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China vs India

2011-11-29T22:08:00.002+05:30

So here is goes. I was in Mainland China over the past week. A lot has been written about the Chinese growth engine etc, which is totally true, infrastructure development is just immense and magical in the middle kingdom. High speed trains, easy access to flights, so many roads etc.

The one thing which I felt was missing was warmth. Chinese people, at least the ones I have met in the US/Hong Kong etc are very warm people, at least amongst their own. In Mainland, it just seemed that all the folks are so introverted that they are missing out on life. Life for a average Chinese is very tough, salaries for a University graduate is low around 700 USD per month, to 2k USD a month where as the big boss who runs the company/factory makes around 1 million USD (over 200k Audi approximately sells in China and 18.5 million cars got sold in 2010).

When ones comes to India, people are more warm, foreigners are more welcome and the average person on the street is helpful (barring a few scoundrels).

I think China over its growth has lost its soul and has become one big concrete jungle, where more and more people look sad and uninterested. I really hope this changes and China becomes more ecologically attuned, reduces it numbers of cars and the over-all happiness index improves. This I believe India is happy (even in the poverty of the slums, you can see smiling children)!!

At the end of the day, everyone wants to be happy!!

Marketplace in India

2011-11-08T10:57:00.003+05:30

India is Happening!!

Typically one only hears about corruption in India and other issues that the 'Aam Junta' faces from day to day.

Well I want to write about the other side of things (after all coin has two sides). There are a plethora of companies coming around in India and they are all moving VERY VERY fast. At present these are small but in the coming years and times to come, they will become very big e.g. Just Dial, Flipkart etc. New business models, generating huge employment for people and fine tuning processes and services delivery model for the marketplace.

Indians are born traders and innovators. They are relatively simple people, who take others on face value, but the ability to build/trade and deliver is very high (think about it, you can buy all sorts of things in places in India where even roads do go to). Telecom companies provide network coverage even in places where government agencies cannot deliver water.

What India lacks is good management and decision making skills since for the most part since childhood all decisions have been deferred to elders and others, but this too shall change. We are learning how to build roads, bridges, internet backbones, new business models etc. One thing we have not learned yet is the ability to innovate disruptive technologies (e.g. Google/Facebook etc). My take is in the coming 15 years, this too shall start happening as more and more indians are exposed to newer ideas and concepts and the current leadership of 40+ something becomes 55+ something.

Over-all things are moving and I am very positive on the Indian marketplace, despite the corruption and lack of policy framework. Shortage force people to be innovate and think out of the box. That being said India is not for the faint hearted but if you want to live in the most exciting place (with the usual traffic pains/school admissions etc) over the next 15 years, India it is.

A visit to Jharkhand and Bihar

2011-03-06T12:28:00.004+05:30

This past week, I had the opportunity to travel to Deoghar / Banka / Kolkatta as part of a marriage party. Flew down from Bombay to Calcutta, took the cab and a ride to the howrah station, then to Jassidhi (Deoghar).

It was a really cool trip (someone like myself travels) all the time, but then it is more fun to travel interiors then maybe to Delhi. I had a chance to see interior india specially Bihar at close quarters. I was pleasantly surprised. The roads were really awesome like how Texas roads used to be around 10 years. Miles and miles of endless roads going from places to places. In south bihar population is limited and one thing that really strikes out is the sense of hygiene. No garbage or plastic bags or any tobacco / gutka packets. I believe Plastic use with little regulation is going to destroy India and some economic decisions towards the same should be taken (not ban plastic but mandate higher thickness such that it gets recycled).

Banka was a typical like tier 4 town of India almost close to a village but it was awesome, did not know so many people know about Banka, it is very close to Bhagalpur. Deoghar is a very religious place and is one of the cleanest cities I have seen after Connor in the South.

All in all, I am very bullish on Bihar and things are changing very rapidly. One thing that stands out is the coverage of Vodafone (telecom operator), they had network coverage in such remote places that it made me want to call up senior management at Vodafone and tell them you guys rock (heck it was better than what I get in Bombay) :).

There is huge potential in the eastern states and those who harness the high energy will make so much money from these areas is not even a joke. It is literally money waiting to be picked up from the street, what Americans feel about India, I feel about Bihar, a land of high opportunities and big marketplace.

More later,
Shiva

India and its growth story

2010-10-21T20:39:00.000+05:30

After a long time I m writing something. I guess nothing interesting enough happens anymore or just that I am going down the lazy path. Well life as a whole is just passing by, kids are growing up, wifey doing her things and prosperity is showing up around the waist. My travels have reduced, limited mostly to Delhi / Mumbai, which is good and bad, good in essence I dont have to face the headaches of travelling to random cities and settle in, and bad because I have not met many folks whom I would like to meet more regularly.

Currently I am sitting on a flight, going back from Delhi to Bombay after a week in delhi. It has been a while since I have done anything on the computer on the flight. Maybe a few years (last I remember did something on the comp, on a flight was in 2007). Challo, my laziness is gradually drifting away. I have started reading up on financial journals and decided to fix up my health (have already made some amends in these past few weeks), and also have decided to fix up my lifestyle. Just read a book by Khuswant Singh, very interesting chappie, hope I can survive as long as he has and seen and experienced so much of life.

The little boy is now learning the piano (yamaha), did not buy a casio, since all the folks I know who learnt on a casio, never grow up to learn any musical instruments, hence a yamaha. He has become a good chess player, beat me in chess (though cant say I am any good at Chess). Girl has started bharat natyam (Indian dance), did not get a chance to see her dance at her first class, but will make up for it on the next one. Wifey is running her childrens book shop, it is coming along well and slowly but surely mommies of other localities in Bombay are also knowing about it.

