Our Internet site will be available... intermittently

I have been trying to access the website of FirstandSecond.com, which bills itself as India's biggest bookstore over the last 24 hours. The darn site has been down for "Technical Upgradation." I have never seen a technical upgrade take an online business offline for a whole day. And, they have the chutzpah to suggest "...use this opportunity to take a break from net surfing..." I guess someone forgot to tell them that the reason they want people coming to their site is to buy (and, not just surf) and while their site may be down the rest of the Internet is available (and, that includes that of their competitor(s) like Landmarkonthenet). Imagine Amazon being down for 24hours back in 1995 or 1996. I bet it was unacceptable even then. I guess, even the Internet moves at the slow pace of Indian Stretchable Time.

I am no user experience expert but the quality of the user interface and content on most Indian sites is lamentable. It is as if their "must have" list consists of - scrolling text and flashing images. And, the "nice to haves" are fly-out images and pop-ups/pop-unders. Compare rediff.com with yahoo or msn, it is as if rediff is stuck in 1996. Someone once remarked "...India is an assault on your senses... all senses... all the time." The Indian websites seem to be an assault on your sensibilities when they are up.

Corporate websites of IT services providers seem to be the best of the lot. And, even here, there seems to be a correlation between the quality of the site and the amount of revenues earned from abroad. I am not saying that the site quality is allowing them to generate more revenues. The greater the interactions with firms and people in other geographies the greater the incentive to put something better out.

It is participation that counts... yeah right!

About four years back, when I was in B-school, a classmate of mine did a class paper on relationship between populations, economic factors to Olympic medals. The outlier in his analysis was India, which has a large population, and decent PPP GDP. This analysis pretty much confirms it.

There is certainly a lot to cheer about India's performance. For the first time an Indian won an Olympic gold in an individual event. And, Indian performance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics bettered its performance in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. 56 years is an awful long time. The lessons from Beijing are clear - In India, it is better to get the government out of the way to make progress. Unlike China, Indian government has an impeccable record of screwing up things. Take the case of field hockey. The team did not even make it to the Olympics. Of course, that did not stop them from sending four coaches to Beijing to "observe."

Let us hope that good sense prevail, the Government gets out of the way, the corporations and media step in to create a better talent pool and Abhinav Bindra remains a player in shooting and not a player in politics as a member of Rajya Sabha. Being nominated to Rajya Sabha is no honor for someone like Bindra. It will do good for everyone to remember that... "We are all fools, in different subjects."

Race and religion...comparing India to the US

It is often said that the United States has a very clear separation between state and religion, and it has made great strides in overcoming racial inequality. And, often the comment about India is that it is mired by caste and religion. But, what does this mean to an average person in both places.

Take for example the US election of 2008. It has been said by more than a few that having an African American candidate shows the strides US has made in overcoming racial inequality. Some have even gone on to say that having an African American as the president would mean racial inequality is a thing of the past. But, is it truly so. Every day I take the public transport (the "El") to work. I often observe how the seats get filled on the "El." It is a study of people's prejudices. Invariably, seats next to African Americans are the last to be taken. I bet statistical analysis of the sample will show that this is not a random phenomenon.

In India, we have had at least one "untouchable" President but even I would not say that everyone in India is treated equal. However, I do know that rarely will people avoid certain seats on the public transport because of the caste of the other person. This is because often there is no way to determine the caste of the other person from their physical attributes.

So, you have a group of people in the US who on a day to-day basis see and feel some form of prejudice against them even when they are not directly interacting with the other party (and, see less or no prejudice when they are interacting directly with the other party). And, in India, you have groups of people who may not see any prejudice until they are directly interacting with the other party.

Now, you may argue that I am mixing race and caste. I think that is just arguing over the use of right words. I guess what I am trying to say is people everywhere feel at ease with people who look and act like them.

