-15 DegC, Grit, Coutryard, DISAPPOINTMENT

I am back from my Mexico/ USA, Sunday, this time the Jet Lag was so terrible it took me more than 4 days to be back to Normal. So missed the last week blog. Some days, I cant even recollect having Lunch, ( I believe Lalithas word for it). This dispite a Shower at Gate 1a Lounge at Heathrow and plenty of water in the 22 Hr flight. I guess the body has its limits.
So then, I faced the coldest day of my life in Salt Lake city at -15 deg C. Pl see the photos. The snow was also insult to Injury. Yes, for my friend Bob Buccafusco, used to -40 Deg this was a warm day. Bob Brushed the snow of the car(Picture) with Bare Hands!!!!.


I saw some Mexican tradition, every place has this farming equipments I am told as a symbol of good luck and hope. I think people think the same. The Snap shot of Hotel Araiza which I mentioned in the last column.
















I must say I found the Courtyard, Marriott, very comfortable. I stayed with them in LA, Athens, Ga and the service was very good and room tariff value for money. So was the breakfast as well as lot of coffee. The good thing in the most American hotels are the coffee makers in room and unlimited access to coffee in the lounge 24 by 7. By the way one reason I look forward to my American visits are the Waffles. I can have that for breakfast every day, I did that this time.( All the 11 days in the USA I had the waffles and corn flakes, missed that in Mexico, But Mexican food was good enough!!). My next visit I plan to bring back a waffle maker with me.

I was delighted to find all Veg resturant, Grit at Athens, Georgia, (100 Miles from Atlanta, I stayed there to visit the facility at Elberton, Ga). No worry about Meat contamination. I enjoyed the food and I must thank Bob for finding that. They don't accept AMEX card.

I have a bit of disappointment too, I had subscribed to the HBR and the first copy arrived last week. The first advertisement on Page 1 is Jhonny Walker Blue label Whisky. Do the managment magazine need such ads, more so when the adverse effects are well known. Especially for Indians, who we know what happens when a couple of pecks go inside.!!!!. I wonder???, where are norms and yard stick for journal/ Advertisement ethics, I wonder!!!.

Ok, I will for sure pen tomorrow, with more thoughts.
Till next time, take it easy and take care, Live consciously.
Karthik.

Rome, Jack Reacher, Jason, Eid.

I am just back from Rome on a week visit. This was the second trip to the Historical place this year.

For the second time this year, the baggage didn't reach Rome and it got missed out in London on the BA Flight, coincidentally, this was the trip, I was confident that the baggage would come through as the transit time was more than 2 Hrs and so I did not pack any backup cloth or stuff in the hand baggage.So it was a struggle, anyway this also gave me a chance to reflect on things, how we take things for granted or how we are addicted to habits and can live without. The 3 days with the same cloth, reminded me of the Jack Reacher, the main character in Lee Childs novel. Jack Reacher just travels with one set of cloth with no spares.

The flight BA 118 which I took was kind of unique, during the 11 Hr flight from Bangalore- London, the fasten seat belt sign didn't come on even once. (Except Landing), it was kind of experience as we could move around inside the aircraft. Wonder how many would experience that!!.

I had chance to take a walking tour of the ROME CITY. The guide, Jason, an American now conducts an amazing tour, which is just takes back to you to historic time. He had come to study Theology in Italy some time back and has now decided to conduct full time tour. His Knowledge of the Rome history is amazing, so are some of his anecdotes surrounding history. Not only that, he gives you a good free information on the good restaurants and shops to do value for money. Jason's trip is worth participating if you visit Rome. He can be reached on email at : Toursofrome@hotmail.com. Jason was found by Mike Csedrik, my colleague during his previous visit on the tour of Vatican. I haven't had the time to visit Vatican, I have planned it for the next visit.

So the rugby world cup is proving great and memorable for Jonny Wilkinson and English fans, what a dream run he is having. My guess is that If England wins the World cup, Jonny would surely be on the Knighthood list next year. Great nerve wrecking stuff last night. I am sure tonight's match would be a thriller and we have a strong possibility of Falklands war settled on a RUGBY field. My Boss Anthony is following it live on the Field in France, here is to Wish Anthony a great time out in France.

