Match-Maker

Let me start by saying that I do not like Mahesh Bhupathi. I do not watch any of his matches and I do not support him even if he is playing in Grand Slam finals (doubles and mixed doubles (especially if it is with Mrs Pakistan)). Though it may be an exaggeration but I do believe that Mahesh Bhupathi would have been like "Bhu...Who??!!" if Leander Paes had not started playing doubles with him. Anyways, both of them played together, played well and made all of us proud. 

Now, they do not see eye-to-eye and do not play together. Makes sense. After all, doubles and mixed doubles events are 'team sports' and compatibility with the partner is extremely important. I am surprised how these two reached all 4 Grand Slam event finals and won two of them in 1999, when issues between them had cropped before that!!!

The issue staring at us is that India needs to send a team to Olympics. Bhupathi has made it clear that he does not want to team up with and wants to play with Bopanna. Paes wants to team up with Bopanna but is okay with any decision. Bopanna wants to play with Bhupathi but I do not think any one cares about his wishes/opinions. In any case, Mr. Bopanna is known for teaming up with just anyone. He can even team up even with a 'nasty, stupid, unfaithful neighbor', as long as he gets some news space. On a serious note, all of  them are good doubles players (with Bopanna bringing down the average; else I would have said 'great doubles players') and have tasted moderate (Mr. Bopanna caused this as well) to high level of successes. 

Though All India Tennis Association (AITA) wants to definitely include Paes (afterall, Paes is the highest ranked tennis player in the country), I believe it would make sense to send a Bhupathi-Bopanna team as they are good and more importantly, they share a good rapport and understanding. They should have a better chance than "Paes-Bhupathi" or "Paes-Bopanna". 

Other issue is related to Mixed Doubles. Here, Bhupathi-Sania is the best team that India can field. However if India decides to send only one doubles team and suppose that is 'Paes-Bopanna' then, if I am not mistaken, they cannot have a 'Bhupathi-Sania' combination in mixed doubles. All the more reason that Bhupathi should be part of the campaign. 

In my opinion, following are some possible solutions;

1. In case AITA decides to send only one doubles team, they should definitely include Bhupathi so that he can also team up with Sania for mixed doubles
2. In case AITA decides to send only one doubles team, Paes and Bhupathi should try to overcome their differences in case they feel that they can recreate the magic of 1999
3. In case AITA decides to send only one doubles team and Paes and Bhupathi cannot overcome their differences, it should be Bhupathi and Bopanna. If this happens, I would be behind this team as they would be 'Team India' 
4. If I am not mistaken, AITA does have the option of sending two teams. If that is correct, lets send 'Bhupathi-Bopanna' and 'Paes-Somdev' (even if Somdev is 75-80% fit). And there are no points for guessing which team I would be supporting in such a case)

Guys, this is not a Grand Slam event. You already have so many of them between all of you. It is Olympics and you would be representing the country. Lets try to put the best foot forward.

National Geographic : Latest Awesome Video

Happy Father's Day to Me!!!!

I Love Crawlies

 

My daughter keeps crawling in the entire house. Pretty Cute!!!

My wife keeps crawling behind my daughter to prevent her from banging her head. Damn funny!!! 

I love weekends!!!

Hazy weekend

Haze has engulfed Kuala Lumpur. Weekend would be spent at home

Kaun Banega Rashtrapati?

Now it is almost clear that Pranab Mukherjee would become the 13th President of India. What a disappointment this is. Not that much is expected out of the ceremonial head. Yet, there were several much better choices. APJ Abdul Kalam was my choice. Though it is out of question but I would love to see Gen VK Singh as President. He would have definitely taught this thugs a lesson or two. It would have been fun. 

And it is saddening how Congress is able to have a final say.  

Heard some strange and spooky voices in the office and 'माता का जगराता' in the office ended!!! Now continuing the 'जागरण' from home :)

Branded vs Generic

(Pic Courtesy: cp-frijolita.blogspot.com) 

After the episode on 'Healthcare in India' in 'Satyameva Jayate', I noticed that a lot of people have been showing interest towards opening a generic medicine store. If the initial zealousness does not fade away and some of these people actually open a store, it would be great.

However, with my limited understanding of the healthcare sector, I feel that branded drugs should not be totally 'penalized'. Branded drugs are the 'original' drugs. When I say original, I do not mean to suggest that others are fake. I mean branded drugs are the ones that were 'discovered'. 

Any new drug goes through a lengthy life cycle before it is considered a success/failure. Companies spend millions on drug discovery. Most experiments fail and some manage to pass through all the phases, including clinical trials and are then launched in the market. These drugs initially enjoy a patent, which essentially mean that no one is allowed to 'copy the formula' and launch the product. Companies try to get as much return as possible during this phase of 'monopoly'.

Then the patent expires and the dream run ends. As soon as the patent expires, several companies launch their own version and these are the 'generic' drugs. Now, these new drugs do not involve any expenditure on research and development, clinical trials, possible law suits etc. In fact, they do not have to do a lot of advertising and promotion as well since people already know about the molecule. Hence, their costs are low and they are able to quote a lower price. Something that a branded drug cannot do as they need to get the returns for their investment.

Generic or the low cost drugs are definitely good, especially in a country like mine where affordability becomes a huge concern. However, branded drugs should not be totally discouraged as it would hamper the chances of new drug discovery. I feel what needs to be done is to ensure that companies do not charge insane money for their drugs. Generics should be promoted but it should also be ensured that the drug discoverer is able to get adequate returns on investment. After all, that is the reward. 

