Photos: Karaoke @ Jazz

Jazz by the Bay is the only good bar to go to on a Monday night and hence we headed there for Karaoke. I did contemplate singing something silly like "I want it that way" but thankfully since Pinky wasn't there I let Polar Bear and Rushita do the singing.

See photos -> A_Sober_Night_At_Jazz_2007

Greatest Ever?

This stems from a discussion which stems from a widely held belief that Muhammed Ali is one of the greatest sportsperson (in the world) ever. Even Google thinks so.

Honestly I have nothing against Mr. Ali as I have not watched him (and boxing) enough to comment on his skill, ability or achievements. But I have objection to this claim based on two basic principles I think should guide the choice of a greatest sportsman -

1. The greatest sportsperson should play a sport that is followed worldwide and as an indication of it involves worldwide (or something close to) participation.
2. A player that shines out in a team sport should be given greater weightage than an individual sport, purely on the assumption that its harder to outshine peers as well as competitors rather than only competitors.

The first is a compelling reason to reject boxing due to the fact that it does not seem to have worldwide participation, or if you believe Wikipedia, it does not even have any organised governing it. Notice I don't mean a sport more popular than another should be one to have our winner, only a sport popular enough to have worldwide participation (perhaps easiest measure would be whether it has a World Cup, or has adequate tournaments all over the world.

Secondly, it is much harder to impact a team game than it is an individual one so my vote would go for a sportsperson that played a team game. Football immediately comes to mind, but other examples would be cricket, rugby, hockey, baseball, etc.

I have to admit though, a survey or award for greatest sportsperson would probably still go to Mr. Ali for his political views, for being an inspiration to african americans at the time and since then, and lastly for being the (undeniable) best in his sport. He would get the popular vote but for me he shouldn't be greatest sportsperson ever.

Ho hum, can't go changing the world.

Cultural Differences

My observations are probably specific to working in a family business in an industry that requires dealing with suppliers and logistics firms from all over India, but here goes -

Sensitivities are very different in the workplace in different countries. My experience is that back in London one would usually get the job done by requesting nicely. Sarcasm or disappointment over the speed or quality of work would be expressed only if needed and often addressed swiftly, or at least justified in some way by the recipient. Hence the typical British raising of eyebrows to express displeasure, or perhaps a strongly worded letter to go even further - people seem to understand / take responsibility for their actions quite easily.

However I find that a lot of times, I might have to use a firm tone of voice to get anything done (best case scenario), then perhaps a bit of harshness and applying arbitrary deadlines for less sensitive people. And finally the last option left is raising my voice or just outright yelling in order to get the job done. What I don't get is people like my ex-Clearing Agent who would have to be yelled at constantly for him to get any work done.

Why?!? How could anyone be so thick skinned??

Nobody can listen to clients yelling at them all the time and not want to improve on things or just get that persons job done instead of ignoring them all the time. But that just happens too often with too many people I deal with. A lot of times government employees are like this, which is worse as one has to keep chasing them to get the job done but can never scream at them for not doing so.

I wonder if this is common across other different cultures too? Maybe even within the same culture but this sort of issue coming up across different industries? Any ideas on how to encourage people to be independent and get things done on their own without constant pushing? Am hoping that at some point people become a bit more sensitive and understand the work to be done without being screamed at constantly.

Until then, I need to make my standard 5 phone calls a day to get the smallest task done.

Smoothies + Bombay

So I've been thinking that Bombay, or in general, the Indian retail market does not have any (good) Smoothies.

First off, are they popular within the UK? Going by newspaper articles and the pretty impressive growth of firms like Innocent and PJ's, one would think they are doing fairly well, even if they are yet seen as unaffordable. Smoothies are marketed as healthy, convenient and natural drinks and would therefore be targeted mostly to your average person working in London who does not have enough time (or worse who would not be able to get exercise). Theyre not exactly going to make you lose weight but are a much healthier alternative to fizzy drinks, coffee or beer. Anyway I would intuitively think that they are mostly popular with residents of big busy cities (but I could be wrong) - either way they seem to be quite the success.

Secondly, the question is whether these drinks are popular outside the UK. I've been accustomed to having one everytime I hop into Sainsburys and especially on a nice summer day when just lying in the park, theyre healthy and yum. Given that the concept seems to have started in America, I suspect they are doing quite well there but this maybe only at Smoothie shops and not in retail (unlikely though). A friend tells me that apparently it is quite big in the far east too - the added advantage of mixing herbs and medicines which does present a great opportunity for parents to make their kids have foul tasting medicine.

