What are they thinking ??????

Every personality and attitude is different. Which is natures design !!

At the same time, its not all the same that used to be at birth. Upbringing, society everything shapes it over the tenure of one's life.

Last week I came across two such human beings which are far from tolerable (to me and to the dozens of other people who observed these people).

Interestingly, both of these people are so far successful people !!!!

Dr. Ramaswamy (name changed)

An PhD, an MBA, educated in USA. Moves from degree to degree. Not picked up any real practical job for an year at length yet.

Dr. Ramaswamy, as I understand, is - bachelor, young and bright.

And his marriage proposal was being discussed with one of the most practical, nice, bright young lady I know very well.

Over the course of getting to know each other over e-mail and internet chats etc, the personality of Dr. Ramaswamy stands up uniquely, and for some reason very predictably.

Dr. Ramaswamy starts his e-mail with "chou" - while rest of the world ends an e-mail with that. If the girls gets amused, he refers to a dictionary that says, "Chou can also mean Hello".

Dr. Ramaswamy says the girl not to feel inferior because her academic degrees are not as good as his (the girl is one of the brightest engrs I know :).

He claims that he drinks milk only from "Happy, alive cows".

Dr. Ramaswamy, says the girl most likely has "Auschwitz Syndrome" and unlimited googling does not even find the right meaning. Thats when you know, its told to show some one knows cornor cases !

Nevertheless, the relation did not go anywhere before even it started. The girl, politely "let-go", "Dr. Ego" !

After all in his own words "He does not do women" :)

Sangeetha Madhavan (name changed again )

This person, is a marketing professional for a global company. She comes to the office gym some evenings (and from the looks of it, she really needs it too.. who does not now a days :) !

From the moment she enters the gym, negativity starts to spread. She has not yet registered, neither received doctor certificate that is mandatory to start working out. Everyday, she says to the front desk, that she is one of the busiest person in the company and does not have time to do that.

From the moment, she enters, she tells this gym has a bunch of guys doing time-pass ( there are many serious health freaks as I see them, who also happen to enjoy their work out together).

And she comes in the busiest hour of the gym. Asks the gym instructor to remove people working out on cardio equipments so that she does not have to wait. She does not like the music in the gym. Every minute, she would complain about either adjusting the volume or changing the song.

Rest of the gang there goes on enjoying work out, music - any music at any volume and her attitude. She has literally become a laughing stock for the gym users and a nightmare for the gym instructors and front desk people.

She is the one, who put a handkerchief on a cycle to claim its her's when she comes in :)

Betaal is clueless if Dr. Ramaswamy would ever be able to have a real job for a long time (outside of academics) and if Ms. Madhavan will ever get in to shape (for the body part above her shoulders).

..and you thought only govt. officials are corrupt ?

Betaal bumped in to this land mine of money and malpractice ! And no - not in an govt. organization.

This is a global company, setting up its major operations in Bangalore. 1.1 B USD investment in a campus. And being one of the best employers, they have also set up real beautiful infrastructure, buildings and interiors.

Betaal heard from others, that the dept who directly oversees the construction, interiors and work place resources is engaged in typical govt. style bribing, money gobbling and stuff from vendors.

But, knowing the company is one of the most ethical in the world, he took those as just hearsay !

Until now ...

In this company's health club a pool table was to be procured from company X for a value of 10K USD. The quote came in. It is the only professional supplier in the city, which imports these tables from UK. Now, the dept had the option of getting this table for 10 K USD directly. They asked the interior decorator vendor the provide the table. Who submitted a quote of 16K USD.

They did not even officially receive the quote from X. The interior company supplied it for 16K USD. They in turn bought it for 10K from X. In the middle 6K USD went somewhere. No official tracking of that is possible to incriminate anyone ! Beautiful !

Second incident - a few more equipments need to be procured. Quotes from 2 leading vendors 13K USD and 27 K USD. Same equipments ! Almost 100% difference in value ???

The vendor with 13K USD quote (call is A) is the "preffered" vendor for this dept.
The second one (call it B) is a majority of the equipment users reccomendation which has submited twice the amount for the same equipment. In a "show off" public meeting, they show up - do a comparision and say that A's price is unbeatable and we should go with A.

Slamdunk !!

Not yet ! Betaal thought something is wrong and asked for the original, stamped, on company letter head quotes of both A and B for review. After the initial inhibition, and hasitation they submitted those for review.

Here is the fine print -

In the company A's quote it says - 39% customs duty Extra and Shipment and installation charge of 5%. Plus the VAT (tax). - Extra !

In company's B's quote it says "Everything inclusive".

The devil is in the details that no one in that meeting saw. And this is all happening in a top notch global corporation which is known for its ethics.

Irony - Betaal told this to a few senior folks. And they advised him to stay quite as it may pose physical danger to him !

Man vs. Machine

Evenings with Dr. Das are true gifts. Its enlightening and entertaining ! This evening was one of them.

This is one of the story that Dr. Das narrated today.

Man vs. Machine.

One Chinese researcher wanted to try his future as an Enterprenuer. His first idea was to start a battery cell manufacturing for the small, portable devices swarming the world. Small energy cells.

