So what is new, I have been lazy about writing. This past few weeks have been quite eventful for India, where a small bunch of people held the area of South Bombay (Mumbai) hostage. It was a sad event and most of the news channels carried the event live on TV for 3 days (non-stop).
Well, we do not have events at this level, but in the recent past, Naxals have killed many policeman in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. There has been brutal violence in Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir/North East continues to see some sort of bombing, violence all the time. So what changed this time??
The attacks came on Rich people in one of the most coveted neighborhoods in India. I happen to part of this society and most of my friends and families are shell shocked. How could this happen?? Well wake up folks, it happens all the time, only for the 1st time it happened in your back yard. Television channels loved it as their TRP were falling and this really helped them boost viewerships.
You cannot imagine but the kind of advertising that went on through the broadcasts, heck I even got SMS from insurance companies to buy insurance when the hostage crises was going on. Another interesting thing, was that when all ended, many of the policemen on duty, picked up valuables from the dead (diamonds, earnings, watches etc). Again nothing new, happens all the time in J&K.
So what did I learn from this event, be careful and you never know when you might land up (wrong place at the wrong time). As Narshimha Rao used to say - "This too shall pass", I am sure it will if the upcoming cricket matches between India and England becomes interesting. The current Chief Minister (Leader of the state), lost his job for no fault of his, this event could have happened in any state of India, but his political detractors lost no time in getting him removed.
Indian's specially educated ones have to start voting in large numbers to swing elections (only 3% votes makes the difference between losing and winning). I urge folks who read my blog, to visit http://www.jaagore.com/main.php (Jaagore - A great initiative), to register. Please go out and vote and find the right leaders who can get India out of the mess.
Jai Hind and Jai India.
Regards,
Shiva
PS: Folks thinking about returning to India, now is a good time as US/European economy is on the verge of tanking and shutting shop. India is still hiring.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Blogging on a highway
It is around 7 AM on a monday morning and I am on the way to Pune for a meeting with some really smart folks that run engineering services for a large automotive giant. On the way I am using my GPS Navigator and it is giving me the directions as to how to get there.
I am truly enjoying the ride, the driver is driving the vehicle at over 120KMph, which is a good feeling, because in bombay, most of the time you do not cross 20Kmph. Heck I dont think my cars 5th gear has been engaged in a many
months :)
Well getting driven is much better than driving, specially with so many trucks etc on the way, remind me of driving in Detroit Metropolitan area, when you had to drive on your own avoid heavy automotive traffic on crappy roads.
This is much better, plus I get to enjoy the scenary of the fresh green vegetation, rains just about finishing in India. Sometimes I think going out to visit a place via a car instead of flying is more fun and more interesting as
it gives you so much to see.
I am planning to visit the far east in detail and try to get to meet many more folks from the automotive, telecom and entertaiment industry (audio) for my navigation products. I am in touch with many but it does not hurt to meet more of them. I always enjoy meeting people from all walks of life.
On the personal front, the little baby girl of mine is becoming big and smarter, she is able to put on her shoes all by herself and when we are going out, she brings my shoes to me stating that I should get my lazy self going.
The son takes on after me, as he wants his 1 year old sister to help him get ready. He too has become smart and is learning all sorts of useful and useless things at school. Wifey is ploughing away hard at banking, (the world in her part is kinda of falling apart with many US banks going under). I think it is tough to convince people to put in money into things that most people do not understand. Investment banking is more about education than anything else (come to think of it, most investors do not really understand very many industries outside of banking, even if they do understand that).
Lots is happening in India from security issues to banking issues, but on my end life pretty much remains the same and as usual I am still trying to find my place in the system.
till next time.
Shiva
I am truly enjoying the ride, the driver is driving the vehicle at over 120KMph, which is a good feeling, because in bombay, most of the time you do not cross 20Kmph. Heck I dont think my cars 5th gear has been engaged in a many
months :)
Well getting driven is much better than driving, specially with so many trucks etc on the way, remind me of driving in Detroit Metropolitan area, when you had to drive on your own avoid heavy automotive traffic on crappy roads.
