Kumbakonam Fire Tragedy

I post this special post to pay our homage to the Children who perished in the Kumbakonam School fire tragedy in 2004. We visited Kumbakonam (See last post) and took time to visit the school in which 93 children lost their lives. Our anguish was indescribable seeing the unsafe way the school was allowed to run. I hope this is the last of such incidents. Will the authorities learn a lesson on implementing school safety norms? I doubt!!!!!!.
I reproduce the poem of APJ Abdul Kalam, the then president of India.

Prayer for departed children of Kumbakonam

Oh dear little ones! Oh dear little ones!
For you, parents had glorious dreams !
And you were all immersed in your own dreams
Yet, Agni engulfed you and all of those dreams
Taking you to Almighty's divine presence
Usually, departed old parents are buried by sons
Whereas, Kumbakonam, saw a sad scene!
Crying parents burying their little ones!!
Oh Almighty! show Your grace on those little ones
And keep them all in Thy Holiest Presence!!
Oh Almighty! bless those parents wilting in grief
To have the strength to bear this great loss
May Thy compassion and grace pervade all souls
And bring down the pain and wipe away the tears
Oh Almighty! show Your grace on those little ones.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Karthik.

Swamimalai, KS Mangalam, Vellankani.

Ok, It is Good to be back to Blogging. I am planning to make up for the last time this week.

We had a good holiday time. We had been away to our home town, Karaikudy. En route we visited some of the interesting places.
Our first stop was Swamimalai, a small temple town about 10 miles from Kumbakonam. (Near Tanjore). We had to offer prayers there for my son. There is a form of worship called taking Kavadi which my son performed. My son is named Swaminathan (Family name) after the Lord here.

The hotel we stayed in Kumbakonam, (ARK Lodge) was mediocre. The services was below average. Added to the insult was some construction work from which the noise was unbearable.

We then left for Vaideeswaran Koil which is about 75 min from Kumbakonam. This visit was also long overdue(17 years) and from there we proceeded (after a long debate in view of time constraints) to Velankanni. The road to reach the place was a traveler's nightmare.(Potholes and diversions). The town like The small Church over the years has grown in to a big shrine. (I visited Velankanni then a small unknown hamlet in the early 1970s). I always have secular outlook to religions and we offered our prayers to the virgin Mary there. The 4 Hour drive to Karaikudy was good, the roads were excellent. Karaikudy wore a festive look in view of the visit by Sonia Gandhi that week. I experienced the frustration of being stuck in a traffic jam of 1 Hr the day she visited on 5th April.(An impossible event in a town of 100,000).

We also visited the Family Deity at Karisuzhntha mangalam which we try to visit atleast once a year. The photos of the deity Kalahasthiswarar (The temple was inagurated recently) and Godess Ganambigai. The town is 20 Km from the famous Halwa sweet making Tirunelveli town.

I plan to post more posting for the day.
Karthik.
0945am.

Sorry being away

All,
I was away on Holidays and business travel out of India to Italy. Sitting now in Terminal 4 in Heathrow on the way back home. Passed Thro Terminal 5.
Will catch up this weekend and would make up. Lot of thoughts to share.
Take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Karthik.

Releif, Appeal, Movie.

This week the school exams for the kids got over, needless to say it was a great relief for me and Lalitha. More so when last Monday, my daughter took the math exam,(She is in Grad 10th school final) I was never more never as anxious waiting to hear how she did it. The past 4 weeks was mostly spend following their progress of their performance. The sad part was the Indian school exam system has not changed much over the last 30 years, (The time I took the school final exam) it all boils to memory recall and vomiting it on the answer sheet. The real test and practical aspects come much later and the kids are confused in the absence of good guidance and maturity. The syllabus was far too much and it all boils down to luck that questions are straight forward. Wonder, when this will change??

So much engrossing was John Grisham's Appeal, that I burned midnight oil and finished it within 24 Hrs of purchasing the book yesterday evening. Wonderful story how agencies, justice can be manipulated by the power be. Wonderful book, brings out more questions!!.

