Shanghai Nights

I am back from my business trip from Shanghai this morning. I didn't cover much of my first visit to this modern buzz city as the Korean trip that followed my visit to Shanghai dominated my blog post.
I did spend 4 days this time and took time in the evening to go around the city as well as the Saturday forenoon to explore. The city is buzzing with activity and the areas are earmarked for day and night exploring respectively. I had indicated the MAGLEV experience last time. The Shanghai metro is also one of the best and cheapest and easy to go around. Yes, the taxi fares in Shanghai are reasonable, of course still we come across some cab driver who pretends the taxi meter does not work and demands fare beforehand.(More so at 11 in the night).
The city is rich mix of old and new the temples like Jingan temple and gardens represent the old while modern sky scrappers and broad roads and museums on science and techonology takes you to the present day trends. The Bund tunnel ride reminds one experience I had in Madame Tussauds.
Yes, there were some learnings too, in my return flight, last night from Hongkong, I had left a bunch of new magazines purchased in my seat and went for a bio break (as soon as I boarded the plane) when I came back in 2 minutes, all were missing!!!. So the learning is take out magazines after the flight takes off. Also it shows you ( I learned) that how uncertain things are!!!. It all can go in a minute.
Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live conciously.

Work life choice, Awards, Drucker, Hammer.

I thought I would touch up on the work life choice topic from an Indian context. I prefer the term Work life choice as coined Jack and Suzy Welch. It is all about working a value with which personal/ work factors are taken. I am of the view that values change and working a balance between personal/ work life is one such area which doe not change with time. My personal view is that this practice more established in an Multi national cultural environment with western focus. Of course, it is all to do with your boss, your organization is as good or as bad as your boss. Based on the reality check, on first hand account from my close friends who had worked 10+ years in MNC and then moved to the Indian companies have found that this concept is practically non existent and are wondering what can be done to inculcate such practices. I had a discussion on this with my wife, and my theory is that in an Indian scenario, I told her, (She had no view on this!!)the family sees making money for the security aspects that they themselves dont push for the work life choice to happen, It is put aside in preference to wealth creation.(Still in the first or second rung/ stage of Maslow theory on heirarchy of needs!!) I guess, this could be true from CEO to an ordinary employee in a typical Indian work culture who worry about wealth accumulation and comfortable life as main task. I would assume the family has to take the blame for the lack of work life choice. What the family can do to turn it around??? by taking initiative and see the employee see the value of worklife choice. Also the Indian work culture evolves around power distance which is high, (Less than some countries in Asia) Boss is always right and his comfort is my comfort, with no room for dissent. Forget work life choice, the typical Indian companies, I am not sure encourages, telecommuting, remote management aspects which are common place in many industrialised world. (Outside software environment, even there I wonder!!). It would be interesting to hear views on this forum.!!!.

I was pleased when Lalitha received the best employee of the month award (See picture above) from her employer. I am from a conservative thinking side on awards, that you take the best employee on board and get the job done and success and rewards will all be part of all intangibles. I feel some times these rewards and recognition (Some times they call rapid recognition) loose its meaning and significance, if they are given out just to meet some targets set. I have heard comments from folks that these award plaques are no more worth than paper weight!!. Ofcourse, this is not to take any credit from places where it is fully valued and felt important.

After 21 years of first seeing the book, Effective excecutive by Peter Drucker, I took out time to go through the book. No wonder he can be called the father of management. Amazing concepts.

I am saddened by the passing away of Michael Hammer during the first week of September. I consider his HBR article Process Audit a path breaking one on re-engineering. It gave me a clear idea has to how to approach from a process perspective on any business systems. May his soul rest in peace.

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

Down the Memory Lane. Dr RV.

I was away Business travel to Madurai the town where I had done my Graduation studies. Honeywell has a facility on the premises of college where I studied. I took time off from the schedule to visit the college and catch up with some of the college staff. This was my first visit to the college since passing out in 1983.

Really, it was a walk down the memory line, when I walked through the lengthy stretch of road from Honeywell facility to the college(see map) the memory of subjected to ragging/ and irritating questions by senior students back in 1980 just flowed through. Yes, they were within limits and there was no physical harassment involved. I wonder where is the status of Ragging (Hazing) now?. I feel,One side of ragging is that it helps you to build courage and face realities of the world at a younger age as you step in to competitive environment at work.

The college itself has undergone lot of changes as one would expect!. New buildings, new canteen facility,statue for founder of college Thiagaraja Chettiar. A case of one more chettiar contributing to the education wellnsee of India. Of course! I was puzzled / amused by the new Ganesh temple in the facility. Religious, as I am (A little conservative you may say) I strongly believe that Religion/ religious practices have no place in educational institutions and it should be secular more so in open institutions. You are there to study Science, Language, History, so I was kind of wondering what lead to the building of temple inside college premises!!!??.

