ExpertDabbler

My suggestion is, join a smaller one(tier 2 company) and stay there for sometime :) It’s only a matter of time before it gets acquired by a giant This holds true atleast in India.

Recent acquisitions:

Covansys acquired by CSC
Mphasis acquired by EDS
Kanbay acquired by Cap Gemini
I-flex is very much an Oracle company now.

Earlier i worked for Accurum which was in turn acquired by Kanbay

I read somewhere that Accenture is consciously staying away from M and A route. But I think it’s only a matter of time before they,along with IBM join the party.

There is a saying in Tamil which goes like “Raman Aandalum Ravanan Aaandalum enaoru kavalai illai”.
I couldn’t agree more. So long as I get the numbers credited properly in my bank a/c on the last working day of the month, i am not overly concerned

Madurai - my father’s place. A place I absolutely hated when I was young.
If there was one place where i did not want to settle down, then that had to be Madurai.
But I did visit Madurai thrice this year already for various reasons and strangely I find myself attracted to it.Maybe i’m getting older and also looking for my roots subconsciously - when my relatives talk about dad as if he was alive till y’day, or when i drink the ‘jigirthanda’ in MM stall in South Masi Street.

Or, maybe not. Coimbatore was heaven till my parents and my friends were there. Now, it does not figure much in my thoughts.Coming to think of it, i think it does not matter whether a city is clean or has pleasant climate to like it. Madurai does not possess any of these qualities, for sure. 
What matters is what meaning or memories that place hold for us. If a place can evoke fond memories, of good times, and can make us feel good, we are sure to like that place, even if its Sahara. 

I was looking for a flat for one of my NRI friend here in Chennai. This side activity prompted me to look more closely at the floor plans of apartment projects supposedly promoted by top builders.
If there’s one word to describe some of the designs, I guess it had to be ‘crap’. I myself have visited some apartment complexes on various occasions which definitely fall under the ‘crap’ category. And no, i’m not talking about buildings by small time builders or Housing Boards. Those are relatively better honestly.

I understand for any design there is a business goal and user goal. But does it make sense to have a dwelling unit without proper ventilation? I have personally seen buildings where people almost need torch lights even during day time.

My point is, there are plenty of good buildings with good design. Why can’t the architects just copy those if they cannot come up with something good and original? I think it’s ok to copy so long as you know what you are copying and why.

Obviously senseless design is not just restricted to residential buildings. Take for instance the glass buildings for IT companies. Every damn office of any IT major will sport a glass facade. From whatever little I’ve heard, glass retains the heat within the building. So it makes sense to have glass buildings if you are in Europe.

But howabout glass buildings in Chennai? That too considering employees would stay for 12-16 hours. To add to it, the air conditioners would purr for 24 hours a day. What is the energy cost and environment cost?  And that too when you can optimise it by more efficient design. I guess those architects do it because it looks cool, and because other architects have done it.

‘Good designers copy, great designers steal’ is what Pablo Picasso is reported to have said. That sentence by itself, though true, is not complete. I think good designers copy good ideas. On the other hand, crappy designers steal crap.

Last week I had a discussion with my neighbor and friend. He had put in his papers in one of the top 5 Indian IT major in Chennai and is joining the IDC of an MNC in south Tamil Nadu.

The essence of what he said was this.

Say, a HR in an IT major gets a resume of a potential resource, chances are that resume will be ignored. The same resume, at a later point might come to the HR through his favorite HR consultant. This time, the candidate will be short listed, asked to attend the interview and most likely get the offer (going by the demand in the job market today). So, what’s the difference? The difference being that, in the latter case, the company has to pay the consultant around 8.33% of the candidates’ annual CTC as commission. And surprise surprise, the HR would get some ‘anbalippu’ from the consultant for the deal. Get the picture?

Obviously, all standard disclaimer applies. Not all HRs are like this and I cannot prove the same in a court of law as I have better things to do. But the guy who told me had no reason to lie.

My question is this, If we cannot root out kickback from an educated individual’s mind, how are we going to root out from the uneducated politician’s mind?

A lot of hue and cry has been raised by some regarding the entry of Reliance and the proposed entry of Wal-Mart into organised retail. While i would be the first person to admit that neither Reliance nor Wal-mart are saints, i also have a few questions to those who oppose them.