With Kids enjoying their first day of holiday from today, they rented a DVD and watched the movie Tarae Zameen Par(Star on earth). I was invited to watch the second half of the movie and I obliged. (after I finished Appeal). It was a touching movie touching up on Dyslexia of a 9 year old kid and how it is handled by the Teacher who takes special interest. Good effort worth spending time.The kid has acted very well. Will it get Nominated for Oscar??, lets see.

By the way, At last for my forthcoming Europe trip,I got two year Schengen entry visa, This should remove my agony and grouse of endless documentation submission every time I plan a Business trip to the region and applying for visa, with a need to meet unique documentation requirement of Each of the member countries.!!!. I wonder, when the visa free travel or some biometric effort would materialize for genuine Business traveler?. Not in my life time, I guess!!!.

Till Next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Karthik.

Kichadi, Innocent Man, Playing for Pizza, Terminal 5.

3 days holidays have just flown it is time back to business. Of course, I have had a busy and anxious week with kids having their exams(Both kids have the dreaded Maths exam tomorrow, Monday) and exams get over this Friday.

After ages(almost 5 to 6 months) I had been inside the kitchen to cook lunch for the family as Lalitha was busy coaching children for the exam. I usually cook the Gujarati Kadi and Kichadi with Lijjat Pappad turned out well. Yes, Lalitha must be complaining of inventory management as the stocks must have plummeted.

Ok, I finished the book Innocent Man by John Grisham, It took me 10 months to finish the book and it was always lying near my bed all the time (with 90% to finish) and I decided enough was enough and finished at one shot (350 pages) last night. If you beleived that law is an ASS(H...) your views would be consolidated by this. To imaging this as non fiction is more horrendous. What a tragedy!!!. Yes, It might be still happening in the great US of A and everywhere else in the world. Yes, at the same time, I believe that if you stay away from evil, you are not affected. Ron was not doing that, things took a turn for the worst. Excellent must read book. Ofcourse, Grisham takes the plot in a masterful way.

Of course, Friday was a holiday, I had finished Economist, Fortune, HBR (Skimmed thro) (The week was of less sleep due to heavy jet lag). I took the book "Playing for Pizza" by Grisham and finished in 3 Hrs. Since I had seen a bit of super bowl during US visits and had been to Italy 3 times, I could visualize the scenes. A thoroughly enjoyable book. Ofcourse, Grisham also takes us through the Italian cities to give a tourist's overview. Agree totally on the good Italian food, even as a vegetarian, I had enjoyed the Olive oil, Bread and the Parmesan cheese. Of course the Egg plant roast in some of the restaurants (Eggplant Parmigiana) are a delight.

With the Hyderabad new International Airport opening last night, and Bangalore in limbo (expected in 7 weeks!!!!!) both will have connectivity issues with the mess of the traffic jam. In that situation, I look forward to the opening of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow, this week on Thursday(27th). This brings all BA flights under one roof and no longer the steeple chase (for the last 12 years for me) to catch the terminal bus, rush for security checks from Terminal 4 to 1 or vice versa for connecting flights to USA and European cities. I hope the terminal lives up to the pre opening hype. Let's see. I must be hitting there in the next 2 to 3 weeks for my next European visit.

I leave you with some of the thought provoking articles I read this week.

Does your commitments match your convictions, has generated some sparks and Aha Moment in me. Very insightful article from HBR.

Local Memoirs of Global manager Gurcharan Das of P& G. Think local and act global. Yes, the local way is some times the best way. great Article.

Ok, till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

3 in one.

Today is a very significant day for people with secular outlook.
Today is Holi the festival of colour. This marks the beginning of Spring in India. Today is also Good Friday. Also the Islamic festival of Miladi Nabi (Birth of Prophet). While we have 10s of festivals every year, cant think of any time when all the 3 religious festivals coincided on a day. I take this opportunity to wish you all a great festive time.
Regards
Karthik.

