How RBI helped Uber generate floating cash

I had planned for this post before the Delhi incident which consumed all available bandwidth across all available channels.  Now that there is a lull, I want to publish this post on a subject not covered in the noisy Indian media.

In an earlier attempt to cut the wings of Uber, traditional call taxi companies complained to RBI about Uber practices.  They complained to RBI on how Uber is not following the two factor authentication (2FA).   When a customer joins Uber, it stores the credit card / debit card information and uses it when the service is used.  This is indeed totally cashless and hassle free from the consumer perspective.  But then, this is violation of RBI rules.  Based on the complaint, RBI swung into action and instructed Uber to start using 2FA.

This 2FA requirement, turned out to be blessing in disguise for Uber.  Instead of hurting, RBI's 2FA mandate actually helped Uber create large bucket of floating cash, completely interest free.   How? You ask.. Read on..

Photo courtesy - ndtv.com

To circumvent the 2FA challenge, Uber came up with the concept of prepaid wallet and tied up with paytm.  In this model, Uber customer prefill the wallet with monies and use that to pay for the rides.  This not only makes Uber 2FA complaint but also gives a large bucket of interest free floating cash.

Uber says with paytm, over 600 million Indians have access to its service.  Even if a fractions of that large population are indeed Uber customers and they all put money in the prepaid wallet, it would run to several hundred millions rupees.  In one fell swoop, 2FA mandate made prepaid wallet the only payment option for customers to user Uber.

2FA does help curtail fraudulent transactions, but does have unintended consequences.  In this case, 2FA is helping the already cash rich Uber.

Will RBI think of some compromise here?  like exempting transactions less than INR 500 from 2FA requirement?  While RBI thinks about it, will Uber play fair and pay market interest to the floating cash of consumers like me?

Will you Uber?

Tags #Uber, Chennai, India, 2FA

Uber - Banning is NOT the Answer

First - What happened in Delhi is unpardonable and must be punished to the fullest extent of law in judicious manner.  Let the case not sputter along the maze of Indian judiciary with no end in sight and the justice be served quickly and efficiently.

But banning the Uber service as done by the Delhi Government is the not the answer.  Following Government of India's recommendations, some more cities seem to have joined the 'ban' bandwagon as well.  Thankfully, Chennai hasn't followed suit and I hope they don't.

Photo courtesy - uk.reuters.com

Interestingly,  Delhi chose to ban Uber for reasons unrelated to the alleged crime.  It chose to ban Uber for violating some archaic transportation laws, which if applied must put major of private cab operators out of business.

Make no mistake, Uber aggregation model is new and disruptive.  It leverages technology to the hilt and has created a business model that is threatening the existing players.  No laws or regulations exist in most places to regulate aggregators like Uber or Lyft.  In cities like New York, Paris, Chicago, they realized the need put their arms around the new emerging model and have revised their laws to regulate business model like that of Uber and Lyft.

Delhi ban on Uber appears to be mere PR stunt to deflect the systemic failure at many levels of the Government.  Unless they are plugged, the models built on top of that will continue to be shaky.  Can we trust the drivers licenses that are issued in our country ? (NDTV purchased a real license for a mere 200 bucks just outside Delhi).  Can we trust the police certificates issued?  (Mr. Yadav, accused of the Delhi crime did produce one, in what is now claimed as a 'fake' certificate).

If App operated cab operations are not safe, then what about the call taxis? what about the private travels operators who operate out of every street corner?  Some of these drivers have committed horrific crimes as well, but those services have not been banned and they shouldn't be.

When radio operated call taxis like Fast Track, Meru Cabs came, they leveraged the 'call center' technology to create a new model in India.  And, as mobile technology progressed and Apps started enveloping our lives, new business models emerged.  One such model is Uber.

We need to embrace these kinds of disruptive innovations and not block them.  Personally, Uber has made my life a little easier.  It has liberated me from the tyranny of unpredictable cab operators.  Earlier I used to pay anywhere between INR 800 - 1000 bucks for a one way ride to Airport which is just 14 kms from home.  Most often, I would end up getting the smallest car which is ready for junkyard.  With Uber, I have always gotten decent cars and the fare never exceeded INR 500.  

