Unintended consequences of the good kind

A week back or so, me and family took a short vacation, a short idyllic trip, south of Mysore. My youngest daughter fell sick with some temperature, but my wife was prepared with paracetemol syrup for the trip. We were not planning too many activities. The wild life safari we wanted to go to, got cancelled - that was probably the only loss. Since the Kabini reservoir area, where we went is quite remote from suburbia, and a sister of my close friend was a practicing doctor nearby, I took it as an opportunity to visit her and take my little one to get a medical-professional-opinion, just in case. It was nice to see her after many-many years. Last time I saw Padmaja (my friend's sister), I think she was getting married - 15 years back or so. She prescribed some anti-biotics, my daughter got some rest sleeping in her house for a few hours. Though it was an unplanned stop, I wanted to see for myself the good work Padmaja, her husband Balu, and her colleagues were part of - the SVYM (Sri Vivekananda Youth Movement). My elder daughter was a bit grumpy about the detour - precious family vacation time was getting wasted because of this detour and stop. She was not getting to do much, sitting and listening to adult conversation, which from her context didn't make any sense, and was least entertaining.
After a week, I have been thinking - did I get the full ROI on my trip - the rates of resort stay, hotel stay in Mysore, was quite expensive. We drove all the way close to 250 kms one way and back. When I came back to Bangalore, the car wouldn't start (battery problems), another impending expense - added to it, my daughter fell sick ! So was the trip really worth it ?
You and I both know that a trip/journey's merit cannot be measured by the things you did, the total 'pleasure' factor you derived, the number of photos you clicked. I think it is mostly the after effects of the journey/trip - that warm/fuzzy intangible after-journey-thing is the objective rather than the destination itself.
In this trip itself, I discovered two more such warm/fuzzy stories - unintended consequences of the good kind.
The SVYM (http://www.svym.net/) was started by a bunch of medical professionals, who wanted to make a difference in rural India, many a years back. Their collective work, sacrifices is quite commendable. However, in the process of enhancing rural medical health, the setup has branched out into many unintended spheres of rural life - education, social engineering, rural economy etc. Apart from Primary Health Care centers, SVYM also runs schools, funds road building projects, brings accountability to rural governance using RTI etc. All-in-all, I feel it is a great story when a few good people with honorable intentions commit their education, energies, life to a specific noble cause (rural health in this case), resulting in many other good things.
The other story is that of Kabini reservoir itself. I remember when I was a kid and my father had an acquaintance who owned a Coorg Coffee plantation. My father being a high school teacher had taken the task of giving extra coaching to his son - Bopanna, who was academically challenged. My dad, had his own principles in his life and wasn't too keen on minting money out of education as a profession. Though the trend of education-as-business with tuition centers, coaching outside school had already started three decades back, it was not as ugly as these days. My dad wasn't able to make our family financially stronger because of his principles perhaps. Side story apart, Bopanna's father offered our family a trip to his coffee plantation near Nagarahole forest reserve as a thanks giving gesture to my dad's efforts with his son. I recall seeing hoards of elephants, bisons in that trip. Also, I remember being told that forest was getting reduced with rapid agriculture, many people getting displaced due to irrigation projects, animals invading his coffee plantation because of lack of water, human activities etc... I was too young to comprehend and understand all that - then.

But looking back, I think life has come a full cycle - the very irrigation project Bopanna's father probably referred to - Kabini which was commissioned in 1974, has become a life sustaining force for both Bandipur and Nagarhole wild life reserves. Because of the Kabini dam, there is huge artificial lake created which provides water to both the forests and the wild life in it. I don't think when Kabini dam was envisaged, the wild life angle was thought about. A highly disruptive, eco-disturbing activity of 1970's with the good intention of irrigation is paying dividends in the past few years in being able to sustain wild life.
The above is not to justify all engineering, mega-earth-moving projects which are ecologically disruptive. However, there is a silver lining to every well intentioned task, be it small, medium or big, when people start it with good intentions.
Of course, the road was not smooth - in the literal sense the ones I drove on as well as the one the SVYM folks have trudged for many years. But in the end, I think it is worth the trip.
As Deepak Chopra, the eternal optimist says, "When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities."