32 Years wait, Artisanal, Lounge value.

Sorry about the late posting, I was away on a 48 Hour Personal trip to New York city and was back Monday Morning.

It was a wait for about 32 years and when it ended it was worth the wait. While traveling on the BA flight Thursday. I accidentally scanned the movie library and to my delight found the movie "The Godfather" (sequel 1,2,3). I read the famous book by Mario Puzo in 1979(Heard about it in 1976) when I was an annual school vacation to Bombay during my 11th grade. After that never had the time or opportunity to see the any part of the famous movie and things just drifted. So it was great delight to watch all the 3 parts in the 4 legs of flight to and from NY. Al Pacino and Marlon Brando at their sublime best. It also gives a great exposure to Italian way of life which I had seen in person during my travel to Italy. More so it also reflects a quite a lot of similarity to approach issues.( The scene in which Robert Di Nero(GF II as Don Carleone) pleads with house owner to let her neighbor stay. That is exactly the way we would do it in India.)

The direction by Francis Ford Coppola is fabulous with the right mix of present and past in the movie and bringing out the best in actors. I guess a good director is like a good leader, bring out the best in people. The music by Nino Rota is classical.I also could sense where Kamal Hassan picked up hints in his role in Thevar Magan. (The tamil movie has lot of resemblance to God Father).

If you want to see various kind of cheese on display at one place, I suggest you visit the Restaurant, Artisanal on park Avenue, NY. I never seen so many varieties. I was there for lunch,Friday. WOW. The food itself was very good.(Even for a vegetarian!!).

I fully appreciate and value of the Business lounge that Airlines offer. As this was a personal trip, I was always looking to see if I can save a penny or two. ( I always consider that any business travels are not worth the extra effort to save a penny or two. That is the price the organization pays for we being away from our family of dear and near ones for the time we are away!!. I also don't buy the BS of considering official spending as considerate as personal spending. I guess official and personal styles are different and they should not and could not match. I think I am the other way around as personal spendings are more liberal than official ones!!).

So, I could use the BA lounge Gate 1, coupon, Sanctuary, shower spa facility etc as well as helped myself to sumptuous food in the lounge. My guess is that I would have saved anywhere about 100US$ for this trip as well as the indirect benefit of overcoming the jet lag quickly too. That is some saving from personal expenses. I am thankful to them. I look forward to seeing the BA Terminal 5 which opens in 10 days time.

Ok then, Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live conciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Ronaldo Lapuz How to Manage your boss, Lemon Tree

I am sure many of you would have seen the performance of Ronaldo Lapuz, in American Idol. I was accidentally sitting in front of the TV while kids were watching the show, during the III week of January. This guy got my attention. Out of curiosity I watched his performance. It was great,, he was very passionate in what he did. Although he didn't make it to the next round (I am not sure if judges were consistent, I wonder!!). This is also a case for where you don't have to be a winner to remembered for Stellar performance.

I Came across, a practical management article, How to manage your boss in the HBR(1980 collection). Although the article in about 30 years old, all the aspects like synchronizing your goals and objectives, understanding your boss's work style etc are very fundamental aspects to your success and still hold very relevant.

During my visit to Pune, I happened to stay in the Hotel Lemon Tree, (More by again accident as the reservation at the hotel I usually stay was goofed up!!!). They are chain of hotels coming up all over India. The hotel is away from the city traffic if you are to visit Software firms which are in Hinjewadi area. The food is good and room amenities are reasonable and value for money. (Tariff around US 130$ a day which is cheap by Pune /Bangalore standards). Only one issue was that the walls were too thin that I woke up in the middle of the night when the telephone in the next room rang!!.

Because of travel over the last 3 weeks, I am way behind on catching up on podcasts and reading magazines. Hope to catch up soon. The fact that Europe Internet access are very expensive and my data cord was charged in MB download charged in Euros. I didn't download much of information in the last 2 weeks.

Ok then till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Sujatha: May his soul rest in peace.

