I am just back from my very short trip to Muscat, Oman where i have spent the most precious years of my life probably during my undergrad degree. I am a half-pat, not a complete expat as i always had one leg in Mumbai where ever i went. Negotiation of internal identities is an eternal ongoing process. As i have lived in Muscat for so long every trip even this one after ages, seems very familiar and i had expected the usual, sometimes very positive as stability is appreciated in data packets from time to time in order to feel grounded.

I really got a ‘pleasant’ shock when the immigration officer when he wished me: ‘Welcome to Oman’, as this was the first time any one has ever told me that! The roads in Muscat seems the same, albeit better this time. New Intersections and Highways cut travel times from my residence to the main traditional shopping district called Ruwi, and Old ‘Musqat’ and Muttrah. 

I had a nice ‘Fishy’ meal with my parents at the Yacht parking complex of Oman’s super-rich known as Marina Bandar which has a tony pool side and sea side pub which serves brilliant continental fare. It also one of the fistful of places in Oman which serve both beer and pork which are antithetical to the local cultural patterns. I dug into some delightfully yummy Beef Stroganoff with some rice, which i normally avoid. The Gulf has a tendency to load on the kgs as there is something ‘lazy lamhe’ about the ambiance there.

I guess the only thing which changes in Muscat are some new buildings like the new parliament or Majlis Al Shura complex or the vacant plot beside my apartment block where i used to play cricket in being occupied by a multi-storey structure. Memories seem relegated to Real Estate Market Dynamics in the upmarket Al Khuwair area in Muscat, as is in any other emerging metropolis in the Gulf.

I went with a couple of friends to a nice continental diner called D’Arcy’s Kitchen in the Shatti Al Qurum area, which is the happening diplomatic area district of town. Beside the beach again, and along a string of cool eateries is one of the reasons Muscat remains etched in my memory. The Irish Pub at the Sheraton@Qurum Beach with Fish n Chips plus a couple of pints, was refreshing too while watching EPL, a surreal experience where the culture is as different as chalk to cheese, inside the pub in contrast to what it is outside.

Muscat Airport which was one of the smallest of the airports in the Gulf is now in expansion mode and is turning in to an aviation hub with its diversification towards tourism as Oman is a negligible Oil Producer in contrast to its neighbor across the road Hatta Border i.e. The UAE. Every Gulf State is now trying to be an aviation hub with Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi already major hubs within one hour flying distance.  There honestly seems to be a glut in a recessionary economy is not the best step forward going by economic rationale, but Gulf Rulers fueled by petrodollars buck the trend normally. Singapore Airlines is backed by the State as well, but is run according to market forces.

Every place reinvents itself however static it is. We sometimes need to move away from a place which we care about in order to notice the change. All that’s needed is a fresh lens. It was fun to re-engage with the place which i thought i knew pretty well. We can only know the place as much as we engage in. In a known place we try to detect and imbibe the finer nuances unlikely to be known to the first time traveler. Looking forwards towards re-exploring more explored territories.

Cafes are places which i love in general; a warm cup of coffee, some music and a book in my hands just make for a prefect setting, whether i am sitting with a pretty girl or not (naah, a pretty girl’s company adds color to the conversation). Cafes are awesome places to chill, observe interesting fashion trends and gently study group behavior. The more aesthetic cafes i have been to are on the waterfront or the beach. A cup of coffee in Clarke Quay, Singapore or a Jumeirah Beach Dubai are beautiful. Cafes in Star Hotels are the places where one can see celebrities in flesh and blood, and not on TV.

Malls are the Public spaces which people share in order to have social interactions all over the world. This is indeed a symbol of Americanized monoculturization but it is indeed very function- hence it thrives. The Starbucks and the Coffee Beans of the World are my comfort zone. A cup of coffee at Shatti Al Qurum Starbucks is something i look forward to. Even the Cafe Coffee Day opposite my apartment block in Mumbai is a place i hang out after work. As Starbucks is not available in India yet, Costa is decent substitute with its cafe Mocha. Barista Lavazza has a smooth Moroccan Mint Green Tea which is nice on my tastebuds.