Came across this interesting website on Leadership Gurus. I haven't heard of John Maxwell before, But his Maximum Impact approach looks straight forward no nonsense as well as he brings the teachings of GOD in a very subtle, secular way.

So the festive seasons has began, so its fun for the next 3 weeks with Navaratri and Diwali round the corner. Have fun. My Pakistan friends would be enjoying Eid al Fitr now. Here is to wish all the great festive times.

Till next week, take it easy and take care, Live Consciously. BTW, good to see Steve Pavlina back on podcasts.

Regards
Karthik.

Back up candidate.

So this week has all been going tight with lot of deadlines on Projects. It was after some time that I felt that 24 Hrs were not enough to manage things on home, work and personal fronts. Yeah it is good to have this pressure once in a while.

Last week, one of my very very close childhood friend had a strange experience of series of interview for a international position from overseas consultant. While he was fully settled and had no plans to move out of India given the Wellness of Indian economy, as well as appreciating rupee as well as wanting to be close to home as a typical Indian worker do. This would make all the movement out of India a redundant. His Personality profile clearly indicates that he would work for a a good and understanding boss and this has been the case for the past 20 years in the organizations where he worked. He accepted to be interviewed over phone for a simple reason for knowing new people as well as the consultant being " the top notch International recruiter" so its good to know people and this company also is so called leader in the field.

So with the Phone line being as disturbing it was and you need to strain to hear what was said, and there were some hypothetical questions which didn't make sense to him. It reminded us of a tamil movie of 1960s in which two unemployed graduates discuss about the recent job interview in which they were asked questions about sports tactics in a clerical job interview. (Kalyana Parisu)

What shocked us both was that the feedback that came from the company that he needed to improve his leadership skills and that they found wanting. Some excuse for not they not making it for him. We just wondered whether the discussion was for a CEO position giving Jack Welch or Bob Shaphiro a run for the money. More so with we both reading lot of Drucker and Podcasts. I look up to him for advice and suggestion on Management and best practices as well we exchange all the best practices in Management.

Some euphemistic way, I guess. Anyway, he also shared with me a hunch feeling that he was a backup candidate to turn in to should some things don't work with the first candidate. After listening to him with less transparency when the deal is happening. Anyway, it would have made no difference, but just thought of sharing this incident as how things can go in this competitive environment. I guess you cant find out if you are the backup candidate, but as things progress, you can foresee the end, I guess. So you can say it was hell of an interview. We both wondered if an Indian candidate was used as a scapegoat to project the other guys better.!!!!. I have read such techniques as norm in my MBA paper, so could see the real example.

Incidentally, I had posted my query on sharing the Manager tools podcast for our Indian friends who don't have access to Internet in India. Mike and Mark are pondering over this.

So, as usual the Wallabies found Jonny too much to handle in the quarter final. I think the English rugby is alive and kicking. I had referred Jonny in earlies posts as one of the great sports personality and he proved it again yesterday. It was also sad to see all blacks loosing to France. This goes to show the uncertainties of the game.

I am glad Aussies are teaching Indians lesson in Cricket, reminds me of Clive Lloyd handing out Humiliation to India after the fluke of 1983. Teams like India have long long long way to go to catch up on international cricket. One tree doesn't make a forest. Such victories can only bring some pocket filling. To reach world class levels to be even a number 2 team I don't see happening in my lifetime. This is confirmed by a news of a talented cricketer committing suicide, which I just saw as news in CNN IBN.

Till next week, take it easy and take care, Live consciously.

Karthik.

Career Opportunities

Hi all,

Good to be back to after a week gap. I was kind of tied up with couple of career cross roads situation that kind of tied up to take some decisions. Now that I have made the decision, it is good feeling back to focus. Also the Hyderabad flyover collapse happened as I was getting ready to work on my blog last week.

I am just wondering as to how much Indian companies had turned around in their approach to management and cultural shift? I have lost the feel as its almost 16 years. I think they have come a long way in kind of managing the issues professionally. But the question is, Are people who are working in MNC for more than a decade or so, who are used to taking independent decisions and working in virtual environment, be ready to take the plunge to adjust themselves ???. I am not very sure. I have also been seeing couple of my friends/ ex-colleagues who moved out from a stable job in MNCs to work with Indian companies and have since been in a kind of job hopping over the past 4 years. Yes, of course, they have grown in their career position in terms of position, stature, titles, but the question over change always come to haunt putting family considerations as well as entering in to uncharted frontiers of working with the unknown? I would be interested to see comments.

