Into the fourth day of my 2nd US experience and things are finally beginning to look up ! First, I have been able getover the so called JetLag (I prefer to call it Lateral Time Shift ) which meant that I was awake for most of the time it was dark here ( Night Shift from USA for India ? Quite possible in the future) . Then in the day time I had to fight off the sleep (which I needed so badly) because I needed to search for a place which would be my home sweet home for the next one year. Finally my body seems to have got adjusted now to the time shift now.
And the house search meant I am talking to and meeting people completely unknown to me (like I talked to John, a Macho Realtor born in America for a 2 Bedroom Apartment, a Lithuanian Mother of three who wants to rent out her 3 bed Apartment,a Indian American who somehow wants to rent out the place to Indians only and so on ). Finally I have choosen the apartment being rented out by the American as my home for the next year and will signing on the dotted line sometime next week and moving into the place.
The search for the house took me to places like Wellington ,Somerville, Medford, Malden and some 20 T stations in between .( Ts are Bostonian way of saying Subways or Metro ). And had it not been for the convenient T systems, I think I would have spent a fortune in searching for my home. A 15$ weekly pass meant that I could travel any number of times to these places and the experience has been great to say the least. On Boston Ts , you are sharing space with students from India, China and what not countries talking in their respective Native languages, with old Bostonians who prefer the charm of the train to the hassles of Driving , with Spanish migrants from Latin America and perhaps most importantly with young Boston couples going for a date. (Boston Gals have off clean spotless backs, Necklines,hands and legs and thanks to hot "summer" days, they on display for free in the Ts.)
Another strange thing about the Boston Ts is that each of the routes have their own pecularity. The green line(each route is signified by a colour) for example turns into a tram/city bus once it is out of the underground tracks and in fact has to wait for the traffic lights to turn green (along with the cars/buses) before moving forward !!! The orange line trains are as long as a long distance train in Europe (ok they are not in 1/4th of the trains in India but for a city train,they are long). The red line trains don't have automated Voiceovers for station Information and the driver of the train himself shouts top of this voice "Attention everybody. The Destination of this train is Braintree. Brrrrrrriiiiinntreeeeeeeeeee.".
All in all a completely new experience. If you ask me if this is the most efficient subway System, I would say it is the best I have seen. Although somebody told me Delhi Metro is better but can't vouch for it myself.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
First Impressions:Jet Airways will go places
Well my first blog from Boston !. Reached here yesterday evening after a 22 hr long journey. And luckily the flight journey turned out to be a really good one. Kudos to Jet Airways for starting a service from Mumbai to USA and setting high standards in terms of service and convenience. Having already travelled in the likes of NorthWest Airlines(NWA),Lufthansa and Air India, I can very well claim that the service which Jet offered was the best among these. So what did Jet so differently ?
For starters Jet Airways is using a Boeing 777-300 ER, which is a brand new long distance aircraft from the Boeing stable. Apart from offering a 3 class configuration, the best part was the ample leg room which it provided for the economy/cabin passengers. That Apart , the aircraft has personal LCD screens for every individual. Now this is not new of course, but the quality of the screen and the movie/music collections was amazing. ( Especially for we Indians, loads of Hindi movies both old and new). Again the in-flight cabin crew were the best ( both in looks and the service which they offered :)). The flight attendents were really courteous and helpful. This is really required on flights originating from India. Quite a few of them are travelling in flights for the 1st time and are not even sure as to how tighten the seat belts.(The Flight attendents of NWA were the worst I would say. They never respond to any of your requests).
We were given Menu cards for the food/beverages and the beverages on offer were really good. Like how many of the airlines offer Old Monk Black rum on flights ? Also the Indian Food on offer was really tasty and edible(by Airline food standards) when compared the stuff which other airlines offer. Another convenience is a small kit which contained the essentials like Toothpaste and brush. (These may be Small things but go a long way in improving the overall service). All in all, a long international flight where I did not get bored at all. (And No, there was no pretty gal sitting next to me in the flight.).
Full marks to Jet Airways and I do sincerely hope they maintain the same service levels in the years to come . Interestingly, by the next year , Kingfisher Airlines will start off it's international operations and going the benchmark Kingfisher has set in India's domestic flight service levels , I think the stage is set for an interesting battle between the two India based Airlines to grab a pie of the growing travel on the India-USA route.
For starters Jet Airways is using a Boeing 777-300 ER, which is a brand new long distance aircraft from the Boeing stable. Apart from offering a 3 class configuration, the best part was the ample leg room which it provided for the economy/cabin passengers. That Apart , the aircraft has personal LCD screens for every individual. Now this is not new of course, but the quality of the screen and the movie/music collections was amazing. ( Especially for we Indians, loads of Hindi movies both old and new). Again the in-flight cabin crew were the best ( both in looks and the service which they offered :)). The flight attendents were really courteous and helpful. This is really required on flights originating from India. Quite a few of them are travelling in flights for the 1st time and are not even sure as to how tighten the seat belts.(The Flight attendents of NWA were the worst I would say. They never respond to any of your requests).
