Traffic in Smart City: Sadakchhap Act

This morning i got into an argument with a random stranger on the road. I usually don't do that - being a non-confrontational person. I was crossing the road at Santosh hall, Singhgad road and one fellow on a motorcycle while jumping the red signal, almost ran me over! I raised my hand - half to stop him and half to slap him - as he rode past me without me even touching him. Luckily, his ego got bruised that someone actually raised hand at him and he came back to 'teach me a lesson'. During the argument he was more interested in invoking my mother and sister & how i dared to raise my hand, instead of talking about how he broke the signal, and ran over a pedestrian. This went on for 60 seconds - the time he would have spent at the signal anyway! 

While walking home i thought of usual traffic nuisances and solutions to some of them. Do add more... Since 100 cities are gunning for the funds of Smart City, it affects us all!! Proposing the Sadakchhap Act - 


a. Signals. We are IT power, aren't we? Most XII class students want to be engineers. Let us use that brain power to design more efficient signal systems. I hate those who break signals as much as i hate jaywalkers. Probably i hate the motorists more. We have surplus CCTV cameras. Let us get those with good resolution and start sending challans to offenders. They better pay up, or they have to pay interest on the fine. Better still, confiscate their vehicle. 

b. Public transport. Clearly it is not possible to have public transport that is not crowded. At least in peak hours. But surely school buses, buses of IT companies can be hired by the municipal corporation for peak hours. If there is a will, there is a way. 


c. Cant say enough about signals... Those who speed at yellow light can get away with a penalty. But those who run red lights, should be fined heavily. As much as drunk driving. 


d. Pedestrians safety. At all signals there should be a 20-30 sec green only for pedestrians. All vehicular traffic should stop and only those crossing roads should be allowed for these 20-30 secs. 


e. Jaywalkers. Indians love the road. We have collective sub-conscious memories of walking on the roads in villages and towns where we come from. We love the road so much that even if there is a footpath, we prefer to walk *on* the road. Should those who walk on roads when there are footpaths, be penalised? Nominally? Especially those who walk on roads where ramps are made, or those jumping over dividers. 


f. Footpath reclaim. First the municipality must gain control over the footpaths. Shops, squatters, large dustbins and about to be legalised shanties - all should be removed. Find them another place to do their business. But please free up the footpath. And then penalise pedestrians who still walk on the roads, even after footpath is provided. 

g. The zebra crossing is extension of the footpath. The motorists who are in a hurry and inch ahead little by little, so much that they are almost half way to the signal point, should be charged with Impatience Fine. I think its the curse of the Middle class. We have this in born thing of moving ahead in our lives, that we try that at signals too... How much time do you save by jumping a signal of 45 seconds??


h. Blocks. Let all the delivery tempos, vans, trucks be on the roads from 12 midnight to 6am. They park on roads and take forever to deliver goods, colas, supplies to the retail shops - blocking the traffic on our narrow roads. This will inconvenience a minuscule part of the population, but will make it a lot easier on those who travel on those roads.


i. Parking. I am undecided on the solution for chaos of parking. One drastic solution is, if the buyer doesn't have parking space at home, do not sell the vehicle! The loans have made it so easy, that some homes have 3-4 vehicles without even one allotted parking.  


j. Certain key signals should be 24 hours. And those ones should be followed day and night. 


k. Potholes. The road contractor has to be accountable for the quality of the road. The tender needs to have a guarantee of 20 years without repair. No riders. If there is untimely damage, the contract money should be taken back. 
Well, there's another way to deal with it... I have heard story of activists from a far-right political party in Maharashtra taking the road contractor to a newly laid road and slapping him with chappal for every pothole on the road. Perhaps this should be introduced too, along with the municipal guys who approve payments for shoddy jobs.

l. Leftists: Just like the confused Left of our country, everyone on the road is a confused leftist too. Have you seen people at a traffic signal wanting to go straight, but veering towards the left? And blocking the free left turn? And then giving looks when you honk at them to make way for a free left turn that you will miss because of them blocking the way? Ya, those ones. 

Sometimes i wish to buy a run down Ambassador car, fit a good quality safety harness for the driver, fix good quality guard in the front, and start ramming traffic offenders. Such is the level of road rage that sometimes i carry it to work / home. I do understand that lot of things from the Sadakchhap act are too unrealistic. But we need them - for 10 years, so the next generation doesnt make the same mistakes... 