I am wondering about the rains about the last 3 days here in Bangalore, and the damage it has caused including deaths. Wonder, when things are going to turn around. You really feel sad to hear stores of people being washed away or house collapse even when the rainfall is hardly a couple of inches. Wonder, what we can do from our side as a social measure?

I came across this websites which I hope will be of help to you.

Douglas Welch hosts very interesting podcast on career opportunities. Worth hearing. I found podcasts on reputation for honesty, empathy etc, very useful.

Jack and Suzy welch roll out a podcast every week on the Business week column called the Welch Way. I am getting to hear during my evening walk. (Morning walk is reserved for Manger tools). Very practical suggestions, straight forward. You may use Itunes to collect podcasts I guess.

Not sure, If I had given link to the Marcus Buckingham's website in my previous posting on his books. He is refreshingly different. I finished his books, First break all the rules, and Discover your strengths.

Ok, Take care and catch up next week. Enjoy the Ganesh festival. I had a good time yesterday. With my son growing up he has started performing the ritual at home this year.

Until then, Take it easy and Take care; Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Class C cities Accelarating.

I am glad that I could find time today to sit in front of the Laptop.Its amazing that I haven't been out of Bangalore for 3 Months on business travel that when I got a chance on personal travel with my wife last week, it looked a new experience. You are so used to routine that a change is the thing you look forward to.

I was pleasantly surprised by the infrastructure available at the Madurai and Trichy airports. The facilities are much better in terms of passenger access, waiting area, catering etc. Infact Trichy airport expansion looks bigger than the present Bangalore Airport. This gave me a chance to travel on one of those rare occasions by Air Deccan from Madurai to Bangalore and to our relief the flight was on time. So some improvement. This visit also gave me a chance to visit the town Manamadurai in Tamilnadu. The town is 50 Kms from Madurai and famous for earthen pots. I did my First Grade here in 1969. I was with our uncle for a year as my father had been to Benaras for his higher studies. (He got his PG Degree when he was 28 and Ph.D at 58 in Corrosion Studies, more on thats for another blog for how I plan to follow his foot steps).

I was also amazed at the developments happening in Karaikudi, my home town. The one hour I spent on the morning walk shook me literally. I didn't recognize most of the buildings that have come up on the places I assumed something else existed. The houses of my school teachers, are razed and multi story shopping complex has come up. I couldn't even place the geographical coordinates to the nearness. Even street patterns had changed, so much so that my cousin who had come from New Jersey to meet my parents last week, missed the intersection to turn in for our house(He lived and studied with us for 3 years 15 Years back). Such is the mushrooming of real estate. The green trees and open space looks like thing of the past even in a C Grade town like Karaikudi which are quite and sleepy towns for educational excellence.

Changing subject, I am glad that Manager tools won the best Podcast award in the business category at Podcast Alley awards. I did my best to vote for Mike and Mark everyday. I am glad to see Anna too made it in the top 10. I am sure I had sent the Horstman's law to all in my email list.

Bye
Till next time, take it easy and take Care. Live Consciously.
Karthik.

Tokyo, Chelsea and some useful Websites

Good to be back to find time for the BLOG, the last 3 weeks have been kind of hectic with travel, personal issues to attend at home as well as some catchup to do at work front.

I got a chance to be back in Japan,during the II week of April. I had seen phenomenal change in even by Japanese standards as you moved through Tokyo towards the outer suburbs. The Narita Airport which was a one building one terminal in 1999, when I last visited Japan, looks drastically different with multiple terminals divided in to wings. The multi story buildings have mushroomed. What has not changed is the narrow streets and rush in the trains. The rush in Tokyo train stations remind of you of the Church gate station.

I also got a first time chance to travel in Famously expensive Tokyo taxis,(I couldn't afford it in the last visit) if one thing can blow your $s away, that will be a ride on Tokyo taxi, even a 3 mile drive will cost you 25$.

The Shinkansen (The Bullet train, Hope, people remember the famous movie in 1980) has monstered growth with multiple decks and amenities. Pl see the Photos.