When it comes to religion, both India and the US are secular states. Yet, their approach to secularism is quite different and the results have been quite different (Just compare the number of religion related clashes/ incidents). Are the results different because of the approach? I don't know. I would argue that the people in the US practice a good number of religions/ beliefs. It may not be the same as in India but in terms of percentages they might be in the same league.

For a nation, that professes separation of state and religion US is obsessed with religion. The candidate's religion/ beliefs are a key part of their candidature. Barrack Obama has gone to great lengths to prove that he is a Christian (and hide his middle name - Hussein). The only religious holiday in the country is Christmas and you will see the state spending lot of money to decorate the city and buildings for this holiday. Compare this with India where there have been Muslim presidents, Christian Chief Ministers (Governors), the state has holidays for pretty much every possible religion (I call India - Bumper Holiday Nation) and the state does not spend money decorating buildings for any religious holiday.

So, what makes Africans still move to the US in search of opportunities even when African Americans make noise about the inequality and US has a lot less race/caste and religion related incidents than India? I think the law, the rules and their implementation is a clear and consistent in the US. So, while not everyone agrees with it, it has enough "buy-in." As for religion, in the US, for the most part, the state does not involve itself with religion even if its subjects feel strongly about their beliefs. In India, the state is involved in religion trying to "balance" the differences in numbers. And, when there is not enough to go around for everyone, state's effort to "balance" based on race/caste and/or religion results in everyone feeling that they have been cheated out of fair deal.

Economics of Conversions

Religious conversions | The moment of truth | Economist.com

It is alternately amusing and alarming to read the simplistic views magazines like The Economist put out regarding conversions and castes. Or, the simplistic approach pushes their viewpoint. At least, when it comes to India and conversions there are a lot more. Simply put when there is not enough to go around for all giving benefits to a few based on their religion or caste is going to cause issues.

I do not understand why religious conversions where prosthelization is involved is not considered as dangerous as racism. After all, it comes from the belief that "my religion/ faith is better than yours. And, you are damned unless you convert to mine."

As for India, the government's effort at "secularism" has caused polarization of religions/ faiths. How you may ask. There is religion based voting districts, economic reservations. In all these, the people who practice the majority religion and the small minority religions that do not feel the need to market themselves or assert their superiority are given a raw deal. And, to add insult to injury the government controls/ appoints people to religious institutions of majority religion when they do not even monitor the source of funds for others.

Ultimately, one cannot deny the "economics of conversion." The folks who are converting (at least the majority of them) are not converting because they had the same epiphany that Marc Schleifer, mentioned in the article, had. They are trying to find their way out of oppressing economic circumstances they are in due to social (caste) or economic (access to opportunities) or both. Unfortunately, they realize a little later that the social (caste) issues cut across religion. In India, you have separate Dalit (what you generally classify as "untouchable") Christian churches in a class/ caste less religion. Christians in Kerala and Mangalore take pride it telling everyone that they were high caste Hindus before conversion. The reason most of these high caste Hindus converted was again social oppression.

I remember reading an article by Germaine Greer who questioned Mother Theresa's charity. If the poor need to give up their faith to be saved what is so magnanimous about it. That was her question. I think the answer is we are all animals - our sense of self-preservation is better defined than our sense of belief/ faith/ religion etc...

All this for a dick?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Woman in India 'has twins at 70'

This story shows the irony that characterises most of India's achievements. Do I congratulate the doctors for this medical miracle? Do I ridicule the couple and the efforts they went to have a male child. I will go with the later because there are more like them in India.

Sometime back a friend emailed me an article about Sardar Bhagat Singh College of Technology and Management's decision to name the monkey god Hanuman as the chariman of the school. Now, that takes a leap of faith (Hanuman/ monkey...leap...you get it?). I bet desis will be quick to point out that US presidential hopeful Senator Obama is reputed to carry around Hanuman charm for luck. Now I know that when Obama remarked about people clinging to "guns and religion" he was in some sense talking about himself.

