Bangalore Rising

This is not exactly the way I would have loved to start my first post for the year. But this post was prompted by today's news that Bangalore much touted Namma Metro Rail project's Phase 1 Corridor rollout is about a year behind schedule ("will be operational by Sep 2015, promised Chief Minister Siddharamiah"), and burning ~Rs 2.5 crore additionally for every day of delay. And there is absolutely no accountability. BMRCL, the agency that is building and operating the rail project is let off, and there is no single government agency that has been tasked with oversight. I have always felt that India lacks project management skills. None of our projects - public or private, end up being completed on time, within costs, as per quality norms. We don't have processes, we don't have good caliber specialists, we don't have the honesty to accept our shortcomings, and we don't have the will to learn. This malaise is evident in every project across the ...

India seems to be in the midst of a crisis. The string of bad news is never ending. The rupee is falling faster than a wet easter egg slipping out of a four-year old's hands. Prices are galloping faster than Rajnikanth's steed. And worst of all? Sachin fell six dratted runs short of his century of centuries. Can it get any worse? Nope, it cant. In India, it can never be all doom and gloom. There are always reasons to cheer. Like when 1.2 billion Indians collectively responded to the midwife's call to 'push...push....push'. And push they did...till a brand new bachchan popped out of moma Rai! Dad..oops..Grandad Senior Bachchan was seen beaming ear to ear. Junior Bachchan was seen sulking somewhere in the shadows, mobile phone in hand, mumbling something to the effect "no idea surjee". The UPA government waited for Baby B to gain some four pounds before announcing the opening of doors to Walmart and the likes. What fun! Ms. Rai will soon get the benefit...

Our India move is now over three years old. And it has been one heckuva ride. And Bangalore is an awesome place to live. The weather is great. And …and..umm.. yes… .the weather is really awesome. To become a true-blue bangalorean (and I must confess, I am nowhere close), I had to unlearn and relearn a few things. But the experience is real fun. So I thought – why not pass on these experiences to future migrants? So here are some tips for would-be Bangaloreans. Since the learning is huge, I thought I should attack this topic in parts. Today’s topic is DRIVING. Driving in Bangalore is worry-free, and a real pleasure. Know why? Here are some reasons. 1. Drive wherever you want. You can drive up on the left side of the road just like the British did when they ran India. Or on the right side of the road, like the Americans do.. or like the water tankers now do. Or drive right in the middle if you are unsure. If you find traffic thick on your side of the road, just hop over to the othe...

Street Names Are Fun   Naming of streets has always invoked passions in India. For Bangaloreans though, Gandhi and Nehru are passé. Back in the 70s, when new suburbs were mushrooming, city planners decided on the grid structure, a la New York. So when time came to name those new streets, they left dead netas (and their road signs) secure in their graves and instead opted for the Main and Cross street system. That worked fine for a while till our elected officials decided that urban planners were a drain on the city coffers and dispensed with them.  After rotting away for a couple of decades, planners returned with a vengeance. By this time however, Bangalore had become an IT hub. And so street names went decimal. So we now have several 100 Feet, 80 Feet and 60 Feet Roads. Damn the fact that most of the feet on the road are those of pedestrians who lack a sidewalk. When I went over the weekend with a tape measure, I found that Indira Nagar 100 Feet Road should actually be calle...

The monitor in front of me spat out the time. "12:15 AM". A thousand thoughts whirred in my head as the jet tipped its wing to the left, then banked right, before swooping down to drop its wheels on the hard tarmac below. As the plane rapidly decelerated, the stewardess began the announcement she must have made a thousand times before. I paid no attention to the drone of her voice. I was lost in thought. Life had come a full circle in eighteen years. We were back where we began. India is home once again. Except that this time, it is Bangalore. A city none of us had ever lived in. And a place where we did not speak the local language. Bangalore has been a regular stop for me for several years. But a city responds to you a whole lot differently when you start living there. Thirty minutes into becoming a returning resident, I was reminded to dispel those romantic notions of living in India that I had childishly entertained. No sooner I entered our nice rented apartment, I emptie...