I was also amazed at the Mobile and Internet revolution in Japan, the 3G telephones makes you feel our mobile phones as puppet, the advance features are brilliant. So much is the Japanese mobile development, that the latest model mobile phones are not compatible there and dont work. You can watch TV, Movies on mobile, download clips at smoking speed, and in the Bullet train moving at 250 Kmph, communication hardly breaks. As for the Internet access, would you believe it, Its ABSOLUTELY FREE anywhere you access. The download speeds are staggering 1mbps, so much so I downloaded about 400Mb of information in less than an hour. What surprised me was that my Korean colleague, who was with me on business in Tokyo, said to me Quote,"Karthik, wait till you come to Seoul, You will download 750mb movie file in less than 30 minutes. Korea is miles ahead" Unquote. I am looking forward to my Korean visit soon.
This trip also helped me to see 10 GB flash drive like thumb size, at a throw away prize, so I grabbed one. My kids were pestering me for a 80 Gb IPOD, which I duly obliged during the Tokyo visit. The price, 30 % cheaper than Indian price.
The food was a pleasant surprise for me I managed lot of veggie stuff, thanks to help from my colleagues, who painstakingly sieved through the menu to get vegetarian choice). So, I managed to survive.
Yes, the disappointment was I didn't have the time to go to Akhiabara, the electronics shop ocean, these days I have planned my travel schedules to be a kind of Last in First out, as travel is becoming mundane.

Ok, then, my son was in tears when Chelsea lost the Champions league semifinal to Liverpool this week. However,he got some consolation and recovered , when Manchester united lost to AC Milan the next day. He is a mad Chelsea fan who watches Chelsea matches with an official Chelsea T-shirt and covers his room with Chelsea flag and Official books, and Official Chelsea month calendar. I am attaching the couplet he wrote for this years EPL. (Looks like Chelsea wont make that too).

Ok, then here are some of the good websites for personal development. I have also started downloading podcasts to fill in 80 Gb in IPod.

http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/cim/articles_alpha.php
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Business/Leadership-and-Management
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast_archive.cfm
http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/links
http://www.careerjournal.com/

The Manager-tools.com (www.manager-tools.com) is also a great website, try that out. I have downloaded about 60 podcasts there, (Most of it downloaded at smoking speed at Japan as I didn't get to sleep till 2 am, which 10Pm our time).

This week I got a chance to read the entire magazine, " The Economist" at Bombay airport as my flight was delayed. It gives lot of information on various issues that happens across the world in politics, science, technology. I also find favourable mention in all business blogs. I am planning to have a personal subscription. ( Got to have a serious discussions with the Finance/home minister for approval though, as price is Rs. 11,000 for 3 years at 52% discount). Man proposes, woman disposes, I guess.

Until next take care, stay healthy and live consciously.

One night in Bangkok

I am glad that at the way things have shaped up this week for Indian cricket. I was always confident, that this time it would be a big challenge for India to go to the second round on its own merit and the same thing has happened. I always felt that the team is preoccupied with Ad contracts and other off activities. I am also some times shocked to see the players dashing for various events in between matches, and only 2 weeks back I saw the so called great batsman and so called Gilchrist, rushing to London for 24 Hrs between one day internationals and back. If this is the case god save Indian cricket. I always felt, that westindies lost the world cup in 1983 rather than India won it. So I am happy that the Indian cricket is on its knees. I hope the people learn from this and treat it as a game. No where in the world I had seen such a kind of frenzy.

Ok, I had been to Thailand many times, but never took time to mention that in my blog, may be its so close or common place. I had a the chance to explore the city this week, more so on the weekend for the Honeywell meeting and the weekend was used up for the team building purpose which covered finding exact shops and antiques besides exploring some of the areas. The open shopping market which houses 30,000 stalls and is thronged by 100,000 people at any given time.

Bangkok is a good place to do cheap shopping and there is more there just than the Night life bar and nude shows that go there. I haven't been to those places other than the first time in 2000 to see what its like (I personally feel that everything is to be seen once),but my personal opinion is that you must go there once to see it. There is more than nudity there for some of the tricks that girls perform there are seen to be believed and leaves you dazed.

The transportation system is one of the best I have seen in Asia with subway and sky way. The new international airport will give Narita, Dubai and Changi a run for the money. The Thai currency Bhatt is close to a Rupee (1.3) so you dont feel the pain of pairity.
The greatest fun is in shopping and you can do outrageous bargain on street shops and get away with the product for almost the prize you bargained.
So plan a visit to Bangkok, its good get away as mentioned in the song "One night in Bangkok is always better" by Murray Head.

