Slumdog Millonaire

Having spent the first 25 years of my life in Mumbai, this was one movie that I was not going to miss. I wanted to see for myself why this movie was getting so much attention worldwide.

First thing that struck me is that it really takes an outsider to give you a brutally honest perspective of life in your own city. We are all so busy living our daily lives, that most of us never pause and have a real hard look at whats going on around us. Most of us who have lived in Mumbai for many years, have become numb to the poverty and depravation that we see all around us.

The first half of the movie had so much of the reality of Mumbai in terms of the dirt and squalor, I could not believe my eyes. It was absolutely shocking. It was like I was watching it for the first time, even though I had seen it so many times while travelling all over the city. The first thing that came to my mind is that this movie is really going to ruin India's image as an emerging economic superpower. I felt a sense of shame that we had some of the most brilliant minds in the country doing cutting edge technology work and solving complex problems all over the globe, while one of India's major metros is filled with so much crime, corruption, poverty and grief.

The movie is filled with optimism and hope admist a lot of pain and sadness. Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel) the leading character in the movie goes on to win a large sum of money by answering questions on the Indian version of "Who wants to be a millionaire?" based on experiences he has had in his life. The movie covers a lot of different emotions. Each question on the game show is intricately linked to the leading characters horrific life experiences, which help him to answer all the questions correctly. The movie has all the elements of classic Bollywood style film making while at the same time giving it a very strong outsiders perspective.

I loved the movie. I thought it was great direction by Danny Boyle, fantastic cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle. The entire cast has done a very good job of acting their part.

I hope that just like Danny Boyle had made this movie showcasing how the poor live in Mumbai, I hope he makes a movie that showcases the dreams and aspirations of the middle class and how they live in this same city which is known as the "Maximum city".

Singapore Food courts

One of the best things I like about Singapore is the variety of food available in every nook and corner. Since most of the families are made up of working couples, one of the big problems is to come back home after a tiring days work and then cook for the family. Singapore has solved this problem by setting up food courts in every neighborhood. A food court is made up of stalls setup by individuals or families who make a decent living by serving delicious food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each stall is normally dedicated to a particular type of cuisine. So in a food court you will find, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Thai and many other nationalities represented. The hygiene at most food courts is pretty good and they offer value for money meals. You will also find dedicated stalls for various kinds of beverages and desserts. So you can pick and choose what you want to eat or drink. I don’t think you will find so many varieties of food under one roof in many other countries.

The Apple Macbook

After listening to and reading lots of reviews about Apple Products on the Net, I finally decided to check out for myself, what is it that makes Apple report profits while most other companies worldwide are reporting huge losses and laying off people in the middle on this huge global recession.

So I got my first Mac book. Its the aluminum 13 inch one. Since I work in the Information Technology industry, I have always been interested in understanding how to make products and services intuitive and easy to use while hiding all the complexity in the background. And after using the Mac book for the first 2 weeks I have come to love Apple for the following:

1) Beautiful Design
2) Fast, Intuitive software and hardware
3) All the technological complexity is hidden from the User


I have also been using the Ipod for the past 5 years. One word describes it best. And that word is "Simplicity". I am definitely getting a feeling that by end of 2009, I am going to be a hardcore Apple fan. Maybe I already am one.

Any of you who are thinking of getting a new laptop, do check out the Macbook as one of the possible options. For people who are not very techno savvy, getting used to the Mac book may take 2 to 4 weeks. But I would definitely recommend investing this time in learning how the Mac works. It will be time well spent.

Cause of Human Unhappiness

All of human unhappiness comes from one single thing: not knowing how to remain at rest in a room. - Blaise Pascal

Key to Happiness - Marcus Aurelius

The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts. - Marcus Aurelius

The Greatest Investors: John Templeton

The Greatest Investors: John Templeton: "'Rejecting technical analysis as a method for investing, Templeton says, 'You must be a fundamentalist to be really successful in the market.'

'Invest at the point of maximum pessimism.'

