Taking our tax dollars for a ride with Santa

On paper there is separation of state and religion in the US. In reality the state policies are strongly influenced by the views of the major religion (example, abortion and gay rights). Come November/ December evidence of state support for religion emerges as different local governments spend tax dollars in putting up Christmas wreaths, decorations and lights.

Today, after being in Chicago for 11 years I chanced upon an interesting way to take our tax dollars for a ride... with Santa. Yes, I am talking about the Chicago Transit Authority's annual Santa trains. I had seen posters for the same previous years but never did I imagine that it would be such a big affair. The entire train was decked with lights - inside and out. Gone are the usual advertisements, replaced by corny jokes about Christmas. Even the seat covers were different - not the usual blue but the Christmas green and red with Santa/ trees and elves. The driver mentioned that it was the 18th year that the CTA was doing this and no other metropolitan transport authority does anything like this. Now, that is a dead give away on the merits of this promotion. If the idea has not caught on in 18 years it is a really bad idea. I am sure CTA authorities will spin this as a service that brings immeasurable joy to its riders. I am sure its riders (including me) will agree that we will be more joyful if the transport authority was in green, fares are not increased every year (how do they manage to remain in red even after increasing fares every year? they are not the only ones... usps is in the same position) the cars were clean, tracks were upgraded and the trains ran on time. It should not take 40 minutes to travel about 6 miles during rush hour. The suburban rail service, Metra, does 36 miles in that time.

Enjoy the photos of our tax dollars going on a ride with Santa.








BTW, my wife who took the regular train coming behind the holiday service somehow ended up ahead of me.

If Jugaad is the new management mantra, can Chalta Hai be far behind

India's Next Global Export: Innovation - BusinessWeek

Turns out desis have done something that until recently was exculsuive to Americans - sold a management jargon. Apparently, jugaad is "innovation" ... desi estyle. Apparently, jugaad was at work when Tata's introduced nano or swach. Yeah, right. The first time I heard jugaad mentioned as a management concept I was at Kellogg, my alma mater, listening to Prof. Mohanbir Swahney speak. I must have guessed that jugaad's stars are on the rise for Prof. Swahney made a killing during the dot.com fad. He even used to (not sure if he still has) have a vanity plate that read "Net Prof."

As far as I know the closest meaning of Jugaad is "make it work" (as Tim Gunn says in "Project Runway"). Of course, if the things that happen in the name of jugaad happen on "Project Runway", Tim would personally kick you out. Jugaad is the cause of a fair amount of issues with India. It is about short-term without any thought for the long-term. It is about self without any thought for the society. And, what years of jugaad has got India is "Chalta hai" - positive translation would be "its fine. nothing to write home about." Soon, "chalta hai" will become the next management fad.

Law and Order in India ... crisis of credibility

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indian judiciary's crisis of credibility

Need I say anymore?

Chicago is on BBC... way to go

BBC NEWS | Americas | Chicago shuts down to save money

My home city loves to take the spotlight for the wrong reasons (to be fair, there are some right reasons). Anyway, I believe the city is shutting down "non-essential" services to bridge the budget deficit. Wonder whether "non essential" services includes the entire "Lets blow everything on the Olympics," too.

Misplaced priorities?

Last December while I was visiting India I was bombarded with with opinions from well heeled Indians on how the US could elect a "dimwit" like GWB twice, how wonderful Obama is/ how well he speaks, how important it is to rein in the run away health care costs and have universal health care in America. I listened to these in amusement and growing anger. Pretty much everything they brought up was applicable to India where they had a right to volunteer, vote and make a difference. So, what had they done - not voted most of the time and used that to wash their hands off the wonderful leaders' performance. While they enjoy watching US election and policy debates they don't demand or care for debates on policies that their government creates.

While I am not sure if GWB was smarter and more articulate than most Indian leaders, I am pretty sure that most these people would not know what their leaders were saying even if they were saying something sensible because of the language issue. Hindi (or, any local language) is not in fashion, "Hinglish" is. And, all said and done US electorate voted for GWB, how many of the Indian leaders were elected by the Indian electorate. Dr. Manmohan Singh was a compromise choice who never figured as a potential choice the first time around. And, let us not talk about health insurance or universal health care in India - it has never featured as an issue both with the politicians or the general public. I guess, that would not be an issue for my conversation partners. They can afford it in India. They are more concerned about their 3-6 month trips to the US visiting their children.