Last weekend, we along with my sisters family went to BOrivalli National Park, and I must WOW! Did not even know that such a place existed in Bombay and that too within 1 hour from home. It should be marketed better, but then I am selfish, maybe it is good that no one knows about it. Not many visitors to the park, I guess the malls in Bombay get more footfalls than the park. Over the coming year, I am going to explore India as it will be the last year, before my kids start getting into the full swing of things at the school and I should take them as many places as I can before studies / activities suck them into the vicious cycle.

Been reading lots of books these days and have also been watching a tonne of movies (almost 1 a day). Funnily enought I enjoy all sorts of movies, now I actually watch based on specific directors or actors. Maybe that is what happens with age. This month India held the 'Commonwealth Games', it is large sporting events covering around 74 countries. It went well and India won a bunch of medals.

By and large I believe India is doing well, and prosperity is increasing. There is more accountability and power is not being restricted to a few like it used to be 20 odd years ago. Media has become very powerful and the youth even though restless is asserting itself. Prices of everything is going down except food and real estate. Electronics, travelling, flying, clothes, shoes have all become so cheap, heck you can get a saree (Indian dress) for around $1 to $2, I love a free market economy. God bless Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Singh for allowing all this to happen. I wish to see India as one large gigantic country, which can flex its muscle on a global scale and where people dont die of poverty. I am very hopeful it will happen in my lifetime.

And 'Who Said Elephants Can't Dance??', when the elephant starts moving, nothing can stop it and it can cover VERY large distances. India is that elephant. Wait and Watch!!

Just finished a road trip (Mumbai to South India with kids)

2010-05-29T10:10:00.003+05:30

A recent blog posting of mine at Team-Bhp
_______________________________________________
Well, I am one of these lazy persons not really interested in doing anything, heck I dont even drive in Mumbai (use a driver).
So after thinking about it for a long time, I decided to go on a road trip. Not sure where to go, I reached out to Mr. HV Kumar (in short HV - Indian GPS). On his recommendation and net checking up, I decided to go south, more specifically Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu (have never been there before).

Next step was to convince the wife about the trip and be mentally prepared to take my 3.5 year and 5 year old kids on the trip. She acquiesced and off we prepared our Chevy Aveo for the trip.

Now I must declare, I work with MapmyIndia ( a gps navigation company) and had the added advantage of having a GPS tracking system embedded in my car, in addition, I had a GPS navigator and bunch of other equipments.

So the journey begins -
Mumbai to Kholapur (left on friday 14th May 2010 @ 6 PM)
Before leaving I decided to have a final look at the coolant after the car had come back from service. Saw that GM - National Garage had taken out the coolant and filled it with water!!!!! Luckily saw the same, drained the water and put in coolant (I ll deal with the same when I come back to Mumbai). Took forever to get to Panvel (evening traffic) and then got stuck at Hinjewadi (Pune). Its was bad traffic on the pune outer ring (lots of bikes and folks going home). Kept driving with halt at McDonalds post Katraj Tunnel, kids had a blast at the place (they were sick of being in the car for so long).

The little boy asked me "papa why are we driving and why cant we take a flight", so I went into a whole philosophical about driving and cars. Anyways, kept driving and reached Kholapur around 1 AM. Had booked at the Ayodhya Hotel (Have stayed here before), clean bed-breakfast place, and quite close off the highway.

Kholapur to Bangalore (Marathahalli) (left on Sat15th May 2010 @ 9:45 AM)
Finally was able to get some speed going on the car. Also since I am not the greatest of drivers (not used to driving on highways), the sun light was an added relief. Kids were more relaxed and the idea was to reach BLR as soon as possible before late evening.

Kumar and lots of other folks were tracking me with the GPS tracking. The link is available here
MapmyIndia - Vehicle Tracking
account id - mmi2051
user name - mmi2051
password - mmi2051

Family was very happy back in Delhi that they can track me and were aware of where i was. I never realized that parts of the golden quad has not been completed, it is a complete myth that the roads are rocking between BLR and Mumbai. Plan to reach out to the Union Minister and NHAI director and find out when the same will be completed. RTI here I come.

Got some lunch at the Genesys resort (again thanks to Kumar) who was tracking me and guiding me on the route. I kept pushing towards BLR with a break at a Kamats for coffee. I was recommended that I use the Yelahanka route to get into BLR, but I was too lazy to figure the same out and followed my GPS navigator, which took me into Tumkur road and here is when my nightmare started!!

I had reached Tumkur toll plaza by around 7 PM and thought I ll be at my friends place in marathahalli by 8ish PM, but I did not know that a road called Tumkur road was under construction and traffic cops were clueless about how to manage traffic (Mumbai/Bombay I love your traffic cops, atleast they know how to clear jams). We were stuck in traffic and the last 25 KM took around 3 hours!!!!!! Bangalore traffic sucks, not sure how people commute here, God help them (and I thought Mumbai and Delhi-Gurgoan was bad).

So Sunday was a rest day and generally chilling out at BLR and next day, I move onto Kodaikanal. Have never been south of BLR and Tamil is definately not my 1st language. Plan on visiting Meenakshi Temple on tuesday. Will post more and put up pictures.

Adios,
Shiva
-------
So this gets more tech savvy. I am using the mobile posting of team bhp as my great reliance data card is not working, for a change vodafone works.