माता का जगराता

Aaj office mein 'माता का जगराता' hai, aap sab bhi padhaarein!!! :( 

Quite Irritating

In today's world, people do not have time and they look for shortcuts. While writing, people try to reduce the number of characters. Quite understandable. So, 'That' become 'Dat', 'Sometime' becomes 'Smtime' or 'Smtym', 'Awesome' becomes 'Osum', 'Love' becomes 'Luv', 'Come' becomes 'Cm'. Thats okay.

But why the **** do some people turn "Cool" into "Kewl" and "My" into "Mah"!!! It does not make sense and it is pretty irritating. If a teenager from a small village and who is new to internet does it to impress his other novice friends, it would be understandable.....but still irritating. Same goes for a 'hip-hop' dude.

But when an educated, 'full-blown' adult does it, I feel like slapping the idiot. And some of these people like to write in all caps!!!

Current State of Mind

As Raju Srivastava would put it, "Ekdum Bhare Baithe Hain"!!!

Discreetly Yours

Heard something extremely stupid today!!! I will not quote the person but he/'she' seems to suggest that those who criticize Rahul Gandhi's mother, Tejaswi Yadav's father, Abdullah Bin Laden's father....should understand that someone can do that (disrespect) to their parents as well!!! What logic!!!

I have a question for this person. Whenever anyone has troubled you, said nasty things to you or people who matter to you, did you react or did you put a Gautam Buddha like divine smile on your face? 

And if you did react, please realize that the other person would also have been a son/daughter, father/mother, brother/sister? 

Going by your logic, you should not have  reacted thinking what if someone does the same to your son/daughter, father/mother, brother/sister. 

Tab gyaan kahaan chala jaata hai???

Bring it on....Please!!!

Several people remind me of a professor as well as the character "Chatur" in the movie, "3 Idiots"!!!

Like Chatur, they say things in a complicated manner. Even when they are criticizing someone, they say it in a very discreet and extremely complicated way. And when someone speaks like "Rancho"....simple and straight from the heart, they suddenly behave like the professor. They do not like it!!!

Will not deny that in the past, I have also been there. I have always done that to avoid any unnecessary arguments (stupid but true). However, I have always made it 'sufficiently clear' whom I am talking about. Some people do not do that as they want to have a Plan B to later completely deny that they targetted you. With such people, you do not have a choice but to be discreet and 'mysterious' yourself...like I am being now!!!

In fact, I will also not deny that many a times I have written stuff on my blog about people without doing enough 'research' and have regretted it later. Sometimes I have been stupid enough to hear only one-side of the story. My opinion may or may not have changed but at least I should have tried to understand both perspectives. Or even better...I should have avoided writing anything at all as it was none of my business.

I am learning from such mistakes and now I try to avoid such stupidity. I try to mind my own business. However, I would still not tolerate an attack on myself (given I am right or at least have a point) or people who matter to me (given they are right or at least have a point).

I would urge you to speak/write to me or about me directly. Infact I would respect that.

विचित्र दुनिया के विचित्र लोग और उनकी विचित्र मानसिकता

ज़िन्दगी भर चुप रहे,

और बहुत किया सम्मान,

पर अब सोचा की,

अगर अब भी चुप रहे,

वोह अपने जिन्होनें सारी ज़िन्दगी  सहा है,

उनके लिए खड़े भी ना हुए,

तो फिर किस बात के इंसान?

और वो लोग जिन्हें बुरा लग रहा है, पहले अन्दर झाँके. अपनी दुनिया  वोह अपने तरीके से चलाना चाहते हैं, तो चलाइए.... किसने  रोका है....और किसको परवाह है ? 

लेकिन दुसरे भी आपके मुताबिक़ चलें, ऐसा तो नहीं होगा.

दूर बैठ कर भाषण देना बहुत आसान होता है. खुद को कोई दुःख दे तो उससे सारे नाते तोड़ लो और हमको किसी से दुःख मिले तो हम एक शब्द भी ना कहें??!!!

जो सही है वोह तो भाई हम अब कहेंगे. आपके रंग तो हम वैसे भी खूब देख चुके हैं। 

Emptying the Pot

In my childhood, I read this fable about a man who prays to god, manages to impress the god with his devotion and gets 7 pots of gold. He becomes jubilant but on closer look, the man notices that the seventh pot was only half full. He becomes dissatisfied and depressed and then decides to fill the seventh pot himself. He spends all his money, sells all his property and everything he owns to buy the gold and fill the seventh pot but the pot does not fill. The moral of the story is that you have to be satisfied with whatever you get or something like that.

I am not writing this blog to tell a story or teach a lesson. It is just that, at the end of each day, when I look at the 'To-Do' list for this week, I am reminded of this story. The only difference is that I am not trying to fill the pot but to empty it. However, no matter what I do, the 'To-Do' List does not seem to get empty!!!

(Pic Courtesy: ajuever.blogspot.com)

Fat Boy Swim

Started swimming a couple of weeks back. Did 3.5 laps including several breaks. Now, I regularly do 12 laps...sometimes 14 and once 22!!!

The mermaid in me has woken up....again!!! 

Rafa wins Roland Garros for the 7th time!!!

As Commodus said in the movie, Gladiator, " Your fame is well deserved, Spaniard. I don't think there has ever been a gladiator to match you!!!" 

Vamos Rafa!!!