Italy and France and the week of 25th Feb

Hi,
Sorry No photos this edition, Hope to do that when back home.
Its been ages I had posted the info in Website. As I am sitting in the Los Angeles, Airport, British Airways Lounge waiting for the flight to take back to Bangalore, I thought I would put my thoughts thro the public computer.

Well, I had a great visit to Italy and France in the last week of January. I had been to Atessa, which is 300 Kms from Rome. The food, people were great, so was the passion for football. I also had a great time visiting Rome went thro Colosseum, Ancient ruins, Italian Parliament. I was very fortunate to have the company of Lio, the Guy who picked me all the way to Atessa and back to Rome. Lio was a Italian Canadian with a fluent English. So he was able to tell all the things about Italy. The Bread and Olive Oil are out of the world and I was drinking it in Mini cups soaking it with Bread.

France too was Fantastic, The weather yes at -5 deg was something new. But I got adjusted. The drive from Luxembourg to Epinal in France of 300 Kms was so straight, that if you shoot an arrow it would reach Epinal. I also a good tour of the city and food was reasonable.

The week of Feb 25th was great, I brought my Daughter to the USA for a 2 week Scholarship. She had received this sponsored by Honeywell. (www.presidentialclassroom.org)
She had been to so many places in Washington, DC and met people like Buzz Aldrin, Senators etc. She learned a lot. There were 160 students from Age 14- 18, she was kind of the youngest.
This week also I got in touch with my cousin Dhuruvan, after 27 years, and he met my daughter in DC. I also got in touch with my classmate after 24 years over phone and plan to be the focal point. We studied together in Madurai. I also a good meeting professionally, the purpose for which I came to LA as well as had quick tour with walk on the Redando and Hermosa beaches.

So take care, Will post Photos and other thoughts soon. As I got to leave the Business lounge for security Check. The LAX airport is also a theme for the song, "LA International Airport" which I use to hum in College days.
Take care and Stay healthy.

Bye
Karthik.

Hitting 190 KMPH

Just to let you know that the proverbial Wolf caught up with me after 12 years of international travel, I am talking about the Luggage lost in Transit in international travel.

This happened at Frankfurt airport on the transit via London. My only checked Bag was not loaded in the BA flight to Frankfurt, Sunday.

With all the hand baggage restriction, you can imagine that I didn't carry anything other than Laptop (that too charger was in the checked baggage to reduce weight, you are allowed only 7 Kgs), So it was a hell of a time over the last 48 Hrs.

That's life is it not. Fortunately I managed to buy all the spares that are needed to sustain self in Neunkirchen (closer to France) and yes the positive was a great shopping experience for all your needs and this was done in an Hour. My German colleagues were very helpful all throughout. I think British Airways also did a great job, I tracked the progress thro their website.

Some learning I guess.Let me see how I prepare a better Plan B for future travel.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I also had a very good 2 weeks trip in Germany, I spent the weekend in Frankfurt and it has changed a lot in 12years since I last visited. I also had a chance to travel on the Autobahn from Frankfurt to Hamburg and the distance of 512 Km was done in 4 Hr flat. At some places we hit 190 Kmph as there are no legal speed limits (See photo) That was fantastic experience. The car I traveled with my Colleague had also Global Positioning System (GPS) which just directs you where you want to go.(You just select destination), Its amazing where technology is going.

This trip was also a good learning for me as it gave broader safety perspective in to German legislation, requirements etc.

Take care and have a great great time and looking forward to Holidays.

Regards

Karthik.

Completed MBA, Bucharest et al.

I hope all had a good festive time.

I am delighted to inform that I had completed the MBA-HR course of IGNOU. It took 3 years, 6 semesters and 19 papers. (1 paper in the second attempt, which delayed the results by a year, Never had a clue as to how I missed the papers, almost all folks who attempted the paper in HR during Dec 2004, had to reappear and complete. I think this was great and I had lot of learning. I now had to complete the project work which I am doing on corporate social responsibility. I expect to hit the steam soon.