If an innovation helps the end consumer why stop it?  If laws and regulations have to change then lets do that and find a way to embrace new business models, not stop them in its tracks.

I will be hiring a Uber taxi when I head back to Chennai next week.

Tags: #Uber, #India #Chennai

சிங்களத் தீவினிற்கோர் பாலம் அமைப்போம்

சிங்களத் தீவினிற்கோர் பாலம் அமைப்போம்

Helsingborg is a small town with less than 100k population, but its economy is booming due to open borders.   The frequent ferry service to the Danish sister city, Helsingor seems to the catalyst that has made this small Swedish town humming.  

From Google Maps

Oresund strait is pretty narrow and because of that, Helsingborg and the ferry connectivity has become a key commercial hub.  In fact, on a clear day, you could see the city on the other side and giant ferries are waiting to take you across in 15 minutes.

Constant stream of vehicles drive to the belly of the ferry to be transported across to Denmark.

The ferries that ply across are massive, they gobble up hundreds of trucks, cars, bicycles and passengers.  It's pretty much open borders on both sides with little or no control.  I am sure there are plenty of cameras capturing movements at multiple places, but that's about it.

Truck seen here and plenty more like this just drive in to the ferry with little or no border control to continue driving in the Danish side.

சிங்களத் தீவினிற்கோர் பாலம் அமைப்போம்.....
India and its neighbors just concluded their SAARC meeting Nepal with little or nothing to show.  At this time, open borders amongst SAARC countries is a pipe dream, though there is a strong underlying cultural and historical linkage.

If Europe, a continent ravaged and bitterly divided by two world wars can bury their hatchet and come together for the collective good of their people, There is no reason why Bharthiyar's dream shouldn't become a reality.. but will it?

Tags - Helsingborg, Sweden, India, Travel, Travelogue # 68

No Land Line

Finally, we got rid of our landline.  Growing up, landline (and the TV antenna on top your house) meant your family has arrived.  Friendships were made (and broken) based on these two important status symbols and bare necessities.

It took us 12 years to get our first BSNL landline connection in 1991.  Even then, it wouldn't have arrived but for my marriage.  My father-in-law was with Indian Telephones at that time and pulled some strings and get us the coveted phone line under the 'emergency quota'.

From that single landline to a mobile phone for everyone in the household, we have come a long way in the last 24 years and in some sense so did India too.  When I registered for the landline, Government of India owned Indian Telephones was the only game in town and the telephone density was less than 10%.  Now, there are multiple carriers for both landline and mobile phones, vastly increasing the telco density to over 90%.

As everyone in our household got a mobile phone and always-on net connectivity, the mode communication shifted to mobile and VOIP softphones.  With the landline usage tanking, the only 'reason' we needed a landline was for the DSL Internet connectivity.  So, when ACT came to chennai and became reliable, I switched our net connectivity to ACT and got rid of the last vestiges of landline.  

Actually, getting rid of the landline was not all that easy.  Though, I am a platinum Airtel, they got nasty when I called to disconnect the landline (I still have my mobile through them).  Multiple Airtel staffers called at most inopportune times to convince me to 'just' keep the line or 'pass' it on to friends as if they were giving it to me for free.  After one week of endless badgering, Airtel finally 'gave up' and agreed to disconnect our landline.  I can now say We have "No landline in our home"

The wheel has indeed come in a full circle.. as Paul Coelho says in Alchemist.

Next - How is ACT broadband service ?  my first month observations next week.

The Best tribute to Delhi's Braveheart

The best tribute to Delhi Braveheart who lost her life is to make India safer for women in a lasting way.

Punish those six guys to the fullest extent of law quickly but doing that alone is not sufficient.  That would be a great disservice to this Braveheart.  A better tribute would be what each and every Indian citizen and the Government should do the build a safer India for its women.

Some say there is crime against women (mostly rape) happening every 22 minutes in India.. Behind this gruesome statistics are the helpless victims and bestial perpetrators.  How many are punished?  What is the conviction rate?  I don't have the actual numbers but it would be abysmally poor.

