notes from China

I have had an awesome run as far as tech is concerned in the last couple of months. Last month I was in San Fransico meeting all the tech firms and last week, I had a chance to be in China, meeting the tech firms there. I read somewhere that the startups try and get distribution before the big firms get innovation. It’s an interesting run. A tight fight where everyone is trying to outrun each other.

China is especially fun on the world circuit. It has a closed start up tech eco system as most the world biggies are not allowed to operate there. This is because the government wants data and insights into their citizen’s online behavior and the firms from the valley refuse to toe the line. So home grown startups that blatantly copy the startups from the west have sprung up and are dominating the ecosystem. But to simply paint them all with one brush is the wrong thing. Two of them are innovating and are leading the world in their own fields. One is the chat platform WeChat and the other is the ecommerce platform Alibaba. Both are now moving into fintech and are using data to understand consumers and then using it for lending operations. This is now very interesting and dangerous territory. WeChat through WePay wants to lead in the high frequency payment ecosystem like food, taxis, groceries etc. Alibaba counterpart is AliPay following everywhere and online. Both premises are simple – one pushes through the chat interface and allows for people to use chat for commerce and transactions. The other creates an ecommerce platform and sees where it can extend its wallet services to. The world is watching what the real deal will be. Will payments be won by chat or by ecom. Payments is the main stay of the new economy. Banks for long have dominated income and investments and used that as a data point to give credit. These wallet companies have side stepped this and said that people spend more than they invest. Day to day spending and online behavior may be a better indicator of propensity to repay credit than anything else. All sorts of data can now be used to understand the consumer better. Now big data starts playing a huge role.

Any and every data set will be used and leveraged for creating credit persona and score. This is very exciting. Both chat and ecommerce are sitting on a gold mine of data. Appreciably this data is lethal. A simple case can be that people who buy kiddie stuff or chat with other people with high credit scores are less likely to default than others. Alibaba also is understanding the merchandise sold by the merchants and their ability to sell their wares. This is creating a credit score on which Alibaba can offer credit to their merchants at a better rate and velocity than the banks. With high amount of data and online mode of delivery these new players can potentially disrupt the finance space at low operating costs and create a crazy disruption that traditional banks haven’t seen. And they are ahead of regulation. They innovate and regulation tries catching up with them. Alibaba started shifting money lying idle in the wallet to a money market mutual fund and overnight became one of the biggest mutual funds on the planet. They could now give 6% returns where previously the consumers were getting only .5% at their local bank. Huge monies shifted in till the government limited the amount of money you can keep in a wallet.

One big lesson that I learnt is that never underestimate the power of the old lender. I visited these places with my boss and his boss. Both of whom have built their lives giving loans in the credit business. At first we heard that the bad debts are only at 1%. Which is a phenomenal number. That’s lower than anything else. My only concern was that this belies the fact that the small amounts that these people lend, makes collections impossible. The cost of collection is still far higher than anything else. My boss had another point. He explained to me that in a fast growing credit market like China (this is a two year phenomena) bad debts will always be low. Because you are constantly giving away larger and large amounts of loans so your denominator is increasing like crazy. It takes a little time for the loans to go bad and in that time your fresh loans hit the book and the numerator which is the bad loan number looks bad. This is great till you are constantly growing. The denominator keeps looking bigger and the ratio looks good. But what we don’t see is two things – infant delinquency and bad debts via aging of the book. Infant delinquency is simple – how fast do the loans go bad. If loans go bad after a couple of years of good payments, then you can blame the macroeconomic environment. But if they are getting bad closer to the time you lent them, then you are talking about faulty process in credit appraisal. The other one is an extension of the first, it’s about understanding each month of credit. You have to analyze not the entire book but each month of loan given as they age. You will then get a sense of the looming danger. So at a book level 1% looks good, but most of that is from the start of the book then as time wears on, slowly the old book will also start defaulting and stress starts on the whole book.

This simple math helped me understand the credit business and the ability to look at credit from a different perspective. So while I went into China dazzled by their stupendous success in credit, I came back quite skeptical of the whole system. They have lent billions of dollars in easy credit and they just could be sitting on a bubble. Something amiss is happening in China and this could be just another subprime crisis of the east.