I was trying to overcome the Jet Lag, from my Rome trip at home, early this morning and was surfing the web to catch up the web news updates in India over the last 2 weeks when I stumbled up on the passing away of the great scientist/ genius Tamil Writer Rangarajan alias Sujatha last week at the not very old age of 73.

Not only he was a great scientist who was one of the mastermind behind electronic voting machine but a great Tamil writer who brought science to the illiterate. His story telling was amazing and riveting. I still remember his weekly serial "Nirvana Nagaram"(Naked city)in Dinamani Kadir, in the Mid 1970s,the suspense was no less thrilling than a Stephen King or Lee Child. He gave insight to the people of that generation an opportunity to understand science and literature. His story telling interesting but well within limits in everything. Too bad that Tamil journalism has stooped so low bordering yellow journalism,that I cant recollect when I laid my hand on Tamil weekly magazine( Good 10 -12,years I guess!!!!).

Yes, Time comes for everyone Death needs to be faced. But people like Sujatha would live for ever through their creations and characters. (Jeevarasi, Ganesh, Vasanth etc). He was also classmate in St.Joseph's college, Trihcy with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He was 3 years senior to my father at the same college.

May his soul rest in peace. It is always an irreparable loss to a wife and Sons.

Karthik.
Camp: Pune.

Italy, No country for old man.

I am back home from Rome this morning. It was a great trip in a business sense. We had good network sessions and worked out stock take as well as way forward.
I had a fabulous experience at Rome Restaurants, being a vegetarian finding food itself is difficult. My Boss, Anthony Wareham made sure whatever I missed out during the day sessions in terms of average food, he made it up by working out exploring Rome and find top class, affordable restaurants. Yes, 100% he also took care of the food bills too.!!!!.
The Otello ( I had been there before in October last) is a good place. So is the Costanza near the theater of Pompy. Try it out great food when you go next time.

I am attaching some of the photos of Rome visit. This is my third visit to the great place and I never got tiered seeing them again and again. May be that is the secret of History. You always learn new things and are able to correlate events.

On the flight back home, I took time to watch the Oscar winning movie "No country for Old man". I had decided that I will not watch movies and spent time on catching up on reading Economist and Fortune ( More than 2 issues piled up). The temptation to watch the movie was so much I did that at the fag end of the 9 hr journey.(Didnt watch one on the way to London!!!). A must watch movie and a classic theme, though not new.
My video of Vatican.



Ok, Then till next week. Take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Vatican, Sistine Chapel

I am in Rome at the Four point Sheraton Rome West. My Home for the 11 day trip. Reached late in to Rome last week after chaos in Heathrow. Missed connecting flights and delayed flight was almost canceled. (Reached 2am Thursday).People are confused by the Four Sheraton four points Hotels in Rome and Taxis as expensive they are can cost up to 150 Euros for a trip from Airport (Against 50 Euros from Airport) if you dont know the exact name and location as happened to my colleague this week. The good news is the Hotel allows you the option charging the taxi charges to your room payment.

Yesterday, As indicated in my previous room posts, I had the privilege of visiting the Vatican. The visit was made more significance by the physical presence of Pope, Benedict XVI conducting the service for the Feast of St. Peter the Chair. It was a great visit to the Vatican, Sistine Chael. The paintings of Michael Angelo in the chapel are amazing to say the least. It was a great day and as usual, we made contact with Jason our guide.
I will uplink Photos next week of the visit as I didnt bring the file transfer from my camera to the laptop to up link.

I was amazed to read in economist that George Bush presented the Budget from A tablet PC.Wish Our PC can do it. (P Chidambaram the finance minister can do this weeks budget!!!) I guess our politician would cry foul as it may be released / leaked before.!!!!. I would expect a dull/ dumb budget. Middle class cant expect much can We?????.

Just wanted to put in a quick update on Matrix mobile and WIFI data access card for internet. It works good and looks economical for international travel. I have used their cell phones card for ages. This trip I am trying their global WIFI card for internet access.(This blog is from that.) Looks reasonable in Europe where it is 20 Euros a day for internet access in hotels. For US it may not be needed as most hotels offer free and many public places too have Free wifi access.

