SMulimani

Balanced Being ! Being Balanced.

[anand mahindra @anandmahindra]

I ran across this video a few days ago and couldn’t stop watching it.

It’s about something ordinary & boring, a plastic gas lighter. But it changes how one thinks about manufacturing.

That lighter in so many of our homes, holds pressurised gas. It has over 30 microscopic parts, has to pass international safety codes, & travel 10,000 miles by sea, & the total cost of doing all that, materials, labour, freight, every middleman along the way, comes to fifteen U.S cents.

So how does anyone make money on this?

Turns out almost the entire world’s supply comes from one place: a county called Shaodong, in China’s Hunan province.

It wasn’t always there.

But today, Shaodong has 114 lighter-related companies packed into the place & between them they source more than 200 different components from each other, all within a 20-kilometre radius. They supply something like seventy percent of the world’s disposable lighters. And the industry alone employs over 80,000 people locally.

Nobody there is winning on cheap labour anymore. They’re winning by shaving a thousandth of a cent off the thickness of a plastic wall, or redesigning a base so a few thousand more units fit into the same shipping container.

It took my thoughts back to an old professor of mine, Michael Porter.
His 1980 book, Competitive Strategy, is still the 1st book most MBAs read, the one that gave the world the Five Forces and basically invented modern strategic thinking.

But there’s a quieter piece of his work, on industrial clusters, that never got nearly the same attention, and it is the one that explains exactly what is happening in Shaodong.

His argument was that nations and regions rarely win because of cheap inputs. They win when rival firms and specialist suppliers crowd into the same small geography for long enough that they keep pushing each other past what any one of them could manage alone. He found it in the Swiss watchmaking towns of the Jura, in the German printing press industry and in Italy’s ceramic tile and footwear districts (interestingly, it’s the SAME blueprint which built Morbi, in Gujarat, into the world’s second-largest ceramic cluster, now outproducing Italy by volume. I have posted before, about Morbi)

None of these started out as giants. The neighbourhood made them giants.

Which is exactly why it’s so relevant to India’s climb up the global manufacturing table

I’ve also attached a slide with this post that I saw recently and which shows us breaking into the top 5 manufacturing globally. (A quick reference check told me that we may not have overtaken Korea yet, but the trajectory’s clear)

That climb has happened on the back of scale: bigger plants, bigger parks, more FDI.

I should declare an interest here, because the Mahindra Group set up 2 of India’s first integrated, plug-and-play business cities, in Chennai in 2002 & Jaipur in 2006.

Both have been extremely successful. Chennai’s business zone alone today employs 45,000 people..

But I admit that we need to think differently.

A park brings in investors and hands them a ready plot, power, water & roads

A cluster is a completely different animal: hundreds of small, specialised suppliers, each obsessed with doing a tiny thing better than anyone else, feeding off each other’s presence for years until no outsider can compete with the whole.

I think that’s the work ahead of us now.

Not just more factories, and not just more parks.

Policymakers & developers like us need to start consciously pulling as many of the inputs and resources a sector needs, the toolmakers, the component suppliers, the testing labs, the logistics specialists, into the same neighbourhood.

Shaodong and Morbi both got there by accident, one town stumbling onto a way to shave a thousandth of a cent off a lighter wall, the other discovering it had the clay and, later, the gas pipeline for tiles.

We don’t have the luxury of waiting for accidents anymore.

