Brilliant, Mr. Branson!

Kudos to the Economic Times for featuring this opinion by the 'other' high flying billionaire entrepreneur, Mr. Richard Branson. I continue to be impressed by this man.

25 NOV, 2011, 06.24AM IST, The Economic Times

Not enough to invest in protecting tiger, but invest in local communities: Richard Branson

The day the United Nations announced that the seven billionth person entered the world, I had made my way to Jim Corbett National Park to learn more about the situation facing India's wild tigers. As the global population grows, we face an unprecedented challenge of maintaining balance in our ecosystems and protecting our limited natural resources while sustaining humanity itself.

With a seventh of the world's human population, India is at the nexus of this challenge. I came to the subcontinent with a group of entrepreneurs together with conservation organisation WildAid and Virgin Unite, the non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group. We experienced the contrasts of India from the sophistication and glamour of the Formula One Grand Prix to unaffected rural life, from bustling cities of millions with constantly honking horns to the tranquility and alarming beauty of Corbett National Park with serene bird calls and the hum of insects.

While India's economic tiger continues to grow unabated despite severe global setbacks, India's wild tiger population is perilously low in number estimated at around 1,600 - and they face threats from deforestation, habitat encroachment, mining and poaching. These threats are not new.

But with tremendous development pressure, few around the world have been able to find room for so powerful a neighbour. My friends at WildAid were fortunate enough to meet President Pratibha Patil during this trip, who confirmed her support and commitment to preserving India's icon. The National Tiger Conservation Authority has also increased resources to coordinate and boost efforts, but key responsibility lies with the states. In Panna and Sariska parks, tigers are being reintroduced and are starting to come back. But perhaps most important of all is the tolerance and understanding of the local communities that surround tiger reserves.

Contrary to popular belief, human development and conservation are not at odds. Wildlife conservation has been a long-standing passion of mine, and I've had the fortune of spending time in South Africa near Krueger Park as well as many other special places in the world. Near Krueger, we have taken steps to support the wildlife as well as help sustain local communities with economic and health services. We've also partnered wonderful frontline organisations like Peace Parks to create national reserves across borders and with the Ocean Elders to protect ocean habitats and biodiversity globally. Virgin Unite and I have also joined Wild-Aid in their work, which has leveraged iconic Indian personalities such as Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to raise awareness about conservation.

Because the trade in tiger parts is international, we are also working with WildAid beyond India's borders to appeal for an end to all trade in these majestic animals. The Chinese government has also come on board, donating millions of dollars of media space to get that message across. But even that's not enough. Saving the tiger is not just about raising awareness. To save the tiger, you must invest in the surrounding community. And this is where business has a key role to play. By mobilising resources to protect the tigers' migration corridors and supporting the health, education and even the electricity of the surrounding communities so they can lift themselves out of poverty, conservation can be good - not only for the soul - but also for business.

If we can harness even a tiny proportion of the entrepreneurial drive that has continued to create tremendous economic growth here in India to conserve nature and the tiger, India will keep its wonderful natural heritage, lead the world in conservation and remain a force for good amidst positive economic growth. I came to India for the chance to catch a glimpse of my favourite animal for the first time in the wild.

Sadly, I wasn't lucky enough to see one, but the gravity of their situation became more evident. It is a great achievement of global importance that a nation of 1.2 billion people has managed to maintain half the world's surviving wild tigers - truly a tribute to the tolerance and foresight of the Indian people. But 1,600 is a low number. When I asked my local guide at Corbett why the numbers are so low, he replied, "The tiger has no voting rights." We must still make sure the tiger and nature have a voice in our decision making and a place in our future. Entrepreneurs need to support the country so that it has the power and the resources to make sure that the tiger population is rebuilt back to safe levels within the next 10 years.

From my experience this week, India will be at the forefront of the human experiment in planetary survival. As our world becomes ever more crowded and frenetic, the value of the tranquility of nature will be ever increasing, but ever more threatened. Despite not seeing a tiger, I left India encouraged and optimistic that India, fuelled by its economic strength, can save the tiger and, with it, an important part of its national identity.

( Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group)

Vastu and the Rupee

The governor of the Reserve Bank of India made a trip early this morning to Mahalakshmi temple in Mumbai. Just outside is the famous Vastu-Numero-Astrologer Pundit whom everyone consults on everything today- naming your baby, changing your movie title and pretty much turning your front door around so fortune favours you.

The Gov asked the Pundit to do something. The rupee was falling! It was touching 53/USD , a prime number, no less, but what next?

