Hop Stop & Jump Mumbai

Hop-Stop-Jump @ Mumbai International Airport:

This mega-structure, by local standards, under major development for quite sometime, is named after one of the most famous, admired rulers of recent Indian history – Chatrapathi Shivaji. He was a master-strategist, and exemplary executor. The pace of development process will not make the great warrior proud, for sure.

Last week, a colleague/friend asked, ‘how is your jet airways?’ This British of Arab origin (has worked with one of top-notch consultancy firms), was a man of taste. I was quick to respond, with a thumbs up, ‘one of the best Indian brands….one of my favourites’, to reinforce. (he knew how choosy I am about brands). For a moment I thought he was planning to check out ‘Incredible India’, after all my previous discrete sales-talks! (can sales talks be discrete at all?). But he said, ‘no, travelling to Maldives, looking for various route-options ’. I felt, Maldives deserved urgent attention of such responsible tourists, as the island nation was threatened to go under water, in not so distant future. The discussion was on the sidelines of our 2012 planning exercise with a bigger group, so the interaction did not go beyond the basic enquiry.

End of the week, I landed at amchi mumbai’s ‘international’ airport, early in the morning. No aerobridge, but a cramped bus, meant delays. If immigration counters were friendly, courteous & quick, the number of counters were just insufficient. Then, a long wait for luggage ( Need to travel lighter!). A queue awaited us for customs, though they were very efficient too. Many passengers were not mumbaikars, but onward passengers. As such the Mumbaikar’s discipline of standing in a queue was visibly absent.

The experience thereafter to catch the next flight was just painful – one more security check, check in, flight re-allocated due to the delay ( though we landed on time!), wait for bus (an old, antic Volvo). As I sat waiting for a mosquito attack, I felt guilty of not warning my (Maldives-bound) friend about this part of the ordeal…!

If he actually did a ‘hop-stop-jump’, he would have beeen surprised to find he was among the influential politicians of this region, meeting at Maldives. He would have bumped in to the soft -spoken Indian leader (Dr. Singh) and Pak PM with a green tie!

Like Bertie Wooster of PG Wodehouse, this Arab-British would not like Pak PM’s tie-selection.  But, Suzlon-sponsored, green ‘P - A – L Initiative’ would have approved !! What a pal to have, you may add!! But you don’t know, who may be a friend-in-need, even for a green initiative.

When I am back at work, next week, I will surely make efforts to catch up with him in the privacy of his cabin, so that he does not make any depressing comment about my city, Amchi Mumbai, though he was just ‘hop-stop-jumping’ ! ( watch out this space for update J)

But Jet Airways was great, as usual… except some delays, which may be largely beyond their control. While Kingfisher was in news for cancellation, I was glad I remained a loyal Jet customer, for their business like service and without unnecessary glamour ! 

Random Notes from Kerala

We touched down when it was drizzling… the entire area, as always, was very green. So beautiful! But, surprisingly clean too…
·         As we drove to Guruvayoor, the cleanliness stuck me. Driver mentioned, it was partly due to the heavy rains the state gets, year after year! I would still like to give credit to common man, esp. in view of high literacy rate. After all the ‘literate’ public are generally more conscious of hygiene and cleanliness.
·         But I was in for a big shock when we drove in to Kochi – at the outskirts of the city was a very sore scene of garbage-dump, right on the highway! Sad, the financial capital of the state and one of the top tourist locations in the country, does not have a more environment-friendly garbage-disposal L
·         As we went around the state, we hardly drank bottled water. Everywhere we got boiled ‘jeera’ water. We were sure of water quality. If only we have that all over India, we would save on plastic and its high environmental cost.
·         Kerala also seem to have high penetration of solar energy options. At least for hot-water. But on rainy days, we had to go without hot water baths!
·         If Kerala was always a preferred tourist destination, it is more in news recently, thanks to the treasure unearthed in Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple! The sleepy town of TVM can be sure of more traffic inflow!  Treasure found in Puttaparthy and TVM… but the way we react… quite different!!??
·         During my last trip to Tvm, over four years ago, I made a quick trip to the temple. The grandeur of the temple and the majestic idol of Lord Vishnu always generated awe in me. Unlike Tirupathi, the crowd used to be very less and hence very quiet, except near sanctum sanatorium, where people get frenzy in their spiritual high. Quite understandable!