Ofcourse, I was more than deligted to catch up with my chemistry lecturer(Then) Dr R Vasudevan who is now the dean of external coordination. My professor, Dr V Subrahamanian, is no more (He passed away in 2006). Dr Vasudevan coordniates the research on use of recylce plastics for laying roads and has worked a patent on the plastic bitumen technology which is gainining popularity. We could catch up besides on the college progress, Dr RV's personal interaction with President Kalam on his research, on trends in education, quality of educational systems. It is another matter (A sad one!!) that the engineering colleges have mushroomed to a ridiculos level that any one and every one who passes high school is assured of a engineering seat, thus leading to poor talent pool who some time lacks the basics to survive in a competitive environment.

Steering away, I am excited to see Sarah Palin being chosen as John Mccain's running mate. I guess this gives Americans a chance to redeem themselves for missing out in 1984 (Also for democrats, who missed electing Hillary!!). She is one heart beat away to create history!!. My personal beleif is that women manage issues a lot better and their emotional / social intelligence levels are better tuned to manage issues. Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher would substantiate this with their turnaround. So I am predicting a Republican continuation at white house. Ofcourse, I respect Obama, he is also good. But this is more personal choice. I recollect rooting for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton in the past.

I am saddened by more bombings and death in Delhi last night. I guess this raises the question about strong anti terror laws. Coming in the week of 7th Anniversary of 911, just makes you wonder that how post 911 security well has been managed in USA. I guess it all boils down to political will and courage to go beyond vote bank politics.

TIll next week, take it easy and take care; Live conciously.
Regards
Karthik.

100 posts. Chrome, Ethics.

I am indeed delighted to post the 100th Blog post. It has taken close to 3 years to reach this milestone. (Almost 3 postings a month). The next mile stone could be 500 postings. (That looks far away!!! should take good 4 to 5 years !!! ). I promise to do 75 to 100 posts a year from now on. I have done my best to pass information on what I think as well as what is a good value add.

I have downloaded and tested the new Google Browser, Chrome. I guess still it is in beta version but it looks different and good user interface. It might give IE a run for the money. You may read the review by Walter Mossberg.

Came across an interesting blog post in Ethics / ethical by BV Krishnamurthy. My belief is ethics is all to do with what is commonsense and judgment dictated by circumstances. I more consider values to be core indicator to guide true north and lead life.

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

Photos

Sagrada Familia Barcelona. A must see church in Barcelona.
















The water fountain in Rambla (Near Plaza Catalonia) where it is believed that drinking water from this fountain will bring you back to Barcelona.








Statues in Barcelona too good.

Strange reason, Customer service,Alcala, Gazpacho

I am sorry that I could not post my 99th Blogpost Sunday. The reason was that I had missed my connecting flight and was on Air flying back home from London. The reason for missing the connecting flight was strange!!! as below.

I was to take the 0630 pm flight from Madrid to London and connect to Bombay for the 2150 Hrs. I reached Barajas Terminal 4 around 4pm and was told to take the 1730Hrs BA flight which was delayed by an hour, thus giving me a chance to reach London early. We boarded at 1830 and pushed back. Then to our surprise we were put on hold on edge of the runway for want of a legal requirement for the take off weight which needs to be reported. Unfortunately there was a communication gap between, the flight crew, ground attendendant, Heathrow and Madrid. So we waited for 90 minutes at the edge of the runway. By then the fuel had depleted so we had to return to gate, get the required information, top up fuel and left 3 hrs late. The 630 pm flight long gone. We reached London at 1015 pm with Heathrow wearing a deserted look.

Yes, this gave a chance to interact with the customer service at Heathrow terminal 5. I must thank the Customer service agent Rob Martin who was kind enough to put me on to the next direct flight to Bangalore Saturday evening. I had Jet Airways connection from Bombay to Bangalore.(All this was done to avoid a stop over in London as well as to reach Bangalore early!!!). They also provided me an accomadation at Reniassance airport hotel at Heathrow as well as voucher for travel and breakfast. So I must say that BA did their best. I did stay over. This gave me a chance to explore terminal 5 in detail before boarding the flight. In my opinion the versatality of Terminal 4 is missing in Terminal 5.

I was amazed by the size of Madrid Airport. I am told it is the second largest single terminal building in the world (700,000 Sq Met) after Hong Kong Terminal 1. Yes, the access to the terminal can be confusing as were some of the Highway signs in Madrid. Barcelona was clear, No such issues. So watch out!!!!.

I had a chance to explore the city of Alcala. This is about 20 Kms from Madrid and looks historical with universities. We did spend a couple of days. I had chance to taste the veg tomato soup Gazpacho. Excellent for vegeterians to cool themselves. Yes, it was hot at 104F. The hotel I stayed in Alcala was great with good rooms and Facilities and in calm area away from noise. Good place to relax.

Yes, It is another matter, that we bumped in to plenty of girls with whom you would not like to have encounters!!!!.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and take care; Live conciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Terminal 5,Clecy, Monarch, Flybe, Rambla,

I am in the Middle of 2 weeks travel in Europe covering UK, France and Spain. I am posting this Blog from Barcelona where it is 7pm and still an hour to for the sunset.

