Sujavna1:5

Giri at 12 noon on March 27^th

Welcome to another great day, another Sunday that prepares each of us for an eventful and enriching week ahead.

Yesterday my wife and I attended a wonderful performance of a medley of Indian classical dance and music genres (Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music). The experiment of how two different genres of performing arts can inspire each other as well as the performance itself by Bombay Jayashree Ramnath and Priyadarshani Govind were truly entertaining and educative. An interesting observation was that the audience essentially comprised of South Indians with probably 5% belonging to people from North India and probably another 5% belonging to the “white” expat community. And, I wondered: What if the performance itself was preceded by an introductory 30 minute audio-visual appreciation lecture on Bharatnatyam and Carnatic music art forms as well as on what the experiment of the evening was aimed at achieving? Would that have seen more interest amongst the non-South-Indian community in Mumbai to attend such a wonderful performance? It is high time that well-renowned performers of Indian classical art forms seek to use their own performances to “convert” new followers by adding an educative element to their performances apart from the entertaining element.

The week that went by also saw me travel to Delhi on an official visit. Gurgaon, indeed is a place of pride for every Indian who wants to showcase the growth of Indian cities as being worldclass in the architecture of its commercial buildings, its highways, its shopping malls. What is, however, pitiable (and this is true of almost every other Indian city) is the non-existence of any clear signage boards and local boards with streetmaps that can help a new visitor navigate within the city to locate addresses. It took me more than 20 minutes to locate 24B, Udyog Vihar, Phase 5, which is located in an area that houses the Trident hotel, the TCS office, amongst other well-known compounds. So what I would like to suggest is: Can we not make it mandatory for all local municipal authorities in Indian cities to create large fluorosecent boards with street maps at major road intersections and also have a call centre to help a visitor reach her/his destination using the best possible route? In the absence of a scientific and organised planning of city addresses, this may be a viable option.

I am signing off here, but I promise my next post on 2^nd April will have a lot more on some of the information and discussions that I am collating from the internet. So until then.....

Sujavna 1:4

Giri at 1140am on 20/03/2011.

Hello and wishing all of you a joyous Holi (the Indian festival of colours, bonfires, dances and mildly-intoxicating drinks made from bhang).

One wonders at the appropriateness of enjoying the onset of spring and summer (natural seasonal cycles) with Holi celebrations in India, in the light of the continuing struggles of entire communities in Japan that are combating the impacts of the earthquake, the tsunami and the radiations from the nuclear power plants. I guess that’s what life is all about – incongruities in human emotions and diversity of responses to events – exuberance in one part of the world and exasperation somewhere else; emotional and heroic, yet myopic responses by human societies to what may seem as apparently random existential and situational crises by some communities (think back on the 26^th July flood situation in Mumbai) and, the stoic and equally heroic but well-thought out approaches to manage what is accepted as a probabilistic event (think of the 50 plant engineers at the Fukushima plant or the calm manner in which the Japanese public subject themselves to radiation testing and fuel rations).

One reader has also sent in some excellent ideas (triple bonanza, as Padma calls it!) for a fun-filled yet safe and perhaps profitable Holi celebrations. I am not still convinced about the conservation of water bit, but maybe such ideas can further be developed. As for me, I wonder if celebrations such as Holi (health and water consumption issues) and Diwali (noise and air pollution issues) need to radically change in formats keeping contemporary ground realities in mind! In any case, thanks to Padma for opeining up a discussion point.

This week, my experiences have left me with two other substantive thoughts. One is making me itch to immediately act on my own suggestion, while the other seems to increase my levels of cynicism.

The first experience was a wonderful afternoon that I spent with colleagues on Friday. It was a lunch at the Rajdhani restaurant in the new Oberoi shopping mall to celebrate the recent wedding of a colleague as well as a fond farewell to a colleague. The lunch itself, as well as the gifts that were presented, and the wonderful time that we all spent, resulted in a great team-bonding exercise. In all we may have spent, at the very minimum, about Rs. 10000/= on the gifts and at the restaurant. And this is where my thinking cap started working – I am sure that there may be at least 10 such office parties every month in Mumbai with expenditure on food and beverages on normally well-fed people amounting to at least Rs. 10000 at each occasion. Or Rs. 100,000/= every month. Or annually, Rs. 1.2 million.  If only we had a well-structured city-wide on-line system (say an e-trust) wherein office-party planners had a way to donate 50% (or any percentage) of their party collections for a few focused socio-economic causes (say 5 scholarships to complete collegiate education, for a needy girl-child of Mumbai’s autorickshaw and taxi drivers.....), and get recognition for the same, I think we will have an efficient grass-root system of the employed giving back to those parts of society that support them through public services, even as they enjoy a well-deserved office-party.

