Oh Calcutta!

June 15^th: I landed in Calcutta. Thanks to Airtel for sending me to the east, the only part of India I did not live. Four out of the ten guys with whom I arrived in Calcutta are localities; who helped me with some statutory warnings. The luggage at the airport took longer than usual to arrive, that was when I heard the phrase “Its Calcutta man!”, for the first time. Calcutta is one of the most humid places in India; and seeing that I was sweating profusely, one of my local friends advised me to carry more than one hand kerchiefs at all times. The weather here is almost the same throughout the year, except when it rains, and you would need an AC except in December and January.

When you Google Calcutta, there many images showing crowded streets, dense places etc. It is true, Calcutta is very crowded, as the case with many cities in India. Calcutta is world’s second most dense city, after Mumbai, with almost 24000 people per sq. KM. Calcutta includes the main Calcutta, Howrah and some parts of the surrounding district 24 Paraganas. With the influx of traffic from all sides of the city, I feel that the job of the traffic police is the toughest in Kolkata. Also, the yellow cab of Kolkata is still the most seen vehicle on the roads. 

Calcutta is green. I feel it’s the greenest among all major cities of India. Calcutta is very rich in terms of water. There are many lakes in Calcutta, and the water stays throughout the year. Unlike Mumbai or Delhi, which have erased hundreds of lakes from their maps, and have become true concrete jungles, few areas of Calcutta offer a pleasant sight with its lakes and greenery. On a lighter note, the demand for fish here could also be one of the reasons for people here to take good care of the lakes. 

People here are very relaxed. The first thing we noticed in the area we were put was that all the shops open after 9AM and then are again closed by 1PM for lunch; which are again opened after 4PM and are closed by 8PM. People are laid back and relaxed, and going the extra mile for business is still unknown in Calcutta. This is heavily reflected in the state of roads, traffic etc.; but as every other city you need to bear with it. And again, "its Calcutta man!".

People here enjoy food. "Mishiti khaben? (Want to have a sweet?)”, the most heard sentence after a meal or in snacks time. People love sweets, as much as fish. There are more road side sweet counters than chat counters in Hyderabad; and they are all good. I heard someone saying that the street food of Calcutta is very hygienic compared to other cities. Phuchka (called pani puri or gol gappa) is the most taken street food item, and it indeed is different and very tasty. Chat and dosa counters are also a common sight.

Amidst the chaos, there is lot of warmth among the people. Though the people here are loud, they are very friendly and helpful. Cost of living in Calcutta is lower than Bangalore or Hyderabad, and there is almost no language problem. Have a little patience, and Calcutta is a good city to live in.


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Dudes and Dudettes!

The recent Olympics ended with India winning 6 medals. There were some terrific performances by many players, who unfortunately did not make it to the podium. Then there was Karan Thapar who interviewed the sports minister on the Devils advocate. As always, Mr. Thapar had done it in his own way.. why this, why not that and so on. The poor minister did not have answers to most of the questions. for a question like why only six medals for a 1.2 billion population country, I think we all know the answer. There would be no medals with this sports infrastructure. When there are only 3 or 4 synthetic hockey fields in the entire country, how can the Indian hockey team perform on the International stage. So is it right to blame the minister, which had been done enough at all levels

I remember a speech by Shri H.K. Dua, a very respected journalist and Member of parliament, at Manfest (the Management festival of IIM L) in Jan 2011. The theme for that edition of Manfest was Vision 2030, hence there were some extravagant speeches on the vision for future. Shri H.K. Dua started his speech by this sentence which I still remember "I am happy to come from a place of cynicism to a place where there is hope". He was referring to Delhi as a place of cynicism, and that forum as a place of hope, as the discussions were on future. He raised some startling points like the lack of future strategy in the government. When Baba Atomic research was started by Rajiv Gandhi or when the space program was started by Dr. Satish Dhavan with such strong vision for the future, the current politicians are busy saving their governments and showing some numbers for the current year.

Today being the independence day and I being in Calcutta, IIM Calcutta seemed the best place to go for the flag hoisting. I was disappointed, to say the least, by the indifference shown by the batch. Before I say anything else, I would say that this is the case with any other institution and I do not have any personal grudge on IIM Calcutta or its members. Coming back to the flag hoisting, people saw us with their eyebrows raised when we told them that we came for flag hoisting. The cultural events post the flag hoisting did get the same treatment, Attending the flag hoisting has become so uncool that my friend preferred to act as if we have come for something else. Its not the dude thing.

The book "Imagining India" by Nandan Nilekani, though starts with a flowery picture of India, about how the world cannot afford to leave India behind. But towards the end, it also points out that we are running fast towards future, without a vision. This could be in infrastructure, education, healthcare etc. Mr Dua in his talk talked on the same point that we are looking forward to our generation. He was optimistic that institutions like the IIMs or the IITs would not fail the country. But by virtue of being in an institution in the same cadre, I sometimes feel that the students of these institutions are being molded in a way, which is no where near the expectations of people like Mr. Dua. I neither blame the faculty nor the academic curriculum of these institutions for the same.