I have been critical of the startups in FinTech. They are started by a bunch of kids who haven’t seen credit cycles and believe that black swans don’t exist. All are looking for innovative ways to lose money faster. Yes data is now abundant and there is serious analytics that can be brought to the table but I always had a serious healthy respect for people who understand credit. I think the firm that I work in has built itself by precisely understanding this – risk. It understood that in finance, return of capital is far greater than return on capital. Credit follows cycles and when you outlive cycles you see growth and prosperity. Sometimes the simplest rule of growth is survival.

On another note, I had the chance to visit the Nanjing Massacre Memorial, while I had a couple of hours free. It was seriously the best designed memorial / museum that I had been to. As a marketer I see every ad and think – what was the brief, what was the desired consumer response, who is the ad meant for and what is the objective / problem to be addressed? When I saw the Memorial, I was in love with the architecture / design of the place. The entire memorial was designed to a specific brief (my reading) - “Bring alive the horrors inflicted on the Chinese race by a brutal aggressor, in a way that we will never forget.”

Bring alive is an important part of the brief. After their defeat the Japanese destroyed a large part of their war records so that it could never be sued against them. Many disputed that these massacres ever occurred and if at all, the Japanese dispute that the death toll was high as three hundred thousand.

The Architect was clear in his design. At first he designed the entire monument in black and grey. Outside the memorial are status designed to evoke a sense of empathy towards the horrors inflicted. They refer to the enemy as the devil which came, tortured the citizens, killed children, did not spare the old and raped the women. The word Devils is used again and again. The place has landscaping done in a desolate grey with stone pebbles used instead of grass for any landscaping. You fell the solemnness of the grey all over at the entrance. You enter the building and you go down – two floors. As you go down the first thing you see alongside the steps are the rows of folders marked with the alphabets. I don’t know for sure, but it felt like this was the catalogue of all the people who died at Nanjing. They had arranged it like a library with a ladder as well in case someone wanted to climb up and seek a particular folder from eth catalogue. Of course no one would cross over and pick up a book, but the recreation was thus. In many ways the first thing the curator wanted was to tell you, that is a work of research and not simple baseless propaganda. Once you understand that you are ready for the next exhibit.

All the while you go underground, light fades away and blackness takes over. The lights are dimed out and there are grey walls, black floors and ceiling. The lights are focused only where you want the audience to see and only enough to see the exhibit and nothing more. You enter into a large hall with the letters 300000 etched on a stone emphasizing that this large number is the victim count. On both sides of the door as you enter are color pictures of people who lived till the opening of the memorial from the Nanjing massacre. Eyewitnesses who lived to tell us of what transpired. Then the walls are filled with sepia photos of people who died and in the middle stone blocks taken from the scene of the massacres as a silent testimony of the truth that they could tell, if only!

Now that it is proved as a scholarly work and a number is etched in your brain, you are ready for the museum, which talks about the incident. Photos from Japan of the cabinet meetings where they discussed the invasion of China and the advance of the Japanese. They had exhibits of the Japanese uniform, extensive photos, articles etc. All beautifully arranged and explained in Chinese and English. They had the exhibits in audio video as well with movies played in loop with victims explaining in graphic detail how they were tortured, dismembered and what they saw. Every tool available is used well. They recreated the destroyed cities on a life scale. After a few halls that you pass through you are now ready for the big bang. I walked in a little more and saw that there was a gallery like structure created where you can lean on and see what was there under your feet. Like a massive open hole in the ground to show you the ground on which the memorial was built. There – numbered on the ground were skeletons exposed as they were stuck to the ground. It hits you that you were above a massive graveyard where the bodies were dumped after being massacred. Some were even dumped alive (as claimed).

Oh dear. That hits you. You are now suitably numb as the museum unfold for the next one to two hours and they keep at it. You exit from one building to be lead into another. You still see grey with some small smatterings of grass grown strategically in patches. Next build is an even larger uncovered dumping site with more exposed skeletons. They haven’t spared the dignity of the dead in order to show case the brutality. I don’t know how important it is to expose this in reality to the people visiting.

