Has the world tipped in 2015?

Keeping with the theme of this blog, I had to ask my self this question.

NASA, after much research believes that the earth tipped a bit in 2004 and then in 2011. The quakes in Indonesia and Japan being the cause. NASA does not believe that the shift in the axis is enough to cause 'Earth People' any worry. Yet, the Inuit tribe in Canada, that is grounded to nature have, without scientific research, told NASA that the tipped earth has given mankind a lot of reasons to worry about. Climate change caused by the shift, and it is more catastrophic than man's own contribution to global warming.

Well, here I am, enjoying a Mumbai morning without air conditioning or fan with the temperature in mid teens. And there in New York, my family is happily enjoying the mild winter with temperature in single and low double digits (Celsius). It's a different matter it traveled there to experience a white Christmas.

North England and Scotland are experiencing floods while this year India suffered a drought. Are these events connected? But of course, the weatherman blames it on El Nino and in turn global warming for causing such changes in the weather pattern. Thankfully, world leaders have taken note of the weatherman's accusations and realized that climate will probably end mankind much before Man does it on his own. They met in Paris just days after the terror bombing to reach a consensus on how not to voluntarily add to Mother Nature's own desire to commit suicide, as a mark of failure in dealing with the most destructive animal on this planet - us. COP21 was not exactly a success. We as a species love tragedy and this meet was no different from the environmentalists point of view. Who cares about the weather anyway. It is not entirely man made and now that we know that it's all the earth's own doing, there is not much we can do about it - so we think.

Well humans did do a lot in 2015 to actually tip the world. Most people I have spoken to have credited it to be a bad year, a forgettable year. Has 2015 been a forgettable year for you too? Personally, I would look at the year differently even though there are times that i feel that it's certainly not one that I would care to remember.

It started with Paris taking the center stage with Charlie Hedbo killing, and since then it has been a bad news factory in general.  The 'bad' events of the year have certainly crowded out what most of the world would call "good". It has not been a great year for the world or India. Politically, economically, socially, theologically, sportingly things have not been anything to write home about, unless blasts, bailouts, bankruptcy, bullying, beheading, bigotry, belligerence, bribery and other such B words appeals to someones sensibilities.

There are many who say that the events are a fore warnings of the end of the world as we know it. Funny that when Oil started climbing past an unimagined $100 a barrel, we all went screaming it's the end of the world. Now, equally unimagined, as oil keeps dropping and dropping, the scream is strangely no different. In fact, it's not just the sinking price of oil that has made people jump up and down in horror in 2015. Greece, China, Russia, Turkey, US Fed., ECB, and even Donald Trump have terrified the world as much as any terror group has, if not more. None of it brought the world to an end.

India too has been shaken by earthquakes and driven sick by a viral disease called "intolerance". I am told that it was always there within our system, but checked by our own nation's immunity system, which over time has weakened to let lose the epidemic. I on the other hand feel that it is great that we are becoming a nation of intolerant people, except, for the wrong reasons. I would love my fellow countrymen to be intolerant about corruption, filth on the street, lack of civic and road sense, shortage of sanitation-education-infrastructure, rising food prices, security... I could fill this blog with a list of a 1000 such demands. Yet we are so tolerant about it that I too like Aamir Khan's wife did - feel that this is no longer a place to bring up kids. But, no one wants to leave India. The hope for a better tomorrow may have diminished but has not really disappeared.

I may sound like a rambler, but it has been a year of emotional highs and lows. In a sense, the events of 2015 tried very hard to push the world to a brink. To a tipping point of sorts. Yet, the world did not tip.

There is a belief that 2016 will be no better, possibly worse. Plausible, but like 2015, the world will survive. Somehow, I get the feeling that maybe the world has had enough, and it's time for a push back. We may not see the good, but good is happening and it will show up,

Wish you all a very happy and peaceful 2016 and thank you for reading my thoughts.

Financial Terrorist - US Fed Rate Hike.

It's no longer a matter of debate anymore on the "will she - will she not". Janet Yellen, as has been stated by media around the world, will hike the US Fed rate and end the suspense that has gripped the financial world from the start of this year. While I keep hearing that the event has been "factored" by investment pundits in every country on mother earth, I am surprised at the visible and violent reactions caused in world commodity and financial markets at the very and every mention of a Fed rate hike. Such is its impact and terror.

She has been armed with enough  for justification of the same. It feels almost like a decision which has been reached to appease the current administration, rather than one that deserves merit. Almost like the rate cuts pleaded by our own Government with the Governor of the Reserve Bank.

The expectation is that the hike will be a modest one for now, akin to a straw at a time on the camel's breaking back, knowing well the damage even the slightest change can inflict. I wonder if it is politically motivated? President Obama does seem to have a vested interest. His signed in his first term during the chaos of the sub-prime crisis and would love to sign off the end of his second term as one of economic success, for the US at least. The Democrats would love to fight the next Presidential battle by calling Obama's policies deliverers of strong economic fundamentals, strong dollar, cheap oil, and bringing down the world on its knees - economically - including China and Russia - the two biggest threat perceptions for the US. China and Russia for all its might have had to assume humbler postures, the former already considering the possibility of un-pegging the Yuan from the Dollar to save its own currency and economy. From a global point of view, the US wanting to portray its own pink of health has thrown the rest of the world in a deep red. It won't spare its close and distant allies either with many European and Latin American economies also suffering.

It is to be seen what the US has in mind for saving the world in terms of investing in developing and emerging economies. I don't think any nation in its right mind thinks of US arms as an investment.

While the world is debating on how to control Donald Trump, refugees, terror and the climate, how is it going to deal with the financial terror that will unleash itself slowly but surely by way of further rate hikes in the year to come? It does not look like 2016 would be greeted as a happy new year by anyone other than those earning in dollars.

Ultimately, what goes around comes around and eventually the pain will return to where it started. I hope the situation will not be as grim. For all you know a modest hike may just be a small rap on the knuckles that the US wants to deliver to all and sundry to let the world know that it is still in charge - economically at least.

The term “terrorism” defined by The Dept of Homeland Security means any activity that—

(A) involves an act that—

(i) is dangerous to human life or potentially destructive of critical infrastructure or key resources; and

(ii) is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State or other subdivision of the United States; and

(B) appears to be intended—

(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping

The Indian Sub Prime - Dangerous

A couple of days back, I was at a friend's office, a big investor in the real estate market. In the course of our meeting, he had an important visitor, a prominent young real estate developer. He had come over to request the investor to help him source buyers "on paper" for an apartment he was building under one of the many deferred payment schemes. Caveat, buyer should be eligible for a housing loan.

The deal:

Picture credit 

The Developer would provide the upfront 10% to 15% amount to the buyer, which would be used by the buyer to pay the down payment and stamp duty and registration. The buyer would then get his loan approved from a bank designated by the developer. Buyer's interest only EMIs would be paid by the developer until such time possession was granted. Buyer would never take possession nor pay the balance equity (if any) as a side agreement would state that it was the developer's responsibility to flog off the apartment upon completion to a real investor/buyer. Since the quoted price would include the embedded interest and carry cost, there would be no real capital gain incidence to the buyer. As a fee for lending his good name and balance sheet, the buyer would get to keep an amount equal to the original equity (funded by the developer in cash most probably) from the sale amount received by the buyer. Everyone goes home happy.

At least on paper.

The buyer may assume zero risk, but ultimately it is he/she who is responsible for the loan servicing should shit hit the ceiling.

The buyer may also be forced to take possession on completion should the developer not find someone to buy the unit on completion. Given the existing surplus stock in the market, the scene may not play as per plan, given that the side agreement is not one that the developer would be too keen on registering.

The buyer may at some stage be asked to pay Income Tax on the loan related interest being serviced on buyer's behalf by a third party (the developer).

The bank may be happy to fund the home loan seeker (buyer), but does it know the real intent behind the developer and buyer agreement? Scary if not and very dangerous if it is in the know.

Well, it may appear to be a potential problem between the developer, buyer and banker. But, the bank is really giving away whose money? OURS mostly, the people unconnected with the transaction.

The developer of course is the only happy person. First, he gets rid of his cash stash (he is hopefully worried that the FM's taxmen will come looking for it). Second, he shows an inflated price sale on paper to keep the valuation of his company high - just in case he can attract private equity players or the public markets. Third, he really has no real default penalty other than loosing the 10% or 15% he routed to the buyer for the purchase. Fourth, he gets to borrow at some 10% rate of interest from the bank as against the 18% to 36% rate from private lenders and private equity. Fifth, there is no real reason for him to finish his project on time - virtually 80% of the staged payments are collected against the civil shell and only 20% held for finishing - whereas the time and costs are nearly in the reverse percentage ratio. Sixth and best, his borrowing has not attracted a personal guarantee or any lien on his company's balance sheet. Sheer genius.  

It is not the first time or the first developer doing this. It is something that is happening each day and the money grab is getting bigger and bigger.

That's not the end of it. I was shocked to hear that the same guy was looking at offering 30% to 40% discount on area market prices to bulk buyers for his ready projects. Except that, even at that discount no one was willing to bite the bait. Obviously, there is no down stream sale visibility for now. Is the realty market really that inflated?  If that is true then the builder community is in deep shit and will take a whole lot of people deep down into the cesspit.

There was a front page advert in a leading daily put out by an online property sales company stating "buy now - prices to rise soon". It's a different matter that the portal is owned by the leading daily, and the mother company of the same daily is probably the holder of the largest inventory of real estate given that it runs barter deals with almost every developer - Full Page Front Page ads against property.

Some may be lured by the free money from the developer and some fall for the marketing glib. But, the danger of an Indian sub-prime grows greater each day.

But what do we care. Our worry is how actor Salman Khan escaped a real life prison sentence and how intolerant the Nation has become. Surely, the revised Real Estate Bill will save us - right? Now there is another scary story in the making.

Charlie Hebdo meet Donald Trump

2015. What a year it has been. In January, masked gunmen attacked the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, and shot dead 12 of its employees. A work of Islamist radicals opposing the lampooning of Prophet Muhammad on the magazine cover. Soon, the whole world was chanting "Je suis Charlie" in support of the publication and a message of condemnation of "Islamic" terror, but not Islam. The Muslim world was divided on its verdict. While a majority condemned the killings, there was near unanimity in the community that the publication was asking for trouble by being insensitive to the moral sensibilities of the world's largest practiced religion. Guess it made the non Muslim world interpret the condemnation as a forced lip service.

November. Another bad month for Paris this year. A serial attack by followers of what has now become the largest Islamist radical group - ISIS - killed some 130 people and injured hundreds more. Some of the perpetrators had been admitted into the European territory along with the many thousands of real refugees fleeing war torn Syria and Iraq. For many, the refugee situation is a creation of the bombing runs made by Europe and US to get rid of President Assad and the ISIS. The world was shocked. It was labeled as the next biggest attack on the West after 9/11. This time around, the Muslims stood up in majority to voice anger on the attack and in defense of the religion as one that does not support, nor needs the support of violence to speak for it.

A disturbed Europe suddenly began to show signs of slipping into a state of "Islamophobia" where every Muslim is being labeled either as a terrorist or terrorist supporter. The social media has become the center stage for a grand debate on the reasons for, and the danger of, the polarization of society along religious lines. Somehow, sane voices are being drowned by the noise of fear that keeps getting louder and clearer with each event.

Moving across the Atlantic, we reach the most hated "devil" nation for the Islamic world to which almost every Muslim wants to migrate to - America. The former blames the latter for all its woes, be it the control over oil, to supply of weapons to the highest bidders, or changing regimes to suit its interest and even waging a war to destroy the religion. Yet it is a magnet for the world, the land of opportunity, and not just for the Muslims.


Mr. Donald Trump, the leading contender in the US presidential race had stunned the world with his views on how immigrants from Mexico to China have reduced the greatness of the nation. His panacea for making America "Great" again - keep immigrants out. But, what was more shocking was that instead of being booed out of the race, his popularity has soared, probably reinforcing his own belief that he has caught the pulse of the voting population. Maybe, it is his rising popularity or the shooting in San Barnardino that prompted him to step on the gas pedal and motor mouth his latest view on banning Muslim immigrants into America to curb terrorism on its land. Nationality bashing is one thing but religious lashing is another. His words have fallen on the Muslim world like a nuke on Japan. While leaders around the world and Muslims who do business with Trump are distancing themselves from him and his remarks, he seems to be convinced about what he has said; and he is certainly not alone to hold that view. There are quite a few in America who feel that immigrants (meaning non white and non Afro-Americans) have messed up the Country. It's a different matter that most mass killings in the recent past in the US have been carried out by what constitute "The Americans" as is presumed by the likes of Trump.

There is joke circulating in India that a radical right winger group may gladly anoint him as its leader - should he fail to become the President, even though he has spoken out against Indian immigrants too. Jokes aside, will such thinking actually force greater radicalization and even greater polarization pushing the world to a brink?  Mr. Trump may not have slain a single person but he has succeeded in doing something worse, a far greater damage than any killing would achieve. What a way to end this year? My heart bleeds for what I truly consider as the greatest nation on earth. God, please save America from its own.    

Well, I am packing my bags for a holiday trip to North Korea. At least the ideology of the leader there is constant predictable.

With Right Intent Get Wrong Results

I guess the news mongers do not have too many good story leads now that the Mukherja couple is back on the front pages after a hiatus of a couple of weeks. The twist, it is the husband who is now in the spotlight, dammed by the evidence provided by his own son to incriminate the step mother. He did it for what he believed were the right reasons, but the result went all wrong, as it often happens with celebrated people.

Modi echoes Aamir Khan’s sentiments, 

says he’s already living outside India because of intolerance

Take the example of Mr. Aamir Khan. He expressed his personal view on “intolerance” at the Indian Express RNG awards ceremony for excellence in journalism. Without having understood the entire context of his statement, a part of an on stage interview, the hounds of politics and performers began to bay for what they are suggesting is his unpatriotic blood. I don’t know if the reaction to his statement took such an exaggerated turn because he is the second “Khan” to voice it, the first being Mr. Shah Rukh Khan (he subsequently denied his statement). Maybe there was ascare in their mind that the growing tribe of famous Khans would also like tooffer their own angle to this topic, which may well end up as a verbal epidemicof sorts.  I also don’t know if Aamir intended it, but he must have joined the super elite Rs. 1,000 crore club for free media publicity, even if most of it was negative.  Maybe an enterprising movie maker may be prompted to make a movie titled “My name is is Khan and I am not as tolerant of intolerance."

In defending India’s tolerance quotient, most of the voices being heard are doing just the opposite. Unfortunately, it is the world that is watching, reading and hearing all that is going on in India, and I don’t think anyone is finding this “Tamasha” (performance) one bit tolerable (just like the movie).

Speaking of global view on intolerance, a nation’s right to defend its boundary may have put the world at the cusp of a third world war. Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian fighter bomber in what it called an air space incursion sent shock waves around the world.  Guess the whole world must have celebrated Thanksgiving on the 27^th of November (a day after USA) for Russia showing extreme tolerance in not having roasted Turkey.  I don’t think Turkey’s leadership feels the same way.

The Russian fighter was on its way to bomb some ISIS targets in Syria, and if press is to be believed, target information is being exchanged between Russia, France and USA. Obviously, Turkey being a member of NATO should have been in the know of it too. At least Mr. Putin thinks so. Russians claim that the real reason for Turkey to act the way it did is because of its trade collaborating with ISIS. That’s a strong accusation, but one that would appear plausible based on the limited trade routes available to ISIS for pushing oil in the grey market.  

While beef, has been the major culprit for sparking off the debate on the visible intolerance levels in India, bombing of civilians has been responsible for festering intolerance in the Middle East and Europe. The downing of the Russian Metrojet over Egypt and serial bombings in Paris, both claimed by ISIS has created a very scary situation in the region with an obvious economic and political consequence for the whole world. One that will make the global grief inflicted by Greece and China appear as mere blips on history’s timeline.

I think ISIS is the only entity that has acted with wrongintentions and got the right results for itself. The bombers of Metrojet and Paris were carried out primarily by ISIS agents of Egyptian and European origin. Yet, rather than weeding out the sleepers within, the international military effort has been directed to weed out the ISIS brains based in Iraq and Syria. The over destruction of both right and wrong targets there have impacted innocent civilians, who in turn, braving all perils – death included,  are rowing their boats to the very nations that bomb them. The refugee influx in turn is driving up resentment ( I call it plain and simple intolerance) within the nations accepting them for socio-economic-political reasons. The resentment levels have reached a point where the people belonging to the world’s largest faith – Islam – have now to justify that all Muslims are neither terrorists nor ISIS supporters on social media and other forums.

There is a hope in the minds of those who have donned the black uniforms that someday soon this growing intolerance between the Muslim and Non Muslim world will reach a flash point, intentionally or accidentally throwing humanity back into a dark age like the period of the crusade.  We are pretty close to that point.

Incidentally, the beef issue seems to have been given the hiatus for now. Maybe it did not serve any purpose after the Bihar elections.  The issue going forward in Bihar is booze. The new CM wants to ban it. Going by trending news, even the intolerance issue may give way to a debate on the Nation’s Constitution on the subject of “Secularism”. In all this mess, there seems to be one sane voice, finally, that of the Prime minister. He conveyed that he would like to administer the Nation through consensus rather than forcing the majority view. Now that is a truly tolerant and secular act. But, it too seems to have been prompted with the right intent but may end up with a possible wrong result.

I don’t know how media will interpret it in the days to come. Until then the Mukherjea saga will serve more as a commercial ad break. 

Cheers MARRIOTT star*WOOD

Within 24 hours of the press breaking the news about the Starwood buyout by Marriott, SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) members (me included) received an email captioned "Important SPG Announcement". I thought, being a member, I would get one from Marriott Rewards too, but did not. Maybe as the buyer, it expected it's members to know that there is no change except a lot more options  in the near future.

I like the Ritz and JWs, but St.Regis and W are really the ones close to my heart. I thought it was good of Starwood to have shared the news, and the benefits that the members will accrue, by staying loyal to this new hospitality Hercules that now controls 1.1 million rooms in 5500 hotels across some 30 brands spanning 100 countries. Correctly stated somewhere, the number of members (loyalty program) in the combined entity may not change much as most of the 54 million Marriott members (me included) may also be part of the 21 million SPG members list. But as a member, am I really delighted with this Goliath?

I have always found the Marriott program a miser when it comes to rewarding members. SPG at one stage (until a couple of years back) was ahead in the game, and my number one choice. Lately, I have not used it much, as it has slipped in its generosity too in terms of stay points, rates and redemption offered. My first choice today is Accor. It offers a discount based on tier to its members. I also like the fact that Sofitel offers the second room being booked under the same name at a 50% discount for use by family. I wish all hotel brands would follow that guideline for rooms that restrict occupancy to a maximum of  3 persons.

If the news of Paris attacks had kept the entire world in a debate mode, the buy out news on the 16th must have put the global hospitality fraternity in a state of contemplation on the several what - how - who - when - where will questions. I am sure the management of both these companies would have thought it through. But, as always, those least concerned are always the most inquisitive. I read up all the news I could. What interested me though was the fact that the buyout cost Marriott US$ 12 billion to create the world's largest hotel chain; whereas the former No. 2 (now No. 3) - Hilton was acquired by Blackstone for US$ 27 billion. Hilton is half the size of Marriott-Starwood combo in terms of rooms controlled. Maybe this comparison does not meet the apple to apple standard - based on assets owned versus managed; but in this day and age of going asset light,does the number of hotels owned really matter? What really does matter is the marketing and management infrastructure along with the loyal customer base and free cash flows for brand, product and market development. This deal scores on all fronts. If there is a negative, then it would be the merger of cultures. Going by history, merging brands is nothing new to both companies and I am quite sure that the integration would be pretty smooth too.

Would the hospitality world see more consolidation? Is it the brick and mortar response to go into a lean mean mode versus the light weight high valuation Unicorns disrupting the tranquillity of this segment? Or is this a sign of overcrowding in correction mode? All interesting thoughts to keep us strategists busy till end of year.

More interesting from the India perspective was the fact that 3 Chinese companies were in the fray for buying out Starwood. There are quite a few Indian homegrown brands looking for an exit, and maybe the owners should book a seat to the neighbouring Country asap and speak with the prospective buyers. Acquiring Indian hotel brands would not cost those companies much more than the rounding off error on their balance sheets. In the next few years, China may become India's largest tourist partner, and this suggestion would well work as a win win for all concerned.

With some 13,500 rooms across 13 brands present in India, the combined entity edges out Taj (13200 rooms) to grab the pole position in the Indian hotel circuit. Much of the inventory held by it is in the luxury and mid market space, and future growth too would probably stay in that band. Ahem! just to shake the podium a bit, as per Forbes, OYO rooms controls 14,000 room across 100+ Indian cities. But for most old school hoteliers in India, OYO does not count; just like AirBnB's inventory of 1.5 million units across 190 Countries in 30,000 Cities and Towns does not matter to big hotel brands.

But then again, with the "IndiaStory" dimming once more with the global slowdown, I wonder if OYO will be able to sustain its growth speed? With the Venture Capital money taps dripping now, based on failure by most investments to meet milestones; the street is already talking of "Unicorn" deaths, and OYO's name happens to be in that list. I can also see signs of potential capital squander (just like what happened in the dotcom and realty segments in 2000 and 2007 respectively) with funded companies using money to do allied businesses rather than focus on building core strength.

Talking about money power, ITC hotels is one that has tons of  long money for deployment. It has had a long and happy stint with Starwood and a shorter (not so happy) association with Marriott. Now that the equation has changed, will it stay or exit the association? If it does exit then the room count may once again need to be computed to see who stays number one. Consolidation may actually be the way forward for the industry. If the industry agrees to that philosophy, then, will cash rich ITC look at buying out Indian hotel chains in the luxury or mid market segment?  Possibly. Would chains like Leela and Lalit be open to mergers with each other or with ITC and/or Oberoi? Guess no chance. Taj's finances are not at its best to be an acquirer at the moment. It is on an asset sell off mode and on the path of following the sell and manage model. In the last 20 years, none of the Indian hotel chains have been successful in creating a remarkable presence overseas. To add some salt to the wound, the growth of the big 5 Indian brands in the native market too has been slower than that of the foreign brands and emerging home grown ones. Lethargy to change or just too comfortable or run out of steam? It's time for some serious think through within the industry before the players fall over each other.  But why am I discussing this?

For now, it's time to say CHEERS to this marriage of two greats. Looking forward to some bubbling times ahead.

On Air with AIB - The Joke's on Us.

Fortune truly favours the brave. It was the start of 2015, and the AIB (All India Bakchod) team nearly got roasted themselves with various factions demanding their arrest or severe punishment following a  very controversial "Roast" hosted by them. There was nothing really controversial, and nothing really there for anyone to jump in their seats either. But, it did upset many. Maybe, it was our first tryst with intolerance. In this case what one could or could not laugh at. If the humour in the roast was classified as vulgar and needed strict censoring, then most Bollywood movies would be abridged to a 30 minutes run at best. Well, the AIB boys just sat back and had the last laugh as the matter kept hogging news space for quite some time after the event, and let's not forget the the millions of hits the show got on social media.

Can you believe this news item dated October 15, 2015:

AIB Roast: Seven months on, Mumbai Police to call Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and Karan Johar for questioning 

Well, the AIB team should not be complaining one bit. As a recognition of its bravery to take on the system comically, and ability to garner support from much of the youth population, the mobile and internet channel of Star TV "Hotstar" has signed it for a weekly news parody show "On Air with AIB". The theme is comedy in tragedy. My teens are already hooked on it, and while I am not the biggest fan, I do keep up with the episodes. The topics highlighted are right and the humour tame enough to be laughable yet keeping the boys out of what they are best at - getting into trouble.



If I was a sooth, I can for certain say that in a year or so, AIB would be eligible to form its own political party. All they have to do is have one of them arrested and the next thing you know would be a massive protest, candle light vigil, hunger strike, invitation to them by various politicians to join them, news channels and media covering them on main stream TV and national maybe international newspapers, human rights commission and NGOs running a save AIB campaign. Possibilities are endless. They are already giving the ugly eye sore posters and billboards put up by "chamchas" (ass kissers) of various politicians looking to climb the party ladder. At least, the AIB posters are humourous.

If the AIB team is harbouring such an ambition; that is, climbing the political center stage, then it would have to push people to take action on the issues being highlighted and not just laugh it off. Else, at the end of the day, the Joke is on us, and if we haven't already realized it, we are also being readied for a roast in the times to come. I read this article appearing on:

Nov 15 2015 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

SWAMINOMICS - India is more sensitive now, not more intolerant

by SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR

Interesting read, but I think, by and large we have become sensitive and intolerant to the wrong issues, and humour is one way of correcting it. With AAP (Aam Admi Party having joined the league of true politicians - talk big achieve nothing) maybe it's time for AIB to put its best foot forward. 

All in the family.

I have some very fond memories of Diwali. Back then (I am talking about the early to late 70's) noise and air pollution were not much of a concern. Fire-crackers were very basic and not too expensive, designed to make either lot of sound or flash a lot of light. Either way lots of fun. A week before Diwali, the entire extended family had to congregate at my eldest Uncle's apartment for a pre-Diwali dinner. It wasn't much effort, the entire family lived in the same apartment building. It was that day of the year we all looked forward to. He was the family patriarch, and calling him "DAD" was not just a prerogative for his kids alone; all his nephews and nieces had that God's given right as well, and we all called him that till his last day.

Post dinner, he would take his seat with all us cousins around him. Then the huge boxes of fire crackers would be opened up and distributed to all 15 of us (including his own kids). We had our own real Santa Claus. The distribution was done equitably based on age. He did not discriminate between any of us. The younger ones got the safer stuff and the elders the nasty stuff. Once we kids got our share, we would run a side trade between ourselves. We were a business family after all. Some liked the rockets, others the bombs. But we all ended up going to bed very happy and ready to celebrate the week ahead. Being in a joint family was so much fun. There was no need for other friends if  we did not care to have one.

As time passed, we as a  family grew wealthier. Thanks to my Uncle's vision and the efforts of his brothers to make real the vision, we escaped the lower middle class rung and climbed up to be counted in the A - list of the City's real estate and hospitality world. Something else changed. My Uncle's attitude towards his own brothers, as well as nephews and nieces was no longer the same. From being partners and family, his brothers (including my father) were looked upon as a grudging burden. Over time, the happy traditions were lost and it was plain business from then on, the relations inequitable, which in turn ended up in an out of proportion family feud which took 14 years to cure. To be fair, no one person could be blamed, but the inability of the elders to sit in a room for greater than five minutes before raising a storm did us all in. Finally, after years fighting dirty laundry in Courts, attempted mediation, forced counselling, it was the second generation that slowly and amicably cleaned up the situation at a very great cost -  the break up of the family, the business, and each faction slipping into a non relevant status in the social and influencing circles.

Bad as it may sound; from my point of view, at least a large part of the surviving family, get back together once again, on more occasions than just Diwali, to celebrate life. Good to have the family back.

Last week, I was invited to attend a discourse on managing family businesses by two gurus who have authored a book on the subject. The book titled "Indian Family Business Mantras" by Peter Leach and Tatwamasi Dixit expresses the logical treatment of the subject from a western perspective and polishes it with the spiritual wisdom of the east. It took the two some 5 years to complete the book; a clear reflection of the many disagreements the two may have had on the content; almost mirroring the disagreements that crop up in family businesses itself on how it should be run. How could I say no? It was a subject that had impacted me, and I wanted to know if we could have handled it differently. Or, is it a big money disease that hits every successful family with bad results.

At the venue, I was told by the host that there would be no alcohol or non vegetarian food served. I thought that it was some kind of precaution being taken so as to not offend the growing tribe of intolerant. Yes India is no longer one big happy secular family, but that's a different story. The host corrected me. That was not the real reason. Rather, it was an instruction (not a request) from both the authors, as it was part of their own belief system not to attend events that served either or both. Apparently, the eastern spiritual philosophy had prevailed on the west on this count. Now here is something that the RSS could proudly showcase in their defense (or offence).

Honestly,  I found the discourse a bit of let down. Maybe I was expecting something more than what I heard. Or, maybe it had to do with the fact that some of the guests had arrived late, and as a result the whole program had to be rushed. This is another aspect of eastern culture that always beats the western value of "be on time". I am not really accepting of this being fashionably late culture, and from the looks of the presenters, I could make out neither were they.

Having heard the two, I would have otherwise dismissed most of their suggestions as - so what; but for the fact that G.M. Rao of the GMR Group swears by these two management gurus. The two of them helped him bring about a family constitution that all the members of his family can live by; and they include three generations of his family. Now that to me is one Herculean task tackled. Luckily, G.M. Rao happened to be one of the panelist, and, his simple unedited sometime unstructured responses with down to earth honesty left me impressed. He did not hide the fact that there was severe stress and friction to reach a settlement. As the head of the family, to convey his sincerity to the cause, he had to take a whole lot of painful unpalatable decisions. He confessed that ultimately it helped in binding his family together. His words brought back the painful memories I had of my own family, as the issues he spoke of were the same that blighted us. I wish my Uncle had access to such counsel in his time. Maybe our lives would have been different then. Too late on that front I suppose.I doubt if my Uncles and father would have sought such help, even if it was available to them at that time. External intervention, however sage would have been looked upon suspiciously. But then,
I have seen many professionals knowingly or unknowingly aggravate family disputes with their guidance too.

There were a few "Guru Mantras" that did strike me as valuable. In a family business, the primary objective should be the collective well being of the family first and business second. Without the first, there is no second. The greatest wealth a family business generates is the gene pool of individuals that it has to lean on, to grow and not just sustain the business. As the family grows along with the business, holding on to core objectives and distribution becomes even trickier. It is great to be a philanthropist  by the best form of good social work is to create an enterprise that engages more and more people in productive work to make them self sustaining - no business structure understands it better than family business.

At the end of the event, after all that I heard, I was in two minds about setting up a trust fund for my own kids. Better to give them some modest start up capital to blow up and hope that they learn that wealth creation process is one long hard road, and wealth destruction a quick short cut. If I do create an enterprise that is grander than my grandest vision, then my kids would have to earn the right to find a place in it. I cannot create any system to protect them for their life after mine. My learning - almost all systems set up for this purpose end up doing exactly the opposite of what they are created for. Then, what can one do for the successors? My second learning (something that I practice) - be connected to them at every phase of their life, and hope for the best. In the end wealth is every bit important, but for a family so is quality time. Unfair equation but a grim reality.

The discourse and discussion  ended, and I spotted my cousins in the audience too. The same ones I was at war with for 14 years. For us now, it's like the war had never happened. We will probably never do business together. Such a shame to have lost great partners with fantastic chemistry capability, and resources - and all in the family.

Wishing all my readers a very happy and tolerant Diwali. Have a blast and I don't mean the explosive kind.

I will spend my time reading the book.  I was told that it would be well worth my time. Who knows, I may end up writing a book on the same subject based on my own experiences.

From Beef to Bihar

The BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) at D-Street, or Mumbai's Wall (Dalal) Street would earlier quake for two major reasons. First, a negative global event and second a major local scam. Times have changed, and today it is spooked by just about anything from Beef to Bihar.

We will all learn of the results by tomorrow, but exit polls are divided on which party will come out ahead. The BJP or the Grand Alliance. I cannot understand why it shakes our financial market, but it does. Bihar is economically one of the most backward states in India, and it probably produces the maximum number of civil and public servants, not to forget the numbers that join the army and police forces. Bihar also contributes a very high percentage of farm workers and vehicle drivers. Does the possible defeat of the BJP there signal the downturn of the Modi Government at the center? Or, does the possible victory of the Grand Alliance signal the resurgence of corrupt politics? (The key members of the Grand Alliance were sworn enemies at one point, where one blamed the ill fortune of Bihar on the other).

Modi has 4 more years to prove himself and with a majority in the center there is no threat if his party wins or looses this State. Morale buster it may be, but in a way it will send the right message to the PM's ears. Real People (the majority) are unhappy with his Party if not with him or his cabinet. I personally feel a few of the attention seeking junior ministers need to be educated by our former PM to keep their mouth shut.

Grand Alliance wins. In that case, the State will not get the billions promised by the PM on some pretext or the other. Honestly the ruling party at the Center should not be allowed to make dole statements at election time to boost its own chances for winning. It would also tell the PM that people of Bihar maybe economically backward but not mentally. They honestly don't believe that he would send the dole anyway just like he has failed to keep his many promises. I don't even think it is the promises of good days the people are worried about. It's the bad days that have followed in terms of price of food commodities. Yes, improving the image of the Nation and attracting foreign capital is a must and the PM has been doing a great job, but the world is not deaf dumb and blind to the nation's internal shortcomings. Food inflation, intolerance, crime, dissatisfaction are all on the rise.

But why is D-Street worried now? Has the industrial base represented in the BSE top 100 list based its fortunes of a "Resurgent Bihar"? Or are the Bears just happy to use any excuse to short the market?

I think it has nothing to do with Beef or Bihar. The market has been spooked by the Halloween and Thanks Giving holidays along with the indecisive US Fed on rate rise, the last resembling a "cry wolf" story. But the real threat to the market are the drought, the shaky m-comm market, the bad state of real estate, the falling industrial numbers, rising imports and falling exports, higher corruption (despite measures to curb it); well there is long list, but these matters are not as consequential to the present regime like Beef and Bihar.

Final phase of Bihar polls: Beef back on plate as BJP eyes polarisation of votes

2015 - From Incredible India to Intolerant India

There are many foreign visitors who visit this Nation and find it incredible. There are a few who find it intolerable. Now that's something which we are not proud of, but can tolerate. Off late, a growing majority of this Nation have chosen to adopt intolerance, be it what one should eat or what one should wear or how one can express thoughts and views. Opposition to the view held by the ones with power or the stick can now equal a broken body if not death. I thought I was living in a democratic republic that allowed a person to make such fundamental choices and even express displeasure in a civilized manner.  I can't even say how any of my blogs will be interpreted. Some will agree and some disagree. But this is my space and my personal view. Tolerance is what allowed this Country to stay together as one to the point where it could be called secular. As we just witnessed, Mr. Shah Rukh Khan's view on tolerance was not tolerated by quite a few, to brand him a traitor who should be tried for treason. I personally may want him tried for treason for bad acting at times, but certainly not for saying the obvious that makes a lot of sense.



I don't understand if statements and headlines like the ones below help or hurt the intolerance cause:

BJP leader threatens to behead Karnataka CM if he eats beef - http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/bjp-leader-threatens-to-behead-karnataka-cm-over-beef-row/#sthash.4a6lXbYp.dpuf

Venom against SRK for intolerance comment spills over: Who said what

Shah Rukh Khan is Hafiz, Badal is Mandela: AAP minister Kapil Mishra

India got a new government last year. It came to power on a promise of delivering better days for "all" its people. In about just over a year; never mind the official statistics, the kitchen inflation bill has gone up a 200% or more. House prices, car prices, and other goods and services going up or down were never much of a bother as much as satisfying the primal need of a person are concerned. Food. The new government blames the situation as a legacy of the old. The old rulers calls the new even more incompetent than itself. People aligned to those in and out of power are making matters worse by inciting non issues to become major ones. So is this rise in intolerance more a case of economic frustration rather than the majority trying to put certain excesses of the various minorities in check. It may well be one is driving the other. Easier to make people fight with each other than having the entire population questioning those in the Parliament about performance. The blame has to be absorbed by all those who have been elected to represent the people and it does not matter which party they belong to.

The strategy may well work for those in and out of Power. At least for a while. It keeps the nation busy to be worried about the petty issues being blown larger than life. The problem I see is that earlier our Society was divided by religion, caste, creed; now it is being divided in a very different way.  The part of the national majority that is standing up for the rights of the minority and or the constitutional rights assured by this Nation to its citizens, constitute the celebrated, educated, law abiding and tax paying class; whereas the intolerance is festering in the under privileged class of the same majority. The friction is so high between the moderate and the intolerant voice that if not controlled will lead to a catastrophic revolution which could cause the division of the Nation itself. But the official view is:

There’s complete peace in country, no intolerance: Arun Jaitley

Media misled people on Moody’s report (on tolerance): Government - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/media-misled-people-on-moodys-report-on-tolerance-government/#sthash.eDHfX5rN.dpuf

If that be the case, then why:

Hate speech must be punished to preserve peace, harmony: Centre to SC

Case of cat calling kettle black? Guess we have our own Nero(s) fiddling while our own Rome is burning. Welcome to the new improved worse than before Intolerant India. 

Intolerance has always existed: Niti Aayog’s Bibek Debroy
Ghulam Ali cancels his concerts in India

Indian scholars return awards to demand free speech - Al ...

THE DECISION OF A VARIED GROUP OF FILMMAKERS, AUTHORS AND POETS TO RETURN GOVERNMENT-GRANTED AWARDS AS A FORM OF PROTEST HAS LEFT OPINION DIVIDED AND INDIA'S FILM FRATERNITY FRACTURED. SUPRIYA PATHANK ASKED: "ARE WE GAINING ANYTHING FROM THAT? HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO MAKE A POINT THAT SOMETHING HAS CHANGED? WHOM ARE WE PRESSURISING BY THIS?"

Top Indian Scientist Returns Prestigious Award to Protest ...

Incredible India to intolerant India in 7 months? Anupam Kher hits out at Aamir Khan

"Did you (Aamir Khan) tell Kiran that you have lived through more worse times in this country & but you never thought of moving out," another tweet by Anupam Kher read.

-

Welcome to Intolerant India.

China's 135 to make the world FLY

Media seems to have forgotten all about Greece and China, the two nations that rocked the economic world earlier this year. The US Fed may have stirred the debt markets a bit, but the world in general seems to be engrossed with Europe's refugee crisis.

I applied for a visa to one of the Schengen nations, and thought that it may be easier to slip in as one of the boat people rather than comply with some inane requirements prescribed by the consular departments of any of these countries. Yes, there is real hardship and risk to life involved, but once in, can be sure of remaining there permanently. I can't understand why there is no 10+ year Schengen visit visa for qualified Indians who have no desire of visiting Europe for any reason other than a holiday and spending hard earned money to boost the Euro economy? Anyway, the Chinese are more welcoming of Indians now, and with the devaluation of the Chinese currency, may as well holiday there. 

Incidentally, the Chinese are rocking the world again with a song celebrating the release of its 13th 5 year development plan (2016 - 2020). The song promises that the plan will be bigger and better than any in the past. It's a plan that will give new improved better than before wings to the Chinese dragon (growth story) to fly and with it the whole world.  But, the western (developed) world is not so convinced. China has spent a huge some of money to stabilize its stock market. It is spending more money by way of rate cuts to keep its real estate market afloat. Each week there is a new story on Chinese ghost towns, empty malls and office buildings. The real economy is close to 5% whereas the authorities have shown it just below 7%. Punters in the form of global analyst have pegged the economy to hover between a low of 2% and a high of 5% for the next few years before the dragon recovers from its illness. Hey! The west grows at 2% or lower and yet it is China that is being called slow.