We were given Menu cards for the food/beverages and the beverages on offer were really good. Like how many of the airlines offer Old Monk Black rum on flights ? Also the Indian Food on offer was really tasty and edible(by Airline food standards) when compared the stuff which other airlines offer. Another convenience is a small kit which contained the essentials like Toothpaste and brush. (These may be Small things but go a long way in improving the overall service). All in all, a long international flight where I did not get bored at all. (And No, there was no pretty gal sitting next to me in the flight.).
Full marks to Jet Airways and I do sincerely hope they maintain the same service levels in the years to come . Interestingly, by the next year , Kingfisher Airlines will start off it's international operations and going the benchmark Kingfisher has set in India's domestic flight service levels , I think the stage is set for an interesting battle between the two India based Airlines to grab a pie of the growing travel on the India-USA route.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
From Bengalooru to Boston........
It is time to bid good bye to Namma Bengalooru (my Bangalore, the greatest city of the world) for the next one year atleast as I will be moving over to Boston on the 21st August 2007 to pursue my MBA. Till date most of my blogs have been focussed on the happenings in Bengalooru and India. But as I undergo multiple transformations and transitions (from the Silicon valley of India to the education capital of the world, from Cricket crazy India to the baseball madness of USA,from city of Rahul Dravid to the home of Tom Brady and perhaps most importantly from being a employee/worker to a Student,), so will this blog. From now on , expect me to write on stuff which are more US centric or rather more Indo-US centric ( perhaps things which impact we Indians in America. We now form almost 4% of the US population , not to mention the floating population of guest workers). Also will try and share my experiences of MBA and the multi-cultural milieu of which I am going to be an integral part for the next one year.
The journey begins with a 18hr long flight from Mumbai to New York City and from there on to Boston. So keep watching this space for more....... Next blog will be from the Perpetual Land of Opporunities.
The journey begins with a 18hr long flight from Mumbai to New York City and from there on to Boston. So keep watching this space for more....... Next blog will be from the Perpetual Land of Opporunities.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Total Recall !!
Yesterday while shopping around in a busy shopping place in Bangalore, I noticed a long queue outside a Nokia Dealer Store. (The queue was much longer than the First day First show movie tickets line for a Shah Rukh Khan Blockbuster). My first thought was that the dealer is offering some freebies (or rather some free phones) and when something is for free or on sale, people will inevitably queue for them. (This is true in every part of the world including the so called developed countries like USA. Thanksgiving sales anyone ?).
But only later did I realize that the queue was for the replacement of the defective Nokia Batteries for which Nokia issued a product Advisory/Recall Notice. If you are wondering what that means, then welcome to the world of recalls/advisories whereby a Manufacturer admits that the product or part sold is defective and offers to replace it(for free of course). This must have been the first instance in India where a company by itself is admitting to a defective product on a mass scale and is offering to replace it. (It is a different matter that the Nokia's Battery recall is worldwide and is not limited to India). Now why is that we in India don't see such product recalls often ? Is that our production system is super perfect and flawless, and hence anything "Made in India" is defectless ?
Nay, we all pretty well know the reason. In a country where 200 Million struggle everyday just to get one healthy square meal a day, who has the resources to check for the lead levels in the paint used in some high end toys, which will be bought only by the super rich ? (Only last week, Mattel Inc. the worldest largest toy seller recalled millions of toys manufactured by it for precisely this reason ).While the poverty and the lack of resources may a prime reason, I do believe there are quite a few other reasons as well for this lack of "Total recalls".
Primary among them is the "Chalta hai" (It is working so it is fine )attitude of our people. As long as the product is working and is serving it's purpose , we in India are "OK" with using the product(There are exceptions to this rule of course) even if the product for example is producing excess heat. The second and perhaps the more important reason is the "repair and use" economy on which Indian economy operates . So if a product is defective and is under the so called "warranty period", the dealer instead of outright replacing the product, will try and make the product somehow work by using his knowledge and experience and because of the first reason cited above, we readily accept the "repaired" product instead of the new one. Not many products in India have "Replacement Warranties" . Most are service warranties.