You at the end exit into sunlight with a small exhibition on peace and a massive white statue of a lady releasing dove in the open. One small gesture just to show that the objective of the memorial is peace and not to incite wounds. Bull shit. I am no Chinese but even I feel angry at the incidents and at the absolute horror inflicted by the Japanese. I release what the Chinese are meant to feel after they visit the museum. I realize now why at the start of the museum, there are flower and flag sellers. It is a monument to Nationalism. That a weak nation will be at the mercy of the brutality of a stronger nation. Fewer Japanese in number attacked and brought about misery to a larger population, something that was explained at the start of the memorial itself.

The memorial is not peace but for solidarity and for the promotion of a united front against a stronger adversary. I felt no peace after the end. I felt no feeling of the futility of war but a seething anger against a brutal oppressor. It was not a neutral version of history, devoid of emotion but a clear retelling of the Chinese side.

That is the magic of the architect and a curator sticking to a brief. A single minded brief - “Bring alive the horrors inflicted on the Chinese race by a brutal aggressor, in a way that we will never forget.”

I felt completely overwhelmed. Any design, architecture, advertising student must see this for themselves to understand how design can play with your emotions and feelings. This is propaganda at its best. The highest level. Propaganda is best when you don’t know you are being sold to but you are sucked inside by a vortex devoid of rhetoric.

And yes – the memorial doesn’t have an entry fee.

tight rope

Just. It’s nice, listen to it. Just for listening sake.

After 38 years of working and having big head opinions I have learnt only one thing  - the duality of truth – or rather the multiplicity of truth. There is no absolute truth and there is no absolute opinion. Everything changes, what you like today, what you believe in firmly today, what you think about others and what other think about you. Things change.

When I was growing up Bollywood music was at its bottom. We had Nadeem Shravan ruling the charts and the legendary RD Burman passed away giving his last hit in 1942 – a love story. Any one remember the hit of those times – Sajjan starring Salman and Sanjay Dutt. Wow. My teen and formative years in that sense were horrible. The only saving grace I can think of is that the greatest stars who still rule the movies today – viz the three khans were all launched at the time. My era gave Bollywood its superstars who ruled and are still ruling – more than 20 years on. That’s cool.

The other thing was that we wore baggies in college. Baggies were so in that we wore two sizes big and we put pleats in almost everything. We had pleats on our pants. We had many pleats on out pants… we had multiple pleats and then we had box pleats and reverse pleats… anything to make it fashionable and baggy. And now – I don’t have a pant with even one pleat. Not one. Wow. We used to look at these straight pants and tight pants and laugh at them saying – eeps – that’s so old. And now I wear slim fits and love them. It also helps that I am slimmer than most. So also alongside the slim fits came the slim body structures that made it all fashionable together. Suddenly my slim body structure is so much in fashion. I am lean and these lean t shirts make me look leaner and I dare say – fashionable. So the poor guys who sweat it at the gym building those crazy ripping bodies are suddenly out of fashion. Hah!

And suddenly right now I saw the coppersmith barbet outside my window. I love it when I see it on the peepal tree. I love the window of office and the fact that my desk faces the window. Dam cool.

Coming back – my own dress sense. Earlier I was a checks and khakhi person. Comfort pants and stuff, suddenly I am rediscovering the joy of wool. WOOL? Ya wool and its blends. Now my work hardly takes me outside. I am in an air conditioned environment and woolen pants work just fine. So now – I am into greys. The number greys I have in my wardrobe. I would never have worn so many greys but suddenly I have been gravitating towards them. It’s funny. I was always the colorful guy and suddenly I am all grey and “melancholy”. Seesh. I am old.

I used to shave everyday when I was in college – and now I shave once in two or three days. I would comb my hair and not I just run my fingers through it. I would polish my shoes and now I just step down once in a while. English songs were it and now I don’t know a single new English number. I have no clue what the new sound is in Hollywood.