More recently, I brought up the topic of Universal Identity card - an ambitious project that government of India decided to launch without any discussion or policy on national identity. And, as if that was not enough they decided to install Nandan Nilekani, the former CEO of Indian IT giant Infosys, to head the initiative on the sly. And, of course, the current Infosys CEO does not feel any conflict of interest if his firm was to be chosen as the implementor. When I suggested that the hallmark of a good democracy is transparency and involvement of the citizens in developing policies that affect them the response I got was - "Do you think Dr. Manmohan Singh and Nandan Nilekani are not smart? They know what they are doing." It is not about whether they know what they are doing or whether they are smart, it is about transparency in actions and citizens involvement. Can the Government of India tell its people why Universal ID is a pressing issue, whether the existing illegal immigrants will get IDs and the estimated cost and schedule of its implementation. They have installed an implementor to head the initiative without defining the policies.

Then, there is the pesky issue of child malnutrition ( Indian malnutrition stats are worse than that of Sub Saharan Africa). Hell, that is not an issue. Instead, we take pride in the fact that we have not had any famine since we got independence while we had a few under British rule. True, that is an achievement (of sorts) but what is the point if these children are just alive but nothing else. My conversation partners where more concerned about children in Africa.

The most amusing topic was the discussion on food prices. Guess what my conversation partner used for comparison of food prices in India to that in the US to drive home the point that "food prices in India are way out of control and the poor cannot afford it" - Apple pie. Yes, I am not making it up. All that I could tell this person was - there is a reason why they say - "As American as motherhood and apple pie."

China gets a taste of India

NYT: ‘Vicious’ brawl lit fuse for China riots - The New York Times- msnbc.com

For someone who grew up in India, this thing is very familiar. Now, if China was democracy like India, there will be "leaders" who will "fight to address the injustices" and make this a regular happening. And, maybe Raj Thackeray and his buddies will be able to export their brand of "leadership" to China.

NOIMBY...No Olympics In My Backyard

I hope and pray that Chicago does not win the 2016 bid. The city should spend its money and resources on making it better and balancing the budget rather than creating a legacy for its mayor and line the pockets of officials and businessmen of the city and crook county.

I wish there were more like Tinish

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Lone Indian voter defies mob

I happened to ask a friend of mine who lives in India whether he had voted. His response was - too much of a hassle, no candidate worth voting and effort not worth it. He, of course, is not the only one - my in-laws have only started voting after their retirement. Their story was - work required posting in different places, could not handle the hassle of making sure they were on the local electoral list etc... Of course, all of them complain about the quality of the leadership, corruption and what not...

Jai Ho...India is shining

Once more everyone has been confounded by the verdict delivered by the world's largest democracy. Lucky for me, I am no expert on elections or Indian politics. I only got two posts wrong (that is about 66% of all posts on elections that I made). I did not think Dr. Shashi Tharoor would win and I did wonder aloud if "Jai Ho" would be a disaster like "India Shining". Dr. Tharoor won handsomely and "Jai Ho" continued its winning ways...this time for Congress(I) in the Indian elections.

Overall, I am glad with the outcome of the elections. I may not agree with the results but I do think it is better to have continuity for some time rather than changing governments like a heroine changing outfits during a song sequence in a Bollywood movie, it is better to have a strong mandate for a single party rather than a coalition of power hungry parties, the left parties have been left out and that Mayawati's vulgar ambitions have been trampled. So, is there anything to feel bad? Sure. I feel bad that Mumbai, my favorite city, decided that elections did not matter. 43% turnout is pretty pathetic. I thought Mumbiakars knew better - it is showing up for elections, not for candle light vigils that matter. As they say "Bad politicians are elected by good citizens who fail to vote" and "you only get what you deserve."

Shashi Tharoor wins in Kerala... Has hell frozen over?

It is official. Shashi Tharoor has won the Indian elections from Thiruvanthapuram. Congratulations to him. I never expected this to happen. Now that it has happened, am I glad that it has happened? I don't know. A few days back an anonymous commenter to my earlier post "Is Shashi Tharoor eligible for ST quota?" had asked me whether I would change my views if he wins. The answer is "No." And, why should I?

