Absolutely Arbit

Spymaster General of India

2013-07-17T13:43:00.001+05:30

This is the piece I had submitted as my column this week in The Pioneer. My basic argument is who takes care of data the government collects in India from spying and will the information be used to further personal agendas?
This piece was also cross-posted at MediaNama

Governments across the world spy on their citizens, but the latest revelations are disturbing at many levels

Driving down a highway in the Netherlands, one notices closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) cameras placed every few hundred meters. In the British capital London CCTV cameras peer down on the citizenry at every street corner. And it is not just that, governments across the world have routinely intercepted online data traffic, have peered into unsecured information and even monitored social media sites.
But when you put up information on Facebook or Twitter, it is for public consumption, and if the public happens to include intelligence officers, well, frankly, there is not much you can do about it. However, as a recent story in The Hindustan Times pointed out, apparently CCTV footage of couples canoodling on Delhi’s metro trains have been leaked onto global pornographic sites.
What is frightening is not that the government oversees my information, but how they take care of it. Whether or not the CCTV footage indeed leaked out or these were just videos shot by fellow passengers, it remains to be seen. The cost of making out in public is that well, just that. But, the fact is that in recent times the government of India has been particularly lax with private information.
A case in point is the Radia tapes. While it is true that the disclosure of these tapes blew the lid off one of the greatest scandals in Indian history, showed up some lobbyists, journalists and corporate fixers, these were private conversations. There are things that you and I say in a conversation when we believe it is private, some of those things might disclose our prejudices, and we all have prejudices.
There are a couple of recent developments that lead to doubts. The first is the Indian Government’s ‘Content Monitoring System’. At a recent Google Hangout with the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Milind Deora, a journalist, Nikhil Pahwa asked him to defend the system. The Minister’s reply indicated the government thinks of CMS, a system that will monitor everybody’s web traffic as being for the good of the citizenry.
Another recent article in The Economic Times said that the Indian Government has reached a deal with Canadian mobile phone manufacturer Blackberry for an interception system for Blackberry devices. While in the recent past, the stock of this once popular device has fallen as consumers pick up touch-screen enabled Android and iOS devices, the fact remains that Blackberry devices are still widely used by the business and importantly, over here, the political community in India.
It might be likely that some terror groups, and there are several such groups in India, might use these devices, the bulk of these devices are used to conduct regular business. The issue that bothers several people about this interception, on Blackberry devices or the CMS, is who in the government will take responsibility for the protection of data? If a phone-call or email that somebody has been intercepted lawfully, how can citizens trust that the information garnered from that interception will not be made public? Yes, if charges are laid and a case goes to court, such conversations can, and ought to be made public, but what will stop an overzealous police officer from revealing information to a headline-hungry media?
The recent suicide by Bollywood actress Jiah Khan was tragic. But what was equally tragic was the almost casual way in which her private text messages were revealed to the media. This happened well before any charges, weak as they eventually were, had been laid on her former boyfriend.
Also, there was the recent case where the call records of Arun Jaitley, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha were trying to be sourced by a rogue police constable. This blew open the racket of some ‘detectives’ who claim that they can source such details which you would expect to be secure. It is not just worrying that some private companies openly sell such information, whether actively or through corrupt employees, but much of this information is sourced from ‘official’ sources.
What is even scarier is that some police forces take it upon themselves to unlawfully monitor citizens activity through illegally tracking their mobile phone calls and even their emails. Even the Ministry of Home Affairs has constantly remarked about these illegal intercepts of telecommunications and has made noises about banning devices that can intercept communications, but these devices still exist.
That said, those who want to procure such information through whatever means possible will always exist, corporate espionage and political skullduggery is not going away anytime soon, such criminals have and will continue to exist. However, it is important that the government takes palpable measures to reassure the public at large that their private information will remain secure. Whether it is leaked out to online marketers who will spam you or to people more interested in blackmail, these leaks ought to be plugged.
To ensure that leaks are plugged there should be legal provisions to punish those found guilty of leaking private information held by the government. But, above and beyond that, the government should ask itself why it needs to monitor the private communications of every citizen of India? Does it really need to know what two lovebirds are doing over a video chat? There are legal provisions, where police forces and intelligence agencies can get warrants to intercept information. If information is acquired illegally without a warrant it cannot and must not be the basis of any conviction.
What is worrying has been the terrible silence of some liberal commentators on the issue. The conversation quickly shifted to why India did not give Edward Snowden asylum. Had the CMS been proposed by an BJP government there would have been an epic maelstrom by now. Instead as our civil liberties are taken away, we discuss puppies.
The Russian government intelligence headquarters at the Kremlin in Moscow is moving to typewriters to prevent leaks. Even today, if someone wants to have ‘safe’ conversation they do not use mobile phones. Technology has changed life for the better, but a ham-fisted government sees it as a threat. Maybe it is time to invest in some carrier pigeons.

The case for more helicopters in India

2013-07-10T16:48:00.001+05:30

This is my piece in The Pioneer newspaper on Sunday, July 7, 2013. India has far too few helicopters, we need more choppers in our civil fleet urgently!

Almost every journalist who has been to the Garwhal hills in the past few weeks in the aftermath of the horrible flash floods that inundated Kedarnath and its environs has taken a helicopter. Almost every pilgrim rescued from inaccessible reaches up in the mountains where road links were washed away has been rescued on a helicopter.
The helicopter is an idea whose basic principle dates back to ancient times, the taketombo spinning toy in Japan is the earliest known example of a spinning flat ‘wing’ providing lift. Famed renaissance inventor and artist Leonardo Da Vinci drew several conceptual drawings for helicopters, rather helical air screws. Despite the fact that the concept of the helicopter has been around for centuries, the first practical lift helicopter was built only in 1944.
The legendary R-4 helicopter built by Russian emigre Igor Sikorsky, was the only helicopter to see service in World War 2. The US military quickly realising the worth of such a craft that could hover and did not require expensive runways to operate from. Some of the first choppers, the nickname for helicopters coming almost as soon as the first few flew, operated in the India-Burma theatre in World War 2, crossing inaccessible terrain in India’s north-east and the Irrawady delta.
In the nearly seventy years since then, helicopters have become a tool of war. During America’s long, expensive and eventually fruitless campaign in Vietnam, olive-green helicopters became the symbol of America’s campaign. It was a picture of a helicopter leaving the US Embassy in Saigon that became the iconic image of America’s failure in South-East Asia. Even in India, helicopters are the only reason India has successfully stalled Pakistani aggression on the Siachen glacier.
To think of a war, or any military operation nowadays without the extensive use of choppers is almost impossible.
Yet, helicopters have gone far beyond military use in most parts of the world. Despite helicopters being inherently inefficient when compared to fixed wing aircraft, their abilities to hover over a single spot, turn on a dime and operate from almost anywhere have made them popular with police forces, emergency medical services, TV stations, sight-seeing operators and even business executives.
While in the United States today there are an estimated 11,000 helicopters in the civilian space (non-military, includes police helicopters) in India there are but 300-odd civil helicopters, most of them small and some aging craft. The lack of a clear policy for helicopters has prevented the import of these vital aircraft into India. Take emergency medical services (EMS), most countries in the world have EMS air-ambulances, several of them. In India, there is believed to be just one. Patients being transported during rush hour have little or no chance of beating the traffic, yet a helicopter might take just minutes.
It is not just a policy for helicopters, the ‘security’ bogey that is raised by police forces, who themselves do not have helicopters unlike police forces across the world, has prevented the use of helicopters effectively as transport aircraft although VIP services do exist from Bangalore and Mumbai airports to points downtown in these cities. Connections between Delhi and Haridwar for example, where a road journey takes seven-eight hours can be cut back to under an hour in a helicopter.
Even Mumbai-Nashik or Bangalore-Mysore can be effectively served to those who can afford them by helicopters. For close transportation on distances below 400 kilometers, or around 90 minutes of flying time, the helicopter is almost always the quickest and best option. This has been demostrated best by the helicopter service at the Vaishno Devi shrine, where helicopters albeit pricey allow pilgrims to avoid a several hour long climb with a ride of a few minutes. Helicopters are also vital in internal security, a crisis that India is facing today.
As mentioned before, none of India’s large metropolitan area police forces have helicopters. In many other countries helicopters have played a vital role in urban security. Criminals can hide in dark alleys and lose the police forces chasing them on the ground, but advanced helicopters with thermal image scanning and spotlights can keep their eye on the ground even on dark nights.
In areas impacted by Naxal terrorists, helicopters can play a vital role in transporting para-military forces to camps, avoiding deadly ambushes. And while helicopters can be shot down, they provide a platform for spotting and operations that are far superior to current options. A lack of a civil helicopter fleet has forced politicos and senior officials to travel by road and become susceptible to attack by terrorists. Helicopters in the early hours of the 26/11 attack by Pakistani terrorists might have helped the Mumbai Police combat the situation better.
Air Vice-Marshal (retired) Arvind Walia, who represents Sikorsky helicopters, a part of United Technologies in India says, “The city of Sao Paulo in Brazil has more helicopters than the whole of India.” This fact would be laughable if it was not true. In fact, Walia sees the opportunity for helicopters, both military and civil in India to be upwards of 1500 new aircraft over the next two decades, “and that is a conservative number if the government opens up the acquisition route.”
The Air Force, with its fleet of helicopters and the Army Aviation Corps with smaller helicopters cannot be stretched every time there is a natural disaster. India is a large country and there will always be a natural or man-made disaster of some sort. In addition, the helicopter acquisition process in India has been held back due to allegations and counter-allegations of corruption.
Even deals that have gone through such as the move to acquire Agusta-Westland AW101 helicopters for VIP use find themselves mired in controversy. A civilian fleet of choppers can be requisitioned, as it has in Uttarakhand to aid with relief operations. If more helicopters had been available in Dehradun, maybe the relief operations could have been conducted faster.
Who knows how many people might have died because relief and rescue reached too late. Helicopters can go wrong, as the tragic accident of an Indian Air Force Mil-17 helicopter during rescue operations in Uttarakhand proved. Yet, without the tremendous bravery and skill of helicopter pilots both military and civil, the situation in Uttarakhand would have been much worse.
The helicopter is a vital tool in a huge country like India with its terrain and urban centres. Why we have not used it to its maximum ability until now remains a mystery.

Meanwhile, recently I attended the 24 Hours of Le Mans a few weeks ago where I took a helicopter ride around the circuit, my first helicopter ride. Was quite fascinating, especially as the cars were faster than us.

Eco Squared

2013-05-11T19:16:00.002+05:30

(NOTE: This is the review of the Ford EcoSport that will be published in tomorrow's Sunday Pioneer Agenda. There is a a short one-minute video-review at the end of this post.)

Ford’s new EcoSport Sports Utility Vehicle has been designed with India in mind, it ticks many of the boxes when it comes to drivability but misses out in some other areas.

First off, Ford really does not describe this as a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), Vinay Piparsania, Ford India’s Director of Marketing and Sales describes the car as a “Urban SUV”. It is not a big car, it does not have the dominating sense that say, its bigger sibling from the Ford stable, the Endeavour has.

Design and Interiors

Ford has designed this car to fit into a very specific box, a box that has to ensure that it is under four meters in length. It has high ground clearance, which is what basically qualifies it to wear the SUV moniker. As Ehab Kaoud, the chief designer of the car explained, the car has well-defined lines but does not have overly complex ridges running all over the place.

The Ecosport clearly ‘looks’ like a Ford with its big, almost agape radiator grille. It also has a side-opening rear door, a function necessitated by the spare wheel on the door. The neatest feature on the exterior of the car was the fact instead of a big, ugly handle, the Ecosport has a button to open the rear door which is embedded in the rear light cluster. This has however meant the reverse lights have been pushed down and integrated into the rear bumper.

Inside, the front of the car is a replica of the interiors of the Ford Fiesta, which is a very place to be. The

major change is that in the EcoBoost engined Titanium-spec car we were driving had nice cyan-coloured dials and centre-console.

Rear legroom is acceptable, when you subscribe to the belief like I do that the Ecosport is essentially a big hatchback on stilts. Luggage space is also acceptable if you use the ‘big hatch’ concept. Space for a couple of smallish suitcases or one large suitcase. But the roof-rails do come equipped with tie-down points to secure luggage which you can store up there as well.

