Price rise, salary hikes and haircuts

Years ago, back in my village, we used to get communal haircuts. By the time the barber got home, 6-7 kids lined up and waited for him to snap his scissors and every kid got his hair cut so short that the mothers could not hold them by their hair atleast for a week to come. At that time, he charged 10 rs for all of us put together. The service was standardised. One size fits all. Shorter the better. Cut all you can.Value for money and so on and so forth.

Turn the cycle 10 years forward and welcome to Hyderabad. Owing to advanced technologies and locational disposition, the service has now moved on from door to door to a shop floor model. We now went into shops where there were a row of 3-4 seats resembling chairs we see on the stage in marriages. The shop itself is lined with sleazy glam mags and bollywood newspapers for customer retention. Fortunately or unfortunately, the tools barely changed. The same metallic scissors and the comb. The price shot up to 15-20 rs a cut. The offerings however now had 2 options.. Short and medium!

Come 2012, the landscape just seemed to have altered leaps and bounds. I am now in Bombay. I by chance, or lets just say by force, had to enter into one of those "hair therapy lounges". A.C., Vogue, computer with internet for bored souls. I ended up paying 150 rs for a service that the guy was extremely reluctant to provide. Apparently getting the hair cut short isnt the in-thing anymore. He ploughed through my hair like he was trying to invest in paddy fields. The best part was that I got an appointment for an hour later as the place was full. But thank god some things dont change much. It is still the same scissors and the same comb to weave his magic! Wonder whats next?

The shadow in the dark

Sitting by the dim street light,
attention drawn and mind blank,
I dont hear the frog's croak or the clock's tick
I just sit here, ogling at the starry starry night

My thoughts wander to a place far far away
I feel a sting in my chest, a gushing pain,
yet I sit there staring at infinity,
like a nomad, who has just found his way

Soil, iron red and the sky, coal black
I wonder if thats what I really see.
I am the warrior, the solitary reaper,
the shadow in the dark

I wonder why we love to suffer,
fear of happiness is it?
or just an irreparable sense of inertia
as they say, "Ignorance is bliss" or whatever...

So.. How was New York City?

This was one of those trips that was never planned originally. I had gone to New york to visit my girlfriend who has been working there for a few months now. I was there for eight days and when I got back, there was one question that I faced inevitably from everyone. How was NYC?

Brooklyn Bridge

At the outset, New York did not surprise me. It was as they had showed in various movies like Little Manhattan and soaps like Friends, HIMYM. Central park was beautiful , Times Square was colorful, financial district was bustling and Manhattan skyline was as glorious as I had imagined it all. The streets, the avenues, the color coded metro rail system, the 5 boroughs, the orderly traffic were fairly easy even for a first timer to understand and work with.

But it did amaze me. I have always considered India to be the epitome of cultural diversity with 28 states, 7 UTs, 18 official languages many more art forms. New york, like most big cities, was a microcosm of the world. It was a melange of people from countries across the world, an eclectic medley of cultures. It was very well represented by all the popular immigrant nations of the world. Each had established their dominion. The Chinese had China town in South Manhattan, Italians ruled Little Italy just above the Chinese, Koreans took over the Koreatown in the 33rd street while the Brazilians loved their Little Brazil street on the 46th street. Indians on the other hand have spread their DNA all across New Jersey and particularly in Journal square. You will see the Asians selling Doner kebaps and pita-gyros, the Middle-eastern, Lebanese and Moroccans selling icecreams, the latinos selling NYC paintings and the Chinese selling everything else. Even to the above mentioned folks.

Cenral Park

New York City was a war scene every hour of the day and each day of the week. The water ways, the bus system, the metros and even the pedestrians moved with a synchronized perfection as directed an army general called Time. Time is their guiding force and their nemesis as well. People ran to save time, to fight time. Two minutes lost in catching the next metro was disappointing. Despite all this, the average New yorker spent atleast 15 minutes each day waiting for his turn to sip on the regular double shot expresso at one Starbucks or the other. Their life cannot start without one.

Manhattan skyline

Given the fast paced lifestyle, there is a galore of options available when it comes to food. I tried everything from the all-American burgers and fries to Mexican enchilladas and ribs to Italian pizzas to Chinese *&%^% (Can never remember those damn names).

NYC is beautiful, scandalous, ever growing, confusing and yet charming. Its a city that sets you free, hardens you and consumes you, before you know it. And this, is an Indian's take on the biggest city of the world.

