Tsunami Warning

Here is factoid from Hugh Penrie Williams session;

In Indonesia there is a tribe of Fisherfolk who claim that their Elders have always advised them to immediately run and t ake refuge in the hills if the Sea ever goes back for a long distance.

Another Plum:

Don't participate in the Rattle Sanke Kissing Contest because the Prize is $25 000. You might win it Posthumously!

:-)

Sharks and Coconuts Again!

It was a balmy evening in Balmbay as I made my way to the Airport, replete with all the learning for the past two days at the ISACA-CACS at Mumbai. The learning event was quite useful although my head is still heavy from all the Knowledge/Information/Data/Facts/Opinions that have been crammed into my little brain. Well, I suppose I have to digest it at leisure. After all Knowledge is not about Memory, its about Retrieval, right?

Hugh Penrie Williams began his session with a promise that he came to make us Think, Not Teach.

Surprisingly he used the Sharks and Coconuts example to talk about Risk. But his take is that we should be more worried about Pigs and not Coconuts. I think more people are going to be harmed by speakers giving the Sharks and Coconut analogy than both these hazards put together.

He rightly pointed out that there is no point in talking about Risk unless you "know" more about the "asset" being protected. In an Information Systems Security Concept the more valuable assets are the Data and Applications.

Instead of asking why a disater happened, we should be asking why it didn't happen more often. Then, the good systems and processes in place become obvious. Failures and vulnerabilities are seen with more clarity.

Another quote I loved in this session was,"The average is inconsequential or useless as we are forced to live with the constraints actually imposed on us."

Threats are in the Environment. Vulnerabilities are potential weaknesses in our protective measures. A threat that has exposed a vulnerability leads to an incident.

He mentioned that Risk need not have negative connotation. This is something I've always been telling students in my Securities Analysis programmes. In the last GMCS, a gentleman Mr. Prabhu vehemently argued otherwise. I wish he had been there to hear Penrie Williams!

Risk simply indicates that Anything can happen.

So, what we are really talking here is about degrees of uncertainty. A continuum that ranges from absolute certaintyof occurance of an event (Zero Risk) to to absolute uncertainty of an occurance. A probabilistic approach anchored in Business sense may be the solution.

The post lunch sessions on Cloud Computing and Wirelss Network DSecurity were quite technical thougfh the respective speakers Mardikar and Gibbs de-mystified much.

One unresolved issue in Cloud Computing seems to be the reason for including an entirely privately deployed system under cloud systems as a Private Cloud. Muti Tenancy of Infrastructure/Application seems to be a basic criterion in clouds. Take this away and where is the Cloud in Private Clouds.

A Final Thought:

I have a feeling that ultimately whether its Cloud Computing or IT Governance or Risk Management, or Wireless Network Security, the basic issue is Perimeter level security both at Physical as well as Logical levels. For example Nelson Gibbs on WiFi suggested we keep the Wireless Access Point (WAP) outside the Firewall.

Mumbai

The vigor and energy of the Mumbaikar is legendary. From morning to night they keep on moving around non-stop. Their resilience and toughness are not once-in-a-while as during the Mumbai Floods or the Taj Mahal Hotel Crisis. It is a day-to-day battle that they all fight everyday shoulder to shoulder for their livelihood.

This city, which is arguably India's Financial Capital does not have the poshness or richness that go with wealth. It is squalid and but for high value areas, everywhere else is a mix of old buildings and slums. Bengaluru possibly gives a more consistently affluent picture.

It rained during the day for a short while. But, if the monsoon fails this year too, Mumbai is in for water shortage.

I am now in my Wife's cousin's house in Chembur. In the evening I went for a walk to the nearby Srigeri Saradambal Temple.

Protecting ourselves from Sharks when the Danger is Falling Coconuts

The Afternoon Speaker at the ISACA-CACS, Eddie Schwartz began by pointing out that the number of people who die on the beach due to Sharks is far far lower than those who die due to falling Coconuts! In his frank and down-to-earth presentation on "Why some Organizations are winning the Cyber War?", he gave a lot of insights on the issues in IT Security due to Cloud Computing.

He says prevention is not really possible as the threats and vulnerabilities in Cloud Computing are too many. Moreover, it is difficult to identify the perpetrators. He suggests Continuous Controls Monitoring and Advanced Threat Detection Systems. We need to be always aware of threats and potential threats to our security systems.