Democractically elected meglomaniacs

BBC NEWS | South Asia | New statue of India's Dalit icon

I wonder why I never got one of the chain emails on how India is better than US of A since it has had numerous female leaders. That set me thinking about the kind of female leaders that India has had. Some names that come to mind are Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalitha and Mayawati. Pretty much everyone of them is an ego-maniac and some are meglomaniacs.

A recent Wall Street Journal survey showed that Americans are more willing to elect African American males or Baptist males as their leaders than having women as their leaders. Given that average American women enjoys better socio-economic freedom than their counterparts in India this survey made me wonder why is it that desis have elected women leaders. It is not the dynasty factor - that can only apply to Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The only thread that seems to connect the four leaders are their ego and lust for power.

Durbin's "windfall profit tax" is a lot of hot air

Senior Senator Dick Durbin of IL has proposed something called a "windfall profit tax" to cap the profits of oil companies and help ease the burden on the public reeling under the pressure of high gas prices. Now, what constitutes as "windfall profit"? Who will define that? And, why restrict it to just oil companies? Why not apply this to all companies? It would be interesting to see how this will apply to software companies after all the incremental cost of a software product is close to zero.

Why can't the good senator and his likes think of things that make sense and are within their control like improving the public transportation infrastructure (rather than giving free rides to senior citizens and the homeless) or increasing the fuel efficiency requirements on vehicles. Heck, all those require time, effort and will not have the same effect on the public as "windfall profit tax". We all need someone to be the "bad guy" and it is easy to paint the oil companies (and, in other occasions, the Chinese companies) as the "bad guys."

I guess it is guys like Senator Durbin who make sure that Chicago's legacy as "the windy city" lives on. Got to love him for that.

White lies or half truths?

The photo on the side is from BBC on an article on reservations. I like how BBC chooses its words to make this look as if Indians are against poor people having opportunities. I guess they feel that the so called "backward" classes are economically poor.

BBC does its best to keep the spirit of the Raj alive. To them the Kashmir terrorists are always "militants" (within the quotes). The government reservation is to help the "untouchables" and now, the "poor." I guess they do not know that yadavas are considered "backward" yet Krishna, a yadava, is one of the more popular gods. And, some of the rich Indians are still beneficiaries of the government reservation program(s).

Reservation in India in the form it is implemented is not about social equality or opportunities for the poor but creation of vote banks. As a famous Brit (that would be Maggie Thatcher) once said - the job of the government is to create opportunities, not provide handouts. I bet majority in India will agree with that sentiment.

'Free Tibet' flags made in China... I told you so

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Free Tibet' flags made in China

I had a chuckle reading this one. I had remarked about similar stuff in my earlier post on Olympics

Mugabe rival 'clear' winner but who won Florida in 2000 is unclear - US

BBC NEWS | Africa | Mugabe rival 'clear' winner - US

Jendayi Frazer must be some kind of super human to know how Zimbabwe voted. Independent Zimbabwean monitors who were on the ground say Mr Tsvangirai gained 49% of the vote - just short of the threshold for outright victory - but more than President Mugabe. My guess is Zimbabweans know better. It is amazing the level of meddling US and UK do in the affairs of other nations.

I was heartened to see the Indian external affairs ministry give the US a fitting reply when they tried to advise India on topics for discussion during the upcoming visit of President Ahmadinejad of Iran.

Hypocrisy on Olympic scale

Suddenly the whole world seems to have woken up and is angry about China's human rights record. They are now hell bent on making noises before the Olympics. The last time I checked, the site of the 2008 Olympics was decided way back in 2001. So, where were all these people, government and agencies back then? It is not like China has changed. If anything China has stood its ground. In the last six years the western firms have made good money putting up the infrastructure for the Olympics. So, why now? Couldn't their conscience lie dormant for a little more?

US speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to complain about Chinese actions in Tibet while on a visit to India even though the Indian government which hosts the Tibetan government in exile decided not to make noise. I wonder how the US would react if a visiting Indian head of state decides to praise Cuban healthcare system?

