On a late evening flight

These are thoughts on a flight

I am writing after some months. Just finished an exciting trip to Japan and back. It was nice. Met my Japanese partner, and along with them met up with some interesting companies. Mostly in the automotive space. Every time I go to Japan the thing that strikes out to me is the cleanliness and the honesty of the people. I am convinced if I need to buy something and it needs to last sometime, I am going to buy Japanese. The effort they put into their products and service is mind boggling. I have not seen it in any Indian company. Here is all 'Chalta Hai'.

Right now on a flight from Delhi to Bombay, it was a day trip, got up at 5.30AM in the morning and have been travelling the entire day but it was a fruitful, went for some internal discussions. Today in India, the Congress/TDP parties led a no-confidence motion against the BJP led government, completely for optics as BJP has absolute majority in the Indian parliament. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming elections, it is a real toss up.

Technology is really changing in India, have gotten Amazon Prime membership and one can download movies, music etc onto the mobile device and even without internet connectivity, one can enjoy some nice content. I am sure in a few years, all planes etc will streaming content. The flight on the way from India to Japan had live Satellite TV, I landed up watching the World Cup Football 2018 match. Technology has come a long way and it has a long way to go. Pollution/energy needs are still very basic stuff that tech has to take care of. It too shall change if we give it enough time.

So what is happening around in India - Well Indians who have some money are very pessimistic about India that the country will fail and are leaving in big numbers. Funny enough each time they come to India they get shocked with the kind of wealth being built in India. It is following the China model and people in India in the next 20 years will have crazy money across most strata of society. I think in 2040 it will kick into full gear as a new generation comes up educated. They will be more demanding and will most likely push more. Most of the world would have aged by them and will be looking to Robots to help them out. India will be kicking in high gear despite all our corruption and nepotism.

Most people are trying to find the meaning of life, trying to live healthy etc. Wholesome life. Most dont realize, we are on a time clock, do what the hell gives you a kick keeping in mind that you dont hurt someones sentiments and are not selfish. In my world, eat good food with enough sleep and have some good conversations. Rest just plays out itself, one cannot control or channel it. I was reading some of my posts from 10 years back and it was interesting to see what has changed. Literally nothing except I have gotten 10 years older, kids are growing up and working towards academics, sports etc as it is. I have been trying to do yoga in a small little way no expert but I believe it is a poor mans exercise. Maybe running is a better exercise but for those who are ok doing basic things, yoga works well. I am sure at a senior level Yoga will be mind boggling but that is beyond my physical limits.

Anyways, enough ranting, more to come in some months or years as the case maybe. Keep reading whoever you are.

Ciao,
Shiva

Visit to Japan for a conference

21st Oct 2016
Tokyo, Japan

This has been an interesting trip to Japan as I have been able to get in touch with so many persons who I otherwise would not be able to meet. The trip was interesting in essence because of the fact that I was able to operate independently on my own without any help of Japanese partners or customers. Japan is a very organized society and as long as one knows the rules of engagement he/she will be able to operate seamlessly. I believe I will be coming down to Japan many times and will build good lasting relationships. In my personal capacity I get along very well with Japanese people, they are similar to the older generation Indians who seek order and respect.

This trip was about visiting a conference at the Westin, Tokyo. I stayed at a hotel called MyStay, which was in a part called Gotanda. Took the ANA flight into Narita and then took the return trip (advanced paid) train ticket to the city. The Narita Express train drops one off at different points in the city and then one has to change trains to reach their destination. There are many train companies in Tokyo / Japan and each of them operate independently, i.e. the ticket system is different for each of them. Broadly, the JR Rail (Yamamoto line or something like that) and the Tokoi Metro are the main train lines. In addition to this, there are commuter train lines known as Hitachi Express, etc. The bullet train is known as the Shinkasen and is broadly operates between major cities (it also has a classification of levels slow, faster, fastest known as Nozomi).

The first day I went walking over to the Westin Hotel and had a chance to see the nice high end areas like Meguro (I am assuming it is high end because of the presence of consultates / embassies - normally the foreign offices in a city are in the nicer areas). On the way learned that the Google maps are not always right (it showed Westin almost 500 meteres off, which is a nightmare in a country where you dont know the language). The Westin was like how the TAJ Bombay used to be many years ago, rich and elegant. Over the next 2 days I had the chance to meet the many companies operating in the Automotive and next generation technologies (autonomous driving, connected system, 5G network roll outs, self healing systems etc). Japanese folks like anything American and I realized it is better to sell to the American companies when I want to reach out to the Japanese. I guess history never changes (used to the same almost 150 years ago).