Started around 7ish from blr for kodai and immediately hit the electronic city elevated road. It was nice. Speed down the way on NH 7 and landed up meeting Mr M K Stalin on the way. His convoy was ahead of mine and at each village till salem he was stopping. It was interesting to see the folks come out and cheer for him. Cut through salem and reached dindugul in 5 odd hours. Loved the roads, wish there were more roads like this in India. Straight highways, no population. Amazing, feels nice and good. Compare this from driving within bombay.

Near dindigul got a bit lost and the navigator came in handy. Took for ever to clim to kodai around 2.5 hours. Not used to ghat driving but am improving. Kids held up fine. Reached kodai and was to go to mahindra resort. Did not use the navigator, as maps for kodai not that detailed, but used police inspector guidance who sent me 5Km wrong way. Finally after much cribbing and crying reached the right resort. My son was excited to see grass and the resort is like nature as his teacher had told him. So much for nature from a bombay kids perspective.

So getting some rest here. Going to pray to the Gods tomorrow at Meenakshi temple. Supposed to be one of a kind.

In a few days will start for the drive up along NH 17.

Pictures will post once wifey gives them to me.
____________-

18th May 2010 - Kodaikanal to Madurai (Meenakshi Temple)

So early in the morning, left with wife and kids for Madurai. It was a drive all the way back to main expressway and driving up and down the ghats is not fun. Reached the base of Kodaikanal and then followed the route to get back to the expressway. Got bit a lost on the navigator routing and landed up using one of the village roads to reach back to the main BLR-Madurai highway.

As I was driving to Madurai, some cops near the entry of Madurai (getting off the expressway), tried to stop my car, i just kinda whizzed past them, out of state number plates must be something that must have excited them to stop me. Drove all the way to the temple blindly following the GPS (though many one-ways were missing on the GPS), but using some common sense and I landed up reaching the east entrance of the temple. And ohh my, what a temple it is. One of a kind (I highly recommend all to visit Meenakshi at least once in their life). I had a local contact who helped me get a quick darshan (lakshmi works well in all parts of the country even when you dont speak the local language).

On finishing my darshan, drove up back to Kodaikanal without any incidents. It was a drive up and down the hill and was kinda tiring. Next day was a break day at Kodai with nothing to do. At night went to dinner at the Tibetean restaurant in kodai (near 7 road junction - opp tourist info bunglow). Decent place, and quite in-expensive.

19 th May 2010 – Local Kodaikanal
This was a lazy day as I had been travelling and driving for the last 2 days, so today just went around town. Took the kids around the lake (realized how un fit I am) and then some biking. Got Kodai Chocolates (which were promptly consumed), and had a good lunch. Post lunch, went about town to get to visit all the touristy points of interest (water falls – closed no water), observatory (closed – open only in morning hours), drove around the lake, checked out Kodaikanal International School (quite hep), Carlton Hotel (only 5 star hotel in Kodai). Generally did not do anything useful and productive , but heck that is the point of a vacation.

20th May 2010, Kodaikanal to Calicut (Kozikhode – Kerala)
Now this was a good drive, cutting across from Tamil Nadu to Kerala via Palani, bypassing Coimbatore, going through Palghat (Palakkad), Majeri etc. Stayed at the ITC Fortune (Again good old Kumar came in handy by suggesting a place to stay and the route to take).

Drive from Kodai to Palani is a easy drive if you leave early enough (which is what we did), you avoid all the local bus traffic and tempos etc. Road conditions are good (MH state, please go and visit TN and learn how to make roads). The navigator was missing this road and did not reconcile till I reached Palani boundary. Interesting sign was “Watch out for Elephants crossing the road!!!”, never seen that in India. So after crossing 14 hair bend turns, reached the base of the mountains and turned left towards Coimbatore / KL border.

Udumalai was interesting (both ICICI and HDFC were in the same building on top of each other), never seen that. Good fuel in the city. Drove on to Palghat, Manjeri and then finally to Calicut. TATA motors has really deep presence in this northern part of Kerala. It was one hell of a drive even for folks who live in KL, not too much traffic and passing state borders on non-trunk routes is very good, not much traffic jams.

Reached Calicut in one piece (again thanks to navigator which took me to the hotel). Honestly I was very surprised that the navigator GPS worked the way it did. For someone who had no clue of the landscape it is always comforting to see the information on the maps in a car (a good selling point to tell the car companies). ITC Fortune was a very basic hotel, not the ITC I have seen in Mumbai (the parel one is next to my house), though the staff was kind and helpful.

That night I went to Paragon (restaurant in Calicut for dinner). The food was JUST AWESOME. Mango-Fish, I can still relish the taste. Again very very highly recommended restaurant. Next morning started my worst driving day.

21th May 2010, Calicut (Kozikhode – Kerala) to Turtle Bay Resort (KA)
Started the day late around, 10.30ish AM (I have realized on long distance travels, one should leave by 6ish), before all the world wakes up and lands up on the road. It was a bi**h of drive via KL on NH 17 as it was full of local buses that ply along the highway (and do they drive like crazy).

Went and visited Kappad Beach (the place where Vasco Da Gama) landed in India in the late 1480’s, around 500 years back. Not much there except for a resort, so much for history and culture (I was under the impression that Vasco landed up in Goa and not KL). So we slowly but surely drove up the NH17 at a rate of 30-40 KMPH which was very frustrating. Finally after much cribbing and crying, I was able to cross over into Karnataka, where the speed picked up (at least the houses are a bit further off from the highway), but the over-all quality of roads deteriorated in KA as compared to KL.

