The dangers of the face value

For almost twenty four years (discount the first five years) of my life, I have been used to conducting transactions with only the Rupee as a currency. And over these years, I have seen how things have become expensive (or the value of the Rupee has diminished). Moreover, I have been able to develop benchmarks for how much to spend on what item. And also rough benchmarks for monthly expenses and savings required.

Cut to September 2011. I am in Canada and suddenly, I have to spend in Canadian Dollars. Now, the game has completely changed. Suddenly, I have to adjust to the new currency and what can one unit of this currency buy and is buying of that amount, actually worth that value? But, the problem is that I haven't yet developed any benchmarks. One Canadian cent still has a lot of value, compared to one Indian paisa. But, then for many days, it is only the face value of the currency that registers in my mind. And with the mental framework wired to deciding the worth based on the Rupee, many a times doesn't register the gravity of the expenses incurred. E.g., a CAD 1.24 worth of coffee is far expensive than if I would have my own coffee maker. But this gravity doesn't register quickly, as for me the value 1.24 registers as a small number, because I am used to transacting in the Rupee. But, it is significant value for many Canadians. And hence, some of them might skip the coffee for a day and have it only on certain number of days.

This is the danger that the face value of the currency poses. For me to realise the gravity of the transaction, I have resorted to converting the amounts into Indian rupees. This helps me in also keeping a tab on the expenses involved. Moreover, it has led to looking for cheaper alternatives. But, the flip side is that I might not end buying something really needed or beneficial, just because its price in Rupees feels too much!

From where else can money come for AI?

Whenever I travelled Air India on international flights, I thought that they were doing a good job with the facilities provided on board. When compared with other airlines, they didn't seem too extravagant. Of course, they did offer a wider choice of meals, except that the special requests had to be informed earlier. And the portions served too are comparable to what is served on other airlines. So, what else could be done to improve the revenue of the airlines?

I saw this on the Lufthansa, Air Canada and Dragon Air flights. The cabin crew literally hawk duty-free stuff. After you have been served a nice(?) meal and drink, the cabin crew come out with a trolley of duty-free goods. And they literally keep on calling 'Interested in buying duty-free?' Of course, coming from a beautiful air-hostess, it sounds seductive, and many a times I feel sorry about not being in a position to buy something from her. But then it is same to the 'chaaayee aaa' call of a tea-vendor on railway platforms. Except that the chai wala is viewed as a nuisance, while the air-hostess isn't. However, this is additional revenue for the airlines. On every flight, I have seen passengers buy a thing or two from the airlines' duty free catalogue. And mind you, these aren't stuff that are cheap. Things like a Calvin-Klein perfume or a Jack Daniel cannot be readily bought by anybody. Moreover, I have seen Air Canada entice passengers by showing them some 'good reasons' to purchase duty-free items on the personal entertainment system in their aircraft.

And the entertainment system brings another source of revenue. Why not show advertisements on the personal entertainment screens? Air Canada does that. Before you start a show or movie, a 15 sec advertisement is played. This can range from sports equipment to credit cards. So, basically Air Canada is selling advertising space. Mind you, these can be easily customised. E.g., the kids' section like cartoons, et al. can have advertisements targeted towards kids, the movie or TV show section can have different advertisements. And yes, advertisements in business and first class can still be different from those in economy class. It is similar to public transport authorities selling space on the exterior of the buses for advertisements. All this brings in additional revenue for the airline.

I never see such things happening on Air India flights. The crew just serve the meals and go to their resting stations after they have cleared the tables. Air India does have a catalogue, which mentions the duty free items available, but then you have to contact the crew for that and they will have it delivered to your address. How many passengers will be willing to do that, compared to when the duty free trolley is wheeled past your seat? Moreover, its entertainment screens do not advertise anything. These revenues may seem too trifle, but then, there isn't much effort involved in generating them. A Boeing 777 carries more than 300 passengers. Imagine, being able to advertise for such a captive crowd. People plug into their entertainment system by default, and even at 70% load, it is a big crowd to be targeted. Moreover, the flights last for more than six hours and if it is a hopping flight, you get a total of many more passengers to be advertised to. And margins from selling duty-free stuff should be pretty high. The Air-India management needs to have some strategy on this. It might involve a lot of work with the RBI, with regards to the payments made, but in the long run, it is worth these efforts.

Of course, none of this substitutes to running the airline in an efficient manner. These earnings are like icing on the cake, which just makes the cake more attractive and bring in better margins. But, for that, the cake itself should be perfectly baked. Hope someone in Air India is listening to this!

वो सात साल

Don't worry, I'm not typing a post in Hindi. But, Romanised Hindi is something that I hate, and hence have put the title in Hindi. It's been almost seven years, since I entered the lush green campus of IIT Bombay. Coming from a college(?) where no one cared about its teachers and lectures and were only governed by University regulations, I was in for a cultural shock. Suddenly, professors were very important. Attending lectures and classes was necessary, since the syllabus didn't remain standard but on what and how much the professor desired to teach. Moreover, most of the professors were caring enough and took their jobs of teaching very seriously. They enjoyed the activity of teaching, which made me respond back equally(?) well.