We need to do it on purpose

[Anupam Kher @AnupamPKher]

THANK YOU DAVID FOR THE LESSON! 🥹❤️
Life is full of lessons. Last week, on a flight from Goa to Mumbai, I learned one.
In the picture is David.
When David boarded the flight, many people looked at him because he was overweight. He came and sat across the aisle from me. In the middle of the flight, he opened his bag, took out a huge collection of chocolates and sweets, and then walked towards the washroom.
I exchanged a glance with the gentleman sitting next to him and said, “He shouldn’t eat so much sweets and chocolates!” This was said out of concern! The gentleman smiled and replied, “Well, that’s probably why he looks the way he does.”
A little while later, David came back, gathered all the sweets, and handed them over to the cabin crew. 🥹
I was surprised.
So I told him, “I must confess, I thought you were going to eat all those chocolates yourself, and that’s why you were overweight.”
He smiled and said, “ I don’t blame you for thinking like that! I have a medical condition. But I used to work with airlines, and I know what cabin crew members go through every day. So I like to bring them something sweet whenever I travel.”
What an outstanding human being.
And what a lesson for me.
How quickly we judge people. How easily we create stories about them without knowing anything about their lives.😳
Thank you, David, for reminding me that kindness is often hidden behind appearances, and that the best people are sometimes the ones we understand the least.
I asked him for a pic! He obliged!
Thank you for the lesson my friend!❤️ #LifeLessons #Encounters

[Erik Solheim @ErikSolheim]

In defense of Indian 🇮🇳 democracy!

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi most successful visit to Norway a minor incident happened. A Norwegian journalist demanded that the prime minister starts holding press conferences. She claimed that Indian democracy is in bad shape.

May be its time to pause? May be its time to be a bit curious to the world’s largest democracy?

Two weeks ago five Indian states and territories held elections. The turn out in the battlefield state of West Bengal was 94%. In the last local election in Norway it was 62%, in many European local elections turn out is below 50%. Can voting in massive numbers be a signal Indians trust their democratic process?

In the same election BJP won big in Assam and West Bengal. It lost even bigger in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Can this diversity be a signal that Indian democracy is reflecting the will of the people?

The journalist referred to a democracy ranking putting India at 157 in the world, behind many dictatorships and deeply troubled states. When a ranking is so obviously contrary to common sense, why not ask critical questions to those making the ranking rather than demand that leaders shall comment on nonsense? I recommend Salvatore Babones book “Dharma democracy”. The book debunks convincingly the flawed methodology of these rankings.

It was referred to a ranking claiming it’s very dangerous to be a journalist in India. Reality is that it is more dangerous to be journalist in the US and far more dangerous in the vast majority of other nations in the world.

Let’s be real. India is not perfect. Of course there are incidents. India has a population the size of North America, South America and Europe combined. But India is much more peaceful than Europe or the Americas. That’s remarkable - given the ethnic, language and religious diversity of India and the many development challenges.

Unless we consider democracy a form of government only suited for some very small, peaceful and homogeneous Western European nations, may be we should commend Indian democracy?

India is the only major former UK colony which became and has remained a democracy. Its sometimes claimed that the Brits taught India democracy. If that was the case why isn’t Myanmar or Pakistan or the Gulf kingdoms democracies??? Reality is that Indian democracy is both homegrown and extraordinary successful.

[Radha Tripathi @Radha_AI]

Instead of watching an hour of Netflix, watch this 2 hour hour Stanford lecture will teach you more about how LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude are built than most people working at top AI companies learn in their entire careers.

[BBC World Service @bbcworldservice]

🇮🇳📚Two million books, free for anyone to borrow and read.

That's what Anke Gowda, a retired sugar factory worker from India's southern Karnataka state, has accumulated over the past five decades.

"When you start reading books it is addictive, like tasting candy"

🎧 More about libraries https://t.co/DQvfZ0BI4V

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”

— Seneca

[Vasant Shetty | Building Mundhe Banni @vasantshetty81]

He is arguably the most loved content creator in Kannada. His travelogue videos have garnered millions of views. His simplicity, humility, and courage are rare to find in one person. When most successful content creators focus only on maximising their earnings, he chose to give back to the people who loved him unconditionally and built a travel experience company. The company has helped over 3000 people travel across the world and employs 30 people today.

A heartwarming story of a small town boy, with no knowledge of any language other than Kannada, showing the world that if you truly desire something, the whole world will conspire to make it happen.