OK, I will put my thoughts in details next week.
Till then take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Choclate, Bee Story, Road Rage

I am spending the time for this BLOG on some key Issues.

I was touched so much by the Fortune Magazine cover Story on the USE OF CHILD LABOR in the cocoa Beans making ( A key ingredient in Chocolate making) in Ivory Coast that I have decided that NO More Brand chocolates buying from my side indiscriminately. As a frequent international traveler, I spend a good sum at shopping at airport duty free. I will rethink and look for some kind of aspect to make the chocolate child labor free before I buy them.I may not buy any more, so be it. This is a small gesture from my side. It could be a drop in a ocean, I am doing my bit. Told my kids to study the article. Looks like Blood Diamond, Blood chocolate.

Another sweet aspect is Honey and thus reminds Bee. I saw the Bee movie on the flight back from USA last week. It made me think a lot. Sometimes, we take things for granted, I guess. What If we really step back and look at things and make live and let live. A must watch movie for all.

Recently,I was away to Delhi for a day for a personal event. I was amazed at the growth in Delhi of sky scrappers in Gurgaon Area. This is my first visit to that area as I usually used to go to Delhi for Visa interviews. At the same time I was appalled by the Road Rage out there. I was aware of it in TV news etc, but when you experience first hand, it sends a shrill down your spine. I haven't felt so threatened before. Wonder why people are in such a hurry and impatient!!!. This could even lead to them loosing their lives.

I read the rave review on the movie Katyn, a polish movie. Expected to win an Oscar this time for the best foreign film. Let us see what happens??. This is about the true story of massacre of 20,000 polish officers during the immediate aftermath of WWII.

I read a fantastic article, by Marcus Buckingham in the Harvard Business Review that great managers are not Checker players, but chess players. They anticipate various aspects of people involvement and take their team to great heights. I got access to hard copy. I am glad I could get the link to the soft copy free version. Delighted to share this.

Ok then, till next week, Take it easy and take care, live consciously.
Regards
Karthik

-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.

Mexicali, Salt lake City and Edi Amin. (Super bowl)

I am now in Layton, Utah, (Near Salt Lake city). Just arrived this morning from LA. Flew United Airlines for the first time and not bad service. They served complementary beverages. When you have low expectations, this goes to show that things can be much better. Salt lake city, close to 0 Deg cel. The hotel is situated right opposite string of rocky mountains and there is plenty of snow and more snow (up to a foot on the road) kind of new experience for me. I will be here for 3 days and then fly to Atlanta Tuesday. It expects to hit -11 Deg cel tomorrow, Lets see!!!.
Salt Lake City, Utah is also famous for the Mormon, sect of Christians, Mitt Romney is now running for republican party presidential nomination is a Mormon. I now see that they have their version of the bible in the hotel shelf.

I was in Mexicali, Mexico last week as a part of the business trip. We drove down 6 Hours with My Great colleague,George Kohn coordinated the trip and took us there. George made the drive lively with various discussions both ways. You should spend time with George, the whole outlook can become seriously positive even for the depressed. Happy go lucky George.

My first impressions about Mexico was great country, people are warm and polite and helpful. Yes, it reminds you a lot about India, with the cleanliness, unpredictables. Food was no issue for a vegetarian. Yes, the message needs to go out that you don't eat anything that lived and moved. I stayed in the hotel, Araiza. Which was decent enough and value for money. Mexicali (Mexico+ California) is about 20 miles from the US border. Although I had a valid Mexican Business visa Issued from India, I was asked to pay for a additional business visa for US 23$. Which I did and that took a bit of time.( To walk to the bank to pay the cash). Yes, we had a tight schedule and there was no time to go around the city. We did a bit on the road though.

The return crossing back to USA, took a little more time. Being Friday evening, there was lot of queue. The border officer at the US Side while crossing while checking my passport wanted to know how many languages, I speak(having an Indian passport and not a green card holder from India) and he wanted to know the names of the languages I know as well as my mother tongue(Tamil).

