April 30, 2009 by apurvadesai
I recently read the wildly entertaining book, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It’s a fiction book, but semi-autobiographical, based upon some of Roberts’ real life experiences as a fugitive from an Australian prison who flees to Bombay and has a wide range of experiences there including living in a slum, joining the Indian mafia, fighting in Afghanistan against the Russians, and acting in Bollywood movies.
In one passage in the book, he writes about the Indian gesture, the head-wiggle (also commonly called the head bobble).
From Shantaram
“No discovery pleased me more, on that first excursion from the city, than the full translation of the famous Indian head-wiggle. Continue Reading »
Posted in Book Review, India, Travel | Tagged Gregory David Roberts, Head Bobble, Head Wiggle, India, Indian Head Bobble, Indian Head Wiggle, Shantaram | 9 Comments »
April 27, 2009 by apurvadesai
The NFL Draft was held and completed this weekend, highlighted by # 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford signing with the Detroit Lions for a 6 yr, $72M contract, with $41M guaranteed. This continues the escalating, record setting trend for annual rookie contracts and is a sizable increase from the contract signed by last year’s # 1 pick Jake Long. In the media overload preceding the draft, I came across this question in SI.com (and NBC sports) senior writer Peter King’s mailbag that King found to be extremely insightful: Continue Reading »
Posted in Sports | Tagged Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Losing NFL Teams, Matthew Stafford, NFL Draft, NFL Draft picks, Peter King, Rookie Contracts | Leave a Comment »
April 22, 2009 by apurvadesai
After the revelation of steroid use by Alex Rodriguez, I wrote about why it made perfect sense to me that the majority of baseball players would take steroids (in the posting — Steroids and Game Theory, also re-posted at Draft MVP.) But the next discussion I’d like to have is about the phrase ‘performance enhancing’, while leaving out the word ‘drugs’. Many of the same reasons that players would risk their health for steroids apply to the use of elective Tommy John surgery or laser eye surgery solely to improve performance. While not illegal, these procedures should create similar concerns as steroid use. However, there hasn’t been much public discussion against these measures, yet there is potentially similar long-term health risks. Continue Reading »
Posted in Sports | Tagged Baseball, Elective Surgery, Laser eye surgery, Performance Enhancing Drugs, Steroids, Tommy John Surgery | 1 Comment »
April 10, 2009 by apurvadesai
Is it possible that wrist watch production and sales could actually be growing? Conventional wisdom is that the always with you devices such as cell phones and ipods have driven down demand for watches, particularly in the younger generation who have grown up with cell phones. Data from 2003-2005 supports this premise– here are some key stats from a Wall Street Journal article in 2005. Continue Reading »
Posted in Consumer Products, India, Technology | Tagged Cell phone, India, Long term planning, Watch, Wrist Watch | 1 Comment »
March 30, 2009 by apurvadesai
Continuing my India trip observations, the next set of observations relates to lifestyle and consumer characteristics I noticed. Parameters surrounding my observations are documented in this initial posting
Lifestyle
Various tidbits related to the changing lifestyle that I noticed in the cities I visited.
Consumer Products and Technology
- Consumer technology advances are quite evident. For example, Tivo like home devices are being advertised more regularly and visible on busy roadway billboards and television ads.
- Satellite and cable television have been a staple for many years, but the number of channels, and western channels, continues to increase.
Continue Reading »
Posted in India, Travel | Tagged Air travel in India, Driving in India, Hyderabad, India, India trip, Lifestyle, NRI, Sports in India | 5 Comments »
March 29, 2009 by apurvadesai
Continuing my India trip observations, the next set of observations relates to the tourist industry, primarily in Kerala. Parameters surrounding my observations are documented in this initial posting.
Tourism
- Our experience with the tour operators of Kerala was exceptional. We found a Kerala tour operator/travel agent while still in the US who arranged for our 6 day stay in four different locations in Kerala- Cochin, Alleppey, Kovalum, and Trivandrum. She planned everything meticulously and truly exemplified service.
- In Cochin, we stayed in a home-stay, a growing tourist concept in Kerala; basically a home where each room is rented to guests who are served meals together; similar to a bed and breakfast. Continue Reading »
Posted in India, Travel | Tagged Alleppey, Cochin, Fisherman, Fishing, Hyderabad, India, India Tourism, India trip, Indian Fishing, Kerala, NRI | 3 Comments »
March 29, 2009 by apurvadesai
Continuing my India trip observations, the next set of observations relates to environmental aspects of society. Parameters surrounding my observations are documented in this initial posting.
