What a Summer !

I was visiting Chennai last week.

From an average of 34 deg C in Mumbai, the increase was to the extent of some 8 deg C in Chennai ! While I am not a newcomer to Chennai, it was made clear to me (by my relatives and friends) that I had landed in what was the “Agni” week of the Chennai Summer. “Agni” means fire !

The simmering heat during the peak sun was barely bearable, but the worst thing was that the electricity board cut off the power supply to residential premises for some two hours every day – different parts of the city have the power cut at different times of the day. In my house, it was from 2 PM to 4 PM. In some areas, it was from 8 to 10 AM and in most other areas, it was from 10 AM to 12 Noon. You can imagine the torture when you are at home or office and the air conditioner stops working !

I noticed that most residential premises have invested in a unique contraption – the “inverter”, which provides electricity during the power cut for a duration of 2 to 4 hours (depending on battery capacity and the number of rooms/lights/fans to be covered). The approximate cost of such a device is some INR 12,000 (USD 220) for addressing the needs of the living room and one bedroom (an approximate estimation only). So, in Chennai, a family has to invest in such devices, import water (as water supply is equally erratic) at high cost, pay for inflation in fruits and vegetables, pay one of the highest prices for petrol in the country, suffer the heat, and still sustain one of the highest real estate prices in the country !

This is not to complain – Chennai is far better organized than most metropolitan cities in India, has better quality roads, is in the process of completing the metro rail network, has a booming IT (Information Technology) economy now supplemented by a fast-emerging automotive industry, has a conscientious workforce, and is challenged with much less crime than other States of India. In devising its model for development of the State, the Tamil Nadu State comes only next to Gujarat. So, overall, the situation is good and should improve vastly if the State Government manages to fix the power situation and continues to provide incentives to the manufacturing and IT industries.

But, can we buy the weather ? Of course, not. The prudent thing is to ensure continuous power supply to both residential and industrial customers across the State.

Now, I am back in the 32 – 34 deg C Summer in Mumbai and surely, I did not feel the heat wave during the day though it was slightly uncomfortable if one is over-dressed !

Welcome to the Summer ! Enjoy it with cold buttermilk and fresh juices !!

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan

28th May 2012

Mumbai

Worsening Chennai

I spent the past couple of days in Chennai.

I was really surprised to see the rapid deterioration in the environment – high level of pollution, huge traffic jams, massive construction especially that of the metro railway system leading to big difficulties in commuting for the general public, lousy unfixed roads not dissimilar to what one sees in Mumbai with potholes and craters, et al.

What happened to the neater version of Chennai which people boasted about ?

It is no longer neat either – there were big dumps of waste in several places that I travelled to in Chennai metropolitan area. It was painful to see obstruction of traffic by vehicles parked indiscriminately in heavy traffic areas, and no action being taken against the offenders. I did see police confiscating motor bikes in the Panagal Park area in T.Nagar, but not in any other place in the city.

One positive thing I did notice is the ease in crossing certain congested areas via newly constructed flyovers. Even though these flyovers were quite narrow, having these was better than what was the situation before.

But I got a feeling that the city has got “poorer” in terms of the deterioration in the quality of life and environmental degradation all across the city. The indifferent attitude of people does not help, as most Chennai folks seem more interested in what is inside their houses, not really what is at their doorsteps.

But life goes on. There seems to be more people on the streets than ever, indicating an increase in the migrant population of the city. It is obvious that the city is becoming an economic magnet for the manufacturing sector and IT industry, and it is giving a good competition to Bangalore because of its supposedly good infrastructure.

It won’t be long for the corporates to discover the problems, unless the government moves fast to fix the long list of issues facing the citizens.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
24th December 2011
Mumbai

Beijing Experience

I went to Beijing after a five year gap.

What a tremendous build-up of infrastructure ! Amazing – when they (Communist Party/Government of PRC) set their mind on something, they go all out and achieve it. Most of the infrastructure was built for the 2008 Olympic Games.

But, somehow, I felt the place was impersonal in almost all aspects. There was no warmth or inviting allure as one can feel in, for example, Vienna or even Singapore.

It looked to me like the desolate place that Moscow was – I don’t know how it looks like these days though.

