750 sq kms and nowhere to go...

That's what happens on weekends, I sit like this on my chair, musing on what to do with with this huge 750 sq km pizza on a plateau called Bangalore....

So much to explore in some ways and then so little..

Theatre, Kannada mostly, I will have to look at the audience to figure out more than the play॥

Movies at PVR, All sold out, try your luck

MG Road, Cubbon park, Lalbagh, Visvesvaraya museum, no..they're not what they used to be..

One of those unlimited cliched exhibitions at Kanteevra stadium, no..no..no..

Go trekking with one of those adventure clubs, who take troops of 40 and turtle climb 300 feet hills, mostly very young couples helping each other along and who dont seem to notice you at all..

Take your wife to one of the happening hotspot discos, hasnt happened yet for me, as it requires the near impossible convergence of a good housemaid, my 3 year old's agreaableness to let us go and a fitting wardrobe so that us over-the-average-indian-age types can still pretend young.

Try to rub into the creative character of the city, join a music lesson and soon realize that the closest age group is 11 years younger to you and picks up 50% faster...you attend two weekends and then the third onwards the class is suddenly younger and faster

Go to the local derby season, Wonder La amusement park, or take a ride on the double decker tourist bus that shows you around bangalore...I'm saving these for "rainy" days.

So my standard last and safe resorts...try to feel busy by being in a busy situation...1) go for a tea at Koshy's with a novel and keep sitting there, while you may not be part of it, you will definitely be midst of lot happening around you...and 2) if you find travelling therapeutic, take a BMTC Volvo ride around Bangalore, you'l love how these sleek red beauties can accelerate on 20 feet wide roads with a spaghetti of a traffic around them...

And then come back, muse and write this blog...and hope to plan it better next week!

Good News India..

Changing in own little ways, a few pioneering spirits slowly adding up .. Good news India

Well apart from all that we wonder whether deserves to be news...a true oasis.

Butter and Mashed Bananas...

I have always wanted to see theatre...and finally I did last week...at Ranga Shankara, after 2 years of glossing over the idea... waiting for an english play..and then wondering where the theatre was.. and in some weak moments giving up...

Good thing is I made a great start, thanks in all measures to a brilliant bunch of Bangaloreans who gave an intense and richly creative performance in this play called..Butter and Mashed Bananas.

Its a great sense of relief that you feel when you realize that not missing out the smallest detail is not an aberration...when you see the small gestures in the performance, that seemingly instinctive are actually scripted to the finest detail.

Thanks to Harami(!) theatre and Ajay Krishnan, the director of this play who also does the live music score for the play.

Highlights - the inimitable Indian paradox, Left and Right, Page 3 sequel, freedom, the hypocrisy of the powerful, music and choreography... and minimalism..

And when you walk.. out you you also thank, that besides and despite all, how creative genius thrives in the country !

So all those lazin, on the verge of wishing- better- of- your- time Bangaloreans.. go-theatre!

Ranga Shankara is a landmark location in JP Nagar...

Mind you kids under 8 not allowed inside...and save the organizers some effort by switching off your cellphones inside the auditorium.

Why making money is alright...

The study of advanced subjects beyond your graduation basics and at a maturer time frame makes you feel better about your material pursuits...And as I was studyingMacroeconomics yesterday... I noted that GDP is calculated is based on the "value addition" of a raw material, and intermediate goods at each stage leading on to the final product... The key word is "value addition", and when we add value, we usually do something meaningful, and apply the vast grey reserves in a good, purposeful and right way...And then isnt that the basic enterprise of the world, to make use of the resources at your disposal meaningfully than fritter them away...And then, money is nothing but a consequence..

Age and insights help give a better perspective, and I realize now that the great stories of Gautam Buddha and Ashoka gave a strong bias to my early youth towards the principles of renunciation as being the ultimate ones. Too young for macroeconomics and value addition then. Well, I kind of have a more mature outlook now. What matters is that you should sustain your energies towards adding value in whatever you do, peaceful and righteous by social norms and you will be alright from the heaven and earth perspectives both.