Now i will take you on a little tour of my favorite coffee shops in Singapore. The Pacific Coffee Company in Harbor Front Singapore at Vivo City Mall is my current Favorite. The view overlooking the Passenger Ferry Terminal is priceless. The Coffee Coniessuer at Clarke Quay with its Straight Black ‘Columbia Supreme’ is the best Black Coffee ever. The Tully at the Orchard Central has a better Coffee of the Day than even a Starbucks. The Turkish Cafes along the Corniche in Muscat have their own essence too.

A Cafe is not only about the coffee, it is the ambiance, the culture, the service, the people and most importantly the conversation. Lets see where my next cuppa takes me next as I don’t like to dilute my Caffeine stream 🙂 

As a kid growing up in his formative years in the 1990’s, in an era where satellite TV was a luxury to now where we have set top boxes for DTH, we have indeed come a very long way. The early 1990’s were a time immediately after the liberalization agenda was announced although the full extent of the reform agenda was not doled out until 1994. The Cinema we left behind in the late 1980’s was Ram Lakkhan, Tezab, and Maine Pyaar Kiya were US returned Prem was busy romancing the pretty plain jane girl. This was the time when Khandaan was more vital than Kanoon or Family Prestige more than Law or the powerful are the law.

The 1990’s was welcomed with the brilliant soundtrack of Aashiqui (and Kumar Sanu) and the youthful exuberance of Phool Aur Kaante with Ajay Devgn on two motorcycles in the opening shot.  Then we move on to the anti hero of Jaalaad, Dar and Baazigar. There was a sentiment of moving against the system. These were still residues of the license raj ethos. Then we move on to the mid 1990’s with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge revolutionizing cinema for the next two decades with their genre of feel good family cinema made for diaspora viewing. The fruits of liberalization were being felt by the middle class as everyone had a VHS player or even a music system plus color TV at home.

The mid 1990’s was also a period of intense underworld gang rivalry. Bhiku Mhatre from Satya was as known as Raj from DDLJ and again Prem from Hum Saath Saath Hain and Hum Aapke hain Kaun. Sanju Baba from Vaastav and Hathyaar was iconic too.  Dil Toh Paagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai were films which epitomized the post liberalization generation for whom Branded Attire, Overseas Education and Consumerist Culture were a day to day affair. 

Poverty, Revolution, Struggle, Challenge to the system was very 1980’s- people seemed to embrace affluence and globalization with open arms. This sentiment was sealed with the release of Mohabaatein which was a feel good college romance whose protagonist was a violin teacher Mr. Raj Aryan and his confrontation with the Narayan Shankar- the dean of the school, was glossy escapist cinema glorified. It seemed no one had time to watch cinema that was real. Salman Khan with Pyaar Kiya toh Darna Kya and Judwaa was again cinema that defined Bollywood and Society in the 1990’s- a transitionary neither global nor local, may be more local in flavor….. 

The Triple Helix Model of Innovation essentially has three strands: Academia, Government and Industry to foster an innovation economy. This is necessarily true of the industrialized world but the real Triple Helix in Developing Economy is the relationship between resources to be exploited in the emerging markets, the internal private sector with its technological prowess and monetary muscle and the often feeble home administration playing facilitator to the corporate forces and multi lateral agencies.

Development in terms of Infrastructure and access to livelihoods are the main priority of governments in the developing world and often Graft is the negative externality of the process. Corruption eats in to progress, but development is  given more priority. Development normally reduces poverty levels and a middle class grouping emerges. But at a certain inflection point, graft stifles growth. This is the case with India currently with this phase with the skeletons of a scam a day popping out of the closet. Spectrum, Coal and now Thorium, our kids now will know all the name of minerals by heart, all thanks to our present dispensation including the rare metals grouping in the periodic table of elements which hardly anyone remembers beyond grade 10th.

Valuation of extractable resources in developing countries prior to extraction is contestable, but the nexus between politicos and the corporate sector for resources is natural yet un holy. Graft in a queer manner, can speed up the developmental process like in many a country like Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia. Graft in a way can be categorized as an unofficial transactional cost of operating in a developing nation. No one can deny that day to day fact. 

The question which arises here is whether it is the lack of institutions with the teeth to bite can account for accountability in the allocation process. On an even more basic level- what is more precious; power from coal fired plants or a super transparent and super long time time consuming process for resource allocation. I will let the reader decide for himself.