Drivability

Ford wanted journalists to not just experience the EcoSport but also the revolutionary EcoBoost engine that will be one of the engine options on the vehicle. This one-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, deserves the ‘revolutionary’ tag.

In addition to the technical tweaks, Ford has also added a turbocharger to the engine upping the power output of this engine to an incredible 125PS (123 horsepower). Keep in mind, there are 1.5 litre engines on bigger sedans that do not produce that much power.

So how does the power come on? A bit gradually, to be very honest. While there is no perceptible turbo-lag, it does take some time to get the engine to get to the higher ranges of the rev range. That said, in city driving conditions, most gear changes take place at around 2500rpm, the car does just fine. Acceleration in third gear between 40-60 km/hour is impressive, although on some uphill stretches, you do need to downshift. You have to keep on reminding yourself that this is a small engine trying to act like a big brute of an engine.

If you however, do want to put the pedal to the metal, once you get going, the EcoBoost can surprise you. You can almost reach an indicated 100 km/hour on second gear, and a few aggressive gear shifts can get the Ecosport up and going, although after some time, the car does seem to run of breath.

Ford will also be coming up with another petrol option (the engine on the Figo) as well as their 1.5 litre TDCi Diesel that does duty on both the Fiesta and Figo. The EcoBoost however is the most powerful of the three and the only engine option that we drove. The EcoBoost is also very good on emissions, being cleaner than all other engines in its class, deserving the ‘Eco’ tag there as well.

Fuel economy is claimed at over 18 kilometers per litre in testing, but in a 150 kilometer long drive in Goa, on both open road and through crowded villages and towns, we managed 11 km to a litre, but then again this was ‘heavy right foot’ driving. Drive sensibly and one ought to get 13-14 km to a litre in real-world conditions.

Ford vehicles in India have historically been supple and handle beautifully. Ford’s last attempt at a small ‘Utility Vehicle’ in India was the Fusion, and while sales were dismal, the 1.6 litre petrol engine version of that car was a fabulous mix of fun and practicality.

The Ecosport does not disappoint, although again, you have to remind yourself that the high ground clearance does have a negative impact on handling. But handling and ride comfort are both impressive as is the fairly powerful air-conditioner. All in all, a very solid package.

Technology

The EcoSport is also the first Ford to have the Microsoft Sync system installed (on higher spec Titanium and Titanium+ models). Now, one should realise that gadgets and toys are as vital in selling cars as performance. However, after having driven the Fiesta extensively, the SYNC system on the EcoSport felt very similar to the non-SYNC system on the Fiesta.

Now, while SYNC is all well and good, Ford’s Sync system is nowhere near as smooth to use as systems on the luxury German brands (Audi, BMW and Mercedes). While they are not in the same price bracket, things could be better. The voice command system recognises Indian accents and voices well enough, but trying to get music to play over Bluetooth was a challenge that took much fiddling. And a full-colour display would have been so much nicer than the monochrome display. They are not that expensive anymore.

Piparsania did clarify that Ford would have representatives who will explain the entire SYNC system for customers, including how to sync devices and voice commands and so on. Smart move, altghough I believe Ford can do more with SYNC (as they have done in the US market). Maybe in some of their future products.

Renault Duster or Ford EcoSport

This is a question that several people have been asking, and frankly having driven both cars, it is difficult to find to find a comparison. Sure, it is highly that they will be in similar price brackets and appeal to same kind of buyers. The Ford is definitely better put together, has far, far superior plastics and in the EcoBoost at least, a better engine. But the Duster is much larger and has much more luggage space, and might be more practical for larger families, moving dogs and the like.

Some might even find the Ford’s looks a bit “too modern” while others find the Duster ‘dowdy’, although it will be interesting to see what Nissan does when it comes out with a rebadged Duster later this year.. Both cars could easily do with bigger engines, but it will be interesting to drive the EcoSport with the diesel motor once it launches to do a really fair comparison.

This is not a car or an engine designed for boy racers, and Ford’s target buyer is a 30-something family man with a single kid. And you know what? This car suits the target market just fine.

Sharma Farms Part-5

2013-04-22T15:41:00.002+05:30

Well, this is final installment of the curios and oddities that I saw during a visit to Sharma farms, a furniture wonderland in Delhi's Chattarpur area. Basic directions are there in the first post. A lot more pictures are there in Part-2, Part-3 and Part-4.

Nice fish-shaped candle holders

I don't know how this fish can be used though...

More knicks and knacks

Horses and camels, if you have a large farmhouse, I guess you can use them...

Interesting curios again...

I just don't get who would buy that monkey and baby monkey!

An elephant side-table

minature rickshaws, could be used to keep bottles of wine

This is what we eventually bought, not quite a dresser as the wife wanted...

Very fancy bed with a lot of inlay work

These are quite useful in houses, make use of wasted space in corners

The bronze and metal sections were separate - samavars I guess...

Another Buddha, these must be popular and some stone vases

Gharas. Stuff my mom would love...

More gharas

Interesting pieces

I don't quite know how you would use these crocs, but pretty sure you would have to buy them as a pair.

Sharma Farms Part 4

2013-04-22T14:16:00.000+05:30

To cut a long story short, Sharma Farms is like this furniture wonderland (or haunted house, whatever suits you) in the Chattarpur area of South Delhi. The furniture here is sometimes refurbished and occasionally new, they can make 'new antique' furniture for you as well as make 'all-new' furniture as well. I explain this much more in Part-1 of this series.
There were also a lot more pictures in Part-2.
As well as a whole bunch in Part-3.
So, in this part, I continue my walk through the Dresser and Cabinet area of Sharma Farms, along with some curios and oddities. I promise there will only be one more post in this series.

I doubt this goes back to the time of the Raj, but an interesting piece nonetheless

The colours were quite fascinating, this is a panorama shot not gone quite right

So much choice, so little time (and money)

Another cupboard and Shelf alley with the assorted trunk

This might have come from Ladakh by the looks of it

What on earth is that money piece all about?

Musicians atop a piano.

Interesting bar chairs

I guess if you like chicken...

Other bits and bobs

Dressers, cabinets and drawers in all the colours of the rainbow

Tables and chairs as well...

Sharma Farms Part 3

2013-04-20T20:17:00.001+05:30

Part 1 where I explain what Sharma Farms is.
A lot more pictures here in Part 2.
Much of this set is mainly Dressers and Cabinets, and boy did we hit the jackpot. tens of designs, hundreds of relatively fresh pieces. Such a choice. Prices ranged from Rs 13,000 to Rs 50,000 plus for most of the pieces. Nothing too expensive, but quite a choice. Not too many captions, and as the last pic proves, it wasn't all cabinets, dressers and trunks...

Sharma Farms Part 2

2013-04-20T19:42:00.004+05:30

I wrote about Sharma Farms in Part 1 earlier, these post continues with the pictures that I clicked.

I guess this would be the equivalent of the 'Garden Gnome' in India

Weird pile of stuff, including a large Konark style wheel

Interesting little peacock boat, how would you use it though?

Doors!

Pillars, and what are those on table?

Three Lions...

Old school beds

And old school cupboards

Some knick-knacks

Hmmm...

Nice piece

Disused wood

I liked this picture

These are cool bar stools

Whaa....

More cupbaords

The wife won't let me buy one of these

Sharma Farms Part 1

2013-04-20T16:53:00.001+05:30

As evidenced in an earlier post on Amar Colony furniture market, my wife is a huge furniture person. She had been to a place called Sharma Farms on the Chattarpur Main Road earlier, but our need to acquire a dresser and the fact that there was some interesting stuff at Sharma Farms made her make up her mind to go there.
Now, I usually hate going shopping, but this would have been my second visit to Sharma Farms and I always find the place eerie and full of some really bizarre stuff. I should have picked a better camera than my iPhone though, but with a little bit of post-processing even iPhone (and it is an iPhone 5, which doesn't have a bad camera at all) pictures can look quite good. I took quite a few pictures, so I will post these pictures over a few parts - I don't know how many as yet.
A couple of points, for those who might come here through a search engine, Sharma farms is located on the Chattarpur Main Road, and if you are coming from the Andheria Mod side, it will be on your right a bit beyond Tivoli Gardens, next to a place called Oodles Hotel, and I'm not kidding about the name.
Ask the guard to open the gate, you'll have to drive in a bit and the warehouse and sales team are on your left.
The goods are not as cheap as they were say in 2008-09 when I first went there, but still not insanely expensive. The folks there can make you 'modern' antiques if you want and it is cheaper than designer furniture shops at Lado Sarai and frankly, having used FabIndia furniture, cheaper and possibly better quality than that as well.
These pictures are just indicative of what was there on an April, 2013 weekend. The goods change all the time, but some stuff remains the same. The pics are in chronological order as I clicked them. Will try and restrict to about 15-odd pictures per post.

Capstones of pillars just lying about

This Buddha has weird eyes

Wooden sculptures of Ganesha

Cupboard alley

More cupboards

More sideboards and the signature wine bottle holder

Doors and other panels

Coffee Tables I assume

Cute, but I doubt I would these sort of pieces by themselves

I wouldn't know how to use such pieces in my house, but maybe some of you have ideas?

One of my former colleagues has a bar like this. Almost!

Lakshmi figurines and pillars

More pillars

Dressers, cupboards and dust. Lots of dust.

Interesting piece.

I will be posting more parts over the next few days. I haven't been posting enough, and will redress that in the next few days.

#BoycottItaly

2013-03-14T16:42:00.001+05:30

Consumer boycotts are far more effective than Diplomacy, especially with the clowns in this current government. The Italians have insulted India by reneging on a sovereign assurance.
This is unacceptable, and while nobody is arguing for boycotting Pizza or Pasta, because the Americans make most of those, we can boycott products made by Italian companies. Not that boycotting Fiat will do much good, given that nobody buys their cars in India anyway.
But let's start small - no Perfetti products, go French when you buy luxury goods and drop Tuscany and Amalfi Coast; beautiful as they are, and I have travelled there; from your summer vacation plans. The Italians are broke any which way, Indians can put immense pressure with their wallets.
There is no political rationale for this, I just feel a tad peeved. We cannot continue to be a soft state. You folks who read this are influential consumers with money in your pockets, you have the money to make a difference.
Share this if you feel the same way I do, and act on it.

The slow road ahead

2013-03-12T11:56:00.002+05:30

After a decade of non-stop growth, often in excess of twenty per cent annually, the Indian auto industry has hit the brakes. And they have hit them hard. Sales growth which had begun to flag and then plateau has started going downhill into negative territory.

Now, while some might argue that fewer cars going onto Indian roads is not a bad thing. Our congested roads have led to massive traffic jams, chocking the economic output of cities and highways alike. Fewer cars also means less pollution, and that will also get the environmentalists happy.

But the fact remains that the automotive industry is a massive engine for the economy. India has made several questionable economic decisions, but the creation on an automotive industry is not one of them. In fact in the decade between 2001-2010 the industry thrived and several new automotive innovations were developed by Indians in India.

But while the decline in sales has been caused by a combination of factors, not least the general gloominess in the economy and a questionable fuel policy, the latter of which saw the country’s largest manufacturer Maruti-Suzuki declare that they will halt petrol-engined car production. Yet, there is another vital aspect that is likely being missed. There is a definite lack of excitement in the market.

While certain new products have excited the market such as the Renault Duster; which through sheer chance is not classified as a Sports Utility Vehicle by government norms and thus escapes the ‘SUV Tax’ which was imposed in this Union Budget, norms that have impacted the Honda Civic without any sense of irony. But exciting cars are few and far between.

Take the Chevrolet Sail which has cut prices a few months after launch. Or products from the Skoda and Volkwagen stable, recently a newspaper reported that a Skoda dealer was offering an innovative “1+1 scheme” although the second car in the package would come after five years. Every showroom is offering massive discounts across most of the products in their range. And save a few manufacturers, even diesel cars have heavy discounts on offer.

And it isn’t just cars, sales of motorcycles and commercial vehicles are taking a beating as well. The worrying aspect of this however is that the automotive industry is a great direct and indirect employer of thousands of people across the country. In fact, just as the industry is suffering slowing sales, labour unions across the industry are demanding higher wages.

While, this columnist has nothing against living wages for blue-collar labour, even though the violence associated with the unions has been deplorable at times. But, as a direct result of these troubles, new plants being built across India are going to very high levels of automation and robotisation. Armies of workers are going to be displaced by fleets of robots, and in this respect I really do not think that the labour unions and their leadership realises what will hit them.