I have reasonably high regard for Dr. Tharoor as a writer and a diplomat. I don't think there is enough in his resume to judge him as a leader of Indian people or a politician. He is going to have to do that, now. As Tom Hanks' character in "Saving Private Ryan" says to Private Ryan, "Now, earn it.", Dr. Tharoor has been given a mandate and now he has to earn it.

I am not sure what the voters were thinking. Is this hope triumphing over reason? Or, is it cynicism triumphing over reason? Or, is it sense and reason in action? And, have the folks in Kerala gotten over the parochial narrowness that they are known for. I, like, Dr. Tharoor am a non-resident malayalee - NRM. Unlike him I was born there and have lived there for a few years. I even did my undergraduate degree in Kerala and was referred to, at various times, as "Pandi" (since I did my schooling in Tamilnadu), "Britisher" (because, I preferred talking in English) and "Dollar" (when I started applying for masters programs in the US). Or, did Kerala fall for the "glamour" factor? Neighboring Tamilnadu always had a weakness for its movie stars. Maybe, Kerala has a weakness for its diplomats. Anyway, I do hope that what happened to Rajiv Gandhi does not happen to Dr. Tharoor. Someone once described Rajiv Gandhi's years as - "He tried to change the system. But, the system changed him."

Needed... someone with Photoshop skills @ White House

White House aide resigns over NYC flyover - White House- msnbc.com

The Obama administration might have a CIO and a CTO but they seem to lack folks with Photoshop skills. I bet if they had someone with decent photoshop skills they could have avoided the NYC flyover incident and the associated ruckus. Maybe the aide who resigned might consider taking some photoshop lessons.

Is Shashi Tharoor eligible for ST quota?

Ok, the title is rather provocative and figment of my imagination*. I have lot of respect for Shashi Tharoor. So, it was with some amusement, concern and disgust that I greeted the news of him standing for the Indian parliamentary elections from the south indian city of Thiruvanthapuram. He has snowball's chance in hell in making a mark, leave alone winning the constituency.

Almost all well meaning Indians of reasonable charisma and fame sooner or later decide that the way to "serve" the country is by becoming an elected representative. I thought Dr. Tharoor was smarter to fall for that (Maybe, he went off the rockers when he did not become the UN Secretary General. Or, maybe, the keralite in him caused him to reconnect with Kerala on retirement, just like a lot of Non-resident malayalis (NRM) do). For a man who has lived almost all of his entire adult life outside the country (leave alone Thiruvanthapuram) to think he can connect with the people and can fulfill the role of their representative smacks of naiveté. Dr. Tharoor does a great job of presenting India to Indians and the world from his vantage position of a native looking in from the outside. However, elected representatives need to be insiders looking out. And, no, I don't think they need to be natives.

PS: I don't think just because his initials are ST (scheduled tribe) gives his any advantage. And, the constituency where he is contesting is not a reserved constituency.

Imagine Jaswant Singh as a Gurkha....hahaha...

Elections in India is always an interesting affair. It is a theatre of the absurd. So, chalk this one under that.

I believe Jaswant Singh, the former external affairs minister, who accompanied terrorists to Kandahar to release them in exchange for the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in Dec 1999, is standing for elections from the heart of Gorkhaland - Darjeeling. Yes, you got it right - a federal ministry from the largest democracy accompanied the terrorists and released them to put an end to the hijacking. That must constitute bravery. I bet the brave Gurkhas need someone as brave as Jawant Singh amidst them. Ahem...Or, maybe the BJP thinks Jaswant can develop some nerves of steel if he is amidst the Gurkhas.

Which way?

The two big buys that Tata motors did seem to be on two ends of the quality/ reliability spectrum. Wonder which way they will move under the Tatas.

Got a raise... while unemployed

I finally got a raise... my first raise in 2+ years. It came through the unemployment insurance check courtesy the Federal Additional Compensation Program. There in lies the irony. Ever since I started working for a startup in the fall of 2006 I had not gotten a raise. In fall of 2007 I was told that they were putting a formal evaluation and pay cycle scheduled to go into effect in Feb 2008 and all adjustments would happen then. Come Feb 2008 I was told that the company has not met its goals so while they would like to give me a raise they can't. There was no official communication. My manager kept the discussion about it alive till June of 2008. Then, I realized that this was never going to happen.