If the world was really upset about Chinese occupation of Tibet or the lack of democracy then China should not have been offered the 2008 Olympics. We all want the cheap stuff from Chinese sweat shops. Why worry about someone else's freedom and liberty? BTW, are the "Free Tibet" t-shirts and stickers made in China?

Earth Hour in India ?

Today at 8pm Central Chicago is supposed to go dark for about an hour. The whole "Earth Hour" concept is gimmicky but gimmicks catch attention and something is better than nothing. I checked the Earth Hour website to see if any of our desi cities were participating in it - None. Then, I realized that they are the pioneers in the concept but they never branded it - they just called it load shedding/ maintenance outage ;) Someday they too will call it "earth hour(s)" or "earth day(s)".

Getting everyone to reduce their energy consumption on a daily basis is hard esp. when we cannot let go of our laptops, broadband connections, flat screen tvs, cellphones and iPods. I left the cars and SUVs here because while they get the rap for global warming the biggest culprit is electricity (See Vinod Kholsa's presentation). Would you unplug your flat screen tv because it contributes to global warming or would you rather watch planet earth on it in high-def?

Tata Ambassador... now Tata is the Ambassador

Tata Motors have bought the Jag and Land Rover brands from Ford. And, folks in India called it "Empire Strikes Back!”. Folks here called it a case of former colonies being obsessed with sticking it to their former masters. Well, it is not what you got that matters but it is what you do with what you got that matters. So, let us see what Tatas do with these two brands - yes, they are just brands. If they were making good vehicles then people would be buying them. Building a brand is hard.

If you are wondering, what the Ambassador had to do with the rest of the article. Nothing. I just liked puns- good/ bad and everything in between. I guess it is time to say "tata" (who says bye-bye in India) to Ambassador and welcome Tata as the ambassador - the ambassador of brand India.

Bear Stearns ...why can't "market" bear and grin?

I am a bit (actually, more than a bit) amused by the Bearns Stearns issue and bailout. Here is the deal - if Bears Stearns is a failed company then so be it. Why should the tax payers bear the risk and JP Morgan walkaway with a great steal all in the name of national interests. Did Bear Stearns or other firms ask for government or tax payer permission before they gave away the nice bonuses? To be fair I don't think they even requested to be saved. JP Morgan and Wall Street suit types are funny - Bear Stearns deal was "fair" at $2 and then a few days later it was "fair" at $10. What is fair is to let Bear be - see if it can survive. If it dies, it was meant to be - greed did it in.

So, why does the government care now. And, is n't this and every other solution for the current crisis tackling the symptoms without addressing the root cause. I have seen a lot of this in India - usually for public sector (government owned) companies. There the reason was very clear - politicians need to win elections, to do so they need votes and these public sector undertaking represented nice large vote banks. While they may have also justified their actions as "protecting national interests" they never preached capitalism.

Right and Wrong about Wright and Rezko

Last Friday as I was returning from the airport I heard on the news that Presidential candidate Obama had condemned the comments made by Rev. Wright and apologized for errors in judgment in his dealings with Tony Rezko.

The funny thing is I never heard the Tony Rezko issue mentioned again in the media. Here is a case where the candidate who says, "Being right is more important than being prepared" (Is a "right" liberal any better than a "right" conservative? We have one claiming victory in Iraq) saying his real estate dealings with Rezko was not straight and that his campaign had got a lot more money through Rezko than originally claimed. I guess nobody cares about such trivial matters.