This is much better, plus I get to enjoy the scenary of the fresh green vegetation, rains just about finishing in India. Sometimes I think going out to visit a place via a car instead of flying is more fun and more interesting as
it gives you so much to see.
I am planning to visit the far east in detail and try to get to meet many more folks from the automotive, telecom and entertaiment industry (audio) for my navigation products. I am in touch with many but it does not hurt to meet more of them. I always enjoy meeting people from all walks of life.
On the personal front, the little baby girl of mine is becoming big and smarter, she is able to put on her shoes all by herself and when we are going out, she brings my shoes to me stating that I should get my lazy self going.
The son takes on after me, as he wants his 1 year old sister to help him get ready. He too has become smart and is learning all sorts of useful and useless things at school. Wifey is ploughing away hard at banking, (the world in her part is kinda of falling apart with many US banks going under). I think it is tough to convince people to put in money into things that most people do not understand. Investment banking is more about education than anything else (come to think of it, most investors do not really understand very many industries outside of banking, even if they do understand that).
Lots is happening in India from security issues to banking issues, but on my end life pretty much remains the same and as usual I am still trying to find my place in the system.
till next time.
Shiva
Monday, August 25, 2008
The month of August 2008
This has been a very slow month, with intermittent rains and broken roads. Heck I have barely traveled this month. India is burning in Inflation. We did great (better than before) in games, Cricket team is relegated to no where (did not watch even one match - even papers did not cover the matches in Detail), bomb blasts in various place, but on the personal front life has been slow.
I have made it a point to spend more time with family and better manage my time. I try and come home a bit early and am working from home from 10:30 to 12:30 in the night, catching up on mails etc. This is a good time as the kids are sleeping and there is no one to disturb. One thing that I still am not doing is going to the gym. Just have no enthusiasm for the same.
MapmyIndia (http://www.mapmyindia.com) is going good, we have made much progress in the enterprise world and are getting tonnes of traffic on our website. More and more people are becoming aware of the products that we have to offer. As long as we keen enhancing the products, we will keep growing in good numbers. Over-all the last 1.75 years have been rewarding, could have better managed the time, but then you move as the slowest person in your chain.
Little one is talking sentences now, the boy is learning marathi and has is keen to convince me that Bombay has gone and Mumbai has come and we should speak Marathi, which is not really a bad thing. The more the languages he learns the better. He was asking me what is Mandarin and how to understand the Olympics speeches??
We recently pest controlled our house and killed lots of cockroaches (yuck), the maid is very happy and she things her mission is accomplished (she had found the pest control folks). We have fired one of the drivers and it seems the other one is going the same way. Drivers are just so irritating in India even if you pay them high wages, they just cannot stick, not sure what to do about it.
At this point we are seeking our own place to move into (enough of renting been doing that for 3 years now). Wifey is gone beserk on the furniture and other items, I am like this too shall pass and we will get used to dirty walls :)
Anyways I am a bit tired and now think it is time to get some sleep. shall keep posting, in the meanwhile if anyone is in Bandra in Mumbai, they should try out Kakori kabab in the area, it is one of a kind and melts in your mouth.
thx,
Shiva
I have made it a point to spend more time with family and better manage my time. I try and come home a bit early and am working from home from 10:30 to 12:30 in the night, catching up on mails etc. This is a good time as the kids are sleeping and there is no one to disturb. One thing that I still am not doing is going to the gym. Just have no enthusiasm for the same.
MapmyIndia (http://www.mapmyindia.com) is going good, we have made much progress in the enterprise world and are getting tonnes of traffic on our website. More and more people are becoming aware of the products that we have to offer. As long as we keen enhancing the products, we will keep growing in good numbers. Over-all the last 1.75 years have been rewarding, could have better managed the time, but then you move as the slowest person in your chain.
Little one is talking sentences now, the boy is learning marathi and has is keen to convince me that Bombay has gone and Mumbai has come and we should speak Marathi, which is not really a bad thing. The more the languages he learns the better. He was asking me what is Mandarin and how to understand the Olympics speeches??
We recently pest controlled our house and killed lots of cockroaches (yuck), the maid is very happy and she things her mission is accomplished (she had found the pest control folks). We have fired one of the drivers and it seems the other one is going the same way. Drivers are just so irritating in India even if you pay them high wages, they just cannot stick, not sure what to do about it.