Presenting the trailer of the episode featuring @DrBroKannada, aka Gagan Srinivas.

Here is a trailer. 👇

The full episode releases tomorrow on Mundhe Banni YouTube and Spotify channels.

Subscribe to get notified:
https://t.co/6x9on8RdIa

[Ananth Rupanagudi @AnanthOnTrack]

Worth a read! 😍

My mom wanted to send me homemade pickles. But I said ‘no’.

I was 27, living in New York, working on Wall Street. I didn't need pickles shipped across the world. The shipping would cost more than buying them here.

Three years later, I read the psychologist take on what I'd actually done. When you reject someone's offer to help, you're not just declining assistance. You're declining their need to matter to you!

Benjamin Franklin figured this out in 1736. He had a rival in the Pennsylvania legislature who hated him. Instead of trying to win him over with favors, Franklin asked the rival to lend him a rare book.

The rival agreed. They became lifelong friends. It's called the Ben Franklin effect.When people do something for you, they convince themselves they must like you. Otherwise, why would they help?

My mom didn't want to send pickles because I needed them.
She wanted to send them because SHE needed to feel useful to me. To feel like despite the ocean between us, she still had a role in my life.

Every time I said "I'll manage," I was taking that away from her. Here's what I learned after a decade of living away from home:

→ Accepting small favors isn't about you needing help.

It's about letting people you love feel needed.

Your dad wants to transfer ₹5000 even though you earn well?

Let him.

Your friend wants to pick you up from the airport even though Uber exists?

Say yes.

Your partner wants to make you tea even though you can make it yourself?

Accept it.

The people who love you don't want to solve your big problems. They want to matter in your small moments.

Let them. #lifelesson

[Shashi Kumar @thiruka]

September 2016. We were close to shutting down.

100 farmers. 2,500 litres of milk. And we still couldn’t solve basic feeding problems. Everything was breaking. This wasn’t a market problem. It was a science problem at the core of farming.

We decided to invest in agricultural R&D. ₹70 lakhs was required over the next three years. We didn’t have the money.

We asked Anil Kumar, founder and CEO of @samunnati for debt—on a loss-making balance sheet. He said yes. That decision changed everything for Akshayakalpa.

We moved from 3.1 kg → 11.1 kg herd average today.
19,000 animals | 2,800 farms | ₹30+ crores/year in R&D.

Same land. Same people. Same system. Different outcomes. We underestimate research. Especially in agriculture. And that might be our biggest mistake.

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

Highest protein foods

[Blake Burge @blakeaburge]

Major cheat code for life: Believe that things will work out for you. Not blindly, but through effort. When you expect good things and pair it with action, you start noticing opportunities others miss. Optimism paired with effort is a powerful force.

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

“Whenever you think that some situation or some person is ruining your life, it’s actually you who are ruining your life. It’s such a simple idea. Feeling like a victim is a perfectly disastrous way to make go through life.”

— Charlie Munger

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

“It’s impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously you might as well not have lived at all.”

— J.K. Rowling

[Fundamental Investor ™ 🇮🇳 @FI_InvestIndia]

This sister has made such a powerful video on what to do if someone blackmails you by leaking private/AI photos & videos online.

This video should go so Viral & Reach every single person. Do the needful folks.

God bless this Girl 🙏

#FI

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

There's a physicist at Stanford named Safi Bahcall who modeled this exact principle and the math is wild.

He calls it "phase transitions in human networks." When you're stationary, your probability of a lucky event is limited to your existing surface area: the people you already know, the places you already go, the ideas you've already been exposed to. Your opportunity window is fixed.

When you move, your collision rate with new nodes in a network increases nonlinearly. Double your movement (new conversations, new cities, new projects) and your probability of a serendipitous encounter doesn't double. It roughly quadruples. Because each new node connects you to their entire network, not just to them.