Guns'n Roses

Guns 'n Roses in Bangalore...how would you feel. To me, its the greatest band ever second by a fraction to Pink Floyd, with Dire Straits and Metallica tied third. Everyone has their favorites and that's my order...but what I am talking about is how would it be to have a GNR concert in Bangalore...first time in India, that doesnt matter much...what does is to listen to Axl Rose and Slash and Knocking on Heaven's door and Sweet Child and November Rain and Estranged and Don't cry...
As far as I have seen nobody portrays the very fulfilled, wondering what to do next, musical genius than Axl, particularly in the single Estranged...
Somebody, potential organizers out there. I am prepared to pay $200 to watch this concert live...and the last I saw was Scorpions, 5 years ago on a $6 ticket. There are 10,000 higher plane rock fans than me in Bangalore, and 20,000 more who will come...total that up, isnt that good revenue to give GNR in Bangalore...

Karunashraya

Karunashraya, on Airport road in Bangalore, is perhaps one of the most noble human gestures that I have come across.

This is a joint project by Indian Cancer Society and the Rotary club of Bangalore. Their mission is to provide care to the terminally ill from Cancer absolutely free of cost. For those who have seen this disease from near and far, will know how devastating it can be. And yet at no time, should the afflicted lose their right to life and hope. Karunshraya is housed in a beautifully architected single floor stone campus and a very alleviating ambience. The infrastructure for care is very good and for a while and after you will think that in this age, within concrete towers and unrelenting wealth seeking, there is a quiet chunk of humanity right within.

I will strongly recommend Bangaloreans to take a small weekend detour to this place, see for themselves and help in some way possible. Its located about 2 km from the Marthahalli Outer Ring Road junction towards Whitefield on the Airport road (1 Km ahead of Spice Garden Restaurant). Has an obscure shrubbed entrance but quite noticeable.

Word of mouth advertising some

Over last few days over a mix of work and domestic I came across some interesting websites that I will recommend,

For those looking for some good, tutorail and encyclopaedic education on finance, capital markets and investing www.investopedia.com

I had been long searching for a website, in fact at one time even thinking of setting up one to integrate all the restauranteurs in town on a single portal where you can order a mix of chinese from Mainland China and Afghani from Samarkhand on the same day. Well! as with tons of ideas getting stacked up the dusty shelves, this one went there, but I found www.hungrybangalore.com , a good, seemingly comprehensive listing of restaurants, with a map to indicate which where and importantly an online menu to choose from. They also organize parties and am trying their service soon, so watch this space for feedback.

Another want of mine had been a utility which can take in all your financial details, bank balance, euqity, funds, assets and advise you real time on what your net worth is and suggest on what you should be doing to optimze your portfolio. I think I found something close at www.moneycontrol.com , a tool called Portfolio manager.

Well! while I find these, perhaps am still like a gleeful little kid, doing an Alice in wwwonderland, but deserving services deserve a bit of word of mouth advertising :)

There is this quite milk revolution that has been happening in India for the last 30 years (or more i think). http://www.nddb.org. A small initiative that started in a small village called Anand (means Happiness), to collect the surplus milk collected by farmers from the 1-2 animals in their keep. This went on to feed a whole nation's requirement of milk and milk products.
At present NDDB covers over 300 districts, approximately 110,000 villages, and hold on...some 15 million farmers!
The attached picture shows milk collection at a village society a routine every evening at 6:00 PM.

This one for case studies across social, agri, management, NGO and well milk of course!

50 first dates

I saw this movie yesterday. In a way if we can learn by pushing out the burden of the past, thanking for what we have, and living each day as a new day, it would make it that much more pleasant for all. Only thing, that as a bread-winner, one might have to figure out what to do...
Adam Sandler has done a good job, and the comic act of Rob Schneider is kindof similar to our Mumbai film industry goofs. A good movie all in all, is a Hindi director looking for a retake..

Wordy tastes

I have wondered at times if it possible to induce taste through writing. let me try.
Imagine a hot cheese dripping crisp bread, with luscious tomato and anchovies, liberally sprinkled with sour lemony juice. Does the taste hit you?