Project Management Tricks - III

When your boss approaches you and starts the conversations with "How are you placed?" or "Do you have any bandwidth?", be assured that your response would have little relevance/impact on the conversation to follow!!! :) These are just casual questions like "How are you?" and "How are things?".

Bosses are "Kaam Dev"....Kaam to denge hi!!!

Happy Birthday Laina!!!

Today is my lil sister's birthday and I am missing her. Want to do something special for her but do not know how. She is travelling so cannot even arrange a gift for her. May be in August, when I travel to India.

Hats Off!!!

Hats off to two of the most important women in my life;

1. Firstly, My mother because today she actually cried for my grandmother (Amma), who has almost never been nice to my mom. Amma is ill, physically as well as mentally. My mother has always taken care of Amma however Amma has always complained about my mother to everyone. I believe, this is her way of gaining sympathy and to ensure love and support from  from everyone. Now, when Amma is almost bed-ridden and everyone else has their priorities, my mother is taking care of her. My mother even accompanies Amma to the loo!! Still, Amma scolds and curses my mom with or without reasons. I feel bad for my parents. However, today when I spoke to my mother, she cried because of Amma's helplessness!!! Amma has always been nice to me but I still hold a grudge against her for being mean towards my mom and sister. But my mom, who could not even raise her children in the way she wanted to because of all the interferences, is feeling bad for Amma!!! She is unbelievable and truly great. I salute her for this.
2. In my generation, I do not think I know any woman who has managed to take care of an infant all by herself. Everyone has the support of mother, mother-in-law or at least a maid. My wife has none of that. She takes complete care of my daughter, home as well as me and she does a bloody good job!!! I do whatever I can but it is not even 1%. Hats off to her. 

Favorite Snack

This is what I feel like eating right now.....and this is my favorite snack to go with drinks. It is healthy as well; only a trillion calories.

My Bucket List

'Kick the Bucket' means to die and 'Bucket List' refers to the things that one wants to do before he/she dies. Following is my bucket list;

1. Go to Egypt with my family, especially my father
2. Travel to Leh/Ladakh on bike
3. One month backpacking holiday across India
4. See the Grand Canyon
5. Own a Royal Enfield (and probably...wear a dunce cap till I own one)
6. Gift a car to my father
7. Visit Masai Mara National Reserve or Kruger National Park
8. Palace on Wheels ride with my family
9. Visit New Zealand with my wife (as it was her impromptu response when asked what would she like to do if she comes to know that she will die pretty soon. She must really like the place!!!)
10. Cover the bucket list of my parents

I am sure this list would keep changing but for now, this is what it is....

(Pic Courtesy: thehappymd.com)

Gulp and Burrp in Kuala Lumpur

So far, I have had limited chances to test the food scene in Kuala Lumpur. I have tried restaurants/eateries in and around my office complex only. However, with my limited experience, following is the list of dishes and restaurants that I have liked so far;

1. Lamb Burger of Las Vacas. Believe me, it is heavenly...and quite filling
2. Butter Chicken Rice of Dgend (note: it is very different from Indian butter chicken)
3. Roti Telur of Banana Leaf
4. Chola Bhatura of Khaana Peena
5. Indonesian Fried Rice with Chicken of Hainan
6. Chicken Biryani with Lahori Puri, Raita and Ice Tea of BBQ Nights
7. Pepper Chicken and Rice of Secret Recipe
8. Chilly Chicken of Mr Singh Dhaba
9. Most of the dishes of Anjappar

More than anything, this list shows that I have hardly tried anything outside Mont Kiara and Little India areas. I will start exploring pretty soon....I promise. Aur ek baar jo maine commitment kar di to main apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta!!!

Various Moods of Ananya Ajay

Smile to die for :)

My Princess Ananya

I think my parents were dacoits or mass-murderers in their previous birth!!!

Over 7 months in Kuala Lumpur now or as a local would have said, "Completed 7 months here, la"!!!

I miss those days.......

I spend a lot of free time on my tablet, watching random videos. More often than not, I watch advertisements, documentaries, short films and cricket videos. In the last few days, I have watched several videos of various test matches played in India during late 90s and early 2000s. I miss the electric atmosphere (even for test matches) that we used to have in the stadiums in those days. 

Among all forms of cricket, I enjoy test matches the most. However, I feel that in recent times, the quality of test matches have gone down. Probably it is because of the dearth of truly 'exceptional' talent. We still have Tendulkar, Kallis, Ponting, Chanderpaul, Laxman but overall, the contests lack the quality of earlier days. I do miss batsman like Lara, Gary Kirsten, Andy Flower, Saeed Anwar, Arvinda De Silva, Steve Waugh. I will not add Rahul Dravid in the last as India is yet to play a test match post his retirement but his absence would be truly felt. However, it is the bowlers that I really miss. Warne, Mcgrath, Murali, Ambrose, Donald, Walsh, Akram, Waqar Younis....the list is big. 

Among the Indian bowlers, I miss Kumble and Javagal Srinath the most. Additionally, I miss the past brilliance of Harbhajan Singh as well as Irrfan Pathan. These players used to make watching test matches a really exciting experience. Most will agree that with Anil Kumble bowling with a slip, leg slip, silly point, and forward short leg to save a test match, there cannot be a dull moment!!! 