But given the flat world we are operating in whereby products are getting manufactured in the best place at the best price (Mattel's toys were produced in China), it is time we consumers in India also start demanding replacement warranties . This will not only help the Indian consumers , but will also induce better quality control among the suppliers who are located in India and source out products to other parts of the world. Given the sensitive issue which outsourcing is (Mattel's recall of toys is already seeing anti-outsourcing lobby raising it's ugly head again with a "I told you so" face ), I think we are better off learning the lessons from the Mattel and Nokia story to introduce better Quality processes and control. After all good (or better ) quality is something for which we all strive for in our daily lives !!
But only later did I realize that the queue was for the replacement of the defective Nokia Batteries for which Nokia issued a product Advisory/Recall Notice. If you are wondering what that means, then welcome to the world of recalls/advisories whereby a Manufacturer admits that the product or part sold is defective and offers to replace it(for free of course). This must have been the first instance in India where a company by itself is admitting to a defective product on a mass scale and is offering to replace it. (It is a different matter that the Nokia's Battery recall is worldwide and is not limited to India). Now why is that we in India don't see such product recalls often ? Is that our production system is super perfect and flawless, and hence anything "Made in India" is defectless ?
Nay, we all pretty well know the reason. In a country where 200 Million struggle everyday just to get one healthy square meal a day, who has the resources to check for the lead levels in the paint used in some high end toys, which will be bought only by the super rich ? (Only last week, Mattel Inc. the worldest largest toy seller recalled millions of toys manufactured by it for precisely this reason ).While the poverty and the lack of resources may a prime reason, I do believe there are quite a few other reasons as well for this lack of "Total recalls".
Primary among them is the "Chalta hai" (It is working so it is fine )attitude of our people. As long as the product is working and is serving it's purpose , we in India are "OK" with using the product(There are exceptions to this rule of course) even if the product for example is producing excess heat. The second and perhaps the more important reason is the "repair and use" economy on which Indian economy operates . So if a product is defective and is under the so called "warranty period", the dealer instead of outright replacing the product, will try and make the product somehow work by using his knowledge and experience and because of the first reason cited above, we readily accept the "repaired" product instead of the new one. Not many products in India have "Replacement Warranties" . Most are service warranties.
But given the flat world we are operating in whereby products are getting manufactured in the best place at the best price (Mattel's toys were produced in China), it is time we consumers in India also start demanding replacement warranties . This will not only help the Indian consumers , but will also induce better quality control among the suppliers who are located in India and source out products to other parts of the world. Given the sensitive issue which outsourcing is (Mattel's recall of toys is already seeing anti-outsourcing lobby raising it's ugly head again with a "I told you so" face ), I think we are better off learning the lessons from the Mattel and Nokia story to introduce better Quality processes and control. After all good (or better ) quality is something for which we all strive for in our daily lives !!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
First Impressions:CHAK DE INDIA ! rocks
Imagine you are at a Cinema hall. You watch the movie and the movie has a happy ending. At the end like in any movie, you have the names/credits scrolling out on the screen. In the typical Movie halls of India, as soon as the names start scrolling, people get up from the seats and start to walk out. But when you see that every single person in the audience has not moved an inch till the very end to watch the names/credits, you should know what impact the movie has had on the audience.
This is what precisely happened when I went to watch Shimit Amin's Chak De India, a beautifully crafted movie on an underdog Indian Women's Hockey Team going on to win the Hockey World Cup. The narration of the story was so gripping that it left the audience asking for more in the end. Hats off to Shimit Amin and Jaideep Sahni (the story, screenplay and dialogues are penned by him) for giving Hockey it's long due credit in a country where it is purported to be the national Game, but is hardly followed or played by anyone. (In fact ask any of the school going kids what India's National sports is, the inevitable slip of the tongue answer would be Cricket).
Shimit with the help of a power packed performance by Shahrukh Khan ( as a disgraced Indian Hockey Player , who takes up the challenge of Coaching the Women's Hockey Team to regain his lost pride), has packed the movie with the required patriotism, used the Male-Female chauvinism to his advantage and has brought out a movie which for sure will go down in the Indian movie history as a landmark film. (Apprently the movie is based on Mir Ranjan Negi, a real life Hockey player who coached Women's Hockey team which won the Commonwealth Gold medal in 2002 ). If Lagaan set the tempo for sports based movies in India, Chak De India takes it to the next level. So intense was the movie that the audience in the later half of the movie cheered to every goal which the hockey players hit on their way to winning the "Women's Hockey World cup".
But the real stars of the movie ought to be the small time actors and some real players who formed a part of the 16 member hockey team. Some of them really trained themselves for the Hockey game scenes and the training showed in the actual movie scenes. Also Shimit's filming of the hockey matches needs a special mention as it is very difficult to bring in the intensity into games which were actually not played in the first place !! . Some of the matches in the movie appeared so very real and seems like the production team has spent a lot of time and fortune to film these game scenes.