Crossed over into Mangalore and saw NIT, Suratkal on the way towards Udipi. The high point was seeing a Café Coffee day around 7ish (had been driving for non-stop 8.5 hours). Jumped at the sight and went and laid out on the couch. Today I was truly exhausted with bumper to bumper traffic and tiring ride.

Late that evening I reached Turtle Bay Resort. Kids were happy to see the beach and kind off totally forgot all about the hard drive.
22nd May 2010, Turtle Bay Resort (KA)
Next day was kids day as they had been in the car for around 2100 km and had not really troubled me for the same. So off we went to the beach and checked out the crabs, little fishes and hammocks and according to my son (lots of coconut trees – “why are there so many trees here and why aren’t there so many trees in Bombay”.). Did not want to explain to him about Municipality and all its issues. We drove to Maravanthe beach (which was very pretty – sea on one side and back water on one side). All you folks who are reading this blog, please check out this place, here it is actually very non-commercial as most folks don’t know about it. Enjoyed local Mangalore food and next morning started for the long drive back home. Ohh by the way the Padukone village is near Turtle bay resort (Deepika’s Padukone’s ancestral village – the local folks were very happy explaining this to a Bombay walla).

22nd May 2010, Turtle Bay Resort (KA) to Parel, Mumbai (850 KM drive).
Left early around 6.30 AM, having learnt from past experience and stopped by at the Murudeshwar temple (run by the Shetty family – it seems they own most of the Maruti showrooms on the west coast – RNS motors). Very pretty temple and well maintained (clean). Stopped by for very idilis at a Kamat Restarutant (Honavar) near the turning for Jog Falls (missed this place , but will come back later it was 62 KM inside from NH17).

Drove up to Ankola (Salil Ankola’s ancestral village – my guess), and turned off onto NH63 towards Hubli. Did the drive in around 2 hours, around 138 KM, which was not bad ( I am getting to be a better more controlled driver on Indian roads). From Hubli to Kholapur, we drove straight up and man these were the best roads with little traffic (at least in the afternoon on a Sunday). Reached Kholapur around 3ish. Kids wanted to have McDonalds (Dosas and Rice meals does not excite them), so off we stopped at Kholapur.

From Kholapur to Hinjewadi junction was a painful drive took around 5 hours (lots of motor bikes, very slow traffic), and the toll plazas were irritating (huge queues), what a waste of time, you save time on the road and then lose the same at the toll plaza (on an average of 15 mins per plaza).

Pune to Mumbai was a straight drive, only found it very irritating with folks continusouly blinking (don’t know what pleasure it gives them), almost got into a road rage with another car and if I did not have family then would have really given it to the chappie, but cooler heads prevailed and finally reached Mumbai around 10ish. Drove for around 15 hours with 1 hour break and lots of idiotic toll time wastes.

So really enjoyed the trip. Can wait to do one for RJ and GJ in the winter.

A new year - 2010

2010-02-13T14:26:00.002+05:30

It has been three years at MapmyIndia (www.mapmyindia.com) and it has been one helluva ride. Have helped the company enter the GPS navigation marketplace, involved in large mapping surveys, starting vehicle tracking and other related enterprise services, last but not the least, the kids are loving it.

I am all well settled in Bombay (again Mumbai for old timers), trying to learn Marathi (something I should have picked up when I was much younger), and have started enjoying the small pleasures of life in the neighborhood.

The little one has turned 5 and now debates about cricket with me, and the baby girl is growing up to be one cute brat (she loves to cry for everything, as she knows it works). Wife is working hard and is pushing for a new venture with her friend, called Treasure Books (www.treasurebooks.in), a quaint bookshop and activity center for small kids in Khar area (near Fab India off Linking Road). Hence all in all, life is hectic and fun.

I just went to Crawford market and checked out some interesting shops, which is something one should explore on a nice working day away from the headaches of office (btw suggestion to all, get rid of the blackberry and you will find life is more meaningful and interesting), check mails once a day or something like that.

Anyways, have to get back to some work, enjoy the posts, adios.

Shiva

Bombay Monsoons

2009-07-26T17:53:00.002+05:30

Well here I am sitting on the computer on a lazy sunday afternoon. Had gone for a movie (Ice Age 3) with the kids, it was a pretty good movie, kids loved it. It is gently raining outside and after a long time I am really enjoying the day without any committments, no emails, no phone calls, no parties etc. Life should be like this.

So what all have I been up to, for starters, went and saw the complete Entourage Seasons (not sure how many of you have seen it), it comes on HBO and is really good. Have re-started listening to ColdPlay, i.e. getting new music and am reading Dale Carnegie / Warren Buffett / Nandan Nilekani.

Over the past 3 months, I have again involved myself into the Mapmyindia GPS navigators sales and have been actively pushing the sales of our new products along with my colleagues, I can actually see the market coming around and it is nice to see the hardwork paying off. Things I had done 2 years ago is now paying off and we are actually in market making mode.

Outside of sales, I am going to start core engineering i.e. learn how to work and repair cars, have also started programming (coding) for the kicks of it. Over-all in a sweet spot of life.

This past weekend, I went to Pune and loved the city, it is small and kinda sweet, unlike the big bad metropolitan Bombay/Mumbai where I live. Family is doing well. Kids have started soccer, dancing, chess etc.