I wish the old days could come back just for once. I would pay anything to watch a test match with the following playing XI (I am not including any player prior to 1990s as I was bitten by the cricket bug only in 1992. Will not include Kapil Dev, though I am a big fan, as he was not at his best in the 1990s)

Lets imagine that all the players are in the best form and have no dirty tricks up their sleeves (especially the batsman at Number 5). So here is my wishlist;

1. Virender Sehwag (Bizarrely, one of the most successful Indian test batsman) 
2. Navjot Singh Sidhu (Because of his strength against the spinners and the entertainment value of his fielding and running between the wickets)
3. Rahul Dravid (India's Steve Waugh)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (As he is the God)
5. Md. Azharuddin (The most stylish batsmen ever; the wrist work used to be unbelievable). And in this team, I would approach him and ask him like Raj Singh Dungarpur, " Miyaan, Captaani Karogey?" 
6. VVS Laxman (For the 281, the best test innings ever)
7. Nayan Mongia (The best Indian 'keeper', at least since 1990s)
8. Anil Kumble (for the 10 wicket in an innings, for making test matches so exciting, for bowling with a broken jaw, for everything)
9. Javagal Srinath (The best fast bowler India has ever produced; for helping Venkatesh Prasad take so many wickets)
10. Zaheer Khan/Ajit Agarkar/Irrfan Pathan (I am a big fan of all three though Agarkar and Pathan were a disappointment in later years)
11. Harbhajan Singh/Rajesh Chauhan (Bhajji used to be awesome; Chauhan Saab, as we did not do justice to him)
12. Vinod Kambli (as if you look at just "raw talent", he was probably better than Sachin)

It is a random list prepared in precisely 3 minutes. I wanted to include several others like Ganguly, Prabhakar, Hirwani, Sunil Joshi, Venkatesh Prasad, Abey Kuruvilla, Nilesh Kulkarni.....there are many more but for now, I will go with this list.  I wish I could watch this team play a test match at fully packed Eden Gardens.

I miss those days...

The Vow: A Great Watch

Yesterday, I watched the movie "The Vow" and really loved it. It is a simple story, which they claim has been inspired by true events.

The story is about a couple who meet an accident. The girl suffers severe memory loss and wakes up without any memory of her husband!!! Then the husband tries to win her back.

You will find it difficult to not feel frustrated along with the husband but at the same time, the wife is not wrong as well!!! It is a great watch and I strongly recommend it.

And this is the second movie of Channing Tatum that I have really loved. The other one is Dear John. Another must watch. The guy is definitely not a great actor but seems to be extremely smart with his movie selection.

Would be difficult and painful

My wife and daughter would be travelling to India in late July. I would join them there in the second half of August and then the three of us would come back together.

I am happy as my wife needs a break from her boring and monotonous schedule. I am happy as my daughter's grandparents (paternal as well as maternal) will get to spend some time with her. I am happy that I would be able to spend some good time with my family. I am happy that I will be going to India. But I am extremely sad as I will have to spend 20 days without my daughter.

Before starting a family and also while my wife was pregnant, I used to wonder what would be life like with the new addition. Honestly speaking, I did think a few times that probably it will be the end of all the careless fun. I have always been fond of children and so I used to think that it would probably be fine. However, I was never sure what life would be like after becoming a father.

Well, life has totally changed. Now our lives completely revolve around our daughter. She is the reason behind all decisions, most of the arguments and all the make-ups. She gives me strength and she makes me vulnerable.

She gets really excited when I return from office. She knows that, even if it is for a brief while, I would pick her up and play with her. Her excitement remains clearly visibile and that is something I look forward to...everyday.

I do not know whether she will miss me or not. Probably she is too young for that. In fact it will be better if she does not. I do not know whether she will get excited when we meet in India. I certainly hope she does. But I would really really REALLY miss her. It will be extremely difficult and painful. 

Inspiring

My boss has been staying in Singapore since last several years. He is eligible for Singapore citizenship but he has not applied for one. One of my colleagues found it surprising and enquired about the reason. My boss simply said that he does not want to. The colleague further enquired by asking what is the reason as it will make it much easier to travel from Singapore to other countries. My boss said, "It is true that it will make travelling much easier but I still do not want it. The main reason is that then I will be called a 'Singaporean'. And I am Indian, I do not want to change that"

I will always respect him for this.   

Jai Hind

Today I tried teaching my daughter how to say 'Jai Hind'. It was of no use since my daughter is too small to say any word. 

But chanting 'Jai Hind' several times made me really emotional. 

I miss India and am really excited about my trip to India in late August. 

In my company, there is a research track and there is a consulting track. It is really hard to make out who is on which track. Researchers work on consulting projects and consultants keep adding primary interviews based on client's budgets!!! 

However, at least one researcher proved that he is a researcher and also why is he a researcher. The guy sent me a feedback saying that one of my slides is not looking 'nice' as it does not follow the 'standard template'. Not that I had prepared a deck in a flashy and jazzy template of my choice. I did use the standard template of the company. What he did not find nice was that I did not use the standard ugly looking tables but represented the information in a visually-appealing manner. 

Buddy, I know you do not understand it but you do not have to make it so obvious!!! 

Healthcare(ful) in India

'Satyamev Jayate', Aamir Khan's television show, has been touching upon several issues in the society. Female foeticide, dowry system, child sex abuse....issues that we all know about and have been among us since ages. The show has been getting a lot of attention and I hope it is able to make some changes, at least in the way we think.

Today's episode was on the medical/healthcare system in India. Among the four topics that the show has discussed so far, this is the topic that I could relate to the most. I have worked in the healthcare space in India and am also a fairly unhealthy person!

