“If it had not been Sandeep’s (slain NSG commando) house, not even a dog would have glanced that way”

V.S. Achuthanandan, Chief Minister of Kerala (pic shown), was quoted after the father of the slain NSG commando told the minister to take a hike. This would be the equivalent of California Governor Schwarzenegger telling a firefighter’s father to get lost.

“I was on an official visit to find out for myself the damage caused to the hotel. It was a sheer coincidence that producer Ram Gopal Verma was also present”

V. Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, was quoted after protests over his actor son Ritesh and director Ram Gopal Verma toured the Taj Palace with him. Imagine if George Bush had Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg visit ground zero within hours of the 9/11 attack.

“The odd incident does happen in a big city like Mumbai”

R.R. Patil, Home Minister of Maharashtra, was quoted as the attack was occurring. Maybe, but these “odd incidents” don’t usually last 60 frikken’ hours due to government stupidity.

“These are just a few women wearing lipstick and powder taking to the streets”

M.A. Naqvi, BJP Leader, was quoted as saying when talking about citizens protesting. Fair enough, maybe this guy REALLY doesn’t like lipstick and powder.

The larger issue is that most of them are still sticking by their quotes because they don’t see anything wrong with their statements. In fact, many have said their words were incorrectly translated from their mother tongue to English. This is India baby!…where the world knows about “India Shining” but internally we are “India Crying.”

Me personally, I’ve been busy putting my thoughts together and will soon approach several large media houses - traditional print media and digital content providers. The overall theme is that we need to have a daily status report front and center on what is happening on a day to day basis in regards to the massacre. But that is only half of it, the other piece is having people such as yourself able to share information and keeping the government honest via collaborative technology. One of the tools we’ll be using is the government’s own Right To Information (RTI) website. Once we get the green light and the basics are in place, I’ll let you know via my blog how you can affect change.

Do I think it will work? Only time will tell, my only fear is that people in South Bombay have always had some what of an elitist attitude and this might be just another example - “MY friends got affected thus the entire nation should give a damn.” Let’s pray people all over India feel violated like the victims in the massacre and want change.

P.S. You might have noticed a new tag/label I’ve been using - WTF. It’s because every time I think of the Mumbai Massacre, I think to myself “What The Fu!@#$.”

1. Name
2. Education (If you mention Harvard it better be a 2 or 4 year degree, none of those lame-ass 3 week programs. Bonus points for an IIT/IIM grad)
3. Previous Job
4. What is your cell phone number/e-mail address
5. How much did you earn last year?
6. What is your attitude towards bribery and corruption
7. Have you ever committed a crime, if so describe
8. What will your first 100 days look like (since sh@#$ is slow in India, I’ll give you 200 days)
9. What are your top 5 areas you will focus on
10. What has been your biggest accomplishment?
11. What has been your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?
12. How large of a car entourage/security detail will you require and why?  (Most US Governors have 2 cars or is India so unsafe you need more)

I know many of you were hoping that this blog entry would talk about what I’m planning on doing for change, but I had to put together a list of questions when I heard CM Deshmukh might resign. I promise the next blog entry will be about what I’m planning to do.

Boston.com has a section called the Big Picture and they have some amazing pics from the Massacre: Set 1 | Set 2

The attacks on South Bombay have hit home for me.  Friends would visit Bombay and see the lack of infrastructure, the poverty and the overall craziness of Bombay and would ask why I love Bombay and my answer was simple “I live like a king.” Well, in an instant I’m starting to rethink if it’s worth it. I can’t even count how many times I have visited the Taj Palace this year, it’s like a 2nd home for many of my friends and family.  During the attacks I was receiving emails from people that had visited Bombay and they all said the same basic thing - “I heard about the attacks, hope you are safe…oh my god I stayed at the Taj Palace…I can’t believe it.”

I’ve put together a timeline of the events as they occurred from a personal point of view, which includes a story of a very, very close friend - SJ.  Her story is nothing short of heart-breaking.

Nov 16 - Met up with my cousin for coffee at the Taj Palace, where he was staying.
Nov 20 - Celebrated my birthday by having dinner at Wasabi located in the Taj Palace.
Nov 23 - Had lunch with family at Golden Dragon which is located in the Taj Palace.
Nov 24 - Dropped off my brother-in-law at the CST train station.