Things change. The above were just illustrations of outward change – but they portend a change that is inside of you. Inside of me. I too have changed in beliefs and values. Someone told me that parenting is all about values. You try and give values and hope for the best. Well I am a little confused. Over the years I have changed so much thanks to so much changing stimuli around me that I have hardly found any of my values consistent and constant. There seems to be an undercurrent that is possibly the same but I can make out what that is. I am unable to articulate it. I would be fiercely nationalist and now I don’t care two hoots about it. Love had changed it form, structure and meaning to me. I see it differently. Love was to come home and not having to do the dishes – now love is coming home and doing the dishes. It’s changing it is moving and I have no clue how and why.

Exposures seem to be the key to formation of opinion and beliefs. But surprising to me is that no belief has remained permanent. So I don’t expect Jispa to hold on to any beliefs. My parents did teach me some value stuctures and beliefs but that is become so muddled with my experience and those I have built on top that I cant make out what is driving me at all.  Hence with Jispa I am treading with care. I don’t want to force any dogma down her throat. I can only teach a healthy cynicism for everything and a faith in everything. Its like a bit of opposites reconciling. Question everything and believe in everything at the same time. You have to keep your mind running and logic flowing but also keep your mind from running and try and be in the moment. It’s a tough one. To accept and to question at the same time. To accept and to believe will keep you alive today, the cynicism will keep you alive tomorrow. You know it’s a lot like the science fiction movies or the super hero movies. You have to accept that shit happens, that will help you enjoy the movies, but you also have to believe in the rest of it, the ideas and the limitations of what the hero can or cannot do. he may be able to jump from one building to another, but if her jumps in a way that you don’t believe then you don’t like it. So you can suspend belief only that much, and any more – you are in trouble. Being rooted versus flying – what a delicate tight rope act.

to give you another instance - while we were at the Delhi Museum, my colleague asked me - how would you know that these are the real relics of the Buddha. I answered - no you cant be really really sure. but the dates must have matches and the place they got it from had the tablets bearing the inscriptions and the story matches and hence we believe that the remains are that of the Buddha and we revere them in that manner, but no - you still never can be 100% sure. The guide was asked the same question ten seconds later by another tourist - she replied - its the Delhi museum - they wouldn't have put it here without doing some carbon dating. Hah! Unquestionable dogma versus reconciliation of opposites.

I want to move it move it

I have written before on how I always wanted to study physics. But I ended up with commerce and accountancy. I cannot read even one book on accountancy but I keep reading books on physics. Or any science book with simple English. It makes me jump with joy to see simple mechanisms work and the ingenuity of the manufacturers. I specially love mechanics. One of the first thing I remember dismantling was my mom’s powder case. You have to wind the thing from bottom and it would produce the most beautiful tune from inside. I opened it to get to the mechanism. It has no battery and the sound so beautiful. The simplicity of mechanism had me enthralled for hours. It was basically a rotating drum with pins on it. The drum is connected to a metal comb which gets picked at when a pin of the drum passes through it. I don’t know if this makes sense to you but this diagram should help. It is truly beautiful. I might have been in fourth standard at the time.

I also loved the little carpentry that I could do around the house along with dad. Primarily consisting of banging nails and screws in the house.
Oh the choices we make and where we end up instead. Not that I regret it. I guess I might have gone crazy after taking engineering as well. I might have ended up as a engineer MBA as opposed to a commerce MBA. No great difference. In fact I might have been worse off and would have been confused seeing balance sheets. For what I am doing, I am better off.

One of the other wonders was always how on earth does a sewing machine work? While you do it with one needle and a thread with the hand, in a machine you require two threads, one from top and the other from bottom. As a kid I remember pestering mom, as to why you require two threads. I don’t think mom had too much of a scientific answer to give me. Or too much of any answer to a scientific question. I always wondered. When I saw my wife with the machine I would sit and stare, all fascinated. How does the bottom thread get through the cloth on top? Is there a needle at the bottom also? Why do you require two? How does the thread pierce through and get through the bottom to come back on top? Dam it.
While I could easily break and destroy the old powder music box, I would dare not attempt to open the sewing machine. Not as a child and definitely not even after I bought it for my wife. No way. Jasmine too had no clue how this worked.
The mystery got resolved thanks to a link my wife sent me. Here is the magical mechanism. Explained. I can stare at this gif forever as well. My god. I love the mechanism. The sheer simplicity of it fills my heart with joy. Everything beautiful must be simple. I am really feeling so nice just looking at it.
On the link there is also the Constant Velocity Joint and the “Maltese Cross mechanism, which turns smooth circular motion into segmented second-hand motion for clocks”.

Constant-velocity joints (aka homokinetic or CV joints) allow a rotating shaft to transmit power through a variable angle, at constant rotational speed, without an appreciable increase in friction or play. They are mainly used in front wheel drive and all wheel drive cars. Rear wheel drive cars with independent rear suspension typically use CV joints at the ends of the rear axle halfshafts, and increasingly use them on the propshafts.
It seems they replaced the Universal Joints in some places. The universal joints were simple but could get notchy and needed regular maintenance. It so looks like something that belonged to my dad's premier padmini car.


Pretty cool nah? I remember unlike others I could spend hours at a science exhibition or be at ease in an industrial museum. Like normal museums, even industrial museums must have an audio guide that should explain the beautiful mechanism to lay people. If you have an interesting guide then kids would love going to see things move and engines start. “NOW what would happen if I move this lever?” crank crank sputter sputter.. “Voila the ball has turned onto the opposite side, clever nah!” clap clap clap. And now we proceed onto the cantilever double axle shaft… (don’t look it up – I made that name up from all the mechanical words that sprang to mind).

But just imagine the possibilities of museums. We spend on making them and not on explaining them.

Like this blogger who went to a maritime museum and shot this. I loved the photo she clicked. Only if she knew what it did or I knew what it did and why it is in a museum?

see and tell

Indian museums are surely getting nicer. Nopes they aren’t doing anything new. They only seem to have allowed some private guy to sell handsets that give you a low down on the museums most interesting exhibits. That completely changed the way I saw the Prince of Wales museum in Mumbai. We have been through it twice with the handsets. These well produced audio tours are well produced and manage to give you interesting insights with an Indian accented person talking along with the right music and other sounds. It’s a proper two hour tour which completely opens up the museum for lay people.
We also pleasantly surprised to have the same service in the Delhi museum. The Delhi museum is nice with some very interesting exhibits. It is even air conditioned making it a perfect place for an afternoon refuge. We use the compulsory layover in Delhi, in between the Rajdhani arrival and the late even train departure to the hills as an excuse to see Delhi one monument at a time. I normally book an A/c cab to take us through the day. This time the cab driver had no clue where the museum was. He was a Delhi tourist driver and had never been to the place. I was quite surprised. Luckily I had the lonely planet handy and I showed him the location on the map. He remarked that he had never been here. He mumbled something about people normally wanting to go to appu ghar instead. He knew where that was. Haha. Same difference, I guess. Only thing is that the elephant here is around 5000 years.
So we went to the museum to find that it opens later in the morning. So some standard tomfoolery around rashtrapti bhavan and we managed to kill some time to hit the museum. Monuments are always interesting. Everytime I see the India gate I am quite amazed at the geometry. The straight lines that lead to the Rashtrapti Bhavan and I there is something right about what you see through the India gate if you stand dead straight. I am sure the Lutyens had visualised what you must see from the gate of the Rashtrapti Bhavan through the India gate and vice versa. The lines seem to fit so correctly. I tried showing that to Jispa. She seems to be appreciating my attempt to educate her. Haha.


We then hit the museum and had the audio tour guide us. I am no museum expert. But somehow it misses the aura and charm of the Mumbai museum. Possibly its the structure but the even the way the museum is designed or the stuff is exhibited, it somehow does miss the charm. There is little natural light and the whole place is badly lit. Almost a drab. As I had earlier blogged about – the highlight was what is believed to be the actual remain s of the Buddha. No idea why it isn’t so publicised. No one believes it when I tell them. I have to show the photograph.