I hope someone in power takes notice of the proposed plans. And most certainly hope they do introduce a more robust version of this and implement it immediately - before we create an even bigger mess!!

Animals - One silly hypothesis

So thousands of years back, there was this country. Well, technically it wasn't a country yet. There were natives spread across the landmass, living off the land... And there were these migrants, who had just started coming... As expected, there was constant friction going on between the natives and outsiders - cultural differences, land, women, animals. Usual stuff, you get the picture...

The natives had their own systems and laws and way of life. It was an easy going, lets live thru the day sort of stuff. The migrants too loved to drink and eat and be merry, as at the core they were travellers who lived for the day. 

Over the next hundred years or so, there was some peace between the two sides and there was co-existence. The peace was as good as the terms of the last skirmish / battle / war. But with longer periods of peace, the natives moved to deeper jungles, and migrants settled down in areas they occupied. Agriculture happened. Animal rearing started. Cattle was used for farming. The outsiders developed a superiority complex in addition to formulating their own laws. They now had holy books and knowledge was passed down the generations. 

As part of sacrifices required as per the law, some of these animals were killed, and offerings were made to the gods, after which the outsiders would feast on the flesh of these animals. Over a period of time, they grew fond of one particular type of meat! They just loved it so much that they started eating it regularly, without waiting for ritualistic sacrifices. They killed so many of that one particular animal that its population fell drastically. They killed more than they could eat... And the natives actually came of out of jungles and started dragging carcasses for their own consumption. 

The greedy outsiders got so lusty for the meat of this particular animal that the religious heads had to intervene! They issued a diktat that his animal is holy and cannot be eaten. It was a very normal thing those days to use religion / culture / way of life as a tool to enforce certain beheviour from the migrants who were still struggling with this whole settlement gig. 

This religious enforcement took a good 20-30 years to actually get implemented. Lot of stories were spread about the metaphysical qualities of this Animal. Stories were planted about what made this Animal sacred. Fear was used to ensure no harm comes to this Animal in your watch. Eventually, the word had reached to all settlements that this Animal was not to be harmed, killed or sacrificed. Changes were made in religious texts to remove all ambiguity. Everyone now worshiped this Animal, as god. 

This Animal was removed from list of animals of sacrifice. It was a holy move to cover up for unholy acts of man. 

The unholiness continues. Blindly. 

Identifiable Iconic Structures Pune

Okay, i confess. I watch more English movies these days as compared to Hindi or Marathi. But without getting in to the why's of what i watch, let me bring you attention to something i noticed. 

Almost all English movies, especially the Hollywood projects have a set visual grammar. To establish the city in the opening credits, we see some buildings, monuments, bridges, facades, waterfront, beaches that are iconic, and give away the city where the story is set. Times square, San Francisco bay bridge, Eiffel tower, Sears tower, Burj Khalifa, or in 90s the WTC towers. 

Of course, there are these iconic pieces in India too. So one would show Gateway or VT / CST or local trains for Mumbai... Or India gate, Qutub minar for New Delhi, or Howrah bridge for Kolkata.

(Joke: It must have been pretty easy for Byomkesh Bakshi team to show that Kolkata of 1940s as nothing has changed!)

Just last month i saw Marathi movie "Coffee ani barach kahi" which had shots of Shanivarwada and the multiple bridges across Mula river. Ditto with "Gabbar returns" which was shot extensively at Agriculture college and Corinthian club.

I recognised it as Pune, but will everyone in Maharashtra or India who watches these movies know these buildings? 

So i set out to make a list of iconic buildings / landmarks / visuals of Pune. Stuff that you see and the first thing ringing in your head is "This is from Pune"!! 

Considering the historical importance, and rapid real estate growth i thought it will be an "easy task" to list down 30 such buildings / places / structures. 

I was terribly wrong... Here is my list of 15 that come to my mind (in random order): 

1. Shanivarwada; 
2. Fergusson College main building; 
3. Fergusson College Amphitheatre; 
4. University main building; 
5. Agriculture college main building; 
6. Cascading Kumar builders building on East street; 
7. Amanora future towers; 
8. Dadgusheth temple; 
9. Mandai; 
10. Symbiosis vishvabhavan (the one with flags of countries); 
11. PMC building front side; 
12. Geometric software building in Hinjewadi Phase 1; 
13. Z-bridge; 
14. PCMC building; 
15. Garware bridge. 