The traffic is still a bit chaotic in Beijing, not very unlike a Delhi or Bangkok for that matter. Cars kept cutting across the lanes, forcing drivers to brake hard. There were some rude looks exchanged, and there were traffic jams !

Well, with millions of people and cars, it is difficult to achieve world class status easily. Still some way to go.

Most people still struggle with their English. They prefer to be shown a piece of paper with the place name written out in Mandarin for giving directions. I keep reading that China is racing ahead in English language learning, but I did not see evidence.

The other thing I noticed was the confusion at the airport. Not very well organized. My flight was on the tarmac for 50 minutes waiting to take off. Not unlike Mumbai.

All in all, while the money has been poured, the heart is not functioning well I guess. Propaganda is required, Singapore style !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
22nd July 2010
Hong Kong Airport

Shopping at Sawgrass Mills

A colleague of mine and myself decided to drive to Sunrise, Florida, for some shopping as we arrived a day early at Palm Beach for a company event.

It was a real adventure of sorts. We drove some 40 miles on I-95, took what we thought was the right exit, and then got lost after driving another 20 miles ! Finally we found our way to Sawgrass Mills, which was our intended destination, strongly recommended by our hotel concierge.

Indeed it was a huge place. We just got tired walking all across and around the mall. And each major shop was so huge, in typical American style. We found a large number of shoppers, even though it was a Monday. And then realised that most people come for vacation to Florida, and they must be shopping !

This mall was what they call as an “outlet mall” in the U.S. – each major brand has a big presence and sells their stuff at deeply discounted prices. And the locations are way off downtown areas so it must cost them less to operate the place, I guess.

For $6.25, I had lunch at the Panda Express, a Chinese food stall at the massive food court. The portions were huge, and it was difficult to finish. My colleague could not find the right kind of food though – he kept experimenting with different types of food ! Well, everything was typical American size, so one has to be quite selective if one wishes something quite ordinary.

We did some shopping, but more walking. Each shop we entered was so huge, that we could cover only a portion of the store or immediately walk out to the next one of interest. I was surprised to note that electronics stores were not plentiful, a couple here and there, and most of the shops were clothing brands, or jewellery shops, or toy shops. In any case, it was an interesting place. I recommend shoes, suiting, clothing of all types, toys, DVDs/CDs, etc.,

The traffic was orderly and well regulated, except for the Sawgrass Expressway where we were confused whether to pay toll or not. While electronic displays were asking for toll to be paid, no car was paying so we did not pay, and followed others. There was no consequence, so we assumed that everyone was doing it right ! There was some signboard confusion when this Expressway ends and one needs to connect to I-95, but we managed. And similarly, when we exited I-95 towards our place, again there was some confusion on the road leading to downtown West Palm Beach. The one thing in America on the roads is that if you make a mistake it does take time to realise, and after you have realised your mistake, you can do nothing much except continuing straight ahead till you find a way back to the right road/exit. This happens in every trip, so I was not unduly bothered. We found the right way eventually.

As usual, it is a pleasure to shop in the U.S. One gets a bit of a mechanical service in stores, but that is the way they are – it is not going to be very personal, unless one is shopping for some expensive jewellery, I guess. Otherwise, you get what you want at relatively aggressive prices, compared to home !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
12th April 2010
Camp : West Palm Beach, FL

Goa’s Famous Beaches

If only Goa/India has the marketing mind of a Singapore, or Malaysia/Indonesia/Thailand, it would be one of the world’s best sea resort destinations.

Goa’s beaches are better than that of a Bali or Phuket, or Langkawi by miles. In fact, I was surprised to see pure white sand on the Colva Beach in South Goa. With its wonderful coast line of a couple of kilometres atleast (as far as I could see), Colva Beach is easily the best beach in Goa with less crowds and great looks, combined with less commercialisation of the beach. Actually, I believe Colva Beach alone is 20 Kms long !

Ofcourse North Goa is going to sneer at this remark. North Goa boasts of such world-class beaches such as Dona Paula, Calangute, Vagator, Anjuna and Baga. We saw all of these, and we were quite impressed with Baga and Calangute for sure. There were more tourists and heavy commercial activities in almost all of these beaches (except Vagator).