If anything has to change in India, it must start with fixing the dysfunctional police and criminal justice system.  Bad things will happen in any society but what differentiates one from the other is the how it responds to such an incident/s.  

The spot light is on this issue right now and the Indians are rightfully enraged.  But how long will this spotlight and anger last? 1 week or 1 month or 1 year?  Will we and the media move on to next big 'story'?  What can we do to change ourselves and How can the Government take care of us?

Can we as individuals take a pledge to never to perpetuate or tolerate crime against women?
Can the Government give a pledge to its citizens to make India safer for women and convict the bad guys quickly?  A pledge that is not forgotten but a pledge that becomes part of the DNA of our society.

I call up on India and Indians to bring about an enduring change.  Let this Braveheart's death not go in vain..

Educate /Sensitize India to respect our women whom we worship as Shakthi
Enable Indian Police to treat women complaints with empathy and sensitivity
Enforce Indian laws fairly and swiftly.  Convict the bad guys and show India cares

Making India safer for its daughters would be the BEST tribute to this Delhi Braveheart..  May her soul Rest in Peace

Alliance Politics and Alphabet Soup in Tamil Nadu

National elections have been announced and political activity has started in high pitch and it is all about 'seat sharing' agreements and less about principles. This time around the equations are going to be different than the previous election and will see three distinct alliances: BJP led NDA, Congress led UPA and the Third Front which is potpouri regional and communisit parties.

Congress and Communists bitterly fought over the nuclear agreement with US and have parted ways since the last election paving way for interesting electoral alignments. Barring Communists and BJP, most of the other parties would go wherever they can extract the maximum # of seats.

It is going to be particularly interesting in Tamil Nadu where there is endless list of parties vying for seats and trying muscle their way in to some alliance. The various combinations and negotiations are simply mind boggling. For starters:

1. While both Communists and BJP would want to partner with AIADMK, Ms Jayalalitha wants to tie with Congress. This puts both Communists and BJP in dilemna as they would not be in the same camp as Congress. (Late breaking news: Ms. Jayalalithaa doesn't want Congress anymore and will be part of the Third Front with Communists.)
   
2. BJP struggling to find a partner as it might not open account without some alliance.
3. DMK trying to play a delicate balance trying to appease both Congress & PMK, particularly on the Sri Lankan issue.
   
4. PMK is sitting on the fence and would go with the highest bidder.
5. MDMK is with AIADMK but have a diametrically different view on the Sri Lankan issue but will end up on the same alliance.
   
6. Actor turned politician, Mr. Vijayakanth is playing his cards close to the chest and unsure where he will lean.
7. Other actor turned politicians Mr. Sarath Kumar and Mr. Karthik are wondering what to do and where to side as there are 'no takers' for them.
   
8. The strong lady of UP, Ms. Mayavati (BSP) looking to enter Tamil Nadu. Not sure if she will win any seats, but sure to eat in to vote banks of other parties.
   
9. And then of course there are players like Mr. Thol Thirumavalavan & Mr. K Krishnaswamy looking for some peace of the pie.

There is likely to be lot of posturing and maneuvering in the coming days to split the 40 available seats from Tamil Nadu. In all likely hood, there will be 3 'grand' alliances and lots of others in the fray for the political spoils...

Chennai is already hot.. all these political games are likely to 'raise' it even higher..

What does your crystal ball say? Here is my unscientific prediction
AIADMK led alliance will win 20 - 25 seats
DMK led allliance will win 10 - 15 seats
BJP & others will win 2 - 8 seats

Ich Bin Ein Mumbaikar

I am no Kennedy and this no Berlin, but as an Indian and as a global citizen I am a Mumbaikar today. I really do not care if Raj Thakerys of the world accepts me as a Mumbaikar or not, but I am one today.

Like many others this morning, I was glued to the TV watching the happenings in Mumbai. As the Army and commandos were mopping up @ Taj Hotel, ATS Police Chief Hemant Karkare's final journey was being broadcast live by CNN-IBN. The scenes coming in were heart rendering with thousands ordinary Mumbaikars showing up to pay homage to a brave and upright soldier who led from the front and was one of the first ones to fall to terrorists bullets.