Edi Amin, You may wonder. Yes, I watched the movie, the Last King of Scotland, which is about the tantrums of Edi Amin from the experiences of his sottish personal physician. Worth watching. Just saw that It has won an Oscar. The actor who played Edi Amin had done a great job.(Forest Whitakear)

Ok, Being in United states, I am going to go through the ritual of Super bowl this afternoon, (4pm here in Utah) there is much hype here !!!. I have no clue about Superbowl or the football they play. Let me see and post some thoughts as to how genuine the hype is or is it just another American marketing gimmick. I am told to support some New England, patriots. Let me see. I look forward to a good time to relax and see new game.

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

Blood Diamond, Inflight entertainment.

I arrived in to Los Angeles last night on a two week trip to the Americas. I took the Atlantic route as it made sense while coming back in 2 weeks time. 22 Hrs of flying with with rush to change terminal in Heathrow and then immigration, Baggage makes it all a 30 Hr flight. The walk to change terminals (from 4 to 1 for the flight to LA) was one of the fastest in my 14 years of international travel,(with 2 bags weighing 12 Kg) exposed me to what Power aerobics exercise was all about. I am glad BA allowed 2 piece baggage rule, as it will help to work for backup plan in case checked in luggage doesn't arrive. (Happened to me twice and yesterday my bag was almost the last piece to arrive in the conveyor).

I watched the movies on the in flight entertainment system.It was all digital with your choice of more than 40 movies in various languages and also an auto option for you to pause. (All in touch screen, forget the remote) A far cry and long way from the old days of couple of movies for the entire flight. You cant wonder where technology is going!!.

I saw the movie, Blood Diamond, It exposes, the power struggle, efforts, greed as well as political issues involved in the diamond industry. While diamonds are not our day to day issues, it also brings to the front the problems faced by people who do it for a living and how their life is influenced by situations over which they have no control. Leonardo di Capro ( Danny Archer the Agent for smuggling diamonds)at his best so was Dijimon Hounsou (Solomon Vandy) at his best as a father. It was great lesson for me as to how if you are got in conflict, the choice/ freedom/expressions are all taken away from you. I wonder about that in some countries??.

The question is do we appreciate and value it when it is with us?.

I leave you with those thoughts.
I will try to pen my thoughts as I go forward.
Till next time, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Calcutta, Madras, Adelaide, Perth

I am on travel and I have a slow internet connection to post links. The hotel internet are very expensive more so in star hotels. It is not worth the money. That way love the USA where it is free in many places.!!!.

I am glad that my prediction of 4-0 whitewash has been proved wrong. This is a great team effort more so to come back from the trauma of Sydney. I am not a Indian cricket team supporter as indicated in early posts, but still I wont grudge this victory. What was also heartening to see was the bit and pieces contribution by all the members. They have created history in Perth, great effort!!!.

Ishant Sharma is he the new Big Bird, made Batsman dance to his Tune. Wish the guy well.

Will post detailed blog in the middle of the week once back home.
Till then
Take it easy and take care, live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Great gifts from Kids.

Today (18th January) is our wedding Day. It looks like yesterday when George Bush Sr. Gave orders to Alliance commander,Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf to bomb Baghdad in the operation desert storm. I was getting in to a life long, productive alliance with Lalitha.

This week,we did a kind of stock taking over the last 17 years and exchanged notes to see if we could have done anything different or some things which should not have happened. Happily there was none. I think we have come a long way since starting on our own(Much against tradition) in Bharuch, Gujarat.

The kids gave a great surprise, they arranged cakes, candles and gifts. They did this in a stealth manner over the last week. We could not get a clue of what they were up to. Such are the days. Even today I am not sure if I do that way back to them.
My travels start from Sunday for this year and I look forward to it.
Take care.
Karthik.

Manage Energy, Obama, Kalli.

