By Lehkikaa

Savitha Sastry, guru of Sadhana Dance Academy in San Jose, CA and Navia Natarajan, an independent luminary to watch out for; both students of A. Lakshman of Channai, sparked the beginnings of the underground movement in Bharatanatyam on Saturday June 13, 2009 at the Leigh High School in San Jose. I say “underground” as an achievement we all should laud. A debut underground performance is characterized by superlative talent, an experimental approach, limited audience due to lack of publicity, and lack of sponsors. This recital had all these.

It was a pleasure to see these sinewy, evenly matched dancers on stage; they seemed to calibrate the stage into ethereal latitudes and longitudes. The first two pieces were traditional, the Mallari and Shankara Sri Giri; superbly executed, some or all of it had to be original choreography. Such flawless dancing induces one to fully immerse oneself into the pieces, the very many nuances were brought to life. Savitha and Navia broke through the pressure of symmetry sometimes, (I’m hoping intentionally,)- they would juxtapose instead of mirror-imaging their poses, making for an interesting effect. The other neat thing they tried was staggering their nritta, like syncopation in music.

The music for the third piece was cleverly edited, the pieces themselves were intelligently chosen. It was a study in contrast, not just because of the subject matter; but also because Savitha and Navia have contrasting styles. Savitha is a minimalist, she likes to say as little as possible while using the bharatanatyam vocabulary in a frugal manner. She’s like the mystery woman and one would like to see a less austere/ reserved side of her. Navia, on the other hand, is an expressionist and ventures to the far-reaches of the same vocabulary. Savitha’s virahotkhandita nayika showed very little, but it brought out the other woman “tease” very well. Navia’s khandita nayika felt deeply, showed effusively and brought out the man’s “debauchery” well.

The performance unraveled in the first piece after the break–“Sanjana’s love for the Sun God” had a lot of potential, the piece though, was muddled by either bad story-boarding, or mis-paced voiceover. A strong beginning showing the lovers and subsequent separation was sorely missed. The timeline for Sanjana’s yearning, and dance with the Sun God was confusing–the dance in tandem between Savitha and Navia was interesting, but again seemed out of line with the voice-over; we were supposed to be seeing Chaya, Sanjana’s living shadow at some point. The tandem dancing would’ve made for great real vs. shadow depiction, but was it the lovers, after the supposed separation? Chinmayi, Savitha’s student formed an unexplained middle-woman at the start, and 5 minutes into the item made a strange run from stage left to right… was she the wind? What was her role? The bar was raised so high in the first half, one could almost hear it crashing down here. What happened in this piece will remain a mystery. And the whole thing with the white cloth needed more context, why was it shown in the beginning? (The voice-over explained after a time-lag that it was Sanjana, wandering about as a mythical beast.)

Next came Chinmayi, who held her own when dancing in the line-up as the other two accomplished dancers. