The Aged ...

I am these days trying to do something which i thought would be far simpler than it turns out to be ... I am looking for health insurance for my parents. Simple? Not at all. Well nigh close to impossible. None of the insurance companies who are willing you sell you the moon are willing to even touch anyone above 60 with a bargepole.

Now, i have a question ... at an age above 60 is where people require insurance the most, isnt it? And thats when insurance is not available. In other words, arent we saying, somehow, that insurance is there for you only as long as you dont need it. When you need it, dear customer, sorry ... we dont believe in customer relationships.

Three such situations come in mind ... First, health insurance for senior citizens. Second, the recent exclusion of natural calamities from the list of things covered in auto insurance (prompted by the money the insurance companies hads to pay, post the Mumbai deluge). Third, terrorism. In short, auto insurance doesnt cover floods (acts of God), nor does it cover terrorism (act of man). Why do we have insurance, someone please remind me?

Coming back to the point about insurance for the aged ... Medical costs are rising (not to add that doctors are becoming more unscrupulous). Our parents lived most of their lives in a situation where medical costs were low, and insurance was not required. Now that they have aged, they suddenly find medical costs have sky-rocketed, and insurance companies refuse to cover them. Isnt it time that we, as a society, and as a nation, do something for the elderly in the country? Or, are we to let them just with away?

Tung Fong ... Or Chinese Food In Calcutta

If you thought there wouldn’t be many more coming after I managed to tempt you with the Arsalan Biryani, think again. Here’s another one … another post, another institution. Another one … again Calcutta. But then, what to do … the city is so ancient (figuratively) that the list of ancient names is almost a legend by itself. Ask anyone who has lived in Calcutta, and you will understand what I am talking about. Folks here almost drool at the mention of these names … well, who am I to complain … so do I.

Coming to the point … this time I am writing about another legend … Tung Fong! One of the venerable names when it comes to Chinese food in Calcutta. And it could safely be said that Calcutta is the first city when it comes to Chinese food in India … which would make Tung Fong one of the most revered names for Chinese food in India … Mainland China notwithstanding.

Tucked away on Freeschool Street, a short walk from Park Street (oh, this has to be the centre of the world for all foodies … no matter what the French say!), Tung Fong is unassuming … till you step in, that is. Ambience which is delicately upheld by soft lighting, brings out a luxuriant atmosphere. Some beautiful murals, and elegant vases adorn the walls, and overall, this is a place you would like to go to.

Coming now to the core aspect of what I am writing about … food! One aspect of the restaurant which stands out is that they don’t believe in force-feeding you. This is a scenario which I find in most restaurants. If you go out to eat alone, you will find that the portion sizes are too huge for one person, which means either you waste food, or doggy-bag it. Here, on the other hand, they take care of the varying appetites of people … so, they serve most dishes in three sizes … from single (which serves one), to double (which serves two), to large (which, yes you guessed it, serves three). So you can choose which portion size you want to order, depending on how hungry you are. Or, even if you go out with friends and family, instead of ordering large portions of two dishes, say, you could order smaller portions of larger dishes … more variety to the meal!

We began with the Chicken Wanton Soup … this has to be the best soup I have had. Just the way it should be … enough flavour, and the tastes blending into each other with natural ease. Add to it just a dash of Vinegar, and a little bit of Honey-Chilli Sauce, and you have probably the best Soup ever. We followed this up with the Schezwan Chicken, Mixed Fried Rice, and the Garlic Lamb. The Rice is wonderful … a taste which is different. This reminded me of Malaysia … actually, the Rice tastes somewhere between the usual Fried Rice you get in Chinese restaurants in India on the one hand, and a Chicken Satay on the other hand … rather unusual taste, which brought back memories of Penang. And these just added to the taste of the Rice. The Chicken Schezwan was par for the course … not something which you would trek to Tung Fong for. The Lamb, however, is in a different league altogether. Here we had Lamb which was almost as tender as what you get when you go for Mughlai food, while at the same time, the flavours of the Lamb did bring out a taste which is quite original, and something which, while putting your tongue on fire, is definitely something you would remember, and walk down Freeschool Street for, again and again.

In One Place ...

I came across this wonderful post ... it references a diagram by Forrester, posted by Wong Tooi Giap ... you could check it out here. Indeed, for a change i have found Forrester coming up with something which is actually quite useful.

Arsalan

There are a few names in a city, which are names which are synonymous with the city … at least in the minds of the denizens of the city. In Calcutta (sorry folks, I still refer Calcutta, if I am writing in English), there are more than enough such names to go around. Of course, most of them are institutions by themselves. These are names which are revered, and well … in the case of the name I am writing about, drooled about. For generations, Calcuttans have drooled about one such … Arsalan! Yes, an institution by itself, Arsalan is a name synonymous with good Mughlai food in the city.

The original Arsalan which most Calcuttans identify with is at Park Circus … though we didn’t quite go there … tends to be a hot idea to go there and eat on a hot Calcutta afternoon … we went to the new outlet which they have opened at Circus Avenue. You have to be careful to not miss it. And the place is every bit worth the drive there. Getting there could be an adventure, depending on which part of the city you are driving from (we were coming from Camac Street), and this can be quite an experience at 1 pm (what with the traffic direction changing and all …), but its worth it. The ambience, as you can see, it quite nice. Its reasonably comfortable, without being overbearing, or for that matter, arrogant (ya, I find a few of them arrogant in their plushness!).

Coming to the food … we tried the Mutton Kasturi Kababs, which are the dream nuggets of a connoisseur. A dish which must be tried if you are even remotely interested in food. Definitely lip-smacking, though one has to be careful … don’t chomp off your fingers in the act! The Biryani (Chicken) here lives up to the formidable reputation of the establishment (generations have grown up on this Biryani, you see …), and the quantity is just right … doesn’t stuff you, and at the same time, you don’t feel hungry.

And of course, such a meal has to be topped with Dessert … and, whats better than a Firni at an establishment as revered as this? Calcutta, in fact, I find, consumes more of Firni than Delhi does (remember, the Firni is a native of the northern reaches of the country) … no, I am not complaining. Though, the Firni left a bit to be desired … nice, definitely nice, but … could have been better.

Coming to the service … well, we were a little early … in fact, probably the first ones to reach … but the service is definitely nice. Not too lax, and not too rushing, either. And, definitely pleasant!

Though, I wouldn’t like to end this on such a note … I would recommend Arsalan as a restaurant which is more than worth a visit next time you are in Calcutta, or the next time you go out to eat. And of course, if you would rather be home, then the take-away would be just what you could ask for.

Central Repository ...

My friend Nirmala has commented on my post about whether an organization should jump straight to "KM 2.0". And she makes an important point ...

A common repository means common taxonomy...a common way of identifying and locating artifacts. A common repository means a visually rich big picture that tells you about all sorts of possibilities....not one that is carved out of a narrow search term!!

I think she has got it bang on. Today, there are tools which can enable you to share documents right off your hard-disk. Create a document, put it into a shared folder, and there you are ... others can find the documents right from there. Contrast this with a common repository ... Create a document, save it on your hard-disk, and then upload it onto a repository. And, you dont even know what half those taxonomies mean. This being the key. And, this is where a repository plays an important role ... that of getting people thinking about how others think, getting people thinking in terms of a common terminology, giving some form of uniformity (its nice, at times ... remember McDonald's ... the same taste wherever you go). You got it ... how could i not write about food?

IBM And Social Networking

IBM announced the IBM Centre for Social Software ... i am sure all of you must have already read about it. I am usually quite slow at tracking news. But then, i eventually do get round to it. So, thats that ...

But, what am i writing about? A simple statement which Erica Topolski, a spokesperson for IBM Media Relations made ...

Do a few conversations about nonwork topics take place? Of course, just like they do in the hallway at work. What we hear from customers and have experienced internally, however, is that these do not interfere with an employee's ability to get their work done.

This is quite what i keep on saying wherever i am talking about social software. This is one of the major refrains that i have heard ... the link to loss of productivity. The question i usually ask to this is ... How many times have you been to a business meeting where the talk was only about business? Never, i would think. Why would it be any different here? Probably no reason. To begin with, when we are talking about social computing within the organization, we need to take into consideration the fact that people have objectives and targets to meet ... everyone is conscious of that. Add to this the fact that even without social software, there is part of the conversation which happens everyday, which is not work-related.