This is a radical article title, i agree but as a social media affecionado and quasi activist which i believe every person should be if he has undergone college. I spend a lot of time on social media thanks to my Blackberry and having lived alone for the past few years of my life, Social Media platforms have been a loneliness killer after work.  Social Media is fun and has loads of positives- network with colleagues, connect with long lost friends from varied geographies and collaborate across distributed work system to synergise with the best minds.

I have friends all across the world and Social Media truly is a blessing in that respect to keep in touch. I remember a short twitter worthy poem by Pritish Nandy on Twitter itself in his new poetry book which if if i paraphrase it correctly goes something like this- Why do i need followers on Twitter, only to kill my solitude away one by one. This line spoke to me like a clarion call.

Social Media is truly electronic narcotics, addictive to the hilt. I went on a digital fast during my very brief trip to South East Asia recently and experienced a new experience of bonding with my friends when I am in the real world, dealing with flesh and blood and not pixels and bytes. Ever since Hi5, and Orkut and the Facebook phenomenon, we are bonding with people superficially as people prefer to meet online even if they are next door neighbors.  I think that is the malaise, people are addicted to their little smart phone or tab screens, doing a flurry on online activity even when the fellow traveler on the MRT needs your help.

We are addicted to the life within the cyber world or the matrix which we have ensconced ourselves in. The virtual world is only an extension of the idiosyncrasies of the real world, sometimes even more than the real one. We have virtual personas to feed, manicure and gloss over. I put my best looking pics as my display pics, i am guilty of the same act too. An act such as unfriending a person on Facebook can have real world implications. It hurts, like someone hurling insults in the real world. Social Media is an unforgiving beast, reputations take time to build but get demolished in equal quick time too.

Social Media is a reality. But this reality is fleeting at best as any other reality. Time for a rethink and get some real world folks to hang out with.

Sustainability is the most loosely used or even an abused term in our public discourse. Everyone seems to be sprinkling the term as the flavor of the season as to be Green to the Gen Y prosumer. Green washing has entered daily lexicon of ours and terms like eco-extremist, growth fundamentalist and green folks are in everyday use. Everyone seems to be using the term, but do we really understand what it really implies? Sustainability literally means very different things to different folks all across the world. Sustainability is its most basic nuance is a local issue in terms of scale. But unless Sustainability as a policy instrument is not infused within the governance framework and funds are not allocated where the measures are need, Sustainability at best would remain a buzz-word.

Nail Ferguson recently wrote a book called Civilization: Six Killer Apps of Western Power. I really liked his usage of the term Killer App. Governance and Sustainability are treated as disjointed entities often. Sustainable Development deals with the rendering of Public Goods like Water, Waste Management and Energy Access. These are also matters on which electorates vote Governments in or vote them out. No Electricity and Bad Waste Management or bad access to clean water are electoral issues in the developing world. But usually these issues are regional subjects and hence the national policy discourse is largely untainted by the significant issues related to sustainability.

Sustainability requires both hard and soft infrastructure; talent and money. Many a time the talent is around, but the money is missing. Defense get the lions share of the budget every year. Traditionally Environmental Ministry’s have been postings to low key politicians. It is not a power centre in short.

Ecological Security impacts all the variables of migration, food and water access, human conflict. Sustainability is the software which can be the compass in building political and social capital. Its high time that Politicians take the business of sustainability governance seriously.

I have been to many diaspora micro towns such as China Towns in the Nanyang, and the Little India’s that dot almost every major international megapolis such as  (Meena Bazaar in Bur Dubai is a mini Sindh) Dubai or even a mini Chennai feel in Brick Fields, KL or a Serangoon or a Veerasamy Road in the Tiny Red Dot. A very unique Bangladeshi diaspora area is the Hamriyah area in Muscat or a Rolla Bank Street in Sharjah where fresh Hilsa Fish from Chittagong is more readily available than Salt Lake in Kolkata!

Diaspora micro communities are a prominent feature of our globalized cultural landscapes. A major criticism with diasporic communities such as South Hall Ealing or a Brick Lane in London are that they are  are ethnic ghettos where communities are are hesitant to integrate within mixed Britannia. Then what is the differentiating factor then between the pre globalization era where racial differentiation and segregation used to be major and a post Berlin Wall break up diaspora Europe.  Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge was pivotal in placing the Indian diaspora in to the mainstream public imagination when in released in 1995, with Raj and Simran on the Eurostar train ride!