Hi,

So the cricket controversy raged and it almost brought a diplomatic row similar to bodyline. I am glad that the issue is resolved and that Cricket would continue. Many of my Aussie friends have expressed regret over the team behavior. But many also feel Symonds would not have reacted to something which is nothing(whether it is from that test or past is a debate).

Came across an interesting article, Manage your energy,not time in HBR. Very clearly focuses on Body, Mind, Spirit and Emotional aspect of management of a person thus manage performance. Found it very practical.

Came across 2 fabulous videos yesterday at Leading@google. Marshall Goldsmith and muti faceted personality from Chile Rodrigo Jordan. Each is 1 Hr long. I assure you it is worth watching and learn. Jordan's video talks about Leadership dilemmas.

I also heard this morning during my walk, a thought provoking, podcast by CEO, Greg Ballard who talks in heartout in Leadership speech at Stanford University.

I am still neutral on US presidential election, watching for things to develop, ( I tend to be more democrat in the past, but that is more on candidates, I was happy when Carter won, When Regan won, Bush, Not so when Kerry lost last time). So let us see where things head, I watched with interest yesterday 1 Hr interaction of Barack Obama. I am impressed with his approach and his response to questions at Google. Lets see. I plan to watch a bit more of other candidates before I form an opinion. How much technology has your aid to come to judge things.!!!.

This week is the Tamil festival of Pongal (The harvest festival on Tuesday) and Boghi Monday. I plan to enjoy the holiday. I would miss the Madras cricket test match during Pongal holidays. The famous Al Kallicharan, quote of Anna Statue, as Umpire Satyajit Rao, as a respect for Umpire. (Kalli was given dubious runout when he was going great guns!!!, Vishys great innings too!!!)

I am now a proud subscriber to Fortune, Economist, HBR Print editions. Also to Mint, the wall street journal Indian edition.

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

Kid in the candy Shop, Expesnes, Diary, Wayne, No shedding tears

All,
My wife promised me that she would sponsor some books for me to read. We did that last Saturday(29th Dec) After ages, I went to the book shop in Bangalore. Its like a Kid in the candy shop feeling. You see too many good books, the Budget also pinches. Anyway She was kind enough to allow me to pick what all I wanted. Still I could have picked up more, we were also short of time to finish other rituals planned for Saturday.

I did pick the following books to go through during the year. Ofcourse, was disappointed many of the books I wanted to buy were not out there. (Erica Andersen, Bill George etc). Let me work out next time.

1. Who would cry when you Die -Robin Sharma
2. Effective Executive - Peter Drucker.
3. Managing for results - Peter Drucker.
4. Good to Great Jim Collins
5. Build to Last Jim Collins.
6. Go put your strengths to work - Marcus Buckingham.
7. Strength finder II - Tom Roth.
   
8. Toyota Talent
9. Toyota Way.
10. How to stop worrying and stop Living -Dale Carnage.
11. Know How -Ram Charan.
12. How to enjoy your life -Dale Carnage.
13. Playing for Pizza -John Grisham. (Fiction book, I purchased after ages !!!!!)

I have began the new year that this year I would write Diary every day on all the work/ personal aspects as well as learning. I found digital diary very easy to use. It is very compact. Let me see how far I go using this. I have done so far for 6 days. So if it hit the 21 day barrier, I think I would sustain I guess.

Found the IEMS Expense report tracker to track and post my sundry expenses during travel, this is one area I need to improve. I am too lazy to work out cash expenses. I feel that The time spend on it to prepare laborious/ elaborate protocol is some times not worth it and it accumulate a lot. Let me see how much prompt I become in settling this year. Never bothered about Money for the last 22 years of work and further spoiled by wife who manages all the funds. So I need to work on this. Will report progress in 52 weeks.

I came across, John Baldoni's podcast through Patricia Wheeler's tele forum archives. Baldoni relates to personal development to Supply chain/ manufacturing which works well to me. Give his podcasts and his Website a try. I got hold of Summary of his Book" How great Leaders get great results.