Summary: The solution seems to be a proxyt based ATDS coupled with continuous session monitoring.

The next speaker on Data Loss Prevention and Digital Rights Management was Mark Ames, an Aussie. He put a lot of store by Identity Management which is just french for Encryption and Password Control. The real threat is still from outsiders then.

You are Remembered Only when You are Needed

Fact of Life. You are Remembered Only when You are Needed.

A Candle is remembered only during a Power failure.

So, What do you do?

Keep on pointing out situations when people will need you. Keep reminding them of this need.

This is the only way marketing can happen today.

Every advertiser presumes that somebody who needs his product or service will read his advertisement.

Some Advertisers try to create a need which is not felt now.

What is essential is to identify specifically people who need to have a need, tell them why the need it and help them understand why your product/service alone can fulfill that need effectively.

Delegating Accountability

"You can delegate tasks, but you cannot delegate accountability."

This is well known.

But cannot the person Delegating the Task build in an accountability framework within his jurisdiction. Not applicable outside his domain, nevertheless valid between him and the delegate?

This is a kind of Cadence of Accountability that is between the Job Owner and the Delegate.

IT Governance Issues

I am now at the Hyatt Regency, Mumbai attending the Asia Pacific Control and Securities Conference (CACS) of ISACA. The sessions are on IT governance and security. This blog and the ones that follow do not attempt to report the proceedings but are rather an attempt to document my immediate reaction to what speakers were saying.

In the morning we had Robert E Stroud.

He was speaking about the five traps in IT governance.

He related real life anecdotes about his children and grand-children.

He describes a scene where his car has a microchip that sends a message to the dealer about a fault in the vehicle, who in return responds to the user's complaint. Well, in India we are not so seamlessly connected; Is that good or Bad?

He was also relating a situation where if the server fails on Thanksgiving day, the store fails. This is because all items are bar-coded and therefore not human-intelligible. Is this an IT incident or merely an inability to plan ahead? Why couldn't they have had someone staying over to handle glitches like this? This would have been automatic in India.

He also made the point that Governance is more than compliance. Governance is not a bottom up issue--it has to be top down.

Risk is not necessarily a bad word. You might want to take a risk to actualize a business opportunity. This is a positive acceptance of risk.

His quotations that he puts on Twitter were:

Perception is Reality.

Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts absolutely.

He also speaks about external consultants who are brought in as a "Solution". He calls it the "Outside-in-trap" and advocates solving the problem organizationally.

He suggests that we should have a Just Enough approach to Governance as over emphasis on Governance may curb innovation.

SUMMARY OF SESSION

The Deadly Sins in IT Governance are

Absence of 1. Definition, 2. Ownership, 3. Measurement, 4. Mutiple Governance System, 5. Automation. A last one, viz., Transparency was added by a participant which Robert agreed should be the First!

Questions were mainly on the Semantics of words like Security, Governanance and IT Governance. The speakers replies were possibly not the last word on this.

Who are your True Friends?

Who are our true friends? Are they the ones who comfort us when we fail and use facile and pleasing words to justify our inability? Or are they the ones who are blunt and matter of fact in pointing out to us where we went wrong even at the cost of bruising our ego and sometimes the friendship? As usual, I have no answers except to say that the True Friend strikes the Golden Mean of Aristotle. He is not rude but he is firm. He doesn’t ignore our faults and failures but doesn’t rub our noses in them either.

I used to be a friend who was blunt and rude in pointing out flaws. Then I realized that this was a great way of losing friendship! Today, I am polite and careful while speaking my mind to a friend about his decision or action. I am gentle and try advocacy rather than brute force and argument. Still, I feel sometimes friends should not venture opinions unless asked to do so.

But, when I need good counsel, I seek out those who can be blunt and clear with me. Like the surgeon who wields a sharp instrument to cure, these good friends use their words to guide me on the paths of wisdom, righteousness and achievement that is truly fulfilling.

Bengaluru is Becoming Hot!

I am now in Bengaluru for conducting a corporate training workshop. I usually love these sojourns to Bengaluru mainly for the salubrious weather of the Garden City. But Bengaluru today presents a dismal picture. The sub beats down mercilessly on the roads, now almost denuded of any tree cover. But for the public parks, where, mercifully, the trees flourish, the rest of Bengaluru seems naked without those giant trees.