Richard Wiseman ran a 10-year study at the University of Hertfordshire tracking self-described "lucky" and "unlucky" people. The single biggest differentiator wasn't IQ, education, or family money. Lucky people scored significantly higher on one trait: openness to experience. They talked to strangers more, varied their routines more, and said yes to invitations at nearly twice the rate.

The "unlucky" group followed the same routes, ate at the same restaurants, and talked to the same 5 people. Their networks were closed loops. No new inputs, no new collisions.

Luck isn't random. Luck is surface area. And surface area is a function of movement.

The lobster emoji is doing more work than most people realize. Lobsters grow by shedding their shell when it gets too tight. The growth requires a period of total vulnerability. No protection, no armor, soft body exposed to the ocean.

That's the cost of movement nobody posts about. You have to be uncomfortable first. The new shell only hardens after you've already moved.

[Parveen Kaswan, IFS @ParveenKaswan]

Stay humble.

[Tanya @tanyaelisabethh]

If I stay home and raise my own children I am a loser and not ambitious

But if I hire and pay another woman to raise and take care of my children for me than I am an empowered woman

If that same woman stayed home with her children she would be a loser

But if she takes care of my children she is not

If we both switched and raised each others children for a paycheck we would be successful ambitious girl bosses

But if we do it for our own children we are losers

[Dilip Kumar @kmr_dilip]

Do whatever it takes to get your kids physically active. There is a multi billion dollar industry whose entire existence depends on your child never getting bored. Children are moving less and sitting infront of screens more. Look up any study and there is a strong evidence of physical inactivity amongst school going children in India. WHO says 74% of Indian children do not meet physical activity recommendations and approx 20% are overweight. School going kids are being diagnosed for clinical depression and anxiety. We’re getting obsessed to solve for safety, comfort, and convenience. Take kids out and make movement non negotiable. Get them to play any sport. Don’t turn your kid into a junkyard of reels and stupid videos. If you don’t design their childhood, someone else will.

[Ankit Pandey @iamankitpande]

Healthcare in India is becoming a money making machine.

A friend’s grandmother is in ICU for the last 4 days.
Daily medicine cost alone is around 40–50K.

He is not allowed inside ICU.
He cannot see the treatment.
He cannot see which medicines are actually being used.
He can only stand outside and keep paying.

Medicines go from pharmacy to ICU.
Families don’t know what is used, what is not.
Maybe some goes back from the back door.
But there is no transparency. Only bills.

Private hospitals know families won’t argue when their loved one is in ICU.
This is not just treatment.
For many families, this is financial destruction in the name of healthcare.

[DP SATISH @dp_satish]

ಪ್ರೊ. ಎಂ‌.ಡಿ. ನಂಜುಂಡಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಗೆ ಮುಂದೆ ಎಂಥಾ ಗತಿ ಬರುತ್ತೆ ಎಂದು 50 ವರ್ಷ ಹಿಂದೆಯೇ ಕರಾರುವಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಿತ್ತು. He had such a great foresight! hats off to you Professor

ಟಿ ಎನ್ ಸೀತಾರಾಮ್ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದು ಓದಿ

- ಎಪ್ಪತ್ತರ ದಶಕದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಮಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರದ ಬಳಿ ಸ್ವಿಮ್ಮಿಂಗ್ ಪೂಲ್ ಬಡಾವಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ನನ್ನ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ ಕೃಷ್ಣಮೂರ್ತಿಯವರ ಮನೆಯ ಔಟ್‌ಹೌಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸವಿದ್ದೆ. ನಾನು ಬಾಡಿಗೆಗೆಂದು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಗೆಳೆಯ ಕೃಷ್ಣಪ್ಪ ಕೂಡ ನನ್ನ ಜತೆಗಿದ್ದರು. ಕೃಷ್ಣಪ್ಪ ನಾಟಕ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರು ಮತ್ತು ಈಗಿನ ಖ್ಯಾತ ಚಿತ್ರ ನಟಿ ಶ್ವೇತಾ ಶ್ರೀವಾಸ್ತವ್ ಅವರ ತಂದೆ.