In my previous job, I was working in healthcare consulting and as part of my work, I interacted with a lot of representatives of pharma companies,  health insurers, third-party administrators, government officials, patients, hospital administrators and most importantly, doctors. I learnt a lot about the healthcare system in India and it was fairly depressing. I thought I will share some incidents, interactions, personal experiences....

1. As per a representative of a leading pure-play health insurer, "our job is to sell as many policies as possible and settle as little claims as possible. We do our best to create issues for the claiming customer and show that the case is either not part of the cover or it is a pre-existing condition"
2. The CEO of a leading global medical devices company once asked us to take up a project that would involve giving 'training' to some of the leading doctors in India!!! He wanted the training to be conducted abroad....China, Mauritius etc. The plan was to have a 7-day training that would have involved 1-2 hour optional sessions on each day. The trainer would have been some leading doctor from US or Europe to ensure that we do not hurt the egos of the participants by calling an Indian doctor as the trainer. Remaining hours would have been spent on sightseeing and parties. Each doctor attending the training would have got a laptop as a gift. All (I mean ALL) kinds of requests and needs of the attending doctors would have been taken care of. Participation would have been taken care by the client and their medical representatives. The client did not want their name to be published in any training material, banners/posters but they wanted us to ensure that the participants know who is funding this 'training'. For this, they wanted us to quote an all-inclusive figure; there was no need to submit any bills. He indicated that we can charge our commission on this..."whatever it is...30-50%". I must say it was pretty tempting and I did consider leaving my job and starting my own company for handling such trainings!!! 
3. Some of the leading doctors have daily slots for meeting patients, meeting medical representatives and meeting research and consulting firms
4. Everyone knows that the job of a Medical Representative is not to talk to doctors and tell him/her the benefits of the products but to ensure that the doctor prescribes the product. No matter if it is effective or not. However, once we were approached by a leading global pharma company to do a study in order to find out if the doctors are 'actually' prescribing the products or not!! We did not take up the study but I know of a case where a young medical representative of a leading pharma MNC in India barged into the room of a doctor and scolded him when she found that the doctor was not prescribing the products of her company even after promising her!!!
5. Satyamev Jayate talked about a scheme in Karnataka called Yashaswini. There are several such schemes in India, which have been initiated by Central government and various state governments. The idea is to help the people, who cannot afford medical treatment, in getting decent to good medical services. Such schemes are called Mass Health Insurance schemes or Macro Insurance Schemes. Some of the other examples are Rajiv Aarogyasri (Andhra Pradesh), Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (BPL families), Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (BPL families), Janani Suraksha Yojana (rural BPL women in Andhra Pradesh), Ayushmati Yojana (Chhatisgarh), Sarv Swasthya Mission (Jharkhand). There are several such schemes and these are definitely a step in the right direction. However, an ICICI bank employee who was dealing with tie-ups with such schemes in eastern and north-eastern states once told me that there is a lot of corruption happening in such schemes. Rightful members are often denied treatment citing unavailability of doctors, equipments, facilities and medicines. And membership cards are often 'sold' to people who are not eligible for such schemes. So, though the direction is right, the steps are not always correct
6. The  entire healthcare system in India has become too commercialized. Doctors often behave like agents selling bus tickets. Around 5 years back, my father needed a spine surgery. It was a complicated procedure with high risk involved. Hence, we were looking for the best possible hospital in India. Not essentially in terms of facilities but in competence. Some suggested NIMHANS in Bangalore, someone suggested Escorts in New Delhi. I went to Escorts (New Delhi) to show my father's reports to the doctors and get their opinion. I explained the situation to the receptionist and she called a doctor. The person who arrived did not look like someone with a lot of experience. He took me to his chamber and complimented me on my intelligence as 'I came to him'. He told me about several cases in which he saved the life of the patient. He also told me that though it is a tricky case, it is pretty straightforward for him. He indicated that the surgery would cost a few lakhs (NIMHANS, though it has a different model, had indicated 30-40 thousand for the surgery). He noticed my confusion and then he took out his mobile and showed me videos of various surgeries (it was not clear who was performing them but it did look like a hospital in US). I did not like all this "marketing" and told him that we will think about it. His tone suddenly changed and he started telling me that I am going to put the life of my father in danger. He started to emotionally blackmail me. I was feeling disgusted and thankfully walked away. Finally we got the surgery done in the Research & Referral Hospital (Armed Forces) in New Delhi. It was successful and it was free of cost
7. Once we took my mother to Image Hospital (Madhapur) in Hyderabad. She was not feeling well and had become very weak. The doctor told us that they would have to put her on drips (intravenous fluids). It was pretty straightforward; you take fluids and you feel better. No need for any extensive care. They took her to a general ward, which was extremely dirty. We asked for a private room. It was no better but at least it gave her some privacy. Soon a doctor came and asked how was she feeling. Out of courtesy, she said, "I am feeling better". He went away. After a while another doctor came and followed the same process. Then a junior doctor came.  Later, another guy came. This went on for few hours. We started getting scared due to all this attention as we wondered if the doctors are not telling us everything. In the morning (around 5-6 am), my mother told us that she is feeling better and wants to go home. The staff was reluctant. They told us that discharge formalities can be processed only after 11 am. They also said that after 9 am, we will be charged for another day for the private room. This became ugly as I started shouting at everyone in sight. Later, they quickly processed the papers and gave us a bill of INR 8,400!!! In that, the room charges were only 1,600. IVF was INR 150. Remaining were the charges of all the doctors and their uncles and aunts who came to say 'Hi'!!! I did tell the main doctor and the hospital administrator that they should get out of this profession and start looting people on the highway. They gave me a smile
8. I once got a routine check-up done in a hospital in Hyderabad and the results indicated that there was almost nothing right with me. Instead of getting panicky and getting started on treatment, I thought I will get another test done but at a different hospital. The new hospital asked when was the last time I had got the tests done. I told them 6 months back and the tests were absolutely normal. I also told them that I do not have any health issues and I am just getting the tests done to check if there is any issue. Few hours later I got test results and it indicated I was fit enough to climb Mt Everest or go on a space mission!!! It did not help. I was not sure which test result to trust!!!