I had passed through Heathrow, Terminal 5, Monday on the way to Manchester. I must say things appear to have settled down there after all the initial chaos. The gates, Lifts seem to work in order. Of course, Not sure if the aero bridge works for the Ex terminal 4 flights. We were pulled in to the open landing area in to terminal 5 by bus. In my view the Southerrn Gallery lounge seems to be better to quickly grab something to catch connecting flights (Lot of escalators etc for the Northern gallery). Lets see how things shape up when all the flights move in. (My return flight to Bombay will be from Terminal 4).

I was amazed to see 100s of varieties of cheese during my stay in Clecy, France. (Normandy) for a person who has not seen or eaten cheese till about few years ago, this was a mind boggling experience. The Hotel serves almost 20 varities of Cheese for desert and each taste and flavor was unique. So it was all cheese tasting experience over 3 days. Yes, the french veg cusine was managable (Ofcourse, Italian is mouth watering). Yes, we did get a chance to see some of the areas totally bombed during the world war II. Didnt have time to go Normandy Beach.

I had an oppurtunit to fly low cost / budget airliner to my trips with in Europe. I flew Flybe to Rennes( For visit to Conde) and Monarch to Barcelona. (Both are from Manchester). Both flights were on time, good service. (Yes you got to pay for everything) This helps you to travel to small cities and avoid hassels of big airports.

For the weekend, I am in Barcelona. What a historical city. I thought Rome was the ultimate. But I guess Barcelona would give any historic city a run for the money. The best way to see the city is the Hop in hop out bus Barcelona Turistic. 26 Euros for 2 days and you can almost cover 50-60% of city thro the tour. Yes, you can walk around to get closer to action. A walk on the La Rambla is a must to see the sights of history, art, and see of people. Bus and train are cheap and good way to move around the city using Barcelona Card.
It has been a hectic week, so no time to read and post thoughts. Came across this interesting article on Dhirubhai Ambani. Very thought provoking.

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

3000, Packing, Independence day thoughts, Alumni

I am delighted to see in the Web page counter that my blog has hit 3000 hits in the last 10 months. Out of curiosity, I installed the site meter to see the traffic to my site. This is indeed a surprise. Yes, some of the visitors could be accidental. But I am sure some of them out there may find the information useful or amusing.(!!). This works to about 10 visitors a day. Let me see how best I can improve the traffic to the site.

I am just packing my bags for a 2 week trip to Europe tonight. The podcast by Mark on packing bags for tour in timely. Mark manages 5 country, 20+ days tour without a checked in baggage. There is also video and slides for the premium content members. My wife does most of the packing for me and I shared the video with her. She did pick up some tips from Mark (Rolling out clothes as well as Laundry bag usage). My premium content membership expired 1st August, I am glad I did renew it for another year. (Just waited for the optimum credit card billing cycle period). It is the best 150$ you could ever spend and the returns are many fold. Lot of new contents/ tools are promised.
I must say I am really enjoying Lucy Kellaway podcast. It is worth listening to get another view of management as well as every happening in life. The satire is some times so touchy. Some times fellow morning walkers give me a curious look seeing my facial expression up on listening to the podcast in my Ipod. Please give it a try.

We did celebrate our 62nd independence day here in Diamond District by Flag hoisting and playing patriotic songs. I could recollect the India's Silver Jubilee independence day in 1972(25th). Time just files. I guess, We have made a lot of progress, especially in the last 10 years in communications, technology, infrastructure. Yes, much more need to be done, more so in bringing in communal harmony, poverty alleviation, Clean drinking water and eliminate diseases that affect children like Polio, whooping cough, measles etc.
On a personal side, yesterday was Raksha Bandhan, the festival that connects brother and sisters. Sisters tie Rakhi on their brother's wrist on this day. I did receive Rakhi from both my sisters. (That was unexpected, as I was under the impression that the courier would have been closed, Yesterday, Saturday, they werent!!).

I have also received intimation that silver jubliee reunion, after 25th year of passing out of 1983 Batch of Thiagarajar college of Engineering, Madurai has been scheduled during October 2008. Travel schedule permitting, it would be a great occasion to see how much has happened in all the folks lives. I look forward to catching up with folks. Some of them would be Grand parents !!!!!.

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

Quickpost

I am making this a quick post as I am not keeping well (Mostly fatigue) as well as some catch up to do on the home front Sunday evening.

I tried out the new web search engine Cuil and I must say I am impressed with the results. Cuil is knowledge in Irish, I am told. The results are displayed in column and the background looks pleasant. I remember, being introduced to Google in my BASF days in 1999 and I got a feeling that time that Google would give everyone a run for the money. I am getting the same feeling with Cuil. Lets wait and see.

For those in this part of the world pronouniciation is an issue, This looks a good website. I tried out some of the unknown. English is complex is it not!!!. Try this quiz!!.
I got the summary of the book, Transparency written by Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman and James O'toole. Not a new concept, but intersting insights. You may listen to the podcast here about the book. It all boils down to candor, Trust. I guess.

Ok, Time to go. I will fit in a slot some time in the middle of the week. Looking forward to the Independence day celebrations on Friday. I already got the license to enjoy the day from my English Boss. Jai Hind.

Karthik.

Multitasking, Randy Pausch, Kiran Bedi.