But the immediate issue is how to make sales improve? While at the recently concluded Geneva Motor Show several really high-end expensive cars such as the Lamborghini Veneno, Rolls-Royce Wraith and LaFerrari were showcased along with some interesting technology demonstrators, almost nothing of relevance towards the Indian market was shown.

The new Honda Amaze, could with its new diesel engine give a fillip to the entry-level sedan market and if Ford can overcome some issues so can the EcoSport. But, there appears to be nothing really exciting on the horizon other than these two in the affordable part of the market.

And until the industry addresses that concern, well, recovery might be a long way away.

High-Speed Rail in Taiwan

2013-03-01T17:26:00.001+05:30

I recently traveled to Taiwan as a guest of the Taiwan Tourism Board and after spending a night at Sun Moon Lake, we were scheduled to travel to the southern Taiwanese metropolis of Kaohsiung from the central Taiwanese city of Taichung. The high-speed train service terminates in the suburb of Zuoying outside Kaohsiung.
Taiwan's High-Speed rail service was mired in corruption with a controversial selection of Japanese High-Speed trains over an European design. However, as a result, Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) uses Japanese built Shinkansen 700 series 12-car trainsets, similar to the ones used in Japan today. These trains can easily manage over 300 kilometers per hour, and a train ticket from end to end costs around Rs 2500, which is expensive but cheaper than local flights. Each train is around 1000 feet long and is quite an impressive sight.

Train service 141 pulling into Taichung HSR station. What a cool looking train.

This is a video I caught of the same train service 141 pulling into Taichung station.

The train certainly looks impressive, and the orange and black cheatline on the train really makes it look quite stunning. The Orange makes the aerodynamically shaped nose stand out, this is definitely one of the most impressive colour schemes on a high-speed rail service. Service on-board the train is limited, unlike the Chinese High-Speed Train my wife and I caught last September whose report you can read here.

Taiwan is a geographically a very small country, just above 400 kilometers long, and the train service travels 340 kilometers between the capital of Taipei and the southern metropolis of Kaohsiung down the crowded western part of the island. A country where the mountainous terrain had previously meant that travellers flew between Taiwan's cities; now the fastest trains connect the two points with just two stops in just over an hour, and even the slow trains which stop at every station - there are six in between Taipei and Zuoying take just two hours.

After only one night at Kaohsiung it was time for me to travel to the Taiwan International lantern Festival which was taking place in Hsinchu, around 70 kilometers south of Taipei. While the train service we caught on the first day was a non-stop service between taichung and Zuoying, this train would stop at every station. yet, we covered the 270 kilometers between the two stations in 86 minutes - that is the same distance between Delhi and Jaipur or Delhi and Chandigarh. Shatabdi Express service between these cities still takes over three hours.

The colour scheme makes the train look quite cool.

Standing beside train 708 which took me from Zuoying to Hsinchu

To get an idea of how fast these trains get up to speed, see this video I took of our train - service 708 pulling out of Chiayi station. These 500 ton behemoths can hit over 200 kilometers per hour in under a minute. Not surprising when you consider that at full power, each train draws over 10.4 megawatts of power.

Finally, after not too long on the train we pulled into Hsinchu station and despite the massive crowds at the lantern festival we managed to attend the event. The travel by the THSR trains was impressive. I still think that the Japanese Shinkansen designs are the best looking HSR trains in the world. I liked them so much I took yet another video of our train pulling out of Hsinchu station.

I hope you enjoyed this short write-up.

Mercedes-Benz rises up to the challenge

2013-02-18T18:28:00.002+05:30

Reposted from my article at The Pioneer Agenda on Sunday, February 18; there will be one more in a while soon.

Over the past five years, Mercedes-Benz India has been assaulted by its more dynamic German rivals at Audi and BMW. The oldest luxury marque in India found itself relegated to third place in the sales battle. But recently they unveiled their new B-Class sedan, and Kushan Mitra took it for a spin recently. This is a new kind of Merc for a new kind of Indian and ought to put the oldest carmaker back in the game.

The B-Class is a good-looking although it lacks the aggression of its main rivals

Cruising down the Faridabad-Gurgaon road, a lovely, if sometimes crowded stretch of tarmac that bypasses the capital, you realise that the Mercedes-Benz B180 is not a very fast car. Sure, you can push it a bit, it would if you really manage a long, empty stretch of road manage speeds of above 180 kilometers per hour.

But on a lovely winter’s day, you do not really want to go that fast. And it is not just ultimate speed, the B180 is not what you call fast off the blocks either, it takes more than 10 seconds to hit 100 kilometers per hour. Some might call that glacial, well, actually it is. This is the slowest contemporary Mercedes that I have driven. And despite that, despite being slower than cars half its price, I like this car. I like this car a lot.

There are a couple of reasons for that. One, maybe I am getting a bit older and after some driving ‘adventures’ in my youth, a bit of sedentary driving will not do me any harm whatsoever. But also, in a city like the capital the opportunities to open up a car are few and far between. And most importantly, a car has to be practical. You might pay a lot of money for German luxury cars, but you really do not get practical ones unless you are spending over Rs 35 lakh.

See the economy figures for yourself!

But the B180 Sport that I drove, with all the bells and whistles, leather trim, wood-finished fascia, bi-xenon headlights et al costs Rs 25.5 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai. In terms of practicality, if you need more space and off-road performance, you can get the very capable Hyundai Santa Fe for that kind of money.

But, if you want a German luxury brand, the B180, particularly if you bought the entry-level B180 minus the panoramic sunroof, fancy lights and a lot of the chrome at Rs 21.9 lakh is amazingly good value, because you still get the excellent Mercedes COMAND multimedia system and navigation. Considering it has virtually the same amount of space as the new Honda CR-V which is priced virtually at the same range, this car ticks many of the boxes that its rivals do not.

Yes, it has a petrol engine, and not a very big one at that. Which explains the cars very sluggish performance. But a 1595cc petrol engine with 122 horsepower means that in regular driving the car will return an average, a real-world average, of around 10-11 kilometers per litre, the same as other cars with a similar sized petrol engine, the Maruti SX 4 or Hyundai Verna although the Merc is heavier, has more safety features and runs a lot more electronics, yet returns similar fuel economy figures thanks to the company’s ‘BlueEFFICIENCY’ and its seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

But as much as I have carried on about the car not being fast, do not for one second believe that the car is not enjoyable. Switch the car into Sport mode or use the paddle shifters to change, and the B180 can be very good fun. Many other cars in this price range are more powerful, but few are as much fun when you throw it into the corners. And a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, you do not get that in any other car in that price range; and it is a smart automatic.

Absolute speed or power in a car is not an end in itself. It is lovely to have a lot of power and the ability to cross 200 kilometers an hour; but other than the Budhh International Circuit, where can you put such power to use without being a danger to yourself, your passengers and others on the road.

We live in a country with very crowded roads and a loose understanding at best of road laws. A recent accident in Mumbai highlighted that even in major cities people will use shortcuts to save a minute of time even though they might kill people in the process. In the city, at city speeds and with an auto start-stop function (that is irritating at times; in toll queues for example) the B180 is surprisingly adept and economical.

The car has an elegant side and rear profile

That said, with the fuel-pricing norms in India being quite silly, unless Mercedes-Benz brings in a diesel, sales of the B180 will be limited. The company does have plans to bring in the B200 CDI in a few months and with a rule of thumb being that such an engine option costing around Rs 3 lakh more than a petrol model, the B-Class could be the way back for Mercedes into the minds of young professionals looking to buy a luxury car. And Mercedes-Benz does have one ace up its sleeve, in Europe a Natural-Gas powered model the B170 NGT is available, built a a CNG fuelled car from the ground up and not a converted petrol engine, meaning power delivery is not compromised like on CNG-kit converted cars. This model, if launched, could potentially be a spoiler in the market, although CNG prices have been steadily rising upwards over the few years.

The B-Class scores on a few fronts, rear-legroom is better than one might expect and so is luggage space, although in this test-drive car, the spare wheel was above the luggage floor. But there is enough space for two large suitcases and three adults in the back, although the middle adult might be a bit uncomfortable; which is the case in almost every car. As for rough road abilities, I took the B-Class to the badlands of Okhla Industrial Area in New Delhi, where roads are non-existent for the large part, and it did rather well.

What does surprise me though is Mercedes-Benz India’s ‘Sports Tourer’ tag for the car. It just does not feel right, the B-Class is not quite a van, but more of a small estate car. However, one does understand Mercedes’ problem here, the B-Class really does not fit into any established category in India. Yet, this car has what it takes to be a winner. This is a car that I could really seriously consider buying in a year or two. And that is the biggest compliment I can give it.

Nokia’s salvation?

2013-02-11T17:47:00.001+05:30

This is my article in today's Pioneer after using the Nokia 920 for a while, will post some pictures on the blog over the next few days to show you the capabilities of the 920's camera.

The Nokia 920, the Finnish phone makers latest flagship device could well be its last chance to convince high-end smartphone buyers to return to the fold.

There are several nice things about the new Nokia 920; not least of which is the little enclosed pin to help remove the micro-SIM tray. Anybody who owns Apple products knows how painful that can be, particularly on the latest iPad’s. Now, one confession, I switched to a 920 after having spent a year with Nokia’s last flagship the Nokia 800. And I actually liked the last phone.

My single biggest problem, and to be honest, this is not just Nokia alone is the creeping size increase of mobile devices as everything converges towards the horribly named ‘phablet’ size of five to seven inch screen devices. While I appreciate the larger screen size and the associated larger battery, I miss smaller devices. There is no need for a high-end device to be so large. In terms of device form factor, I prefer the 800 to the 920.

The Nokia 800 ran WindowsPhone 7.5 and the 920 runs Windows 8 and is the flagship phone for Microsoft’s new operating system. The switch from WindowsPhone 7.5 to Windows 8 is a very small one. There are certain things that I don’t like in the new softwarer, but these are minor quibbles. Windows 8 remains unique and it is fairly user-friendly on the phone, even though I am still not fully convinced of it on computers.

That said, is the Nokia 920 good enough to make one stop lusting after the Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S devices.

Frankly, I do not know. App discovery on the Windows Marketplace is poorer than that on Google Play or iTunes. And even if you discount the fact that apps have a limited shelf life; ask yourself how many apps do you use on a regular basis? Despite that, certain key apps are not available.

Recently, I have been playing Temple Run 2 by Imangi Studios, that is available on both iOS and Android, but on Windows. And that is a problem. And it is not just one-odd game or two. Apps are not about numbers but about how many people use them. Having a million apps that few people use is a lot worse than 10 apps used by millions. This is where iTunes and Google Play dominate.

Anyway, back to the Nokia 920, the subject of the story. As usual, Nokia’s imaging technology is miles ahead of the competition and easy to use photographic apps for the 920 such as Panorama shots are very good, even if the final products are not always what you expect them to be. The 920’s imaging sensor is one of the best out there in regular shooting, a good flash and excellent low-light abilities mean that the Nokia 920 is almost as good as a stand-alone camera, if not better.

But is it worth Rs 38,000? Yes, it is cheaper than a iPhone 5; but the Galaxy S3 and Note II are in the same price bracket. Frankly, Nokia’s mid-end smartphones are better value than the 920, a Nokia 800 is excellent value today. Yes, it is a good phone, but it is not a great phone. That said, in a growing smartphone market in India, Nokia does have a shot with devices like this.

K's Honest Car Reviews - the Tata Nano 2012 (on a long drive, finally)

2013-02-06T20:01:00.003+05:30

Yes, it isn't a new car, but I finally took the Nano on a long drive, and this was the Nano 2012. Keep in mind, Tata makes iterations faster than most car companies - the Indica went through three public ones in its first two years - the Indica, Indica 2000 and Indica V2. While it looked the same, there were significant changes, the same is the case between the Nano and Nano 2012. The new iteration is far better screwed together.

The nano I drove in the driveway of our ancestral home in Hooghly

The little Tata Nano won hearts and fulsome media praise soon after its launch. It was, and remains, the cheapest production car in the world. But sales have been disappointing to say the least, even though the Nano cracked the top ten of India’s most popular cars in 2012; it remains a fair distance behind the leader, Maruti’s Alto which the second-least expensive car in India.