·         Travelling in Kerala, the consumerism was very evident. Huge hoarding along the highway (for gold-jewellery, clothing, real estate, etc) was one indicator. There was an on-going NRI festival, with aggressive promotion! My heart went to the majority of blue-collar workers in Gulf, who save against all odds, to go back and blow up! The average gulf-based NRK (non-resident keralite) continue to exhibit illiteracy in financial planning,  by continuing to spend most of savings & now even loans, to purchase ‘dream-homes’. With increased competition from other nationalities, reduced investments across gulf, more pressure for localization, etc., the average NRK need to think of a life back in village. I still feel, Kerala is yet to find a lasting solution to its migrating youth be providing gainful employment. Of course, the migrating youth should also be willing to accept any job, they would otherwise do in Gulf, with total dignity of labor.
·         One hoarding that usurped my attention was the one featuring  Maradona, inaugurating a jewellery shop in UAE! I was amused to see the prominent campaign, smartly very visible understandably (but was sad to see one of the greatest among soccer-stars doing the honor!)
·         Did some shopping and extensive window-shopping…Picked up few devotional music CD’s and books. At one book stall, the sales agent spoke about a popular book, ‘Heaven on Earth’ by Pepita Seth. But she added, the price tag was a hefty Rs 3K and usually NRI/gulf-guys only pick up. I was reminded of a Blondie comic strip, when he falls for a similar situation and picks up whole lot of books… not me! I was tempted, wanted to see. But, she would not, saying ‘it was a sealed book and nothing to see on cover’!! Perhaps she lost an opportunity to sell that to me and I will have to research more before deciding. (Amazon has just one comment, so no help there yet!)
·         It was sad to note three topics were hotly discussed in Kerala- felt not fair for a state popularly known as ‘God’s Own Country’! An article in Express said, “Kerala’s envious records in literacy, life expectancy and infant mortality rates are now matched by the highest rate of suicides, alcoholic consumption and social and economic crimes’ (Kerala is Frauds’ Own country - http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/kerala-is-now-frauds%E2%80%99-own-country/300696.html)

Kerala is God's Own Country, whatever is current distractions...we just need ensure same : Clean, Green, Beautiful or Just Divine!

A Short Trip Westwards, officially

A trip westwards… along the setting sun, late afternoon.

Reached airport very early, partly because of my recent preference to try & avoid last minute rush, and also an error from my side on the flight timings, fortunately I presumed ahead of ETA and not later ! Got boarding pass and sat down to kill some time… ( no delight @ check-in process!)

Finished off the last part of the beautiful book I have been reading! More on that later, in detail, to try to do justice.

Cleared my gmail, did some twitter and did not touch facebook, listened to some music, … all on the new IPhone.  Now, some of my friends have been asking about IPhone. After checking out various options, the toss was between IPhone and Blackberry. Apart from features and feedback from friends, the fact that unfortunately BB is being seen as a typical teenager phone (!) did not help. Having evolved from Nokia to  Sony Ericson to  Samsung, I have no doubt: IPhone 3GS is the cellphone.  Nothing else matches the versatility & convenience of IPhone 3GS. It is user-friendly. Camera is quite good. And, I am yet to explore the programs available at cost/free downloadable. To summarise, phone/music/camera/basic surfing are the features you are looking at on your phone, need not look beyond IPhone. I am yet to come across a techie who utilizes features beyond these.  One drawback I observed was the battery life. For all the fantastic features, the battery life is a disappointment.

Steve Jobs is considered to be the best of CEO’s, especially in tough market conditions prevailing now. He has redefined personal technology, thru Mac, IPod, IPad…. People have been lining up for IPad, having succumbed to the temptation…!!

A colleague, fellow-traveller, joined just in time. We boarded and took off… I took a short nap, as always. Somehow, I always got good sleep flying… though while travelling with family, my son has been quite critical about it.