I read some time back Alan Pease's book, why Men don't listen and Women cant read maps. (May be 5 years back!!). One of the things against men is that they cant multitask and women are better at it. While always agreed that we men cant multitask, I wasn't sure whether women are good at it. I learned through proxy today. Lalitha is away from Bangalore for 2 days and so the Kitchen responsibility came up on me, that was the easy part. The hard part was maid servant didnt turn up unexpectedly, so all the house cleaning, dishwashing, answering the door bell, telephone etc started happening fell up on me and more so at one time that my Mind almost started paralysing and I started sweating!!. Doing all this the energy drain out was like an 100metre sprinter after the race. I had seen my wife doing all this effortlessly, without letting milk boil over or the tap water in the sink overflowing etc etc. Yes, Multitasking is women's virtue. Men are light years behind to catch up, I guess!!!.

I am sad to report that Randy Pausch passed away last week at the age of 47. Randy was suffering from a kind of liver cancer. He gave a famous Last lecture September last year at CMU, Pensylvania, which is now one of the most watched video on youtube (5.5 Millions). One thing I learned from the lecture is all people are all good, be patient, they will turn good. It is a great video with lot of personal touch. Please set aside 75 Minutes of your time to watch this emotional video. Randy Pausch's time management lecture is also a great treat where he talks about time famine and systemic solutions.

Intrestingly this lead me to search for the most watched videos and the top most video is at 20 Million viewers!!!.

Continuing with youtube, I watched with interest,Ms. Kiran Bedi, the Ex Police Commissioner who revlutionised the Indian Police force giving a lecture at Google India. She had a great message for corporate people which was "take the fullest support of your family and have it as your strength and bulldoze the heirarchy and at some stage they would give up and accept you. Great take.

Gary Coleman has an intesting conversation with Larry Brilliant, ED, Google.org, in the More than sound podcast. It touches on compasionate capitalism which is intersting. There are lot of references to the Asian way of living in the discussions.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and take care,Live conciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Mullah, Dabbahwalah, Lucy Kellaway, UNNATHI.

Just realized that I am in to the nervous Ninety's on the number of Blogs. By the way I am glad my last week prediction that the government would survive was proved Right. With all the crisis, the last thing we need is an early election.!!!

I was listening to Wayne Turmel talking about Mullah Nasruddin on the witty aspects of work. I have read stories in the form of cartoons of Mullah Nasruddin during school days with a lot of wit, deep message as well as culture that was prevailing. I could recollect similar tales of the Jestor Tenali Rama during the Emperor Krishnadevaraya in South India. One can not forget the wit, intelect and sharp minded nature of Raja Birbal in the court of Emperor Akbar. Wonder, who else would fit the bill in the list. Yes, the fictious charecter, Sir Humphrey Appleby would fit well in the BBC Serial Yes Minister (The sequel, Yes Prime Minister!!).

I just wondered, why I never wrote about the Dabbawala's of Bombay?. So many magazines (latest being last week's The economist) have covered their Greater than 6sigma performance and even HBR / Newyork times have marvelled at their work. Ofcourse, my personal experience being one of their customer at the beginning of my career in 1985/86 in Bombay waiting for the dubbah(Lunch box) to arrive from a Dombivali mess serving the bachellors (I was working in Kalwa the only railway station in India without a road approach to the station, you have to walk on the railway track to get in/ out, what a risk!!???). They were never late, never missed even for a day(rain or shine) in the 7 months I used their service. They have still sustained their levels of service with the same quality and committment. So a big thank you for filling the stomach. Keep up the great work!!!.

I encourage all of you to read or listen to Lucy Kellaway podcast/ blog in Financial times. I accidentally discovered her podcast in Itunes when I surfed the ITUNES UK Store. The sarcarsm/ the pungence/ the candidness/ the dressdown on business practices/ people/leaders are treat to hear during the walk. It is a good lesson some times how not to be a leader. (Her attack on Business jargon like Going forward usage, was a treat!!, the english accent so filling to the ear!) I dont think anybody has touched the business issues so openly. It is worth listening. Please dont give it a miss. I cant wait to finish the 50 or so podcast in my Ipod.

Yes, the column of Ask Annie on CNN and Liz Ryan on Business week provide great answers to your Business/work related/professional aspects/ career questions.

I would close this week, (Need to do quick, power outage for the past 10 hrs, back up power dwindling, the curse of Power crisis all over India for the last 2 weeks) with the great service provided by the "UNNATI"social service organisation. They do a lot of voluntory service in teaching the vocatioanal skills in children below 18 so that children can become independent. Great service and contributions from guys from all walks of life. You may read about it in the link I have provided and contact them to do your bit here. All contributions are exempted from Income tax. I am glad we are doing our bit over the last 2 years.

My heart goes out to all the victims in the twin Blasts in the past 48 Hrs in Bangalore and Amdavad.

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

Downloads, Picasa2, Useful Podcasts

I am back from my Far east trip and wanted to share some of the experience.
1) First of all it was a great feeling to work without Blackberry. The BB and other mobile phones don't work there. So in a way it was relief that there are no urgent emails to answer on the run. Yes, the downside is you are not accessible during any adverse situation, but I guess those are once in blue moon situation with other means of contact. So much so, that I have decided to take the blackberry from the hip holster. It just lies in my table and wont be clinging around when I move.