I had driven the Nano before, on the streets of Delhi and I found it to be particularly unimpressive. Some might argue that I have lived on a diet of fast, powerful German and Italian cars, but my own car is a Hyundai i20 and I owned an Alto for seven years before that. In addition, I learnt to drive on a series of Maruti vehicles. I loved my mother’s old 800, driving that car gave a feel that few cars, no matter how fast have managed to exceed. I guess like your first kiss, you remember the first car that you drove like a teenaged idiot.

But like the first time I drove the Nano, I was not filled with a level of confidence. I drove like an idiot 15 years ago, but nowadays I drive a lot more carefully. I have had accidents and am fortunate enough to have come out unscathed. And this is the reason I bought a car with features such as Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS) and Airbags. On a monthly basis they do add a few hundred rupees to a loan, and I might never end up using the features but I would curse myself if I found myself in a difficult situation and did not have these features. In fact, I’m pretty sure that under heavy braking in wet conditions, I have felt the tell-tale pulse of the ABS through the brake pedal.

Anyway, back to the story. My father had decided to travel to his ancestral town of Hooghly in West Bengal and I decided to tag along. Due to a medical emergency in our extended family in Kolkata, the only spare car in the network was my uncle’s recently acquired Nano, which had around 1500km on the clock. I debated the choice of this car, since we would be driving a long distance on the new Durgapur Expressway because, as I said earlier, as you grow older your sense of your mortality increases. And the Nano, well, that makes you feel quite mortal.

This is not to say that the Nano is an unsafe car. Once the legally mandated crash-testing of passenger vehicles start in 2014, as they are supposed to, Tata Motors engineers assure us that the Nano will ‘pass’ comfortably. No matter, this is a psychological thing. Even though a small car from Maruti or Hyundai will suffer just as badly against a Nano’s bigger commercial vehicle siblings, you just feel that in the other cars, at least they will find a recognizable body. But, we were going to drive a 200-kilometer round-trip that encompassed crowded inner-city roads, and Kolkata is crowded, open expressway as well as pot-holed yet empty rural roads; and the Nano was our drive, so we had to make do for better or for worse.

As a car reviewer, one cannot go into any review of any sort with a closed mind. Heck, I drove an AMW dumper truck once, thinking it would be quite difficult. It was not, well it was not easy either, but after some time I got used to it. And frankly, the Nano was similar, sure, it does feel a bit cramped and I was grateful that there were only the two of us in the car as the rear seat was used up by luggage – two medium sized suitcases, bedding and food. With luggage, this car is never going to be a four-seater. That said, the rather straight sides of the car while giving it an unattractive ‘boxy’ look do ensure decent shoulder-room. My father and I are both not small, and I feared shoulder clashes during gear-shifts but those fears were unfounded.

That said, changing gears on the Nano does take some getting used to. After a few years of soft clutching, the Nano, or at least on this rather fresh Nano, one needs to depress the clutch hard and change gears with a degree of force. No two-finger gear shifts here, this is not a forgiving car, and in that sense it does remind you of a diesel. I mean it is a car from Tata Motors, a company not exactly famous for petrol engines.

Inside the city, the Nano feels quite alright. It is a lot easier to park than anything else on the roads, even an auto-rickshaw since it has a reverse gear. You would not want to rev too low on this car and try and pull away on second, because you most certainly will stall. The most irritating thing in the city is the location of the power window levers, the car we drove being the LX model was fully equipped. Actually, I would have preferred wind-up windows rather than take my eyes off the road and reach down for the windows. Yes, it is a cheap car, but I really wish the steering was adjustable. I am 5’11” and my seating position was quite horrible, but eventually I got used to it.

A bad seating position is not unique to the Tata Nano, it is a problem that afflicts many small Indian cars – minimally adjustable seats coupled with no steering adjustment whatsoever. That is fine for short drives to the market, or even to the closest mall. But a drive through rural hinterland with roads of dubious credentials and where heavy vehicles drove with impunity? Not something I was really looking forward to.

But I was to be pleasantly surprised, on several fronts. Once out of the unexpected bumper-to-bumper traffic in Kolkata, unexpected because it was a Sunday afternoon, we crossed over on the new Howrah bridge and onto the Kona Expressway. And I got the first surprise, the Nano could go fast, pretty fast. I touched the speed limit of 90 kilometers per hour without much effort, and believe me while that may not seem that considering I have travelled at 280 kmph in a car, you feel any speed above 50 kmph in a Nano. And do you really have to go faster than the speed limit. As the road was empty, on the whole, the car even maintained its speed. Yes, the engine made some noise, but nothing terribly out of the ordinary.

But the bigger surprise was on the smaller roads. The road connecting the four-lane Durgapur Expressway with Hooghly-Chinsurah is not a big road. In fact, it is quite narrow even till the old Grand Trunk Road junction. Narrow, potholed roads with oncoming rural transport vehicles that have little traffic sense is not what you call fun. Couple that with fading light and pygmy goats (somehow the goats in that part of Bengal are quite small, almost bite-sized) and well, you get a hair-raising drive.

An issue I discovered with the Nano were its pitifully weak headlights; an issue on unlit roads. High-beam? What high-beam? I drove slap-bang into big potholes and unmarked speed bumps which was uncomfortable to say the least. I did not expect this drive to be very comfortable, but honestly, these roads were not built for cars, I really wished I had a big SUV over here. But then, on a narrow road facing down the Nano’s elder sibling – a Tata bus – the Nano’s diminutive size came in handy. On a road, barely a lane wide, the Nano can easily move aside. It isn’t comfortable, but in crowded small-town roads, this car sure is handy. Something that also served us well the next morning on our return. The Nano may not be the best place to be in case you get hit, but because there is so little Nano to hit, it isn’t that easy.

So, long story short, would I buy a Nano? It does not have the best seating position in the world, but over short distances that isn’t a problem. For a two-person trip to the mall or the market, it does quite alright. Four people and luggage is something that Nano cannot do, and if you buy one and fit an overhead luggage carrier, let us just say that you’re playing with physics and the concept of Centre of Gravity here. It is not a slow car, but it isn’t exactly speedy either, on a long drive this is as far from a Grand Tourer as one can get.

But the Nano is affordable, and affordable at a level no other car is. A brand new Nano LX will, after everything cost under two lakhs, including a stereo, which my uncle’s car lacked. However, as a more practical form of transport I do believe that a three-year old Maruti Alto or Hyundai Santro, a power-steering equipped model of which makes far better sense. But, if you are the sort of person who insists on a new car above all else, well, then only the Nano will fit the lowest budget. That said, the strong car market between 2007-2011 means that there will be a steady supply of moderately low-milage, well-maintained second-hand small cars with a bit of luggage space.

This car makes much, much more sense as a city ride, and that too over short distances. To repeat, it can go fast, but on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway where Audi R8’s lurk; this is not a car I would want to have. To travel from Bandra to Versova, yeah, perfect. Being small, it is very easy to park, again, great in cities. Economy is very good, I measured fuel-economy on our drive, despite driving above ‘suggested speeds’ at over 18 kilometers per litre, and while the adverts promise much more, that depends on how you drive.

No, I will be honest, I did not like the Nano. Yes, it is a potent symbol of low-cost engineering and what India can do. But I did not feel safe and was quite uncomfortable. This would have been a good car in 1980, where people did not know better, but in today’s environment, this isn’t a vehicle I would want to own. Not because I can afford much better, and personally, I feel that the Nano by harping about its ‘cheapness’ has made itself unattractive to many Indians. My uncle is upper middle-class, this is the fourth car in their household. In fact, many Nano’s are not the first car in their homes, which is hardly surprising.

The Nano served us well on this drive, I appreciated the small size of the car and its drivability but seriously I would not buy one.

Bhutan Trip Report - Part 2

2013-01-28T17:49:00.002+05:30

Continuation of Part 1 here

Paro and the return.

The Tigers Nest Monastery at Paro, one of 'the' sights of Bhutan

Because my return flight was scheduled for 9.00 AM in the morning and nobody wanted a 5.30 AM departure from Thimpu, we stayed the night at Paro, the airport city and also one of the largest cities in Bhutan after Thimpu. But having come directly from Punakha via Thimpu for a (sadly very delayed, which put paid to other plans) meeting with some Bhutanese bureaucrats, we got into Paro a bit too late to manage the full climb to the famed ‘Tigers Nest’ monastery because entry shuts at 4PM (and visitors have to leave by 5PM) and climbing some 3000-3500 feet from the base of the Paro valley to the Monastery would be impossible for a semi-fit person such as myself in one-and-a-half hours although I did manage to make it up 1800 or so feet to the half-way point where there is a lovely cafeteria with great views of the monastery. However, while waiting for our meeting in Thimpu we took a short break to catch the statue of Buddha as Shakya Muniwhich is being built overlooking the city.

One of my travelling companions, much younger and fitter than me, did however make it all the way up, but got slightly lost reaching the even higher ‘Celestial Paradise’ Temple but as darkness fell, our guide had to go up fetch her. Being a local, he managed the climb in no time, and since he does the climb at least 30-35 times a year, he said he knew every dip, crack and fall on the route. Long story short we made it back as it was getting very dark and headed back to Paro town for some souvenir shopping – I bought some lemongrass oil, fridge magnets and a hand-painted ‘Mandala’.

Our resort, called the ‘Tashi Namgay Resort’ after the owner had a commanding view of the airport but with no night operations, there wasn’t much ‘action’ to see. We had our last Bhutanese meal of Chilly Cheese, Chicken Chilly, Chilly Cheese Potatoes, Momos with Chilly sauce (you get the picture) before we retired for the night.

Punakha Dzong, should have gone in the last part, but posting it here

The new statue of Shakya Muni overlooking Thimpu

Thimpu City

Bhutanese Buddhist masks at the Tashi-Namgay resort in Paro

The ruins of an old Buddhist house

I like the rooms at the resort

And finally, on the last night at Paro, we had momos!

Despite sleeping early and waking up on time, our co-ordinator got delayed meaning a late arrival at the airport and I was unfortunate that did not get any right-hand side window seats for the return, I did get a two-seat exit row window on the left. Anyway, I guess that was as the Buddhists say my Karma and I did manage a rather decent video of the take-off from Paro, which was almost as stunning as the landing, to put it bluntly that is the steepest I have ever seen an Airbus narrow-body climb.

Take-off video, this is a rather dramatic take-off, forward by about 30 seconds.

Not having the view I wanted, I ate a bit of breakfast which was an omlette and a slice of what I guess was chicken ham, my second for the day and then passed out, three early starts in a row plus some intense walking and hiking had taken a toll on me. This plane, the oldest A319 in the fleet A5-RGF had been with the airline fresh from Hamburg in October 2004 and had the standard 20J 94Y configuration and no no language confusion.

Breakfast

I loved Bhutan, every single bit of it and the pilots on KB are amazing. The country is a bit expensive and you might have to travel very far just to get there, but few countries in the world have such clean air and such nice people. The food is a bit, well, not for every palate and the local brew quite so-so, but Bhutan’s people are its biggest asset!

The Dreamliner conundrum

2013-01-24T16:37:00.001+05:30

Boeing’s latest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner has been grounded by aviation authorities across the world, with Air India also being affected. So what is wrong with the world’s first ‘Plastic’ Plane.

Air India Dreamliner Boeing 787-8 VT-ANL which I saw at Delhi Airport recently

When Boeing announced that they would be constructing an entire commercial airliner out of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), many people scoffed at the idea. Caron-fibre is used in several products, and is a standard on many high-performance cars as its use was born in the crucible of Formula 1 racing. It is far stronger than traditional metals and lighter too.

By using carbon-fibre Boeing promised lower costs for airlines and a better ride for passengers. The aircraft initially known as the 7E7 was designated the 787 and launched, and became the most successful aircraft program launch in history with close to 900 orders even before the first flight. The first flight itself was severely delayed, not by weeks but by several months but by years. Airlines, including Air India which had ordered 27 Boeing 787-8’s were impacted, with services for Air India actually starting in late-2012 instead of 2010 as originally scheduled.

The Dreamliner faced several questions, not least the matter of its global supply-chain. Large parts were flown in from Italy and Japan as well as elsewhere in the United States on specially modified Boeing 747-400 Jumbo jets. This led to several problems, particularly with ‘fasteners’ to join the various parts together. Some parts were not properly built and months had to be spent modifying the first few Dreamliners to get them into a flyable condition.