Can you list down buildings / structures that you think are iconic? One look and first thought is Pune!

Is our food dying?

Earlier this week, we had a longish debate at the lunch table. 

In the foreseeable future, will some foods / food preparations and items stop being made? Meaning, your regular home-made, catering cooked foods. Not factory manufactured biscuits and stuff. We are talking about vegetable, pulses, fruit preparations, breads, rice, accompaniments, domestic snacks, and more like that.

One argument is, everything is cyclical. Things make a comeback. Like bell-bottoms. Nothing really dies. Someone, somewhere will be producing, preparing, and consuming items that are perhaps not easily available. 

So, the item or preparation might actually be 'statistically' dead - but since someone is consuming it somewhere, there is a chance that it might make a comeback and become a rage all over the civilised world. 

I am in other school of thought. I think foods and food preparations are getting extinct. 

Two reasons. First being i have personally seen regular foods transitioning to exotic or once in a while affairs. Like the jowar / bajra / maize breads (locally called bhakari), which once were staple are now eaten perhaps twice a year, on occasions. 

Second is there is no makers, and no eaters left!! Just like the average vocabulary reduces 20% with each generation, i think the food items one is exposed to is reduced with every generation. My grandmother had far wider 'menu' so to speak, as compared to my mother. Perhaps, my mother only learnt and prepares what she likes / or what she is good at...
Similarly, with professional catering. The items on the menu are regular, similar everywhere... And the slightly more seasonal, complicated, expensive ones are discarded with each cook.


IMO, with changing tastes, choices, likes - there definitely will be food items that wont be available. No one will cook them. The recipes will die.

Instead, new items will keep getting invented. One day someone is going to try pizza with black dal topping, or pour egg inside a chapatti and make inside out omelette.  


What do you think? Are we eating the kind of food/s our parents ate? Will the next generation eat food identical to us? 

Marathi Movies - overview 2

Thank you for reading my April '13 post on Marathi Movies. 
This week, Marathi movies are again the spotlight - with a political proposal. There has been a clutter of reactions, over-reactions, hyper-reaction, Assembly reactions - but i think lot of them came from 'emotional' side more than economic side. And movies now are basically, economics. 


First things first. 
Competition is good. Be it Marathi v/s Hindi or Domestic v/s international releases. In theory, free market means survival of the fittest (in this case, ideally should be 'product'). But since the rules don't apply in real life with soft power like music popularity, or hard power like star pull or marketing budgets, the end result might not necessarily be survival of the best, but that of the strongest. 

Much accolades are sung for 'different' topics of Marathi movie and how it is different from 'mindless' Bollywood fare. But at the end of the day, the shallowness of our movies is a reflection of the superficiality of our lives. Good doesn't always do well commercially. What is commercially successful is not necessarily a good product. 

So, fact 1: Marathi movies are on a back foot where commercial success is concerned. 


With minimum government intervention and with pure capitalism, in the last two decades, Indian cinema is represented globally via Bollywood. Like it or not. That is a fact. The wave of alternate music in 90s finally died a petty death. Bollywood music is popular music. Bully-wood means business. It attracts the best talent, on and off screen. It has shown how to market movies. It has made BO collections a topic to be discussed on dinner tables. Bollywood has the muscle to put weekend collections on television news!!

Yet, a Rs 100cr superhit amounts to nothing in a country of 1.3 billion. 


Now coming to the debate of Marathi movies getting 6 to 9 pm "prime time" slot in multiplexes. 

Personally, i think 6 to 9pm is TV viewing time in most Marathi speaking households. Maybe till 10pm... From whatever little i know people, we would rather wait a few months for the movie to come on TV and watch it for free, instead of paying money to catch it at a multiplex. Any outing to a multiplex in the evening show will set the family of 4 back by Rs 1000 for tickets, and another Rs 1000 for travel and snacks. Think about 'masses' and not like those who have access to read a blog. 

Fact 2: For producers to earn money, audiences have to spend money.