Arab diaspora communities are placed in to the mainstream of the thought processes of global main street due to the negative public perceptions surrounding the community. There are Arab diaspora hamlets in Caracas, Rio to Berlin and Singapore. From Lebanese Christian traders who traded with Latin America, among whom was the Father of Global Pop Sensation Shakira to the entrepreneurial Hadramis from impoverished South Yemen who have dominated global trade maritime routes historically. The Saudi Bin Laden Group is from the Al Hadrami Tribe as well. The Al Hadramis have made their mark in Singapore around the Al Juneid and the Arab Street area.

The Arab Street area in Singapore simply enchants me. The Masjid Sultan is the most pretty mosque in an urban area i have been to outside the Middle East. It has a unique character to it. The eateries during during Iftar time during Ramadan are delightful with fare from the Middle East such as Halwa and Baqlawa, that are simply mouth watering. The promenade from the Masjid to the other end of the linear pathway is dotted with tiles and small shops which add to the charm. The Hukkah shops which serve Hummus and Turkish mint tea remind me of turkish cafes dotting the streets of the corniche in Muscat and Abu Dhabi. 

The Salman Khan Starrer Ek Tha Tiger with its track Mashallah demonstrates the impact of Arab culture on Bollywood as the film is shot extensively near the Blue Mosque in Old Istanbul. Agent Vinod was shot in Marakkesh too.

Wardah Book Store which is a tony niche bookstore in Arab Street which keeps an extensive collection of Middle Eastern literature is one of the hidden gems of Singapore according to me. Couple of my most my favorite books are purchased from there, including European Muslim Scholar Tariq Ramadan;s book – The Arab Awakening.

The eateries and the beautifully paved Muscat Street funded by a Gift from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos of the Sultanate of Oman, make it a very unique ethnic hamlet. The place is full of Character, indeed.

Hope to have Turkish Mint Tea and Hummus on a Saturday Late Afternoon at Arab Street , Insha-Allah. Wishing my friends Eid Mubarak.

Last week, I had traveled to Bandung and Jakarta in Indonesia for a conference on Innovation in Developing countries.It was good presenting a paper at a conference after a gap, especially when  I am currently working in applied research as in consulting  and not academic research anymore. Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung was cute and the smallest I had been to ever as we got off the plane and walked on the tarmac to the arrivals building. Silk Air did not bring my bag from Bombay on time from the flight from Singapore where i had a hurried transit. I got my first ever on arrival visa at Indonesia. Today is Indonesia Merdeka Day- Dirghayu Indonesia Raya! There were two welcome staff at the arrivals who dropped me off at our conference hotel- The Grand Royal Pangehar. I went to my room, ordered a Chicken Sirloin Steak and slept off my jet lag. I was woken up by the organizers that i missed the pre conference tour bus, but the contact person Prof. Bayu from ITB was gracious enough to arrange for a car to personally escort me to Angklung workshop- a Javanese Bamboo Instrument Orchestra and a sumptuous Javanese Buffet with delicious ayam, gado gado and rendang. Lovely evening i must admit.

Unfortunately, i had contracted fever that evening and given the fact that i was in the same pair of jeans and shirt for 48 hours didnt help my case, but my bag arrived from the airport to my hotel. I registered for my conference, changed into fresh clothes booked a hotel car to Jakarta and Back for a meeting with some senior executives at the firm that i work for. The seven hour trip to and fro to downtown Jakarta was the highlight of my trip as Bandung Jakarta Expressway remanded me of the Mumbai Pune Expressway or even the taxi ride from KLIA to Suria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The drive through the hills and the tropical greenery was spectacular but the tin roofed hutments had a rural feel to it.

Bandung is a charming University Town with the trappings of the Islamic World and the amenities of the Western culture. The streets are dotted with motorbikes, street side eateries selling Tahu Ikis or Tofu based snacks. I could see signages of a prominent Indian Influences with words such as  (building called) ‘Kartika Chandra’ and Jalan or Street ‘Adhityawarman’ sharing space with Islamic Preachers on Billboards during the Holy Month of Ramadhan.