More till later,
Namaste,
Shiva

2009-05-31T09:24:00.006+05:30

So I have moved again, this time to the eastern and new up coming area of Mumbai. Hopefully this will be a move where I will stay here for a while, but then never say never. This place reminds me of our place in Newport Pavonia, Jersey City, where used to live on the 22nd floor for a year. This place is similar only i get to see Nava Sheva port instead of downtown Manhattan. This area is fairly under developed part of Bombay and right now I am in the process of finding different places from where I can order food (have found Indian Chinese and Mughalai).

Kids are growing up really so fast and time flies. The older one is 4.5 years and the younger one is 2.5 years. The boy has taught himself how to watch movies on the DVD (still do not have cable at this house) and is good at arts and crafts. He enjoys to paint. The little one follows her brother and wants to everything that big bro does.

On the professional front, MapmyIndia is doing well, we have moved into a new office in Delhi and are quite growing. Have raised another round of funding from existing investors and Qualcomm Ventures. Work is interesting and over the past 2 odd years, have learned quite a bit how to sell in India. It is an artwork. My personal professional network has become quite significant as maps are licensed to folks from all walks of life.

Exercise and gym etc are all history and have given up on that, so putting on tonnes of weight. Dont see that changing in the near future. Travelling has reduced but it will resume next month, when the rains hit Bombay.

More later,
Adious,

Shiva

2 years hence

2009-01-29T14:27:00.002+05:30

It has been 2 years since I moved back to India and it has been a journey, have shifted houses, cities, office locations but it has been well worth it. As someone says life is a journey.

MapmyIndia, where I spend most of my waking hours is growing by leaps and bounds and in general the atmosphere around mapping/gps/navigation etc is doing extremely well. Marketplace is coming around.

Kids have grown up, the little boy has started speaking Bambiya Hindi - local flavour of bombay-hindi, little girl goes a quaint playschool in Mumbai and adjusting well.

This past new years we went to Matheran (a little hill station near bombay around 2 hour drive), where you have to drive upto a point and then leave your car ( you need to go horse back or walk), no cars allowed into the town (one of a kind in India). Kids had a ball of a time, and it is so dirt cheap (the entire trip cost only Rs5,000/- around 100USD) for a family of 4 four with a baby sitter (eating/loding etc all), nothing can be cheaper than that.

This past weekend we went to Sariska, a tiger forest reserve near Alwar (Rajasthan - 3 hour drive from Delhi). It was a great reserver but all the tigers have been killed, some months ago, government introduced 2 tigers hoping to rejuvenate the population. This was my first experience to a national park in India, and I must say it is really cool, should do more of these.

On a personal basis I have put on lots of weight and have become really lazy, as there are servants and helpers for all sorts of things and one does not have to even lift a finger (bed tea is served on a daily basis and i have not ironed my clothes in 2 years). Yes India is irritating at times, specially traffic (it SUCKS!!), if someone has to live in India, his/her commute time should be not more than 20 minutes. All in all, it is fun and I look forward to travelling more around India, now that my kids are a little bigger.

Namaste till next time,
Shiva

Terrorism and Living in India

2008-12-04T19:08:00.003+05:30

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.

Blogging on a highway

2008-09-29T08:02:00.002+05:30

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

The month of August 2008

2008-08-25T23:54:00.003+05:30

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

Long time no write

2008-06-26T17:54:00.003+05:30

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

April - The Coming Heat

2008-04-22T00:34:00.002+05:30

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

March Madness

2008-03-08T20:30:00.003+05:30

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

Return to Mumbai (Bombay)

2007-12-01T15:33:00.000+05:30

So I have finally moved to Mumbai. It used to be called Bombay when I lived here over 13 years ago. Well, where do I start from. Traffic sucks and takes a lot of time from your daily worklife, meaning you start your day early and come home late.

Now Mumbai is a mini-India, whereas you find people from all walks of life, all regions, languages, cultures, class in the city. So it is like re-entering India, repeating the same experience like when I came back to India early this year.
We have gotten a place in an area called Bandra, it rocks and the locality is the most happening in Mumbai, lots of great eating joints, very lively and Bandra-Khar is the center of the metropolitan area. All in all not much has changed in the 13 years, property prices are still very high, schools are tough to get admission into, all the corporate houses still exist though some have moved their headquarters, Borivalli is not considered a far off suburb, trains are more packed then ever, but overall feel of the city is the same, only traffic has become much worse.

People are very professional (compared to rest of India), and most of the work is point to point. Now on the personal front outside of my observations about one of the largest Metropolitans in the world.

The son refuses to believe he is in Mumbai, and wants to return "home" to Bangalore. The little girl refuses to crawl, more so in Mumbai because there are no people who can take her 'Godhi'. Wifey has started using the local trains (something even I am scared off), and swears by it when commuting to work. Still opening boxes, kind feels weird goign from a luxury apartment to a small place in Mumbai (still large by local standards). Hey did I mention, we have started selling our MapmyIndia Navigator Feel free to pick up one.

More till next month. Btw I am linking to this search engine such that hopefully this message of my blog goes to more and more folks. Blog Search Engine

Cheers,
Shiva

Move to Bombay - Mumbai

2007-10-29T17:59:00.000+05:30

So after spending 8 months in Bangalore, the technology hub of India, we are moving to Mumbai formerly known as Bombay. Everyone is asking the question -- WHY?? Well the simplest answer is travel, over the past 2 months, I have been continuously traveling to Mumbai for work, and if I were locally present in the city, then I am sure it would be easier to meet clients and develop my GPS navigation system.

On the home front, the little boy has hurt his toe, and hence refuses to walk, even though nothing wrong with him. He wants to fly to all the places i.e. me or wifey have to pick him up and put him from place to place, it is cute and irritating both.

