Thought's, Opinions and Travel

One of my biggest fear riding a Royal Enfield is having a breakdown, luckily it has never happened so far and I wish it stays that way. I make sure I service the bike few days before the ride, to get comfortable with it and fix minor issues that prop up a day or two before the ride. Ride to Kambadahalli gave me a nervous moment, though I had dropped the bike on Wednesday, I got it back only on Friday evening 8 pm. If that wasn’t enough the horn wasn’t working and I was having some trouble with the LED as well. Having noticed the horn and LED issue, I went back to my mechanic and got the horn and LED fixed. On returning home began inspecting the bike further the LED’s were giving me trouble again, but I could ride without them. It need not be said that it is extremely difficult to sleep before a ride, I woke up at 4 am and was on the road at 5, the moment I hit the ORR I noticed the speedometer wasn’t working. Now I was a bit more nervous and thought to myself no LED...

On 13th June 80 Royal Enfield bikes and 100 biking enthusiasts  left to Ooty from Bengaluru to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of our riding club, Indian Bull Riders (IBR).   Just about a year ago, I joined IBR, attended my first meet at Chaipatty, where I heard Dilip sir talk about his experience of riding through Leh and ladakh. But what made me feel that this is a group that I can be a part of was the strong value system, I observed the camaraderie amongst members, humility and of course focus on safety and discipline. Ooty was all of the above exemplified, because of certain personal commitments I had not signed up for the ride, it was only when Harsh bhai told me, “kaake achi ride hogi, miss mat karee” (I am paraphrasing here) his words stuck with me and the next thing you know I informed Abdul bhai that I shall transfer the money EOD. (Darshan, Harsh bhai, Pratima H; handing out IBR goodies) As you all know you can never really sleep for 6 hours before t...

“Multiple backup sites seemed like an incredible extravagance on September 10,” concedes Scott. “But on September 12, they seemed like genius.” Robert G. Scott., former CEO of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley was one of the biggest occupants of the World Trade Centre and as a part of their contingency planning; it had three recovery sites, from where business could take place in case of any disruption. A few days ago, I was at my company’s annual town hall, listening to our leadership talk about IT. The interconnect between Digital, Cyber and Technology. They were of the opinion that these will be growth areas for the years ahead and internal audit will play a role in helping organizations not just optimize but also secure their infrastructure and strategy. As I heard them talk, about the tools being developed to protect organizations against cyber-attacks and how global players are seeking advice on how they can secure their infrastructure. I began pondering. I am no exp...

For manufacturing to succeed, we need to have clear policies. The vision must be outlined, the objectives framed. Unless this happens “Make in India” will end up being one amongst the 100 other campaigns we spend tax payer’s money and achieve nothing.    I was one of those few lucky Indian’s who got the opportunity to study in one of the best universities in the world – The University of Sydney. While I was pursuing my Master’s, I had the opportunity to work for The United States Studies Centre. The job was challenging; it gave me great exposure to S enior Management and R isk Advisors of the Australian financial industry. It was at a time when India was a growth story. I'm certain that many Indians at that time shared the CV of then Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and spoke highly of him and felt proud of his achievements and academic credentials. I was surely one of them. I wanted to be a part of the growth story and more importantly sweat it out and help ...

“The only thing that makes battle psychologically tolerable is the brotherhood among soldiers. You need each other to get by.” Sabastian Junger “I have reached Chitradurga I have reached Dandeli Reached Davengere” messages sent home In-between the above message’s, was one hell of journey which had drama, action and adventure. Dandeli was my first overnight ride, for a matter of fact it was the first time I would be riding over 250 km in a single day. The ride was a psychological battle since I know I do not have an iron back and would run the risk of injuring my lower back. The constant reminders from Vinay regarding the expectations and the stamina required were not helping but his concerns were genuine but nonetheless he was freaking me out. As we were waiting at the assembly point, we get a call informing of an accident the atmosphere quickly changed from excitement to anxiety, wasting no time the Captain and the Sweep departed for the spot while rest of us...

Nepal recently witnessed the most catastrophic Earth quake; recent estimates put the loss of life to 7,000. While this number could be much higher, what got me thinking was the swift appreciable response from the Indian government and whether we are really prepared to handle natural disasters. India’s vast geographical area almost every year faces a natural disaster whether it is the cyclone on the eastern side or more recently, flash floods in Uttarakhand and Kashmir. While we do have a National Disaster Relief Force, a statement by the Minister of Telecommunication left me bewildered on whether we have a communication strategy, evacuation strategy or a rehabilitation strategy to deal with natural disasters. Arnab asked the minister whether private telecom operators have also reduced international call charges to Nepal. He responded by requesting telecom operators to reduce charges. A similar conversation occurred between Arnab and the CEO of Indigo, where he asked Aditya Gho...

Hoodwinking India. So, Airtel India’s boss, Mr. Gopal Vittal sends out a letter stating that the company believes in Net Neutrality, yet feels that the Airtel Zero platform is an empowering idea, as content providers will pay for the customers who are unable to afford the current internet charges. The first question from a business perspective I have, is, why would any app developer or a site pay Airtel to get consumers? Knowing very well they do not have a purchasing power! To me, this does not make any sense. Unless of-course, Mr Vittal you have ulterior motives.                 Prime Minister Modi wants to see the next Google or Facebook coming from India. The government has an ambitious plan of creating a digital India, and none of this would be possible if we do not believe in Net Neutrality.                 For Face...