Is "Jai Ho" the new "India Shining"?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Jai Ho 'cost Congress $200,000'

They say nothing succeeds like success. I bet that is what Congress-I (Do we have variants with all 26 letters? Not yet.) is hoping. I guess they are hoping that the feel good factor of "Jai Ho" will translate into electoral victory. However, it is quite possible that this might be the new "India Shining."

During the last elections the rival BJP launched a polished, feel good, rah-rah campaign highlighting how things have changed for the better. Little did they expect that the campaign title would boomerang. The english only title was considered a great example of the issues with the developments that had happened - only the educated elite were getting the benefits. I am not sure how well this stuck with the public the end result was BJP did not win enough to form the next government.

So, will "Jai Ho" be the sound of "selling out to the west" or "poverty porn" or just a "fantasy that only happens in Bollywood movies." BTW, does Slumdog qualify as Bollywood movie? I think so. The theme is even though the guys made it are not.

Aiyo rama it is not Valentine's day but Pink Chaddi day

I love this one - very creative. I hate the morality police goons. Sri Ram Sena is nothing but a bunch of thughs who have banded together and branded themselves.

It is interesting that all issues in India seem to have Ram as the common thread – Ram janmabhoomi, Ram sethu and Sri Ram sena. I always though Ram as the national mythological hero was a bad choice. They say he is the “Adarsh Purush” (ideal man). Is he really? First, he blindly follows his parents order. Then, he kills Vali by deceit for Sugreeva. And, finally, decides to go with the masses and doubt his wife’s chastity. So, what is so “ideal” about these actions?

I wish it was Krishna who was the national mythological hero. In him you have a “rock star” – favorite of women (note: I did not say he was a womanizer), good with the flute (did Ram have any talent. He sounds like a whiner to me), inspiring leader (he got Arjuna to drink his “kool-aid” ) and shrewd tactician (how many times did he pull tricks to win the game?). I bet he would have seen the humor in the “Pink Chaddi” campaign. Hell, he probably would have had a collection of pink chaddis:).

Separated

The New Year got off to a rough start for me. I returned from a month long vacation (half of it was unpaid and the rest was all the vacation days that I had shored up for this trip to India) to work to find that I have no work. My boss (the CTO) of the company told me that due to financial difficulties the company was going through another round of layoffs. Since they had decided to stop all IT initiatives they did not need someone to define and manage IT initiatives.

So, here I am looking for a new job. A recruiter that I talked to mentioned that I should not use "eliminated" or "layoff" as they have negative connotations. Instead, he suggested, I should use "separated." Well, "separated" it is even though it does not change the reality. Someone else told me that averaging 2 yrs at a job does not sit well. True. I would not hire someone who changes jobs every two years. And, in the first 8 years of my work I was a sucker for the newest technology. I changed jobs every two years to work on the latest thing. In the last 10 years it has been the economy and the companies who have been prompting my job changes. One company that I worked for kept laying off people every 3 months that I finally quit after being there for 6 rounds of layoffs; the other decided consulting was not for them; the next two failed (one of them managed to sell themselves before it went under)

Someone once asked me - "How long can a 'start-up' call itself a 'start-up'?" I had no answer for that one. My former employer has been in business for 3 years and is down by $35MM. In B-school they said investors look for 3x3 or 5x5 returns (i.e. 3x returns in 3 years etc...) I bet this is not what they had in mind. Anyway, what do you call a 'start-up' that is in this state? Wind-down.

Back to the job hunt.

Bangalored is so passe... Why not get Bengalured?

I am not sure when the word (can you even call it a word) "Bangalored" first made appearance (according to Wiktionary it was in 2003). It is at least about five years old. Now, I have no issues with the word. But, I realize that we need a new word for all the Indians and non-Indians who have decided to give Indian sub-continent a try. How about "Bengalured"? It even has the new name for Bangalore in it.

Bengalured (verb)
Simple past tense and past participle of Bengaluru.
Relocated to Bengaluru, or India (or, any improbable location) in search of new opportunities.