What is even more interesting is what they are hearing from their customers ... that these dont interfere with people's ability to get work done ... which is related to the first point i just made ... people know that they are going to have appraisals, that they have to meet their objectives.

Another question which comes up is that of the impact on confidentiality. What i say here is that since most of the organizations are talking about internal implementations of social computing tools, this issue may not actually be an issue.

Mosque Takes In Child, Mother ...

OK ... this one is going to be a mixed bag. Though, i would like to see this as a far more positive thing than anything else. There are news reports ... about a child, and his mother, who have been abandoned by his father. The reason? The child has a hole in his heart, and this requires surgery. What is the beautiful part about this story is the fact that this brings out an important tale ... that all hope is not lost. A mosque in the city of Lucknow has adopted the child and his mother. And the elders are making sure the little child has a chance to live. They have collected money from among the members of the congregation for the child's surgery, which is to happen in the month of October. Hindustan Times writes that after they broke the story, they have received a lot of requests to help the little one.

Contrast this to a prominent social activist venting anger at the police in Gujarat for a strange incident ... during the post-Godhra riots, a police constable found a little child, and took him in, and handed him over to a couple to take care of. The issue is that the child is Muslim, and the foster-parents Hindu. And, the child, today (according to reports in newspapers) doesnt want to go to his biological parents. The activist believes that the constable acted irresponsibly. One wonders ... whether love should be considered supreme to professed religion? That too the way we are using religion towards a myriad number of ends?

Now, the question ... why do i think this story is bitter-sweet? Simply because, when i searched the websites of some of the leading newspapers for this story, i just couldnt find it. This is the strangest part ... a story which brings out some of the best elements in humanity is so well hidden in the inner pages of a newspaper that its so difficult to find ... one wonders ... do we really care?

Generalizations ...

There has been a lot written about the advent of the digital native ... of the generation Y (or was it Z, or an unknown alphabet after that?) folks entering the workforce, and forcing companies to move more and more towards media of interaction they are comfortable with. And, how they are so uncomfortable with email, and how they want their collaboration and communication immediate.

While this is one side of the story, there is the other side, as written about, for example, by Siva Vaidyanathan, about not all people being tech-savvy. Quite an interesting reading. One thing i believe in, and the reason why i have not written about the Gen-Y aspect of the boom in social computing, is that there is no such thing as a Gen-Y-er. I mean, each and every individual is distinct, and while there are statistical trends, these are at best averages, and the way i see it, far from the ground reality.

Let me explain ... Lots of studies have been done ... reams of data generated, and analyses published. Great! Question ... how come i dont see too many studies coming out of China? Or India? These are two countries which are bringing the largest number of young people into the workforce. And, this is where the difference lies. In India, for example, there is no such thing as a Gen-Y. Sure, it is there as an abstraction ... but, the digital divide is so huge, that it makes any kind of generalizations extremely harzardous, and i wouldnt make any predictions based on these generalizations. Sure, there are trends ... But, how far are these percolating to every section of society? I am not too sure they are. Though, of course, I havent read much about China ... would appreciate if anyone could point me to resources about the emergence of the Gen-Y in China?

Coming to the other part of this article ... Where Siva writes about ...

Many use Facebook and MySpace because they are easy and fun, not because they are powerful (which, of course, they are not).

Thing is, this again seems to be a generalization. First of all, this seems to be based on something which is not really logical. I quite agree that a lot of folks (including me, i suppose ...) use facebook because its easy, and its fun! But, how does that imply that it is not powerful? Or, are the two unrelated? Even if they are, there seems to be an assumption that facebook is a tool which is of no utility at all. Mainly because its fun?

The way i see it, the utility of facebook is, in large part, due to its ease of use, and the fact that its fun. In a world like ours, where the distinction between the personal and professional spheres are no longer distinct from each other, we are seeing platforms which are making work more fun, and leisure a little less so (remember the last time you checked your work email on your Blackberry while on vacation, and you will know what i am talking about). Which is to say that there should be no relationship interpreted, between the fun factor and utility.

At Calcutta ...

As i havent been to one of my favourite cities in quite a while, and am getting quite nostalgic about her ...

Getting around in Kolkata can be strange at worst, or an exhilerating experience at best. No matter which, it is bound to be an eperience you cannot forget. Nor can you replicate it in any corner of the world.


Commuting from Sector V, Salt Lake to Theatre Road (or to any other part of the world) could leave you breathless. And I tried to do this at half past eight in the morning.

Being the technology hub of West Bengal (for all that is worth as a tag), this place comes to life only at 10 in the morning. After that, posibly, but defunitely not before. For the enterprising Bengali spirit does not allow the bhodroloks or bhodromohilas (i am trying not to sound sexist here) to venture out before a certain hour. This hour varies from one member of the species to another but is rarely before 10. So this is the scenario that awaits you if you try to look for a taxi anytime before that hour. Because there just aren't any around.

Waiting for a taxi certainly gives you options. The first option to present itself was a private car, the driver ferrying the car from one place to another without employer supervision, making some money on the side. I thought I would wait for a taxi. Carried on waiting, but the taxi didn't appear. Quite soon, I was running out of patience and running into ample sweat. This was when the next option presented itself. Known in this part of the world as shaadaa mini, these are racing equipments (much like most other beings on Kolkata roads) disguised as buses. And one must see it to believe it. Well, this one was a shaadaa mini, to distinguish them from their non-shaadaa cousins from the (almost) F1 circuit. Getting a place to sit was not an issue.

I decided to get down to reading. Though the way the bus was swaying owing basically to the driver's demonstration of his geometric genius by drawing near perfect sine curves on the road in his attempts at getting ahead of every single living creature on the road, no matter it's denomination, reading was to be an exercise in futility.

So I decided to look out of the window. Wonderful day, with the beauty of nature being recently washed by rain. No wonder, I thought, about the person who had told me about the delight of watching the scenery outside the bus when travelling in these parts of the world ... After all, you don't have much choice do you? Not really given that you would much prefer to keep your eyes glued outside the bus, hoping to supplement the driver's sight if not his brains. And try to swallow your internals into the same place where they were before they decided to take an exit route following your alighting the mechanical monster. And trying to keep your legs steady once you are off it. That should keep you occupied enough to keep your eyes on the road ... And in the process also feel the soothing touch of Mother Nature... Specially along the Bypass.

You can also watch from the sidelines the highly intellectual debate between the bus conductor and a passenger about whether the fare should be Rs. 8 or Rs. 9, culminating in the passenger challenging the bus conductor's knowledge of bus fares (that's only his job after all, while being a topic of passion for the passenger) and the bus conductor inviting the gentleman to not avail the services of the bus.

PS: Park Street retains her charms even at this time of day. More about that when i go there next.

To "KM2.0"

There was a lot of discussion some time back about the assertion that KM is dead ... Luis wrote about it ... and the assertion that KM is moving more towards conversation from documentation. I have added to the words about conversation ... But all this conversation about conversation doesnt answer one question ... a question i am thinking about.

Lets take an organization which is yet to reach the "KM1.0" stage ... they dont have a centralized document repository ... they have siloes where information is stored, and retrieval of this information is largely a manual activity, because a lot of it is stored in team file-servers etc. Question is, should this organization move straight to a "KM2.0" scenario?

One way to look at this would be to say ... sure! This would make sense in theory, given the fact that all knowledge is directly or indirectly tacit. So, the logic here would be that if we ca get people together, either into communities, or into an internal blogosphere, we can actually get people to share information more seamlessly even without resorting to a centralized repository.

Having said this, would this work in practice? I dont know, but i tend to believe, it wouldnt. To begin with, information which is not in a repository tends to be difficult to identify. Much more so than something which can be attached to a somewhat defined taxonomy (whether a regular taxonomy or folksonomy ... i am including both in this). Second, and more important, a repository could be an important step towards building a mindset of sharing ... where it is considered a nice thing to share documents with others, leading to a more ready acceptance of some of the social tools.

Any thoughts? Please do write in, to let me know what you think should be the approach here. Of course, there are pros and cons of both approaches, and would like to hear from you, what you feel are some of each.