ನಮ್ಮ ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ಕಷ್ಟ ಕಂಡದ್ದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಇದ್ದ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಿಂದಾಗಿ ಕೃಷ್ಣಮೂರ್ತಿಯವರ ತಂದೆ ಎಂದೂ ಬಾಡಿಗೆಯನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಬದಲಾಗಿ ಅವರ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಎರಡು ಹೊತ್ತೂ ಊಟವನ್ನೂ ಬೆಳಗಿನ ತಿಂಡಿಯನ್ನೂ ಮಾಡಬೇಕೆಂದು ಅಪ್ಪಣೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರು. ಅಂಥ ಪ್ರಿಯವಾದ ಅಪ್ಪಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪಾಲಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಅನೇಕ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಕಾಲ ನಾನು ಪೇಯಿಂಗ್ ಗೆಸ್ಟ್ ಆಗಿ ಇದ್ದೆ. ಆಗ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರತಿದಿನ ಸಂಜೆ ಸ್ಕೂಟರ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಗುರುಗಳಾದ ಲಂಕೇಶ್ ಮೇಷ್ಟ್ರ ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ.

ಲಂಕೇಶ್ ಅವರ ಮನೆ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಬಜಾರ್‌ನ ಗೋವಿಂದಪ್ಪ ರಸ್ತೆಯಲ್ಲಿತ್ತು. ಅವರ ಮನೆಗೆ ಏಳೆಂಟು ಗೆಳೆಯರು ಬಂದಿರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡೆದು ವಾಪಸ್ ಆಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆವು.
ಮೇಷ್ಟ್ರಿಗೆ ಅಸಾಧ್ಯವಾದ ಹಾಸ್ಯಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಇತ್ತು. ಮಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರದಿಂದ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಕೇವಲ ಹತ್ತರಿಂದ ಹನ್ನೆರಡು ನಿಮಿಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆವು. ಆಗ ಟ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ ತೀರ ಕಮ್ಮಿ.

***

ಒಂದು ಸಂಜೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಮೇಷ್ಟ್ರ ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋಗುವ ವೇಳೆಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೊಫೆಸರ್ ಎಂ.ಡಿ. ನಂಜುಂಡಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರು ಬಂದು ಕೂತಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರು ಒಂದೆರಡು ವರ್ಷದ ಹಿಂದೆ ತಾನೆ ಜರ್ಮನಿಯಿಂದ ಬಂದಿದ್ದರು. ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಕುಶಾಗ್ರಮತಿ. ಸಮಾಜವಾದಿ ಯುವಜನ ಸಭಾದಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಚಳವಳಿ ಮತ್ತು ಹೋರಾಟಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರಿಯಾಶೀಲರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಹೋರಾಟಕ್ಕೂ ಆಳವಾದ ಸಮಾಜಮುಖಿ ಚಿಂತನೆ ಇರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ನಮ್ಮನ್ನೂ ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಇಳಿಸಿ ಅನೇಕ ಬಾರಿ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಸ್ಟೇಷನ್, ಕೋರ್ಟು ನೋಡುವಂತೆ ಆಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು.

ಅವತ್ತು ತಾನೇ ಸಿ.ಐ.ಟಿ.ಬಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿ.ಡಿ.ಎ ಮಾಡುವುದಾಗಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಘೋಷಿಸಿತ್ತು. (ಸಿ.ಐ.ಟಿ.ಬಿ ಅಂದರೆ ಸಿಟಿ ಇಂಪ್ರೂವ್‌ಮೆಂಟ್ ಟ್ರಸ್ಟ್ ಬೋರ್ಡ್. ಮುಂಚೆ ಬಿ.ಡಿ.ಎ. ಕೆಲಸವನ್ನು ಅದು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಬಡಾವಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿ, ಸೈಟುಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿ ಹಂಚುವುದು ಮುಂತಾದ ಕೆಲಸಗಳು.)