Here lies the major problem. China virtually own the US and is the world's second largest economy. If its 135 plan won't make it fly then the world will be left to FRY. 

Let's get ready to really rock again to the Chinese economic song, one way or another - it's going to get us. 

Here is a must read:

China's economy is in trouble. How bad is it?

Oh God! You Devil

Dushera, the Hindu festival passed us on 22^nd October. Depending on which part of the Country one hails from or rather the community, two events in Hindu mythology, namely; the slaying of a demon by Goddess Durga and the defeat and the death of demon king Ravana of Lanka at the hands of God incarnate Lord King Rama of Ayodhya, are celebrated on this day as a sign of the triumph of good over evil.

Image credit : http://www.icytales.com/the-good-side-of-ravana/

What I have found notable these last few years, has been the number of articles that I have read in defense of Ravana. The modern interpretation of Ravana by quite a few makes him out to be the martyred and principled villain and Rama the victorious but flawed hero. Even Amish Tripathi’s new book the Scion of Ikshvaku, essentially an interpretation of the worshipped Valmiki Ramayan paints the demon king as a dark but principled character, as also his brother and sons who stood by him. On the other hand, Ravana’s brother Vibeeshan, the one who betrayed him to Rama is now being seen as a negative and selfish person who put his own interest before that of his family and nation.

As children the original tale inspired us, but my generation remained unquestioning of the embedded morality. Today however, people are ready to put higher morality to test, be it the mythical Gods. It is not just a Hindu phenomenon but something that is happening worldwide.  The fear of even being put to death by fanatical fundamentalist followers is not deterring the brave to question the age old interpretation of the holy texts by the guardians of various religions to control those within their flock.  

Are people right or wrong in humanizing the revered and judging them? I don’t know and I don’t really care. What does concern me as a human with reason is the growing frustration of people with the institutions of control which include both politics and worship. It is not that people around the world have become less Godly. In fact, there is an increased interest in spirituality even with the young; including those who prescribe to radical and blind acceptance.

Then what is right? Was there ever a right? My own interpretation is that there is a war playing out between who have made whatever they believe in right through the use of might and those who feel that the so called teachings that may have been right in the past may not hold good for the current times. World over, sentiments hurt, human blood and life shed for depicting or interpretation of prophets and Gods in some form of art, including words and comic book caricatures.  Even worse; the attempt to prove superiority of one form of God system over another.  I wonder if hurting or killing in any God’s name will earn a person a place in some mythical paradise? Here we are, in the name of God, at war with one another, ready to destroy the one real paradise he gave us called earth.  

We have so many common and bigger problems to solve as humanity – economic, environmental, hunger and disease, political suppression and many such others which don’t strike mankind because of any form of religious beliefs including atheism.  This is not a preach blog, but my personal inconvenient truth, where the difference between what is really the good of God and the evil of Devil gets more and more blurry.

10 Things That Make Ravana The Coolest Ramayana Character

The Unsung Hero- Ravana

Exploring The Good Side of Ravana

By Pavithra -

September 14, 2015

This came to me on whatsapp:

Dear Ravana.....Every year, on this day, we celebrate the victory of good over evil....But..technically....your behaviour should be re-classified from "Evil" to "Slightly Naughty". After all, tumne kiya hi kya thha? I agree you kidnapped a lady in haste... But.. after that...you gave her more respect we normally give to women in today's world. You offered her good food...shelter...and even women security guards (not too good looking though). Your request for marriage was full of humility..and you never threw acids when rejected. Even when Lord Rama killed you.... you were wise enough to seek his apologies. And...I believe you were more educated than half of our Parliament. Trust me dude...there ain't no any hard feelings to burn you... just that it's the In-Thing. Respect !!

 Oct 26 2015 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

Aaj ka Ravan

Sagarika Ghose



In the time of Ram Lilas, effigies that don't burn easily

In the time of Ram Lilas, we burnt the effigy of Ravan. These days though villainy reigns on the front page and on prime time news and heroic feats are pushed to the back page. Ravan may have been decisively burnt, but there are many Ravans whose effigies refuse to burn too easily.

Top of the list is Dawood Ibrahim. India's most wanted is the main prime time villain. Pakistan may deny his whereabouts but when your daughter is married to the son of one of Pakistan's most famous cricketers, then surely Me and Dad and many others (except perhaps the ISI) know exactly where he is.

Hafiz Saeed: Another villain from across the border. Cleric to some, terrorist to others, Saeed runs an organisation whose office addresses always begin with AK 47. There can be nothing holy about the Lashkar.

Maoists: Mamata Banerjee walks out on them in a TV show, Arundhati Roy walks with them and the BJP government thinks they are disguised as FTII students. They are extremists for some, freedom fighters for others. In fact, Maoists are as enigmatic as Ravan. Was he a villain or wasn't he?
Chota Rajan: Just to prove that dons have no religion, Bal Thacke ray once famously said, `If they have Dawood, we have Chota Rajan'.

Now that's not a chota statement to make but when you are the Shiv Sena supremo, you can get away by creating your own hierarchy of villains.

Mohammad Shahabuddin: Four time MP from Siwan, confirming that crime does pay when it comes to netagiri. Now in jail, he spends more time in hospital than behind prison gates. Is this a case of sickness in the body politic?
Veerappan: Perhaps the most celebrated moustache in recent times. He knew how to separate the wood from the trees and elephants from their tusks. Lalu's Bihar was no patch on Veerappan style jungle raj.

Corruption: This Ravan refuses to die. Many avatars of Durga have tried to burn him, but he continues to wage war, regularly turning out to be victorious.He is a rakshasa who unlike the mythical Shiv-bhakt Ravan, worships no one except the odd telecom Raja.

Of course for many , Ravan is also a hero, the Dravidian counter to the “Aryan“ Rama. Ravan was the Brahmin pundit who many believe was a good king. No wonder the lines between heroes and villains are blurred because when you have 10 heads, good and evil both make headway together.

Welcome to the HotelMall

I am pretty sure that when Uber and AirBnB started operations, they must have been laughed off by the organised taxi operators and hotel brands respectively. Today, the story is very different, and no one is laughing at the two anymore, given their achievement and resultant business valuations. No one is laughing at the likes of Ola cabs or OYO rooms or the many local cab and hotel aggregator entities that have launched in India in the last couple of years, specially with the money that is now backing them. 

For many a hotel brand and management companies, "aggregators" are appearing more like "alligators" eating into their business slowly but surely. It will not surprise me anymore to read that one of these upstarts is in control of a larger room inventory than the largest hotel chain operating in India. AirBnB has already proved that point at a global level. 

