Mahabharata: if it's in life, it's in Mahabharata

Popular computer game studio EAsports has this tagline, "if it's in the game, it's in the game". I think Mahabharata too must have a similar tagline, of which the converse is also true.

It is the one story I'll never tire reading. The version I liked the most, is the modern rendering by Ramesh Menon. That version treats Krishna like almost a human being, without divinity, facing the problems and confusions as most humans do, and doing what's needed to be done / expected of him.

I'm now listening to on audible, the book "The difficult of being good" by Gurcharan Das. It's not telling the story, it's rather a commentary on Dharma as espoused by the Mahabharata, peppered with western philosophical thoughts on similar lines, and examples from modern life / history.

Mahabharata never fails to amaze me, with the amount of character detailing for even smaller characters, or the number of extraordinary lives that it showcases, right from Yayati to Bheeshma to Krishna, Karna, Yudhishthira, Ekalavya, Abhimanyu, etc.

I, being born on the same star as Arjuna, had always imagined myself to be similar, mainly on the aspect of being under confident until someone like Krishna gives reassuring statements and prods into action. And also how much after the war and Krishna's death, Arjuna realises that he can't win against some insignificant nuisance creators without Krishna (an incident that hastened their decision to go to Himalayas) - I too feel the same lost feeling after the death of my father, who has played Krishna to me all my life.

But after many readings, I now suspect I have more in common with Yudhishthira - who the world expects to be good and perfect but has many grey areas and imperfections; the same reluctance/ pressure to avoid violence; and most importantly, being under the tremendous pressure to do the right thing or to be dharmic.

The concept of Karma also figures prominently in Mahabharata - even Krishna (despite being God) isn't spared, meeting a lowly end like a random forest animal, by someone who is actually a later birth of Bali from the Ramayana, thus completing the karma cycle.

I've always wondered about Karma, if it keeps going on, does it exhaust or keep repeating in cycles? I've myself seen Karma in action a lot of times, and I suspect life and Karma will keep going in cycles unless one picks up on the window of opportunity to break free of the repeating patterns. I personally find it difficult to break the pattern even if I'm able to spot the pattern, in self as well as others.

Indeed, being good is difficult, and maybe being difficult is good! Or maybe there's no good or bad, we just make our choices and face the consequences, right or wrong. 

On that note, പരിണാമം (parinamam) in Malayalam is such a deep word. It can mean evolution, or also result or consequence. 

When the worlds blend

Ever since my father unexpectedly passed away more than three years back, I keep getting recurring dreams of him. Somewhat a mix between how Prithviraj sees his dead sister in the Malayalam movie Koode and how Sanjay Dutt's character sees the Mahatma in the Hindi movie Lage raho munnabhai, even in these dreams I am semi aware that he is no more. Interestingly I do not want these dreams to go away, as I am truly happy during these dreamy times I get with my father now.

In the dream from yesterday morning, I saw him, and in the semi aware state I tell him, "doesn't matter if you are real or a figment of my imagination, just hold my hand and walk with me, and he does, and I wake up.

Later in the day I was thinking, it will be good if I get to speak to some of his friends who would just speak about him and his goodness ("he did so much for me and I miss him"), rather than some of the relatives who would only speak of him in an appropriating manner ("Oh he was closest to me"). My recent self does not initiate much phone calls, and interestingly today two of his former colleagues called me and spoke to me on the lines I was longing to hear!

There must be ways in which the "real world" as we understand, and the worlds beyond that blend.

Life, Death, Love and everything...

My father's untimely and unexpected death happened exactly two years ago, and it has never been the same after that. Somehow parents (or parent equivalent people) passing away forces the final plunge into adulthood, how much ever unwilling we are. Adding to my father's sudden departure, the discovery of my mother's early onset Dementia was another blow - changing her character to someone totally unlike the person who brought me up.

That same year a close friend's mother also had a relapse of cancer, and this time it was too late. I still remember the early morning call I got from my friend, announcing the sad news. I hung up, letting the news sink in. I stepped out of my room, where my mother, without knowing or understanding, showered a lot of kisses on me - this was a peculiar moment for me - my friend had lost his mother, and my mother, although the mind is lost, is there for me still expressing her love in ways possible in her now limited and different personality - I end up coming back to this moment many times afterwards, in reflection.