Thirdly, would they do well in India? Thing is Indians are notoriously unhealthy (any doctor would admit that south asians are more likely to get diabetes and have high cholestrol). Mums would love their kids to have a smoothie instead of Coke. But the question is where one can get them. Of course, you could get a decent one at cafes like Mocha, Indigo Deli or Moshe's but then again they're not exactly retail shops. And to be honest, and this might sound a bit pretentious, but I can't remember the last time I stepped into a general store so I'm not sure whether health conscious people will too (Tropicana for example can work because it would be perfect for bars and restaurants even if people don't keep any at home).

Anyway as you can see I am wishing Innocent come to India, or am quite willing to set up my own smoothie company. But just don't know what everyone else thinks about them - I certainly love them and cannot see why anyone wouldn't. Any comments?

Gay Paris!

My brother just got accepted into INSEAD, one of the best Business Schools in the World. And more importantly it is in Paris, sounds so much fun.

To most of us Paris conjures up this romantic image of gastronomic delights, artistic heritage and elegance no other city can match. Bar the racist attacks and unemployment, of course.

Of course, he still has to wait for other university applications, but at least an MBA this year is guaranteed. Congratulations to him..... whee!

Photos: Manish's Birthday 2007

As per a now established tradition, at Henry Tham's.

See link at Picasa here -> Manish_Birthday_2007

iPhone - Yawn...

Wow. You know the marketing team at Apple are doing great when they can get people to talk about the iPhone as part of a social dinner (other topics were what schools to send kids to and recent films out in the cinema) . See the Baron's opinion too.

It just amazes me that there is so much buzz about a product that -
1. Is not conceptually revolutionary (music + internet + phone on one gadget?!)
2. Is not technically revolutionary (the specs say it all)
3. Is not even out, or reviewed
4. (Forgive me for sounding like an old bitter man) Is riding on the marketing campaign and the past success of the iPod rather than the product itself.

Admittedly the UI looks superb, and it would be nice to buy songs off iTunes on-the-go. But you just know that its another pretty product that will have some cool rock band promoting it just to get the pretentious people to buy it. Cue the gold D&G Razr. Which forces me to question why people are so easily influenced by marketing and "cool" products rather than functional ones.

Of course the more interesting topic is that of Apple and entering the smartphone OS market with OS X. Now from what I hear it is the best OS in the world if you believe any iBook user. But where Microsoft have failed (so far), Apple could probably succeed purely on their ability to make phones based on pretty look and feel and paying attention to what the user would like.

I can see Nokia having to re-think it's strategy for gaining a larger piece of the American mobile pie. I suspect they should just get Cavalli or Louis Vuitton to lend their brand to one of their phones. If you can't beat 'em......

Photos: New Years 2006

I know I'm a bit late but anywho, here is a selection of the photos from when I was at Marve -> New_Years_2006

Unleashed - the power of Picasa. Uploading took all of 2 minutes to choose the photos and a minute to upload them. I love technology!

Radiohead + Cocktails

I say that not just because of my penchant for manly cocktails such as a mojito or a white russian (plus strawberry diaquiris when nobody's looking)... This weekend has been a complete Radiohead session. As usual, the root cause was a woman. A particularly special woman at that.

I've been asked by a few people how I feel. Once they don't accept the mandatory "I'm OK", the only way to express it is by choosing the correct song. From the classic High and Dry or Fake Plastic Trees to the more appropriate Let Down or the more hopeful True Love Waits. But ultimately the song that really makes sense in any situation is Bulletproof..I Wish I Was.

But that's just not possible, is it?

Bad Luck

You thought you had bad luck? check out this article in The Times.

A Briton was murdered just because he approached a villager while she was on her way to the loo. Now wheras it is a bit scary to see a random stranger on your way to the loo (mostly because for most people it requires about four steps in the dark), it would be nice not to complain to your husband and get them to beat the guy to death. But thats just me, I suppose thats what you get for asking a lady questions in the middle of the night like "how do I get out of here"... tsk tsk silly white man boo-boo'd.

My favourite bit -

"This is an unusual case," Inspector Vikram Patil, leading the investigation, said. "This was maybe just bad luck and misunderstanding."

Damn right!