The Pundit whispered sagely that the much publicised symbol of the Rupee was the main culprit. Whereas the economy had been buoyed up with so many factors, the economy was being hit by two evil forces... the devas or gods robbing the country of its wealth by stoking up inflation from above and the asuras from the netherworld sucking up wealth from everything,

including red airlines flying in the sky. These events had happened because the Indian Rupee symbol was evil and fostered extravagance. Goddess Lakshmi never likes anyone who goes on a spend binge.

Look at the Rupee Symbol. It has a flat roof but a sliding floor. So all wealth goes down the drain! It has a loft, but the loft is open on both sides. It is ALL WRONG AS PER VASTU!

The flustered Gov asked the Pundit what was to be done. He might lose his job today if the Rupee moved beyond the prime number of 53.

The Pundit had a a ready suggestion. Change the Rupee Symbol. That was emblematic, emphatic and ecstatic.

The new symbol showed a saving mentality, encouraged people to fight inflation and evil robbers. It will be a great way to begin 2012 and make India the world's most powerful economy.

Also considering that Indian economy has four components:

1. The taxed middleclass white money.

2. The rich Swiss black money.

3. The gold in every home that never is seen outside.

4. The infinite wealth among the 850 million poor who don't know that all they need is Rs. 32 per day per person to have a happy life. It is only a question of time before they hit the jackpot on KBC.

The Ultimate Singing Star - Barbra Streisand

Wikipedia says:

Barbra Joan Streisand (born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

Streisand holds the record for the most top ten albums of any female recording artist - a total of 32 since 1963. Streisand has the widest span (48 years) between first and latest top ten albums of any female recording artist. With her 2009 album, Love Is the Answer, she became one of the rare artists to achieve number-one albums in five consecutive decades.

These two clips are from the movie Funny Girl (1968). I think it is the most powerful performance by a female artist I have seen, and she sings these songs like there is no tomorrow. She won the Oscar.

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Raw iPhone photo

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Simplifly into bankruptcy

We live In a country where politicians are willing to sell the promise of Khadi Gold, a kind of 24-carat gold sold to Aam Aadmi at 10% of normal gold prices stating that our sarkari scientists have used Vedic sciences and Gobar gas to mine gold from Hiranyagarbha or mother earth that is extraordinarily pure and cheap.

We live in a country that saw airlines auction off tickets in the middle of the night so people were able to fly from Delhi to Bangalore for the price of the autorikshaw fare from Jayanagar to old Bangalore airport. We honour those entrepreneurs who ushered in loss-making unsafe airlines that they later sold off to liquor barons who can dream in only one colour, red.

We live in a country quite comfortable seeing (extremely rich) civil aviation ministers solving economic equations involving loss-making airlines, unprecedented airport taxes and 25% rises in fuel costs so people can fly cheap; scamster ministers who when in power secreted away mobile spectrum licences to benefit dubious businessmen, and who later fault, sitting in Tihar jail, auditors for raising the bogey of notional losses to the government of Rs 1,760,000,000,000.-

We live in a country where Aam Aadmi wants to fly CHEAP. So he can save money for his daughter's dowry. Or his wife's gold. And then we watch fly-by-night financiers offer (on TV and in newspaper ads) incredible cash loans against your GOLD!

We live in a country where huge debates in all media clamour that gas prices should be subsidized, cheap airfares be mandatory, and airlines should go bankrupt and die. After all, we are a free market economy built on subsidy and gold!

Remember we worship Rama. He flew first class on a chartered golden heavenly aircraft from Lanka to Ayodhya FREE!

Spielberg's Tintin!

Imagine an experience more fascinating than any action hero film thus far, characters as lovable as Dickens', period scenes straight from the '20s and '30s, action that would put Bond to shame, 3D effects that would give Avatar a complex, a story line that makes you a boy once more, characters so real that you can touch them and feel their spirited breath, and the comfort of a familiar adorable boy hero and his cute dog and swearing sailor of a friend, and you have Spielberg's Tintin. For me Tintin= 1000 x (Harry Potter+Bond+Avatar+Indiana Jones). The 3D effects make you duck flying coins, hide from surging seas, raging fires and sword fights and motorcycle chases that are simply simply edge of the seat for over a couple of hours. No movie makes such an impact before the interval, and carries on merrily afterwards too.
Spielberg's genius is he makes 3D characters come to life, and then assume a doll-like texture so you can play with them almost! Toy Story was toys come to life. Tintin is life made into toys.

Go see it NOW.

I am not just a chair.

