It has been billed as God's own country. Indeed as one sits on a motorboat and sails along the backwaters, watching palm trees pass by it is hard to disagree. The beauty lends a serenity to the stressed life of a corporate executive. Life is no more about targets and deadlines but a chance to soak in the peace and quiet.
Not all is quiet in this state though. Not all visitors go away with this feeling of unalloyed pleasure. Take my sister-in-law Rita for instance. Having spent all of her life in Mumbai, the state came as quite a shock to her when her husband was transferred last year to Kochi. "You cannot bargain in the shops. Prices of everything are fixed. Shopkeepers make their displeasure obvious when you try to bargain,” she says.
Take the auto rickshaws. The drivers do not bother to switch on the meters. They charge Rs 30 for a distance which would cost Rs 10 in Mumbai—which is generally regarded as India's costliest city.
Things are not much different in the temple town of Guruvayur which draws devotees in droves every year. After standing in the queue for four hours for a glimpse of the deity the story turns quite different at a nearby lunch home. When I order (request is the word actually) to clean a particular chair for us, he says coolly, "Why don't you take another one?" When I insist on having the same chair, he says "Look the person who is supposed to clean this has not come today. Why don't you take the other chair?" In Mumbai this would have been unthinkable.
This attitude explains why Kerala, the country's most literate state does not attract industry. Communist influence and money from expatriates from the Gulf has fuelled sloth and give a damn attitude. Otherwise Kerala with its literate population shouldn't be left out of the thriving call centre business.
God's own country is also home to the God that is widely regarded to have failed—Communism. Till the state resolves this conundrum, despite its literacy levels it is condemned to not take its rightful place in the unfolding India story.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Mind Reader
I ran into Bassanji, many years ago, during a period in my life when I was more out of jobs than in them.
Now Bassanji was an elderly bachelor whose claim to fame was his proficiency in astrology and various other self professed spiritual gifts. He had managed to collect around him a bunch of loyal acolytes which included many persons from my friends' circle who like me were grappling with their own respective crises. Looking back it is easy to see why Bassanji became so influential---troubled young\middle –aged minds trying to come to grips with life’s problems. Many of my friends began looking upto him for advice on various issues concerning their lives. After all, the man had his charm and well he had spiritual powers didn’t he ?
There was one confirmed sceptic in that group—me. It was nothing personal about Bassanji but a simple distaste on my part towards such pursuits. While other friends of mine hung on to his every word over innumerable cups of tea at Hotel Vijay, I would often excuse myself from such gatherings. Not for my troubled mind solace in the spiritual but the grind of hard work backed up by irrefutable logic. During one of those sessions at Vijay, while everyone was listening to him, I guess the boredom showed on my face and it obviously hurt the great man. Suddenly he turned around and told me, “You don’t want my presence here. I can read your mind.” Everyone looked stunned at this outburst while I made a quite exit. Later on my friends tried to explain to me Bassanji’s behaviour in a half-apologetic, half reprimanding tone.
I was clear in my mind on one thing which I shared with all concerned. This is a world which functions peacefully since we cannot read each other’s minds although we can guess other people’s thoughts A person like Bassanji was basically asking for trouble by acquiring such gifts (which I still doubt). The moral of the story is that God intended the world to function in a particular way and therefore in his infinite wisdom has ensured that gifts like mind-reading (clairvoyance) are not freely available to humanity. A person by acquiring such gifts was in my opinion going against nature. It is better to function in accordance with God’s wishes and not acquire such surreal gifts.
Soon the incident blew over and life went on as usual although I took even greater care to avoid Bassanji. As a senior communications professional today in a reputed corporate house I can testify that I manage my life and job quite well without being clairvoyant. And yes as far as Bassanji’s followers are concerned---many of them continue to be my friends and they maintain a safe distance from the Mind Reader.
Now Bassanji was an elderly bachelor whose claim to fame was his proficiency in astrology and various other self professed spiritual gifts. He had managed to collect around him a bunch of loyal acolytes which included many persons from my friends' circle who like me were grappling with their own respective crises. Looking back it is easy to see why Bassanji became so influential---troubled young\middle –aged minds trying to come to grips with life’s problems. Many of my friends began looking upto him for advice on various issues concerning their lives. After all, the man had his charm and well he had spiritual powers didn’t he ?
There was one confirmed sceptic in that group—me. It was nothing personal about Bassanji but a simple distaste on my part towards such pursuits. While other friends of mine hung on to his every word over innumerable cups of tea at Hotel Vijay, I would often excuse myself from such gatherings. Not for my troubled mind solace in the spiritual but the grind of hard work backed up by irrefutable logic. During one of those sessions at Vijay, while everyone was listening to him, I guess the boredom showed on my face and it obviously hurt the great man. Suddenly he turned around and told me, “You don’t want my presence here. I can read your mind.” Everyone looked stunned at this outburst while I made a quite exit. Later on my friends tried to explain to me Bassanji’s behaviour in a half-apologetic, half reprimanding tone.