(Picture Courtesy: Grinning Planet)

A Dictator in Making?

A few days, I saw a video of a public interaction of the current West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee with general public. I was truly shocked!!!

Off late, Mamata Banerjee has been in news for all the wrong reasons. She made some absurd statements after the Park Street rape case, then a professor was jailed for making some cartoons, English newspapers were banned from public libraries in Kolkata!!! Much before all this, she forced the Tata to drop Nano plans in West Bengal.

I am not against Mamata Banerjee (I really do not care). She has always come across as an aggressive yet simple person. Unlike some of the other women Chief Ministers, she does not seem to have a liking for expensive saris and sandals and she does not seem to be a self/elephant statues person. She also comes across as a person who is driven by ideologies. People (like me) may not believe in her ideologies but I believe that someone driven by ideologies always has a strong character. 

I used to think and still think that Mamata Banerjee puts people welfare first before profits. It is good to think about people but there has to be a balance. What she did to Tata Motors was pretty unfortunate. Companies may think twice before investing in West Bengal and West Bengal is one of the poorer states in India. Anyways, that is not why I am writing this.

In the show, Mamata Banerjee probably came expecting that people would be scared to put any tough question, may pat her back and she would live happily ever after. Well...that DID NOT happen!!! 

One after another, people asked tough questions. Now a person with ideologies should be able to come up with an answer. People may or may not believe in those ideologies but there has to be a strong answer. She had none. So what was her reaction to the barrage of tough questions? She started blaming questioners. She started branding them as 'Maoists' or from "CPM Cadre"!!! One by one, all the questioners were branded in similar manner!!! Then she walked off the show. Very mature that was.

As if this was not enough, she made a statement that "Marxists and Maoists are plotting to kill me in league with the Pakistani Intelligence, North Korea, Venezuela and Hungary"!!! Is she completely out of her mind? Didi, do not worry about them. They are not India's well wishers!!

My analysis (:P) suggests that (a) she is suffering from schizophrenia as she believes that everyone is conspiring against her or (b) she is extremely creative in her thinking. Who else can come up with Venezuela and Hungary? or (c) she has a great sense-of-'rumor'!!!

Whatever it is, it seems that power has indeed gone to her head. She is behaving like a dictator and this should not be allowed. I hope better sense prevails and pretty soon.

And ya, Mamata Di (or Momta Di), "My Name is Kumar and I am not a Maoist"!!!

Jal-Krida

Have rediscovered by love for swimming. Have been swimming fairly regularly (almost daily) since last 3 weeks. Have also been increasing the number of laps regularly. Since last few days, have been doing 12 laps with ease. 

If only I could control my love for good food and occasional drinks. 

Games Period - II

The support system is crumbling and crumbling fast.......

The story of 'Person H'

1. Person A in Team A gets a project
2. Person B, who is charge of Team B has to deliver the project
3. Person C of Team B is made the project lead
4. Persons D and E of Team B have to 'actually' manage the project
5. Persons D and E of Team B leave the company (expected)
6. Person F who leads Team C and Person G who leads Team D offer to 'help' Person B of Team B
7. Person H of Team C and Person I of Team D are now handled the responsibility
8. Person H of Team C and Person I of Team D do not have any experience in the concerned industry
9. Person H of Team C is now the project lead
10. Person H reaches out to Person E, who is no longer with the company but was part of Team B, to get some pointers regarding how to go about the task
11. Person E tells Person H that the project is difficult to execute in the present timelines. The proposed timelines were longer but Person A 'caved in' infront of the client (same old story)
12. Person H is not amused!!!
13. Person I of Team D is available till the kick-off but is not available afterwards
14. Person J of Team D is pulled in to do the work of Person I
15. Person A has the job of making the promises to the client but nothing else
16. Person B has the job of....hmmm....well....nothing
17. Person H and Person J start the work
18. Both person H and Person J have other commitments as well
19. Person H puts in extra hours and tries to manage all the commitments
20. Person J cannot ignore some of the other commitments but does some good work
21. The draft work is sent to Person A, Person B and to Person I
22. Person B does not have time to review....not even 10 minutes
23. Person A suggests some changes in the work done by Person J
24. Person J is not available to make the changes
25. Person I is not available to make the changes
26. Person H has too much on his plate but has no choice and he takes care of the changes in the work that was supposed to be done by Persons I and J
27. Person H makes the changes and submits the deliverable
28. Person A is happy
29. Person B is always happy as soon as work is done and he does not have to do it or worry about it
30. Person A sets up a presentation with client at the last minute
31. Person I and J are not available
32. Person H has to take care of the presentation
33. Person H has a lot to be delivered on the same day but now has no choice but to prepare for the presentation
34. Person H, who is from Team C tries to contact Person F, who leads Team C to explain his agony
35. Person F is not available
36. Person H is screwed!!!
37. Person H is swamped but is choosing to blog first. He needs to vent out his anger and frustration

Frustrated

More than a month since I got a single day's break. It has been a hectic, tiring, stressful and more importantly frustrating journey. My day starts at 7am everyday and on most days, I go to bed well past midnight. This routine is particularly frustrating as I do not see others around me working their asses off. I work amidst people who are mostly chatting over a cup of coffee, spending a lot of time on Facebook, cribbing about their bosses, discussing increments and variable pay outs and above all, looking for opportunities outside the company!!! I am not suggesting that people do not work here but most do not work enough. And there are some who are made to compensate.