If you think I am a cute little chair, think again. Or better, look again.
Yes, I look cute, a cane chair meant for some little angel, to sit by the window and munch nice roasted peanuts or mangoes or something equally delicious. A chair that also witnesses fights and quarrels among children and adults. To be pushed about in the 'goings-on' of grown-ups, or worse get kicked about by kids upset about not getting what they asked for.

So this is what you think, right? Well you're wrong. First,I have belonged to someone for over 50 years. I have been tended and repaired a few times. I sport a new coat of paint (a bit garish in my opinion). I also have a soft pillow with some summer-colour designs. But I don't just sit around, mind you. I record history.

Like when my mistress took me from town to town, using me as the only support for her emotional relief against the constant onslaught of change. Like when the little son of the house did his home work. Or when the little daughter was playing with her dolls standing on me, unmindful when her back was a bit exposed by a loose pyjama.

I have seated my mistress when she read huge tomes written by Tulsidas and Tolstoy. Of late she reads all things spiritual, journals from several ashrams and dead and alive masters. She looks out of the window and reveries about Himalayan masters and psychics and yogis. She also sits in family gatherings of three or more generations, a little quaint amidst fat and slouchy people like my chronicler, who sink into ugly recliners or sit on stuffy stylish wooden chairs. Seated in me, my mistress gives other-worldly views on everything, like cell-phone toting drivers and loud music.

I don't really have any opinion, but I think she's always right. Anyway she never pushes me away from my pretty window or lets anyone take me for granted. So much so that some of the nails sticking out of my cane work makes the casual sitter take notice and walk away, careful not to complain to my doting mistress that I am in disrepair.

You see, I am not just another cute cane chair. It's all about attitude. Where you stand in life depends on where you sit.

Namma Metro Bombat!

I took the Metro today!PS my wife and I were not the only grandparents showing off toothless smiles on the train.

If you want to enjoy my photo in panoramic detail, click here.
Namma Metro is drawing lots of happy revellers. People enjoy the smooth ride, the snazzy stations, and the process of buying and surrendering travel tokens.

Namma Metro makes me proud. Bangalore looks greener than most other cities of the world, the Metro gives you a view of only tree tops, with minimal intrusion of high rises next to the tracks. The stations come and go in a jiffy. In fact the total travel from Byappanahalli to M.G. Road took only 14 minutes! With stops at Vivekananda Road, Indira Nagar, Halasuru, and Trinity Circle. A car ride on a normal day would take 30-40 minutes.

Imagine how many great souls you remember:  Vivekananda, Chinmaya (=Indira Nagar), the Trinity and Mahatma Gandhi. Halasuru means the place where you get juicy jack fruit. That is Bangalore for you!

Byappanahalli is also appropriate. All rulers need to be kept on a leash and those who do bad-mouthing (Byappas) serve a good cause. After all, the last stop for politicians nowadays seems to be Central Jail! I am not talking of the Metro stop.

Have fun in Namma Metro. It is indeed Bombat.

When it rains for more than six months

Dear friend who live outside Bangalore,
Do you now that this picture is from last April? As one who grew up in Bangalore, I was so happy that when temperatures were rising all over India, Bangalore welcomed April showers, delightfully adorning the resplendent Gulmohur trees.
And now it is Nov.4. We had good to heavy downpours three times today. I was thinking it must be raining in Chennai, as it does in Nov., and this sympathetic rain in Bangalore is to cheer up the folks who install statues of Valluvar and frequent Murugan Idli Stall. And what if it rains again in December? I ask you, what next!!!???

When it rains in Bengaluru for six months, it has major global consequences.

- cricket matches are washed out.
- people eat too many bondas and bajjis.
- people like me have excuses for avoiding morning walks.
- people come late to work and leave early.
- the smelly drains are subdued and take their revenge sooner than later.
- roadworks are never completed.
- vegetable prices go up (I don't know why, they always go up anyway).
- Autos raise their expectations.
- umbrellas fold up, unable to weather the onslaught.
- the mood in the office is one of dreamy or sleepy chattiness as work seems a trivial issue.
- Children get wet, get sick and give big business to the million medical shops.
- adults have hoarse voices and ask for lots of coffee which irks the womenfolk at home.
- Bangalore is compared to Ooty etc.and we feel we are in a heavenly hill station.
- Street vendors and beggars are dismayed by poor income.
- mosquitoes are miserable and the only creatures more miserable are street dogs.
- Deepavali is a wet sop.
- Independence day is spent watching TV.
- Bangalore scares me that there is global wetting apart from global warming.
- I write such inane blogs.