ನಾನು ಹೋದ ಮೇಲೆ, ನನ್ನ ಅವರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾತುಕತೆ ನಡೆಯಿತು:

ಎಷ್ಟು ಹೊತ್ತು ಹಿಡೀತು ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಇಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬರೋಕೆ?

ಇನ್ನು ಐದು ವರ್ಷ ಮುಗಿಯೋದ್ರೊಳಗೆ ಅರ್ಧ ಗಂಟೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೋಕೆ. ನಾಳೆ ಒಂದು ಸ್ಟ್ರೈಕ್ ಆರ್ಗನೈಜ್ ಮಾಡೋಣ ಬನ್ನಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಫ್ರೆಂಡ್ಸ್‌ನೂ ಕರ್ಕೊಂಡು ಬನ್ನಿ ಎಂದರು.

ನನಗೇನೂ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಏನ್ಸಾರ್ ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾತಾಡ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಿ. ಎಂದು ಕೇಳಿದೆ.

ಇವತ್ತು ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ಪೇಪರ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿಲ್ಲವ. ಈ ಅವಿವೇಕಿಗಳು ಮಾಡಿರೋ ಕೆಲಸ ನೋಡಿ. ಸಿ.ಐ.ಟಿ.ಬಿ.ನ ಬಿ.ಡಿ.ಎ. ಮಾಡ್ತಾರಂತೆ. ಬ್ಯಾಂಗಲೋರ್ ಡೆವಲಪ್‌ಮೆಂಟ್‌ ಅಥಾರಿಟಿ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಡೆವಲಪ್ ಆಗಿರೋದು ಸಾಲದಾ? ಕೆಂಪೇಗೌಡರ ಗೋಪುರದಿಂದ ಮೂರು ಮೂರು ಕಿಲೋಮೀಟರ್ ಆಚೆ ತನಕ ಬೆಳೆದಿದೆ. ಇನ್ನಾ ಬೇಕಾ. ಇನ್ನಾ ಇವರು ಬಡಾವಣೆಗಳು ಮಾಡ್ತಾ ಕೂತರೆ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿರೊ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದು ಕೂತ್ಕೋತಾರೆ. ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರೇ ಬೇಕು. ಏರ್ ಕಂಡೀಶನ್ಡ್ ಸಿಟಿ ಅಲ್ವಾ. ಎಲ್ಲ ರಾಜ್ಯದೋರೂ ಬಂದು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ವಕ್ರಿಸ್ತಾರೆ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಇಂಡಸ್ಟ್ರಿಯಲಿಸ್ಟುಗಳೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಖಾನೆ ತೆಗೀತೀವಿ ಅಂತಾರೆ. ಸರ್ಕಾರದೋರು ಅವರಿಗೆ ೧೦-೨೦ ಎಕರೆ ಜಮೀನು ಕೊಡ್ತಾರೆ. ಕನ್ನಡದೋರು ಆಮೇಲೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕೋದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ.

ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಕಾರುಗಳು ತಗೊಂತಾರಪ್ಪ. ಸೈಕಲ್‌ಗಳಿಗೆ ಈ ರೋಡುಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿರೋದು. ಮನೇಗೊಂದು ಕಾರ್ ಬಂದ್ರೆ ರೋಡುಗಳು ತಡೆಯುತ್ವಾ? ಟ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ ಜಾಮ್‌ಗಳು ಶುರು ಆಗುತ್ತೆ. ನೀವು ಕಾಲು ಗಂಟೇಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೋಕೆ ಆಗುತ್ತಾ. ಸೈಟುಗಳು ಈಗ ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು, ಮೂವತ್ತು ಸಾವಿರಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಗ್ತಾ ಇದೆ. ಐದು ವರ್ಷ ಹೋಗಲಿ. ಒಂದೊಂದು ಸೈಟೂ ಮೂವತ್ತು, ನಲವತ್ತು ಲಕ್ಷ ಆಗುತ್ತೆ. ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಜನ ಕೊಂಡುಕೊಳ್ಳೋಕೆ ಆಗುತ್ತಾ.