I came here for a Masters' degree. The plan, initially, was to get the IIT brand name on my resume, which will help me jump start my career, which would have been a non-starter considering the college that I studied in, during for my undergraduate degree. One thing led to another, and I don't know when it happened, but I decided to enroll myself for a Ph.D. Of course, many ask me why didn't I go abroad for doing one? The truth is that it is extremely difficult for a non-IITian (meaning, someone without a B.Tech. from IIT) to get into those top universities, where the best researchers are. Moreover, I didn't want to grind myself through the GRE and that Barron's word list, from where 90% of the words are never used post-GRE.

And so began my tryst with IIT-Bombay. I enrolled for the Ph.D. programme in July 2006. It has been a long and painful journey. As it happens with almost every Ph.D. student, my work too began as a treasure-hunt. And it has taken five long years to gather the treasure, properly document it and lay adequate claims on it (submit papers for publication). The duration seemed so long, for myself as well as others, that even the security personnel, mess workers, staff, etc. started asking me, "अरे, तुम्ही अजून इथेच?" (translation: Oh, are you still a student?) or "अजून किती दिवस?" (translation: how much time more?)

But equally interesting has been the life apart from research. From the experiences of my seniors, I had realised that an active extra-curricular life is necessary to stay sane in IIT. No, I didn't actively participate in extra-curricular, but  did make an attempt. It is here, that I started taking exercising seriously. I trained myself and ran the Mumbai half-marathon twice, enrolled myself in swimming classes and trained to clear the intermediate level camp conducted at IIT. The Sameer hill became my favourite destination, to give some stress tests to the heart and muscles. I have encircled IIT so many times, that my jogging shoes never lasted beyond one year. Hostel activities, Research Scholars' activities, etc. took up a good chunk of my time at IIT. I was introduced to many facets of life here. Students' struggles at research, apathy towards common courtesies and sensibilities, politics being played to the extent that it hampers research work and also, some faculty genuinely fighting it out for students. It is here, that I got to listen to extraordinary talk from Nobel laureates to Fields' Medallists and realised what makes them special. I also got to listen to eminent personalities who have made a difference in India. Through the Institute Colloquiums (which also had awesome refreshments), I got to listen to great talks from researchers around the world.

 It is here, where I learnt more about friendship, about give-and-take. About bonding with an extended family. About the importance of building relationships, with your family, your neighbours and those in your workplace. Building of relations has helped a lot in times of need and times of crisis. These are important when you are at the nadir of your confidence or at the peak of your success. Good relations help you reduce anguish and increase the joy. IIT gave me a few important lessons in life. Not only about academics, but also about non-academics and these are equally important when I shape up my career.

Experiencing the jetlag

Almost everybody who has travelled across the Atlantic or the Pacific have a jetlag story of their own. Some brag about how they didn't feel the jetlag at all, while some sheepishly admit that they suffered for days together before they overcame their jetlag. Why does someone have to feel sorry of suffering from jetlag? It is a natural phenomenon and can affect someone more than the other. Just like common cold. Some get better overnight, while some struggle for days.

But, once you've experience it, you begin to realise that each one has his or her own unique scenarios. E.g., now that I travelled across the Atlantic, I experienced jet lag for the first time. Not that I couldn't sleep in the night, but there were other signs that indicated that I am experiencing a jetlag. The first and foremost thing I did was to sleep whenever possible on flight. So, while I missed a meal on one leg of the flight, I wasn't groggy and tired when I reached my destination. But then, the internal body clock hadn't yet adjusted. So, I didn't feel like having dinner during regular dinner time and ended up feeling hungry at odd times in the night. Moreover, my bowel movements went for a toss. I was using the wash room at odd times and had a clean movement only by the next evening!! My host must be wondering about my frequent visits to the washroom. Fortunately, I didn't have too much trouble with sleeping. When I landed here, it was in the evening and went off to sleep at night. But I ended getting up early in the morning and hence, the following afternoon, I slept for almost three hours.

So, like everyone else, my story of jetlag too turns out to be unique to a great extent.

How tennis has changed over the years

Just have a look at these two videos.

1. Bjorne Borg vs. John McEnroe, 1980 Wimbledon final

2. Federer vs. Nadal, 2008 Wimbledon Final

See the difference? Forget the big fibre-based racquets of Nadal and Federer, forget their improved athletics. Notice the grass on the Centre Court in both the videos. In the first video, you will see that the grass is considerably worn out even near the net, indicating the dominance of serve-and-volley type of play. Watch how frequently McEnroe and Borg rush towards the net in order to play their volleys and remove the sting out of the opponent's returns.

In the second video, you will still notice green grass near the nets. But at the base line, the grass is completely worn out. This is the change I am talking about. From the serve-and-volley type of game to booming from the baseline itself. Notice how rarely do Federer and Nadal come close to the net. Both try to hit towards the base line and from there itself.

Tennis has changed over time and as usual, Wimbledon is there to remind us about it and help in etching these changes in our memories.