I was delighted to participate in the Wayne Turmel's new venture on Greatwebmeetings.com launch. The session was on managing teams in remote environment. I was one of the 9 participants from 5 countries in this web meeting. DIMDIM did work ok. Great initiative by Wayne. I wish it all success.This will take managing remote meetings to the next level.You dont need telephone to call. Yes, decent web connection is the need.

So Aussies, Made it 2-0, but the victory is spoiled I guess by poor umpiring. India did make a good fight, one feels bad. But as long the best talented players who are available are not selected for various reasons to the squad, which are non cricket one,(the Badrinaths, the Pujaras, the Majumadar, the Bose etc) you can be rest assured that I am not going to shed tears for their loss. Yes, I did feel sorry for Kumble, a nice guy. (Not that he is from Bangalore!!). (My Head is still safe for 4-0 prediction) Yes, I wouldn't rate this Aussie side anywhere near the Windies of the 80s as said by David Gower. They played the game in spirit and it was fun as seen here with Big Curtly. Winning and loosing were no big deals to them and there were no controversies or bitter after tastes.

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

Karthik.

Customer satisfactions.

The last post for 2007. The time files.
I had lot of customer experience to share this week. Let me see how fast I can do this in the next 45 Minutes I set out for blog.

1) I posted my comments on the cranky middle manager Show Forum, on the Poor audio quality of the 800 CEO podcasts. I was pleasantly surprised to receive email from 800 CEO READ about the improvements and asking me to try out. Yes, there is a bit of improvement, looks like they have done their best. Thanks for their response. This goes to show customer every where matters. You may Listen to the moving story of how star bucks saved his life. Very touching. I plan to get the book if it comes to this part of the world. I have given them the feedback on not able to Sync their podcasts on ITUNES. Lets see.

2)I was delighted to see that Harvard Business review South Asian edition is now out for the Indian subscribers with Rupee Payment. This is the first venture, I guess outside USA. The same is true of Fortune magazine. While I could subscribe to fortune easily online through the Hong kong website, the same didn't happen for HBR which is done through phone call etc as there are some credit card issues which needs to be sorted out at the NEW DELHI office of the publishers.3 days have passed since expressing my interest and still no active response. Here is a customer who wants to avail a service and making follow up to the agency for subscription and there is no active response. So much for the customer satisfaction at the other end. Or is it local cultural issue!!! I wonder.
3) The third experience was Airtel broad band was abruptly disconnected from my home for non payment of Monthly dues.(US$ 110) I was surprised that within less than 24 Hrs of deadline expiry, they decided to switch off. I remember times at my hectic travels, I had missed even 2 months payment with other service providers(SPICE telecom) and they never did that. The payment amount would exceed US 600$. In fact even now they call over the phone to collect payments. They know that customer is right and has reasons. It took persuasive skills of my wife to work through customer service( We have 4 telephones, (2 mobiles and 2 landlines phones which she manages payments, issues) to restore service within couple of hours, at 7am. That much they were kind enough to do that before the payment was made at 3pm that day.
4) The last customer satisfaction was more a public interest, the US Visa interview visits were nightmare as people would know. There were lot of feedback when Steve Hamm explained his Indian visa experience. I too posted my piece of mind.(oct 22) I was delighted when the email from VFS came yesterday about a waiting lounge (Stars and Stripes Lounge) etc which will make other people experience much refreshing. (Not for me till 2015 as my US visa is valid till then!!!).

So my prediction for 4-0 whitewash holds good. Lets see. So the neck is safe. The next week weather in Sydney may save India. I guess as Rains are predicted.
Ok, Time is up got to get up to enjoy the Sunday evening walk with Lalitha.

All the best for 2008.

I look forward to receive the MERCK Ganesha Desk calendar from my good friend Ananthasivan.(It reaches me every year since 1998!!).

I have targetted 60-75 Blog posts for 08. Lets see.!!!

Till next week take it easy and take care. Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.
PS: Next week; Kid on Candy Shop!!!.