But one thing that angered me was the sight of politicians at such a solemn occation. They came in their spotless white kurtas with their gun toting security to pay homage to an officer whom they were blaming till a few days back as being partisan.

Where was Raj Thakrey when the Army and NSG were fighting terrorists in Mumbai ? Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan & Havildar Gajendra Singh are no Mumbaikars but they laid down their lives for Mumbai and India as Indians.

Where was BJP & Shiv Sena when the ATS chief Hemant Karkare paid the ultimate price by leading from the front. These political outfits were blaming ATS as being partisan and had called for Maharashtra Bandh on Dec 1, 2008. If common sense prevails, they would call off the bandh, but then these politicians and they could still surpirse us.

If there any good that can come of this, it must have to with our political class. They must change and I hope and pray they do.

Ich Bein Mumbaikar

Mumbai Mayhem

Mumbai Mayhem

The mindless killings that started late Wednesday night in Mumbai are still going on.  Current indications are that the perpetuators came in speed boats, spread out and unleashed what the press is calling as the worst terrorist incident in India. 

While the news coming out is conflicting and sketchy, one thing is clear, the perpetuators are professional killers.  They seem to be highly motivated, trained and heavily armed.  It must have taken several months and good local knowledge to pull off this kind of an operation.  What else would explain the attack on a non-descript Jewish house?  They ought to have known about this Jewish congregation place and chose it deliberately to make international headlines.  So are their other targets as well, all high profile and all in South Mumbai close to the Sea. 

While our heart goes out to the families who lost their near and dear ones, I am also afraid that it will be business as usual in a few days.  Fourth estate will pen eloquently about the so called Mumbai resiliency, Politicians and bureaucrats would move on to next controversy or calamity.  It is the innocent Indians who will suffer time and time again. 

Are we Ready?

I believe, we as country are very bad in crisis management.  We haven’t learnt any lesson despite of going thru the highest number of crisis since independence.  Be it the 1989 kidnap of Rubia Sayeed or the 1999 hijack of IC 814, Indians seem to freeze when they need to act and act fast.  India has been repeatedly attacked by local and external terrorists on a regular basis because these guys know that India is a soft state and will forget and move on trumpeting their resiliency. 

But compare this to the aftermath of 9/11 in US.  Americans collectively resolved never to let another terrorist incident happen again and have so far succeeded in it.  One might not agree with all that President Bush did, but you must give it to him for keeping his citizens safe inside the country. (It is another story that Americans are dying in foreign soil due the ill conceived policies of the same President Bush).

While, no one can promise to prevent all future terrorist incidents, India can and must do a lot more on how they respond to situations like this.  There must an immediate mobilization of all necessary assets within a span of minutes not hours to immobilize the perpetuators and minimize loss of life.

India Must Stop and take action

I wish India doesn’t move on as usual this time around, but make the Mumbai incident a national priority.  While on one side it must methodically and ruthlessly go after the killers and their supporters, it must also shore up its emergency response big time.  This must be done apolitical way on a priority basis such way that it sends a clear message to the evil doers. 

As usual, fingers are being pointed at Pakistan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it is going to ‘cost’ the perpetuators.  I hope he truly means it this time.

Insightful Article on Mukesh Ambani

A pretty insightful Article on Mukesh Ambani. One of the most detailed that I have read on Mukesh Ambani thus far. Though he is the richest man in India and has transformed the country like no other industrialist, he has always been low key and an intrigue. This NYTimes articles tries to demystify him a little bit and explores the astonishing growth of his empire. Read on..

வல்லினமே... மெல்லினமே

I have always been puzzled about our eerie silence towards the horrors of partition. While we celebrate Independence and Republic days with much aplomb, we fail to recognize and remember the countless million who perished just trying to live. Millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were uprooted from their homes because of their religion and the political arrangement to create a new country called Pakistan. Suddenly, people on both sides the new border found themselves aliens in their own home and became easy prey for the religious zealots. The little I know about the horrors of partition, I understand it is comparable or worse than the Jewish holocaust that occurred during the second world war. That being the case, why is it that we don't talk about it?

