City Beautiful - A Trip Down Memory Lane

Chandigarh, the City Beautiful was my home for 8 years. It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane last month, when I visited Chandigarh. Ohhh, I miss those days so much.

Wonderful skies over IXC......!!!!

Dry, parched land on the approach to IXC. Would the rains come in on time?

That says it all!!!

Tribune Chowk welcomed me into City Beautiful every Monday during those 8 years....

Have you ever seen that in any other Indian city? Order defines the City Beautiful...

"The Gehri Route" outside GCG, Sector 11. Non-Chandigarhites won't even understand what that is.... It has to be seen, felt and experienced....

That was my melting place, at Sector 17, for a good time....

Sector 17 in all its splendour....

Deepak Radios served me well in those 8 years with a good stock of music!!!!

HMs, how can I forget you...... If it's fast food in Chandigarh, it has to be HMs!!!!

It's all smiles at HMs!!!!

See, that's very true!!!!

Another one of the hangouts for yummy dosas!!!!

The Dark Continent is Shining Brightly

I have not followed much of the FIFA World Cup, but for me, it was heartening to read about the team from Ghana booting out the United States.

Wow!!!

That was quite an emotional high for Africa and all Africa-born non-residents, like me.

Certainly, 20 years back, no one would have even dreamt of seeing a World Cup happen on a grand scale like this, that too in Africa!!!

Just 10 years back, Africa was nowhere on the economic radar.

But in the last 2-3 years we saw Sunil Mittal actively courting African telecommunication giants, which finally culminated with Bharti-Airtel's acquisition of Zain.

That Tatas have been in Africa for ages and the papers say they are pumping on the gas.

Why this love for Africa?

That's the next frontier. It's exactly where India was, say, 30 years back.

Indian corporates have identified this great opportunity to get into the African market when it is still at the bottom of the pyramid, as C.K. Prahlad would put it.

People say China will be big competitor in Africa. But the Chinese are there for resources, and the locals feel they are being plundered. Where is the investment from the Chinese, where it matters to the continent?

That is the USP that Indian corporates would bring in, and would create a large market for themselves in the long run.

For India Inc., the Dark Continent is shining brightly.

The Sun has Risen in the East!

The G20 summit is underway in Toronto, Canada.
As the world leaders debated on the state of the global economy, it was indeed heartwarming to read about our own sardar (well intentioned pun intended), Manmohan Singh, standing tall and lecturing the so-called pundits, conscience keepers of the world on fiscal management.
Can anyone forget those days in 1991, when India was on the brink of default with foreign exchange reserves barely sufficient to meet 3 weeks of imports?

Those were very depressing times. It was a low point indeed, to hear about India pledging 67 tonnes of our gold reserves, which had to be airlifted to the Bank of England, a big psychological dent on our sovereignty.
I remember the newspapers of those days made for a very sad reading.
We never imagined then that the high and mighty G7, as it was called then, would cease to exist as the custodian of global wealth.
G7 became the G8 and in its present avatar is the G20 today, while the G8 lives on as a relic of the past, an aging and toothless tiger.
This is reflective not only of the shift of the centre of gravity to the east, primarily India and China, but also of India's ability to grow despite indifferent governance. The scenario was succinctly described by Gurcharan Das when he said "The economy grows at night when the government is asleep".
We have grown this far without a significant contribution from the system.
But the challenge is managing the transition to the centre stage of the world, from the fringes of the world economy. And we cannot meet this challenge without building robust governance structures within the country.
The sun has risen in the east and it's our time to make hay while the sun shines. Will we?

Bombaypolis Moments.... Part 5

An year on and Bombaypolis Moments is back!!!

"There is no way to happinness. Happinness is the way"

True, if you drive a SX4!!!!

Never too late to say sorry....

And the BMC ought to apologise to us for giving us such pathetic roads...

Shoppers' Stop Juhu promises to Re-Dress us all.....

We were promised Shanghai in Bombay by Manmohan Singh, but each year, we get a Venice here.... And Aircel gives us a "gondola" to get past the Milan Subway each year!!!! At least someone thinks of us....

Selective discipline defines the city. Queues work for BEST buses but not for the suburban trains... Why?

That's what I wanted to tell the autowallah for refusing to ferry me....

An i-pod makes the brisk walk interesting.....

Graffitti outside HDFC Bank, Lokhandwala. I wonder if that was for the shitty service the branch gives?

Going crazy over pani-puris at the Spice of Lokhandwala.

Are You A Redwood?

There is nature all around us trying to give us a message, that we barely have had the time to understand and get that message.
That's what I realised today, when I attended a training programme on self-development today. The programme was kicked off with a beautiful illustration of the Redwood trees of California that survive for thousands of years and grow as high as 30-storied buildings.
(I remembered reading about the Redwoods in the "Tell Me Why" books that my parents gifted me, when I was a kid!!!)
What makes the Redwoods so formidable, so huge?
What ensures their longevity?
The answer lies in their roots deep below the ground, that anchor them strongly to the earth. Their roots intertwine with each other creating a robust support structure that allows them to grow tall and live long.
Similarly, our character that defines us, from within, has to be well grounded, well anchored for us, humans, to rise, to survive long and be strong!
How true, I thought!
When I came back home, I could not stop myself from getting on Wikipedia and finding out more about the Redwoods.
What I read online was even more impressive and inspiring.
The Redwoods have developed a resistance to decay, insects and forest fires. They withstand earthquakes, despite California being on a major faultline.
All this because their roots so intertwined that they have been able to evolve mechanisms to fight pests. The intertwining gives them the strength to survive earthquakes.
And this was even more remarkable. There are categories of Redwoods called the Albino Redwoods, completely devoid of chlorophyll, yet they also survive, live and grow to a fifth of that normal Redwoods do.
Why?
Albinism, the internet tells me exists in other plant species as well, but they don't live long.
But, the Redwoods are different. Their roots down below support their Albino cousins with all the nutrition they require.
That is precisely happens in some human communities, where the differently-abled are supported to not only live but also grow.
I always knew why strength of character is important. And the Redwoods succintly tell us that!
Are you a Redwood?