The Stock market in India is booming, defies all the logic, and does not make sense. Same goes for the real estate market, is this the great boom before the bust, only time will tell. It might also happen that the market goes to 25K BSE-Sensex, but hopefully that does not happen.

What else, baby girl is speaking a few words, and it is really fun to communicate with her in the baby way. Other than that, looking forward to a winter break, as am really exhausted with daily negotiations. Will keep you posted.

Cheers,
Shiva

Current Status

2007-09-17T23:12:00.000+05:30

Hi All,

Interestingly enough bunch of people are reading my blogs, people outside my immediate friend circle. Thanks for taking time and reading my postings. So what is new ?

GPS Navigation - MapmyIndia Our GPS Navigation system covering the entire country is now available on sale, with detailed maps for around 20 odd cities and high level data for around 100 odd cities with villages, towns etc. That is on the professional front. Have learned quite a bit about map making and i got to tell you, it is bloody difficult, time consuming, tedious, but the end result is fun as you can build location based services (LBS) on the same.

On the Personal front, I have totally integrated into the indian society, living in the US now seems like a distant place, heck I am not able to even correlate to the US after spending most of my 20's in the US. I have started driving again (driver has become erratic), I have learned the major road network of BLR.

Son has finally started speaking in Hindi, he speaks cool hindi, with words of Maghi/bojpuri also mixed into the same. Baby Girl is on the way to turn 1, and now cries when you leave her alone.

Hey also i have changed my maid one more time, the last one hit a jackpot, as her mom died and left her lots of jewellery, so she quit work, this is the 4th maid in 6 months, open to advise on how to get long lasting maids (even after I pay her quite a bit). The son has learned that if you cry things come your way, so when he wants to play, all he has to do is 'WAAAAAAAAAA' and ohh-yes, he gets what he wants. His aunt (based in bbay) has been telling me, ignore his crying, but it is irritating, son knows this fact. His new thing is that he wants 100 ruppeees because 'I want to buy something'.

I used to think what is the use of mobile phone repair shop, but I recently found out that little baby daughters can eat a mobile phone, short circuit the connections and then give it to mommy/daddy, who need mobile phone repair shops. So dont give phones to babies, it is bad for everyone.

No travel plans on the future, want to visit Ooty or Kodai,but not sure i ll have the time.

Ohhh, i forgot, I recently went into the kitchen and made a bowl of rice after 9 months (dont miss that factor), dont like cleaning and cooking, do not really miss that part from the US :)

Chalo keep posting, let me know if you want me to cover anythign special from my prespective.

Cheers,
Shiva

Been Raining and it is lovely

2007-08-07T21:42:00.000+05:30

Bangalore and India in general has been seeing lots of rain (ask people in the state of Bihar, where 20 million are homeless), but as for Bangalore, the rain has kept the weather really cool and pleasant. I did not know but BLR is at an elevation of 2000 ft, hence the great weather.

Life cannot be better, my little one is now 9 months old and we are both sitting together and writing this blog. She loves to coo and is picking up new words daily. Btw I come home for lunch and get to spend a good 45 minutes each afternoon with her (one of the perks of having an office 3 minutes away in the next building). The son has also grown and has learned how to fight, is picking up interesting kannada words of which we have no clue. He says something, smiles and then runs away, and as usual we have no idea. Wifey job is comign along great, she has settled into the grove.

So what about myself, well I am heads down working on improving our maps. Our new Mapmyindia website has been launched. It has great driving directions which is landmark based. The quality of the maps has improved exponentially.

Recently we (family, the son, daughter, wifey and baby sitter) went to visit a waterfall near Bangalore called Sivasamundra. It is quite famous in the south. The location is on the way to Mysore (west of bangalore). I had heard quite a bit about the roads from BLR to Mysore but was disappointed. Bombay Pune highway, on which I had travelled 7 years back was better than the BLR Mysore highway. Roads in the south, specially Bangalore have a long way to go (from what I hear Bihar is getting better roads, no kidding).

My office is humming, got a great bunch of folks working, who i think practically work atleast 16 hours a day plus half day sunday. So you can imagine the output we are generating. Great bunch (has taken me a while to get this group of people).

I have put on lots of weight (one of the negatives of living in India), lots of great food, maybe one of these days I ll hit the gym. Still to try out the pubs in Bangalore (literally no time), will write a special blog about the same.

Chalo, enjoy the new Mapmyindia, get to learn about new places. Adios till then.

Shiva

Mid year review

2007-07-11T23:00:00.000+05:30

Been about 6 months that I have been working in India, have had the opportunity to meet various VP's, CEO/COO etc over this time frame. Office in Bangalore is working, map collection and enhancement is going great. Mapmyindia is going to get a new avatar. Now focus is on Navigation Device, which is working. Heck I am even using it to go places.

What are my learnings for the last 6 months -
1. Do not believe anything you hear unless until you physically verify the same.
2. Way too many employees grand mothers have died, specially when they go for other interviews.
3. Kids adjust to new environments faster than you can imagine and they pick up new languages very fast (Heck the little boy is speaking Kannada words) :)
4. Weather rocks in Bangalore, cooler than almost all cities in India, do not need fan or air conditionining, like the Bay area.
5. Sales cycles are long but it does come around, persistance pays.
6. India needs MANY more movie theaters.
7. Most of the folks are many times more tech savvy than the US.
8. Electricity comes and goes :)

So now that I am all set, and functioning, I am going to focus on opening new offices in Bombay, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Chennai. Hopefully some of these will open up by mid of next year, (bombay for sure).