Is it because 1) it is comfortable ? 2) our own culpability? 3) politically inconvenient? 4)? Whatever may be the reason, We owe it to ourselves to remember them and build fitting memorials in many part of India, particularly in New Delhi.. Lest we forget..

Now coming to the title of this post.. I am avid follower of (வாஸந்தி)Vaasanthi's writings. I latched on to her after reading few of work in Kumudam TheeraNadhi (குமுதம் திராநதி). Now, I see her writing a story in Ananda Vikatan (ஆனந்த விகடன்) called Valliname Melliname (வல்லினமே... மெல்லினமே) and in that she talks about the horrors of partition in a soft but forceful way. woven in to the story, she starkly describes the how we humans heaped the worst on our fellow humans in the name of religion. Eventhough it is just a story, what I read it (Friday, June 20, 2008), it brought me close to tears..

Here is a snippet from her story (9th installment which hit the stores today)
வாஸந்தியின் வல்லினமே... மெல்லினமே தொடரிலிருந்து....

''இப்போது யாருக்கும் பழசைப் பற்றிப் பேச விருப்பம் இல்லை'' என்று அகதி குடும்பத்தைச் சேர்ந்த மதன்மோகன், பூரிக்கு அப்பளம் இட்டபடியே ஒரு நாள் சொன்னது நினைவுக்கு வந்தது.

''ஏன்?'' என்றான் பிரபு.

''ரொம்ப கஷ்ட காலம் அது. முஸ்லிம்கள்தான் அட்டுழியம் செய்தாங்கன்னு சொல்ல முடியாது. இந்துக்களும் செய்தாங்க. மோசமான காலகட்டத்திலே மனுஷத்தனம் ரொம்பக் குறைவா இருக்கும். எல்லா மிருக குணங்களும் தலைதூக்கும். பெத்த குழந்தைகளைப் பட்டினி போட்டுட்டுப் பெத்தவன் வயிற்றை நிரப்பிப்பான். பெத்தவளை விப் பான். கூடப் பிறந்தவனை ஏமாத்து வான். வேற்று மதப் பெண்னை பலாத்காரம் செய்யறதை வீரமா நினைப்பான். யாரும் யோக்கியம் இல்லை. எப்படியாவது உயிர் வாழணும் என்கிற வெறியிலே யாருக்கும் மத்தவங்களைப் பத்திக் கவலை இருந்திருக்காது. அதனால தான் இப்ப யாரும் அதைப் பத்திப் பேசறதில்லேன்னு நினைக் கிறேன்.''

India @ Sixty- Ten events that changed India

Lord Attlee of labor party stood and won the 1945 British elections on the platform of relinquishing colonies and boy he did. During his stewardship, British gave independence to most of its colonies in South Asia, including the jewel in the queen's crown; India. In fact, Prime Minister Attlee sent Lord Mountbatten with an express mandate to accelerate creation of Independent India. Lord Mountbatten exceeded the expectation (of his boss) by creating independent India and Pakistan few months ahead of schedule (did he get a hefty bonus?).

From the freedom struggle to Independence, Indians fought and won to have their own rule, but has it been all honey and prosperous after that? To say the last sixty years have been tumultuous would be a putting it rather mildly. Here are few events that I believe have left indelible impression on independent India.

1. Independence & Partition: I wonder if Mahatma Gandhi would have gone ahead with the independence struggle had he known the ultimate price for it. Of course, he paid the ultimate price himself and fell to assassin's bullets. But, the independence and the birth of two nations brought untold misery to millions on both side of the hastily drawn border. There was no scientific method or madness to how the borders were drawn and led to migration of millions and millions dying. This division also brought an eternal enmity between the two countries which refuses to die down. India and Pakistan have fought 4 wars and the antagonism remains as high as ever. In the era of of globalization and flatness, both countries are hell bent on raising walls and dividing people.
   
2. Assassination of Gandhis: Three Gandhis (Mahatma, Indira, Rajiv) lives ended abruptly and in the due course it left a lasting scar on India's psyche. India would have been a different country had Mahatma not fell to Nathuram Godse's bullet. Indira Gandhi's end at the hands of her to guards and the subsequent pogrom created bad blood between Hindus & Sikhs and has redefined politics in Punjab forever. The assassination close to Chennai of Rajiv Gandhi brought a fundamental shift in India's policy towards Sri Lanka.
   