I believe its time to run!

Welcome to the season of running
A season where each of us have juggled between work and work outs
A season where we have pushed our limits
A season where we have drawn inspiration from each other
A season where we decided that we'd run
for ourselves, for fitness or for a cause!

Its time to run!

I believe it starts one step at a time
and then I'd have no idea where my dreams will take me

I believe the world is my treadmill
I believe my biggest inspiration is the person infront of me

I believe in solitude and community
I believe no decision should be made while running uphill

I believe that when I think its over... I can always dig a little deeper
I believe in redefining my impossible

I believe in myself, and
I believe in the run
- Nike

In retrospect...!

An extremely cold start to the year with Lucknow winters and a trip to Gulmarg. Tons of CVs and more placements stuff.

Trip to Gulmarg & Srinagar: Mid January with Lambu and Baka

• Skiing tutorials, Ice cold walks at -17 degrees, Kashmiri Kehwa, bukhara, Dal lake boat house stay and insane security measures

Trip to Delhi to meet Bansal and got drunk at Connaught Square

Writing the book - Q&A: Most of January and February.. with Subbu, Uday, Pinky, Adak, Sudeshna, Gogo, Shady. Altruism, God, Hapiness and what not...
  
Trip to Tawang, Shillong and Guwahati: Early March with Sud, Gogo, Smriti, Shaggy and Soumen das

• Long drives, missed helicopters, Unexplored caves, forsaken hotel rooms, waterless falls of cherrapunjee, Monastries of Tawang and country borders

Cousin sister's marriage in Hyderabad:With Manish and Rahul. Flew from Kolkata and an action packed 3 day bonanza

Got Convocated in Lucknow

Road trip from Lucknow to Hyderabad through MP and Maharashtra: With Kalyan for 150 kms and the rest alone :P


Backpacking across Greece and Italy: with Rajat Ghate (Whatta trip!)

• Hiked across Santorini, Walked along Athens and drove to Meteora
• Snow peaks and Dolomites of Bolzano, Canals of Venice, Scarlet Ferrari at Modena, Art of Florence, drives of Tuscany, towers of Pisa, Cliffs of Cinque Terre, Roman auditoriums, Napolean Pizzas, Mountains of Vesuvius and the ruins of Pompei

Joined BCG !

Never ending parties at Hyderabad with Mittal, Mwa, Rishabh, Gunt, Sakshi and Nimi

Shifted base to Pune with Bansal

Goa trip with Vaswani

Trip to Chennai:

• Murugan Idly, Ente Keralam and the beach!

Trip to Pondicherry for a Weeklong stay by the sea:

• Long walks along the promenade, Light houses, French and Italian restaurants and ashrams

Trip to Malaysia (KL and Langkawi) with BCG folks for ROP. : Goswami, AJ, Aysh, pappa, GG, Divya, Surbhi, Pesho, Bhal, Mimani, Sardar and many more

• KL: Bunked training, KL tower, Pub hopping, Shopping arcades, Road side sushi, Westin, long lunches, and Short presentations
• Langkawi: Distant Resorts, Long drives, water sports, cycle races, all night beer fest, dead cheap liquour shopping, super exotic dinners, colorful snakes and new friends

Trip to Goa for Viva with BCG at Hyatt: with BCG Cohort of 2011

Manali trip for a week: with Lambu and Kandi

• Barren apple orchards, 100 Rs rooms, White water rafting, Village fairs, Beas kund trek, exhausted souls, 6 hour long board game sessions, Intoxication with Hookah, Sizzling food platters, Jenga, scrabble and Monopoly

Hyderabad trip to meet Yoda, Rad and Rishabh

3 day trip to Kakinada, my home town

Looking forward to the Goa trip for christmas and the new years at home :)

Bucket list

This was a list that I had compiled in 2007 after attending a session at Deloitte where we were told about a guy who had a list of 127 things to do in his list and ended up completing over a 100. I was inspired and this is what followed...This is more or less a static list. There are of course more additions and less deletions.