Instead, everyone jumped on speeches made by Rev. Wright about 5 to 7 years back. And, gave the Illinois senator a nice photo op and speaking engagement that left lot of the media pundits teary eyed. What is the big deal about what Rev. Wright said? He was expressing his opinion. And, everyone is entitled to one. He was not instigating violence or other subversive methods. He is entitled to his view on 9/11 (and, he was not blaming the victims as Chris Matthews said. He was blaming the government). He is right about Hillary not knowing what it is to be black (he used the N word) in America. Similarly, Obama has no clue what it is to be a woman in America. Both of them have no clue what it is to be a brown skin in America. If you believe in "God Bless... <>" why not "God damn ...<>"

Senator Obama has no control over what someone else says. But, he has control over his actions and dealings with folks like Rezko. Obama may not represent "same old Washington politics" but why do I get this feeling that he represents "same old Chicago politics." I am not sure which one is worse.

P.S: Geraldine Ferraro is a brave woman for not backing down. And, she may have a point here. Reminds me of the Oscars a few years back when Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won. Do not get me wrong, both are great actors but the way the media created the buzz and called it made me wonder if they were getting the prize for their effort or if someone had decided that this is the year.

In support of ICL and IPL

Finally, market forces are emerging in Indian sports and it bodes well for sports in India. Of late, a lot has been written and said about Indian Cricket League (ICL) and Indian Premier League (IPL). A good number of them have expressed their opposition to the "auction of humans" and the "high price".

In B-school there is question that is asked often - "What is the value of a company?” The only right answers to it other than "it depends" is "what ever the market is willing to bear. If SRK spent $80 million on his team, it is because he is hoping to make more than that. If he and other investors do not make good on their investments because of either team performance or drop in advertising revenue they are going to act on it. I am sure soon they will have NFL like trading, salary caps and scouting.

I like the idea of ICL and IPL because for  -

1. It takes cricket into realm beyond national teams. Of course, there is nothing new about that. The English cricket league already does that. However, now you have this happening where it matters. This is to cricket what the European soccer leagues are to soccer.

2. It makes compensation visible. It is to some extent "pay for performance". These people are not only paid for their skill but also their ability to bring in money. They are part salesmen, part gladiators.

The fact that the hard numbers are in the open makes it easy for everyone to compare. It is bit like "lobbying" vs. "bribe" - both may be undesirable but first one is better because information on what was paid and what was received is out in the open and is taxable. I think the numbers may come down as the talent pipeline (Point 3) increases unless ICL and IPL have a truly global following.

3. It generates new talent pipelines. We now have two new international leagues in addition to the national cricket team. And, each league has a number of teams. To fill these teams you will need talent. It gives opportunities for talented Ranji and college players to move up. And, hopefully this will improve the pool and the access to opportunities.

4. You finally have some cool names. Other than the New Zealanders who were referred to as "kiwis" (thanks to a flight less bird), none of the national teams had a cool name. Now, we have a chance for some interesting names (though, I must say I have been disappointed with the current set). My award for the best name for any sports team that I have come across goes to Mambalam Mosquitoes. I have never seen them play but growing up in Madras I had heard a lot about them. But, talk about making lemonades of lemons. So, why not Chennai Chimps? I have some nice headlines ready - "Chennai Chimps are the Champs" or "Chennai Chimps Chomp the Competition".

What can "brown" do for you?

I work for a small two year old company - about 60-70 people. When I joined there were fewer than 20 people and I was the first hire of desi origin. Last year I hired another guy of desi origin (a Pakistani guy). Together we are the IT department for the company.

It is amazing how often folks refer to us or call us by the other person's name. And, it is not like our names sound similar, start with the same alphabet or that we look similar. There are a few repeat offenders. It has gotten to a point where we use the UPS line on them - "What can brown do for you?." I guess to them we are two brown guys for the most part.

Rooting for normalcy

I like many others was dead against US military action against Iraq. It just was not right whether the reason was WMD or bringing democracy to the region. There was very little evidence supporting the first reason. As for democracy, I believe it may not work in some places and when people are ready for it they will clamor for it. Implementing democracy by military action is quite stupid.