3. Linguistic creation of states: Jawaharlal Nehru caved in to pressure after Potti Srimulu's death and laid the foundation for division of states on linguistic basis much against the findings of several of his own commissions. This led to linguistic chauvinism / agitations in several parts India including Tamil Nadu. Now it is practically impossible to transact with the Government if one doesn't speak the local the language. There are ways to get around this challenge but none are straight forward. Also, some of the water sharing problem that states like Tamil Nadu has might have been played differently if the states were aligned differently.
   
4. Universal Francaise: Despite of all its inherent problems, this single act changed the face of India. It changed the way in which the political class acts and has brought about positive economic change in millions, who otherwise would not have had the opportunity.
5. China War: India has a much bigger border issue with China than with Pakistan, but strangely it doesn't attract as much attention as it should. India had its skirmishes with China in 1962 and lost squarely to Chinese Red Army. This forever changed how India views China and its own military strength. Indian defense establish laid shattered after the 1962 war and it took them a decade to gain the lost esteem by decisively handling the creation of Bangladesh.
   
6. Birth of Bangaladesh: Of all the wars India has fought with Pakistan, this is the only time it won decisively. While Indira Gandhi boldly managed the international pressure, Indian defense establishment led by Field Marshal Manekshaw executed well on the ground and created a new neighbor on the eastern front. The division of Pakistan altered South Asian politics forever and engineered realignments. It is unfortunate that India and Bangaladesh are not in friendly terms and has unresolved border and water disputes.
   
7. Going Nuclear: Not going in to the merits of this decision, going nuclear has altered India's image in the international arena. Nuclear deterrence might have actually helped India and Pakistan avoid a traditional war after the Parliament attack. Now, India-US agreement on nuclear fuel supply has brought both Right and Left against the Congress Government and might yet again alter the political landscape.
   
8. Declaration of Emergency: Indira Gandhi declared emergency to stay in power, but the democracy survived. Not only did the democracy survive, it is also stronger now.
   
9. Payment crunch and Liberalization: India has come a long way since its near shave with bankruptcy in 1991. It had to devalue INR twice and fundamentally change course. Thanks to the leadership of Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, India fundamentally slowly but firmed moved to loosen the crippling regulations and embrace free market. In the recent days, Left has succeeded in slowing down the process but it cannot (and hope not) reverse the course.
   
10. Embracing Globalization: India is slowly but surely becoming part of the global marketplace ecosystem. Even though ITES is the most visible beneficiary of the global market place, pharmaceutical, auto and aviation sectors are also not very far behind. We can debate the merits of globalization, but no one can deny the fact that it is primarily responsible for the 9+% GDP growth. According to Manmohan Singh, 'best is yet to come' and that may be true. But then I only hope the politicians and the Left allow India to be part of the global market place and not raise barriers.

What is your 10 events that changed India?

India @ Sixty - What does it mean to Independent?

What does it mean to be independent?

There has been an overdose of patriotism past few days to coincide with 60 years India's independence. Every one got a day off, schools had special meetings and distributed sweets, media went on overdrive with stories on India's Independence. Not to be outdone, India Inc., got on to the bandwagon. Airtel flooded the airwaves with its catchy Jayahe tunes composed by none other than AR Rahman.

Sifting through all this noise, what does it really mean to be independent? Sure, India is now being led by Indians, but are Indians better off today than 60 years ago? The answer might be different depending on the person. Some people would list a basket of problems and some folks would talk about the IT revolution some other would talk about every thing in between.

From my perspective, universal franchise and its continuous exercise is the true meaning of India being independent. Yes, there are umpteen problems with the universal suffrage but this fundamental ability given to all Indians disregard to their color, caste, creed or education has changed India like no other program or right. It has brought about a paradigm shift in the social status of countless millions and has given opportunities that didn't exist 60 years before.

What is your take? What does it mean to be independent for you?

ps: Yesterday, I asked several people (over 10) to articulate the difference between Independence day and Repbulic day.... and surprisingly none did.. Can you?