More crowd means more youngsters and more action ! But, we did not like the crowded beaches. Furthermore, there are no proper places to change after a swim in the sea. One has to depend on the poorly maintained “public” changing rooms of the Goa Tourism Department, which are crying for a better infrastructure and better facilities. There are so many well-heeled tourists out there in the beaches, I am surprised that the tourism folks haven’t felt the necessity for more and better quality facilities ! This is the same story everywhere in India wherein the administrators in charge do not, or refuse, to feel the pulse of the population or users.

So, finally our vote goes to Colva Beach, followed by Calangute Beach. The challenges of enjoying a good vacation in Goa are well known – Goa is pricier than a Bangkok or Phuket, so Indian tourists were moving away from Goa ; infrastructure and facilities are of a poorer quality and poorly maintained as compared to other world-class destinations mentioned here, problems posed by taxi unions especially in South Goa, no road signs for long stretches keeping the tourists guessing where they are going to arrive, highly commercialised beaches leading to pollution and unmanageable crowds, high prices everywhere, etc.,

Goa has to work harder to earn its rightful place in the world map. It may be there already based on past glory, but legacy influence is no longer adequate as the mix of tourists is changing from predominantly Western to more of Indian tourists, who have come to expect more value for money, more quality for any premium prices that they are forced to pay, more service for anything they shell out, and five-star quality that they can get abroad for roughly 70% of Goa prices !

All the best to Goa, nevertheless ! It is clearly one of the best beach destinations of the world. India and Goa Governments need to do more to preserve the beaches and enhance the infrastructure.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
13th June 2009
Mumbai

Royal Goan Beach Club at Royal Palms – RCI Resort

With that grand sounding name, a hotel guest would have expected a lot. Atleast a lot of palm-fringed beaches. And, resort style surroundings.

But what one gets is indifference at the entry point from the security guards who just stare at you, from the receptionist who does not seem to care about the milling crowd waiting to be registered, from the housekeeping who do not respond to requests for hours together, et al. It is difficult to list all the troubles with this resort, its only saving grace is the swimming pool.

But the worst trouble that a guest faces is when he arrives on his own transport, and when he leaves on his own pre-arranged transport. The taxi drivers’ union at the gate (and also at the gates of the other South Goa resorts such as Taj Exotica, Club Mahindra, etc.,) harasses the guests. The security guards and the bell captain’s boys seem to be cooperating with the taxi drivers rather than appropriately servicing the hotel guests. This is nothing short of ridiculous. The hotel management is apparently completely indifferent to the hassles their guests go through.

I had pre-arranged my car for the entire trip using my friend of all times – the “internet” ! Nice clean Innova car to ferry the family wherever we wish to. But when we arrived at the resort we were appalled. It was pouring rain, and the security guard at the gate refused permission to disembark in front of the gate, and help take our baggages inside. There were taxis parked right in front of the gate, allowing no elbow space for anyone. This is what you call the “free-wheeling but indifferent Goanese culture” which does not care about tourism and hotel guests. It is my guess that 50% of Goan economy is based on tourism. If there are no tourists, many small time businesses would collapse in no time. I was told by our driver that Goa has been facing problems in tourist arrivals after the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, and after couple of murders involving foreign tourists. No wonder ! Combine it with antagonistic taxi drivers and indifferent hotel managements, Goa should look forward to a booming tourist-driven economy !

We had problems everyday, as the taxi drivers heckled at each hotel guest walking out, and shouting at the top of their voice about the taxi services they offered. It used to bother me the first couple of days, but then I decided to completely ignore them. Many taxi operators block your way, and start speaking to you, but I completely ignored them and kept walking towards our pre-arranged taxi which was parked a full 50 metres away for fear of getting harassed by the taxi union members.

When we left the resort, the same problem recurred. The bell boys refused to carry the baggages to our car, stating that they can only take the baggage if the taxi is from the pool outside ! We carried our baggages outside the hotel, but the taxi drivers barred the way, which led to trouble. I continued walking, ignoring the shouts of the taxi drivers, and asking them to leave open the road for us to walk !