A hotel owner with small to mid size property in the budget segment now has a reason to smile. Hotel brands would not touch his property because it did not meet its standards, or not manage it because the fees earned were not worth the effort. For a while, a hotel owner got away with leasing out his property. But, with new hotel brand operators having learnt their lesson from the mounting losses due to the wild rents offered, a hotel owner was increasingly facing a situation of a no guarantee management contract or manage yourself option. Aggregation has changed the playing field. A fixed number of rooms are now contracted on a fixed rent basis. Hotel owner is assured of a minimum occupancy off-take albeit at a lower rate, and the aggregator assured of control over a managed, curated room with very little upfront investment. Unlike a plain vanilla hotel booking company, where inventory can be pulled back by the hotel in the peak, the aggregator resorts to surge pricing knowing well that inventory is under control.  It is as close to a win-win for both sides. Will the model sustain itself? I will keep my view to myself for making the mistake of shooting myself in the foot. I am already limping from a few shots earlier. By the way the rumors on the street are already talking about default by investors in keeping their commitments based on the notional evaporation of valuations being suffered on account of the current global melt.   

If aggregation has disrupted the way a hotel would be branded or managed,I see a kind of disruption in the way a hotel would be designed in the near future. I am not afraid of causing injury to myself with a few predictions here:

Malls have tried to incorporate hotels within their own ecosystem but have had very little success. Either the hotel space allocated was too large or too small. Most revenue and non revenue public areas and service spaces were ill located to make any commercial sense. This will change. A hotel would be the most suited occupant in a Commercial Mall today. With e-commerce taking a larger and larger bite into the shopping sphere, most malls would either have to convert a large part of its floor space into a kind of off-line warehouse for the online stores. 

Therefore, baring the anchors and premium outlets on the lower floors, all other shops would be replaced by outsourced restaurants, bars, function room operators, spas,recreational, entertainment and other such facilities expected in a hotel. Huh! so what? That's exactly how a hotel is built today. The difference being that the hotel lobby would completely disappear. 

In the future each floor or section (as design permits) may be controlled by a different aggregator; and there may be five to six or more aggregators represented in the same complex. It would well be possible that the equivalent of a hostel, budget and mid market offering would share the same floor or complex. Hence, the check in process may too be relegated to specific floors or sections. A guest would be GPS guided to elevators and floor. There would be no need for a key card as the smartphone would act as the key and settlement wallet. One would be welcomed by name thanks to advanced facial recognition and the entire ID verification process would be robotic where bio metric details would be matched with the details on guest ID and same sent to the police data base along with the pictures. A hotel guest ID card would be generated to allow guest access to the designated room and also to ensure that no one else (not checked in) walks in. 

Apart from luxury and possibly resort brands, the mid market and budget brands of today may also go the aggregation way to survive. The cookie cutter model will become increasingly a balloon model that will adopt itself to the location constraints and demands. The big brands actually have the infrastructure and money might in place at the moment to do so. The peril of not doing so maybe obliteration of the brand itself. One may say what happens to management then if brands become aggregators? I think that function would actually be performed by a third party Asset and Facilities Manager (AFM) rather than a hotel management company. It happens at airports and hotels will adopt this too. The aggregator contracts would probably end with the fixed plus variable formula with the AFM as well as the hotel owner. Why would such an operation be successful? It has a lot to do with developments in hotel technology.      

Picture credit:
http://www.jovoto.com/blog/2011/11/design-the-hotel-room-of-the-future/

All the rooms will be identical in terms of hardware as most aggregators would be hardware in-specific anyway. The soft furnishings would be provided by and tailored to the aggregator's brand. The housekeeping and maintenance function will be centralized across all floors and go mostly robotic too. The robots will not only clean the rooms but will also check the room inventory -thanks to the RFID tags, and check if all in room equipment is in good working order. The robot's human buddy will be assigned tasks that require minimum intelligence to ensure speed and efficiency. In addition to cleaning the rooms, robots will also assess room security and check if a guest has stored hazardous or prohibited items.

A guest can expect wifi, TV, room service, in-room bar, laundry and valet service as well. Why not? A guest would expect full service and will certainly get it. You guessed it - robotic on a pay per use basis. Yes, guests will get used to this concept in time like they have in airlines. Well, the sensitivity of human touch may be lost but then robots can take all the insults, abuses, and human insensitivity without being irritated or agitated. Think of it, no robot will object to saying "You are right. I am an idiot. I am sorry. It will not happen again" unemotionally to an aggrieved guest. (At least, until Artificial Intelligence creates a human clone). Booting a robot (using the foot) will seal the guest in the hotel and the recorded evidence will ensure that guest lands up in jail for destruction of property. 

Guest complaints will be handled by interactive voice response unit that will auto recognize the input language. Extreme cases will be channeled to a human who will speak in a language the guest cannot understand despite having made the language selection.

Finally, what will happen to those guests who book rooms for the act of procreation without intending any creation? If Ashley Madison is something to go by, I think not having too many prying humans around will be good for business. And then, hotels would have lesser problems dealing with cases of staff molesting guests or vice-versa. Cases of mechaphilia are pretty rare I suppose. 

Then of course, the billion dollar question that a potential hotel developer is asking - "Why should I put an agonizing 3 years of sweat and blood in building a facility with an investment cost upwards of Rs 5 million a key on land and building at an expected WACC of 18%+ where I have to take a risk of servicing my banker, then my investor and at the end of day not see an IRR of greater than 5% on my own capital, if at all I don't loose my property? I rather put in Rs 50 million of my own and build a billion dollar app." 

Well the "Acche Din" (Happy days)may be far and few, but for now Indian hospitality has rebooted Fonzie's song to "Appy Days are Here Again". Where is my gun? I may as well shoot myself in the ....

      

              

Airbnb doesn’t even own a bed, but its backers think it’s more valuable than Hyatt  Airbnb will soon be booking more rooms than the world’s largest hotel chains

How Uber and Airbnb

Are Winning Over Business Travelers

http://skift.com/2015/07/20/how-uber-airbnb-are-winning-over-business-travelers-in-9-charts/

How online travel firms like Yatra and Cleartrip are enteringing into the budget accommodation space

By Divya Sathyanarayanan, ET Bureau | 27 Aug, 2015, 04.51AM IST

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48690068.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

The 21-year-old building India's largest hotel network

By Kinjal Pandya-WaghBusiness reporter, BBC News

Why investors are putting funds into budget hotels like Stayzilla and OYO Rooms

By Aditi Shrivastava & Evelyn Fok, ET Bureau | 4 Jun, 2015, 05.20AM IST

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47535526.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

How young companies are redefining industry for hotels and travellers

Payal Ganguly, ET Bureau Apr 1, 2015, 10.25AM IST