Quite sure you are having your own wonderful/adventurous journey of life as you read this blog. Never mind the bumps and grinds, take a few moments to enjoy the panorama. Cheers !

P.S: Link to the family photo album which chronicles the trip is below.

Mysore and Kabini Trip

We are a bunch of talk-a-lots

These days my thoughts and blogs are invariably about Bangalore traffic, road conditions. Guess one more blog on this subject doesn't matter.
Since the past few years, I have been driving my car all around South Bangalore. Many including Ani(my wife) and my in-laws have complained/complimented that I have been totally Bangalored in terms of my driving skills. I do take some pride in being able to manouver my Tata Indigo Marina in the narrow confines of Tyagarajanagar, N. R. Colony, Hanumanthnagar - come sun, rain, cow, the odd water tank from opposite side, auto, car or even dug up drains under repair, in my way. I thought I had reached total driving proficiency and, myself as a pretty cool driver until I lost it yesterday.
There are umpteen storm water drains being repaired (in preparation of the coming Corporation elections I presume). I knew the bylanes I was using yesterday quite well. Also, on that road all the repair work was complete, so I confidently made a turn in one of the lanes(less than 5 kms per hour). There was a big jarring sound - immediately I knew my car had brushed against a rock. Stopped my car and found that my car was stuck between a rock and a hard place ! A big rock slab had been left in the edge of the road and it was wedged right underneath my car - tyre to tyre. There was a leak from the front wheel section and though the engine was still running, there was no doubt that a major damage was impending my wallet.
Soon good samaritans from Tyagarajanagar gathered around. Samaritan #1 said, "Sir, diesel is leaking, your car will not even start". I didn't reply to this self proclaimed Auto expert, since I knew my car would start and engine was OK. Samaritan #2 said, "Saar, your car is the fourth car suffering this fate in the past two days". I silently thought - "so kind of letting me know, by the by, what are you doing after so many accidents dummy!" Samaritan #3 coming from the other side on a bike stopped and enquired "Is this car yours? Why didn't you see the rock?". Again I remained silent as I thought "Yes sir, I'll immediately buy the latest gadgets to install floor level cameras and articificial intelligence upgrades to my Tata Car". Samaritan #4 was much better, he happened to be a neighbor of my father in law. He asked me if I needed any help - much better. Samaritan #5 guided me to a neighboring road where drain work was still in progress to go and complain. I knew nothing much was going to happen by complaining, but that was a good suggestion to get some help to get my car unstuck.

With my father-in-law by the side (who had joined after a desperate call to him), we went in search of the BBMP appointed, contractor hired workers who or whose brethern had done this piece of art work. Luckily, they were just a few roads down. When asked to come and help - again various reasons - "Saar, navalla madiddu (we didn't do that road work)", "Writer barabeku (Contractor appointed gang lead has to come)", "Corporation officenalli complain maadi". That is when I completely lost it... To my father-in-law's horror, I started a immediate dharana making them stop work completely and not allowing them to do any more work. What infuriated was the fact that none of them even tried to come take a look and try resolve the situation.
Actually, many of them were quite relieved and stopped work and welcomed their break by unravelling beedies from their pockets.
After 15-30 minutes of my dharana, one of the old guys in the gang relented and agreed to accompany me to where the car had got stuck.
We came to the spot, the old man used his crowbar to nudge the rock to the pavement (which could have been done much before the four cars prior to me were damaged) and my car was free !! The leak was with the power steering fluid. My car did indeed start, steering was not a comfortable thing - but was able to drive it to my trusted Tata mechanic who incidentally is in Tyagarajanagar. Total damage - 4,500 Rupees.
I'm still thinking, we are all a bunch of talk-a-lots. Whenever there is a road accident, we (a generalization of Indian males) derive vicarious pleasure by analysing things, give unsolicited expert advice, blame the Govt. and sundry, blame karma, express lip sympathy but do very little actionable. In this experience, only the old man from the worker gang of 20 was the exception. He had the good sense of not just being sympathetic, but also had the maturity to come take a look and help - instead of just being defensive and be a talk-a-lot.
Ironically, I'm planning to become a "Technical Analyst" starting Monday at Thomson Reuters - guess I could do my job by doing just what most did - talk-a-lot without personally doing nothing about problems, issues and not really resolving anything.
Also, you can call me blog-a-lot !
cheers,
Dheera.

