Captive Adaptations

Startups, the pace at which one has to move is amazing. I have been in Bangalore for nearly 3 weeks, and I could not help but take a hiatus from my blogging activity. There is always something or the other that commands my attention.

Before I get into my long conversations, if I have not already told you, here, let me tell you, I am thrilled to be in Bangalore. That is for several reasons,

1. My Mom and her home cooked food - Nothing will ever beat that !
2. My Dad, he restructured my 4th floor home with Solar powered showers, remodelled my rest room, bed room and living room, all in a matter of 2 days.
3. My younger sister to whom I can preach anything and everything, Discipline (Fiscal, Professional, Mental) is the theme-of-the-day.
4. Friends - Take you around all the new Malls (Forum & Garuda), the 11 screen PVR cinemas, and irresistable Pani-puri evenings.
5. Fibre-to-the-home connectivity.
6. Chauffered by real gentlemen who actually speak Kannada, English, Hindi and Tamil.
7. The American Managed Guest House with Broadband connectivity and an American Lady Manager (My Boss is thrilled)
8. Our Family’s New Car - Booked and delivered within 4 days.
9. On the work front too a lot has happened.

• We got the company registered.
• Found Office space.
• Completed the documentation and submission for STPI Registration and Certification.
• Made friends with some Investment Bankers and Partners and much more….

10. And of course all these wonderful VoIP tools (Skype, GoogleTalk) I hardly miss my American collegues.

I am just loving every moment right now. Bindas Bangalore it is !!, Watch me fry your brain with rants about reverse brain drain.

This is a post from Incheon, Korea. This is a just like that post. But interestingly I did not notice that I was flying on the anniversary of 9/11 till I landed up at the counter in SanFrancisco. This travel event is worth remembering. All my guardian angels wish me luck

I am flying again today and will be in Bangalore by Tuesday. Although I am not flying via Singapore this time, I just wanted to revisit the thread about Singapore’s transformation from a swamp land to what it is today, mostly because of one man and his vision - Lee Kuan Yew.

Just a few weeks ago, he was interviewed by a German magazine, about the much touted “Asian Century“. The man’s economic intelligence is clearly apparent in this interview. Some of the all-time-best statements I have read in the recent years come out in this article, and his answers to the quandary that most of the Western countries face seem so simple. He sure comes across as a man with impeccable character and clarity. I am highly impressed.

Here are a few highlights from his interview.

On Globalization and how the late 80’s and early 90’s started the disruption of the cosy Western Life-style.

The social contract that led to workers sitting on the boards of companies and everybody being happy rested on this condition: I work hard, I restore Germany’s prosperity, and you, the state, you have to look after me. I’m entitled to go to Baden Baden for spa recuperation one month every year. This old system was gone in the blink of an eye when two to three billion people joined the race — one billion in China, one billion in India and over half-a-billion in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Democracy v/s Meritocracy

Why should I be against democracy? The British came here, never gave me democracy, except when they were about to leave. But I cannot run my system based on their rules. I have to amend it to fit my people’s position. In multiracial societies, you don’t vote in accordance with your economic interests and social interests, you vote in accordance with race and religion. Supposing I’d run their system here, Malays would vote for Muslims, Indians would vote for Indians, Chinese would vote for Chinese. I would have a constant clash in my Parliament which cannot be resolved because the Chinese majority would always overrule them. So I found a formula that changes that… We run a meritocracy.

Read on.. you just can’t ignore his insights…

Watch me at 35 ! This is a phrase that I coined nearly 6 years ago, and have used it liberally ever since in all social get-togethers. In fact people have started to poke fun at me for using this so frequently.

But technology review has released their top technolgy innovators under age 35, for their October 2005 issue. In fact they have changed it from TR100 to TR35. Did they steal the 35 cue from someone I know ?.

What is interesting to note is that there are 5 or 6 Indians listed in there. And among the 3 people that are profiled, Naramsimha Chari is one of them. I am delighted to see many young Indians on the list. All people on the list make technology geeks like me really proud, their ideas, vision, and relentless pursuit of their beliefs is worth emulating. The judges for this list from Technology Review, comprise of some really well established names, what more can I say, just check it out yourself.

Okay, I have to admit, when it comes to beauty Latin America & Mexico (Spaniards in general) beat the rest of the world hands down. Gosh, how come I had never noticed Paz Vega until last night while I was watching Spanglish on my flight back to SanFrancisco. I am now completely blown off by her charm, her elegance as an actress, and boy oh boy, her feminity is an absolute killer.

I still can’t get her off my mind , its not just lust, I know when I feel lusty, but thinking about an actress even after some sleep, is very unusual for my lustful mind. This is definitely a mixture of lust, admiration, respect, infatuation, whatever.., in short I have fallen for her.

She has not only stormed into my personal favorites list, but has disrupted the normal process by which I build my fav list. She commands some precious thought cycles, needless to say, the flight back to Sanfrancisco has been just too much for me !

This is my second long stopover/layover in a week at the Changi Airport in Singapore. Last tuesday I had to while away nearly 7 hours, no different today. Fortunately, there are couple of free city tours that the Singapore Tourism Ministry has setup. Each is around 2 hours with themes like Colonial tour, Cultural tour etc.

Its really a good way to kill time and simultaneously learn about the city, its people, and get a first hand experience as you travel on the streets of Singapore. I learnt about some interesting demographics regarding the population density, the type of people, and some interesting cultural practices that Singapore has.

I am not very well equipped, to do justice to what I am seeing. I probably need to carry a good digital camera / camera phone along with me and make sure that next time my blog speaks with pictures more than words. But for now bear with my blah.. blah… blah…

Post Scriptum : Interestingly, I just noticed that Atanu Dey was also in Singapore on Aug 30th. I tried to update this in the comments section as well, but then decided it was worth editing this post itself. Atanu has blogged elaborately on Singapore’s transformation and the man behind it. I was just pondering on this question as I was writing this entry and voila I found the answer. Here is the link.

I am in Bangalore for the past 2 days. The typical August weather scenario in Bangalore is that we have bright sunshine all day, and as the evening sets in so does the clouds and rain. This is unique to Bangalore, atleast among all the cities that I have lived in. The evening atmosphere of monsoon rains, generally has romantic undercurrents associated to it and hence the tug at your heart strings is hardly ignorable. I simply love Bangalore !

I also did meet my close buddies, and spent some time with my parents, but I have to fly back again today, so I am not very happy. It is during such times, I question myself about the work pace and my run behind mindless accomplishments. Why can’t I just slow down ? Is that an option at all ?