Nov 26
Morning - My cousin checks out of the Taj Palace.
9:15pm - Picked up my sister and nieces from the Airport, they were in India for a wedding. We were driving to the JW Marriot in Juhu to check-in.
9:40pm - Get a call from my wife’s business partner - SJ, she was at Golden Dragon celebrating her husband’s birthday with family. She told us to be safe because there was gunfire at the Taj Palace and the rumor was they were targeting other 5 star hotels - JW Marriott included.
10pm - We rollup to the JW Marriott, the plan was for my sister to check-in and then we would leave.  However, we end up ordering food and start to watch the news…it becomes apparent the situation was spiraling out of control and decide to stay at the hotel with my sister.
Midnight - On TV they report gun fire outside the JW Marriott, I call my driver who was outside and ask him what’s the situation. He said it was quiet and the cops were patrolling the streets.

Nov 27
1:30am - Get a call from SJ saying they are in the Taj Chambers and locked in by the staff. She was afraid but everyone felt comfortable with the Taj staff.
7:30am - We call SJ and she explains how she had escaped with her parents around 3:30am, but still waiting for her husband and father/mother/sister-in-law.
3:30pm - SJ’s mother-in-law’s body was identified, still no word about the other family members.
4:30pm - SJ get’s a call that they have also identifed her husband and father-in-law.
5pm - Local TV is saying the seige at the Taj is over and all hostages have been freed (inaccurate).
7:30pm - I leave the JW Marriott with my wife to be with SJ for several hours, we head to Pedder Road. Leaving the JW where my sister and nieces were was one of the toughest decisions I had to make, however seeing the security detail I felt relieved and assured. We get stuck at Worli for about 30 minutes as the Prime Minister’s 42 car entourage passes through (they had AK-47’s).

8:30pm - We reach SJ’s in-law’s house and it’s just a scene you don’t ever want to witness.  We get word that SJ’s sister-in-law is alive but in critical condition.
11pm - We head back to the JW Marriott so I can be with my sister and nieces. It was eerie that there were no cops on the road as we head back, the only place we saw cops was back at the JW Marriott. I was thinking back to 9/11 where the 405 highway in Los Angeles had cops everywhere for weeks and that was 2800 miles from ground zero.

Nov 28
7am - the National Security Guard (NSG) commando’s got dropped onto Nariman House in Colaba.
10am - We check out of the hotel and drop my sister and nieces off at the airport so they can fly to Goa for a wedding, I was relieved at this point.  Then we proceed to Pedder Road. 
2pm - We head for the last rites that were given to SJ’s husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law. Rumors of gunshots at CST and Napeansea Road make the rounds.  For 2 hours the local cable system was cut to fight the rumors and inaccurate reporting.
3:30p - The Oberoi is finally in control of the NSG.
5pm - The TV’s are all talking about the final stages of the operation taking place (inaccurate).
7pm - Nariman House is finally in control of the NSG.

Nov 29
9am - The Taj Palace is finally in control of the NSG, it took almost 60 hours to secure a single hotel.
10:30a - Ratan Tata, CEO of Tata Sons and owner of Taj Palace is on the grounds to survey the damage.

During this massacre there were players that showed leadership and others that should be taken behind a tool shed and violated with a rusted knife (don’t ask).

Winners:

• NSG personnel - the elite force that brought the massacre to an end at 3 locations - Taj, Oberoi/Trident and Nariman House.
• Media - unprecedented coverage of the unfolding events.
• Rajdeep Sardesai, CNN IBN reporter – He has hammered every government official on their laziness.
• Shobha De, socialite turned activist - very outspoken against the government’s inaction and calling for resignations.
• Taj and Oberoi/Trident staff - I’ve heard nothing but praise from people within the Taj Palace during the massacre.
• Ratan Tata - He was on the grounds of the Taj Palace within 90 minutes of the NSG taking control. The Prime Minister and other government officials were nowhere to be found.

Losers:

• The Indian government.
• Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh - his speech within hours of the massacre was unintelligible and uninspiring, he makes George Bush look like a Rhodes Scholar.
• President of India, Pratibha Patil - No comment from her, of course this post is more of a ceremonial post which is all the more reason for her to speak since her calender is free
• Indian Home Minister, Shivraj Patil - speechless, I meant him not me (he just announced his resignation).
• National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan - didn’t even know he existed.
• Maharashtra Chief Minister, V. Deshmukh - complained he didn’t get specific information on the attack, was he expecting a call from them?
• Maharashtra Home Minister, RR Patil – said the incident was small, he heard the terrorists wanted to kill 5,000 people, so anything under that number shows how effective the government was.
• Mayor of Bombay, Dr. Shubha Raul - Yet another ceremonial post. The one big benefit of this position is you get to live in a massive mayoral compound, not bad for doing nothing.
• Bombay police management team – not much can be expected from them since most carry nothing more then a lathi…yes only a wood stick.
• We the people - in the end we lost many friends and family.