The interactions with other co-participants from the conference from Japan, Russia, Taiwan to Saskatchewan in Nothern Canada to Mexico was a refreshing experience from the daily grind from Vashi to Saki Naka ( and some good pan India travel i must add) within Mumbai. I have made good friends with whom i shared Kopio and a pint of Bintang, which was not too bad over some relaxing live piano performances at the hotel lounge.

The best conversations are when four folks from four continents have a meal. That is the highlight of any experience to be had. Travel expands the horizons of the mind like no other and Bandung and Jakarta did me a good deal of good in this respect. Wishing my Indo friends- Indonesia Raya and I hope to be back there soon Insha-Allah.

Mumbai seems to be a culturally challenged city. This microcosm of India seems to be segregated in to various sublets of concrete jungles if seen spatially, whether they are tin roofed slums of Dharavi or the skycrapers of South Mumbai affectionately labeled as ‘Town’. In a Times of India article on the 3th of August, 2012 has given a comparative which illustrates Mumbai’s cultural deficiency in terms of museums, art galleries and in general the building blocks of the architecture of culture.

In my humble understanding, for a culture of aesthetics and art  to ferment, the basic ingredient is the luxury of time and space. In Mumbai, distance is not measured in distance but in terms of how much time will it take to reach a particular destination. No one has time to lazy away in order to ponder upon the higher order needs of culture. In Mumbai we have a cutting chai culture not cafe as in Paris or Coffee House on College Street in Kolkata for the proverbial ‘Adda’ or discussion-conversation with friends over a cuppa of ‘cha’ as in Bangla.  The essence of culture is to appreciate and imbibe the the finer elements of life in to our daily existence. Culture cannot emerge from a pre-programmed algorithm. We out here in Mumbai live in our pre-programmed capsules. Creativity and Culture need apt spaces to nurture and evolve just like our smaller evolutionary cousins microbes in the correct pertidish with right micronutrients and atmospheric parameters.

Mumbai has been the emblematic merchant city: Dalal Street is the Temple of Mumbai just like Rabindra Sadan, the theater complex is in Kolkata. Dhirubhai is a demi God in Mumbai, contrast that by an Amartya Sen from Shantiniketan. The myths we believe in are a window in to the cultural crucible of thought of a city. In Mumbai, Politicians control Land, Education and Real Estate, and Culture is not the first priority for politicos from Western Maharashtra who prefer Sugar to Sahitya or Culture in Marathi. The Thackeray Family are more culturally inclined as they are a family of artists.

Culture sadly in Mumbai is sadly not given its space in the limelight as its migrant population is too busy surviving and Culture cannot be monetized as a stock on the stock markets. What Face Value does Culture have?

This post is in response to the observation from many of the interactions that i have had with B School kids who are young chaps fresh out of college or are least aware of the realities of life around them even if they have work experience. These guys are very suave about personal finance: investing in stocks and managing their personal wealth. Almost half of the fresher class in an above average Business School are engineering majors, and as usually predisposed to qaunt and hence finance even if they do not understand the difference between debt and equity. Anything concerning quantitative aptitude in India is considered cool because intelligence is assessed by the ability to crunch numbers here and not by the ability to communicate coherently or think creatively. It is very much the crab shell mentality that inhibits growth.

Corporate Finance is taught to business school folks and for them the interests of the Firm and its Clients hold the maximum attention. As recent economic history has taught us in the light of the economic recession and current stagflation that we are undergoing, not everything lies in the hands of the ‘Firm’, the Government and the Civil Society at large are influencing more than ever the discourse of the free market, if ever there is an oxymoron of an animal existent such as that. 

 As an Infrastructure Consulting Sector Professional would vouch, most large scale projects are either directly or indirectly funded BY THE government. Even for the ubercool Information Technology Professional, the IT Park in which their glass glazed office blocks are situated are on Tax Fee Special Economic Zones. This translates in to Land and Revenues being indirectly subsidized by tax payer rupees. Again Public Finance kicks in to play.

The ultrasexy Investment Banker who earns huge bucks out of Grad School, is mostly managing Investment Funds which have Government Bonds in it.

Public Finance, International relations, Business Diplomacy are the electives Business Schools should offer in a Multipolar world in which we reside.