An old song to feel positive

The moon belongs to everyone
The best things in life are free
The stars belong to everyone
They gleam there for you and me
The flowers in spring
The robins that sing
The sunbeams that shine
They're yours, they're mine
And love can come to everyone
The best things in life are free
Honey, the moon belongs to everyone
You know the best things in life are free
And the stars, they belong to everyone
They're shining up there for you and for me
The flowers in spring
The robins that sing
The sunbeams that shine
They're yours, they're mine
And love can come to everyone
The best things in life are free
The best things in life are free

CFTRI Mysore, An Institution, so revered...

All of my formative years were spent attending school spending after school hours at the Central Food Technological Research Institute campus in Mysore. This large wooded campus housed my school in addition to my dad's workplace where he spent his entire career in his lab reading,researching and experimenting. Spending 8-10 hours each day schooling,swimming and playing Tennis and Table Tennis at  this campus influenced a lot of my own love for the outdoors (a privilege if you grew up in Indian cities) while teaching us a few life skills in a tropical forest (yes, we had a few acreage of dense forest cover adjoining our school campus with a lot of  wildlife and very old trees. This campus was a gift to the country by the benevolent Maharaja of Mysore in 1948 which Jawaharlal Nehru accepted on behalf of the government of India. Anyone who has had a chance to visit or experience this prestigious institution will probably agree with me about the beautiful environment this campus creates to nurture science and creativity. It is also worth remembering the vision our founding fathers and the Maharaja had towards institution and nation building that was evident in their thoughts,deeds and actions. I have been impressed by HH Maharaja Sri Jaya Chamaraja Wodeyar's ( A well rounded personality with a fine flair for science, arts and literatur) speech (reproduced below) on the occasion of Opening of CFTRI,Mysore

Speech of His Highness Maharaja Sri Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar Bahadur, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Mysore, on the occasion of the Opening of the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore.

Saturday, the 21st October 1950 at 5-30 p.m.

HONOURABLE SRI RAJAGOPALACHARI, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

I FEEL it a privilege to preside on this historic occasion when the auspicious ceremony of formally inaugurating the Central Food Technological Research Institute will be performed by one of the makers and leaders of Independent India, the Honouiable Sri C. Rajagopalachari.

I am indeed happy that this Institute is located in Mysore, and this feeling is born not from any sense of narrow provincialism, but out of a realisation of the service we owe our motherland and the opportunity that the location of this Institution here has given us to render some measure of that service in a special and more intimate manner. Our thanks are due to the Government of India and my Government for this achievement which, on merits and from the point of view of the efficiency and future development of the Institute, has received the approval of the savants concerned. We are under a special debt of gratitude to the Honourable Prime Minister for the keen personal interest he has always taken in the advancement of science and applied sciences' in our country and in this Institute in particular. We cannot forget how he did us the honour of coming over to Mysore and receiving in person the Cheluvamba -Mansion for the location of this Institute.

I do not wish to dwell on the technical aspects of the work of the Institute, the tasks in which it is engaged and the problems which it will attempt to solve. The Annual Report and other papers published in this connection will give full and impressive information on these matters.

Food, clothing and housing are three of the basic necessities of life. The importance of food cannot be overemphasized in a poor under-nourished country like India. The solution of these problems is as important as maintenance of our national security; and, in fact, security and national progress are inter-linked. They are two facets of the same reality which constitutes the fullness of our life and its uninterrupted progress to higher, and yet higher, levels.

This Institute is one amongst the many enterprises that are evidence of the innate constructive genius of our Nation. Our Government, since the advent of Swaraj has been trying to liquidate the arrears of centuries in the matter of scientific, industrial, and material progress. Think of the many research laboratories it has organised; of the many dams and reservoirs it has planned for the conservation of waters needed, in our dry and droughty land; of the many power stations that are in the stage of planning or actually under construction for the improvement of the economic condition of our people ; of the encouragement it has given to ship-building ; and of the many research laboratories—Pure and Applied—it is establishing all over the country and the stimulus and support it has given to research and creative activities generally in a number of University centres. History finds few parallels for such a record of constructive power and effort.

If only the situation from the point of view of peace—internal and external—had been happier and less exposed to possible storms, we could have concentrated, as suits our racial bent, on schemes of prosperity. But alas, the skies not only over the frontiers of our own land but over the world at large, are still overcast, and we can only hope and pray that they will clear to give us a very long spell of assured peace and unassailable security.