2)Yes, the other side to the communication is the amazingly High download speeds of internet. I had downloaded 7 Gb(Yes Gigabytes) of podcast in 4 Hrs time. That worked at a rate of 30Mb of data downloaded per minute and about .5Mb/sec. I tested the connection and I could get upload speed of 450KBPS. As was the wifi connections seem to be available every where. This speed was in the hotel and my Korean friends indicated that the hotel I stayed didnt have that much of high speed connection. They are used to download 750MB file size in less than 10 minutes. It was an amazing experience similar to the one in Tokyo last year but here the speed was mind boggling.

3) The Incheon Airport and Shanghai airport are state of the art and gates and walkway extending to more than 1kilometer end to end. The facilities inside the terminal like resturants, shopping as well as equal distribution of amneities were always within reasonable distance of walking. Yes, the walk to immigration counter from the aircraft door can be energy sapping after a long flight!!!. One thing that amazed me in Shanghai/ Seoul airports was that we were out of the aircraft in less than 2 minutes after parking. (Despite being in coach). It always take no less than 10 minutes to come out of any Indian Airports, wonder Why???.
4) The other thing that amazed me in Korea was the punctuality!! meetingrooms were 90% full always 5 to 10 min ahead of schedule, people were ready and waiting, people came to pick you up 5 min before time. Not one event started late!!. I was wonderstruck. May be the compulsory draft that brings discipline in people I am pondering!.

Ok, on to some other aspects, here we go.

I am glad I could find Picasa2 to upload the photos in to my blog. This task was always a nuisance to post photos without distortion in the blog. The only disadvantage is that you can post only 4 photos at a time. Some one find a way to beat around it by creating 3 separate files and combining them as one.

I am sure folks are aware of the podcast alley, which provides a chance to pay back the podcasters with your vote on most favourite podcaster. I have kept in my routine task to post my vote for my favorite podcasters. With ITunes allowing recent registration in India I look forward to an active interaction in this process.Here are some of the podcasts, I have added to my Ipod list to listen to.(Yes, finding time to listen to all will not be easy, lets worry about that later).

Business Essentials. Practical aspects done from Australia.
David Maisters Business essentials. Worth in Gold. I am of too small stature to comment about David.
Leadership in GOLD.
Plain Simple management. Common sense I assume.
Smarter by the minute.
Thinking for business success.
Knowledge at Wharton.
Leadership 101.
Lucy Kellaway FT.com
Stuff you should know.

Yes, I havent covered by religious and spiritual aspects which are in my personal domain.
So, let's see if the Indian government survives the trust vote on Nuclear deal in the parliament, Tuesday. My gut feeling is it might Just!!.

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

K Nagarajan Model High School Karaikudi.

I learned from a mutual friend that my school teacher at Dr Alagappa Model Higher secondary School, Karaikudy, Mr K Nagarajan passed away some time back. Mr Nagarajan took Maths and English classes during my 9th and 10th Grade during 1976-78. He had a passion for English and helped us to understand the subjects better.

Mr Nagarajan was very involved when he taught Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. He also helped us understand Algebra better. He went on to become the headmaster of the school in the mid 80s before retiring in the early 90s.

The model High school teachers generated best out of the students. I think we owe our success to whatever they did to us. Yes, Time do take away them from us. We owe all of them a big thanks for what they did to us.
I am sure Mr Nagarajan's family would have the courage to bear this irrepairable loss. May his soul rest in peace.
Regards
Karthik.

431 and Korea Photos.

The way to fortune teller's Home.




















Korean Eating tradition.















Architecture in Jejju Island













431 KM speed on MAGLEV Train to Shanghai Airport.

Korean wedding ceremony.


















BRIDGE TOO FAR


















KOREAN FOLK VILLAGE entrance.
















KOREAN COOL NOODLES and Green gram Pancake(Indian!!!).

Korean Woman Traditional Dress
















SH Kim who took trouble to make sure my Korean trip was trouble free and memorable. He had lot of personal commitments which he set aside.











Honeywell Korea.
















Honeywell Turbo Shanghai.

Thoughts from Far East.

I am posting this column from Shiheung City, South Korea. This week blog almost didn't happen as the scrips on home page by default goes Korean. So Clicked by practice the link and the new post link opened up. Looks like practice, practice, practice as they say.
I reached here Thursday on a week trip. The land of Morning Calm looks calm in a sense as we go out of Seoul. Yes, I had heard a lot about Seoul traffic jams and we did get stuck in to one Saturday. The 60 Km journey took 5 Hours.