Beyond my younger days, though I had been closer to my father I had rarely expressed my love as kisses or hugs. It was always there, and it was granted, my love for him and his for me. After we had almost lost my mother and saved by a surgery in the nick of time in 2013, I had always been worried about my mother's health, and had ensured that I always went to meet her for her birthday, while never doing the same for my father (I had somewhere assumed he would be there for a much longer time). Now that there is no more the option to express my love, I feel having missed out the chance during the last couple of decades.

And this thought, despite the inability to connect with the person Amma is changing to be due to her illness, at times confuses, and at times makes me appreciate the opportunity to express love to people while they are alive.

The universe conspiring to help you succeed, with the right mentors

I have been wanting restart my writing for some time now - but it is turning out to be extremely difficult, with me being unable to compose anything longer than a tweet or a whatsapp message!

When an old friend Sunny Narang recently wrote to me saying that he needed a short write-up from me on the benefits I have received on mentoring, I wrote the following. My mentor Kannan however feels that this reads more like a vote-of-thanks speech! I guess so but this is what I wrote:

[originally published at https://rasainvestmentsgroup.com/pages/skillveri/ ]

Sabarinath on his journey with mentors :

Coming from a middle class family with both parents working as central govt employees, no one in my family has any prior experience in setting up or running an enterprise. And I certainly didn’t have the attributes one often reads about “successful” entrepreneurs in the Economic Times, fancy degrees from IIT/IIM, nor a business plan that potential investors are already salivating at, nor a back up plan if things were to go wrong, nor a large bank balance.

So when the opportunity came up to start what would go on to become Skillveri, even the idea of the product wasn’t mine, it was just a strong feeling that if at 29 I let this opportunity go by, I may never get to really start something ever. I have no qualms in admitting it was a blind leap of faith, in this friend/mentor of mine, Kannan, 16 years elder than me, despite him providing all kinds of disclaimers (a long list of things i shouldn’t expect him to do, but in reality he did most of them when required) and pitfalls of taking the plunge.

From then on, it’s been like the cliched “universe conspiring to make it happen”. Through contacts I’m able to set up a small yet inspired team of 5 people who’d willingly work full time on prototype development without getting paid, merely believing in the mission, and find more mentors on the way, almost just in time on several occasions, who are willing to lend or invest money sufficient to keep the ship afloat till the promised land is sighted.

Out of the six years of Skillveri’s existence, 4 years were in bootstrapped mode, which combined with my lack of depth in matters relating to finance, meant we ran out of money a few times, yet reached revenue stage quickly enough to make it a cash flow balancing right rope walk.

Throughout the journey, apart from Kannan, a lot of senior mentors have contributed significantly to making Skillveri a success, be it Shivkumar sir who gave us time, materials, men and money, right from the time Skillveri was just a few slides of ppt to the time it created sophisticated simulations for multiple skills, or Prof Jhunjhunwala , Prof Bhaskar and the incubation team at IIT Madras, Paul Basil and P R Ganapathy at Villgro, Stuthi who not just put up with me throughout the pre-revenue stage till we raised funding from Ankur capital and MSDF, but also loaned me money when my ability to return it was questionable; M M Murugappa sir sharing his wisdom on one on one sessions at IIT Madras, to Keshab beginning to help me handle HR challenges and ending up being a leadership coach, to Biji Kurien sir who came in to help with spray painting simulator but ending up helping in multiple ways (ahem, yes, loaning money yet again when ability to return was questionable). It’s difficult to actually list out the entire set of people from whom I’ve shamelessly taken support in this journey!

And Kannan of course lives up to the meaning of his name, becoming Krishna to the under-confident Arjuna in me.

Why FB is so popular

Having been a Google+ fan compared to Facebook, I always keep wondering why Google+ have not so far been able to get the coolness factor. The crowd is still on FB. Google+, to me, is more like a content reader.