Here am I with another exhibit. The Natraj. To me my fascination with it suddenly began when I decided to understand it further. To me it is the Indian equivalent of the yin and yan. The confluence of two opposing forces together in one frame. To my mind – in harmony. I don’t know if they are supposed to be in harmony in the Natraj, but for me it is something that yin and yan stood for, the belief that opposites must reconcile. One is merely a reason for the other. One cannot have one without the other. Nopes, I did not bother explain that to Jispa for now, but what I loved was explaining the damuru for the creation and the fire for destruction. The right hand in a mudra that symbolises protection, the other hand pointing towards the toe, and finally the stamp on top of the demon of ego and ignorance. I too don’t remember all the significance at all the times. The audio tours helps.


I am sure Jispa would not be able to retain it all but I guess the fun of being in a museum and discovering it all is something jasmine and I are very happy to have given her. We both attempt to explain and expose her to as many concepts as possible. We want her to ask many questions and seek many answers. I am happy answering but I guess I am at the happiest best when I finally don’t know. When her curiosity gets better of me and I am finally lost. That’s a victory.

Here is the ultimate photo. She is on her own trying to understand an exhibit. We were too tired to be involved in all. Not enough seating there, but Jispa wanted to see it all. He knows at last my response will, dont know, will have to ask Google.


PS: Why dont we have audio tours by age. Shouldn't the younger lot also have a custom designed audio tour?

jispa meets gandhi

We went to join the family gingbang in Ahmedabad to be a part of the surprise 25th year anniversary. The cousins there are fairly sweet. He is my first cousin and the 25th anniversary celebration would give you an idea onto the wide age disparity between cousins.
This was on my dad’s side of the family. Here I am the youngest son of the youngest brother. Hence I am the baby of that side. In many ways I am treated by some of my brothers in that respect. At 35 I get my ears pulled. Literally :D. It is quite a nice feeling. It was also a chance to experience Ahmedabad and used the free time before and after the party to catch up on stuff.
One point on our agenda was the Sabarmati ashram there. It is a beautifully serene and calm place. The vibes there were very calming. One can only imagine what it could have been like 60 to 70 years ago. I liked the smallish memorial that explains Gandhi’s stand on various issues and charts out some of his actions. Also I could not visualise without Richard Attenborough’s movie coming into my head. It did well to help me visualise the scale of his actions. Here is Jispa in front of one of the exhibits.

It is an icon by itself. I think the handwriting is an integral part of making this iconic.
While the section was informative on Gandhi’s life I think it misses a lot by being merely a poster exhibition. There is little else to make the place come alive. it seems there is a sound a light show in the vening but we did not inquire about too much as we had the party to attend in the evening. Also I guess Gandhi as a man had little to own and hence there would be very little to exhibit, at least as afar as personal artefacts go. There were replicas of many letters that he wrote and received and prints of the same, but I guess seeing the real thing beats having to see a replica. Jispa kept asking “is this the real thing’ and we had to keep saying it is the replica. I don’t what we humans have for it but I do enjoy seeing something very real as opposed to the pictures.
Like the Delhi museum showing what is believed to be the actual remains of the Buddha. On my god. I went crazy seeing them. I couldn’t believe that we have the actual fragments of the Budhha himself. It made the Buddha come alive to my mind. From being a part of mythology there is suddenly flesh and blood to my vision of him. And I was within 10 inches of them.

There in similar vein, I was also very happy that they had not completely cordoned off the hut (above pic) in which he stayed but actually had it open to all visitors to come in and experience it for himself. It felt great to be in a place where the man him self had been / lived. These things make the legend in our minds come alive. I was happy to take Jispa there. I guess it would have made it come alive for her as well.