At this point we are seeking our own place to move into (enough of renting been doing that for 3 years now). Wifey is gone beserk on the furniture and other items, I am like this too shall pass and we will get used to dirty walls :)
Anyways I am a bit tired and now think it is time to get some sleep. shall keep posting, in the meanwhile if anyone is in Bandra in Mumbai, they should try out Kakori kabab in the area, it is one of a kind and melts in your mouth.
thx,
Shiva
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Long time no write
It has been a long summer and we are now into the monsoons, which are really nice and intereting and sometimes scary in Mumbai. Well so here I am in Mumbai or Bombay enjoying the rains and my work.
Recently I had a chance to travel to two unique countries Turkey and Singapore, both very different and are on two opposite poles of the spectrum. Turkey is a mix between Christianity and Islam and is literally sitting on the cusp of change, there are places where is it forbidden to wear the hijab (burkha). People smoke, drink in the open, it is a somewhat Islamic country with European winds. Compare this to Singapore, which is almost like a utopian country. I had heard much about Singapore but you have not understood the place till you see it. It is like Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA except instead of it being a neighborhood, it is the entire country that has been sanitized. Perfect parks, perfect buildings, cheap food, expensive cars. Just about perfect, heck even the grass across the entire island is cut at teh same height. Traffic from point A to point B is teh same each day and take the same time each day. I have never seen anything like this and dont believe I will ever again.
I am enjoying Mumbai, have been trying out new eating joints. Love to work in this city, since the days are long and people are overall nice, it is good to interact with local bombayites/mumbaikars.
Kids are doing well, love to get wet. More till them.
Cheers,
Shiva
Recently I had a chance to travel to two unique countries Turkey and Singapore, both very different and are on two opposite poles of the spectrum. Turkey is a mix between Christianity and Islam and is literally sitting on the cusp of change, there are places where is it forbidden to wear the hijab (burkha). People smoke, drink in the open, it is a somewhat Islamic country with European winds. Compare this to Singapore, which is almost like a utopian country. I had heard much about Singapore but you have not understood the place till you see it. It is like Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA except instead of it being a neighborhood, it is the entire country that has been sanitized. Perfect parks, perfect buildings, cheap food, expensive cars. Just about perfect, heck even the grass across the entire island is cut at teh same height. Traffic from point A to point B is teh same each day and take the same time each day. I have never seen anything like this and dont believe I will ever again.
I am enjoying Mumbai, have been trying out new eating joints. Love to work in this city, since the days are long and people are overall nice, it is good to interact with local bombayites/mumbaikars.
Kids are doing well, love to get wet. More till them.
Cheers,
Shiva
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
April - The Coming Heat
April is here and we are on the way into summer. Bombay gets really hot and humid (more so humid) in the summer months, where one sweats by just walking out of the house. Most people crib about it and find it annoying, but give me the sweat anytime and anyday over the harsh heat of places like Delhi and the harsh winter of places like Detroit.
So what is new and exciting in my life? Hmm nothing really much, only that the son has joined a proper school and is going there for a few weeks now and it is really an experience to see your children go to school early morning, small little kids crying, wailing at the school gates. It is an experience, which all parents go through and is difficult to explain. I had a recent chance to drive around Mumbai and visit the Manori beaches, gosh I loved it, so close to Mumbai but still such beauty, and the only reason these beaches are saved is because there is no bridge on the bay from the Mumbai side to Manori, heck great Indian infrastructure is actually being put to use.
Recently have gotten a new DVD player, the old one conked out (happens to those that do not research electronics before buying it), waiting to watch my Godfather collection on the same, time permitting.
Else life is easy and good, and interesting. MapmyIndia is doing well, and has in the last year become a brand. Our GPS products have become awesome (in a few years), it will supercede most western products (if telecom sector is an indicator).
That is all. Cheers till then.