Our people, generally speaking, are excessively conservative. Under all the circumstances of their historical background, it could hardly be otherwise. It is only recently that a new life and a new spirit, a new outlook and a new activity, have sprung up and are beginning to spread amongst the masses. So, when substitutes for rice or for milk or for any of the foods we have been accustomed to, have been discovered, the people at large are apt to be very reluctant to utilise such products, no matter how convincingly their value has been proved scientifically. There is therefore a call on the educated people and the upper strata of our society to set an example by betaking to such products themselves first and openly. Conduct spreads by conduct, and leadership in thought must be sustained by leadership in action, for social conduct flows like the purifying and fertilising Ganges from the heights to the plains below. The educated classes have thus an. imperative obligation to see that their ways of life are conceived and directed by social objectives and values.

Our students are sensitive to the call Of the Nation and of Patriotism. It seems to me that there could hardly be better material for the propaganda which will surely be needed by this Institute (and its branches and affiliations to be organised in due course) than that which the colleges and college hostels of our country will afford. Considering the short time that has elapsed since the foundation of this Institute and the inevitable initial difficulties in gathering the necessary personnel and material, putting up additions and alterations to the buildings and fitting up the laboratories, we may perhaps feel satisfied with the progress so far achieved both in organisation and in functioning, but I do fervently hope that in the coming years its progress will be striking and on an ever-ascending scale. 

It is indeed our good fortune that today Sri Rajagopalachari will he performing the inaugural ceremony of this Institute, and in that act will be giving it the inspiration and strength so necessary to its healthy growth. Could there be any finer example of service to the country than that set by our beloved Rajaji who, having crowned a great political career by occupying the highest position in our Nation, that of Governor-General, did not rest on his laurels, but considered it his duty to continue to strive in that service in the Cabinet of the Honourable Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, To my mind that noble act in itself illustrates how, under Independence, function has a far higher value and attraction than position. I remember reading in the History of Greece of Epaminondas who was Commander-in-Chief of the Boeotian Army; but who, when he had to relinquish that position, rejoined the army as a private soldier. In a similar way, Rajaji has set an example of patriotic duty that all should emulate but which, perhaps, none could excel. He has shown that, under Independence, function is more than position and service more than career. 

I have now much pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, in requesting the Honorable Sri C. Rajagopalachari to inaugurate the Central Food Technological Research Institute and to launch it on its uninterrupted and unlimited course of research, discovery and invention, redounding to the material betterment of the Country and its strength. 

Growing up in Mysore

This article is a reproduction of many a forward on my WhatsApp messenger. Nostalgia and nothing else each time I read it. Thought of saving it here for posterity.

Mysore or Mysuru, cannot be experienced in holidays or weekends. Like a creeper growing and encircling the bark, you have to live, and grow with Mysore to experience it. You have to be with the ajjis who have seen you from the time you were soooo small, where the maid who works in your house is your family maid, your ajji had “recruited” her mother.

When you go on an evening walk, and the pujari of the Ram Mandir, stops and chats with you, and moves on saying there is a puja at 5 next morning, that’s Mysore for you.

When you walk a little ahead and the librarian says he has the latest copy of “Kasturi” or “Mayura”, that’s Mysore for you.

When the milkman sees you on a walk, and delivers an extra half litre without being asked, that’s  Mysore for you.

Mysore is when you board a bus at the bus stand and conductor-uncle gives you a ticket without asking. Mysore is when you collect little red ‘gulganji’ seeds on your way back home from Kukkarahalli Lake.

Mysore is when you come by the Tipu Express, and you find someone going in your direction to drop you off without hesitation.

Mysore is when elephants are marched in from the forests for Dasara.

Mysore is when the English movies are only at Rajkamal. Or Sterling.

Mysore is when you wait for your copy of Star of Mysore,Mysuru Mitra or Sadhvi

Mysore is when you look for your KEB uncle to book tickets at Woodlands.

Mysore is when there are student body elections in Sarada Vilas. Mysore is the eternal SJCE-NIE feud. Mysore is when Jayciana is in full swing.

Mysore is when you got your project report bound at Venkateshwara Binders in Saraswathipuram.