I do not blame the politicians, who generally do some temporary things and try not to loose their vote bank. I do not blame them because, we are not so different. The indifference shown by the batch today morning, can be seen everywhere, in every campus. With "whats in it for me" being the trend, the indifference has reached the peak levels. Society, environment and country are not even on the radar. The days when greats like Rajiv Gandhi, bringing the IT into India against opposition, or the setting up of Bhaba atomic research institute, where a strong vision is required, are gone. People are stuck onto the current results or short term returns. This is the same at every level, starting from students to politicians.

After few weeks in the glamorous corporate world, I realized the above case is truly applicable here also. Numbers are the only quintessential indicator of any job. When the managers from the top are bugging the employees for numbers, we can't expect employees to draw strategies for the future. Students like us, who are already used to the MY thing get into the groove easily. And once in the corporate world, the peer pressure and also the task of impressing the bosses would add to the reasons to make the numbers of the current week/month/quarter attractive.

I do not understand how different is this indifference shown to being selfish. My life, my job, my parties.. The "whats in it for me?" has become the trend. I am not blaming the students and I can also say that I am in the same pool. I do not know if this kind of thinking is wrong but somehow it did not seem right to me. Keeping the big things aside, we loose the sensitivity to small joys of life like appreciating classical music or dance, arts, social service, joy of singing the national anthem at a flag hoisting, joy of talking to a teacher for a long time etc. We stop respecting and listening to people who have learned so much in their lives like the professors, politicians etc.

So dear dudes and dudettes, it is not un-cool to be sensitive to few things in life, which we long forgot.

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Rules..!!

Break the rules!!
OMG! So many rules!!
Make your own rules!!
Life is no fun without breaking rules!!

There are rules. Everywhere. There are rules to trade on the Newyork stock exchange. There are traffic rules. There are rules for a school kid, to polish his shoes. Again, there are rules, everywhere. We are now in a world where there is rule book for a school kid going to Kindergarten to a young adult buying his new vehicle, rules for walking, driving, flying and sometimes even standing. We are so used to rules that we make our own set of rules to our children - no TV after 9PM or no writing on the walls.

The four lines at the starting of the post are how most people react when they hear the word rules. One can understand that with so many rules, one is fed up to follow any more of them. So we have people riding bikes without helmets, people jumping the signals to get back home quickly, whining about the security checks at the mall, whining about the rules at work etc. Then there are also people who look for a way past rules, looking for a loop hole or twist the rules in our favor. When everyone is so upset with rules, there are new and new rules being added in the rule books everyday - starting from the constitutions of the nations to the set of rules at home. Why is this happening?

I was shocked to read that before 1990s, the pilots left the cockpit doors open during the flight. Till as recent as 2003-04, there were no metal detectors in the malls. There were fewer road rules till a few years back. The first anti-terrorist unit was started after the Munich Olympics disaster. There were no clear rules to investigate money laundering and financial fraud till the Satyam's fiasco. Its clear by the trend that we are bringing this on ourselves.The making of a rule is always  because of a person who has caused his fellow beings some pain. Hence the concerned governing bodies make rules to prevent the repetition of the event.

The financial melt down of the US economy, allegedly caused by the greed of the financial services industry of US, drove millions of people jobless around the world. The largest consumers of dirty fuel - the Telco's and the IT giants of the world, are causing irreparable damage to the environment. These instances show that sometimes, when we tweak the rules, we may not foresee the damage or the extent of the damage. A simple example could be a drunk person, driving a car. The car, which has now become a weapon in his hands, has the potential to cause immense pain not only to that person but also to innocent people on the road. A housewife demanding plastic carry bags from the shopkeeper would not understand that her small act may lead to so many environmental problems, which are fatal for her children's generation. Hence, we should understand that sometimes, the rules are made for greater good, which we may not understand at that point.

"You are remembered for the rules you break", as said by Douglas Mc Arthur, the chief of US Army during world war 2. The story of Rajat Gupta, who was indicted for insider trading, makes a perfect example for the quote. His life story has been a perfect fairy tale of fulfillment of an American dream: orphaned at 18, graduation from IIT Delhi, MBA from Harvard, first non-American managing director (worldwide) of McKinsey and Co, director of Goldman Sach's board, director of Procter & Gamble's board, adviser to the UN Secretary General, trustee of Rockefeller Foundation, adviser of several prestigious companies and NGOs, personally worth $84 million. He was the brain behind, and one of the founding fathers of, ISB Hyderabad; he contributed significantly to make it a world-class institution. When the government instituted the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, he was the first Indian-American to be honored. Gupta, at the peak of his career, could do no wrong; he was wining and dining with the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Kofi Annan. All it took was the greed to make $50-100 million of easy money. (Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 23rd 2012)

Albert Einstein said "You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else". The fact that the existence of rules are only for the betterment of us and also the people around us is somehow missing. Let us understand that a game is said to be played well, only when it is played within the rules.



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