Oh Engineer ! Where Art thou ?

The other day, when I was driving to BIAL on NH-7 to pick my sister and her family, a few kilometers from Devenhalli, I had a near miss (Near hit rather). On the 3 lane road, there was a truck on the middle lane and there was another motor cycle going on the right most lane, both well below speed limits. I put on my indicator and shifted to the left most lane and over took the truck. As soon as I crossed the truck, to my horror I saw the motor cycle cutting right across the lanes and directly coming towards me in the opposite direction. I swerved to the shoulder braking with all my might - the car fish tailed and finally came to a stop missing the metal support girders on the left. Of course, the motor cyclist and his pillion rider survived without a scratch and as I stopped and got out the car, mouthing expletives (I only know a few in kannada and they are outdated I guess) , I found both of them grinning ... and casually continue to drive on the shoulder opposite to the traffic flow away from me.

One thing in India is certain, the common man has absolutely no respect for traffic rules, safety norms and common sense to survive on highways. Every other driver on the highway has graduated from cycle to motor cycle to auto rickshaw to car to truck. Including the traffic cops and the contractor who paints the roads, and install road signs, not many know the difference between a broken white line v/s a solid white line v/s a solid double line v/s a yellow line on roads. Example to point, a few years back, when I was in MN met an YADE (Yet-Another-Desi-Engineer) who had come very recently to the US. He was of course driving a car in India and using his IDP had managed to rent a car. He was a good driver no doubt. While we were conversing about projects, India/US, groceries, culture and other things at lunch in the cafeteria, he asked me why Americans were so stupid and left entire lane free while crowding on center of highways. He had a entire lane all by himself on I-94, which he had used to drive from his accomodation to work. The place where he stayed was only a few miles from work though. On probing further, I understood that he had driven on the shoulder part of Interstate of I-94 for a few miles !!! So, for many of us, even the concept of "shoulder" on a road is quite alien.

Well, if basic knowledge of traffic rules, norms is as above with Engineers (including yours truly), guess the fate of average citizens and the farmer who has to drive his tractor across NH-7 to deliver his farm produce.. There are many many accidents just waiting to happen.

There are numerous other examples(big and small) right in front of our collective eyes, which illustrates the utter lack of "traffic sense" in our collective brains. For example :

• No left turn sign which sometimes says "No Free left turn" when you read the fine print.


• Traffic lights which are more like disco lights randomly switching from red to yellow to green on some of the city main roads.


• A no entry sign with arrows in both directions one with a strike off with red cross band. Unless I stop the car and study the sign for a few seconds, it is difficult to comprehend which direction the traffic is allowed and not allowed.


• Humps which suddenly appear on the road and disappear with no clear markings.


• multiple lanes converging suddenly and at least finding twice the number of lanes of vehicles at all traffic stops than actually marked on the road.


• Traffic rules - stop and go having a chance of being followed only when a police constable is manning the intersection.

The list is endless and could go on and on. The point is, yes we have a huge problem. I think the cause is probably because we don't have a good system to develop standards, implement them and enforce the same. As an Engineer, I find the "development" part the primary cause rather than the implementation and enforcement. Some time back, Jack Welch, former CEO, GE, responded thus to an Indian correspondent when questioned "what do you find amazing about India?". It amazed him how Engineers in India were able to build such a complicated thing as software but failed to build something simple as a road. I probably don't have his exact words, but his words are really profound.

So, as I ponder about my survival after the incident on NH-7, as an Engineer from KARENG 574157 days, what is it that I have done or not done since then to help the situation. One thing that didn't definitely help is my branch change from Civil Engineering. If I remained in Civil, I think I could have contributed in somewhat better way apart from making tonnes of money in Bangalore's booming real estate market. Also, I think about most of my brethren who have become CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, directors, bankers, professors, builders and some home makers - All noble and well rewarding life/careers, but what they could do to help issues like above(including yours truly).