So what makes people stick to FB? I think somewhere it satisfies a core human need - the need to 'brag' to others on their 'achievements'. Sharing pics taken from foreign countries, honeymoon pics, etc and then waiting impatiently for "wow!!! so cute!!!" kind of comments - no social networking site has serviced this need better than facebook. Also, facebook is turning out to be a "second life" or alternate reality platform where even if your life sucks, you can make it appear to your peers that is is "rocking". Apparently making it appear all rosy to your peers is more important than it really being rosy!

That way, I like the crowd and postings on Google+. If Google+ were to become popular with the same kind of crowd, it would no longer be able to stand out - it would become another Orkut.

Travelogue - Bangalore to Nilambur

It's been quite a while since I went on a good road trip. A sudden unplanned trip to Nilambur came as a pleasant surprise, especially not having planned it helped take the decision to drive down. Had we taken an overnight bus or train, would have missed out the beautiful route. On the flipside, the unplanned nature of the trip also meant that we traveled without taking the camera with us.

Nilambur is a small town in Malappuram district of Kerala, and the shortest route from Bangalore is just 300 km via Mysore-Gundulpet-Gudalur. Though Bangalore-Mysore road is 4 lane, there is quite a lot of traffic. Between Chennapatna and Maddur, there are some good restaurants on the highway. We had breakfast at Kamat's - food was very good, and tasty.

Though Mysore has a ring road nearing completion, it is better to take the route through the city (which we did on the onward journey, and took the ring road on the return journey - adds 22km without saving much time. Also, if you are used to Bangalore/Chennai traffic, Mysore is a breeze).

The route gets interesting from a little beyond Gundulpet, when you enter the Bandipur National Park. There was thorough checking for plastic items (but surprisingly none on the return journey. Inside the park, you can spot a few animals including deer, peacock, wild boar, etc - there are signboards warning against wild elephants, and that you should not take any of the interior roads without permission. The place is spotlessly clean.

Though the park is one single continuous entity, the interstate border comes in between, so it is officially Mudumalai National Park on the Tamil Nadu side.

The drive through both National Parks is a very refreshing experience - clean air, no noise, very less traffic. Soon after leaving the parks, we reached Gudalur town in Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, a crowded town, from where we take the detour for Nilambur from the Ooty road. The portion of the ghat roads closer to the border between Tamil Nadu and Kerala was the best part of the ride - at 12:30 noon we encountered thick fog, so much that visibility was reduced to a few feet, and we drove with headlights & hazard lights on, not because we could see better, but in the hope that vehicles on the opposite side could at least see the lights and avoid collision. This fog, called as Koda Manju in Malayalam, was the first time for me not just for any roads in Kerala/TN but also not encountered during my trip to the Himalayas.

The roads then enters the Kerala plains very soon, but the scenery is still beautiful.

The next day we went on a short outing to a lesser known waterfalls, called Adyanpara. It is not very popular, and hence not at all crowded except for some 10 local tourists. The beauty of the place was more than worth the trouble of climbing up the narrow hilly roads.

I knew photographs could not capture the full feel of the place, so I shot a video on the mobile phone as well.

The key places we missed during this trip was going to the Teak Museum, Nilambur Kovilakam, and taking the train journey from Nilambur to Shoranur. That's for the next time.

Another 'Social Business' Idea - Mosquito Killing Contest

Yet another crazy idea which is hardly a business - a slight tech modification on the ubiquitous 'kosu-bats' of Chennai.

This product can be called KillVeri, a spoof on my real company name, SkillVeri. Some electronics added to ensure that each real mosquito killed is counted (and some other means to ensure that wires being shorted don't count) and a mechanism to send each bat's kill number to a central server: I'm sure a business can be built around a game which rewards the person who kills max mosquitoes in a locality, region and so on.
This business also directly encourages eliminating mosquito menace, thus indirectly help eradicate malaria, thus helping improve health of people, and such blah blah to call it a 'social business' and hence call myself a 'social entrepreneur'. Yes, I know this is stretching things too far, but then what else are MBAs meant for?

Potential Market - Content Development for Spiritual Gurus

This is written in jest, but who knows, this could be serious business some years down the line!
Most of the spiritual gurus say ambiguous and confusing this such that if you openly admit not understanding them you are considered to be a fool by the others. While they're doing a decent job right now, I think they'll run out of more ambiguous statements pretty soon.
And who's better than MBAs when it comes to generating paragraphs of content without meaning much? Huge potential indeed!

