P R Satheesh,
Principal @ TELiBrahma
It has been a back-breaking end to the fiscal and an even better beginning. Though the fiscal year mentioned here is only for reference and there is no real connect to the business that I manage, right now, I feel that every week is the end of the month, quarter or year!
A friend of mine from a leading multi-national mentioned about 52 parts to the objective for the year… it would be a matter of time before it becomes 365 parts to any objective or goal companies and people like me would define for themselves.
The best part of this back-breaking few weeks is that I have visited Calicut, Bhopal, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Kottayam, Cochin and of course the routine daily/weekly trips to Mumbai and NCR. An interesting observation in the Tier II towns is that the infrastructure – airports, roads, malls, telephony and overall growth - is no different from either Mumbai or Delhi.
Of course, Mumbai and Delhi are a lot bigger and their problems even bigger, I guess. The saviour whilst visiting all these cities has been Google Maps - finding the hotel at midnight in Calicut after an eight-hour drive, locating the address at Bhopal, checking an alternate route from Kottayam to Ernakulum – Google Navigation on my Android has been just awesome.
In fact, the local taxi guy messed it up while driving into Kottayam from the Kochi airport by not listening to me (rather, Google Navigation). He would listen to me post that because I helped him find the address at Kottayam and a better route to return via Kumarakom. Though it was only a stopover for about 10 minutes at Kumarakom, I managed to capture some images for posterity and FB ? Talking of development in Tier II towns, I was advised to leave my hotel 2.5 hours before the flight for an otherwise 40-minute journey to the Kochi airport – thanks to the new Lulu Mall, which has opened up en route to the airport. I believe there have been traffic snarls and the High Court has advised that the mall be opened at 8 30 am, with brands running out of stock in the first weekend. Well, all of this was a good four weeks ago and I am sure the initial euphoria might have reduced by now.
There is certainly a bigger, better life beyond the four or five big cities of India. People seem to spend 10-12 hours at work, wear the best, drive the best, live in bigger houses compared to lesser mortals in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, use i-phones and Note IIs, have good education and healthcare facilities, earn as much and save more…
Though I have not said anything new, it is time we move and start looking at settling down in Tier II towns and ease the pressure on the big cities.
Feedback: prs@telibrahma.com