Is this not ridiculous ? We have stayed at the Ramada, and Park Hyatt before – we had no such problems. I can only conclude that RCI made a serious mistake in having this useless “Royal Goan Beach Club at Royal Palms” in its list of time-share resorts. This is the first time we stayed at a RCI Resort and it was totally lousy experience. May be we need to rethink about RCI itself. Club Mahindra resorts are much better, though I believe they have the same taxi union problem at their South Goa resort.

We enjoyed Goa itself when we went out to see the places and the beaches (separate blog post coming !), but did not like or enjoy this RCI Resort. May be the Goa Tourism Department of the Government of Goa should take heed of the tourist complaints like this, and take necessary clean-up action. One positive suggestion is for the taxi union to enter into a formal contract with each one of the resorts in South Goa, have the hotel publish the rates before the guests arrive, and give an option for them to choose. For example, we were very clear we wanted only a Toyota Innova air-conditioned SUV. The taxi union does not have such a car – they have mostly sedans and Maruti vans which we do not prefer. You cannot force your guests to take what you have, even if they do not prefer.

South Goa needs to learn more about how to treat tourists in a welcoming, non-threatening and non-abusive manner.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
13th June 2009
Mumbai

Back to Malad for an evening

I went back to Malad after almost couple of months.

Malad is an active, buzzing place. It is full of life, and ofcourse, full of lousy traffic. Roads were overflowing with vehicles on a Saturday evening. There was hardly any place to park the car even. The Inorbit Shopping Mall was full – I saw a little less shoppers in the departmental stores such as Lifestyle for instance. However, the food court was overflowing even at 6:30 PM ! The restaurants were doing good business, and the movie theatres in the Cineplex looked like doing some great business as well.

Indians love movies and food ! They were spending good money, and they are going to continue that spending forever. I went to the hair salon and it was full, but I was a little lucky to walk into an empty slot ! I went to buy some tie, and it was relatively quiet with just 2 or 3 other shoppers. I did not fail to notice that the salesperson was distracted when trying to sell ties. He was looking elsewhere, or winking at his colleagues. The retail salesmanship quotient does not exist to the extent it does in more developed countries. Focus on the Consumer ! I took things into my hand and ended up spending some decent money on a tie and a wrinkle-free shirt, with no sales consultation apart from asking for a shirt with an “open” French collar. I guess shoppers have to be knowledgeable very much on the Indian retail scene, otherwise they would be taken for a ride, or get annoyed by lack of attention on the part of the salesmen/women.

Well, I can only conclude that recession of any kind has not hit Indian shores yet. Stock market has rised by almost 50% in 8 months, yes Indian stock market (BSE Sensex) has crossed 11,000 and seems to be staying firm over that figure. Job losses seem to have stopped. Banks are under pressure from the RBI to lend. Elections are happening in an orderly manner, the biggest such election in the entire world with over 700M registered voters !

All good news for India !

Going back to where I started, Malad is still the happening place almost comparable to the Bandra suburb. If only they could do something to reduce the traffic……..

Have a good weekend folks !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
25th April 2009
Mumbai

Some More Pics…………from Dharamshala & McleodGanj

DSC08957, originally uploaded by padmavs.

Gorgeous View of the valley

DSC08942, originally uploaded by padmavs.

Another great view……..Camera is working

DSC08938, originally uploaded by padmavs.

The German Bakery at McLeodGanj – Good food but greasy pasta

DSC08927, originally uploaded by padmavs.

Diwali Decoration at the Kangra Valley Resort…….where we stayed

DSC08924, originally uploaded by padmavs.

Great work on the eve of the Diwali !

DSC08911, originally uploaded by padmavs.

Shiva Temple surroundings……

Hope you like these pics………could not continue the upload due to the limitation on the Flickr site, limiting the upload beyond 200 photos for a month !

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
6th Nov 2008
Mumbai

Some Pics from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh

I took a lot of digital photos, but I should confess that I am losing interest in the ability of pure click-n-shoot digital cameras. All the more so, after I saw some fabulous shoots of my erstwhile colleagues ET and DD recently. ET probably uses some advanced digital camera but I simply cannot believe the quality of her photos. DD has become a Digital SLR aficianado for the past couple of years – I have seen him with a Lumix and recently with a Canon. He steps out of his home with the SLR everytime, I guess.