To solve a basic infrastructure issue like traffic, Oh Engineer ! Where art thou ?

And next time you drive on a highway (or what appears to be one), please wear your seat belts.

Kis? Kisko Voting karoon?

Yet another election is coming, there are some - same 'old' faces trying to come to power, there are some new faces too. But who should I vote? Vote for the best party from which I want a PM? Vote for the party/coalition which can give a stable government for 5 years? Vote for the best candidate? Or should I just go and exercise my right with 49-0 rule? kya karoon?
As I discuss with friends and talk about voting for the best candidate available, say Captain Gopinath who is contesting as an independent, the common refrain is "but then he is not going to win". I ask myself, if I vote for someone, he doesn't win, is it going to be a personal loss? On the contrary, if I vote for Mr. X and he does win, he is definitely not going to come and personally thank me or do me a personal favor. In the ideal sense, when you vote, the democracy/system has already won. Anyway, there should be no personal gain/loss when the candidate you vote wins or loses. Yes, in practice, personal favors like booze, money, clothes form an essential part of electioneering strategy - but if you agree with that strategy, you wouldn't be reading this blog, I wouldn't be writing it.
So either way, how does it matter? Or even if I don't vote, does it matter?
Following are my thoughts in exercising one's choice. The last option being the best in my opinion.

• Worst thing to do is not to vote. Whether I like it or not, I'm part of this system and this is my only chance to make a difference, in whatever insignificant manner - to elect those representatives who are part of the leadership team. If I don't vote, it is like not being part of the HR review, when asked to fill the annual feedback form, in a big IT company and deciding to keep quiet and not fill the form at all, because it is just a statistical survey and nothing significant will happen just because of an individual response. In both cases, doing nothing is probably the worst thing, more so in terms of the elections.
• Once you have a voter ID and are part of the electoral rolls - it would have taken some effort on your part to come to this stage in this process, it is probably better to complete the process by exercising your fundamental right. But then, there is the much talked individual right to exercise the rule 49-0 on election day. Briefly speaking, on election day, you walk to the assigned election booth, identify yourself on the list with the election officer, ask him to give a form where you would indicate that you prefer to vote for none of the candidates. Since you have been identified, by the election officer and your name has been marked, no one else can vote instead of you and misuse your right. That, you have decided not to vote for anyone ("No one deserves my vote"), is probably a big ego kick for yourself. If and when people do this in significant numbers, in multiple cities, there is probably an impact in the distant future. I consider this more of a negative tactic, but at least it is within the purview of the system/process. There are some blogs/opinion that this tactic if employed by majority (over 50% of the electorate), there will be a re-election and the candidates will be disqualified in the next re-election. I haven't found a reliable constitution source to confirm that - so it is probably just a "theory". Yes, if this tactic is employed by a community as a form of protest, it could have some impact. As compared to yester years when 500, 1000 citizens used to stand for elections to make a point/protest, resulting a ballot paper the size of a news paper, this idea of 49-0 is a much more sensible, less expensive option to voice protests.
• Next comes the option of voting for a party. One could think of who could make the best PM, which party/coalition could give the most stable government and vote for that candidate representing that party/coalition. Every party has its own hidden agenda. There is definitely money and muscle power with every party appointed nominee. Though it is not a wrong thing to vote for a party candidate, think the alternative. Irrespective of the candidate's credentials whether he/she has a criminal background, has a fair bit of education or not, without checking his antecedents, would you blindly vote for him/her just because of the party? Probably not. What if you have a situation where you want a party you desperately want to win has nominated a candidate in your constituency who has a reprehensible character? Would you still vote for him/her. It used to be said some years back "Even a donkey standing for an election in this City from Congress party will win". I think the Indian population has matured much beyond that kind of thinking and as an individual, we need to grow beyond voting for a party be it Congress/BJP or third or fourth fronts, without considering the candidate. On the contrary, if there was an extremly qualified candidate, extremly likable candidate with exactly the kind of values you represent being put up by a political party you abhor. Would you vote for him? Probably this is more palatable, but you would think lot harder than the other alternative (Great party, lousy candidate).
• So, the final option is "Vote for the best candidate". Again, should one vote for the best candidate from amongst national/local parties or should one consider independents as well? I think the best option is to Vote for the best candidate including independents. In my ideal system, there would be different sets of people, each set of people belonging to a party or independents with their idealogy, values, principles - there would be internal selection process (like the primaries in the United States) and most likely winnable candidate from these sets would contest the elections. Unfortunately our system does not run like that. People muscle their way to the top either through money or defection or just using there geneology or parentage and some how seek party nominations. It is high time, parties themselves thought about internal 'democracy' before being part of a democratic setup as a government. The only way for me as a citizen to force parties to think in this manner is to "Vote for the best candidate", even if he/she happens to be a losing one. These days the margins of winning are so low that eventually parties will wake up to this reality that when they lose elections, it is because they didn't have the right candidate in the first place. The criteria for the "best candidate" is your own - for example, education, history, social committment, oratory skills, economic background, economic status, political leanings etc. You be the judge of definining those metric standards, you be the judge of scoring all available candidates against those common metrics and as per your judgement/criteria/evaluation, select your best candidate.