'If you want to have a better performance than the crowd, you must do things differently from the crowd.'
'When asked about living and working in the Bahamas during his management of the Templeton Group, Templeton replied, 'I've found my results for investment clients were far better here than when I had my office in 30 Rockefeller Plaza. When you're in Manhattan, it's much more difficult to go opposite the crowd.'"

Courage under Fire

This is one of the best movies depicting the meaning of true leadership. Absolutely mind blowing performance by Denzel Washington. When you watch him on screen, you can feel the emotions that he is going through. Must watch movie for all would be leaders in any field. Its been quite a while since "Braveheart" that I saw a movie that depicted Leadership in such a powerful way.

P.S. I Love You

This is one of the most romantic movies I have seen in recent times. It touched me very deeply. This is the kind of movie that puts your life into perspective and pulls at your heart strings. For most of us we do not realize the importance of something till we loose it. We take many things in life for granted. And its more so when it comes to relationships. And it takes a very strong life altering experience to really make us understand what are the most important things in life.

I think along with Health and Wealth, it is very important to have people in your life with whom you can be yourself. With whom you can be totally honest and share anything and everything. For most people this person will be your spouse. For some it might be a best friend or relative. When you have such a person whom you can trust and who brings happiness to your life, make sure that you don't take it for granted. Do your bit to nurture and nourish that relationship and not waste too much time in fighting and arguing over petty things.

Life is too short and it goes by in the blink of an eye. We should make the most of it by investing our time wisely in realtionships which contribute to a happy life. And when we are ready to die, we should be able to confidently say that we have no regrets.

All the above thoughts were trigerred by the movie "P.S. I Love You" which I just saw. I would recommend this movie to all of you. Watch it once and let me know how it made you feel.

Random musings on Travel, Politics and Economics

I think after travelling a bit I have finally started understanding why it is important to travel the world while you are young. Since I work in the Information Technology industry I had the good fortune of visiting countries like USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Belgium, India.

Travel really is one of the best education a person can have. It is one of the best ways to have fun and learn at the same time. It gives you the oppurtunity to learn the best things that different cultures have to offer. It also gives you a good idea of why some countries offer a better quality of life to their citizens than others. Travel gives you the oppurtunity to see for yourself which Political, Economic and Business Models work well in practice and which ones look good on paper, but when it comes to implementation, fail miserably.

So I guess if you want to improve the quality of your own life and have ambitions of improving the quality of life for the citizens of your own country, make it a point to travel to some of the countries who have already done some good work in the areas where you want improvement.

I spent the first 20 years of my life in Mumbai, India where the biggest challenge was infrastructure and cleanliness. So when I travelled to the US I was very impressed by the Highways that connect the different States within the US from the East Coast to the West Coast. When I lived in Singapore, I was very impressed by the Public transportation system which connected all of Singapore using the Metro and Bus services.

I sometimes wonder, if we have some of the best brains in the world who are doing cutting edge work in various disciplines, why are we not able to improve conditions back in our home country. I personally feel that the political system has degraded drastically since independence and the rampant corruption has made it difficult for honest people to really make a difference. But on a positive note I also believe that the change in economic policy unleased in 1991 by Dr. Manmohan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao is finally beginning to make a difference. There are more oppurtunities for the next generation of young Indians to really compete in the Global markets and contribute not only to the Indian Economy but to the Global Economy.

I hope that by 2020 more and more Indians feel that India offers a quality of life that is better than or at least at par with some of the best countries in the world today.

Eccentricities

"Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you grow old, people won't think you are going ga-ga." - David Ogilvy

Brilliant Management Vs Bad Economics

"When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact." - Warren Buffet

Human Potential - Heny David Thoreau

"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring out what is within out into the world, miracles happen." - Henry David Thoreau

The Unreasonable Man - George Bernard Shaw

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Warren Buffet on Integrity

In evaluating people, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. If you don't have the first, the other two will kill you.

Source: The Warren Buffet Way

Love

Risk

Challenges

Success

Change

Attitude