Building a travel guide, planning on visiting Mysore this weekend, so looking forward to that. Have learned to manage churn in employees and staff (11 people have quit out of 20), 2 maids have quit, 2 drivers have quit, but heck now I do not get stressed out, as I have figured out how to replace one with the next (Great Learning). Ask for advise, if you so desire. India is a hard place to do business but there is truck loads of money to go around, only have to figure out how to collect the same.

Cheers,
Shiva

Productivity and India

2007-06-11T23:36:00.000+05:30

Howdy!! So now that I have been working in India for the better part of 5 odd months, what are my learnings -
1. Do not believe anything anyone promises to you, be it a CEO of a big company or be it a maid in the house, majority of the folks just point blank lie.

2. Double check everything, so if someone gives you something, you have to ensure it is upto the mark, as to what you have paid for or what you have instructed

3. Persistance pays off big time.

4. Everything is emotional, people only work hard for you if you have an emotional bonding, professionalism does not exist. Nor do financial rewards or penalties make any difference to anyone.

Been trying to get the folks in my team to work, but no one seems to be interested, now I know why most of the outsourcing projects go down the drain, i.e. there is no single leader who can inspire the trooops.

So what is the point I am making, well there is some special way that makes people tick in India, which is very different than the western world, something that companies like TATA, Reliance have figured out, hence they thrive in the environment, for the regular company, it is finding out the secret receipe, that will take them to heights.

Been travelling alot (nothing unusual about that), Delhi was HOTTTTT.. around 47 degrees celcius, ie is around 120 F, felt the skin will peal off. Bangalore is pleasant.

Some of my sales efforts are paying off, still evangalizing about maps in India, will keep pushing, wish me luck and hope that I can figure out the secret sauce that makes us Indians tick.

Cheers,
Shiva

Office in Bangalore

2007-05-11T16:00:00.000+05:30

Howdy All,

My apologies for not writing in such a long time, but been both lazy and busy. I have finally gotten my own office in Bangalore. This location is around 2KM from the airport and 3 minutes WALKING from my apartment, so the commute is very pleasant and fun.

It is interesting to start your own office, went and got furniture (still havent received all the pieces), got a drinking water filter, computer, printers, UPS, phone etc. I am still missing the blinds and curtains. Hey I even have a cleaning lady that comes every other day to cleanup the place.

So now that I have this office, what have I been upto? Have made a gzillion sales calls for Mapmyindia, trying to sell Location Based Services (LBS), have hired a office manager+data entry operator+plus finance dealings (all in one). Have also hired around 10 folks that will be doing field data collection to enhance my maps.

The family is happy that I am out of their way and now have my own place to work, the son starts laughing whenever I tell him I am going to 'ooffiicce'. He finds it funny that Papa has to go to office. Made a bunch of trips to Bombay/Mumbai on work. Commuting has become dirt cheap, you can get walk up tickets for a 1.5 hour flight for $50 bucks.

I have actually started to like Bangalore, even though the traffic sucks and things are slow, but as a city, everyone has a startup culture. Weather is much better than most of India (that does not mean it is great). Now I know why this city is home to Infosys, Wipro, Dell, IBM, Intel, and a host of major IT companies.

Plus points in the last month - Learning how difficult it is to sell without a big brand name behind you. Meeting people from all walks of life from the office boy to the CEO of banks. Patience. Good South indian food.

Minus points in last month - Still have not figured out all the localities of Bangalore. Missing Kebabs and Punjabi Food.

Planning a trip to Goa, shall keep you posted on the same.

Till I resurface.

Cheers,
Shiva

So where do I stand?

2007-03-27T23:28:00.000+05:30

Been over two months since I ve moved back from the US. Getting used to the Indian day to day life. So much has happened, finally got myself a new car, known as the Chevy Aveo - Red in color, reason being, my son and I both love red, wifey is not too concerned with the color of the car. We have moved into our rented apartment in bangalore, which is quite near the airport literally walking distance. Have also gotten a driver and a local maid, who will help out (hey what is the point of living in India if one has to drive by him/herself)?

The son is growing up, and is learning the local languages, sounds quite cute since he is speaking 3-4 languages now and they are all jumbled up, tough to explain it out. The little baby daughter is now 4 months old and she is holding onto things, still amazes me as to how much little babies learn and pick up new things.

So what else is happening in my life, i have finally been approved for a credit card (too a freaking 6 weeks), now keeping my fingers crossed that i ll get my first card. Learning the new industry of mapping, which helps me understand mapmyindia.com, working on branding these days, quite a difficult task since it involves so many channels. Getting to spend some quality time with parents, as have not had the chance to spend so much time with them in the past 14 years. Had a chance to fly one of the low cost Indian carrier (Go-Air), was pleasantly surprised with the service. It seems lots of folks who work in the IT industry in Bangalore, fly up and down (delhi-Bangalore) each weekend on their own expense, mostly young folks around 24-25 types.

Was a bit disappointed last week (like other Indians) as India got their butt kicked out of the cricket world cup. Folks in different parts of the country were burning the effigies of the sportspersons - lol, Indians take their cricket (gentleman's game) quite seriously. Will be opening up my office in Bangalore next week, looking forward to that, will be a completely new experience as I wil have to procure everythign from chairs-table, to internet connection, telephones, resources etc. Dauting but will be fun. Of course shall keep you posted. So Namaste till the next blog (dont know when that will happen).