Update: The same day I had written this blog, famous spiritual guru Deepak Chopra tweeted something like this - "Forgiveness is attention without judgement". Now you get the drift better, right?

Changing perspectives & being back in school

I got the fortune of getting admission to a short course for entrepreneurs, which essentially refreshes a few things I should have studied properly at my b school.

The two main teachers are from London Business School, and I did come here with a prejudice that what they teach may be more from a British context and may not fit into Indian situations.

Also after reaching here I was a little dismayed that most of the peer group was too young and felt initially that peer group learning may not be as effective as I wished it to be.

I can't explain how wrong I've been on both counts. The professor Mr Jeff Skinner is just amazing- the contents of his course is very appropriate and the energy he brings to a highly interactive session is tremendous. Among the bunch of youngsters there are quite a few really talented people from whom I've learned quite a lot.

Just a few days into the course has brought about a good amount of change in the way I think, both from classroom discussions and late night hostel discussions, making me feel a lot younger!

I'm really glad that I made the effort and spent money in coming all the way to Ghaziabad to attend this programme.

Film Review - Kahaani

What a movie! I'd read rave reviews of the movie and had gone with very high expectations, that too with two friends who'd already seen the movie, threatening to reveal thhe suspense everytime the movie took a turn. Yet I found the movie very thrilling, with very powerful and convincing performances.

Vidya Balan has been fantastic, playing the role of a pregnant woman with keen attention to detail like style of walking, getting tired easily, mannerisms, etc. Other supporting roles- especially that of police officer Rana and intelligence officer Khan - have also been excellent.

In spite of having two friends cracking jokes now and then, the spookiness factor was not lost. Then, like mentioned in two contexts towards the end, a pregnant woman, whom no one sees as harmful, can get to information normal people cannot.

Yet another bonus of the movie is the way Kolkata is captured in a very natural way.

Initially it is difficult to keep connecting the seemingly disconnected incidents, but the dots gets connected at the end.

A very good thriller, in short a must watch. Hats off to Vidya for carrying the entire movie on her shoulder, and hats off to the director for the right casting, including for people with minor roles like the LIC agent cum serial killer.

A free bird

Today was my last day at Vortex. Honestly it has not yet sunk in fully that I'm no longer part of the company. The product and the team behind the product has been so much of an inspiration. For the last three plus years, I had lived Vortex. It will surely take a while before my mind accepts the change.

It has not been an easy decision to foray into entrepreneurship, especially coming from a middle class family of regular salary earners. The rebellious streak I had early on as mentioned in my previous post was rekindled recently while coming across this new opportunity. The sense of increased purpose made me feel that if I did not grab the chance now, I'd regret it my entire life. And thus I've embarked on something unthinkable in my middle class family and friends circle - let go of an assured decent salary in return for passion and potential for higher returns.

Eight years later...

I am quoting a series of three posts I made to a worldwide KV alumni group. I was then a rebel fresher software engineer, greatly unhappy with the merely writing software for ATMs in the name of Hitachi, instead of building one of our own.  Shades of my then socialist mindset and swadeshi attitude is seen.


With my latest venture SkillVeri shaping up to use tablet based gaming for skill development and training, the destination, road and vehicle mentioned in the last of the three posts have now become clear.


These ideas came a half circle when I joined Vortex, where instead of making software on behalf of an MNC I became part of a team that made the entire ATM fully on innovative Indian technology. With this venture on skill training, I hope to come a full circle and make a difference, in line with the sense of purpose I mentioned in my previous post.


To: <kendriya_vidyalaya@yahoogroups.com>; 
Subject: So Far So Good, What Next? 
Sent: Fri, Dec 3, 2004 8:50:55 AM 


So Far So Good, What next?


India has become an Information Technology superpower, where we have the most brilliant computer professionals. We are also the most preferred back-end office sites in the world. The middle class and upper middle class are increasing in number, and a lot of people are able to ride the wave of IT and IT enabled services, call centres, and make a lot of money.