Environment
Before the trip, I was warned about the pollution in Hyderabad and that I should try to stay inside during the day. Furthermore, you often read today about the level of consumption increases in places like India and China and the corresponding impact to the environment related to that consumption. Given this, I tried to keep heightened awareness of the environmental and energy practices around me during my trip.
- I found the pollution in Hyderabad not to be as bad as I had expected. Of course, during the day, I was primarily inside a car or indoors, but the times I was walking around during the day, I was expecting that I may cough or be noticeably bothered by the air. Fortunately, I didn’t find that to be the case, but I suspect if I was out walking for extended periods of time daily, my experience may have been different.
- I did, however, notice a few, but not many, motorcycle drivers or passengers wearing a scarf or handkerchief over their mouth and nose due to what I assume was the pollution. Given, their exposure to the open air and the growth in vehicles on the road all around them, the motorcycle drivers seem to be taking the brunt of the pollution. Again, those wearing scarves were clearly the minority, but I suspect this trend will increase over time. Continue Reading »
Posted in India, Travel | Tagged Diesel, Environment, Hyderabad, India, India trip, NRI, Petrol, Water bottles | 1 Comment »
March 15, 2009 by apurvadesai
March Madness is here and that means bracket time. While I’ve religiously filled out NCAA tournament brackets for many years, the last 3 years I’ve also participated in an NCAA auction. A different and fun way to enjoy the madness.
Here’s how it works:
- You get 8 people who physically are together who each have to purchase 8 teams from the 64 team field from an agreed upon fixed budget– basically the entry fee to the auction; in this example, entry fee is $25. So, all 64 slots in the tournament (the 64th through the 68th play in teams, the individual teams wouldn’t be purchased, you could have Winner of the match as the slot to be purchased) will be purchased.
- The teams are purchased in an auction style starting with the overall #1 seed and ending up with #64. This follows the “S” curve to determine the order among teams with the same seeding. Continue Reading »
Posted in Sports | Tagged Brackets, March Madness, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Tournament | Leave a Comment »
March 10, 2009 by apurvadesai
Continuing my India trip observations, the next set of observations relates to primarily Hyderabad’s IT industry. Parameters surrounding my observations are documented in this initial posting
IT Industry
Hyderabad has an active hi-tech scene and after Bangalore, is likely the second largest IT center in India. Below are some observations relating to the hi-tech industry in primarily Hyderabad.
- Six years ago, I noticed many more posters, signs, and billboards advertising IT skills programs teaching .net and java and other technology programs than this year.
- While the number of IT training course signs looked to be fewer than years ago, I noticed many more signs promoting Animation and Visual effects courses in Hyderabad and even Kerala. One of the first animated feature films was released in India and it appears animation is becoming a blossoming industry in India. Continue Reading »
Posted in India, Travel | Tagged HITEC City, Hyderabad, India, India trip, IT, Kerala, NRI | Leave a Comment »
March 9, 2009 by apurvadesai
Continuing my India trip observations, the next set of observations relates to globalization. Parameters surrounding my observations are documented in this initial posting.
Globalization
- Signs of globalization were everywhere; for example, the sheer diversity of automobile brands was much greater than 6 years ago. I saw American brands of Ford and Chevrolet, European brands of Volvo and BMV, Asian brands of Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai. Of course, the Indian brands of Maruti, Tata plus the traditional Ambassador vehicles still make their presence. Even noticed a couple of luxury Porsches.
- Brand diversity in food was also quite evident. McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Hut, Pizza Corner, Dominos, KFC, Baskin Robbins, and a coffee chain called Coffee World all have multiple locations in Hyderabad. Six years ago, majority of those brands were not in Hyderabad. However, in the smaller cities in Andhra Pradesh, I did not see the global food restaurants yet. This time, I even noticed a couple of Mexican, Thai, and Italian restaurants, which I had not noticed in the past. Pizza seems to have become much more popular; a pizza from Pizza Corner (owned by a Swiss parent company) tastes somewhat like a pizza at California Pizza Kitchen, which they will deliver directly to your home. A medium vegetarian pizza was 245 rupees (about $5.30). Continue Reading »
Posted in India, Travel | Tagged 50 cent, Brands, Globalization, Hyderabad, India, India trip, Kerala, NRI, Papa Roach | 3 Comments »
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