Monday, March 27, 2006
the Ongole Adventure (as promised)
From Ongole Diary in March 2004...verbatim...
“Somebody said ‘India is a big country!’ So What?”
(Prof AP Arora, MDI, after the first ever Marketing Project presentations by pg01)
Ongole exists. I swear.
142 kms from Vijaywada as the headquarter of Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district.
But let me begin proper.
To most North, East or West Indians anything south of Goa has always been Amma’s Madras. So this has been a tremendous journey of discovery; for I have chanced upon the ancient and extremely idyllic civilisations of Podili, Cumbum and Kanigiri among the erstwhile ruins of the Vijaynagar Empire. These are world famous discoveries for the World (according to the new definitions of George W Bush of what comprises the world). I have therefore have had the privilege to explore this land following in the fortunes of the vastly adventurous explorer of yore ‘anand babloo mohan murthy’ (my colleague, compatriot, and 'in arm fmcg salesman') who has spent many a wild night in this country promising stronger teeth for a healthier lifestyle last summer.
Ongole’s fame to the World Hall of popular anecdotes rests on its cows. Its bovine animals have been successfully imported as some of the strongest and best breeding stock in the world. And if you don’t believe me or are interested in getting in the cattle business check out http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/ongole/
But first I have to confess I have been impressed by ‘infrastructure’. Generally we Indians do not understand the meaning of this word till we have made a trip abroad. But Andhra Pradesh and I mean non-Metro non-B class town is developed (by Indian standards of course). Public transportation is efficient, buses (over 50%) are deluxe and roads are a joy. Power cuts happen in villages but for about 2 hours a day (Delhi!!!). Re 1 local phones are in plenty across all villages and connectivity is a buzzword. Water is still a problem more because of the lack of rivers and underwater resources than initiative but government machinery is efficient and the ‘e’ seva kendras are an excellent example.
Food. Well they have two concepts
a) Tiffin
b) Full Meals (pronounced mills)
Ideally (I think) you are supposed to have tiffin first, then a ‘mills’ then tiffin and then ‘mills’ again. The Full Meal is a four-course meal with first a helping of rice and vegetables (bitter gourd and beetroot being the popular ones) with one yellow dal. (I promise you, you will not get another type here). This is followed by more rice and sambar and rasam. This is followed by Rice and curd and then a sweet. But you can as for chicken at many places and you will get awesome stuff. Every village has its own delicacy but for simplicity and language reasons I generally order ‘Chicken N&$#HF&@#lg’ Almost every time this dish is excellent.
Telegu cinema well I rather not comment on its direction (though I think with rural audiences it would be anybody’s guess) but about its people yes. This has got to be the most film crazy state around. Small villages have half a dozen halls (AP has the maximum number in the country) and the fastest selling fmcg item has got to be the Re 1 posters of Chiranjeevi. On a recent bus journey (APSRTC express) a movie was begun at 7 am. It woke, shook and surprised me and the macho hero looked very much like M Manoj having a bad day at the office.
And to add to my woes I reached a village where most elders seemed to be smitten with what was translated to me as poppy (but seemed something else). I had a very interesting conversation
Me – what is everybody smoking
Elderly villager on a cot – “kaomah djls;;l ;sjdhsl”
Me – English/Hindi
Elderly Villager – ‘nnnn mmmm bbbb’
Me – what is everybody smoking, smoking, smoking
Elderly villager – ‘jsjsj smoking’ then turning to a small boy ‘ jkdhd jjdkd fjfjjf’
The boy then led me to another man
I was feeling relieved that I had finally been understood
Me – Namaste
Man – My name babu, am village schoolmaster, this boy tells me that ‘the elder told him that you were a mad north Indian who kept saying smoking smoking’
Well India is a big country no!
So what?
(Khalid thanks again, AA sorry bugger back in Ongole again, Dinu please dont drin and sell, Vijit alright chelsea are a little behind but we still beat Manu!, Subhayu/biyani will be in vjy first week for whole week, and for the rest 'Happy Pongal')
Ides January 2004.