In many consitutencies, the choice of available "good" candidates is so poor that one probably could use the elimination rule to discount candidates you would NOT want to vote and narrow it down to very few. Occasionally, there happens to be a constitutency, like this election of 2009 for Bangalore South, where there are "fairly" good number of candidates. BJP's Ananth Kumar, Congress Krishna Byre gowda, JD(S) - Prof Radhakrishna, Independent Capt. Gopinath. There are few more, but the above is my personal favorites, "my short list". Guess, if during every election, if every constituency had a relatively "good but tough" list of candidates to pick from, like the present Bangalore South, our country would have a much better leadership team and that would be true victory for Democracy. To sort and pick from such a tough list(or a constrained list), we could use a Candidate evaluation matrix to select the best candidate based on our individual values and corresponding candidate scores.

By the way, have you checked and compared, what exactly is the function of a state representing MLA or your representative MP at the national level? How would you measure his/her performance in that function? You will be surprized to know that their primary function is not to do mundane things like building roads, inaugurating fly overs or dispersing loans. It is the ability to think and contribute at a macro level. A national MP should have a more macro level thinking and execution capabilities as compared to a state level MLA compared to a corporator. I got the above 'gyan' when I interacted with Krishna Byregowda, the present Bangalore South Congress candidate, when I got an opportunity to meet and discuss with him in my friend's house while in Minnesota in a very private setting. He also shared his helplessness while dealing with his constituents when they rush to him asking favors and explained the impracticality of sticking to principles in politics. So, do consider the previous performances, current qualifications and your metric standards for a given role and other relevant factors(including the party they come from), while deciding the best candidate. If he/she happens to be from a political party, so be it. By the way, my current evaluation for Bangalore south based on the evaluation matrix gave some results that surprized even myself. Although Krishna Byregowda is the only candidate I know at close quarters, Capt. Gopinath seems to pip him at the post (as per my criteria and current evaluation). But then, I could still go and vote for Mr. Vatal Nagaraj of Kannada Paksha on election day - couldn't I?

After all, our democracy is "by the people, for the people, from the people". It is definitely not "by the party, for the party, from the party". Happy voting !

Bubba, Fee hike cometh, Whatcha gonna do?

Small family, two young children, have a decent job, have purchased a house/apartment with hard earned money/savings. Want children to get the best education possible, find quite a decent school nearby affiliated with ICSE. Infrastructure seems better than average school. Teachers seem quite pleasant. School boasts of a great curriculum, fantastic teacher student ratio, lots of focus on sports and extra curricular programs. The annual fee and admission fee seems a bit high than expected - but hey, it is for the good bringing of your children. You and spouse discuss, decide to cut on some expenses and think this is the best option for your child.
Story seems familiar? Well if you are a parent of young child(ren) like me, the above is pretty much same for every middle class parent, anywhere in urban India. So far so good, read further and see if there are more similarities.