My colleague SH Kim from Honeywell Korea, set aside his personal situation to take me to the Korean folk village at Yongin city which is about 80 Kms from here. Any foreigner visiting Korea must visit this place to understand the Korean value, culture, belief and tradition. The 4 Hrs I spent gave me a lot insight in to Korean life. I could also see lot of similarities as seen across Asian culture. Some of the practices and customs (Like grand celebrations of one's 60th Birthday) was similar to the Indian traditions. It was time well spent. The food court is worth spending time. The folk dance was amazing. It was thrilling experience to watch the Korean wedding ceremony. I will post the pictures next week once I am back home.
I also did some shopping in the Insadong shopping area for Korean Souviniers, It is worth spending time to see Korean art. Of course, overall the cost seems at least 40% expensive for everything I purchased. Looks like Korean Won is a strong currency and Korea purchase power parity seems High and not favorable to tourists.

My wife was insisting that I pack some food item from home for this trip as the general belief is that vegetarians have problem in this part of the world.(More so with my additional special needs). I must admit this week in both Shanghai and so far here, I have not faced any problem. In fact, I had one of the best barley drink here in Seoul. I fully believe that as long as you are able to communicate what you want, you would get something. Yes, the tongue should coordinate with mind. Communication is the key to a full stomach.

Moving from food, I had the great experience in Shanghai traveling on the MAGLEV train to Shanghai airport.The train reached max speed of 431 Km/hr. It was an amazing experience. Try that out. Yes,be warned that when you take the MAGLEV from the airport and then take taxi to the Hotel etc. Be ready to see and insist with the driver to down the TAXI meter as soon as you board in. You may be ripped off, if that doesn't happen. Also insist for print receipt.
I was also impressed with Dragon Air which I flew from Bangalore to Shanghai.

The service was good. Coffee the best in a long time in a flight. The flight from Bangalore was delayed and I missed the connecting flight, but the customers service personnel were waiting with Alternate boarding pass.

Further on travel Marshall Goldsmith has posted an interesting forum on Business travel tips in HBR. As he mentions, I always change the watch to the new time zone and makes sure I think everything in that time zone. It is tuff but you would get used to it if you practice.

It was amazing to read and watch the followup interviews on the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt. What an effort by the rescue team and what an ordeal She has undergone??. Larry King Handled that well. Bravo.
Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live Conciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Sam Manekshaw, Digital Native, Ergostretch.

I missed posting my thoughts on Field Marshall, Sam Manekshaw who passed away last week. Sam Bhadhur as he was affectionately called (Being from Gorkha Regiment) was my childhood hero. I can still recollect the news paper reading when I was about 8 years, as to how he planned and lead the 1971 war. Of course it is a team effort, the support he got from the Navy and Airforce lead then by SM Nanda and PC Lal were no less. In my opinion,1971 war brought India on the world map of elite nations who can help other nations. Well served, Sir. May his soul rest in peace.

We have been asked to switch to a new expense reporting system CONCUR, Let us see how it goes, All I have heard of it is just grit and do it. Will be intresting to see the road blocks ahead.
I was listening to the Anna Farmery podcast this week and I was fascinated by the podcast with Paul Young He mentioned the words Digital Native and Digitial Migrant. Fabulos concept as to how people who all along lived in digital aspects around them or embraced it as the technology just came through. That got me thinking for a long time!!!. Wonder how much impact digital life has on us!!.

I came across this Ergobreak software. This is cool. When you sit absorbed and dont count the passing of time only to find tired eyes and numb fingers. This program kind of reminds you to take break. Try this out.

I was also reading the Economist supplement of New trends in energy alternatives with Wind,Geothermal, Solar, Batteries etc. Ofcourse, people call the coal as King coal and Oil as Queen Oil and that their empire will regin on. Lets see for how long?.

Ok, Till next week, Take it easy and take care; live conciously.
Karthik.

History, Karmyablogy, Welchway.

Today being my son's birthday, we had a good time spending time on recap over the past 14 years of his life. We(Lalitha and I) also explained how things were in the mid 60 to 90s in our childhood. It is more or less on the lines of RK Narayan's stories.My Son couldn't believe that we lived without Television, computers as well as travel of 100 Km was as exciting as travel to Newyork from India. We also made him see the change in life style like joint families, joint decisions, comadadre and consulting with people on everything. Yes, that is where the generational change happens I assume. He still feels that I am lying when I said that I saw Black and white television when I was 22.!!!. When I mentioned that the 192 pages of a school Blank note book costed Re.1(US 2cents) he fell of the chair. It is 50 cents now.

I participated in the live webmeeting conducted by Wayne turmel last week using DIMDIM. This was on how to manage the remote teams. A practical aspects to work around,more so in the age of globalisation. Wayne does very good meetings besides his podcast. Worth giving a try. I geuss DIMDIM looks value for money. This is great for webmeeting and save costs of telephone call.

Jack welch has launed his website the Welchway. Lot of interesting stuff out there. Pl give a try. In repsonse to the Jack's thoughts on Working for a good or bad boss, I posted the question in MT forum.

I also came across an intersting management thoughts from website, Kamyabology (whatever it means). It has useful presentations on management aspects,career management etc. Worth exploring. I get email notifications on some practical PPT files.

I had requested the review of my resume from MT resume review service it is new service launched recently by MT. The price is meagre US50$ which is even low by Indian standards. Wendii Lord who manages this service at the back end. More than anything else, it is my way of appreciation for the great service done by Mike and Mark. The 180$ premium content amount I pay per annum is chicken feed for what I get in return. I wil keep you updated once I receive the feedback.