And then during testing there were issues as well, an engine caught fire during a test and some aircraft reported problems. These are not unusual during testing, but these put additional stress on Boeing and the Dreamliner launch date got postponed further. Yet, late in 2011, Japanese airline All Nippon Airlines (ANA) started flying the Dreamliner on domestic routes. Soon after that, Japan Airlines also started services with the Dreamliner and actually started the first scheduled Dreamliner service into India with a direct flight to Tokyo Narita in mid-2012.

In fact, before Air India could start scheduled services with the Dreamliner, another airline Africa’s Ethiopian Airlines had also begun services between Addis Ababa and Mumbai using the revolutionary aircraft. Passenger reviews were extraordinary. The Dreamliner dispensed with traditional aircraft window shades and used a photo-chromatic window dimming system. The plane was pressurized to a lower altitude than traditional metal planes, making the flight more comfortable. All in all, the reviews were great.

And then, last week, a fire onboard an ANA 787 forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Japan. Pictures of passengers evacuating were transmitted across the world, and Boeing’s reputation just about rebounding after the incessant delays was hit again. Unlike the engine and wing-problems diagnosed on the Airbus A380, the last major commercial jet launched before the 787 which also hit the reputation of the ‘Super Jumbo’ the problem on the 787 was diagnosed to be one with batteries.

A few years ago, there was a serious issue with Lithium-Ion batteries on laptops. These batteries had over-heating problems which often caused them to explode. Apparently, because the 787 uses a all-new electrical system, the batteries were over-heating, and while none exploded, they could have potentially caused a fire. Discretion being the better part of valour, the Japanese and American authorities immediately grounded all the 787’s in their countries and the Indian aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation promptly grounded the six 787’s operating with Air India as well.

On the face of it, this is not a structural issue with the CFRP which many naysayers had dreaded, but because aircraft today and pretty much flying super-computers, any electrical issue is serious. If computers go offline or get corrupt data, that can lead to accidents such as that of Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic Ocean when corrupt data and confused pilots essentially brought an aircraft down resulting in 228 deaths. And it is not just the plane that uses computers to fly, with virtually every seat having a in-flight entertainment option, every seat uses a computer. The electrical requirements on modern aircraft are astounding.

It appears that the issues will be resolved shortly and there are hundreds of engineers, including some in India who have designed the avionics suite also on the job. Till then, the airlines will be left hanging. However, as with most other aviation fans, our writer is hoping that the Dreamliner can take to the skies once again.

With Karan Thapar on 'The Last Word' Jan 21, 2013

2013-01-22T17:42:00.000+05:30

So yesterday I appeared on 'The Last Word' Karan Thapar's show at 8.30PM on weeknights discussing Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress Vice-President and his speech at the Congress 'Chintan Shivir' in Jaipur recently. Posting the video that CNN-IBN put up, I was the only guest in the studio, Dipankar Gupta and Sid Varadarajan, Editor of The Hindu.

Bhutan - Trip Report Part - 1

2013-01-18T13:30:00.001+05:30

This report is on my recent travel to the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, India’s smallest land neighbour.

I flew on Druk Air, which enjoys a monopoly on all flights to Paro, Bhutan’s only international airport – and for good reason. The approach into Paro is considered one of the most dramatic and scary in the world and only takes place under perfect visual conditions as pilots have to dodge peaks that rise over 5,000 feet above the surrounding countryside.I might add that Paro airport itself is at an altitude of 7,300 feet.

A friend who had flown on a KB BAe 146 earlier told me that Druk Air pilots are ‘Gods’, and even though those small planes have been replaced by Airbus A319’s, the pilots are incredibly skillful to land in an airport like that. While Bhutan has bilateral agreements with several countries that allow those nations such as India, Singapore and Thailand to operate to PBH, no other airline does.

Before I start a bit of a background to this trip. On the morning of the 31^st of December, while I was enjoying a well-deserved break in the hills with some friends to bring in the new year, I just happened to check my email. In that email, a person I know rather well asked me whether I would like to travel to Bhutan on an invitation from His Eminence the Khamtrul Rinpoche, one of the top spiritual leaders of the Drupka Lineage, the school of Buddhism that is practiced in Bhutan.

This was ostensibly to attend the Chakrasamvara Blessings being organised jointly by the Government of Bhutan and the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan.This even which was expected to draw 100,000 people, although eventually an estimated 140,000 attended. While coming from India where such numbers are piddly – over 2.5 million are expected to attend the Kumbh Mela at Prayag later this month, this number represents a fifth of Bhutan’s population.

That is an amazing percentage and nothing like this has ever happened in Bhutan’s history where so many people have collected at the sacred and historic Punakha Dzong (Fort) in Western Bhutan. Kuruthang, the town nearest Punakha Dzong has a regular population of just 15,000.

My wife was quite pissed off with me for going as she has always wanted to go to Bhutan as well, but given that she is not exactly fond of the cold, and Bhutan in January is quite cold, at least for me coming from Delhi; night temperatures in Paro touched -6C while we were there although it only snowed on the high passes and not in Thimpu or Paro.

This trip happened very last minute, and thankfully traveling to Bhutan does not need a visa for Indians. Only Bangladeshis, Indians and Maldivian’s do not need visas or work-permits in Bhutan but only photo-identity. Other nationals need a visa and not just that, they need to pay $250 as a basic minimum everyday. This covers government taxes, the costs of a guide and driver and a basic three-star room. Extras including car rentals, food and staying in higher-end resorts such as the mad expensive Aman Kora (over $1500/night) add to the fee.

This is to keep out backpackers and low-end tourists. The fees the government takes are used to provide free healthcare and also restricts the number of tourists who make it to Bhutan. The fees have to be paid in advance as well. A Bhutanese national can invite a foreigner to stay; but even that requires some sort of fee if I’m not mistaken. I later learned that in Bhutan even foreigners enjoy some level of medical coverage for free in case of accidental injuries but evacuation costs are over and above that.

Druk Air is the national carrier of Bhutan with a fleet of three Airbus A319’s and one ATR-42 aircraft. Paro Airport (PBH/VQPR) is one of the most challenging airports to operate in the world. Consider the facts, it has a 6500 foot runway situated at a height of 7300 feet ASL, not that bad and airports such as Lhasa (LXA/ZULS) in Tibet, not very far north of Paro are much higher at 11,500 feet.

But Paro is in a very narrow valley surrounded by peaks that are over 18,000 feet high. Planes have to literally zig-zag through the mountains to reach the airport, to land on runway 15. And there are only daylight operations in Paro with pilots following visual rules. Operations take place only between 0800-1400 according to Druk Air’s schedule and most A319’s operate only one-return flight a day and the flights to Bangkok and Singapore do not return on the same day.

As mentioned earlier as other airlines do not train pilots to fly to Paro, the national carrier has a monopoly. Therefore it can charge expensive fares, my fare, as I notice on the ticket was $626 for a return flight on Economy, quite a bit for a two-hour flight. And while as an Indian I had the choice of flying to IXB and then enduring a not quite comfortable road trip which would cost about half, most other nationals have to do part of the journey by air.

But with limited operations, low utilisation of aircraft for reasons explained by geography, the high-fares are understandable. Competition, possible soon from an Indian low-cost carrier might hurt Druk Air, but the intense pilot training required to operate from Paro have put off airlines until now. Anyway, enough background, now for the flights. Flight: KB-205 DEL-PBH 7th January, 2013 Operated by A5-RGISeat: 8A (assigned) and 9A (second-half)1230 (IST) - 1400 (BST) Flight Time: 2 hours

This aircraft was unique in the sense that it was the only A-319 that was second-hand Airbus in the fleet and a A319-112 as against the other A319-115’s in the fleet and had 23,500 pound thrust CFM-56-5B5 engines as against the more powerful 27,000 pound thrust -5B7 engines. It had previously been with Hamburg Air and Olympic which explained the fact that there were language instructions in German and Greek in addition to English and Bhutan’s Dzongkha.

I had heard that this flight was one of the most scenic flights in the world, flying almost the entire range of the Eastern Himalayas with eight of the world’s ten highest peaks visible, only K2 and Nanda Devi not in sight. Therefore, I arrived at DEL swanky T3 a bit earlier than I should have to ensure I got a mountain facing seat.

It was a murky Delhi morning when I left home around 8.30 in the morning, well in time for the 12.15 departure. I took a radio taxi from Meru, the largest service in Delhi and even though I am a loyal customer, I am disappointed with the way the company maintains it cars and its cranky drivers. I shall try the company’s rivals EasyCabs and Mega Cabs more often now. That said, it was a good taxi ride, which took just about half an hour and cost around Rs 500.

Being a complete idiot, I had forgotten my ticket print-outs at home, but the co-ordinator travelling with us from India did have a spare print-out. Check-In was smooth and I got a coveted left-hand side window seat. Immigration was surprisingly easy, although I got a very chatty immigration officer. Seeing the short queues he spoke to me about all sorts of things and since I’m from West Bengal state, called a fellow Bengali to speak to me (?!?!?!?) and then he stamped my passport.

Which was a mistake, because Indians who travel to Bhutan do not get their passports stamped.With time to kill, I went to Duty-Free to pick up something to enjoy the evenings in Bhutan after which I proceeded with my travelling companions to have a quick bite at McDonald’s. Not the healthiest breakfast in the world; but what the heck, I was travelling abroad and food sins occur when I do that.

A quick few drags on a cigarette (I was sinning a lot) later, partially because the smoking area between Gates 3 and 5 offers such great views of the northern part of the international tarmac and runway 10/28 operations. DEL is one of those airports alongside HKG satellite terminal and SIN T2 that offer suck nice views; the smoking area in the Domestic side of T3 next to Gate 27 also gives a great view of the tarmac and runway 11/29 operations.

After a short delay at the gate; boarding commenced and I was one of the first to board the plane. A5-RGI has a different configuration that the other A319’s - being a 138-seater, but the first five rows were operated as business-class in the European style with the middle-seat blocked.

But usually only 114 seats were sold like the other two A319’s. I was looking forward to the flight and to put it bluntly, I was not disappointed. I had enough entertainment on me, but after we took off and headed for Nepal’s airspace the view was, in one word “magnificent”. Let the pictures below describe them.

As for the other things - food was nice, a chicken biryani with some dal. I was expecting something less predictable (this is South Asia after all), but it was actually nice. Leg-room was nice, but I was in the seat ahead of the exit (this A319 had two exits being the high-density configuration. But after take-off, when I discovered that my window was not as clean as it should be, which drove my lens focus off and when I saw the exit rows had not been assigned, I moved to the row behind me. Although not the non-reclining row it had one of the cleaner windows on the plane.

Flight Information Display on the international terminal in Delhi's Terminal 3

The main hall in the post-security area of the international side of T3

The view from the smoking room between gates 3 and 5

Legroom

The safety-card on Druk Air A319 A5-RGI

Instructions in English, Dzongkha and Greek (the plane was with Olympic Air)

The in-flight magazine and Duty-Free catalog

Boarding almost over

The other side of the safety-card

Guys at attention in the neighbouring gate, I wonder why?

That is why, Malasian Boeing 737-800 MH-MXB pulls up to the gate

The Low-Cost terminal in the distance

Lunch

The skies show the entire range of blue...

View from the back

Toilet instructions in German and English, the aircraft first flew with Hamburg International

Mountain views between Delhi and Paro.

A5-RGI, the Airbus A319-112 which brought us in to Paro

The Paro terminal, airside

The only luggage carousel at Paro

Immigration in Bhutan took a lot longer than anticipated because our coordinators mobile roaming refused to work and he could not connect with our guide Kezang and we could not give the address of the first resort we would stay in.

But, Bhutan’s people’s friendliness allowed him to go outside the small terminal to fetch our guide who was waiting outside. Where else in the world would they do that? Wow!Things got sorted out, despite a power-cut then adding to the time we took to get out. I had to pay a duty on the cigarettes I carried as Bhutan is a country, where society and the government frown upon smoking.

Then we proceeded through the stark countryside of western Bhutan to travel the 50-odd kilometers between Paro and the capital of Bhutan - Thimpu. At Thimpu we had an audience with His Eminence, the Khamtrul Rinpoche, which was a very satisfying one for me to be very honest.After that we proceeded to Punakha, a small town about 80-odd kilometers north of Thimpu for the function that we had come to attend and one of the most sacred places in Bhutan.