For instance, I purchase my groceries and stuff from Latta Stores. Now Latta stores is a big store in my area. Much bigger than, say, Selvam stores. Let’s assume Selvam stores was operating far longer than Latta in my area. I could sense that Selvam stores has lost quite a number of its customers after Latta came into the scene and expanded. 

Now, did anyone feel sorry for Selvam stores? nah, this is taken as business reality.
Latta is giving at much cheaper rates and at good quality. In short, its giving value for money to customers and Selvam could not match that, period.  

Let’s take another example. Whats the history of Saravana Stores in T Nagar? 30 years? 40 years? I know for sure Saravana’s entry into Jewellery has been very recent. And i also know that not many small time jewellers cannot match the price at which Saravana sells and so they are losing their business to Saravana. Did anyone feel sorry for them then?
The latest i hear is that Saravana stores is planning to open its branch in Madurai.
So when that happens, will not some small time retailer lose their business to Saravana?Of course, yes.But will anyone oppose Saravana Stores? Of course no.

So, if a small fish is eaten by a big fish, thats fair and normal in business.

If a big fish is eaten by a very big fish, say a whale, thats unfair. 

What logic! I think this tops even some of our politicians sense of logic.

Or am i missing something? 

Gladwell argues that whether a film or a musical album will become a hit can be analysed and  predicted but it just takes out the joy factor and the whole process can turn out to be a chore. Gladwell at his best here. Check it out

Huh. I am by no means mathematically inclined. Just tried too hard with my heading though. OK, first about my first love - books

Google Story:
Taking a non-AC coach in a train to South Tamil Nadu on a hot, humid is not such a wise idea i tell you. But then i had no choice. But wisely i also took some books to kill time. As it turned out, time flew. But only if you are curious enough about Google.

It was very interesting to know that when Sergei and Larry started, they had no clue about the potential of ‘Text Ads’ which eventually put google in a different league in terms of revenue.

I also relished they way those two handled the Wall Street Sharks prior to their IPO.
Definitely, a very readable book, though some more objectivitiy would not have hurt at all.
Google Puranam would’ve been a more apt title. It elevated Sergei Brin and Larry page to Supermen levels. ’Google guys can do nothing wrong’ seems to be the message. But alas, we know better about the big bad world of business.

NEXT One can always count on Michael Crichton to come up with something interesting. I was simply amazed at his research skills. Awesome stuff!
Having said that, NEXT will not be remembered for the plot as much for the research he has done. Too many characters and sub threads. I guess there is a difference between a 150 minute feature film and a series of ads for 150 minutes. But I would still say NEXT is good read for those who are interested about the politics and possibilities of genetic engineering, gene patenting  and the murky ways of the biotech companies.

[More tomorrow]

One thing which really enraged me in the last few days was the State sponsored Bandh here. A country like India cannot afford bandhs, period. 

I’ve mentioned enough number of times about the futility of quota systems for the upliftment of real backward classes. I’m of the opinion that what matters more to a kid from the underprivileged class is access to information, right guidance and mentoring. The best way to bring Samathuvam is to make one city bred forward class guy mentor his less privileged brethren in rural areas maybe. I have not really thought about this situation but yeah, at this moment this makes lot of sense than the stupid bandhs called by politicians.

Any guy with a square inch of brain would realise this bandh is nothing but a political stunt. In this case, I appreciate JJ. She wanted some attention. Promptly she called for one day token fast citing Cauvery issue. Atleast the public was not disturbed. True Win-Win.

I would’ve been too happy had our CM emulated JJ in this. I mean, his followers too would’ve gone on fast for 12 hours. Quite a few chickens and goats would’ve lived for 12 more hours. He too would’ve gotten some media coverage, his family TV would’ve got some precious news footage to fill the gap between films. I mean everybody would’ve been happier.

From another perspective , this issue also highlights the complex power equations that prevails among the triumvirate of Judiciary, Executive and Legislature in India. One can easily stop the other from taking a good decision. Coming to think of it, the only factor a public has direct control over, atleast once in 5 years, is the Legislature.

This direct conflict between the legislature and judiciary is not at all good for the country. Though i do not quite sympathize with our politicans by any stretch, at the same time i am not exactly thrilled by the propsect of a dozen Supreme Court judges usurping authority either. The judges have lot of scope for improvement in the speed and quality of justice in our country.