Fine. So far, so good. But looking from a long term perspective, where are we heading to? Get some degree, speak good English, join a call centre, make money, and spend it – does everything end there? Or take the case of engineers, who, even while in their final semesters, compete and get jobs in the IT industry as software developers irrespective of their branch of specialization, or go on to take an MBA from IiIMs, and work in an MNC. It’s not that their contribution is not good, nor that these are not to be done.  But ultimately, are we not just helping the richer people in developed countries become richer, by sweating out our youth by serving some foreign interest?


Even those who become entrepreneurs, what they do is to break off from some larger company and found their own, get a few contracts from foreign clients, and again continue the same story. The question is when do we Indians start to make our own products? The success of the IT industry proves that we are capable of doing good quality work – only that no company here is ready to take the risk of coming out with a new product. The risky part of conceptualising a new product, designing it, etc is left to foreign entrepreneurs and we are happy doing the low end implementation part – no risks, easy money, just sweat out our youth.


It’s high time our engineers thought beyond joining MNCs and working for foreigners, and begin to innovate for ourselves. Why else should we study all branches of engineering and ultimately end up writing code for others? Why not try and work in the true engineering style, to ‘engineer’ new products of our own? Why not pool our resources and contribute in some manner for a better, self-reliant India?


To: <kendriya_vidyalaya@yahoogroups.com>; 
Subject: Next Steps - Indian Dreams, Not American 
Sent: Mon, Dec 6, 2004 4:51:07 AM 


Next Steps - Indian Dreams, Not American



In my last posting, I pondered extensively on the lack of innovation amongst Indian engineers, and amongst the Indian society as a whole. In our yahoogroup, we’ve discussed on the problems and causes for problems – we are not ready to innovate, nor is the system conducive for any innovation.


But again, blaming the system and not doing anything about it – that has become another characteristic of us Indians. I am not suggesting all of us join politics en masse and fight corruption – just making an appeal to do our bit. The majority of us have American dreams, think (or should I say, know?) that “kuchch bhi nahin sudharega” and pack off to greener pastures at the first chance. A famous politician of a developed country had once remarked, “Ask not what the state did for you, ask what you did for the state”. Had we Indians applied the same principle in our lives, we would have been at their place. Take for instance, the fees we paid at KVs. We paid no tuition fees till 9th standard, from 9th to 12th we paid, as far as I remember, less than $10 a year. In my engineering days, I paid Rs 600 per semester (less than $25 a year). The governments we are so fond of blaming – haven’t they done their part in some way? Where else in the world do we get education so cheap? If they give you scholarship, hey make you work for more than what the pay is worth for. Or like they do in Singapore, they make you sign a bond that you would work for six years in their territory. Wouldn’t there be a hue and cry, if any IITians or IIMian were to be made to work similarly for 6 years before they can look for greener pastures?


The key lies in attitude – the will to stay on and fight the ills of the system.. I have had the fortune to get associated with a person here in Thiruvananthapuram, who, despite all odds and lures of a much higher pay abroad – chose to stay on, that too in government service. He has been able to made his own mark here, and was instrumental in setting up the Friends counter in all district headquarters – a single window system through which common man can pay all his government bills – taxes, electricity bills, exam fees, what not – at a professionally managed, computerized office, where there are no office “babus”.  When I approached him regarding my Industrial Training, he deputed me to Kerala State Vigilance Bureau, who needed a software to be developed for them but didn’t have enough money to pay professionals. So it was a deal – we needn’t pay like my classmates [who paid for their internships], nor the client – a win/win situation. I am happy to think that I saved the exchequer about 1 lakh rupees, and saved a few thousands myself in payments to companies.


This mentor of mine has an Indian dream he shares with all his students – that, instead of blaming the system, we all shall do something about it. In my next and concluding part of this series, I shall put forth a few of his as well as my ideas. In the meantime, please continue to share your views.

From: Sabarinath C Nair <sabs83in@yahoo.com>; 
To: <kendriya_vidyalaya@yahoogroups.com>; 
Subject: Dreams to reality - the million rupee question 
Sent: Wed, Dec 8, 2004 3:56:49 AM 

Dreams to reality - the million rupee question Lack of innovation is not limited to the field of engineering alone. A few years back, we all saw the great Indian epic, “Ramayana” being shown in cartoon network – Indian story, animation engineers from India (Toonz Animation, Technopark, Trivandrum), Indian audience, but Japanese Credits!!! Similarly, it took a British to make a film on Gandhi.