The drive there was very scenic and while the weather in Punakha was warmer, that did not take away from a fabulous function and the fact that I ate some really delicious Bhutanese food. A small word of advice, the Bhutanese love, and I mean love, their chillies. A local delicacy Ima-Dati is basically Chilly-Cheese and while it can be made in different ways, usually involving different types of chillies the basic fact is that the Bhutanese use chillies as a vegetable not a condiment.Anyway, don’t want this post to cross 2000 words, so I will post my shorter review of my return journey in the next post.

Landing video... forward by around 30 seconds

Dad's interview with OP Nayyar/2007

2013-01-18T12:57:00.002+05:30

My father sent SY Qureshi this article and Qureshi-saab has been talking about this a lot on Twitter. So I'm just posting the interview on my blog.

I don't know the ABCD of music

His compositions once had people furiously tapping their feet and clapping their hands; it sent youngsters into ecstasies and producers queued up outside his door because getting him as music director ensured box-office success. OMKAR PRAKASH NAYYAR was Bollywood's king of melody for over a decade, dominating the scene with his original tune structures and trademark hoof beat taal. The first composer to discover the latent sensuality in Asha Bhonsle's voice, he lived a controversial life, romantically linked to many. Handsome, flamboyant, irreverent, the superstar of yesteryear's music now leads a lonely existence in a one-room tenement in Thane near Mumbai. Currently reclusive and reticent, OP NAYYAR comes alive in this journey down memory lane with DARPAN Editor-in-ChiefCHANDAN MITRA

I am surprised to see a legend of our times living here in this one-room flat in a suburb in splendid isolation. Do you shun the limelight or does the limelight shun you now?

First, let me tell you I am very happy here. I have enjoyed life to the brim. I got more limelight than anybody could aspire for. People crowded around me, producers queued up outside my home. I ate and drank to my heart's content. I had some of the most beautiful and vivacious women in this country for company. Always conscious of money, I never undersold myself, refusing to compose even for top banners if the price wasn't right. I drove the best cars, wore the most fashionable clothes of my time. I still have a big flat in Churchgate, but as a result of a family dispute I opted out. So, staying in virtual anonymity here in Thane is my own choice. I don't interfere with others' lives and I like to be left alone...

But isn't it frightfully lonely here?

You may think so, I don't. I have a set routine. Every afternoon I have two bottles of chilled beer with boiled eggs. Then I rest for a while. In the evening I watch a video or maybe some TV. I have only one meal a day and that's dinner. Till recently I used to practise homoeopathy. You see those shelves full of homoeopathy vials? Those were for local people who used to come in large numbers. But then I got fed up with people calling on me and stopped seeing patients. Every year, I spend a month in the summer at a hotel in Juhu. I don't have too many friends, but the ones I have are very considerate. They insist on giving me a change of scenario and take me there. That's been the pattern for some years now.

You drink, I see a packet of State Express 555 cigarettes next to the homoeopathic medicine bottles, and yet keep yourself so fit. What's the secret?

I am content. I used to smoke a lot, but nowadays I have just two-one in the morning after bed-tea and the other after dinner. I have also stopped having whisky. I used to love it. Let me tell you, having tasted the best, I think Black Label is the finest of the lot, even better than Royal Salute. Although I don't practise any more, I still study homoeopathy and take some pills. My medicine, like my music, is purely self-taught.

What do you mean 'self-taught'? Surely you must have trained to be a musician and a music director...

People don't believe me when I say this but the fact is I don't know the ABCD of music! It was all a gift of God that I composed so effortlessly and people liked the music I made. I didn't set out to be a music director, just drifted into it.

But you started your career as a singer, didn't you?

Yes, but I never thought of it as a career. People told me I had a good voice because I used to sing at local functions in the city of my birth, Lahore. I was born in 1926 and when I was a teenager, All India Radio set up its Lahore studio. I was invited to sing there on some occasions. I never liked studies and spent my pocket money, even college fees, buying records. We were paid Rs 30 per programme by AIR and I did about four programmes a month. The money was quite good those days. Besides, I was always headstrong. When my family left for India at the time of Partition, I refused to go. We had a Muslim neighbour who sheltered me when the riots began. But one day, a mob arrived at his house and demanded that the Hindu boy he was hiding in the house be handed over. My kind protector organised a tonga and smuggled me out of the back gate. I reached the refugee camp somehow and then made my way to Amritsar in November 1947, a good three months after the Partition. Since I had no other skills and was too proud to ask my family for money, I got myself a job as a music teacher in Patiala.

You taught music although you say you don't know any. How then did you

make it as a composer in Mumbai?

Well, I knew the basics, just about. Anyway, I wasn't interested in teaching music. So I left for Shivpuri, where my sister used to stay, after a few months. I didn't like that place either. There were too many snakes in Shivpuri and I hate reptiles. So, I wound my way back to Amritsar. I had a friend called SN Bhatia of the famous Dewanchand Pharmacy who knew many film industry bigwigs. One day he called me to Delhi because he believed I would make a good composer. At Regal cinema in Connaught Place, I met the king of the Punjab film industry, Dalsukhram Pancholi. He offered me Rs 500 to score the music for his next film. I said this was too little. Eventually we settled at Rs 600. I went to Mumbai and stayed at Rex Hotel in Colaba (which had no rooms, only cabins) for a few months and composed the music for Pancholi's Aasmaan, directed by PL Santoshi, father of Raj Kumar Santoshi. Then I did another film, Chham, chhama, chham, whose music was quite a hit.

How did your big breaks start coming?

After Chham, chhama, chham, Guru Dutt came to my hotel and asked me to be the music director of his under-production Baazi. He offered me Rs 12,000 which was a very big amount those days. I was so thrilled I promptly went out and bought two bottles of the finest champagne money could buy. As you know, songs of Baazi, especially those sung by Geeta Dutt, became massive hits. But I fought with Guru Dutt immediately afterwards. He did not give me the full amount. He owed me Rs 3,000 in spite of the film making money. I would not give up although he insisted he was broke. So, I approached KK Kapoor, the film's distributor. We drove to Guru Dutt's house in his sleek convertible. Kapoor kept me waiting in the car and went upstairs for what seemed an eternity. Then he came back with Guru Dutt. He had agreed to pay off the rest at Rs 1,000 per month. But there was a rider. I would have to compose for his next film too! That's how I became music director for Aar Paar, another superhit.

You were engaged by the biggest banners of the time like Subodh Mukerji, BR Chopra, Shakti Samanta. You composed for classics like Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, Naya Daur, Kashmir ki Kali. But later you lost these banners one by one. Why?

I told you I was always a very headstrong person. When I was hired by S Mukerji Productions for Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, I told them that my terms included not just the money part; I also wanted a guarantee that there would be no interference. I said this because the film's director, Raj Khosla, who was a big name, fancied himself as a composer and tried to impose his tunes on the music director. Raj Khosla put up his hands gesturing surrender. But one day, just before the recording, he came up with his own composition. I walked out, telling Mukerji that he should hire Khosla as the music director. That evening, Mukerji came over to my house with a bottle of Black Label to sort out matters. Nobody interfered after that. There is no problem if people want to compose. For example, lyricist Pradeep always did so. But I would never tolerate somebody passing off his tunes as mine. I had problems with BR Chopra too. He hired me for Naya Daur, but because of our common Punjab background, I knew he nursed grievances against me. I was never happy with him and did not work with his banner despite the big success of Naya Daur.

Now to the big question: Why did you never use Lata Mangeshkar? It could not have been only on account of Asha Bhonsle, could it?

I am the only successful music director to have never had a song sung by Lata. People always wonder why. It began ages back, when my mentor, Pancholi, advised me to take Geeta Roy (even before she married Guru Dutt) instead of Lata. I listened to his advice, all the more because I thought Geeta's voice had real character, she was original. After I recorded Elo main haari piya with Geeta for Baazi, the biggest film critic of that period, Raju Bharatan, told me, 'OP you will rise very high in life.' Geeta and I made a good team. Later I came to the conclusion that Asha was a better singer.

I can't believe the reason for never using Lata was all that simple. Aren't you hiding something?

I needed inspiration to compose. As I told you, I am not a trained musician. My musical inspiration always came from women. I got that from the women singers I engaged. They were attracted to me too. You must remember I was a very handsome man in my youth, tall, fair with typical Punjabi good looks. I remember Geeta Roy's father once asked me if I used rouge on my cheeks. I was taken aback by the question. He said Geeta thought so because my cheeks were so red!

Are you suggesting you only took on women singers who romantically sparked something in you?

Yes, something like that. I enjoyed the competition they had trying to please me. I can tell you today, of the lot, Shamshad Begum had the best voice. It was what you could call truly khanakti aawaz. She was right in believing I downplayed her in order to promote Asha.

Even towards the later part of your career, you gave the choice lines to Asha in the duet with Shamshad, Kajra Mohabbatwala from Kismat. Was it conscious?

I must admit it was. I have always been driven by women in my compositions. Believe me, women are a man's greatest inspiration and also greatest weakness. Coming back to the Lata-Asha issue, I must tell you Asha was a very possessive woman. She also had certain vocal abilities that Lata or even Shamshad never had. I gave my best composing for Asha and she gave her all singing for me.

Which is you personal favourite among all the songs Asha and you made together?

I can't say, there are so many of them...

I know, but try and select a few...

Actually, it is Chayen se humko kabhi from Pran Jaye.

I am happy to hear that. It's my favourite Asha-OP number too. But she never accepted the award for it. Why?

She got the Filmfare for the best female singer that year. But by the time it was announced, our relationship had collapsed. She was very bitter about the whole thing. So she refused to turn up to receive the honour..

Nayyar Saab, you had problems with male singers too. Even Mohammad Rafi, who was known to be hassle-free, stopped singing for you and you had to take Mahendra Kapoor in later years. Why did you have such fights?

This is not totally correct. Rafi was a thorough gentleman, a mild-mannered person and very professional. I had no serious problems with him. We had a tiff once only because I insist on punctuality. Once he came two hours late for a recording. He was very apologetic saying he got delayed by repeated re-takes at a Shankar Jaikishan recording. But I was furious by then. I had waited just to make a point. So, as soon as he entered the recording studio, I called pack-up after putting in a bill of Rs 12,000 as my fees for the day. He was very upset with me. But then, I was not in the habit of waiting for anybody; even if Asha came in 10 minutes late I used to pull her up in front of everyone. But Rafi and I sorted things out later. He sang for me again in Ek baar muskura do. Rafi, I tell you, was a saintly man, I liked him very much.

Do you listen to today's film music? Who do you like among the current crop of female singers?

Honestly, now I find it funny that there are songs at all in our films! When I look back, I think it was all rather amusing and I sometimes can't believe we composed so seriously for contrived song sequences. Sometimes I do listen to new songs. But I find today's music and lyrics have no dum, they are all very artificial. We had such fine lyricists those days. Of course, I was choosy then too, never worked with some of the star lyricists of my time. My preference was for Shakeel Badayuni, Rajinder Krishan and, above all, Shamsul Huda (SH) Bihari. Of the new crop of singers, Alka (Yagnik) and Kavita (Krishnamurthy) are talented. They also come from good, educated backgrounds, not like singers in our time.

You held your ground against Shankar-Jaikishan, the most popular music director duo of the times with the biggest banners in their pocket. What was the competition like?

There was no competition, I never believed in that. But once I met Shankar at a druggists' store. He stopped me to say, 'Hum ghabratey hain toh sirf tujhse’. I told him, 'I respect you Sir, you are my senior’. That was it. There is never any creative competition in this industry; only money talks. So, there are no friends, no enemies, only interests.

But it must be flattering that just a few years ago Tushar Bhatia composed songs for Andaz Apna Apna that were clones of OP Nayyar's music. Did he meet you to seek inspiration?

No I never met him. As I told you, I don't like meeting people these days. But yes, I heard the songs; they were good. People used to talk about the Nayyar gharana in Hindi film music.

Since you were quite a ladies' man in your youth, you must have had some favourites among actresses. Who were they?