Adios,
Shiva
So what is new and exciting in my life? Hmm nothing really much, only that the son has joined a proper school and is going there for a few weeks now and it is really an experience to see your children go to school early morning, small little kids crying, wailing at the school gates. It is an experience, which all parents go through and is difficult to explain. I had a recent chance to drive around Mumbai and visit the Manori beaches, gosh I loved it, so close to Mumbai but still such beauty, and the only reason these beaches are saved is because there is no bridge on the bay from the Mumbai side to Manori, heck great Indian infrastructure is actually being put to use.
Recently have gotten a new DVD player, the old one conked out (happens to those that do not research electronics before buying it), waiting to watch my Godfather collection on the same, time permitting.
Else life is easy and good, and interesting. MapmyIndia is doing well, and has in the last year become a brand. Our GPS products have become awesome (in a few years), it will supercede most western products (if telecom sector is an indicator).
That is all. Cheers till then.
Adios,
Shiva
Saturday, March 8, 2008
March Madness
Hi All,
Been a while since I have posted. I have not written any blogs for over 3 months. So it kind of feels good to be back to writing. We have now settled in Mumbai and have adjusted to the hectic pace of life, leaving at 9ish in the mornign and coming back at 9ish in the night. Kids have also adjusted and overall a bit of shanti (still have some outstanding items but those can wait).
I have finally started living like a true Indian businessman, who is seeking to position his company in the competative landscape. We have made much progress on the MapmyIndia front, by launching a pretty cool GPS navigator for all India, setting up a distribution network, selling via auto channels and retail stores. If nothing else, MapmyIndia is becoming a brand to reckon with. I tried the American way by being nice to everyone and being good and understanding, but in India, if you are not pushing, abusive and extremely demanding no one listens to you. You need to micromanage and in general people around you love that. They enjoy micro management.
So now i have two cars and two drivers, and they both suck, regularly trying to dupe you, so the best solution is to scream and shout and they all fall in line. Sad but that is the way India functions. People like to be treated badly and then only they produce. I think a bit of that applies to me as well :)
My friend in the US recently had a baby girl, it felt nice, as we are close and it was his first born, I have 2 friends standing still to get married and both are paranoid about the same, God bless them and hopefully they get married.
Overall otherwise, my sister and family have also moved back to India. I sometimes miss the US specially the toys for kids and ease of shopping (pain to shop in India), but other than that I am all set here in Bombay. Trying to expand the business and see if we can initiate something new (like mobile services with GPS mapping, etc). Let us see how that goes. Keep reading and hopefully I can post more regularly.
Btw, keep following the stock market, it has becoming really interesting and volatile, you can make lots of money on the volatility trading!!
Namaste till then.
Shiva
Been a while since I have posted. I have not written any blogs for over 3 months. So it kind of feels good to be back to writing. We have now settled in Mumbai and have adjusted to the hectic pace of life, leaving at 9ish in the mornign and coming back at 9ish in the night. Kids have also adjusted and overall a bit of shanti (still have some outstanding items but those can wait).
I have finally started living like a true Indian businessman, who is seeking to position his company in the competative landscape. We have made much progress on the MapmyIndia front, by launching a pretty cool GPS navigator for all India, setting up a distribution network, selling via auto channels and retail stores. If nothing else, MapmyIndia is becoming a brand to reckon with. I tried the American way by being nice to everyone and being good and understanding, but in India, if you are not pushing, abusive and extremely demanding no one listens to you. You need to micromanage and in general people around you love that. They enjoy micro management.
So now i have two cars and two drivers, and they both suck, regularly trying to dupe you, so the best solution is to scream and shout and they all fall in line. Sad but that is the way India functions. People like to be treated badly and then only they produce. I think a bit of that applies to me as well :)
My friend in the US recently had a baby girl, it felt nice, as we are close and it was his first born, I have 2 friends standing still to get married and both are paranoid about the same, God bless them and hopefully they get married.
Overall otherwise, my sister and family have also moved back to India. I sometimes miss the US specially the toys for kids and ease of shopping (pain to shop in India), but other than that I am all set here in Bombay. Trying to expand the business and see if we can initiate something new (like mobile services with GPS mapping, etc). Let us see how that goes. Keep reading and hopefully I can post more regularly.
Btw, keep following the stock market, it has becoming really interesting and volatile, you can make lots of money on the volatility trading!!
Namaste till then.
Shiva
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