I was clear in my mind on one thing which I shared with all concerned. This is a world which functions peacefully since we cannot read each other’s minds although we can guess other people’s thoughts A person like Bassanji was basically asking for trouble by acquiring such gifts (which I still doubt). The moral of the story is that God intended the world to function in a particular way and therefore in his infinite wisdom has ensured that gifts like mind-reading (clairvoyance) are not freely available to humanity. A person by acquiring such gifts was in my opinion going against nature. It is better to function in accordance with God’s wishes and not acquire such surreal gifts.
Soon the incident blew over and life went on as usual although I took even greater care to avoid Bassanji. As a senior communications professional today in a reputed corporate house I can testify that I manage my life and job quite well without being clairvoyant. And yes as far as Bassanji’s followers are concerned---many of them continue to be my friends and they maintain a safe distance from the Mind Reader.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Legs and legroom
Legs and Leg Room
As I stretched my legs on the Air India flight at Bangalore, sometime back, waiting for it to take off one phrase sprang to my mind for the nth time. "The choice is between legs and leg room"
Well, I was comparing once more in my mind the difference between Air India which I had flown since I was a child and the new airlines like Kingfisher. In Air India one was waited upon by matronly looking air hostesses, who in the words of the late P G Wodehouse were built for stability and not speed. Kingfisher on the other hand has a collection of pretty young things with hourglass figures. Another Wodehousian expression describes their speed of service--she almost met herself while coming in. Add to this the fact that the chairman of the UB Group which runs Kingfisher Airlines himself welcomes you on board with a video taped message, a la Richard Branson on Virgin Atlantic, the aura is complete.
There is one thing though that you cannot do on a Kingfisher flight and for that matter on many of the flights of the new airlines--i.e. stretch your legs. The new airlines represent the world and lifestyle of today-compression of time and space. And yes package it attractively. That explains the attractive air-hostesses and the welcome by Mr. Mallya as well as the lack of leg room.
An Air India flight despite the matrons and a belated welcome by the pilot (which incidentally comes closer to the time you are going to land on short duration flights) offers you the chance to stretch your legs. The aircraft size harks of an era gone where the accent was on doing things right than just doing them fast. It is also a reminder of the days when, unlike now, leisure was a part of life.
True the only thing constant in life is change and even Air India has to change. That explains the merger with Indian Airlines and the birth of a new entity The National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL)
I hope that NACIL at the time of replacing aircraft does not shop for the new and sleek ones but sticks to the wide bodied ones. For that matter if the airline shores up its service its comfortable aircraft could emerge as the real differentiator in the marketplace. The choice may then not be so clear between legs and legroom.
As I stretched my legs on the Air India flight at Bangalore, sometime back, waiting for it to take off one phrase sprang to my mind for the nth time. "The choice is between legs and leg room"
Well, I was comparing once more in my mind the difference between Air India which I had flown since I was a child and the new airlines like Kingfisher. In Air India one was waited upon by matronly looking air hostesses, who in the words of the late P G Wodehouse were built for stability and not speed. Kingfisher on the other hand has a collection of pretty young things with hourglass figures. Another Wodehousian expression describes their speed of service--she almost met herself while coming in. Add to this the fact that the chairman of the UB Group which runs Kingfisher Airlines himself welcomes you on board with a video taped message, a la Richard Branson on Virgin Atlantic, the aura is complete.
There is one thing though that you cannot do on a Kingfisher flight and for that matter on many of the flights of the new airlines--i.e. stretch your legs. The new airlines represent the world and lifestyle of today-compression of time and space. And yes package it attractively. That explains the attractive air-hostesses and the welcome by Mr. Mallya as well as the lack of leg room.
An Air India flight despite the matrons and a belated welcome by the pilot (which incidentally comes closer to the time you are going to land on short duration flights) offers you the chance to stretch your legs. The aircraft size harks of an era gone where the accent was on doing things right than just doing them fast. It is also a reminder of the days when, unlike now, leisure was a part of life.
True the only thing constant in life is change and even Air India has to change. That explains the merger with Indian Airlines and the birth of a new entity The National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL)
I hope that NACIL at the time of replacing aircraft does not shop for the new and sleek ones but sticks to the wide bodied ones. For that matter if the airline shores up its service its comfortable aircraft could emerge as the real differentiator in the marketplace. The choice may then not be so clear between legs and legroom.
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