Unless pushed to the corner, I do not like to tell people at workplace that I have been putting in so many hours. If I do that, I expect people to understand my situation. Here, people listen to that, say 'oh, thats bad' and then say can you take 10 minutes out to do something additional? 

Yesterday was particularly tiring and frustrating. The first half was spent preparing for a 3 hour long presentation (170 slides!!!). I skipped lunch for it. The presentation started at 2pm and went till 4:50pm. Took half an hour break after that. Then started reviewing another set of documents that I had targeted to send yesterday. Found several issues and hence postponed the delivery. It does not matter as the actual delivery date is couple of weeks away. After that, I came back home and started working on some additions in the deck that was presented earlier in the day.

I was feeling frustrated as I knew that weekend would be equally shitty. In the weekend, I would be required to prepare a storyboard for a project that is starting after couple of days. I do not know whose brilliant idea was it to start a project with a ready storyboard. More often than not, the people with such brilliant ideas do not have to executive them. The project that is starting from Monday was supposed to be done by the people with the industry knowledge and they had indicated that it would take 8 weeks. After submitting the proposal, most in the project team quit the company (I wonder why!!!). Later, a new project team (including yours truly) was created and this team has ZERO industry knowledge. And this team will have to deliver the project in 5 weeks!!! Somehow, this calculation is beyond me. This is not all. There are lot of aspects regarding the project that are ambiguous. No one really knows what does the proposal actually mean....what is the proposed methodology. The people who are still around have suggested that lets ask the clients in the kickoff call!!! This would be the first in my career. We would be asking the client what is the meaning of something that is written in the proposal that we submitted!!! That is awesome. The state of affairs has been giving me a lot of stress and frustration.

Last night, while working on the additions in the deck, I started having a strange pain in my chest and left arm. I got scared expecting the worse but I did not want to think about it too much. There was no time to have a heart attack!! I continued working till 2:15 am. At that hour, no one in the Kuala Lumpur and Singapore offices were online. I got up this morning and started working on the storyboard. Noone from this project team is online!!! Spent half an hour with my daughter and I would love to spend more but that is not an option. Indeed I could have spent more time with her instead of spending time writing this useless crap. But I was feeling suffocated and had to let this out.

This is mighty frustrating. Is this worth it?

Games Period

Sachinism: Tell Me Why?

I have some questions related to Sachin. Some of them are as follows;

• If the only reason why Sachin has scored more runs than anyone else on the planet is that he has played for more number of years then why did anyone else not play <could not play> for so many years?
• If starting early has been the biggest contributor to Sachin's number of runs then where is Hasan Raza?
• Why do not people go through the stats before making comments like "India loses whenever Sachin scores a century"?
• Why is it that the most 'violent' critics of Sachin Tendulkar are all Sourav Ganguly fans? 
• Why do people find it difficult to suggest a single decent replacement for Sachin but still say that Sachin should retire?
• Why is it that some people suggest that all the wins under Ganguly's captaincy were due to his captaincy and all the defeats were because of Sachin's batting?
• Why is that only the score in the finals is looked at and not the road to the finals? 
• Why is it that some people are too busy pointing at a relatively slow 100th hundred but are not talking about the huge achievement of 100 hundreds? 
• Kohli was undoubtedly and by far the best Indian batsman on the Australian tour. But why is that some people wanted Sachin, arguably the second best batsman on the tour, to be axed? Why is it that Sachin, after so many successful years in International cricket, is still judged series-by-series? 
• Why is that some people start an argument over Sachin's batting, try to compare Sachin with Ganguly and after failing miserably start comparing their captaincy records?
• Why is it that in scenario (1) where Dhoni does not perform, India scores 250-300 but lose, Dhoni says that bowlers should understand that they will not always get a 300+ score to defend but in scenario (2) where his performance was okay, Sachin scored a relatively slow century, India scored 289 and lost, he says that a few more runs on the board would have been great?
• Why do a lot of Ganguly supporters do not like Sachin, the batsman and Dhoni, the captain? However while arguing, they start giving more pointers about Dhoni as the batsman and Sachin as the captain?
• If some people suggest that Ganguly left the scene gracefully to give chances to youngsters then why is he still playing domestic cricket and in IPL?
• How come Ganguly's commentary skills and Sachin's voice a point in an argument over Sachin's and Ganguly's cricketing skills?
• Why is it that some people cannot admire a star in the sky and always pray for a falling star?
• Why is it that some people cannot understand that in this land of poverty, pollution, corruption and scams, Sachin has given us more reasons to feel proud that anyone else?