So, he went on a world tour to see all battery makers. Went to USA and Japan. He saw this amazing manufacturing centers with very less human beings working. All robots doing the work. Its a process ! Cells come out of the process, packaged in thousands every moment.

He came back to China and started the same business with people. No robots. He made some loss initially. Then 2 years later, the battery technology changed.

All the advanced cell factories across USA and Japan, had to change the robots and the machines. Big investment.

The Chinese researcher, took the opportunity and dropped the price of the cells by 40%. He just invested a few bucks in training the people he had to adopt the newer technology. No big investment.

That one change, catapulted him to world number ONE in cell business.

Talking and thinking ..

After 3 days of 5-6 hr long meetings on supposedly critical BU initiatives.. this is what my conclusion is -

There are 3 kinds of people.

1. Who talk before they think. They stink !

2. Who think so much that by the time they talk - its too late ! History !

3. Some who think and talk at the same time. Half of them have right thought. Half the right talk.

Betaal wants the fourth category in this org.

Customers rule ..

Drawing Parallels ..

Talked to a very old friend. School days in rural Orissa. He used to be physically very strong and good at studies too. And what was characteristic about him, was his righteous stubborn-ness.

Over the years, he has become an IPS officer. As in Indian Police.

While talking, making few jokes on how Indian police works, how they prevent crime etc. he mentioned one thing that draws an interesting parallel to what I do being in engineering.

When I asked him, say a theft happens - how does he go about finding the culprit ?

His answer was simple. With a very clam tone he was explaining me the procedure which is outright brute force and yet seems very effective.

When a crime happens, he looks at the signature of the crime. Is it done in night or day ? Entered through back door or front door ? If a door is broken, which instrument has been used ?

Many parameters of the signature are collected. Then, all the signatures are run against a database of all the criminals in the area. A list of the criminals found from this analysis is run against the database to see if some of them are inside the jail. The rest of them are brought to police station and interrogated. 90% of the cases, they nail it down there.

We do the same in engineering. Something happens on field. Analyze the signatures. Run through existing issues database, re-run to see which fixes out of them are in. Focus on the rest, and 90% we get to the root :)

Premonition ..

Day before yeasterday, evening around 7 PM I got a panic call from one of India Big telecom service provider (R) account.

They were setting up a new service in Chenai, that would enable users to get very high speed internet on their handhelds.

Well, the problem was a collaboration issue between different functions, and a quick call sorted it out. However, what shocked me is, normally all new service introduction, R gives us prior notice and plan. This one was quick and random and out of no where.

When I was going through the call, I was thinking, "I saw it coming". I saw this thing happening with exact same service provider in the exact same location, even without any one conveying the plan to me.

Premonition ????

No - Flashback ! Last week I read in the Business section of newspaper, how everyone waiting for more wireless spectrum to roll out high speed data to hand-helds. I also read that a govt. back service provider (B) which got access to a spectrum before the actual release of the frequencies started the operations in Chennai. While reading that article, I knew R will do something quick. Same service in the same city. And they are our customers.

I knew that time, that they do not have time to plan.

So, its not premonition for sure. But, sometimes these seemingly informational news reading, tells your inner self, how its going to impact you.

And, this is "instinct", "guts" a very powerful tool - and when over used can cause "paranoia".

Ultimate Goal ???

I am not necessarily known for being disciplined.

Last four weeks of diet and exercise do always send out the wrong signal. There is dedication. Devotion I should say. And there is apparently visible result. And the people who matter to me do acknowledge that I am a follower.

I know, its not what my ultimate goal is. I ve been cursed to not achieve my ultimate goal too :)

I am testing my own determination and will power to face a tougher exam. Much tougher. 100 times !!!

Before climbing Everest you need to climb a few smaller hills and mountains. This phase is just one of them.

When I go Everest, I would need all your help. And the help is not going to be minuscule. Its going to be tall. Its going to be daunting.

Knowing the people who love me, 90% of them will help me get there. I am blessed :)

Return on Investment !

15months ago, one unknown colleague with his wife was visiting mountains on Kashmir on vacation.
And then one of the most unfortunate things happened to them.

This colleagues wife fell on a mountainous road unconscious, with a some sort of brain damage.

Some army people rescued them and took to Srinagar hospital. Where the doctors or nurses were not coming to hospital as there was terrorism threat and bombs were going off on the road.

This person, calls everyone for help. One of them being one of my closest friend, who is a first cousin. And this cousin asked me if something can be done.

That fateful day, way back in Bangalore, all I did was made a couple of calls, totaling 5 mins of my time, explaining Cisco Safety and HR that how there SOS insurance money is not being fully utilized, and airlifting this girl from the valleys is worth the cost (38K USD).

Luckily they agreed, even though the person injured is not an employee. Her spouse was. And they were not on business. They were on vacation.

She was airlifted from Srinagar to Bangalore. It was a case, where a lot of doctors gave up hope.
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And a 15 long months, this is one e-mail I got today !!! Removing names for anonymity.

Hi All,

Its been about 15 months that my wife had met with the head injury and *** helped me to get her to Bangalore.