Our younger generation is fed on pokemon, and other cartoon characters, when, in our own mythology we have heroes with same powers of flying, stunt, and penchant for justice enforcement, but nobody to produce them in quality. There is so much risk involved in coming out with something new, they say, but is India not a country with supercharged emotions, where you can find a market for anything irrespective of quality?

During my interactions with many seniors in IT industry, all of them said that Indian companies are far too small to take the risk of making new products. Is that really so? Why can’t Indian MNCs like Infosys and other big shots dedicate, say, 10% of their profits to R & D and research to bring out own products?

We the youth of India should heed the call by the most charismatic of the presidents we ever had, Dr Abdul Kalam, to dream. Because only with dreams we can think of new ideas, many of which may be unrealistic and rebutted initially, but with some effort can be materialized. The Wright brothers were initially ridiculed when they spoke of flying – and remember they started from bicycle workshops.

In my college days we had a marketing competition – where we were to “sell” imaginary products of the future. Such activity should be encouraged, and it is possible to strike really great ideas in such sessions. For projects in the curriculum, engineering students should resolve to implement new ideas rather than copy existing technology. Look around us; think how we can make something new but simple to change/improve the present set up. [I’ve always wished we had a camera that could photograph full 360 degrees, and had even thought out a rough design. ;-)]

Another approach is to look at present technologies and find out cheaper alternatives so as to uplift rural India. The soul of India still lies in its villages, and if we are to become developed, we have to deliver technology to them, at Indian prices affordable to them.

The media, for its part, ought to be more positive in reporting. I am not saying that we ignore the bad things here – we should address them, but it is high time we shake off this tag of ‘land of magicians, beggars and snake charmers’. 

Also, instead on being frustrated on being unemployed, one can think about ways to be self-employed. Of course, it does involve a lot of risk and money.

This is an ambitious journey, of which the destination is well defined, but neither the road nor the vehicle is not clear to me at this stage. Maybe we’ve got to build both the road and the vehicle ourselves. I too suffer from the lack of focus common to many of us, have ideas but don’t exactly know how to go about implementing them. Let us KVians brainstorm and redeem our pledge to the nation

The pursuit of purpose

My friend Madhu, an excellent game developer, tells me that games mirror life in a great way. I've realized that it's a very true statement, especially in the fact that while playing games after completing a difficulty level we increase the level to a more difficult one and in real life we keep on looking for more challenges.

So just like the pursuit of happiness is enshrined in the American constitution, pursuit of purpose is wired into some of us humans. This must be the strong inspiration behind my second attempt at entrepreneurship

Salt and Pepper

The thing I like most about the Malayalam movie 'Salt & Pepper' is the beautiful way in which my home city of Thiruvananthapuram is shown. Most Malayalam films, if they are city based, focus on Kochi.

Apart from that, there are many reasons to watch the film- it is a light comedy, with the comedy aspects well woven into the storyline without having a separate comedy track. The movie is an out and out foodie movie (as the title suggests) and one would end up feeling really hungry by interval time.

That someone could make a movie so refreshingly different in Malayalam industry which has already tried various genres is really commendable. Also noteworthy is the lack of any big names in the cast.

Highly recommended, especially if you live to eat (and not the other way round)

Hire & Fire

I keep hearing from folks and relatives in Kerala on how the IT sector jobs are not offering enough job security. The level to which job security is taken for granted (layoffs during recession notwithstanding) became evident to me while I was having dinner at a restaurant near my office last night.

An elderly staff was suddenly scolding a young staff member. It soon turned out that he had, instead of having food in the restaurant itself, packed it for home consumption. (I wonder why this is prohibited - what commercial harm could befall if a staff member takes out 1 plate of parotta?) And then the elderly gentleman passed the verdict on the young chap's crime - "don't come to work from tomorrow onwards. You are fired". All for packing his dinner to take home, probably to share food with a brother or a friend who stays with him.

And we say there is no job security in IT industry.

