City Ratings - Pune

 I had floated the idea of rating cities by a few things that matter to a common citizen. Here is my first attempt, at rating Pune, where I live.

Commuting. Buses.. reasonable, but not as well-maintained as Bangalore. Some areas over-served, some under. 6 on 10

Metro- inadequate network. Last mile connectivity not well thought out. Cost is reasonable though. 6 on 10.

Cleanliness- roads are not cleaned adequately, particularly garbage clearance is sloppy.. 5 on 10..

Autorickshaws- very good, both metered and Uber are available at most places. 8 on 10.

Weather- better than most places, except Bangalore- 8 on 10.

Food/drink options- plenty, and growing. Seafood, North/South Indian joints are plenty, so are pizza places. Craft beer is homegrown too, like Effingut, Pune-based. We also have TOIT, and Doolally's at Corinthian Club.

Internet- good speed, options. Or else my blog and fb participation would go for a toss.

Overall, quality of life is decent. Pollution is a problem, with too much construction.. road quality needs to improve. 

Myths About Dollar Earnings

 Life in the US or the west is a dream for many. So is a life in the Gulf countries, for others. But what is the reality, vis-a-vis a life in India? I mean, a working life and a retired life.

I was earning a comfortable (at the time) 40 thousand dollars per year when I got a job in the U.S. as an assistant professor. Spent quite a bit on the 2 Bedroom apartment, and furnishing it. The car and medical insurance payments later, was left with just enough to make a trip to India perhaps, and a comfortable lifestyle. But we had to do our own washing, ironing and cleaning. Car maintenance occasionally came up. If we had had kids, maybe expenses would have multiplied. 

The same applies here, at a lower rupee salary. Plus you get maids for housework and dhobis to iron clothes. Drivers are available or autorickshaws in cities. Now metros too. Public transport has always been better in India, and safe for kids and older people. So they are not dependent on you for their movements. Now we have the Metro as well in many cities. Your savings tend to be high in India, as you spend less, unless there are medical emergencies. You can plan your retirement savings too, if you start in your thirties or so. 

Job security was higher too, until now. So it's possible for a qualified person to live a good life in India too, particularly for a double income family of the middle classes. 

2022- A Year Ends

 This year threw many surprises. Which is not surprising. Had it not, that would have surprised me. I found a new job and moved (so what's new, you might ask, and I would understand). So new colleagues, along with a few who are a short distance away (the other end of town, where I lived between 2013 and 2020).

This time, towards what could be the last innings of my full time career, there are enough challenges to keep me occupied, along with my team here. Adding both faculty and students at a furious pace is never easy. Even one of these can be challenging. But both? Yes, it will take some doing. We are a new university in Indore, and the city is coming into reckoning, apart from its no.1 rank in Cleanliness. 

It is at the cusp of professionalisation, somewhat like Bangalore before Infosys. And we saw what happened there. I actually was a student in 1982-84 at Bangalore's hallowed IIMB. There are many initiatives like the Super-corridor for I.T. firms (TCS, Infosys are already here) and educational institutions - both of which can be a potent force for change in a few years. 

The Metro is taking shape, pretty fast. Might change the pace a bit, when it starts. The airport is probably the best connected in M.P., similar to Nagpur as far as Central India goes. All these are possible indicators of something happening. Let's hope we can contribute to this becoming a happening place!

Thought Leaders

 These are few and far between. In any field. This is ironic, since as a species, humans are supposed to be thinkers of a higher order than other animals/species. Maybe the way we have built society, politics, governance, bureaucracy, education etc. has something to do with it. Thinking skills are hardly rewarded anywhere, from education to corporate work cultures, despite the usual lip service to 'thinking outside the box.'

But there have been a few souls that I can think of in India, who contributed immensely to our country's progress, through thinking big, fresh and also helping implement those thoughts-at least one of these two. 

Verghese Kurien, through spearheading the White Revolution, ensured availability of milk, to a population that was malnourished and deprived of this basic nutrition-especially children. Farmers' interests were also protected, because it was done through cooperatives.

Sreedharan, on the other hand, implemented Metro railway and other projects successfully, and brought to urban commuters a safe and reliable mode of transport. The founder of Nirma showed us the power of advertising and pricing, albeit with help from an ad agency that created the best-selling campaign. Similarly, Amitabh Kant spearheaded advertising campaigns for Brand India and Brand Kerala with the Incredible India and God's Own Country campaigns. 

The Tatas set up institutes of learning in diverse fields such as Science and Social sciences, when none existed-at least not of high quality.

ISRO did some good things.