The second experience was a conversation that I had with an acquaintance whose day job is to promote the cause of governmental climate change management initiatives amongst industrialists, traders, bureaucrats and individuals. In the course of the conversation, it transpired that this person shops (for the weekly quota of vegetables, fruits, groceries and toiletries) every weekend, along with the spouse and a child at a shopping mall that is located 5 kilometres away from the place of residence. This, when there are adequate numbers of good local vegetable and fruit vendors, local grocers and departmental stores within 500 metres from the residence! The reason for the 5 km drive is a well-air-conditioned and spacious mall that gives ample space for the kid to run around and play and also that the mall has good parking facilities. What? Why take a kid for your weekend shopping? The shopping mall is not meant for a kid to play. Why can’t one of the spouses take turns to do the shopping? Why buy packed fruits and vegetables when you have fresh ones sold closer to home? Even if one wants the convenience of credit-card spends, most local shops have these. And so for some individual fad and convenience, I realized that this acquaintance, who will be preaching about reducing carbon footprints to one and all, is essentially practicing a lifestyle that could possibly add many more carbon footprints than all of the seminars and events that will be arranged. The suggestion in this context is: Can someone calculate the carbon footprints generated annually by all the events organised on the subject of climate change and can there be a penal charge on the organisers of such events that ensures they practice what they preach?

That’s about all for this post. I am eager to know your views , so please keep sending in your comments and suggestions.

Till next Sunday, then....Cheers.

Sujavna 1:3

Giri at 0630am on 13/March/2011

Hello and welcome to yet another post from my end.

First of all thanks to all those who have commented on my earlier log. I am still wondering why a few of these have not been automatically tagged at the bottom of my post, and hope that this will be resolved soon.

Specifically, one reader has brought to my notice that there are already 30 or odd countries that have moved away from a progressive tax structure to a unified and simplified tax structure (one is Russia) and that there are studies that show that net tax revenues have increased as much as 25%. Thanks Padma for referring me to the article by Chinese commentator He Bolin in the China Daily of 01/04/2010. And thanks also for Baba Knucklehead’s views that it is perhaps the materialistic approach to living (which has forgotten that elders are a font of wisdom who need to be respected) that is primarily at the root of the rudeness that we see in urban Indian society. I think that this is too simple an explanation. I would like to suggest that Rudeness is a valuable trait that most urban Indians are likely to imbibe as part of their early childhood education, and is a habit that they get so addicted early on, that they carry it for a lifetime!! In fact there is passive encouragement from parents, teachers and peers at school. And added to this the behaviour of the icons of todays’ youth on television and one is left wondering what the fuss is all about?

So what caught my attention in the week that went by?

First was Fridays’ tsunami and its destructive trail in Japan. Or more accurately, the extensive television and social networking coverage of the disaster and its global economic impacts! I suspect that the coverage played its own role in actually preventing or minimising what could have become even greater losses to life, property and economic loss. Which leads me to suggest the following: Can social networking sites and community radios become the vanguard of disaster management infrastructure in countries such as India? If yes, what protocols need to be in place to ensure that such networks can really add value to loss-prevention, relief and rehabilitation? How can they be used to train a vast array of resources (that is geographically, culturally and economically disparate) in various aspects of managing disasters? Is there a PPP opportunity waiting to unleash its potential?

The second is more of an observation, rather than any event or development. The whole of last week, as I drove to work early in the morning, I was surprised to see a bunch of eager cyclathon enthusiasts, pedalling furiously in the inner lanes of the expressway without utter disregard for the motor traffic. All of them seemed to ride trendy sport bicycles, but only a few of them had safety gear on themselves. I think they are all preparing for some upcoming competitive events in Mumbai and Thane. This left me wondering: Are they and their families not bothered about their safety? Are they not bothered about the safety of others who use the motorway? And, most importantly, are the organisers of such cyclathon events and the traffic police not aware of the problems and nuisance that these people create? Where does their responsibility stop? Which leads me to suggest: Event organisers such as Mumbai Marathon or Cyclathon as well as public bodies such as Municipal Corporations and law-enforcing organisations need to identify practice venues and routes and times and keep the general public informed about these too. The costs involved have to be borne by the sponsors and the participants.

And before I sign-off, I refer you to the following interesting sites that I located. They make great reading on the subject of the power of suggestion. One is a site called whatdoyousuggest.net, which has been developed as a response to Google Search and Web Seer. And then there were several sites and blogs that talked about IKEA’s power of suggestion through their IKEA Rooms. Several blogs actually suggest that the IKEA Room concept can be used for enticing and ensuring customer-pull. Interesting!

Keep sending me your comments and views and suggestions. My next post, should, hopefully, be on schedule on 20^th March.

Till then......

Sujavna 1:2

Giri at 1130am on 06/March/2011

Hi. Trust you all had as much of an interesting week that went by as I did. Interesting it was indeed, as it unfolded a wide variety of news and views and action, in some instances inaction, umm...