(Disclaimer: Most of my arguments with people who disrespect Sachin as well as the above mentioned questions may suggest that I dislike Sourav Ganguly. Nothing can be farther from the truth. I actually admire Ganguly for his captaincy skills. I do believe that Ganguly had some shortcomings as a captain but he is still the best 'captain' India has ever had. And I do believe that the overall package had some limitations. I admit that I have said some stupid things about him during some heated debates but they have been purely because I had to defend Sachin from some violent 'Ganguly supporters cum Sachin bashers'. I strongly believe that Ganguly is our national hero and I respect him immensely.) 

Here, 'tomorrow' always look better

The best thing about this place is that it does not allow you to worry too much about what is going to happen tomorrow.......but only because there are too many things lined up for today that you are more worried about!!!

कुछ रिश्ते बस ख़त्म हो जाते हैं

I do not know what I want to or can write here. :(

I need to follow this mantra...........


Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram,
Jitna Paisa Utna Kaam

Sob Story

I started this year with a bunch of resolutions. As we are inching closer to the end of first quarter, I thought I will have a quick status check. It did not take much time since I have failed on ALL the resolutions.

The main reason for the failure is the "Work-Life Imbalance", maintaining which is ironically one of my resolutions. I had decided that no matter how much extra hours I have to work during the week, I will save the weekends for my family. Cannot remember when was the last time I had a proper weekend. I work at least one of the two days. Even when I am not working, the stress of the pending work, the schedule in the coming week and sometimes the things that could go wrong bog me down.

I spent sometime thinking about the reason for this situation and here are few reasons;

1. There is no place for team work in this office. People work in silos. More often than not, one person has to deliver the entire project. For example, on one of the projects I am working on, I am the only person who has to do the analysis and put together a deliverable. There were teams who helped in data collection but I can go on for hours about how they created more problems than solving them. Now when the data is with me (in all possible formats), I have to compile and analyze the data and put together an exhaustive deliverable...all my myself
2. So whats the big deal? Have I not done in the past? Yes, I have. On numerous occasions. However, on most of those occasions, I was the one who had put together the proposal. In this case, the proposal was created by....hmmm....almost everyone!!! Unrealistic promises were made to the client. This is something that I am experiencing for the first time in my life. People put together a proposal and if the project is bagged, more often than not someone else is made to "walk on fire". Anyways, the issue is that I have been made to deal with way too much ambiguity. And I felt that people forgot that I am new to this industry, new to this part of the world, the people and the work culture and I am new to this organization and the processes
3. Again, whats the big deal? Have I not dealt with ambiguity in the past? Yes, having worked in 2 start-up companies and 2 start-up teams, I am not new to ambiguity. However, there is way too much that has been put on my plate. To give an example, I am handling another project, which should have been as easy as they come. However, it has been turned into a disastrous one, thanks to some poor project management by the office who has the overall project management responsibilities. In spite of doing everything properly, now I have to worry about several additional steps and levels of scrutiny. With my existing work load, this was something I wanted to avoid
4. This situation has made me work till late almost everyday. I am among the first few to arrive in the office and on most days in past few weeks, I have been the one who "closes" the office. (ya, being the last person to leave the office comes with a punishment here. One has to switch off all the lights, ACs and then close the main door!!!). I work like this through the week and then I work on the weekends as well
5. But, have I not worked in this manner in the past? Yes I have....since my first company. In my first company, people used to start hovering the main door around 5:45 pm. 6pm and bang...it used to become a curfew like situation in the office. In that kind of place (no job satisfaction and no money), I have spent days on which I have arrived at 9 am on a day and left at 8 pm on the next day. In my second job, there used to be a week every month in which I used to go home only for 1 hour every day to freshen up and the remaining time was spent in office!!! Later, Deloitte took away the work-life balance completely but I must admit that I used to feel happy while coming back from the office everyday. So no regrets there. My fourth job was relatively better but it still made me work on several weekends, primarily because there was no team. So I am not new to this but  the point is that no one should be working like this. All the years of slogging in this manner has definitely taken a toll on my health and I must admit, I find it extremely difficult to put night-outs like before. My health has deteriorated and I am not getting any younger
6. Oh, what a sob story!!! Aren't both the projects getting over by the month end? So whats with all this cribbing? A few more days and the ordeal should be over, isn't it? Ya, that is what I was hoping for. Not that I was looking forward to a few weeks of relaxation and not much work. I was just hoping that for at least few weekends, I would get some time with my family. However, a new project is starting. A project where objectives and deliverables have been decided but somehow (not surprisingly though), no one focused on methodology. A project where there is shortage of time but abundance of "May Be"s. A project which I would be leading with no experience in the domain. A project where everyone says that they would help but on the calls they indicate that they have a lot going on and so they would only provide guidance wherever required. So what does that mean? That means that I would end up screwing few more weeks and weekends slogging like anything. I feel that suddenly the finishing line has been pushed back....5 weeks to be precise
7. Do I deserve this? I have worked like this in the past. I am often called a workaholic. So, I am "kind of okay" as long as I am learning something (cliched but true). However, my wife and my daughter does not deserve this. When I work at home and my daughter crawls towards me and my laptop, intending to play with me, often I bark at my wife to take our daughter away and put her in the crib. I feel sorry but I cannot help it. Not many know but everyday before leaving for office, I apologize to my daughter for not spending any time with her. She smiles and I feel like killing myself. I have already turned into a bad husband and a bad father. The trouble is that with the lack of processes and ownership and with too much on my plate to deal with, I may be heading towards becoming a bad employee and project manager. I do not deserve this. My family does not deserve this

Oh, I have wasted half an hour of precious time on the weekend writing this nonsense. Now I must get back to the deliverable.