OK, Now to my Bucharest visit. I had a great time in Bucharest. Romania is an upcoming nation like India. The situation is no different with the growth. The only difference is unemployment is practically zero and so they are looking at Romanians from outside the country, (Romania is smaller than greater Bombay with 20 Million people, Bucharest is 2 Million) mostly in Spain etc to come back and build the nation. The traffic jams and disorderliness reminds you of Bombay. The accent people speak reminds you of the James Bond movie (Russia with love etc). The hotel Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel was very good.

I hope you are also aware that Dracula has its origin from Romania, so its also called the land of Dracula.

The great thing that attracted me to Bucharest are the Architecture, Bucharest has the world's second largest building which now houses the Romanian Parliament. There are many beautiful buildings. It appears, Nikolai Ceausescu, who ruled Romania in communist times from 1965 to 1989, built and showed many great things to Romanians how great things can be, showed people what better things are and never allowed them to enjoy it.

Of course, one of the other thing of striking nature was the prettiness of the women in Romania. I usually never bothered about that anywhere else to take notice, But this was a striking nature in them. I think there is something that is different and comes close to Indian beauty, I guess. Needless to say, I shared this with my wife as the first email from Romania and to few women friends I have, so the issue is settled I guess.

I had also chance to meet my classmate Krishnan, in New Jersy after 5 years, we met for the second time in the US the first one in 2001 after 18 years. I plan to find the rest of the guys of our college and lets see how it goes. We did our graduation in TCE, Madurai. Pl find the photo with his family taken in Morris town, NJ.

I am reading the book "Execution, the discipline of getting things done" by Larry Bossidy, the ex- chairman of Honeywell. Larry turned the company around. If you want to know about the Honeywell culture, that's the best book to read.

Take care and catch up with you soon

Karthik.

Liverpool

I thought I will do this Blog with the color of the Mersey Derby the football teams of the city, Liverpool and Everton.

So I got a chance to visit the Historic city, which is an hour drive from Preston and went around the city. The Albert dock which is one of the biggest port docks I had even seen extending miles and miles. The Liverpool skyline looks very Victorian the architecture very unique.

I had chance to stand on the banks of the Mersey river which meets in to the Atlantic on the coast of Liverpool.

The biggest moment was the 2 hrs I spent at the Beatles museum, I am sure many of you know that Liverpool is the birth place of Paul, John. It was great going thro the metamorphosis of the group. It was an emotional experience. Especially the last segment with John's Solo career where the song "Imagine" plays out. It is difficult to control your emotions.

This week travel and all the enjoyment was possible to the fantastic effort by my boss Anthony Wareham (He is based out of Manchester). Anthony and Kate took their time off from their busy and Hectic schedule, to take me to football, dinner, lunch as well as to Liverpool. Thanks to them, this was one of the most memorable weekends. It is a dodgy thing to push a weekend in business tour, this one was very different.

PL find the photos of the Mersey River, Albert dock and Beatles Museum.

Have a great week ahead.

Kingfisher

There have been lot of responses to my Blog and People are generally Appreciative of the content. As I am preparing to spend a weekend at home, back from a week in Pune, I thought I would share some thoughts.

The Kingfisher trip this week to Pune and back was a kindof experience,it would Put Indian Airlines to feel great. When I phoned last Friday to telecheckin for the Saturday morning flight, the reply was no such PNR( I had confirmed ticket, I was wondering if I would sign in on Saturday with Honeywell, else Lalitha would say wait till the next auspicious day and I have learned the very very hard and tragic way, never to Ignore her on this, that's for another episode) then they called me after 2 hrs and said they have confirmed me and gave me the seat no 24F). I reached Airport Saturday, told 24 F while checking in and didnt bother to check the Boarding pass,(never did after Jet airways spoiled me well over 250 flights, and when I entered Aircraft, the Horror was Middle seat 8B.Hell of a time, I ordered coffee as Ididnt feel like having breakfast, as luck would have it, due to the turbulent weather conditions no coffee was served. (Cant blame them)

The worst to come and that was when I planned to return to Bangalore,last night. I reached the airport at 630pm for the 710 pm flight, they said technical delay at Ahmedabad and flight would leave at 8, and then 8 become 830, then 9,9.30,10,10.45, 1130 etc. At 945 pm I thought enough was enough and canceled the ticket and managed to get a seat for the Jet flight this morning.