I long felt the need for a print cum scanner at home and we did buy one (hp model) yesterday. This will help to scan and share print docuements. The price of 85US$ was value for money.

I heard a very practical conversation between Lisa Haneberg in her fireside chat collection with Dr Marty Seldman Again goes to show stamina is critical for focus, excellence, discipline and excecution. I agree with Lisa thinking that you shouldnt be the last person or not knowing what your strengths and weakness are!!!.

Yes, this week had its chance to gauge value of network. There were some situation that required to take important decisions that kept coming up, valuable counselling from friends and well wishers helped to see the issue in broader perspective and helped to come to a final decisions. Their inputs has been significant and helps you to see hidden issues.

Ok, Till next week, take it easy and take care; live conciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Good news,Infopig, Tom & Jerry, Sadnews

I am glad to let you know that there have been significant progress in our upcoming construction of our FLAT in Park III Apartments, constructed by Renaissance builders. There have been significant delays and deviations that started happening. Thanks to the team work of active engagement, close coordination and followup done by the adhoc team of 5 members, formed on behalf of 95 owners (Potential) helped us resolve amicably some issues that crept up and threatened the whole integrity of the project. Thanks to Mr Suparna for tirelessly coordinating all the activities on behalf of the team. It is a small but significant victory. We are aware that the next 4 months are crucial for timely completion as promised. To be fair to the builder, the entire real estate and construction industry is caught in a price raise, labor shortage spin and project delays of up to 2 years are common. Yes, while my side of the bargain is less than 8 months, today I met people who had booked flats more than 3 years back and were promised possession in May 2007. Some story. Will keep you posted as significant developments happen.

Atlast more than a month after commisoning of the dreaded new airport, I had a chance to visit the place to see off a relative who was on travel to the USA. While I made the journey during the offpeak hours, the approach roads to the airport is excellant for the last 25 kms to the airport. The airport per se is an eyesore, poor parking management (You need to park miles away for long term parking and some dual parkings which are confusing) the vehicle managment is passengers nightmare as once you get down from your vehicle, you need to cross a road where vehciles ply at 100 a minute. As a safety Manager,I am just waiting to hear the first serious passenger accident soon. The airport complex itself is a disappointment, looking like a matchbox in a million acre field. In the 20 countries I have visited, never seen an so much pre commisoning hype for an airport and ending up such ugly one like this. Again like Indian sports, good excecution, poor finish. Thankfully, my travels are less these days to have less of practical pains of this unhappy experience. The worst insult to injury was that Rs.1050 (US$25) as user fee was not collected as part of the ticket and we need to chase for the rupee to payout. So much for coordination.!!.

I came across the the INFOPIG a great website of RSS feeds that kind of neat combines all the info on various aspects. Good to try it out. I also took time off yesterday(Didnt open the laptop) to watch Tom and Jerry show for an hour. The show was so refreshing and so much creativity besides laughter all the way. I am sure folks take time off to see and relax themselves.

Not sure If I shared the Carly Fiorina Speech link here. I listened to her speech she delivered at Stanford. I am always fascinated by the turn around she did in HP. She mentions the key aspects as Leadership, People, Change. For leaders, Creativity, Colloboration, Charecter are a must to succeeed. Great speech and intersting Q&A.
I am saddened by the passing away of Jane McGrath this morning. Glenn did so much for the cancer society on her behalf. May her soul rest in peace.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and take care; Live conciously.
Karthik.

Cynisms, Hate IT, Fathers day, Benefits

It has been a while I have expressed some sort of frustrations in this forum. So here I go on the soap Box.

1) I have always had the least of regards for most of the civil servants and the government Bureaucracy. They are known as Babus. I never wanted to go in to that line. Thankfully it never happened.(My father is a retired federal government paid scientist!!) Working in world class MNCs (over the past 18 years)who value the core of integrity with policies implementing FCPA ( I am a certified FCPA trainer) has further distanced me further from this people. Enhancing my core competence too has made me to more of strategic role in my job rather than chasing them for getting done the day to day jobs. Over the years, the feelings are further enhanced by the rarest of interactions one encouter. In short, I stay away from them. I have never seen such a class of people more unfriendly in the developed/ developing world in my travel of more than 20 countries. Ofcourse, here is the other side to the story!!.

Yes, they find a way to harass people by raising issues on aspects that were done many years ago and make them run from pillar to post.That you had no clue that such thing would ever come. Nor when one goes to the railway station to receive relatives. Wonder when things will change!! Not in my life time I guess.

2)Ok, enough of my cribbing. I was also astounded that schools have banned students from bringing cell phone in to the school/ college premises. I am all for not using cellphone during class hours or in the school timings and if found using at that time the school management can confiscate or even take punitive measures. Today an average child commutes 2 Hrs to School and another couple of hours to attend coaching classes etc. Were there an emergency or need to get in touch with the child, How the devil it can be done?, I wonder!!!. Some thinking gap I guess in the educators, who are also out of sync with the way the world is changing. Wonder when they will catch up?.