Sayo Nara
Shiva

Finally in Bangalore, India

2007-03-07T23:49:00.000+05:30

All, My apologies for the late blog, but finally here I am. Reached Bangalore yesterday and have picked up an apartment on airport road (You have to experience the traffic to realize how bad it is). Well in this past one month, I have travelled to Bihar (Bhagalpur) for a friends wedding, logged in 3500 KM (~2600 miles) city driving, finally opened a bank account, and managed to get high speed internet connection at my parents place. So I treat each of these as achievements, however small they might be.

Bihar was fun, took a train journey after 10 years along with my good friend who joined me from Patna. For the cost of an extra large Dominos pizza ($20), one can get a nice sleeper air conditioned ticket that takes you 900 miles. May not be the cleanest conditions but it is cheap. Bhagalpur is the 3rd or 4th largest city in Bihar on the banks of Ganga river, sleepy little town but is experiencing the great Indian boom as the government is spending 100s of millions of $$ for road development.

So back to Bangalore (Blr), it is an interesting place, for those who have not been here, it is a 2 tier city, outsourcing related people, and normal industry related people. Since I am in the normal industry category, am finding things a bit expensive here.

My www.Mapmyindia.com is coming up with a new version, we are going to be launching all India with better algorithms for navigation, plus better local search. So really looking forward to that. India really needs car navigation, 99% of people on the street give you wrong directions when you ask them for a locations address etc. Officially we have a presence in Blr, since I now live here. In the process of finding office space, local tel numbers and some staff, setting up office is a pretty tedious process (ask those who have recently setup back offices in India).

For all you NRI's (Non-Resident Indian) living abroad, I would highly recommend buying some property in India, as the prices will start looking like Tokyo in the next 10 years, there is way too much money chasing too little real estate. Things do get frustating at times, as customer service SUCKS in India, but if you scream loud enough people listen :).

Rest is fine, watch out for the updated site (hopefully it opens up).

Cheers till then,
Shiva

Two Weeks Later

2007-02-01T09:11:00.000+05:30

So I am in India and it has been two weeks!! I am now living with my parents. Life has come a full circle, left home for college, then moved to the US for a Masters, got married, moved from rental to our own place, moved back to rental and then moved to India to live with parents, so within a space of 10 years have come back to the same point from where I started lol!!

So what is new, India is freaking expensive specially housing. Day to day life is good except people specially from the strata of society reading this email are VERY lazy, all talk and no work. The lower middle class, drivers etc, work very hard but office executives only come up with concepts getting actual work seems to be much tougher.

So what are the interesting events that have happened since my move to delhi hmm my son is fascinated with horses and cow. He wants to buy a cow. It is quite cute when a 2 year old comes to you and says 'Papa, I want to buy a cow', dont know how he got this idea. Other than that I fell sick, not because of bad food etc but because I have been eating chicken tikkas and panner parathas etc on a daily basis (enjoying the great Indian food), my stomach has told me to take it a bit easy.

Settling into my new job at www.mapmyindia.com, the work culture is very different, but people are more open to change (as opposed to the US). India is changing, Reliance openeds its first Kirana store, which I think was a big thing as the retail sector is in the process of getting organized. Enjoying the traffic, had gone to bangalore recently, I do not think I have seen such bad traffic in my life (that includes LA), it takes 20 minutes to travel 1 KM (0.6 miles), which has definately got to be the slowest traffic speed. Bangalore has to parts to it, old city with people workign on normal jobs and new city with people working on $$ incomes and spending on the same level. Average Joe Indian is getting crushed between the $$ spend and the regular Indian salary.

Took a flight, I have to say Indian flight personnel are 10X better than the American ones. They blocked a seat on a full flight for our baby was also travelling with us, I would say Indian when they feel personal about something, go all the way to help you.

So nothing else, still to open a bank account, trying to find my moorings and bearing in India. I think it will take 6-8 months to completely get insync with the flow here. Shall keep you posted.

Namaste till then.
Shiva

D-Day - 2 (D-day being the 19th of Jan)

2007-01-18T12:43:00.000+05:30

Well the time has come to write the blog and share my experiences of these past few months and the hopefully the years to come. We (Myself, Wife, and 2 kids are returning to India after spending quite a many years in the USA). Well to be frank we are a bit scared and at the same time very excited. India that I left many years ago has changed and for all practical reasons it will be a very different country than the one i left.

Our flight is on the 19th of Jan 2007 and we will reach New Delhi on the 20th. I will be joining a great new startup http://www.mapmyindia.com which is one of a kind unique mapping company in India and wifey will be joining a back office for a bank. Kids will be joining their grand parents and rest of the family.

Many of us have asked why are we returning to India or what made us take this drastic decision and to them I answer only one thing - Change. It is good to change life for both growth and excitement. Both of us had very good job multinational jobs in the US but after a point it gets routine. Hence the change. Not doing it for the money or family, but more for a different prespective to life. Also if 1.2 billion people can live in India, then why not 4 more :)

Today we shipped all our luggage and it was a pain, we have way too much stuff. Boxes of papers, clothes, furniture, junk etc. Not sure why we have all these things and not sure why we shipped it (did not have the inclination to go through so much junk). The son (2 year old toddler) was shocked when he could not find his toys, the reaction was worth seeing. Have met most of the family and friends, closed all the finances, credit cards etc, currently unemloyed, but all excited to start a new life yet again. Well keep reading, I ll be posting the interesting events that occur each day or week or month (time permitting) as we move from the New York life to the Delhi life.

India here I come.

Shivalik