Driving to hotel, the fellow traveler raised the question of customer service. When, two senior bankers are travelling together, service standards becomes one of the easy topics to pick up. While -he was unhappy about the check-in-to-boarding experience at departure terminus, he still seemed to be carrying the thoughts…we were sitting at separate rows, despite our efforts to get adjacent seats. I shared with him one of my favourite brands in all categories was Jet Airways and how their service standards have not only been good to experience, but also to emulate. I wonder, why so many other air carriers just fail to give minimum customer-experience (if not, delight) while flying. We were flying business class ( remembered Shashi Tharoor’s comment, ‘cattle class!)  I was also trying to cheer him saying we are going to another good brand, our hotel which we have specifically chosen based on our earlier experiences.  As the taxi hit the last stretch, the road by the sea, the hotel  stood tall, as though waiting for two demanding customers….

A Short Trip to Dubai

I had travelled to Dubai... some thoughts!

• a short flight is always welcome. As the connectivity among the gulf countries are restricted to air travel or by road, I had to opt for air travel ( unlike the British leaders who prefer to go around in trains for their election canvassing ! Courtesy,  BBC telecast of a debate, last evening )
• a travel always enriches me with experiences. More so, when you have friends, former colleagues, relatives and other categories of contacts such as fellow-alumni... I got to touch-base with a cross section of 'contacts' and interact. 
• a book to accompany is always a critical part of a trip. I checked my recent purchases from India.    

• Then picked up BLIND FAITH by Sagarika Ghose, over the two books I am currently reading - PG Wodehouse & Richard Branson titles. I wanted someting 'unputtable' ..
• I picked up as the cover spoke about pilgrimage/ganges/mahakumbh, etc. (had bought it based on good preview)
• 'Blind faith' is about four characters on a pilgrimage. ( aren't we all on a pilgrimage ourselves? ). She's sketched out an India using her dichotomy of Western and Indian values magnanimously to further a powerful story. ( Source DNA)
• I even had a dream ( !!!) I was going blind ! 
• Now I feel stronger to go to Mubh Mela... also, go back to Haridwar. 
• It was quite unputtable...liked the flow. But was quite confusing ! At the end of it....a mixed feeling of like & dislike :)

Friends have been suggesting this is as the best time to travel and explore Dubai, thanks to the down turn and reduced crowd. Friends confirm the economy is yet to show 'real signs' of recovery, which may be a long and painful journey. ( things are a lot better at other GCC economies though!). Yet to explore Dubai, as I want to do it with family. 

Business Trip towards Eastern Province

Just back from a business trip to Eastern city. The weather was fantastic... Sea-side city reminded so much of Mumbai. The city was getting a 'new look' to receive a dignitary. So, the city looked clean, green and beautiful ( with plants and flowers)

The traffic had slowed down, but was quite smooth & bearable !

The nice weather prompted me to step out, before my colleague arrived to pick me up and walk up to the road, rather than waiting at the lobby ( thus saved some fuel too !) . The cool breeze was so nice. The tight schedule prevented me to take a walk around in evenings...

Could not visit the nearby bookstore. It was here the salesman suggested the book,  How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else. I have got so many of my friends to read same, both Indians and expats. Got good feedback too.

Talking of books, I am currently reading Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur ! Just started. But intro and first chapter has got me hooked ( else I would not have mentioned here:) !) He also talks about the importance of PEOPLE in business. In line with the powerful reco by so many other contemperory business greats ! The challenge is to get the right person on the right job ! very true... we all are living the challenge every moment, after all. I liked the section on SELF DISCIPLINE. Simple, but very powerful thought... ! I am a more conservative guy, unlike a more flamboyant RBranson.  But his practical thoughts on business are very inspiring...

The travel was enhanced by an excellent experience @ Sheraton. On earlier occasions I had posted my displeasure over the average service at the same property, without naming them. But, this time it was different. I wonder was it my SPG membership or earlier feedback ?

One of the first things I enquired at check-in counter was about availability of IPL3 telecast. The fellow-Indian at counter politely refused, full of empathy ( himself a cricket fan, I am sure !) That was a dampener. But was glad to see Obama get the medical bill through, a landmark 'CHANGE', he had promised... and now he has delivered. Caught few moments of the movie, INSTINCT. Looked interesting, with jungle, jail and powerful performance by Anthony Hopkins. Indeed, He learns that mankind's control of everything is a mere illusion and that the true values of existence can't be found so easily  ( Courtesy : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128278/plotsummary ) 

But for a veggie, food is always a problem in ME. I missed home-food... dosa, et al. Glad to be back...home !