I am very happy to tell you that she has started going to office from last week. She has also shown great courage/co-operation to undergo all medications and therapy for the last 15 months to reach the position she is in right now.

This would not have possible without the help from ***. I really thank you all once again for helping me when needed.

Thanking you All,

XX & XX-wife

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What could be a better pay for a five min call ? :)

Need vs. Greed !

Well ! This article may not sound good to Restaurateurs or Nutritionists.

Last 4 weeks, I am on a plan, where I am taking may be 1/4th of the usual amount of the food I used to take in a normal day.

First couple of days, I felt hungry and sometimes weak too. Then it slowly over a week I got used to it. 4 weeks in to it. I am feeling much more energetic and active with the same amount of food.

Whatever food that I have, I seem to enjoy it much more.

Is it a possibility that we all take much more inputs that we really need ??

This brief experiment reminds me two great people.

Mahatma Gandhi said - "Nature has enough for human's need but not for its greed".

My Father said along time ago - "Nidra, Ahara and Maithuna" the more you get these more you need these !

I guess, both of them are right :)

What is worse ?

Real lack of security or feeling of insecurity ?

The results are out. It does not take a top notch financial expert to tell everyone that the economy is in shambles.

I was having a chat with a friend, who is US for more than 10 years now. He just lost his job. Thanks to this economy.

For last six months, there were rumors that his team will get the "Thanks for your service" on a pink slip.

For a change, yesterday, he was much more relaxed than the earlier times I talked to him. The suspense is behind him.

The worst has arrived. What he does now, finds something, work agains, or sits at home for a few days, comes back to India, whatever is going to be the next step, it is going to be towards a new hope. A new beginning. The uncertainty is past, for now.

He was very upbeat. Positive about getting it behind him.

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Real lack of security is known and defined and beyond its crest. The feeling of constant insecurity is nagging, continuous and nerve wrecking

Expats ..

If you are in India, especially in Bangalore, you definitely come across these people who come from other countries (US, EUROPE), live here a year or two, enjoy US/EUROPE salary with royal stay in palaces built for them - all in the name of guiding the ignorant Indian executives working for Global companies. The name Expat comes from expatriate !

Now, I am not actually as bitter as the definition may give the impression for. I was just narrating the normal way any fellow Indian engineer or manager will define them.

Over last few days, I ve been getting many dimensions of this Expat community and their luxuries and challenges.

1. There was a front page article in one of India's leading English daily on how expensive the Expat's are, couple of days ago. House rent 40K USD per month anyone ? The article also raised a lot of questions on cost vs. return of having Expats.

Same story repeated for the Expat airline pilots in India couple of days later. With the industry going through crisis, there is a huge union like movement to get rid of all Expat pilot from the airliners.

2. One of my close friend, who is currently in India as an Expat for a mid-size company (he is Indian by birth, but a US citizen) and gotten used to all the luxuries of big house, chauffeur driven luxury cars, vacations in Singapore / Malaysia and a really hefty salary. And he just got the news, that the same company is downsizing and they are closing portion of the India center. His job is gone. He does not want to go back to US. He is looking for a normal paying job, a 3 BR apartment , just like any of us now. I do not necessarily feel sorry about him. But, look at the turn of events.

3. There is another couple, close friends to me, again Indian's by origin, expats who enjoyed all the royalty for a year here and then they had to go back to their condo in Texas.

Within a few months, they went through a divorce just because they could not adjust to less comfortable life, once they used to the luxuries of an expat. They fought for small things and broke up. Two small kids on the block for partition now ! This one I feel sorry about.

Convenience is the worst addiction known to living beings.

4. To sum it up, early today morning one expat was giving a speech on the real role of an expat.
Expat is some one who is supposed to be behind the Indian executives, helping them run the business as a global leader. From behind because, they will leave, once the tenure is up - but the Indian executives have to run the company.

5. This morning, another bitter-funny situation, where one Expat was criticizing another expat for being way too expensive to our company. May be his house rent is 30K USD per month :) A whole 10K less than the other guy !!!!!!

Like any other enabler, Expat can be a good thing and worth the expenses. But like everything, there are uses and mis-uses of any good thing.

Refinement of basic intelligence ..

Ancient Hindu scriptures say that every living thing has basic intelligence.

Basic intelligence consists of - ability to eat, ability to sleep, ability to self defend and ability to have sex for procreation.

Based on the "Sthana-kala-patra" which translates to "Location, time and object" one or more of these basic intelligence govern the living things to perform the appropriate action.

So, it was baffling for my neighbors (parents of a 6th grader girl child), when the international school she goes to send a declaration to get signed by parents on "Sex Education".

They thought back through their own times and realized no one really taught anything to them when they were 6th graders. What all the school really want to teach ? Should it get in to the God given basic intelligence stuff ? Which every living thing is born with ?

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Mankind is refining the basic intelligence over thousands of years. When not to eat, how much to eat ? When to sleep ? How long ? What is self defence and what is un-provoked attack ?

May be education is still appropriate on this refined basic intelligence. But, like everything that is taught, it would not be unbiased :)