One doesn't always learn by experience?

An interesting article from Insead: the experience trap, where the authors argue that in complex project environments, managers do not necessarily learn from experience. They postulate that insufficient feedback and the inability of managers to make out causal relations in their work makes them repeat mistakes.

Though one does wonder, if this affect would be observed only in the kind of complex multi-project environments they highlight and whether such lack of experiential learning would sustain over time.

Sauntering around Surajkund

The Surajkund Mela is an annual handicrafts and arts fair, organized by Haryana Tourism at the town of Surajkund, a short distance from South Delhi. It spans the first fortnight of February and showcases work of artists from all over India and some overseas.

Taking advantage of a beautiful wintry Sunday afternoon, I landed up at the place. Seemed well organized and with lots of parking space - enough considering there were so many people around to make it look as if all of Delhi had checked in.

The fair presents an impressive collection of crafts and arts from all over India - ranging from Rajasthani paintings to Manipoori bamboo art and from Tanjore paintings to Kashimri Pashima shawls. The whole place wore a carnival atmosphere with performances of ethnic dances at every corner. What added to the fun was that visitors seemed so eager to participate in doing a jig along with the traditional folk.

There was also a food court that doled out culinary mish-mash from all over the country - perfect for a chilly Sunday afternoon meal. Surprisingly, it was so neat that I did not find a single piece of garbage around.

In sum, its a worthy visit. Perfect if you want to pickup assorted handicraft from all over the country at a decent price (it certainly wasn't as pricy as some of those handicraft emporiums at CP). More than anything else, the carnival atmosphere and ethnic dances performances make it worthy of a wintry weekend afternoon.

To get there: Surajkund is located at a short distance, south of the Tughlakhabad fort. One needs to turn off the Mehrauli-Badarpur road, immediately at the fort or at the next and head for a few kilometres along a meandering hilly road to hit the town. There are signboards everywhere leading to the fair. Badapur, which is usually a crowded and dusty industrial area, was surprisingly clear this Sunday - the weekend seems a good time to visit.

To be fooled by randomness

One of the 'stud'est books I've ever read. period.

Fooled by Randomness. Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

The wet and the dry of the States

My travel to/in the US this time provided a different perspective of the country. I landed in the so called 'sunshine golden state' of the US, only to be drenched by a winter storm. I also got a nice view of the dry mid-west of the country.

I landed up in California hoping to escape the cold winter that plagues most of the US at this time, but that was not to be. A storm hit San Francisco exactly one day after I landed there. Apart from hindering a 'sunshine' view of the environs, it also thwarted ski plans in the Sierra up north. So we headed southwards towards LA. Driving via a scenic route, that skirted the Mojave, we reached the Big bear ski resort somewhere near Pasadena.

Skiing turned out to be a much tougher sport than I anticipated. It seems akin to cycling, with balance being the key controller. And I seem chronically unbalanced (oops..). All I could manage was to stand for a few minutes before falling into the snow. I must admit though, that the instructor did put up a brave fight to get me to learn, without much progress. Still, it was awesome to skid around in the snow, even if most of it was on my back.

With the weather deteriorating into stormy conditions, we headed back to the city of Los Angeles for the night. The storm had by that time worked its way downward to LA as well and flooded it nicely. In any case, the next day was bright. LA seems like a nice city. Though, somehow the Hollywood walk of fame and the Kodak theatre didn't seem as 'picturesque' as they were hyped out to be (maybe it was just the storm).

Back in San Francisco after the passing storm, we hit the city on foot and managed to walk our way from the Ferry Harbor to the Fisherman's wharf and then onto the Marina, before catching a glimpse of the Golden gate bridge. The bridge is truly huge in size and impressive in location. It requires quite a brisk walk to reach it from the Marina and a walk on the bridge is truly impressive.

The whole marina area in SF seems to be from a different era, with victorian style colorful and picture-perfect townhouses. Catching the tram and working one's way along the twisting and hilly streets is certainly great fun.

I then headed to Dallas (with a stop-over in Denver which was at sub-zero brrr..). Dallas was a contrast to SF, with its sunny warm weather and dry spread out plains and grasslands. It seems to be a city filled with just expressways everywhere.

The Dallas aquarium downtown which is certainly one of the coolest I've seen anywhere. With a natural atmosphere to view the species on exhibit and a really wide range at that - it even has an shy big octupus and some smelly penguins - certainly a worthy visit.

We headed home late one night, well post mid-night only to catch an Indian taxi driver, who tuned to 'dard-e-disco' playing on the local fm channel ! (while sighing at the degrading standards of modern youth for not appreciating Lata as much)

A Haiku in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the prettiest places I have ever been to. I had but a few hours to tour the city, but I came back impressed and would definitely want to explore it sometime at greater leisure.

There are two standard modes of entry into the city from the airport - the Airport Express which whizzes one straight to Hong Kong Island and the more leisurely Airbus which takes one all over Kowloon and HK. I chose the latter and landed up in right in the middle of a crowded large road called the Nathan road, with everything in sight written in Chinese. Just as I was thinking that I was lost and started wandering in circles, I asked around to realize that almost everyone spoke English well. (Nathan road, I later discovered, is one of the most prominent shopping destinations in HK and sort of longitudinally bisects Kowloon.)

The Metro connects almost every part of Kowloon and the HK Island and is probably the fastest way to travel around. Its very similar to brethren in other parts of the world (Singapore, Delhi, London etc.) but for that its signboards are slight hard to sight amongst the omnipresent crowded Chinese signboards.

Hong Kong Island has a breathtakingly beautiful skyline, filled with skyscrapers (dominated by the WTC and other bank buildings). Viewed from atop Victoria peak, one gets a spectacular sight of buildings spread over a harbor front and the facing Kowloon island. The ride up the Peak on the tram is particularly noteworthy with a steep 45 degree climb at places and great views.

The best way to check out the HK Island seems to be on the ubiquitous trams. Surprisingly faster than Indian ones and cheap as well, they help navigate the crowded streets.

Lan Kwai Fong is one of the most interest night places on the island (has quite a few Indian restaurants too), adjoining which is a meandering elevator that takes one from the mid to the top levels of the island - considered to be the world's longest escalator, and its certainly an interesting experience. HK also has a central district called the Times Square (named like the one in NY).

Across the island onto Kowloon, is the Avenue of stars - a promenade with great views of the harbor and the island. Little further in is the traditionally touristy district of Tsim Tsa Tsui. This area is a veritable shopper's paradise, with everything from cheap Chinese goods and electronics to designer labels of every name. What was interesting is that I found prices to be cheaper than that in India and variety greater than that in Singapore. With milling crowds of every nationality, this place is an awesome cultural experience.

Bruce Lee seems to be HK's most prominent mascot, with his replicas everywhere from the Madame Tussaud's, the promenade to the souvenir t-shirts.

The only downside in HK is that in certain areas, the crowds make you feel claustrophobic. This I say even after seeing Mumbai's crowds - HK in some areas is 3-4 times as crowded as Dadar station.

In sum, HK is an awesome place that needs well over 3/4 days to do justice to. A friend of mine in HK also recommended that a couple of treks and a visit to Macau should be included on a leisurely itinerary.