Mysore is having grape juice at RTO Circle.

Mysore is buying vegetables at Agrahara. Mysore is buying plantain leaves in Nanjumalige, savouring the aroma of the agarbathi factory behind.

Mysore is eating ice-creams at Phalaamrutha or Penguin. Mysore is eating dosa at GTR or Mylari Hotel. Mysore is having biriyani early in the morning, near St. Philos Church. Mysore is drinking sugarcane juice near Kukkarahalli Lake. Mysore is munching corn-on-the-cob in the Palace foreground. Mysore is masalpuri at Ballal Circle and Shetty churumuri.

Mysore is when I grew up in Mysore. My Mysore.

Good Bye eBay India

A Trillion Dollar testimony

Apple this week achieved a milestone that no corporate had achieved so far when it became a trillion dollar enterprise. Garage start-upto greatness in precisely 42 years and a vision to do the right things and deliver  products that are awaited year after year by an aspirational consumer base. Productization has been the cornerstone of this journey right from designing the core product, packaging and user literature - all top class and most of us in the IT product and services industry have struggled to achieve but with mixed success. Design and a functional one along with the focus on exclusivity in positioning every product is in my view what makes Apple sell their devices at a Priceline that many cannot afford yet most decide to buy.  A $1000 phone is no longer something successful executives carry but could be seen in the hands of millennials which explains the popularity and the value people associate with the brand. Personally I would like to see similar sentiments in the mechanical wrist watch industry that the Swiss have dominated by their unparalleled design and precision engineering
After all anything that's small, designed and engineered well is a joy to behold and treasured for life!

Spam your customer

My day job involves helping my customers enhance the shopper and engagement experience of their customers when they shop online or at their stores. A lot of effort and resource is invested by my customers to understand as much as possible about their customers through intelligent analytics, personalized offers, understanding the customer preferences and customizing offers that suit individual tastes, choices and budgetary considerations. Data is right at the centre of all these initiatives and often forms the core of their marketing and promotional strategy. Typical sources of such data collection are social media streams, feedback surveys, and transactional data from the multiple channels that customers use to communicate with the brand. This, you can probably imagine has shifted the power of control from the business owners to the customer.

I have been involved in testing data analytics of various hues and complexity for about 18 years now and the journey that began with Excel based analytics tool that could do everything you needed to do back then viz. summarise, visualise and manipulate data as part of basic day to day analytics. With data becoming more valuable and an expensive commodity that many enterprises run on today, the need for tools that can analyse this data providing you the right context and knowledge required to address a business problem.  I have since spent much time working on architecting and testing solutions using IBM Cognos, Splunk, SAP BO, Apache Spark, SAS Enterprise Miner and Visual Analytics and Tableau for retailers, consumer goods, Digital marketing companies and High street banks and Insurance companies

After many years in this industry, I often reflect on my own experience as a customer and how my data is being used by the numerous businesses that have almost unrestricted access to my data all the way from a simple cookie on my browser or that a data broker might have collected and shared with digital marketers. A recent instance of usage of this data triggered a number of questions in my mind. Recently my  mobile service provider of nearly 20 years sent me a barrage of text messages luring me with an offer of a chance to win a possible trip to Goa (an exotic seaside location in India) and a hundred thousand rupees along with gold (yes!) thrown in if I subscribed to a caller tune service (A caller tune service is fairly popular in India where subscribers can choose what music/song your caller can listen to until their call is answered) – Nothing wrong with the service as such. However what baffles me is the fact that after 20 years of providing me a mobile telephone service, how much of my needs does my service provider understand when they flood me with such offers – For one, I could do with international roaming and extra mobile data that helps me conduct my business when traveling and equally importantly be connected with my family. Now, this would be really clever if only they understood my needs from the data from my service usage every time my phone recognizes a foreign mobile network when I am outside my city, state and country over trying to induce me into buying a service that I or my callers would ever appreciate .

So why does this not work as envisioned – Are all the intelligence built around these technologies proving to be an irritant? I would tend to argue that there has not been sufficient effort to understand the human aspect of data analytics as it is too tempting to believe that numerical science over human fallibility and even data can be subjective. So a 40 something mid-management professional would need something more relevant than machine driven ‘artificial’ intelligence. In the meantime, just call me and ask!