All in all , must watch movie for all our Cricket obsessed Indians. Shimit craftfully has even taken digs at Cricket in the movie and it makes the movie even more enjoyable especially for non-Cricket fans like me :). So go watch the movie for an entertaining and intense 2 hours !!. And I sincerely hope we Indians move out of the Cricket obsessiveness and take more interest in other games. (Or will it require another movie on say Football or basketball for this to happen ?).
This is what precisely happened when I went to watch Shimit Amin's Chak De India, a beautifully crafted movie on an underdog Indian Women's Hockey Team going on to win the Hockey World Cup. The narration of the story was so gripping that it left the audience asking for more in the end. Hats off to Shimit Amin and Jaideep Sahni (the story, screenplay and dialogues are penned by him) for giving Hockey it's long due credit in a country where it is purported to be the national Game, but is hardly followed or played by anyone. (In fact ask any of the school going kids what India's National sports is, the inevitable slip of the tongue answer would be Cricket).
Shimit with the help of a power packed performance by Shahrukh Khan ( as a disgraced Indian Hockey Player , who takes up the challenge of Coaching the Women's Hockey Team to regain his lost pride), has packed the movie with the required patriotism, used the Male-Female chauvinism to his advantage and has brought out a movie which for sure will go down in the Indian movie history as a landmark film. (Apprently the movie is based on Mir Ranjan Negi, a real life Hockey player who coached Women's Hockey team which won the Commonwealth Gold medal in 2002 ). If Lagaan set the tempo for sports based movies in India, Chak De India takes it to the next level. So intense was the movie that the audience in the later half of the movie cheered to every goal which the hockey players hit on their way to winning the "Women's Hockey World cup".
But the real stars of the movie ought to be the small time actors and some real players who formed a part of the 16 member hockey team. Some of them really trained themselves for the Hockey game scenes and the training showed in the actual movie scenes. Also Shimit's filming of the hockey matches needs a special mention as it is very difficult to bring in the intensity into games which were actually not played in the first place !! . Some of the matches in the movie appeared so very real and seems like the production team has spent a lot of time and fortune to film these game scenes.
All in all , must watch movie for all our Cricket obsessed Indians. Shimit craftfully has even taken digs at Cricket in the movie and it makes the movie even more enjoyable especially for non-Cricket fans like me :). So go watch the movie for an entertaining and intense 2 hours !!. And I sincerely hope we Indians move out of the Cricket obsessiveness and take more interest in other games. (Or will it require another movie on say Football or basketball for this to happen ?).
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Two more days !!
Yes!! The D-day has finally arrived. Exactly 48 hrs later, I will be joining the Unemployed Inc. after having spent the last 4 year and 10 months of my life working for my boss, my company and my projects and of course the perennially insufficient monthly salary.Gosh !! it seems like yesterday when I passed out of my Engineering College and desperately wanted to join the workforce. The only thing I wanted in those years was "the job". But the 58 months of work have finally gotten on me and for the next one year , I thankfully will not being waking up in the morning thinking of my boss, my company and my clients.
So what will I be doing for the next one year ? Well I intend to take the time off to complete my MBA in Boston and also find time to get to some more interesting aspects of life. So my Formal trouser, shirt,leather shoes, tie, laptop leather bag etc will now tucked away in some corner of my wardrobe. And out comes my T-shirts, Jeans , sneakers and the good old backpack.I just can't wait to get back to my student days again. The fun we had hanging out with friends in the college canteen, the movies we enjoyed together, the fun we made of our professors .
Of course, the MBA being a Post graduate degree which requires substantial years of work experience, the crowd will be much more matured, but again that is what will make things more fun.Also the fact that the students of my MBA batch are all from different countries will make this one year even more interesting. We are going to have students from China to Brazil to Latvia to Russia to India in our class. The cultural mela will be amazing. Can't wait for the day I will be landing in Boston !!
So what will I be doing for the next one year ? Well I intend to take the time off to complete my MBA in Boston and also find time to get to some more interesting aspects of life. So my Formal trouser, shirt,leather shoes, tie, laptop leather bag etc will now tucked away in some corner of my wardrobe. And out comes my T-shirts, Jeans , sneakers and the good old backpack.I just can't wait to get back to my student days again. The fun we had hanging out with friends in the college canteen, the movies we enjoyed together, the fun we made of our professors .
Of course, the MBA being a Post graduate degree which requires substantial years of work experience, the crowd will be much more matured, but again that is what will make things more fun.Also the fact that the students of my MBA batch are all from different countries will make this one year even more interesting. We are going to have students from China to Brazil to Latvia to Russia to India in our class. The cultural mela will be amazing. Can't wait for the day I will be landing in Boston !!
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