The Station Manager was a poor guy, people mobbed him and he did his best, but he had no higher ups to turn to, looks like, as expected in crisis, all the bosses disappear, I guess. (He told us that his boss is Inside an aircraft, and not reachable !!!! can you beleive that) I am told the flight left Pune at 3pm this morning. I saw first hand, experience of mob hysteria, More men Coat and Suits screaming for attention, but you cant blame the passengers, Can you??This was my 3rd tist with Kingfisher (I have Hobson's choice for this odd route as Jet doesnt cover this sector that much) probably the last for some time to come. But the station manager was a great guy, handled very very well the situation.

I hope Kingfisher would have some learnings and would work plan B in future for such situation as they multiply their fleet. Their services are good and so are the aircrafts, But to win Jet Loyalists, business travelers like me, they need to go extra miles. I was comforted by their efforts that they did their best to accomadate as many passengers for the morning Jet Flight, but very few seats were there for grabs. I had a similar situation with Jet in Calcutta last year, when I had gone for an interview, I got a call that Flight was delayed 150 Minutes late, and thats it, The flight left Calcutta 150 minutes late, an aicraft was diverted and sent to Calcutta for this flight.

The silver lining in the whole episode was I got an upgrade to business class to accomadate more passengers.

By the way, it was great to see the Sun God on the flight back after 6 days, I was so thrilled to see him that I just stared straight back at him for a minutes and tears rolled down, I enjoyed it. It was pouring and pouring in Pune so much so that all my plans to meet my friends went in smoke.

I also bumped in to some of the BASF Mangalore plant guys in the hotel lobby unexpectedly, Met them after 7 years, some of them just look the same, some people dont grow old, I guess, unlike me.

Wanted to leave you with this sad story, How promising lives are cut short.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1763387,0006.htm

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=196303

Will try to Blog before Independence day.
Take care and Have a good time
Karthik.

Heathrow and Jet Airways

I was away to UK/ USA as part of my Honeywell Meeting. Some information on that. I flew via London Heathrow to Manchester, Spent a day and then proceeded to Chicago and was back home after a week stay.

Did you know that London Heathrow airport in the only international airport which has separate immigration counter for transit passengers even for Domestic travel within UK and you don't have to clear customs physically. In my case when I landed in Heathrow, I was asked to move to the terminal to which the connecting flight was proceeding, got my boarding pass for my Manchester flight from British midland flight counter and then went thro immigration. Thus I avoided 100s of Indians / passengers who otherwise would have gone thro immigration.(we were just two of us) This saved lot of time. The baggage arrived at Manchester. The only condition is that your baggage should be thro checked to your final destination.
Not even US ports offer this facility, you need to clear customs and put the baggage in to the domestic flight conveyor. This was great saved lot of time and hassle with immigration.
UK Immigration has also introduced IRIS scan for frequent travelers to UK, just register yourself, after registering just get your IRIS scanned and it is stored in data base. When you visit UK, just walk thro camera and a comparison is made and the gates open to let you out. This is available only at present in Heathrow and Manchester.

JET Airways:-
I am amazed at the service provided by Jet Airways, I flew Jet Airways Bombay-Heathrow- Bombay. The service is world class, so is the new Airbus A-340-400-E with the state of the art digitization. Being a day flight to Heathrow, I flew economy the food and services were outstanding. 3 times they serve lunch and snacks as well as always on call. The alchol flowed like River Ganges, on demand, knowing our guys. There was not a single sullen face in the crew.(Jet guys never do I can vouch after clocking 300,000 Miles with them over time) The inflight movies and sound systems are world class. Moreover, the seating is 2-4-2 so that no person is more than one seat from aisle. This was in sharp contrast to the US carrier I flew Manchester- Chicago and back. Service below average as well as delays.
While returning Heathrow- Bombay, I used my upgrade voucher for Business class (3 vouchers)as the flight leaves Heathrow at 2130 Hrs. The seating and 180 Deg flat bed is state of the art, you sleep like a baby. Besides the seat have massage provisions to relax your back. The cuisine was delecious were world class and stewards no more than a minute away to your requirement. The toilet kit is collectors item, you dont feel like using it. Coincidentally the stewards were the same crew who flew a week back so had a lot of catchup on things happening. Jet will definitely will give every other airline a run for the money soon. This was service to customer at its best and outstanding. The baggage were out in a flash in BBY and British airways which arrived 30 minutes early in to Bombay, BA passengers were looking at us with envy as we moved out thro customs in Bombay. The only place where they can improve is at the transfer / transit check in counter at Heathrow,(I flew in to Heathrow from Manchester) the United Airlines staff help them and they struggle a lot with Indian names, passport details, admin procedures etc. I am sure Jet will maintain and may even improve as they go forward.

