was synonymous with Delhi - just like Appasaheb Jalgaonkar was synonymous with Pune.  Any vocalist performing in Delhi would  first check Dholpuriji's availability.

Dholpuri passed away at the relatively young age of 58.  This is a bit tragic as it takes musicians decades and decades of thankless perseverance before they attain recognition : even a great like Bhimsen Joshi started getting recognition only when he was well into his sixties.  So Dholpuri passed away before the music world could give him his due.

Some of Dholpuri's performances can be seen here on Youtube.  There is also a very nice interview carried out with him a few years ago which gives an insight into his life and struggle for recognition - this can be viewed here.

Smooth Landings in Egypt

I believe Egyptian pilots are one of the best in the world when it comes to smooth landings.  And until recently  Egyptian air travellers on any flight used to applaud whenever a pilot showed his dexterity by making an extra smooth landing - without any of the bumps and jerks.  It used to be a spontaneous gesture unique to Egyptian air travellers.  And I used to appreciate this small gesture - nowhere in the world have I seen air travellers applauding the pilot for a good touch-down.

On my recent air travels, I notice this habit has completely vanished.  No applause even for the smoothest of landings. Either the expectations have gone up - or Egyptians have weightier things on their minds.

This is a change I have noticed since the Revolution - the average Egyptian's expectations seems to have gone up about anything and everything.  My guess is that the events surrounding the revolution have made Egyptians much more demanding - and therefore probably much less appreciative of the simple pleasures that they once used to celebrate with gusto.

Meanwhile the Egyptian pilots continue to do smooth landings - bless them.

A Salute to the Egyptians

I have always deeply admired the Egyptians - I love their sense of humour, their warm open nature, and  their respect for a healthy work-life balance in their lives (something that many Indians tend to lack).

The recent events in Egypt has taken my respect for Egyptians a few notches higher.  It is not for me - a foreigner - to say who or what system should govern Egypt.  All I can say is that freedom and democracy are important for any civilization, and is something worth struggling for.

The last 10 days I have seen a different facet of Egypt - I have seen a steely resolve among the youth of Egypt that I had never seen before - a steely resolve that can remake history.

It is said that suffering and struggle tends to shape character and strengthen bonding - and this is what I am observing today among the youth of Egypt - whether in the way they organised the neighbourhood protection committees to protect their families, or in the way their spirit has held up against huge odds.

One cannot with certainty predict the outcome of any event.  But whatever the outcome of this event - of one thing I am very sure : the Egypt that I will return to (hopefully very soon), will be a different Egypt, and a much improved one, for sure.

Moving On

True to my vagabond spirit, I am now all set for the move to Cairo - and I admit I am all excited about my 2nd innings in North Africa - this time with Nielsen.  My first stint (with TNS) was memorable to me and my family - we love the people in that region - they are warm and hospitable, and seem to have a very balanced approach to life.

I am hoping that this 2 nd stint will be as fulfilling and satisfying as the 1st stint.  What gave me the biggest source of reward during my previous stint was of course the blossoming of quite a few Egyptians, Tunisians and Moroccans into extremely good professionals in a short period of time.  They are all now in very good positions - either still on the agency side or on the client side - and I am really proud of what they have achieved for themselves.

From what I hear, the Nielsen Egypt and Morocco offices are flooded with young talent - and I can hardly wait to get to know them.