One reason, of course, is the need for wider roads to handle the traffic flow that is expanding geometrically. The huge bridge coming up over M.G. Road above the Brigade-M.G.Road crossing and further down is the ultimate eyesore. M.G. Road will never be the same for me again. I still remember, with pleasure, the leisurely and fun filled walks I’ve had in the evenings on this busy road.

The sharp chillness that is always in the air in Bengaluru is gone to be replaced by a sticky heat that tires you down. This coupled with the grime and dust from the incessant traffic emissions is recipe for ecological damage of a once wonderful city.

Private Victory before Public Victory

I saw the following quotation in the Training Hall of Shasun Chemicals:

Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.

Thomas J Watson, Chairman IBM

I felt that this quotation was the essence of my workshop content. If you cannot lead yourself how can we lead others. Before we start placing rules and regulations on others, we ought to examine our conscience whether we are taking the medicine we prescribe.

This sentiment expressed by Mr. Watson, echoes Swami Vivekananda's famous quote, :Learn first how to obey, before you learn how to command." This quotation was prominently displayed in the entrance corridor of thee Vivekananda College when I entered the portals of that excellent institution for my Under-Graduation. The words stuck to my mind and inspire me to introspection till this day.

The Maturity Continuum which is the back bone of the Practice of the Seven Habits enjoins the attainment of Private Victories by practicing the first three habits leading to Independence from the shackles of our own limitations before scaling the heights of the Fourth to the Sixth Habits.

Another striking feature of this quotation is the stress on a doing things day-to-day. The summum of my work shop on Time Management is a Daily Plan and Daily Review linked to Second-Quadrant oriented Long term plans.

Time Management Workshop at Shasun

Conducted a One-Day workshop on Time Management for Shasun Chemicals and Drugs Limited at their factory on the Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road. The factory is a state-of-the art building with immaculately landscaped surroundings. The training hall is quite large and has all the latest facilities.

Although the attendance at the workshop was thin due to an ongoing budget review meeting, the participation as such was enthusiastic. Almost all the executives who attended were young and had many issues on Time usage to be clarified. I too had a number of interactive case studies and activities.

Their HR Department had already shared with me some the key issues thay wanted to be addressed in the workshop. I love it when HR Departments do this as it gives more focus on need based delivery of content.

I found the group to be focused, willing to learn and were highly efficient. So they were able to grasp the concept of Important activities Vs. Urgent but not important.

Some of the concepts covered were

• Formulating Goals using Powerful Goal setting Techniques
• Tools to Plan your work (I introduced them to my Daily Planner and Daily Time Record)
• Dealing with Difficult Tasks
• Maximizing the available time
• The importance of Right Attitude
• Use of Technology in Time Management
• Managing Stress effectively by Managing Time

All these are extremely practical and relevant. During the course of the workshop the participants realized through experiential learning that many of the issues in Time Management are basically people based issues.

One participant Mr. Shankar raised an issue about the art of saying no. I suggested that he should request the interrupter to call again after an hour. Invariably in such situation the caller won't come again unless it is genuinely important; in which case it is better to handle the issue.

On the whole a productive day.

Few Things to Follow

This is a nice poster I saw in Kohima, Nagaland

Fate is the Boundary of Freewill

15.02.2010

I visited Hyundai today for a discussion on a training programme on Creativity and Innovation. I was accompanying Mr. K S Varadan, a senior consultant, trainer and renowned expert on Lean Manufactuuring, FMEA, 6 QC Tools and other techniques.

After the discussions we were returning in his car with my car following. The discussions on Mundane topics being exhausted, we spent the rest of the journey on the esoteric. Our conversation turned to Fate. Mr. Varadan made the point that we should use Free Will to defeat our faith. While I could agree with this intuitively and in principle, I was skeptical as to how this paradoxical thing may be achieved. He made this interesting and profound observation, which I feel was my learning for that day:

“Fate is the boundary within which Free Will operates!”

This is my Interpretation of his statement--“While we cannot change our inevitable destiny, we do have the power to influence the how of our life even if the What is predestined!”