As a dip stick for 'movie going nature' of the people let us look at English movies dubbed in regional languages as an indicator. I am talking of a regular, parallel industry. English movies are regularly dubbed into Tamil and Telugu. There also are niche televisions channels in regional languages. Was "Amazing Spiderman" dubbed in Marathi for commercial release? No... 
Someone told me that in India, "Dark Knight Rises" had highest BO collections... wait for it... in Pune! Was it a Marathi dubbed version? No!

Again, this is no way is a challenge to the Maharashtra Govt to dub all English movies to Marathi. (The Censor board does enough damage on their own!!) 
Or to those whose logic is "Regional movies are stronger than Bollywoood in South". 

The fact is people in south LOVE their movies. We dont. Not like the way they do. Annually, Tamil and Telugu each release more movies than Hindi. So Marathi is not even a comparison. Similarly, I dont remember any self-immolation case in Maharashtra when Dada Kondke died. We are not crazy movie lovers. We dont have idol worship star culture. 

Fact 3: Don't compare Marathi movie market to Southern movie market, because Marathi audiences are not like Southern audiences.  


So, what kind of audiences do we have up here? There are two kinds of people who watch movies - masses and classes. Or simply put those who come in cars, and those who come on motorcycles. 

There was a discussion about 'quality' cinema when this whole multiplex debate was raging on. If we make quality movies, people will come to watch. For Marathi industry, why does quality equal to arty stuff? Why do we carry the cross of 'meaningful' cinema and then cry hoarse when it is not profitable? Isn't it too much to expect support for arty cinema from our audiences when they are conditioned (and bombarded) with run-of-the-mill Bollywood fare? 

Lets do a small mental exercise. Just list down top 5 grossing Marathi movies, in random order. 
My list is: Lai Bhari, Time Pass, Duniyadari, Natarang, Zapatlela-2 (in no particular order). 

Dont you agree that all movies in your list and mine are "massy" films? They are in NO WAY what one can call 'art' cinema. They are all GOOD movies, hence they are COMMERCIAL successes. I agree that all good movies dont become commercial successes. But i think we are looking at it in the wrong direction. 

Improve the quality of script, story telling, production values, music, acting, background score... 

Revival of Marathi movies since 2004 is a media creation. There is no new wave or anything. Majority of the movies in the last 5-6 years are more of the same old fare... We have moved from making slapstick comedy movies in 80s-90s to "national award winning" movies. Well unfortunately, National Award does not guarantee box office success. 

Dont trust me? 
Wait for 17 April and see what happens to "Court". 

The multiplex crowd isnt going to give you commercial success. We need a different delivery mechanism. 

Fact 4: Make movies for those who go to watch movies.

There was some talk about additional FSI granted to multiplexes against a promise that they will screen 124 Marathi shows in a year. The State promoting regional movies by ensuring screens is noble. And dropping ET is partial, but hey, its largely loss making industry... 

Making screens available is solving only a little part of the larger problem. Where is the money for exhibition!?? 

Here is the economics. Lets say an average Marathi movie gets produced in 1.3cr. Add another 70L for promotion and marketing. So thats 2cr down. 
Now comes distribution / exhibition, with the 2 revenue sharing models - Single screen and Multiplex. 

In single screen tie ups, the producer has to rent the screen for one show for one week. Usually, the rent is anything between 50k to 95k per week, depending on the location, quality of the cinema hall, quality of projection, and most important, seating capacity. Meaning, the producer can rent say, a 3-6pm show every day for all 7 days and the entire box office collections of all 7 shows in that time slot for the week go to producer. Some single screens charge local taxes and nominal maintenance cost (3 to 5 bucks per seat occupied). 

For ex: The rent at decent single screen is say, 75,000 for one show one week (7 shows) + house full maintenance of say 600 people for 7 shows @ 5/-, then the producer gives the single screen owner 75k + 21k for one show, one week (96k). If the producer is feeling confident about the movie, and he rents 3 shows for one week, at 100 cinemas he pays rent of 96k x 3 x 100 = Rs 2,88,00,000 for single screen cinema. 

With initial investment of 2cr towards production and marketing cost and rental cost of 3 screens for one week across 100 cinemas, the final investment is: 4,88,00,000 (Four crore Eighty eight lakh).   

Whereas, the earnings at average ticket cost @ 75 for 21 house full shows for 600 people at 100 cinemas is: 75 bucks x 600 people x 21 shows x 100 cinemas = 9,45,00,000/-, which translates to revenue of Rs 4,57,00,000 (Four crore fifty seven lakh) odd.