Manmohan Singh and Narasimha Rao at the centre, and Chandrababu Naidu in his stint as Chief Minister, brought in a vision of something drastically different from the plodding on governance and licensing. Maybe the Healthcare crisis brought on by COVID 19 will spur something in the healthcare sector? Maybe we can become vaccine suppliers to the world, at the very least?

Administration Versus Leadership

I have deliberately not used the word Management, because I am not talking of MBAs alone, but more generally, about spheres that affect more people than the corporates.

Administration can be the routine activities, and more to do with implementation of rules that were framed by someone else. For instance, the Municipal administration mainly has to do with implementing rules and duties already assigned to the department. Few new things, maybe once in a while, like building a new flyover.

Leaders may be distinguished (if they are at all) by some creative ideas that they are able to come up with for the non-routine, which may benefit a lot of people. Many leaders give us hope, but few live up to it. In our political landscape, maybe three or four have solved problems of masses creatively, though many may have contributed in bits and pieces. TN Seshan, E Sreedharan (Metro Man), Verghese Kurien, and a few other bureaucrats from within the system were leaders who did this by probably going beyond their brief. The Metro has the potential to solve public transport problems if designed well- I have now travelled by Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore metros and can vouch for this.

I had the fortune to live in Andhra Pradesh when Chandrababu Naidu came up with a computerised service for citizens to pay their bills in one place. It was called eSeva, and was later (much later) copied by other states. Before this, people spent huge amounts of time in lines to pay their own utility bills.

The latest example of good leadership is the way the Orissa Cyclone called Fani has been handled, with able leadership directing the various administrative wings in saving at least a few thousand lives. It involved coordination among different administrative bodies/wings, making it all the more remarkable.

I am pretty sure that we can keep up a flurry of such innovations to ease the life of a common man, if we give enough thought to it. That would make for smart cities and villages, and much more. Maybe a citizen scrutiny and rating system may work, and get people to participate more in governance too.

A Wedding Party in Nagpur

Went to her wedding and met Abha Kulkarni, a former student (of IMT), for the first time there- I was the bride's guest. Must have happened for the first time. Thanks to Facebook, though, I feel that I know her pretty well. She's been a winner of some of my awards on fb. Anyway, the feeling of meeting someone in person (and seeing the radiant smile in this case) is much more than a facebook friendship. I highly recommend meeting some fb friends regularly when you can, and multiplying your joy. I try my best to meet one per visit to any city, at least. My own alumni meets of sorts.

In this case, of course, I was accompanied by my ex-colleagues Vijayakumar and Anant Ram who had taught her at IMT and told me she was a great student. It was a coincidence that her husband Rohan is from Nagpur, and enabled me to be here for the event. Found out from chatting with her parents that they have lived in Bangalore for many years. I am a fan of Nagpuri stuff like Oranges, and I also like its clean roads in the newer parts. Of course, the speedy Metro construction is causing some traffic issues, but they won't last long, as construction is progressing at 'Gadkari speed'- defined as 20 times the average Indian speed. If he'd been in charge of the economy in the 1960s, we'd never have had to face the "Hindu rate of growth".

I was also happy it wasn't too cold- I am not a fan of sardi-Dilli ki ya aur kahin ki. Just the right medicine for ending the year- Food, Friends and Thums Up, as the old ad said. Thumb's up, totally.

Industry Interaction for a B School

Location decisions for a B school must take into acount the need for frequent industry collaboration of various hues that can enrich the B school. From guest lectures to projects and case-writing, a lot can happen over coffee- I mean, these interactions.

A business school can also consider having a Golf course attached if it is not in a prime metro location, so that it can attract corporates to visit. This might overcome some of the locational disadvantages, besides teaching students the game, to improve their networking skills (and bragging rights).

To prove that I am not talking through my hat, here's a pic from a recent guest session in our Mumbai campus from Divya Singh, a founder of Cyclitics, an analytics company. It's easy to do this kind of a thing in a metro, and is the key to the success of Jamnalal Bajaj Inst. of Management Science, Mumbai and a few others of its type. The ones in remote locations struggle to give the necessary practical side of management inputs to its students.

Singapore, Architecture and More

 Waiting for a university shuttle.

 Metro station

 University Food court- Steven Riady Centre

 Ventilation at the food court. Notice the angled glass windows.

Two above 1. Another view of the University..Nice, modern architecture. 2. Marina Bay Hotel, with the boat-shaped top.

Below, a hotel frontage in Little India and large classroom with video-conferencing.

Book Worm in Bangalore and a Farewell Here

I did two things in Bangalore that I am proud of, apart from work. (Work as in writing a case study about a company started by a former student-turned entrepreneur. Abhinav runs a company called Ten Motion Arts in Bangalore.)