Tomorrow: India @ Sixty - Ten events that changed India.

Party Over ?

For Indian ITES industry? That's the question Business Week is asking. It is citing issues like 1) H1B crunch, 2) need to move up the food chain 3) brand value 4) lack of innovation culture etc., as the reasons for raising this question. Interestingly, they also cite 'conceptual Brahmanism' as one of the gating factors..

But while India lacks a formal innovation culture, one would never know from the assumed superiority over foreign rivals. Indian firms are simply unable, culturally, to absorb a Western company. Industry analysts say Indian companies such as Infosys are hierarchical, and have an elitist view of their business and suffer from "conceptual Brahmanism," referring to the group at the upper echelon of the Indian caste system.

While the Indian IT companies themselves acknowledged some of these issues and are addressing them. Does it inherently mean the party is over for Indian IT companies? My answer is NO. Well, it may not be wild party like this for long.. but they will be around and transform.

From the Y2K days of software factories, Indian IT companies have come a long way in their offerings and their perception in the global stage. In the early days, Indian IT companies weren't even in the radar screen of large IT services company as a threat. Now, every IT services not only watch the Indian players very closely, they themselves have an India play.

From the Why India ? questions of 90s, every company must now have an India play and this often includes some kind of relationship with Indian IT companies.

Having said that, I also agree with several points raised in this article. Indian IT will not be able to continue grow at the same clip they have been doing for the past few years and their profit will continue to squeezed. Also, Indian companies need to reposition themselves to being trusted consultants not just going vendors.

What's your take?

Tough Act to Follow

In about a week's time, India will have its first woman President and Mrs. Prathiba Patil woiuld have been sworned in. She will have a tough act to follow the footsteps of President Kalam. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam will leave for Chennai with just suit cases from Delhi, but would have a left a very large void at Raisina Hill. He is by far the best and most apolitical figure to occupy the highest seat of India.

Some people dismiss Dr. Kalam's popularity as just a middle class phenomenon and isn't there where it matters most. The political view is that, middle class don't vote and hence the popularity amongst them don't count.

By ignoring Dr. Kalam 's popularity, the politicians are ignoring some fundamental shift that happened during his presidency. Dr. Kalam fundamentally changed they way people look at a Presidency from a mere ceremonial post to action and responsibility oriented post. From flying Sukois to submarine expedition to visiting Siachen he identified well with the common man. Dr. Kalam also effectively used his bully pulpit to interact with hundreds and thousands of students all over. I have seen him once amongst the young crowd and was amazed at the way in which he literally floored the crowd.

This is the kind of act that people have come to expect of their President and Mrs. Patil will be expected to perform. The little we have seen and heard of her doesn't give the confidence that she will be a peoples' President, but then who knows, she might surprise us all. Let's wait for that surprise.. Welcome Madam President.. looking forward to your great act.

Ms. President?

It is unclear if US will have its first woman president in 2009, But India is all set to have the first woman president in a couple of months. I haven't it heard of Ms. Prathiba Patil until today, nevertheless I welcome her nomination.

I would have preferred to see Dr. Abdul Kalam renominated for one more term but with that not happening, Ms. Patil seems to be a better choice over few others like Shivraj Patil, Pranab Mukherjee, Sushilkumar Shinde or Karan Singh who were in the fray.

Barriers to Mobility

There is lot of noise about the world becoming flat and jobs and opportunities moving to where the talent / value is at the best possible price. That premise is valid, if and only if we humans allow the world to become flat. More walls have come up since Berlin wall came down in 1989. Israel has walled large sections of West Bank virtually creating Palestinian ghettos. US and India have been building walls with its neighbors too. But this article is not about international politics or about people mobility across the borders.. It is about people mobility within India. So let me get back to the subject on hand..

Indian IT companies are rejoicing the fact that hordes of jobs are moving to India from other parts of the world. But the IT companies themselves are raising exit barriers to stem the attrition. InfoSys is asking its employees to sign non-compete agreement with this years annual raise. Interestingly, this non-compete document specifically names certain SI companies (IBM, TCS, Accenture, Wipro & CTS) that the employees cannot join for six months from the exit date.