So you can see, theoretically single screen cinemas are far more profitable for solid movies. 


Now with most multiplexes box office revenue sharing tie ups are structured as follows: 

• Week 1: 45% to producer + 55% to multiplex 
• Week 2: 40% to producer + 60 to multiplex
• Week 3: 35% to producer + 65% to multiplex
• Week 4: 30% to producer + 70% to multiplex
• Week 5 onwards: 25% to producer + 75% to multiplex

Hence focus on collections in the release week. That's when the producer stands to gain maximum. We should learn a thing or two from Bollywood. 

Since not many Marathi movies stay longer than 4 weeks, i will do the math for first week for one show per day for one week at a multiplex. With full occupancy at 250 seats @ 100 per ticket for 7 shows, the total revenue is 175,000 of which the producers share is Rs 78,750. If the movie is released at same number of multiplex screens as single screen (ie 2100 shows in one week), the producer can earn 78,750 x 2100 = 16,53,75,000/-


Fact 5: Marathi producers dont have money to buy 2100 shows in one week across multiplexes. 

The distribution / exhibition part of the movie business which seems to be getting more and more expensive...  

First the movie needs to be converted to the DCP (digital cinema print) format. Conversion for each centre is Rs 2000 + taxes. So if you want to screen you film at 100 screens across Maharashtra, you have to first shell out Rs 200,000 for conversion. This is one time cost... 

Then the cost for 2K projection is Rs 1000 per show. So if you have say, 100 screens playing 2 shows per day, the producer needs to pay Scrabble / INOX2K / K Sera Sera etc close to 1000 x 100 screens x 2 shows = Rs 200,000 + taxes. For one week, this runs to Rs 14,00,000 plus taxes. 
Let me give you a ball park on scale. In 2014, Happy New Year released at 5000 screens in India. The biggest grossing Marathi movie Lai Bhari released at 400 screens. 

It will be wrong to ask the government to reduce the price of tickets. But clearly, the digital projection has not helped the costs at all... 

Fact 6: Making money at the BO needs solid investment. We should look at other sources to screen the films. 



There are so many things that are just wrong with the industry itself. Why blame the government policies or the domination of Hindi? 
We rely too much on word of mouth. We have seen in the past few years what solid marketing can do to the fortunes of the movie. 
Songs are lifeblood of promotion. Adequate promotion of music is necessary. Proper music promotion can really help in creating awareness. 
I think Marathi industry has maximum one-time-producers. Why cant we make money for our producers, so they keep making movies?



I just hope the powers-that-be look at all aspects of production and distribution before bringing out any regulation about exhibition. I think that fighting for screens in multiplexes is a wrong approach. Yes, the maximum revenues come from Mumbai-Pune... But that doesnt mean that people from interior Maharashtra don't want to watch Marathi movies. We need to spruce up a different delivery mechanism for our movies. Forget the existing models. Make telefilms, premiere them on television, use youtube paid channel, make 4-5 movie compilation official DVDs...  

Fact 7: There has to be a way to reach 120 million people... 


And everyone, go watch Court.



PS: Thank you Mayur Ranade for the BO and digital cost info. 

PPS: By the time i published this post, the Maharashtra govt has relaxed the prime time to 12 noon to 9pm. 

Why Cant We Differentiate Good From Bad

There is no profession which allows a novice to become a practitioner. A medical doctor undergoes years of academic training, does an almost suicidal residency, finishes a specialised course, works under a superior for years, before there is credibility and fame. Lawyers, engineers, chefs, CA's - you name it. Include liberal and performing arts in the list... Singers, music producers, dancers, technicians. 
Even politicians who aren't born with a silver spoon start at the mohalla, corporation, and climb up to legislative assembly, before heading to the Parliament. 

The point i am making is, there is a certain amount of experiential learning involved in everything. Of course, education gives a degree, but it is the practice of the craft / trade that empowers the person. 

As consumers we talk to friends, family, references before picking the professional when we need any service. We ask references for doctors, lawyers, plumbers, etc... Others we trust 'recommend' the service based on word-of-mouth or individual experience. They tell us good from bad - and we find out for ourselves too, by interaction. 