Here are a few pics I took. More should follow soon, ofcourse. I missed taking the Dalai Lama when he was passing by, since I could not obviously wish him and take photo at the same time. And, his car was moving rather fast anyway.

Let us see below………Enjoy the pics and make it a point to visit the State of Himachal Pradesh at the foothills of the mighty Himalayas one day. It would be, I promise, a great holiday. With pure crisp mountain air and good clear water – to breathe and drink, respectively. Away from the polluting cities.

DSC08848, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

A Beautiful View of the Dhauladhar Mountain Range surrounding Dharamshala

DSC08851, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

In the Heavenly Clouds

DSC08854, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

A tree which grows at high altitudes, I guess…….

DSC08855, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

A Tibetan boy, playing with stones, at the edge of a cliff, near the Yoga Centre – nobody around him to take care……

DSC08870, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

Another short-range view of the mountains………

DSC08881, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

Microwave and Mobile Towers……everywhere in Dharamshala

DSC08895, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

A Tea Garden at Dharamshala, about a Km from the hotel resort where we were staying – We went on a “Tea Garden Trek” which took all of 2 hours !

Hope you liked the pics ! Have a wonderful week ahead !!

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
02 Nov 2008
Mumbai

Torturing Tourists, the Indian Way

No, I did not mean torturing “terrorists” here.

I mean, Tourists of the domestic variety, who have long been neglected by all parties.

Over the past couple of years, I have belonged to this variety of folks in India. Due to the high levels of tolerance for poor environment, road conditions, facilities, and the like, the domestic tourists of even the upper middle class have gradually come to reduce their expectations, or rather, accept things as these are in practice. Rarely do they express their feelings, or able to counter criticism of the conditions by other people. The approach is – let us not worry about the journey itself, let us enjoy the destination – though the destination might as well be plagued by similar issues.

Let me amplify things a bit here with the specific example of our recent holiday to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. We flew to Chandigarh from Mumbai, which was all right. More about Chandigarh and its beautiful layout in a later post, should I say I was amazed ?

From Chandigarh, there are routes to many hill stations in the Himalayas, so it is a natural enroute destination. Chandigarh is a Union Territory and serves as capital city to both the states of Punjab and Haryana.

We had booked a Scorpio SUV to take us from Chandigarh Airport to Dharamshala, a distance of 235 Kms, which we were told could be covered in approximately 6 hours. That should not take more than 3 hours in most developed countries, but it is OK given the conditions in India.

We were mentally prepared for actually 7 hours ! But, what was very surprising is that in Punjab, one of the wealthiest states of India, the roads were not great. As bad or good as we have seen in many other states. The highway was broken off in several places, and diversions were commonplace. There was rash driving, which is an accepted fact now in India for us – only these drivers do not reduce speeds on broken patches of the road, leading to huge bumps. Anyone with a back problem had it for sure.

As we entered Himachal Pradesh, I expected the road conditions to be better. It was, initially. But did not take too long to deteriorate, especially on the mountain road. At many places, stones were strewn all over the road, and sandy patches of road replaced the tar road. Quite dangerous for normal drivers like us, but not for those driver demons. Not only they keep the speed to 60 KMPH at the minimum, they also do acrobatics, trying to overtake lorries and buses on what is essentially a 1.5 car width road ! Amazing, and very dangerous.

This drive kept me very awake, I was in the front seat and had the opportunity to closely monitor the traffic situation, road conditions, and drivers’ behaviour and idiosyncracies. Don’t think I want to do this again.

Around 2 hours worth of bad roads before we reached Dharamshala in 6 hours and 15 minutes.

I thought that atleast the roads in Dharamshala would be good. Not to be. I was told by one of the restaurateurs that all roads are getting relaid and should look great by next year. Let me see. I thought that the presence of the Tibetan Government in Exile atleast should have necessitated better quality of roads.

However, having said all this, Dharamshala, McLeodganj, and Palampur are some of the best places that we have seen. Strongly recommended. May be you can find some extra money to fly from New Delhi to Kangra Airport which is around 12 Kms from Dharamshala, thereby reducing major pain of driving. But one thing about driving in these places though – the scenery is simply great and you would miss all of that in a flight !

More to come soon……..

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
01 Nov 2008
Mumbai