Training the Trainers who Train Trainers

13.02.2010

Conducted a Public Programme on “Train the Trainers”(TTT). The participants were mostly senior executives whose job description involved, directly training their colleagues or training internal trainers.Therefore, I had to give inputs on two different skill sets viz., Training them on becoming more effective trainers themselves as well as giving them inputs and techniques on how to organize and conduct a TTT themselves. They were highly involved and participative.

One of the senior participants Dr. ashok Babu a DGM-HR from TTK delivered flawless and text book type of training sessions. His delivery on HIV/AIDS was a treat to watch. I especially liked the way he simplified complex medical terms and made the essentially non-technical group appreciate the nuances of meaning in words like Symptom, Syndrome, Diagnosis and Prognosis.

He had this to say about the programme:

“The trainer easily blended with the trainees, and interacted very well.” He also states that the one thiong he liked was the “Trainer’s enthusiasm and energy level…” His feedback about having two trainers to break the monotony merits consideration…as also his suggestion that I show tapes of famous speeches and oratorical performances such as Barak Obama’s Acceptance Speech.

The Maha Shiva Rathri Controversy

There is a controversy as to the exact English Calendar date on which Maha Shiva Rathri day would fall this year. Traditionally this happens around mid-February. Actually the correct Thithi is Chaturdasi in Maasi Month. That is the fourteenth day after pournami in the Tamil month Maasi. This year publishers of calendars have conviniently adopted the chaturdasi in Thai, even though Maasi is yet to be born!

This is the view being adopted in Tamilnadu by all the major Shiva Temples. But in the North as well as Kerala yeasterday was celebrated as Maha Shivarathri day.

Well, I am sure the God wouldn't actually mind having a double celebration, right?

A Temple for Jupiter

I had heard a lot about the Guru Dakshinamoorthy Temple at Govindavadi, a small village, near Kancheepuram. Today I had the opportunity to visit it as the Temple is situated at walking distance from the Park Global campus. Dakshinamoorthy an aspect of Shiva is the presiding deity for the planet Jupiter or Brhaspathi. The planet Jupiter shifts from one Zodiac sign to the next once in a year and as such has a great influence on the fate of people. There are, therefore, innumerable shrines for this benign planet which is worshipped in the persona of Dakshinamoorthy, the Guru.

Usually, the shrine of Dakshinamoorthy would be situated on the southern side in the inner corridor around the sanctum sanctorum of a Shiva Temple. The deity faces South. This is the case even in famous shrines such as Thiru Alangudi (near Kumbakonam) and Thiruvalidaayam (Padi in Chennai). The temple at Govindavadi is arguably unique in as much as the main deity here is Dakshinamoorthy! The shrine of Guru is situated directly in front of the main entrance. The shrine faces south.

Govindavadi is situated about a kilometer or so off the road going to Arakonam from the Chennai-Bangalore Highway. To get there one should take a right turn under the over-bridge just before the turn off for Kancheepuram. The arch announcing the temple is on the left hand side of the Arakkonam rod about six kilometers from the main highway.

The main deity sits resplendent in yellow and gold with sankadhi sages around him and Mushikasuran signifying our own ignorance and ego, lying trampled under the feet of the Divine Teacher.

I saw many devotees, especially women, lighting lamps made out of the half shells of freshly broken coconuts.

As this is a Shivs Kshetram, there is a main shrine for the Linga roopam of Shiva as Kailasanathar and Parvathi as Akilandeswari. The archakar showed us a slab in the Shivan sannidhi, which he claimed leads to a large underground mandapam as well as a passage that is said to lead to Ekambareswarar Temple in Kanchi. The passage is now fully blocked.

There are numerous temples to Shiva across the state which have been visited by one or more of the Four Great Devotees or Nayanmar (They who belong to Him) (They are refered to in Shaivaite tradition in Tamilnadu simply as “The Four”. They are Appar a.k.a Thiru Naavukarasar, Thirugnana Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikavasagar.The idols of The Four are usually displayed prominently in all Shiva Temples. Bigger Temples have shrines for all the Sixty-Three Nayanmar in the middle corridor. Where a Temple has a song composed in chaste Tamil by one of the Four about its main deity, it is called “A Place with a Song”. These are special places where devotees of Shiva flock regularly. A similar tradition is prevalent in Vaishnavism too except that there we have “The Twelve” Alwars!