Madhubala, of course. Although I must tell you that Shama, who never made a big name for herself, was better than Madhubala. But Madhubala was such a fan of mine she told producers she would charge Rs 15,000 less for a film whose music was composed by me. We worked together in many movies like Howrah Bridge, Jaali Note, Mr and Mrs 55, Phagun, Do Ustad. I had a rehearsal room on the third floor of Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi. At lunchtime, she would sneak up to meet me and often we shared lunch. She respected me a lot. Madhubala was not only stunningly beautiful but also a very sensitive, warm person. No wonder Kishore Kumar was besotted with her so much that he converted, became Khalid Khan, just to marry her.

How did you stumble across the idea of making the hoof beat of horses as your standard taal? Was it original?

Basically, it is the beat of Punjab. People don't remember any more, but the melodies composed by our early greats - music directors like Ghulam Haider, RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick - were also very earthy and rhythmic. If you have heard Pankaj Mullick's Chale pawan ki chaal, you will recall that song too had hoof-beats as the background music. I used to like that song a lot. In that sense, my horse trot was not entirely original. But I composed songs with that beat, people liked it and it became my trademark.

Finally, let me ask you once again, are you sure you have no regrets living in this way, far from everybody and everything?

You have stirred many memories in me. I have been so happy talking to you about old times. Nobody cares for people like us any more, not that I want people around me. Because you have brought some cheer to me today, let me be very honest and tell you that my only regret is that I have no regrets. Believe me I am very happy. But at moments, I do keep remembering a sher I want you to also hear:

Aashiyan apna loota apni nazar ke saamne,

Ho ke beghar main khada apne ghar ke saamne.

(My beautiful world crashed before my very eyes/I stand homeless outside my own home)

Make whatever you will of this!

On Rape and Rapists in India

2012-12-18T19:27:00.004+05:30

A bit early, but this is the full, unedited opinion piece that shall be in tomorrow's Pioneer.

Enough is Enough!

This is not about Delhi or Mumbai or the countless small towns and villages where sexual violence is perpetrated upon women. This is about India and about our society. The brutality that was visited on a girl in a bus in Delhi on Sunday night was beyond the realm of adjectives to describe the emotions that I felt when the full horror of the case became apparent.

My wife and I were in the same mall that evening, watching the same show as this girl and her friend; I do not know whether we saw them or bumped into them, but to think that something like this could happen to her? How depraved would your mind need to be for that. I do not know who she was, all that I do know is that as fellow citizen of Delhi and India, I was appalled and ashamed in a way that I have never been before.

Every day, in every newspaper including this one you read reports about rapes. You often read them only because they have occurred in Delhi or another major city. Thousands of violent sexual attacks are never written about because they take place in villages and the police do not even bother. While Mrs Jaya Bachchan raised a valid point in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, in the state she represents, just the other day, a policeman raped a rape victim who had gone to him to seek justice.

Excuses are given by apologists that women should not work late, or wear ‘provocative’ dresses or drink and ape ‘Western’ culture. These same people claim to hate the Taliban, but cannot see how they are little different from those they claim to hate. These people would protest today if a reformer like the great Raja Rammohan Roy lived in our time; they would protest if a clearly misogynistic practice such as Sati was banned today in the name of tradition. Several of my friends have daughters, and I am sure they want their girls to grow up, live life and be successful in whatever career they choose and not just be housewives under purdah.

Worse, in Mumbai, over the past year, three young men have been brutally murdered because they objected to their female friends being objectified and molested. Shockingly in the first case, the police initially refused to act because of political exigency. I do not know how this reflects on our society, if we allow vote-bank politics or self-styled political leaders like a goon in Punjab to molest women and then kill her father, a policeman when he objected.

A depraved man killed and possibly ate his victims in a house less than 20 kilometers from this office, and was not caught for years, and years later his case still drags on through our labyrinthine legal process. A young man who raped a foreigner was hidden by the state machinery of another state because his father was a senior policeman. And we outraged about all these cases on television and on social media, and then we forgot about them when the next issue came to mind.

This is not about politics, or who is in political power. This is about us, as Indians to stand up and say that enough is enough. This is about the need to punish those who commit these crimes. While we pray for the quick recovery of the girl, her living might mean that the animals who committed the crime might also live. As much as I might have questioned the right of the state to take away the right to life in the past, in this case I do feel that the death penalty is warranted and should be put in the statute.

Beyond that, rapists and molesters have to be named and shamed publicly. There will be people who say that this will violate their human rights, but I would argue that we should go beyond just shaming them and also punish them and their families socially and economically. Until and unless the punishment matches the crime, the actions of these criminals will not change.

We need to stand up, as men or women and say enough is enough. This is not the society we want our children to grow up in.

Enough is Enough.

Microsoft Who?

2012-12-03T17:34:00.001+05:30

This is my column from today's Pioneer, but I would refer back to a story I did for Business Today way back in late 2004, when I interviewed Steve Ballmer for the first time. Now Ballmer is a very loud man, you don't quite understand how loud the man is until you meet him, a complete contrast to Bill Gates, whom I interviewed many years later and I must admit, it was an honour to interview him. This question and answer that I am quoting below had loud guffaws, now even in 2004, Google was getting quite big although they were not the monolith they are today, so the answer was surprising to say the least.

The search service that you have launched to take on Google is a major part of your future strategy. But, honestly, don't you think it's a bit late?
Google was late. Google is what, the third big search phenomenon. Yahoo was once big. Now Google is hot and Google can get cold too. Google didn't invent search.

This is was when Microsoft was relaunching their search engine - then called Live! Search. The Live! system worked excellently for the Xbox, which I still believe is an excellent gaming system, and with Kinect possibly the most advanced game system in the world. Yet, Microsoft has become increasingly irrelevant in today's world. This is The Economist piece that I am referring to.

The new Microsoft Windows 8 operating system is quite nice to use; both on traditional computers and on mobile phones.

Although, there are people who think that Microsoft has gone a tad too far in trying to make everything look the same, and to be fair, Windows 8 on a computer feels quite nice when one initially uses it, it might get a bit irritating after some time, as users do expect ‘proper’ computers to be a bit punchier.

So, it was not surprising that Steven Sinofsky, the guy behind Windows 8 left Microsoft (or was asked to leave, depending on what you believe) days after Windows 8 devices were unveiled to the world. Here is the problem with Microsoft, while they continue to dominate the corporate environment, they have been bypassed in the consumer world.

Using a Windows 8 smartphone recently, the operating system did feel very intuitive although not much of an evolution to Windows Phone 7.5. That said, Microsoft’s biggest mistake of recent years was when they missed the smartphone bus that Apple, and then the Samsung-Google pairing took. Windows smartphones such as Nokia’s Lumia series are nice devices, but, it would be a stretch to call them ‘must-have’ devices. On the other hand, the rush at DLF Place Mall when the Apple iPhone 5 launched, even though the cheapest iPhone 5 was Rs45,000 was amazing.

The Economist recently described the world of the warring American technology giants as being similar to the mythical middle-ages world of the Game of Thrones. The companies that were covered were — Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook. The last-mentioned company has next to no profits and only $4.7 billion in revenues. In fact, Microsoft is still a massive company, with annual revenues of $73.7 billion and profits of over $16 billion; only Apple betters it. Yet, it is not just The Economist that ignores it in articles talking of the future of technology. Everybody does.

The company still makes some stunning hardware, and has some very innovative consumer technology up its sleeve. But that is all in the Xbox gaming division. Its foray into music players with the Zune stalled, and its push into smartphones has had tepid results. And Windows 8 is up against a resurgent Apple; while Microsoft will win the corporate sales battle, consumers are flocking into Apple stores across the world for computers, tablets and phones.

Can the company recover? If it recognises its rivals, maybe. I recall an interview I did of Steve Ballmer, the Chief Executive of the company in 2004, when he came to inaugurate the Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) in Hyderabad. “Google who?” was one of his responses to a question I posed about Google. I do not know if this was Ballmer at his bombastic best or if that was denial; in retrospect it seems like the latter.

The Microsoft-IBM battle of the 1980’s was legendary and Microsoft became the dominant technology company of the 1990’s. But with Bill Gates becoming more famous today for trying to help the impoverished rather than founding and building Microsoft; the company has evolved into a form much like its old rival IBM. Important and crucial for the technology world, but it has become a brand that increasingly works behind the scenes with some fascinating but niche consumer products.

Whether that is a good of bad thing, we will leave for history to judge, but the decline of Microsoft, at least from a top-of-mind recall perspective, just highlights the speed of the technology world. And as such is a cautionary tale to the likes of Google, Amazon and Facebook.

Driving the Alto 800, Maruti’s ‘new’ entry-level warrior

2012-11-07T17:05:00.002+05:30

I should really begin this review of sorts with a disclaimer. I owned a Maruti Alto for seven and a half years between late 2003 and early 2011 until I switched over to my current ride, a Hyundai i20. That said, my association with Maruti’s traditional old 796cc engine has been a very long one, my father owned Maruti Van for a few years and I learnt a lot of my driving on two Maruti 800’s in the late 1990’s.

Not exactly good looking is it?

In fact, I would go as far as to say, that almost everyone who is above the age of 30 who drove a car as a youngster has experienced this engine, and over 10 million of these engines have come out of the Maruti plant in Gurgaon.

What is quite certain is the fact that the new ‘Alto 800’ will add a few million more to that number, the 796cc engine block still has a bit of life in it. The sad part is that in our fuel-economy conscious world, Maruti has tuned the engine in such a way that it has managed to suck out most of the fun of the unit when they fitted it in the new-look Alto.

Yes, the new Alto 800 has better fuel economy than both the outgoing Alto and the Maruti 800, which it also (sort of) replaces in markets where Bharat Stage 4 fuel norms are being rolled out. But if the boy racer in each of us wants to see the needle move, this is not the car for you. Forget a 0-100 kmph time, I did not even attempt that, the car feels sluggish in a third-gear grunt between 40-60 kmph; something the old 800 and Alto could manage much more easily. Then again, maybe I am not the target market for this car.

This car inherits Maruti's two top car brand titles and merges them into one. I won't be surprised if this becomes the '800' only (see the font sizes on the logo) once the old Maruti 800 is withdrawn from all markets by early 2014 as I predict

Which brings us to the second aspect of this new car. It channelizes both the Alto and the 800 in its name, not surprising, but also quite indicative of the market Maruti is targeting, the first-time owner who does not drive all that much. This is a perfect car for someone wanting to buy their recently of-legal-age child a car. The top-end LXi that I was testing even had a driver-side airbag although there is no fitment of a left-hand side mirror or a prismatic night rearview mirror.

Somehow I find the tail-light cluster on this car better than that on the Ertiga

Let us take a look at the competition to the Alto 800, it is leagues ahead of the Tata Nano, and the extra cylinder in the Maruti does somehow come through despite the car’s sluggish acceleration, at least it does not lose all its power if and when you decide to turn on the air-conditioner. Then there is the Hyundai Eon, a car which we feel overdoes Hyundai’s ‘fluidic’ design a language a tad, but thanks to the larger 13-inch wheels, has better road handling abilities. Make no mistakes, this is a car built to a price, but an attractive price at that.

That, and the fact that the Eon is a fresher clean-slate design from the ground-up, unlike the Alto which is well, a through makeover on the existing Alto platform. The Hyundai Eon is not that economical, but its slightly bigger and more powerful new engine and fresher looks would on the face of it seem to give it an advantage. Until it comes to the main deciding factor, price. The Alto 800 LXi with airbag costs Rs Rs 3.14 lakh ex-showroom, the Eon with a driver airbag (the Sportz specification) costs Rs 3.81 lakh, more than 20 per cent more. Sure, the Nano is a lot cheaper than both of them, but calling the Nano a car is stretching it. It is a four-wheeler, as Rajiv Bajaj would say.

Neat central console, although the audio system and the AC control positions can be transposed. Your eyes go off the road when you operate the audio system. From experience I can tell you that is not a good thing.

It is not as if Maruti has not changed the Alto a fair bit, even mechanically there are several changes, the Alto 800 even has more headroom and you drive a bit higher than the outgoing car. But that, coupled with the puny 12-inch tyres do not inspire that much confidence in the car’s handling and also make the car look aesthetically odd. In fairness, the car does not handle badly at all, but again some of the zip of the old 800 has been lost so you are never really driving fast enough to really push the car’s road holding abilities.