Ostrich and My move out of Monsanto.

This week Was very eventful for some things to happen.

My announcement about Moving out of Monsanto was released. It was a tough decision I tell you, in my 21 year career. Seven years just went by, the fact that I will be out of Monsanto in about 4 weeks time in sinking in. Ofcourse, as I will continue to be based in Bangalore for the Honeywell Transportation systems Assignment as Global HSE Manager, without affecting the family interest is a sense of satisfaction that you can go without compromising the needs of the dear and near.

This week, I happen to see live "Ostrich" moving around in the restaurant I had lunch while traveling from Aurangabad to Pune. This place is 20 Kms after Ahmednagar (95 Kms from Pune)and the Place is called "Smile Stone". The food was also very good and so the time to see and feed Ostrich. It relaxes you a lot esply on a long highway journey. See the photos.

See the Profile of the man who downed Brasil. Henry (pronounced Aannrie) master tactician who rose to the demanding occasion. For him,This would also heal some wounds after the European championship final, were Arsenal were given a raw deal by the refree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Henry
Also go thro Erin Pavlina website lot of good information.

www.erinpavlina.com

Have a good week ahead.
Regards
Karthik

Chennai Trip

This week I had been to Chennai for a Upanayanam of my Sandoz colleague Vijay's Son, Kailash. Vijay and me commenced our professional careers around the same time in the late 80s. We got married , children and moved out Ankleshwar around the same time. Vijay moved to Bombay with Sandoz Pharma finance, I moved to Astra Zenecca for I wanted to relocate to South. Vijay came all the way for my Son's Thread ceremony at my home town last year.

The event gave me an opportunity to meet Sandoz colleagues as well as other Friends who had come for the event and we caught up on happenings. Some of them I met after 12 years. The discussions lead to some astounding results. This was also confirmed when I met guys from other cos who were present.

• Come what may, You need to be in the inner circle in the organizations to get fast track growth.
• You need to Manage perception too along with performance, to have career progression.
• Long term employments are becoming thing of the past. Every one wants fast track growth and rewards that show external signs of growth and prosperity.
• People at very senior levels are capable to project that " after Me its deluge" and enhance their importance.

I think you all will agree with this, I guess.

By the way, Madras hot and humid and the family managed it. The kids got a feel for the Shatabdi train experience, they liked it; thought the train was 1 Hr late.

Have a great week ahead and enjoy the Mother' day. I fulfilled a long time dream to get something for my mother as Mother's day gift, when she is around and managed to get some jewelry for her. My wife made the selection.

Karthik

Hotel Gururaj, Adoni.

Yesterday, Saturday, I took my mother to Mantralayam, the sage town of Raghavendra swamy. She had not been to that place, and I combined the visit with my plant trip to Bellary.(120 Kms from Mantralayam).
We had a good darshan and she was satisfied. We are back in Bangalore this morning.
I must though, let you know about Hotel Gururaj at Adoni. You may think that this a star hotel or a great outfit. You will be disappointed, it is a thatched roof structure run by a family. The breakfast they serve is as good as the home stuff. The idli, vada, Dosa, Upma and Puri are delicious stuff. The Chutney and sambar will go in gallons. This makes you feel that you don't have be great cities to get great stuff.
The bill Rs 54 for 4 of us (Myself, mother, my daughter and driver). I, of course stumbled up on this hotel last year when I visited Mantralayam last year with family. This time I had forgotten the name of the hotel, and remembered the route so managed to find the way. Hence the blog so that I wont forget.
The hotel is located after crossing the flyover bridge near the Railway crossing as you come from Bellary on the Alur road, take the first right after Railway level crossing, and go inside about 300 mts, and ask for Hotel Gururaja. I am sure you will enjoy the food and will have a great trip to Mantralayam.

Story of Sudha Murthy on How infosys was born:-

http://www.vijayv.org/wwwvijayvorg/Articles/HowInfoSysWasBorn.php


Have a great week
Karthik.