First there was the Indian budget announcement in Parliament and the resulting drama of analysis and critiques played on television screens and newspapers. The annual budget announcement by the Government of India has become a ritual (perhaps a mini soap-opera) with most of the dramatis-personae (the Finance Minister and his colleagues from the North Block, the corporate honchos and their well-wishers from the leading Chambers of Commerce, the tax and accounting experts from the Big 3, the stock-market pundits and most importantly the lead anchors of the business channels and newspapers, throw-in a housewife at a petrol station to complete the cast!) appearing to read from scripts that would put a Bollywood producer to shame for their dullness, opaqueness, staleness and originality. Read Manas Chakravarty’s column Lose Cannon in the Hindustan Times for a witty take on the Budget FAQs. Two suggestions that I have encountered in this context are:

Has anyone really worked out the CBA of a complex and convoluted system of taxation and tax-administration in India (with its subsidies, discounts, exemptions and holidays,....) vis-a-vis a simple, standard and low-but uniform tax of say 15% on all income(corporate or individual, direct or indirect) exceeding (say) 20 times the minimum wages? Surely the increases in tax-administration efficiencies and the incentives for tax-compliance because of simplicity in tax-administration should make life simpler for everyone around. India, being a $1.3 trillion economy, this would mean annual tax revenues (assuming 75% collection efficiency and other discounting factors of input-output economics, but not factoring the wider net that is possible) of Rs.7,30,000 crores, a shade less than the gross tax revenues of Rs. 9, 33,000 crores currently collected, but as mentioned earlier the possibility of a wider net from simplified tax administration should bring in more entities and individuals under the tax bracket.

Is there a case for a continuous round-the-year media coverage or investigative journalism seen (analysis, expert-interviews and sting operations) of how tax revenues are actually spent on key priority areas such as healthcare, education, defence and infrastructure? Would this not increase TRPs for TV channels or NRS points for newspapers? Is this not more newsworthy than just letting the nation know about the government’s intention and the expert’s views on what the possible impact may be?

The second development that impacted my week was an outcome of a November 2010 speech that David Cameron, Britain’s Prime Minister made which focused a lot on managing Britain’s economy to perform better as it strives to come out of the global recession. In November, when the speech was carried forward by the British media, I was not so sure if indeed there was a powerful suggestion in the Prime Ministers’ speech on making East of London the next and perhaps a more vibrant Silicon Valley. What does this mean to the East of London that will soon carry a world-class legacy of the Olympic Games after 2012? Is Silicon Valley a concept that is irrelevant in today’s highly-connected and networked world? What aspects of the eco-system of California’s Silicon Valley can be replicated and what innovations are needed for any successful future Silicon Valley? The suggestion has indeed moved forward to the extent that a global technology task force (GTTF) has now been structured within UK Trade & Investment, and this taskforce is in the process of finalising global champions who can help steer the agenda. As one of the champions being nominated for India, I wonder if there has been more clarity in the strategy since November, and wonder if this will be one of the many taskforces and nothing more, or if it will be the basis for an innovative approach to trade and investment support for businesses that want to grow in and from the UK.

And finally, the news about yet another fire disaster in the heart of Mumbai, that rendered several hundred homeless and injured as many, including firemen (Slumdog Millionaire child actor Rubaina is reported to have lost her home, her photos of walking the red carpet in LA), strongly suggests that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Fire Services and local politicians, all value life of Mumbai citizens and property in the city at the least common denominator. How else would you explain that it is in the same area that there have been several lethal fires in the past, and yet these official organisations and individuals have not still not implemented a fire and loss prevention plan for this community. It is easy to claim sabotage as a reason, or claim that the community is at fault for living dangerously, but that does not stop the blame from moving up to the lawmakers, and law enforcers. This along with the increasing loss of life on Mumbai’s roads and train tracks makes me wonder if indeed there is a case for a community-based Value-Your-Life Initiative in this city!

I also tried to search on the net for what others have been saying and doing on the subject of the power of suggestion and was not very surprised to know that Google throws up over 233 million entries, while MSN Bing says that it can provide you access to over 33 million documents on the subject. I think there is a wealth of information to be mined in all these entries and documents. I intend to write a short note in my future blog entries on some of these entries which I find interesting.

And here is a list of other suggestions that I think merit some debate and action –

(a)   would it not be a great idea for public utilities such as post offices, railway and bus terminal ticketing counters, tashildar offices, RTOs, chemists shops to hire unemployed youth and senior citizens at part-wages to man public counters at “closed-for-transaction” times (say lunchtimes, night hours), so that we have 24-hour public services and also partially-solve employment problems?

(b)   Urban Indians need to be less rude to their neighbours and fellow-citizens? What will make us be patient with the elderly, infirm, less-powerful and influential.....? Do we instil an award for these and get media to recognize and extol such behaviour?

I am looking forward to the next week as it unwinds even more interesting experiences that will throw more of such wonderful suggestions. Please let me know what you think of my entries today. I promise I will try and include them in my next entry on the13th of March 2011.

Till then, cheers and best wishes for the week ahead.

Giri