After the military action there was a time when I kept tally of civilians (or, should I call it what Madeleine Albright called - collateral damage) and military personnel killed. After a while, I started feeling sorry for both. The military because I bet they never expected to be fighting this war. The civilians because back in Saddam’s days, they may not have had democracy but they knew who the enemy were. As long as they kept their mouth shut and a low profile, they had a job and life. Give me liberty or give me death sounds great but life triumphs liberty. As long as there is life, there is hope.

Now, when most of the original groups against war want the US troops to come back I feel the other way. US presence gives Iraq and the region a better chance for normalcy. There was an article in the Newsweek about how Americans are taught very early in life about cleaning up their mess - Iraq is our mess. I wonder if the folks who want the troops back now would feel the same way if things were going great in the US (economically) and /or in Iraq (politically). Going into Iraq in 2003 was wrong and leaving Iraq anytime soon will also be wrong.

A few weeks back I happened to listen to Parag Khanna, author of "The Second World" talk on Foreign Exchange (BTW, what is with desis/BBCDs/ABCDs and foreign affairs - Farred Zakaria followed by Daljit Dhaliwal?). He claims to be advising Barack Obama on foreign policy. According to him, splitting of Iraq is "inevitable." He said it with such nonchalance that it made me wonder how he would feel if his home country was attacked and broken into pieces. Of course, he like many others know that it is unlikely to happen. Afterall, there is a large ocean separating it from the rest of the land mass where the problems are. I am no expert in geopolitical stuff but if Iraq splits it is likely to involve at least Turkey and Iran in the mess. Afghanistan and Pakistan is already a mess. So, we will have instability in all countries between Israel and India. These two countries will probably see more terrorist incidents after all they do not have any buffer zone.

I had a few friends tell me - "Why bother about Iraq? After all, we did not give a damn about Rwanda. And, see Vietnam did well without us." Rwanda was not a mess that the US created. As for Vietnam war, it was a war of political ideology. Both, Vietnam and its backers were keen to prove that their way is better. So, there was a will to win even if it was to be an empty victory.

This TEA can now vote ;)

Yes, this "Third World Economic Adventurer" (TEA. I think I should copyright this) earned the right to vote in this first world country today. And, I believe that bad politicians are elected by good folks who don't vote.

The oath ceremony was short and well run - 141 people from 32 countries. The clerks at the ceremony were very warm and professional but most immigrants were either too grumpy or occupied by the weight of the occasion that they failed to respond to the normal niceties. The judge made a nice short speech on naturalization comparing it to blood transfusion. I guess that might explain some people's opposition to it. I have to fully agree with the judge that there is probably no other country where you have people from so many nations.

Morocco... where desis are welcome

During the December holidays, I went to Morocco - my first trip to Africa (if you do not count the transit through Cairo). I travelled to four cities in Morocco - part of a tour group. The country is beautiful, people are quite friendly and they love desis (more specifically desi movies). Parts of the country, the medina in Fez ... all reminded me of India.

Occassionaly, I did get mistaken for a local (possibly beacuse of my J2M172 connection). Often they would call out - "India?" and when I acknowledged they would greet - "Namaste." Most americans in the tour group were surprised by the reception I got. In one shop in Fez a staff member came to me and started listing out his favorite Hindi movies and actors. He probably has seen more hindi movies than me in the last ten years. He then said his favorite is the music guy - Anu Malik. Anu Malik - who knew? Once I went into a post office in Marakesh to get directions and the guys behind the counter took the opportunity to tell me that they loved Amitabh Bachchan. In the hotel in Warzazat there was no english channel on TV but there was one showing a hindi movie with arabic subtitles. And, when I was on my way back at the Marakesh airport an immigration official came running after me. I stopped for him. He asked me where I was from and when he saw my Indian passport patted me on my back and said - "Welcome." I must tell you I have never been welcomed so warmly in any other country for my Indian passport.

The folks running the food stalls at Djemaa el Fna blew me away with their command of Hindi - inviting me to their stalls in Hindi - all learned by watching Hindi movies.