ಇಷ್ಟು ಸಾಲದು ಎಂದು ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿರೋ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಮನೆ ಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದು ಸೆಟಲ್ ಆಗ್ತಾರೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬೀಳೋ ಕಸಾನ ಎತ್ತಿಹಾಕೋಕೆ ಜಾಗ ಇರಲ್ಲ. ಸರೀನಾ ಈ ಮು..ಗಂಡರು ಮಾಡಿರೋದು. ಅದಕ್ಕೇ ಸ್ಟ್ರೈಕ್ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು.

ಏನಂತ ಸ್ಟ್ರೈಕ್ ಮಾಡೋದು ಸರ್.

ನಮಗೆ ಬಿ.ಡಿ.ಎ. ಬೇಡ, ಬಿ.ಎಂ.ಎ. ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿ ಅಂತ.

ಬ್ಯಾಂಗಲೋರ್ ಮೈಂಟೆನೆನ್ಸ್ ಅಥಾರಿಟಿ. ನಮಗೆ ಡೆವಲಪ್‌ಮೆಂಟ್ ಬೇಡ. ಮೈಂಟೆನೆನ್ಸ್ ಬೇಕು ಅಷ್ಟೇ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಇನ್ನು ಬೆಳೀಬಾರದು ಎಂದು ಸ್ಟ್ರೈಕ್ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು.

ಮತ್ತೆ ಉದ್ಯಮಿಗಳು ಬಂದು ಕೈಗಾರಿಕೆ ತೆಗೀದೆ ಇದ್ರೆ ನಮಗೇ ನಷ್ಟ ಅಲ್ವ ಸರ್?

ಏನ್ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರೇ ಬೇಕಾ ಫ್ಯಾಕ್ಟರಿ ತೆಗೆಯೋಕೆ. ಹಾಸನದಲ್ಲಿ ತೆಗೀಲಿ. ಚಾಮರಾಜನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ತೆಗೀಲಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗೌರಿಬಿದನೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ತೆಗೀಲಿ. ಆ ಊರುಗಳೂ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಆಗುತ್ತವೆ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರೂ ಶಾಂತವಾಗಿರುತ್ತೆ.

ಎರಡನೇ ದಿನ ಕಬ್ಬನ್ ಪಾರ್ಕ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೂತು ಸ್ಟ್ರೈಕೂ ಮಾಡಿದಿವಿ. ಘಾಳಪ್ಪ ಅನ್ನೋ ಮಂತ್ರಿಗೆ ಘೇರಾವ್ ಕೂಡ ಮಾಡಿದಿವಿ. ಪತ್ರಿಕಾಗೋಷ್ಠೀನೂ ಮಾಡಿದಿವಿ. ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಕ್ಯಾರೇ ಅನ್ನಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದು ನಂಜುಂಡಸ್ವಾಮಿಗಳ ಭ್ರಮೆ ಅಂದುಬಿಟ್ಟರು.

ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ಸಂಜೆ ನಾನು ಮಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರದಿಂದ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಬಜಾರ್‌ಗೆ ಬರೋಕೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಒಂದೂವರೆ ಗಂಟೆ ಕಾಲ ಹಿಡಿಯಿತು. ನಮ್ಮ ಏರಿಯಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸೈಟು ಮೂರೂ ಕಾಲು ಕೋಟಿ ಎಂದರು ಯಾರೋ.

ನಂಜುಂಡಸ್ವಾಮಿಯವರಿಗೆ ಎಂಥಾ ವಿಷನ್ ಇತ್ತು.