A year or two goes by. The swimming pool the School had promised isn't constructed - Big deal, you didn't anyway expect your child to become the national champion in swimming... The fee has increased by 12% the first year, 18% the next year.. Your child has learnt a fantastic vocabulary of English words, you have got a few increments, become a manager and have chances of becoming senior manager in few years. You can now afford a small size car.. Yes, school fees have increased, so has your annual package - so who cares? The teachers are mostly good in this School. Some smile at you, some avoid looking at you. Some mothers grumble that uniforms stitched are of poor quality. Shoe soles are ripping off after a few months (BTW you have to purchase uniform, shoes, books etc. from the School only, no other choice). Big deal - it minimized your work of going around. Again it costed a few extra bucks but hey, it was very convenient wasn't it - for the School to be a one stop shop ? If some parents are grumbling about a few bad apples (rude teachers), tough luck. Quality is not guaranteed anywhere. Even in your own IT company, there are few bad apples. Some parents complain saying management is not responsive they are trying to collectively approach the principal/management on issues but School avoids mass confrontation/discussion. Prinicipal talks to parents only on one-to-one basis. He/She says bring the issue to me with your child/teacher, I'll address. You adjust, avoid the bad ones and move one ... that is life - just stay out of trouble. All this talk of parent association is really not required. As long as you can talk to the principal, as long as teachers are nice to you, as long as your child is getting reasonably good grades and learning new words, sentences, everything is hunky-dory-peachy.

Then one day, something happens to the whole world - "Recession" ! Actually the storm clouds were gathering for quite some time. You just thought you were protected and wouldn't be affected.

Your company is laying off people left and right. You can kiss the bonus/increment you were counting on for an upgrade to a mid-size/big-size car bye bye. In fact, you might be asked to take a pay cut. You had made a down payment for a second apartment/plot thinking it was a nice investment by taking an additional loan - now you aren't really sure.
By the by, the School just announced its revised fee structure for the next year. Your two children's fee has gone up by 36% - each. You and fellow parents are furious - you try to talk to the management/principal/sundry about how unjustified this fee hike is. The management says "Owing to the increase in cost of operation, teachers' salaries and facilities planned for the future, this fee hike is unavoidable. The management has thought about the fee hike and its decision is final. If this is not acceptable, you can take the Transfer certificate for your child in the next week".

Bubba, welcome to a sudden nightmare amidst your sweet dreams about being a good, providing parent. Now scratch your head and ponder on the following..

• What are the parental rights when you send your children to a private school.
  
• The private school your child goes is managed by a "trust". Who trusts what? Does that mean the Govt. completely trusts this management and they are outside the purview of taxation, general accounting principles etc. Where does all the money go?
  
• Do you have any right to information in terms of its accountability, transparency and committments of the school management/administration.
  
• Can the school be treated as any other commercial organization and you being an indirect consumer of the services offered, challenge the school management in consumer court?
  
• The school has never given you anything in writing about what they had promised during your interview/feedback sessions. What are your options?
  
• The school management actually has powerful political/media backing. So what are you going to do?
  
• Taking out your children from this school and putting in another is really not an option. Because the same story is going to repeat again in another school too. You will have to again pay admission fee (donation) plus annual fee. Mostly all schools have big political/media/public persona behind the scene. Who knows this school might be far better than the one you are seeking next.
  
• Is this just a hyper-reaction. Justify/rationalize school fee hike as a manifestation of "free market economy" and be satisfied that nothing is wrong. After all, you are paying as per market rates. If you don't like it at the rate offered, don't buy it (but then what is the alternative? Govt./Aided Schools? ).
  
• Just "Shut up and pay?" (think of the Shilpa Shetty's act at the beginning of Dostana, just make up new lyrics and sing along and move on).
  
• Try make this an election issue and get your friendly neighborhood politician to help you out of this conundrum (and that hope he doesn't indirectly own or have a stake in the school).
  

Bubba (or bubby), what are you going to do?