Spent 2 full days at the conference, was also a speaker and explained to the audience what I have been doing in the Autonomous (driverless car area), it seems in this eco-system most of the players are still trying to find their sweet spot. Met bunch of nice folks (many from Seattle). Anyways I have planned a trip to Seattle to meet up with some of these companies. Next day I had the chance to meet my investors Zenrin, Ltd and it was nice to meet old friends. Also landed up meeting some of the leading software companies of Japan and realized nothing is different between USA  - India - Japan and all is the same only the price points differ.

Right now in the Narita express on the way to the airport listening to Coldplay and Adele. Been a good trip and now next week to Singapore to meet potential customers and my sisters (both of whom live in Singapore).

Sayonara,
Adious,
Shiva

An Indian in Japan ....

My Trip to Japan and its interesting surrroundings

I landed into Japan via Malaysia on a late sunday evening and then was picked up by the Cabbie at the Narita Airport. Incidentally the City of Tokyo has 2 major airports with the Narita being the main one. The airport is around 65 KM from the main city and hence I got ready for a long ride into the city. The tolls are horrendous, I really pity the local residents on paying these high tolls but then heck so is life. My cabbie dropped me to a hotel called Presso Inn and I checked in. The hotel was around 100$ per night but the hotel room is very very small, but it was cute and nice. Lots of electronics in the room from multiple alarms etc. Heck there is a machine to press your trousers each morning outside on the floor of the room.

Post my check in, I went to Dennys's (Yes the same USA one), for dinner, but was in for a interesting surprise, the Dennys in Japan only serves Japanese food. So had a early dinner and then went off to bed.

Next morning or rather early afternoon, went to meet my Japanese colleagues at their head office, which was only 100 metres away, so not too bad. Met many folks and they were very nice and polite. We discussed some business and moved out for dinner at night.

Dinner was a traditional sit down Japanese dinner with lots of Sake and many different types of Sashimi and Tuna/Sushi etc. It was a very different dinner, last time I had something like this was in Detroit around 2003, so almost 9 years earlier. Dinner went late and I got to understand the Japanese culture, people drink pretty heavily in Japan and can really pack it, I could not drink so much (but then again I am not much of a drinker, only some beer). Post dinner went home and tried out the high speed internet at the hotel. Frankly I had heard so much of the internet speed in Japan but no where have I experienced very very high speed including various offices I have been to, it is just a myth. My internet speed at home is as fast as this. The fastest speed I have experienced is at universities in the USA.

Next day I went to Yokohama, which is home to a automotive company. Along the way I had a fried Eel with Rice, again something I have never eaten before. The business folks were very polite and acknowledge the fact that I am a foreigner and greet you with much respect. The same day it was announced on TV that Tokyo is going to have a huge storm such that there was huge panic everywhere, but then nothing happened so it was a 'Phusssssss'. I guess the folks are paranoid after what happened during the Tsunami!!

Next day, I went to another customer and was surprised how much the people trust each other, you can carry your wallet open in your laptop bag open, and no one at the train station will flick it. Imagine doing this in Mumbai... heck by the time you reach home your account would also have been hacked. That night we travelled to Nagoya and had some interesting Chinese Dim Sum. In most of the Japanese cities for business travellers there are good hotels at the stations and the eating joints are also at the train stations.

Early next morning, took a commuter train to meet some more customers. I must say that most of the Japanese customers are very well informed in what is happenning in different parts of the world, something the Indian customers have little idea about. I was pleasantly surprised, but the trick is they dont let you know anything and hold the cards close to their chest. Post my meeting, I am on a bullet train going back to Tokyo.. heck the trains are very very expensive, a typical 300 KM travel on the bullet train costs around Rs6500/- around 120$. Even the local metro / subway is quite expensive and I thought that London was expensive hahahahahah.

Over-all my experience in Japan has been very pleasant, the people are very polite and very very very hardworking. A typical Japanese office goer leaves home at around 6 Am to catch a train to come work in Tokyo and then leaves office at around 9 PM and reaches home around 11 PM when he has dinner at home.. normally he sees his family only on the weekends. MOst Japanese folks dont take more than 5 days holidays and work continuously. It is a matter of pride if you take no vacation days in a year. Unbelievable but then that is why they are one of the most advanced countries in the world. All possible combinations and permutations of doing business is thought through, even my dinner items were thought through 1 week in advance (compare this with India where we are not even sure if we go to office tomorrow or not or if the customer will change his/her mind on a important project). Big cultural difference and I hope one day India also rises up to this level of committment and hardwork.

Day after tomorrow I travel to Mumbai via Malaysia again and will keep you posted on any new developments that might be worth a mention.

Bye,
Shiva