According to the reports, the non-compete agreement specifies Infosys' competitors as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Accenture, IBM Global Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Wipro.

The agreement letter also mentions that the employees cannot accept job offers even from its clients (which they have serviced in the last 12 months) for a period of six months.

The clause will make it difficult, if not impossible, for employees to find employment with its customers and some of its competition.

I know that most of the freshers are asked sign bond for a couple of years to stick with a company, but this exit barrier for everyone is new. Will this stand in the court of law? Is this enforceable?

IT companies in India are having a great time with the jobs moving from all over. But they don't want their employees to have the same kind of mobility. The bottom line seems to be, I want to protect my turf and I want everyone else (read other countries) to lower their barriers so more jobs can move freely. !!!

Caste Cauldron

BJP Government in Rajasthan may have arrived at a temporary truce with the Gujjar community ending their agitation which costed over 2o lives and brought life to a standstill in many of the northern states. So, what did Gujjar community achieve after all this violence? A promise and a committee to look in to the their demand to be classified down as Scheduled Tribe (ST). This reclassification will supposedly bring them even more benefits than its current Other Backward Class (OBC) status.

BJP made a promise it can't keep during the election time and Rajasthan and the country is paying the price for it. BJP promised to move Gujjar community down to the ST list from OBC to get to power. But then they over looked a small detail that only federal government can do that. But then BJP in its eagerness to grab power glossed over this and is now caught in a no-win situation.

Now, they not only have to deal with Gujjars but also with Meenas who are opposing Gujjars demand. Meenas have been enjoying ST benefits for a while and doesn't want to be crowded with possible entry to Gujjars in to their gravy train.

Quota based on caste is both sensitive and an ugly issue in most of India. It is sensitive because no politician wants to touch this gravy train. What was introduced as a temporary measure in 1950 continues to grow bigger with more and more communities clamoring to be classified as backward.

It is ugly because it divides India based on narrow religion / caste lines. Mahatma Gandhi wanted to eradicate caste system out of the Indian psyche. But since independence, communities across India wants to be classified backward to move forward. And, now, some states including Tamil Nadu are considering quota based on religion.

This quota gravy train will continue to divide India as long as it is done based on caste or religion. As the ugly incidents in Rajasthan proves yet again, caste based reservation is a failure and will only divide India pitching communities against each other with deadly consequences. But then, who is to bell the ugly and ferocious cat? Definitely not the current crop of politicians.

Now Big B is What?

Big B is a farmer..

Now did I hear that right? That's what he claimed to be buy some lands in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Now, why in the world would Amitabh Bacchan claim to be farmer when his entire family is in entertainment business. Apparently to get some lands at heavily subsidized price. Now that's exactly what he needs.. he is poor and need Government subsidies to eke his living. His family may be making billions from the entertainment industry but as a farmer they are poor. Now, that's a concept..

Travelog # 34 - Rumtek Monastery

Rumtek Monastery is one of the important learning centers for exiled Tibetans after Dharamsala. We visited this place couple of weeks back and here is a illustrated guide to visiting this Monastery.

Rumtek Monastery is only 22 kms from Gangtok but takes more than an hour to get there. Narrow winding roads makes the travel very slow. So, give your self sufficient time and employ a solid 4x4 and a good driver to take you there.

Rumtek Monastery was established in late 1950s by the fleeing Tibetans after the Chinese occupation of their land.


Young students at Rumtek Monastery. I understand, this is one of the largest learning center for Tibetans in India. It is unclear to me as to what happens after they graduate from here.


and the old


At seat of higher learning on Buddhism. I was told that it would quite a spectacle to watch the students chant. But the school was closed due to the death of a senior monk and we missed that sight. Also, for the same reason, we were not allowed to visit golden stupa either.

Getting there
By Air: Bagdogara, West Bengal. From here, about an 4 hour road trip).
By Train: Siliguri, West Bengal. From here about an 4 hour road trip.
Hotel: Gangtok, which is about 22 kms from Rumtek Monastery.
Food: Vegetarian food not an issue, however, South Indian might be.

Run in Darjeeling Anyone?

Want to run in Darjeeling? Come on over.. local police is organizing a run on May 13, 07.