In this sense, Govindavadi is not “A place with a Song” but is a powerful shrine for offering devotion and prayer by those who wish to have the benign influence of the Planet Jupiter.

Emerald Carpeting

12.02.2010

I visited the Park Global Institute of Management Campus at Kancheepuram. The campus is situated on 12 acres of open land surrounded on three sides by lush green fields.

I had the unenviable task of sharing my thoughts on Management Accounting and Controls with a dozen MBA students whose lack of interest in acquiring managerial knowledge was almost equal to their inability to comprehend it. I wish they had brought as much enthusiasm to acquiring managerial skills as they had evinced in playing cricket in front of the building.

One beneficial fall out of the visit was that I got to spend time in open countryside on a pleasantly cool February day, breathing fresh air. The continuous carpeting of green fields visible from the class room window was a treat to the eyes. I was extremely energized by viewing the unending vista of fields going right up to the distant horizon.

Bilingualism

08.02.2010

Began yet another batch of General Management and Communication Skills for newly qualified Chartered Accountants. There were quite a few gentlemen from Orissa. In a spirit of promoting cross pollination among cultures, I suggested that the non-Tamils should try to learn three Kurals from Thirukural. (Far be from me any intention to impose my will or my language on others; merely a genuine desire to familiarize them with a body of wisdom that has transcended Tamilnadu or even India and is recognized across the world as an essential source of wisdom. The Kural is Religion and Politics neutral. As it has no allusion to customs and rituals it is geography and society neutral too. More about the greatness if the Kural in another Blog!)

I was surprised at the type of resistance this suggestion provoked. One participant (Mr. Chittaranjan) asked me, ‘What will I get if I read the Kural?” (I sincerely have no answer! L )

Another said, “Sir, why don’t you learn Hindi first?” (I would love to; I wish I had done it earlier; But, what has that got to do with attempting to understand an inspiring and motivating work. My inability to speak Hindi has never prevented me from learning Urdu couplets or the great hymns of Surdas, Kabir and Meera, preferably in their own tongue.)

What truly surprised me was that these were not natural Hindi speakers. They were Oriyans! I wish one of them had stood up and said, “Sir, we appreciate that you want us to read a Tamil work. We will try. But in the mean time, may we suggest that you also try to read and appreciate the great Oriyan poet and writer (#Name to be Supplied.#). The imposition of Hindi has merely resulted in the impoverishment of local languages and dialects. A Bilingual policy with English as a compulsory first language and local language or mother-tongue as a second language would have been a better solution.

Before you start reacting to this, would you like to read the views expressed by Mrinal Pande, a broadcaster and writer in both English and Hindi, in her article titled The Fork-Tongued, Bilingualism, a legacy that defines the nation today?

“Today it is undeniable that English has come to signify social status and good education in India…The Samajwadi leadership that supported Hindi has been trounced in UP (the Hindi heartland) and the Dalits in power are singing Paeans to the “English Devi”…Mayawati has recently declared that English will be taught in all state-run schools in UP.”

Elevators- Up or Down?

07.02.2010

I spent a leisurely morning with my Family. Around One, we went out for lunch at Ashvitha a new multi-cuisine restaurant. Located in a huge renovated bungalow on a lane off Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, the restaurant has a unique ambience. The tables placed on the verandah around the main house are comfortable and surrounded by greenery and flowering plants. (Whether this will work in high summer?)

A fountain tinkles nearby and adds to the general calmness of the place. The building houses more air conditioned rooms and displays of books, jewellery and soft furnishing for the discerning and extremely tasteful guest.

They serve five different platters with unlimited helpings. The food was good and filling.

While we were eating, my son related this story:

The man who invented and manufactured elevators for the first time ever, found that they were too slow. People simply did not want to use them. Even after improving speeds, elevators were not popular. He was incurring heavy losses. Suddenly he had a brain wave and did something that not only made elevators extremely popular but also resulted in people thinking that that they were too fast! Do you know what he did/

Well, he simply fixed full length mirrors on the walls of the elevator. People were so busy looking at themselves that they thought they had reached their floor too early!

The man, of course was Otis!

This tale is a classic example of perseverance, creativity as well as lateral thinking in problem solving. But, there is also a lesson here about the human proclivity for Narcissistic behavior.