The big let down was the souvenir store. Yup, they have a store there. It sells prints of old photos, wooden charkhas, all possible books and some pens and badges etc. there was nothing that could be a modern interpretation of Gandhi. Something that someone younger would actually buy to keep the image alive. Also nothing to wear. Not even a khadi kurta. The books were also arranged so shabbily and displayed with poor light and shelves. It made for poor browsing and poor experience. Next door was a library in even worse shape. With dusty interiors, bad lighting and cobwebs that too did not inspire any confidence. While some of the exhibits were smart and interesting enough to explain Gandhi, there was nothing to interpret him in today’s life. Hence no matter what any one says, lage raho munnbhai must be lauded for its attempt. A simple zone where Jispa would have access to movie clippings, possibly cartoons, drawings etc… that would have created a lasting impact in her mind. A simple concept like untouchability was something I found difficult to explain to her. It was written in depth on the exhibits and the complexities that Gandhi faced were also explained but explaining that to an 8 year old was pretty tough. What does it mean? How did he fight it? What were the repercussions? I think I tried my best. Years of talking to Jispa as an adult have borne fruit. She can understand complex stuff that I try and explain to her as plain as possible without talking down. She is also quite comfortable in a museum and knows how to entertain herself in it. But a little help, possibly at worst an audio tour would help tremendously. And why can’t we design audio tours for kids. Punch in your age as well before proceeding and you get the right thing for you. Why don’t we do this?
I tired my best on Saturday. I hope it brought it alive for her.
As a closing note I leave this for you – said of Gandhi by another legend himself.

turn the other way

I was talking to one mother about parenting. Actually I talk to a lot of mothers on parenting. For some reason I seem to be more involved in it or probably more vocal about it than others. Funnily when two guys get together rarely is parenting discussed. I guess it’s a girl thing and I discussing it might be effeminate, but hell, that’s one topic I love and I can talk about it for hours. I obviously have no formal knowledge and claim no expertise except the experience of raising one cute kid. So I stick to my experiences and what I know.
So I was talking to this lady in office about taking kids to nice places. One new one is the park at breach candy it someone Mahindra Park for kids. It is easily the best park I have seen in India with high quality imported play equipment. Wow. I had never seen some of that stuff anywhere else. A dam good place and a well maintained park. I must go there more often for sure. The other place I normally recommend in the Jijamata Udyan or zoo. Most would shun the Byculla zoo and most would come back from not so happy memories of dull cages with no life. But there is a trick to enjoy this place. I know because I used to go with Jispa many times when she was little. How you enjoy the park is dependent on two things – first – what time do you go. Evenings on weekends is always a mess with a lot of overcrowding and second and more importantly is the turn you take when you enter the park. Almost everyone will take a left turn. That’s the route you first get the tiger, elephants, monkeys, bear, leopard etc. these cages are bad, dull small and the poor animal is normally hidden inside the cave. He is probably bored and is least interested in showing you his stuff. And you get to one animal in a cage then you have to walk to see another. You follow the route which is a bit confusing and you hit half point at the hippo that is underwater and hence invisible. The rhino is typically lazing in his shelter away from human glare. You the pack up and turn around and head home. This route has less green cover and more walking… all adding up to a bad experience. I always take and recommend taking a left. You instantly come across the bird cage which is denser and has more life. You come across egrets, spoonbills, pelicans, ibis, herons and the works. Normally one of the birds or the other is flying about. They are close enough to get a good glimpse of what’s happening and the kid is straight away gratified with life. Compare that to the dull tiger cage searching for elusive lazy tiger sleeping in his den away from your kids. Then you move to the parakeets, the white peacock, Sarus crane, and other birds. The place is greener with bigger cages, great visibility and larger life. Then you hit the barking deer, spotted deer, black bucks, antelopes etc … the you hit hippo and the rest in reverse order. By then the kid is excited. He tires nevertheless and hence you can rightfully go through all the other animals fast enough.
So when at the zoo avoid what the Romans do.
Another of my fav places when Jispa was little is the Prince of Wales museum. Now why would I want a two to four year old to go to the museum? I must be a culture vulture? Nopes… here also eth same rule applies turn right. Hit the natural history section. Stuffed birds and animals. Large birds such as the flamingoes, hornbills along with huge animals such as tigers and rhinos. The small kids would love it. Mine did. Then you can take her around the museum hoping to get her excited on the small spoons and the small bottles on display. Though for the elders I strongly recommend the audio tour. I loved it.
But the main thing here is transfer of enthusiasm. That always works. If you walk by the museum or the zoo and refuse to get excited by the stuff there, what will your kid enjoy? Look at your kid. She is clearly looking up to you to see what she finds; she then knows what is fun, funny or hilarious. Monkey see monkey do.