This is Mumbai

Ya.. now you know where I went.. You can also guess what I am going to say by looking at the picture.

Anyone who travelled by the urban-rural Red bus will understand what I am talking about. Traffic Jam at Airport is what Mumbai is all about.

One ATR is parked between two Boeings.

Airplanes are waiting in queue for take off. They are wing-to-wing or tail-to-tail. As soon as one airplane takes off another one lands rright behind it on the runway. No problem in this case. As soon as one airplance touches ground, another one is running behind it for take off. That is worrisome. The runway is as bad as traffic jam at road signals at Bangalore. (ya, I am exaggerating as of now. Wait for few more months for reality).

From the continuous announcements in the airport you can never make out details of your plane. No wonder the staff goes around shouting "Jet Airways to Bangalore !!" "Spicejet to Delhi !!" (like they shout "chai chai"). The only reason people put up with all this is that they save on the travel time as compared to railways. If the waiting period extends any longer, railways will be faster and cheaper. To top it they are all 'no-frills' airlines these days. So if u are lucky u can buy water while u are waiting inside the plane. If you are luckier (i mean waiting for more than an hour) they sell chips. In this aspects trains are better - you are are never starved. Those who consider those vendors as pests, please make note.

Infrastructure in India !! I am lost for words !!

Learning

Learning - very profound word.
When I joined IIM I was sure that I'll learn few things that would hold me in good stead in life. I found that I was reading beyond my comprehending capabilities and at one point of time I gave up all effort to even understand what I was reading.
Whatever I learnt (or I think I learnt) is through experiences in the campus, rather than through reading. I am surprised at my own capabilities of going through the academic rigor rather mechanically. I thought that the academic process was a participatory one. There are quite a few myths that were broken (especially about my own capabilities). Life has the habit of teaching you lessons when you least expect them.
I am not going to make a list of things that I learnt here and bore you. But yes surely I would share an important thing that I learnt here:
There are opportunities to learn everywhere if only you can keep your mind open and embrace life fully as it comes. And who knows where and how you will use these invaluable lessons.


PS: Another lesson learnt: don't wait for ideas to write long blogs. That way you lose out on short and useful ones.

Shirdi - thriving economy

Temples are the SEZs in India. They boost the economy in the place they are located. Apart from tirupathi the richest temple another example is Shirdi.

There was a small place called Shirdi with a small Sai Baba temple in the middle, few shops around it and scattered houses. Very few devotees wanted to visit the temple to which there wasnt even a proper road. The nearest railway station is Nagarsol, 40 kms away.

The first time I visited Shirdi, there was a kuchha road from the station to shirdi and there were jeeps for hire. There were small eateries around the temple. Photography was permitted inside - even near the shrine. Very peaceful and empty complex. Few choultries were available for accomodation which charged from 50 to 100 Rs per day.

Next time I visited, few hotels came up. Charged upto 300/- per day. Variety of eateries - north indian and south indian. Queue complex was constructed inside the temple premises.

The latest trip was an eye opener. Four lane high way and a pukka road all the way to shirdi. Apartment complexes, reebok showrooms, five-star hotels all over the place. Queue complex filled to the brim. Restaurants all over - u'll even get a pizza and burger there. Shops upto four streets from the temple. A railway station to come up soon. Trains from all major cities in India to the place. A/c coaches from station to shirdi. Internet cafes. A room in a 'decent' hotel during costs 1500 rs per day. There are engineering and medical colleges in the vicinity. Shirdi trust's corpus exceeds 500 Crores.

All these changes in barely 8 years. Talk about economic growth - India Shines.

The best phrase to capture all this is "Shirdi Economic Zone" coined by Dilip Raote in his article in business world.

Om Sai Ram