1. I rode the metro, though it's only a toy train between three or four stations right now.

2. Went to a book store-now my favourite, off MG Road, called Book Worm. This has a delightful collection of old books. I got a Dave Barry and a few humour and wit books so I can sound witty for a while- here and there. I will of course treat all you readers to samples of this wit as we go along, in the days to come.

Back home in Indore, my long-time academic assistant Saumya is moving on. So we went out for a farewell lunch. She has been invaluable in helping manage the technical aspects of preparation -downloads and stuff- and grading of exams, and will be missed. Well, I moved so many times, so I don't reallly blame anyone for moving on. I think it helps you grow.
                                   
                                        Pic with Saumya (centre) and Shweta, my colleague.

Of Jaisalmer and Rajasthan

We drove, a group of six, to Jaisalmer to visit the sand dunes. So now, we can claim to have "dune" it! Or, the dudes who dune it, in Americanese.

We stuck to the highways, except where it was inevitable. Advice from  faculty colleague from Rajasthan helped us select the best routes (via close to Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, and back via Jodhpur, Udaipur) and some of the highways were fantastic. Reminded me of the long circular drives where we went to around 20 US states each time (we did that twice)-Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon and South Dakota's Mount Rushmore remain etched in memory. Roads have a spinoff effect, and can take the country ahead. So does the metro railway, and Mumbai has developed due to its famed local trains more than anything else. Commuters like a predictable journey time.

Anyway, back to Jaisalmer. Dunes are fun, and every park should have a sand dune in my view. Camel rides are fun too, though some camels look starved. They should be fed well. We also did the dune thing, that is, stayed in a tent for the night, and listened to Rajasthani folk sing their thing and dance their tunes out in the dunes. Ok, I am almost dun with the dunes. For now. More later, with pics.

Pune Warriors

This is not about the short-lived IPL team supported by the ill-fated Sahara group whose chairman is going through bad times. This is about the everyday wars being fought by the Punekars on its roads, and so on.

Historically a culturally rich, progressive city, it retains (many) shades of it even today. But on one count, it falls short of expectations (to be fair, all Indian cities fall short here)- traffic and its management. Public transport needs huge improvement, because people seem to believe today (rightly) that a two-wheeler of your own is a must, if you want to get around and reach anywhere. Someone said that a city's public transport system is a mark of how civilised it is. I am beginning to agree.

Autorickshaws are expensive for daily commutes of any lengths. Parking is non-existent in most parts of town. A metro should have been built about 8-10 years ago, and there is no sign of it yet.

There are a lot of pluses in Pune, but lots of civic facilities seem on the verge of a breakdown. Urgent repairs needed, and mostly within municipal limits- pun intended. Let's hope Pune is not "Bangalored" in its road conditions.

Kolkata- A Capital City

Kolkata it was, for the fourth of our alum get-togethers. In a historic setting, reminiscent of the British Raj. The hoary Tollygunge Club in south Kolkata was where we had the party. It was a small, intimate gathering unlike the very large crowd in Delhi and Mumbai. That could be because job opportunities in Kolkata are fairly limited, and most companies that recruit MBAs do so for other places of posting. But there were people from ITC, Proctor and Gamble (a good combo of professions), and so on, with some entrepreneurs too- a sort of contradiction in terms in Kolkata (this is not Gujarat).

However, that gave us a chance to chat peacefully, and exchange views over a drink or two.  Having three former members of our Alcom (students' committee that looks after Alumni relations) lled to a lively discussion about the past and the future of this important function in the context of IMT Ghaziabad,

It also gave me a chance to revisit the Calcutta Metro that I had seen since birth and suffered its pangs through traffic jams on my visits during its construction. I was briefly taken aback to find Tollygunge missing from the list of stations, until I discovered it had been renamed as Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. A nice gesture, but comuters need to know where they are going too- so they have Tollygunge area written in brackets everywhere. Being a Sunday, it was not too crowded on the metro.

To end, an original  PJ for the upcoming BIG Day.

Why did the Bong's wife get annoyed with him on Feb 14th?

Because he thought it was Ballantine's Day, and got drunk.

A Walk in the Park

That's just the idiom or a way of expressing the idea. What I really want to write about is walking-anywhere. Compared to the gym, it has numerous advantages, for instance. You don't need a membership that comes at a cost. You don't have opening and closing hours. You don't need an expert to tell you what to do-unless you want to hire one for crossing roads heavy with traffic!

A jog is boring, as it forces you to concentrate on the act. While walking, you can let the mind wander about, and it can go beyond the road you are walking on- on roads less travelled, so to speak. Walking is free, and comes with health benefits such as exercising the muscles, and sometimes making you more agile, if the traffic is heavy and you need to do some quick thinking to avoid oncoming cars and bikes.