I cant blame the schools, why to blame them. Even IT (Information technology) folks are out in sync. Here is a great article by Susan Cramm on why every one hates IT. Yes, I have some good friends in IT from my previous Jobs. But mostly I agree with what is said here. One of my friend has an interesting experience, when IT folks advised not use firefox browser as it can have security issues. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. That are the signs of things for you. Yes, Susy has posted a latest blog on why every one should love IT.

Wayne Turmel has a great conversation with Ken Blanchard, the author of 1 minute manager. Wayne talks about the new book, 1 minute enterpreneur. Great listen. The act of 1 minute manager as 1minute goal, 1 Minute Praise and 1 minute correction and reprimand is common sense right.(But never adhered to). Also listen to Anna Farmery of the engaging brand on conversation on how to manage stress in the workplace with Cary Cooper

I have posted in the manager tool forum on the Indian employee compensation and benefits. Wonder if in any other part of the world employees are given so many allowances and perquisites as well as employer paying the Fringe benefit tax to the government.

I was dumbfounded literally by this article as Hillary Clinton as possible Running mate yes for John MCCain. Yes, personally I was disappointed that she didnt make it. In my conversation with many of my American friends that we felt that women is what America needs to bring in sweeping changes. Somewhere things didnt go the way. As Economist wrote last year,that it will be Hillary Clinton's loss should she has to loose the democratic nomiation. Lets see how things take shape in the form of running mates for both the candidates!!. I guess religious feelings will go some way.

Yes, I close my thoughts on being thankful to my Father on Father's day. I have great respect for my father and called him to wish father' day. But we always disagreed on issues and how we viewed things. The only thing that is common is our unrelenting support for WestIndian cricket and discuss when Indian cricket team does badly. Yes, We were one of the few who were very saddened won India won the cricket world cup in 1983. Mercifully, the agony never returned so far. HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the DADs in the world. Have a good time and enjoy the success of your children.

Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live conciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Narashima,Career change, NEW Y2K, Process audits, Irenea Sendler

This week it was all happening.

This Friday,I was for a taking an autorixa (3 wheeler) to attend a meeting. My car was unavailable for the fact that my son has to be picked up from the school. While proceeding to the meeting with my builder in Malleswaram from Honeywell Office (A distance of 10 Miles), I saw (rather my autorixa driver, His name was Narashima) a wallet falling out of the hip pocket from the 2 wheeler (Scooter) in an intersection. He stopped and picked it up and handed over to me so that it can be handed over to the owner. The Indian social system is such that if an auto driver hands it over to the owner or the police, there will be more questions and things can go tangential if something is missing for various reasons. (Many taxi/ Auto drivers are held in low esteem in India). So I opened the wallet and found 4 credit cards, PAN card, and many business cards of other personnel, but no business cards or cell phone number of the owner of the wallet. I then started calling each of the business card personnel that was in the wallet to see if they know the owner of the wallet. Long story shot, I did find one person who managed to make contact with the wallet owner and he could come and meet me. I duly handed over the wallet to him. It was good that I could do that. One take away is to keep your contact numbers, (May be write in credit cards, keep 2 or 3 business cards in Wallet).

Over the last a year or so with the Indian economy getting vibrant more and more opportunities are coming for a better career for Indian professionals. In my discussions with many of my friends and colleagues and even for myself, we always get the call from recruiters as to if we are willing to look for a change. While many or most of the times, you just let the situation pass. Once in blue moon, we sense that happenings are of good platform for career change. So I just posted the question as to what we should do if everything is going well in Manager-tools forum. Lets see wait to the response.

I came across an interesting photo in Fortune magazine of the mechanical fuel filling pump which cant sell more than 3.99 $ gas and more than 99.99$ sale. Interesting, 17,000 such pumps needs change and will cost 12,000$ each. WOW!!!!. Who would have thought that this will be another Y2K.

Also I was moved by this story out there in the magazine for Citicorp trader Craig Gile who was sentenced to 1 year in prison for falsifying records. Wonder, where from you are caught.!!!. Some times law can take its course fast on some mundane events just to show the world and others to teach lesson.

Few articles I have found very practical, then this one by Michael Hammer on Process audits. It covers the whole gambit of shaping up the 5 process capability with Infrastructure, Performers, Owners, design, Metrics(IPODm) and 4 enterprise capabilities as Leadership, Culture,Expertise, Governance and his model to check maturity. Fabulous article. It won the Mckinsey award. It is must read for everyone to see a large scheme of things and big picture.

Finally, as weekly reader of economist on Sunday mornings, I happen to read Obituary every week. I was touched by passing away of Irena Sendler. It appears that she did as much as Oscar Schindler during Nazi atrocities made legend by the movie Schindler's list by Spielberg. Some times it doesnt get recognized.

Ok, Lalitha has to rush to the new Airport this evening for unscheduled visit. I will share her Nightmare or whatever experience to the Airport next week. (OF course today being Sunday, it could all be different).
Glad to see Steve Pavlina back in the podcast. Also came across a good Tamil podcast on random ramblings.

Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.