As far as interiors go, the new taller shape of the car is just the start of wholesale changes. The car has new, thinner seats that are not very comfortable. There is increased headroom, but given that I am 5’11” and seem to have ample headroom, frankly a bit too much given that the average Indian male is not that tall. The seats could have done with a height adjustor and with the steering also not adjustable, it takes a while to really get into a comfortable driving position. I miss the seats, rather the seat cushions on the old Alto and 800. The thinner seats have one advantage, they improve rear legroom considerably. The Alto is a small car, make no mistakes about that but rear legroom is not half as bad as you expect.

Very basic display, and I actually do not like the move towards digital fuel gauges

The central console though is well designed and has quite a lot of storage area, even the glove box and passenger side are well designed. Maruti’s plastics quality have always been very good, and while there are signs that the company has reduced some elements from here and there, plastic quality is superior to some more expensive cars. The boot is also surprisingly spacious, although in the factory-fitted CNG model expect to suffer a smaller boot thanks to the CNG.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Alto 800 will be a best-seller, Maruti claims that they have a backlog of 30,000 orders for the car already. The fact that the Alto 800 will be available with a factory-fitted CNG kit for between Rs 70,000-50,000 more depending on the model ought to drive up sales even higher, no matter what the fate of gas from the KG-D6 reservoir. CNG powered cars are already boosting Maruti’s sales in the territories where CNG is widely available – Delhi-NCR, Greater Mumbai and Gujarat.

But I miss the old Alto. Maybe because I owned one for so many years and because it was the first car I ever owned.

Value for Metal

2012-10-31T15:08:00.001+05:30

The Renault Duster will become the entry-level Utility vehicle of choice, but is it that good?

Can't be described as 'good looking' but definitely utilitarian

Driving the Renault Duster one could not help getting this overwhelming feeling that the car lacked something. Maybe it was the fact that the car left very out of place. Something about it did not advertise the fact that it was 2012. The Duster is a car of its time but still felt a bit dated, this car felt very 2002 rather than 2012. Then again, many cars in India feel dated, including the car that the Duster is quite obviously up against the Scorpio.

Make no mistakes, the Duster is tremendously good value, no matter which version you buy. The small 1461cc diesel engine has a turbocharger that after 2000rpm can really give you a kick up your backside. And there is a lot of space inside, it feels more spacious than any comparable vehicle in its class. The French carmaker have also equipped the Duster with a petrol engine option, but you would be crazy to buy a petrol car nowadays unless you have really small commutes.

Real world economy was around 11 kilometers to the litre in city driving according to the car’s own computer. There are two diesel engine choices, the first is the 85 horsepower version of the same engine with a smaller turbocharger, which makes the Duster feel really underpowered. Go for the 110 horsepower model.

The steering and seating position is quite decent

Better still, the Duster sits a bit lower than the competition, heck, park it next to a Maruti WagonR and the Duster visually looks lower. This slightly lower height, actually gives the Duster tremendously good handling characteristics. You can also adjust the seat height and steering position quite a fair bit, it takes time to get it perfect and the Duster lacks an electric seat, but once you get the seat right, driving is actually quite fun.

In that sense, the Duster is very European, even though it is in fact a Dacia which is a Romanian company owned by Renault. But now, even Eastern Europe is Europe and in terms of build quality the Duster cannot be faulted even though one has to crib about the quality of plastics which make the Duster feel a little bit downmarket.

So good handling, a better ride-quality than the competition, more than enough power by Indian standards, although not quite enough to set one’s pulse racing, so what is not right with the Duster. A bit of everything, honestly. Ergonomically, the positioning of the outside mirror adjustment know is plain wrong on the top models, as it is placed under the hand-brake. The seats while not uncomfortable, could be better and well, the best way to put this is that the Duster feels as if it was built to a price.

The centre console is not that easy to manipulate, operating the air-con is not easy, nor is attempting to make a phone call. The Duster has steering mounted controls, but those take a bit of getting used to. And the quality of plastics is not that great.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, because for the price that Renault charges for the Duster you are getting a lot. And when you stack it up against the completion which is made by Renault’s erstwhile partner in India – Mahindra; the Duster feels more modern, particularly in the handling stakes. But Renault India priced the car quite low to grab market share, and have already raised the price of the Duster by between Rs 35,000-40,000; so if you want to buy one do so as quickly as you can.

Renault Duster

Price: Starts at Rs 7,49 lakh – Model tested Duster Diesel RxZ Rs 11,39 lakh

Death of a (slightly preposterous) Dream

2012-10-24T17:12:00.003+05:30

This is a piece I wrote for NitiCentral.

In defence of Vijay Mallya, the man had a dream and an ambition to create a global carrier to rival Saeed Makhtoum’s Emirates Airline. But unlike Emirates or the other middle eastern carriers, Mallya did not have supertanker loads of oil money to back him, although Emirates was set up by the Dubai government as a foil for when the oil ran out (and in fairness makes enough money from operations nowadays). And unlike Singapore Airlines, Mallya did not have a dedicated government who were to use an airline as a symbol of the country. Mallya instead modeled his airline on Virgin Atlantic, an airline started by British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson.

A journalist once called Mallya the Richard Branson of India, and despite the flowing locks of hair and the beards, Branson’s far more scraggy beard, Mallya was little like Branson. Primarily because Branson had learnt his trade while in school, becoming a music entrepreneur when he was 17. At the same age, those who know Mallya said he mainly raced Standard Herald’s down Kolkata’s Lower Circular Road.

But make no mistakes, Kingfisher Airlines set a new precedent for passenger service and comfort, and also became a flying billboard for India’s largest beer brand. Following the dictat of any publicity is good publicity, Mallya made sure that he, not anyone else from the management of the airline, always stayed in the headlines. He drove a well-oiled publicity machine. And in a way the horrendous publicity the man is receiving nowadays is a stark reminder of the adage, live by the sword, die by the sword.

It would have all been good, had Mallya been using some of his own money. As it stands, almost all of Kingfisher was run by money provided by banks; and mainly public sector banks at that. Now, while the banks have thanks to some of Mallya’s friends in high places provided him a lifeline by giving him funds and converting some debt into equity it looks increasingly likely that they will have to take a massive write-down on the airline. And the Indian consumer and taxpayer will end up paying for it one way or another, banks affected by this are almost certain to raise charges stealthily to cover their losses.

This is already leading to massive palpitations in the banks, fearful of audits by the CAG or questions being raised by the CVC, which they almost certainly will be. And at a time when India’s fiscal deficit is booming thanks to massive dole projects, this is a massive amount of money thrown down the drain. Mallya has been talking for over a year about an investor, but this ‘investor’ is looking like a mythological creature.

Few investors would want to buy an airline with no real assets, as they own none of their own aircraft, no office building, unhappy employees and a management living in la-la land. The only tangible ‘asset’ Kingfisher Airlines has are its landing slots, and the slots do not belong to the airline. Heck, as of now they do not even have a flying license. Even if Kingfisher survives this; and if they do it will be by far and away the most incredible act of survival in Indian corporate history; Mallya’s reputation is so tarnished that it would be difficult for him to buy or lease planes and as he says clearly in Kingfisher’s welcome video “personally select” the air-hostesses.

It is hard not to feel sympathetic to Kingfisher employees, but there is a feeling that they are like victims of domestic violence who do not reach out for help until it might be too late. Like many an abused wife, they bought the promises said over and over again, promises that were repeatedly broken. Now, it has come down to threats and now the Chief Executive Sanjay Aggarwal says that he believes the promise of three months salary to the employees of Kingfisher Airlines in lieu of seven months pay is “fair”.

The biggest tragedy in this sorry tale is that it was allowed to go on for so long. Kingfisher was a good airline while it lasted in terms of service, and they had incredibly dedicated employees. Some of my best flights have been on the airline. But like several other airlines before, it was too good to be true.

POST-SCRIPT: It appears that some Kingfisher employees have agreed to be paid part of their salaries and return to work as the management of the airline indulged in some good old-fashioned union busting. However, while Kingfisher will manage to raise some funds to pay off salaries, they will have a Herculean task in managing to pay off all their creditors

Now Kingfisher employees are claiming that these are liesbeing circulated by the management.

Technology Vs. Patriarchy

2012-10-23T12:48:00.000+05:30

My column on technology in The Pioneer today.

Rapid changes to our society thanks to technology will happen. But we have to vote out the politicians who demand that such technology be rolled back. Which is why we should also fight hard to protect the freedom to use means that empower people

In the West it took a war and the necessities of production to power women’s empowerment; ‘Rosie The Riveter’ being the most powerful symbol of how women finally took their place in the post-industrial workplace. In India, we just provided tens of thousands of men to that war; and only now, 65 years after independence, is where these sexual boundaries are being broken.

It did not take a war, but a technological revolution to do that. Here is the funny thing: Several Americans might crib and cry about business process outsourcing and how by being ‘Bangalored’ tens of thousands of American jobs have been taken away. But, the BPO revolution did not just supercharge the Indian economy in the early parts of last decade; it also did something far more important; it brought hundreds of thousands of women in India in to the formal workforce.

Coupled with massive improvements in methods of mass-production, which made the production and availability of everything from mobile phones to automobiles a lot easier and also far more affordable, things changed in India. BPOs and call-centres were just another piece in the jigsaw, albeit a very important one in the middle.

It was not as if women did not participate in the workforce earlier or that women were not in positions of influence in the world of business earlier. But this was a quantum change. Women were now joining the formal workforce and earning decent amounts of money from sections of society where earlier they did not. Cheap and affordable means of communication and transport gave them even more freedom.

Which is why the fight-back by the old patriarchy today seems very bizarre. This column has written before about how khaps are frightened on the mobile phone because it allows for boys and girls to interact in a society that would rather stay segregated. The problem is that the old patriarchy still wields power today; and keep in mind that the old patriarchy has women who adhere to its r ules and in some cases are leaders.

Technology has played an interesting role not just in breaking down gender barriers. It would not take too much to deduce that technology is free of caste and creed. And this scares the old upper-caste patriarchy even more. After all, who cares what the caste of the person is at the other end of the phone call. Try as the patriarchy might to put barriers in the ownership of mobile phones, the fact is that mobile companies are driven by commercial need to expand their reach. The fact is now clearly established that mobile phones can improve the economic prospects of owners. The greater financial freedom afforded by using such technology is what really frightens the old patriarchy.

Yet, the latest pronouncements of the old patriarchy against technology and globalisation is evidence that it is scared of losing that power. The statement by Bahujan Samaj party leader Balraj Saini should be seen in that respect. That said, the mobile phone has been a massive tool of dalit empowerment too. Even though it would be far too simplistic to solely base the rash of rape incidents in northern India because of the fear of the patriarchy, it appears that rape is being used as a weapon here. Ironically, these incidents are taking place not very far from Gurgaon, the poster-city (in north India at least) for change.

Balraj Saini’s comment was not the first of its kind against the use of mobile phones by women, and it will not be the last. Equally ridiculous was West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s comment about the mingling of girls and boys, leading to social upheaval, and of course the classic comment by a self-styled khap leader saying that eating chowmein is leading to rapes.

There will also be agitations against the internet and cable television; in fact some ‘community leaders’ already have agitated. Much like some aspirants to political power would like us to revert back to the stone-age when it comes to economics; others would like us to revert to the old, backward social order.

Technology also scares the living daylights out of politicians and bureaucrats who are scared of the information liberalisation that modern communication technology brings. Indians for far too long have been happy with their lot in life, but thanks to the internet they can read news from all over the world, and even when politicians impose blackouts of television channels (as some have) when negative news appears, the internet makes that news available.

While one can fault many Government departments at the Centre and States for bad website design, there is a tremendous amount of data available online, even in India. If enough people played around online, they can also find papers and documents that pin down instances of corruption and crony capitalism.

But the genie has been let out of the bag, and in a way the Americans have won the cultural war. While MTV and McDonalds played their part, it is the technology that was developed and commercialised in the United States that broke the back of the patriarchy. Everything from mass-production to the internet, they did it and the rest of the world copied it.

Instead of fighting it, we should enable more technology to come into the lives of Indians. Yes, the rapid changes to our society thanks to this will create problems, and problems are there. But we have to vote out the politicians who demand that technology be rolled back. Which is why we should also fight, and fight hard to protect the freedom to use mobile phones and the internet. There are already laws to protect both privacy and the rights of those who have been abused online.

Strengthen our legal system, do not impede technology. Both will help India in the long run. The country had a modern, civilised societal structure in the distant past. We should not revert to the social structure imposed during the dark medieval ages thanks to politicians that are too afraid to upset their supposed vote-banks.