Avoid Clichés like the plague

The dictionary defines a Cliché as ‘a once striking and effective phrase or combination of words which has become stale and hackneyed through overuse.’

The main accusation against the cliché seems to be repetition.

But a phrase that is overused need not by definition be treated as a cliché. After all, repetition only goes to prove the usefulness of that particular phrase or combination!

Even an indisputable cliché may sometimes be appropriate. Its very familiarity and forthrightness might be just what is needed. Harold Evans in Newsman’s English says, “It is impossible to ban them because they serve a natural inclination. At best they are a form of literary shorthand…”

Here are some acceptable idioms that are not Clichés:

ü Tongue in cheek

ü To wash your hands of something

ü A man of straw

ü A house of cards (implying instability or flimsiness)

ü To get down to brass tacks

Nagaland -- Opportunity Lost?

I am now in Kolkata Airport waiting for my Indian Airlines flight for the last leg of our return back to Chennai. As I am waiting I mull over my travels in the North-East in the lands of the Seven Sisters. At least, I hope, I got to know two of them well.

I return back with a lot of memories of Nagaland…especially the picturesque Mokokchung District, Land of the Ao Tribe.

Here is an extract from a brochure on Nagaland, titled “Opportunities unlimited” published by the Directorate of Tourism, Nagaland:

“Nagaland today is in a situation where many other famous tourist destinations were some decades back. However the potentials and diversity it holds are perhaps far more than a lot of existing popular destinations. Over the years, the state has been through a lot of ups and downs (is this euphemism or pun!-Sreesri)—but this has been a blessing in disguise for it has preserved the beauty, natural wealth and the overall sanity (sic) of the place.”

The brochure goes on optimistically to state that the Nagaland Tourism Directorate is doing a lot to promote a model where the Naga villages will be used as enviro-friendly tourist destinations thus enabling the villages “to generate their own income through the communitisation of assets”

In spite of the hi-fashion attire that is sported by the men and women even in remote Nagaland, the mass of the Nagas live in primitive conditions. These complete changes in dress and culture were possible because they had the opportunity to convert to Christianity and thus move directly from primitive tribal attire and culture to western mores. They did not apparently have the existential crisis of the Tam Brahms who had to discard a complex socio-religious code including dress and food to adopt westernization and the consequent guilt trip.

All this is fine in principle…but there is a long way to go….

These are the minimum changes needed to make these wishes to reality…

v The roads should be made better

v Larger passenger transport vehicles should be made available. The currently available “Zonal Taxis” are abysmal in comfort.

v The water and power situation should improve

v The locals should come out of their apparent apathy and actively “sell” Nagaland!

v The costs of everything should be scaled down to affordable levels for budget tourists.

A major problem in Nagaland is not just reaching Kohima but reaching interior districts. For example a trip to Saramati peak in Kiphire and back would take at least ten days for someone from any other part of India. So, they need to address this issue. Inter district Helicopters are being mooted already. Again the Ecological balance issue needs to be addressed.

Currently the only big event in the Tourism Calendar is “The Hornbill Festival.” The festival is the focal point of tourism initiatives and the meager number of hotels are over booked for this event. I was talking to An Ao Naga in Mokukchung about Hornbill. I asked him if the Hornbill Bird could be seen in large numbers during this festival. He gave me that vacant look and slowly replied that the Hornbill Bird was almost extinct in Nagaland! If you really want to see a Hornbill you can look at the photograph of a wood carving of a Hornbill that I’ve posted in this blog or you can try Assam!

Well…not for me to be negative… so let me end this post on a positive note:

With sixteen Tribes and as many dialects, Nagaland is itself an example of unity in diversity. When you take this diversified unity or unified diversity and connect it to the already colorful cultural kaleidoscope that is India…what have you…well India…the never changing…ever changing country that could never be truly conquered by its several invaders.

I truly loved my brief sojourn in this state and surely hope to return en famille obviously for Hornbill!

Dimapur

04.02.2010.

Camp at Dimapur

There was a taxi strike at Kohima so we had to locate private transport to reach Kohima. The road down to Dimapur, in the plains is again a series of curves and bendsthrough the misty mountains and the verdant vales.