Or lemony lemony lemonade, made from the sourest yellow-gree lemons, and 6 cubes of ice in a yputall blue glass...and the freshest light green you've seen in times...and suddenly you've never felt better :)

Value of Money

Ever wonder how more money gets created if resources stay constant.I think I had a brief insight today that may make sense. In sum it is that a forced supply of financial instruments, increases spending power, increases demand, and hence valuation of limited resources - and hence backward justifies the value of increased money.

To illustrate with 2 parallel examples. 1) Paper money and 2) Equities traded on a stock exchange. For paper money, there is an invisible hand of the federal government churning out notes and currency that the banks dispense with. It is not suddenly that people get higher wages, or everyone seems to have more money to spend. What happens then? Everyone wants a little more iof limited resources then, and no wonder the little resources become more expensive.
Money is issues against gold, but as you put out more money, sooner or later the gold too becomes expensive, and justifies the additonal liquidity.

Likewise with equity, every now and then companies more visibly split their stocks, issue bonuses and the like. The re-valuation initially spreads across the increased equity base. At the same time. the price per share falls into the buying power range for more investors, and suddenly people are buying more. With a little usual demandonmics, the value goes up again.

Applications of this insight - guess different for different people,
1) someone will keep churning out more cash to make the asset valuable, so buy more assets
2) there is no asset comparable to blue chip equity, as you can keep increasing liquidity there theoretically forever, which not the case with land, gold, diamonds or carbon emissions for that matter.

Pre-Proof of Destiny

When things go wrong there is a reason, when things go right there is a reason. Civilization has defined what are constructive activities and what are not. Peace, hard work, patience, kindness, truth are all cited as noble goals. But if there were to be peace alone would we know its value? How do Scandinavians with 18 hour light and dark feel about it...is there a coincidence that there is relative peace and tranquil in those countries.

There are many facets to everything, and the self alone knows all those facets. What is wrong with doing something which many people will say is not good? Do it and often you will have a profound realization... What I am saying is that everything is a natural process, and even our attributions of the same are natural and even rejection is. Attempt to seek freedom is natural and so for bondage. When the girl ran away with her paramour it was bad, when they returned home in a successful family avatar it was good...a balance that did not necessarily come about the regular prescribed way. Am I saying its ok to challenge yourself. Yes and no, both are good and bad. If you were to search for text that tells what its is good to be and what not, both conformist and rebellion text would show up in any great numbers ...a google search of "good" and "bad" yields equal search results.

So basically what I am saying is that, can we get going on a logical pre-proof for destiny...before we start experimenting with the theories and some mathematics...

Success and Failure...

Failure and success are 2 hypocrites and sometimes I wonder why at all do we need to fight back the pain or over-savour the success. They are just there, and its a dent on one's humility to hit adrenaline on a success and lick bruised ego's on a failure. Let both pass and there will be some sustained peace.

Both come in any number of flavours in a day, from the hidden joy of solving a puzzle to the frustration at not cracking it after hours together, from the argument well won to the put down, besides of course the more obvious ones.... I think success is only one of the outcomes, and a rarer one, failure is the more frequent one.

While we read many stories of success, we often do not contemplate what after that...IBM got successes through its mainframe and then failure with its desktops. Jordan trumped with Bulls but came short in comeback with Wizards. That's life, do we need treat things as good or bad. Everyone has a reason.

Smile without necessarily being happy and cry too without being sad. Someone may call you a fool, but what's the difference, someone will call you a fool for some or the other reason anyway.

Undulations of Roads and Mind

A gentle sloping up and down road, ambling along lazily through South Karnataka, surely the Bangalore-Mysore stretch SH-17 must rate as one of the best drives in India for the car borne. Mind the frequent cuts along the way and watch for the incidental tractor, truck nosing its way into your path. Recommended 5/5 for all road enthusiasts. Can surely relieve some of the misgivings against your local municipality for not doing the city roads well.

Took the trip to lighten up some, the heavy load of the year, and make some fresh decisions. But the typical hectic of a vacation starts the moment you land at your resort and then suddenly you want to do everything, with so little time at hand. So did I make my decisions, I did not quite, still in the process..