But the award for the biggest loser goes to Raj Thakery and his MNS supporters.  For the past 8 months we’ve had to listen to his nonsense about how Bombay is for his people (Maharashtrians) and his retarded slogan “Amchi Mumbai” which means Our Bombay.  According to him only Maharashtrians should live here and everyone should speak the local language - Marathi. Yet, when the city was attacked the MNS must have been at home drinking tea and eating vada pav’s.

Random Thoughts

• Lighting a candle seemed like a good idea till I read my friend Deepak’s blog entry who argues it’s a waste of time
• Since Obama doesn’t technically start his term till January 20th, I wish India could hire him till then
• Speaking of Obama, I also want to steal his slogan when it comes to political reform - “Yes We Can”
• I did my bit of defiance today when running on Marine Drive near the Oberoi, I flipped off a government entourage of 15 vehicles.

My next blog entry is about what I intend to do and hope to make change.

YES, I’M TYPING IN ALL CAPS, WHICH USUALLY INDICATES SOMEONE IS YELLING…I’M F’N PISSED.  To put this post in context, I just came from a friends house who unfortunately got caught in the crossfire at the Taj Palace along with his family.  If my thoughts or grammer are off…get over it.

Over the past week I had visited the Taj Palace several times, meeting friends or eating at the restaurants and had been to the Oberoi a couple times as well.  It’s senseless that people have lost their lives at the hands of a terrorist’s gun.  But even more pathetic has been the government’s inept response and lack of leadership.  Is it not enough that they make our lives miserable with the sheer volume of corruption, but they can’t seem to respond quickly to distress calls from citizens in need who they vouch to protect while campaigning.

Every damn citizen should squarely hold the government responsible for it’s actions (or rather in action) and this massacre should be ground zero for people to realize India IS NOT shining and has not been…it’s been an illusion all along.  9 - 10% GDP growth and they can’t even seize a hotel and take control of it?  Come on, wake up and smell the masala chai.

Who would have thought that South Central LA would be safer than South Bombay.

If the automotive companies do get some type of government assistance, it all should go towards alternative fuel R&D. GM created the EV1 which was a great attempt at an electric car and then several years later they came by and crushed every single one of them which is just beyond words. The hubris that only Detroit can create an alternative fuel car was evident on 60 Minutes in early October when Bob Lutz of GM was talking about Tesla Motors.  Telsa Motors is based in Silicon Valley and Bob Lutz referred to Tesla as “being from Silicone Valley.”  Hugh difference between Silicon and Silicone. He went on to say that Detroit should be the guys making an electic car not some start-up in the valley.

Since the 1980’s the American car companies have completely fumbled when it comes to cars that American’s want. I get the sense they have lost their way and are confused between garage and garbage.  Instead of building cars to put inside a garage, they have been building garbage that sits outside.

- Toll Brothers - 30% cancellations on new homes
- Neiman Marcus -  October sales down 27%
- Mercedes Benz - October sales down 30%

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype, I remember coming out of college and the first thing I did was get a new car, a 1995 Nissan Maxima SE (the 4 door sports car!).  It would have been justifiable had I really needed it,  but for the first 4 years out of college I racked up over 600k miles on United and about 10k miles on my ride. Stupid…

People in India have a chance to change their “American ways” and not go down the same path as most Americans. And I think we are seeing it with the banks, a year ago I was getting several calls a day for credit cards or loans…now I get zero. And, many are becoming risk averse to financial products that just 6-8 months ago seemed like the best thing since sliced bread.  It’s a great learning experience in risk management for everyone to see that things can actually goto zero…ironically the “zero” was invented in India.

Friday Humor:

Q: How do you find a good small-cap fund manager?
A: Find a good large-cap fund manager, and wait

Q: What is the capital of Iceland?
A: About USD 3.50

MI is no slouch, they are “the guys” when it comes to automated trading strategies. MI was started when it acquired a piece of Mint Investment Management run by Larry Hite and Michael Delman in 1983.  Then things really took off when it acquired a piece of AHL in 1987, I wrote a bit about some of the guys behind AHL.  AHL continues to be the center piece of MI and hopefully will continue in the future.

I hope he can steer the ship in the right direction and not give into party politics. Transparency should be central to whatever he does (to a degree of course), the Bush administration failed and even with the USD 700 billion they screwed up.  Many of the public documents describing how things would get done were blacked out when it came to compensation…that is totally ridiculous, taxpayer money is at stake and we should know down to the penny who is getting paid and how much.  Barack should make it mandatory that any entity requesting money from any Federal bailout program should have the companies top officials make their tax returns publicly available. If companies want the Fed to “show them the money”, I think it’s fair for the taxpayers to say “show me your tax returns.”

Change is here and on the web at change.gov

(hat tip to Jeff N. for the image, not sure where he stole it from)