Then why are we blinded while consuming media?

 

Most of us watch television and movies and read newspapers right from our childhood. We are exposed to all sorts of fare. And i am hoping people develop taste after a certain point of time. But this is where i am completely wrong!! Time and again, i ask myself why do we get subjected to shit on television? Or the bad reporting and grammar in the newspapers? Why are news so terrible on television? Why are we served with idiotic movies with unrealistic plots and executions? There is creative liberty - and there is the 100cr club!!

Let me take an example that everyone can relate to... 

Food. From childhood itself we know tastes, what to expect in what dish / preparation, what goes best with what, so on and so forth. I am confident that if we are ever served with a poor tasting food, we will immediately notice it, point it out. Often little bit salt here and there is enough to create a storm on the dining table! 

If eating food on a daily basis gives us enough sense to differentiate good from bad, tasty from bland, cooked from raw, edible from gone bad - why cant we differentiate good TV serials / movies / news / newspaper from bad - if we watch movies for 10-15 years?

I sometimes feel our apathy to what we consume on TV matches with the proven theory: money doesn't buy class. No amount of education or exposure will prepare the audience for "learning" to view. Perhaps it is time that we "teach" people how to consume media... Make everyone Pavlov's projects and condition their viewing skills. 

Sometimes i am shaken with the terrifying reality of our lack of judgement! How can people appreciate bad stuff!? They spend money and time to celebrate mediocrity. I think humans overall are lazy. They want appreciation for doing regular things. Hence they appreciate average presentations. 

I need to correct my opening line: 
There is no profession which allows a novice to become a practitioner - with the possible exception of media, which is a free for all. Since we don't know who is dishing out the junk, the audience needs to take charge and be more demanding. 

The bottom line is, its about our judgement. If we continue to consume BS, we will be force fed some more BS. 

The Pawar Equation

There is a standard argument that my parents have - known trigger, predictable response and sulking. This fight happens regularly, and the topic of this unique argument happens to be "saheb". 

It starts with something in the newspaper or TV. My father will comment on the issue and close it with how saheb has everyone in his pocket. Something like, "He is the big daddy". And that statement just irks my mother no end... 

Jokes apart, saheb is a standard response to many questions, like:

Who owns this land; 

Who owns this building; 

Who runs the sugar factory; 

Who controls the district cooperative banks; 

Who is funding real estate; 
Who has a stake in this / that; 
Who runs the government; 
Who has got XYZ person / political party on the ropes; 

Who owns the public bus service; 

Who is swinging the ball in the BCCI controversy; 

Who knows it all; 

Who is the smartest / most cunning politician; 

among many others.

The question "Do all roads lead to saheb?" is a debatable. However, people living this part of the world understand how deep the influence runs. We all have heard of his memory where he remembers names of people he's met 30-40 years back; the strong local support; the networking; and how he has a finger in every pie. You have to live in and around Pune to comprehend The Pawar Equation. 

So when my father says "saheb this, saheb that" in a tone of admiration, it gets my mothers goat. And for a good reason too. 

Her logic is simple: Why do people refer to him as if he is omnipotent? If its an open secret that he owns so much land, property, and has a stake in reality around - and it is claimed that he owns only 6 acres of land, why is there no investigation? 

That's one. The other thing is, isn't it a matter of great shame that he's referred to in admiration? If he stands for what is wrong in Pune, why are people of Pune so much in awe of the man!?

Conspiracy theories aside, the man has shown several masterstrokes in his long innings in political arena as well as other areas of his interest - the latest being "outside support" to the Fadnavis / BJP government in Maharashtra. 

Thank god there was a voice vote so we don't know if the BJP government got 'vocal' support from NCP. Everyone agrees that taking support from NCP doesn't bode well for the image of BJP; and exactly opposite for the reverse (where giving outside support to BJP ensures protection of tainted NCP cadres). The subtlety of this entire affair, and the immense political acumen does bring out a sense of awe. 

The bottom line is since YB Chavan we have not had a single 'truly' influential leader in Delhi. It is time we introspect and see if we want to be holed up in a well, or join resources to take the long leap. Each and every MLA in the house should remember that the State is not the Mumbai - Pune - Nasik corridor. Each MLA must want to make his constituency prosperous like Baramati. 

I am sure good things can be learnt too.