Walking in a park may be a luxury, and environmentally unfriendly, since you may need to drive to the park unless you live close by. But walking anywhere is better than taking a  car anywhere. This major realisation came to me after observing what happens to a car (and the person in it) in Delhi. If you can't walk, take the metro or the bus, is my sage advice to anyone who is not busy honking their way out of the traffic around.

Actually, my preferred personal transport is a personal flying vehicle, but the question arises- what do you do for flyovers in the sky, once traffic builds up there? Maybe that's why the sages (powers-that-be) wisely decided not to build such devices.

Badarpur, Faridabad and Me

I travelled to Faridabad-actually, Ballabhgarh, by a combination of the metro up to Badarpur border and further by bus. It was actually a pleasant journey, much to my surprise. I had only been to Faridabad long years ago in 1984 when I worked with the India Today group. I had visited the Thompson Press located there, which was quite modern for its time, and used to do a lot of Annual Reports.

Today being a Sunday, the crowd was perhaps at a tolerable level in both modes of transport. The metro is being extended to Faridabad as I understand it. That should make life easier for those who have to commute daily. Is this the professionalising of Delhi? Maybe, because public transport determines a lot of fates of the working population and gives them options they never had. Mumbai is a good case in point.

Maybe we should go about building public transport in tier 2 towns that might turn them into tier 1 towns in a few years. 

Delhi Musings, Customer Service and More

Two incidents of customer service first. We had gone in a group of seven to eat lunch at a fairly expensive restaurant in Bangalore e-city recently. The lunch buffet was excellent. But at the end, we had to wait 20 minutes for the bill, because the cash register had failed!

The second incident is of a private sector bank which did not feel like crediting a cheque I wrote, because my payee's (wife was the payee) middle name was not written along with the long first  AND name. I am sure the idea was to prevent large gangs of cheque-stealers from raiding a poor prof's account, but it was not amusing!


Anyway, on to more pleasant stuff. I have found at least one good bookstore (Om book shop), though it's in Faraway  Gurgaon. But there is a metro station near it (MG Road), so it's accessible. I also found the bus system is good to use on weekends. Friday evenings, the traffic seems quite terrible, but OK on others.

Also celebrated the 50th birthday of a dear childhood friend yesterday at his place. Having had mine a couple of years earlier, I know the feeling- of having lived about two-thirds of your life. And I caught up with more friends from my teen years a few days earlier, so it's not too bad.

Delhi Ruminations

We had the Delhi alumni meet, traditionally the biggest in number of alums, at Paschim Vihar's Radisson Blu. Funnily, there was some singing and one of the songs sung had this line, Purab ho Paschim, Uttar ho Dakshin, tu har jagah muskuraye (from the song, Phholon ke rang se). Apt!

Around 250 alumni of Nagpur turned up, and it was a pleasure digging up their old memories, and updating the older batches about some happenings. The hall was big enough fortunately, and a good time was had by all. Earlier in the day, I had a round of Netaji Subhash Park, an office complex with some restaurants. and so on, a bit like Nehru Place, only bigger and newer. Not having been in that part of Delhi, I found it has a tall TV tower nearby, and a metro station called Netaji Subhash park. Had lunch at Pind Balluchi, a pretty good northie restaurant. Keema mutter was very good.

Stayed in a hotel in Pitampura, which I had only heard about. The road to Rohtak was crossed on the way there, and I was reminded that there is an IIM at Rohtak now, headed by a former colleague of mine from IIM Lucknow.

All in all, had a great time in spite of the heat. And the flights were on time again. Wonders will not cease. The rupee touching a new low was not a dampener, since we were not buying dollars.

IIM Bangalore Visit

Had a chance to visit my alma mater, IIM Bangalore, for a conference on Entrpreneurship where my co-authors and I are presenting a case on a Nagpur-based entrepreneur who exports wood-metal figurines made by craftsmen who are ex-Bastar tribals. It has interesting business issues, and could be a good teaching case.

The campus of IIMB is unique in the sense that it looks like a mini-forest, with plants, shrubs and trees of different hues all around. It is pleasant to walk around. Maybe you could call it a B school in the middle of a forest. Like IIMA which is known for its architecture, and might be termed as a B school in the middle of an architectural wonder. As an aside, at one time, ASCI at Hyderabad used to be called a college attached to a bar, as it had an active beverage service!

The crowd at the conference was eclectic, and had a sprinkling of international faces. Since the focus is on BRIC nations, there were a few Chinese and Brazilian paper presenters too. Maybe some Russians as well. All in all, an interesting experience. Nice to see a bit of the metro in operation on MG Road. Hope it reduces some of the moving around blues over time. The lesson is that other cities need to start building it now, instead of waiting to get congested beyond endurance.