A dilemma - when you are asked to choose between peer pressure and self-actualization, what do you choose?

Peer pressure to stay in line with the game and have the license to blab about everything philosophical, without needing it as a relief. Self-actualization, the longer, tougher version, where success can propel to a new league but failure.... To think of it, if one has it in oneself to hit back hard after a failure then perhaps one should go for failure than for a small incremental victory. Perhaps the uneven string in life is that when we become successful in habit(I am quite far from there yet) we are afraid to lose, and nature doesnt mean it to be that way. .I think I saw this same hesitation to try in some very successful people, people I respect a lot, and that put a bit a bit of disbelief in me.

Returning to the question, self actualization or rat race. Which will it be? A bit of passion with a spot of imagination and a dollop of effort should do it, but that's a phraseology one might say. When I wake up tomorrow morning, I'll have to answer some questions to realist who doesnt go easy on easy-flowing spiritual answers until the late evening blogging hour.

What would you do?

October 05, 2006, how some days are an antithesis and very fast crash from a smooth 60,000 skimming in creativity, and thanks in no less measure to a traffic situation that took 6 miles nearly 2 hours. Now before someone brands me traffic-philic I'll walk out of the conversation into things more routine and ask you a simple question?

If on your great show you were made to be captain of a football team by the school coach and then just as suddenly all the best players in your team were slowly pulled into another, you were left with a weakling of a team and even deprived of the coaching time what would you do?
A) Protest
B) Persevere and turnaround the weakling of a team despite odds
C) Be quiet and walk out

Bangalore Bandh...or a chance to improve the place

Bangalore Bandh...and while the rest of India goes about its routine, here we are sweetly tucked in inside our homes ruminating this midweek island of a holiday. 1 day of work behind, 2 days of work ahead and then suddenly weekend ahoy...
So what is the Bangalore set up to, let me guess.
Category A - Like me, churning out intellectual stuff, catching up on fiction, DVDs and friends perhaps
Category B - Life as usual, kids below 3, grandparents, househelps, social set, only busier because, the workers are at home.
Category C - Work still it is, like time tested midnight oil burning techniques to catapult you to exalted orbits of sensex, corner offices, or well.. the blase onsites.
Category D - Sleep is a soulful friend, that given the right disposition and a dollop of lethargy can be by your side at the beckoning.

As a conscious citizen.. with just the amount of lethargy that prevents greatness from closing upon me(:))..., I have some advice for all those who fall in my category. Folks lets get together somehow and lets do something for the betterment of Bangalore that all of those who do not fall into our category will delight in tomorrow. 3 options there,

1) For Electronics City users - Put up a traffic light on Bomanahalli, Begur and Singasandra junction, that is timed in proportion to the traffic in each direction. So gone will be the days when 10,000 have to wait 30 minutes and 100 have to wait for 2.

2) Lets go talk to the city planners on why do they perceive Bangalore to be a Pizza which can only be radially bissected by roads with no semblance of internal roads anywhere within the slices. Case in point, outer ring road, Hosur road, bannerghatta road, kanakapura road, all these roads cut the Southern Bangalore segment radially however within the several thousands of acres within each slice there is precious little tarring, roads or connections. It is unbelievable the amount of land wasted in such poor planning. Leading to what I will call islands within the urban sprawl..
3) Or simply sit at home and launch a portal www.onewayupdate.com (I hope that doesnt exist yet), and update all the two way road to one way conversions across the cities of the world. Bangalore if not on the top will figure close and we can well through the right Public-Private-Police partnership ensure that we can convert a few more one ways to get the top spot.

I am sure with the right intent and spirit we can setup Team Bangalore, and get things movin just a lil bit further than they are now...,well at least till the "island of holiday" comes along and me or someone in my category gets into blogspace, for lack of more mundane things to do.

India Together...

One of the most truth bared down sites I have seen in recent times. Its like one of those things that makes you want to stop, check and redirect...one of those reawakenings and beginning from zero...ShunyaKriti...

goodnesindia.com, egovernments.org, altlawforum.com...something is brewing.