“Somebody said ‘India is a big country!’ So What?”
(Prof AP Arora, MDI, after the first ever Marketing Project presentations by pg01)
Ongole exists. I swear.
142 kms from Vijaywada as the headquarter of Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district.
But let me begin proper.
To most North, East or West Indians anything south of Goa has always been Amma’s Madras. So this has been a tremendous journey of discovery; for I have chanced upon the ancient and extremely idyllic civilisations of Podili, Cumbum and Kanigiri among the erstwhile ruins of the Vijaynagar Empire. These are world famous discoveries for the World (according to the new definitions of George W Bush of what comprises the world). I have therefore have had the privilege to explore this land following in the fortunes of the vastly adventurous explorer of yore ‘anand babloo mohan murthy’ (my colleague, compatriot, and 'in arm fmcg salesman') who has spent many a wild night in this country promising stronger teeth for a healthier lifestyle last summer.
Ongole’s fame to the World Hall of popular anecdotes rests on its cows. Its bovine animals have been successfully imported as some of the strongest and best breeding stock in the world. And if you don’t believe me or are interested in getting in the cattle business check out http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/ongole/
But first I have to confess I have been impressed by ‘infrastructure’. Generally we Indians do not understand the meaning of this word till we have made a trip abroad. But Andhra Pradesh and I mean non-Metro non-B class town is developed (by Indian standards of course). Public transportation is efficient, buses (over 50%) are deluxe and roads are a joy. Power cuts happen in villages but for about 2 hours a day (Delhi!!!). Re 1 local phones are in plenty across all villages and connectivity is a buzzword. Water is still a problem more because of the lack of rivers and underwater resources than initiative but government machinery is efficient and the ‘e’ seva kendras are an excellent example.
Food. Well they have two concepts
a) Tiffin
b) Full Meals (pronounced mills)
Ideally (I think) you are supposed to have tiffin first, then a ‘mills’ then tiffin and then ‘mills’ again. The Full Meal is a four-course meal with first a helping of rice and vegetables (bitter gourd and beetroot being the popular ones) with one yellow dal. (I promise you, you will not get another type here). This is followed by more rice and sambar and rasam. This is followed by Rice and curd and then a sweet. But you can as for chicken at many places and you will get awesome stuff. Every village has its own delicacy but for simplicity and language reasons I generally order ‘Chicken N&$#HF&@#lg’ Almost every time this dish is excellent.
Telegu cinema well I rather not comment on its direction (though I think with rural audiences it would be anybody’s guess) but about its people yes. This has got to be the most film crazy state around. Small villages have half a dozen halls (AP has the maximum number in the country) and the fastest selling fmcg item has got to be the Re 1 posters of Chiranjeevi. On a recent bus journey (APSRTC express) a movie was begun at 7 am. It woke, shook and surprised me and the macho hero looked very much like M Manoj having a bad day at the office.
And to add to my woes I reached a village where most elders seemed to be smitten with what was translated to me as poppy (but seemed something else). I had a very interesting conversation
Me – what is everybody smoking
Elderly villager on a cot – “kaomah djls;;l ;sjdhsl”
Me – English/Hindi
Elderly Villager – ‘nnnn mmmm bbbb’
Me – what is everybody smoking, smoking, smoking
Elderly villager – ‘jsjsj smoking’ then turning to a small boy ‘ jkdhd jjdkd fjfjjf’
The boy then led me to another man
I was feeling relieved that I had finally been understood
Me – Namaste
Man – My name babu, am village schoolmaster, this boy tells me that ‘the elder told him that you were a mad north Indian who kept saying smoking smoking’
Well India is a big country no!
So what?
(Khalid thanks again, AA sorry bugger back in Ongole again, Dinu please dont drin and sell, Vijit alright chelsea are a little behind but we still beat Manu!, Subhayu/biyani will be in vjy first week for whole week, and for the rest 'Happy Pongal')
Ides January 2004.