Dimapur, the commercial capital of Nagaland is the largest city in the state. Dimapur shares its borders with Assam. Although lower in altitude than Kohima, Dimapur was equally cold at this time of the year. There is not much to see here except for the ruins of the Kachari kingdom.

I am staying at the De Orient Dream opposite to Hotel Saramati the only other decent hotel in Dimapur. The Kachari ruins are an unimpressive pile of red brick work. As it is a “preserved monument”, it will never be renovated. It is slowly falling to pieces. What I could see was a Darwaza and a lot of stone pillars on an open field. The place is an excellent refuge for vagrants and drug addicts. According to the guide book, the ruins give evidence of a culture that is pre-Aryan Hinduism. Because the Aryan domination of the Gangetic plain did not cross the Brahmaputra, the sino-mongoloid culture which is akin to the Burmese could flourish in Nagaland and Manipur. In this sense these states are unique examples of ethnic diversity in India!

Kohima -- WarCemetry

Kohima town has gone through dark days during the Second Word War (1937-1945) when the allied forces fought a bloody but victorious battle agains the Japanese in Kohima. The battle field where this took place is in the heart of the city. A war cemetery has been built in this place.

I visited this War Cemetry today. It is basically a park with various levels. On each level neatly placed plaques bearing the names of the British and India Soldiers who died in WWII are embedded. Each plaque has name, battalion and rank.

At the top most level is a huge cross standing tall and serving as a memoriam to those who died and a reminder that peace is the ultimate solution.

The Road to Mokungchung

02.02.2010

Returned today from my trip to Mokokchung. There is no doubt that Mokochung is a great place. But to enjoy this vision of greenery and rolling hills blanketed in mist, one should be willing to undergo the ordeal of a six-hour drive in a “zonal taxi”, usually a TATA Winger or Sumo. (Hiring a vehicle is prohibitively high and assuming one could do this the journey is still titing!) The vehicle would hurtle through the narrow and tortuously winding road. Having said this, I must concede that the journey, if made at a sedate pace, is visually rewarding as the road skirts the mountains continuously on the route. (Next time you see a map of Nagaland, don’t be misled by the straight lines depicting roads. What is not depicted is the mountainous nature of the terrain. Except for Dimapur, the topography of Nagaland is pure mountain and valley. So as we travel in Nagaland, we have a delectable view of the misty valleyts on one side and mountains on the other. The road moves from one mountain range to another with towns perched on the slopes of the ranges. So everytime the ghadi turns around a bend on the mountain the traveler gets another panoramic vista of hills beyond hills which is the constant backdrop for any where innnn the ghat section of the state. Occasionally, on a distant mountain ridge a church or building would be perceived in a prominent position shining bright under the direct light of the morning sun. And then the road takes a new turn and we reach a new page in the unending picture book of nature and color that is Nagaland.

Mokokchung Nagaland

01.02.2010

As part of my tour in Nagaland, I wanted to visit a project in the Tuensang district. Being informed that it is very far off sand that the journey would be equally arduous and subject to unforeseen calamities, I decided to visit Mokokchung district instead.

Mokokchung is an important district in Nagaland. 162 kilometers north-east of Kohima it is reached by a NH61 which passes through Wokha district enroute. It was established by the British as an administrative base for governing other remote districts like Tuinsang. Built around the existing settlement of the Ao tribe, the town of Mokukchung is another extraordinary example of scenic beauty and splendor in Nagaland. In fact for natural beauty, cleanliness and ecological balance I would rate Mokukchung even above the capital city of Kohima! My view was further confirmed today after seeing the traffic, congestion, dirt and squalor on the roads of Kohima.

Mokokchung is also famous because it is the first Naga settlement and also the first place where Christianity was first established in Nagaland. Incidentally, the Angama Baptist Church in Kohima is celebrating 125 years of Christianity in Nagaland between 4^th and 7^th February 2010.

On reaching Mokokchung, we checked into the Tourist Lodge before commencing work. This building is situated on a hill overlooking the entire town. In fact, above the Tourist Lodge is a tower which can be reached after a strenuous climb up a steep incline. From the observation platform above the tower you can see almost everything for a radius of fifty kilometers around the town. (The photograph I’ve posted above was taken from this position.) Standing there you will truly feel that the world is at your feet.