Media, sensationalism and safety

With all the brouhaha over the Mullaperiyar Dam issue, the media is not helping ordinary people in any way. As a Malayali living in Chennai for the last 7 years, I have never faced (touchwood) any discrimination based on my mother tongue.
In the last couple of weeks I have had umpteen conversations with Malayalis in Kerala who ask questions like whether it is safe to speak Malayalam in Chennai openly - I am both amused and saddened by this. Media in Kerala are apparently highlighting attacks on businesses run by Keralites in Tamil Nadu, and here in Chennai I do hear a lot about alleged attacks on Tamilians in Kerala. While folks in Kerala assure me that the average Tamilian in Kerala is still not attacked, I am sure of the same in TN. This sensationalizing of the issue only leads to retaliatory attacks against (fictional?) attacks on either side.
My guess is that whichever businesses were attacked, may have been done by general anti-socials/rowdies/goons who are making best use of the situation to settle old scores, and may not have anything to do with the Mullaperiyar issue or the mother tongue.
I wish media on both sides become more responsible in their reporting and help Malayalis in TN and Tamilians in Kerala live a normal life.

The futility of legislation

At a petrol bunk near my office, I found a very young boy (must be in his early teens) working to fill air. As I was getting my tyres inflated, I had a casual chat with him, which went this way:

Me: "How old are you, thambi?"
Him: "18"
Me: "Oh, have they told you to tell you are 18?"
Him: "I have my certificates to prove I'm 18"
Me: "Relax, young man, I am asking casually. I have no intention of complaining"

His supremely confident rejoinder: "Sir, even if you want to complain, you can't do anything. I have all relevant documents - school TC, birth certificate, etc which says I'm 18"

I was stumped by the confident with which he spoke. He was clearly lying, and he knew that I could see through that. The tone with which he gave the reply was sort of challenging me to try and disprove his claim.

It is instances like these which make me think that legislation to eradicate social evil may not be very effective. This boy clearly knew what he was doing was illegal, and (probably with help of others/relatives) found out means to get around these 'hurdles'. He probably would have paid at most a month's salary equivalent to get a fake certificate. People who really want to continue such 'illegal' activities will anyway find a way out - if someone takes it to the point of a bone marrow test, I'm sure he might still find a way out through bribing. In fact, with such kind of legislation, we are putting one more layer of rent seeking / scope for corruption. Such legislation is as effective as the "Pollution Under Control" certificates - better save the money for everyone concerned.

What's the alternative then? Better awareness creation, perhaps. Maybe make these children see 'whats-in-it-for-me-if-I-study-a-little-more', a promise of a better life.

The mystery of Saravana Bhavan

Note to my friends living abroad: you are excused if you are a fan of Hotel Saravana Bhavan

Ever tried to find a seat during lunchtime at any of the HSB outlets in Chennai, ac or non ac? The whole experience of having an overpriced meal is unpleasant, that after the ordeal of finding a seat and beginning your meal, you find the next customer standing very near you trying to 'reserve' the seat you are occupying and waiting for you to finish.

On top of that most items are highly priced (for that kind of food) and one unit will never be filling. One can't have a filling meal without shelling out at least 150-200 per head. That doesn't deter scores of people thronging the place, such is the brand value. The only really tasty item to have from HSB is the real fruit ice cream.

Contrasting this with the new chain opened by the well known Shree Krishna Sweets, called Gokulams, they serve tastier food at around 60% of the price but their restaurants are mostly empty. For some reason they are not able transfer their brandname in sweets to their restaurant business.

How does one explain this kind of consumer behaviour? Maybe we must take a relook at the first principle of economics: humans make rational purchase decisions.

The sad aspect of women's reservation

The much touted women's reservation has a major drawback- there is no provision to stop proxy rule. The ward councillor from my hometown constituency is the wife of a politician who would have contested if the ward has not been notified as a ladies only constituency. The husband is the de facto councillor.

The same is the case with many women panchayat president. Similarly, the so called young MPs are sons/daughters from political dynasties. I would like to see more first generation young MPs and real women leaders instead of proxies.

Yet another mobile blog post test

This time from my first android phone, which is more powerful than the first computer I owned. But then it doesn't look like I will get back to posting regularly. Let's put the blame on facebook and twitter, where thoughts get instant capsulated expression without any deep thinking unlike blogs.