Do:

1. Fly a plane (learn)
2. Parasailing (Completed in Naukuchiyatal, Uttaranchal)
3. Bungee jumping
4. River rafting in India (Completed in Arunachal)
5. Make a Sky Dive
6. Do a deep sea dive for corals
7. Snorkeling for corals (Completed in Lakshadweep)
8. Complete a professional course in mountain climbing
9. Complete a professional course in Skiing from Gulmarg (2 days course done - Full pending)
10. Go Fishing (Done - Didnt enjoy it as much as I thought I would)
11. Collect currencies of 100 countries in the world (Done)
12. Watch an NBA game
13. Watch an F1 race - Live!
14. Train journeys: Trans-Siberian
15. Train journey: Jammu – Kanyakumari (No longer going to do that)
16. Train journey: Switzerland – Austria – Italy
17. Toy train – Ooty
18. Toy train - Darjeeling

See - Travel :

1. See the pyramids at Giza
2. Go to South America and see Machupichu
3. Great Wall of China
4. Go to the TajMahal 
5. Go on a world tour - Circle the world (Spend at least 4 months doing so)
6. Visit the Eiffel Tower
7. Go on a cruise to Antarctica
8. Go to Greenland to meet the Eskimos
9. Do a village tour in India, Motorcycle diaries style (Done 2 in the south)
10. Light house tour of India (See all the lighthouses)
11. Go to Newzealand for backpacking
12. Trek to the Himalayan base camp
13. Trek to Manasarovar lake and Kailash Parvat
14. Trek to the Annapurna base camp
15. Visit the hill stations of India (A few in Uttaranchal and Maharashtra remaining)
16. Bike trip to Leh and Ladakh
17. Camping for a week in Himachal / J&K / Uttaranchal
18. Experience the thrill rides of Vegas
19. Backpack across Italy
20. See the Northern lights from Norway (Aurora Borealis)
21. Go on a flight from Kathmandu to Paro – (8 of top 10 peaks in the world)

Write - Read - Learn:

1. Write a book
2. Write a second book on India (In progress)
3. Give a live magic show for 30 mins
4. Get proficient in English
5. Learn Spanish
6. Learn Tamil
7. Learn more about the Indian independence story (Books)
8. Read poems by Keats, Dickens and Shakespeare
9. Learn to play the Synthesizer
10. Learn to do professional photography (In progress)
11. Read 2000 books in life time (About 200 done)
12. Learn caricature (Started - Wont progress)
13. Research and learn of various ancient cultures such as Romans, Egyptians, Mayans and Greek

Eat - Work :

1. Eat all of "1000 things to eat before you die"
2. Try the Ribs from Texas, Chipotle in Mexico and Sushi from Japan
3. Work for yourself – Start the Oh fish and drive it successfully
4. Start an organization for the old aged
5. Support one kid
6. Pursue an MBA Degree
7. Play basketball at some professional level.

Random:

1. Experience Zero gravity
2. Run a half marathon (Completed in 2:20)
3. Do a stand-up comedy
4. Work a blue collar job
5. Study the butterflies
6. Get a dog
7. Play poker at a professional level
8. Start a shack at Goa and run it for 6 months

FDI in Retail

If I think of all the stake holders getting affected in this decision and take a call on how it is going to affect each one of them.. Here is how the picture looks to me.

1. Large Indian retail chains: These are the guys who will probably be most affected. They are the ones who might be forced to make their supply chains much more leaner and cost efficient. They are the ones who will take the biggest hit from this "competition"

2. Small retail shops: The small kirana shops, if you ask me are safe. The same furore was there when the Indian retail was opened to bigger, organised players with deep pockets. However, today everyone plays on their own strenghts and have evolved, adapted

3. Farmers, Suppliers: Better bargaining power, better market for their products and might as well get some guidance (A win win). I dont see the possibility of any exploitation from the "deep pockets"

4. Politicians: Congress - Good move (long pending); BJP - Have to take up a fight to oppose it (Thats what opposition is for - protest without judging the merits of the move)

5. Consumers: We actually are the ones who are most profited as Prof. DTR pointed out.  We will be spoilt for choice now. We will see many more companies competing to provide better service.

6. Macro Economy in general: Now from a marcro economic perspective, This will probably create jobs in sum total. True, there may be some firms that might go out of business. However, the overall economy will restructure itself and I believe that overall, many more jobs will be created.

Overall verdict: I dont see too many cons of this move. Time and again, we have studied that the main problem that India faced in the Nehruvian era was Competition, or lets say the lack of it.This will only enhance competition and hence result in better service overall .. hence..  A definte and emphatic Yes!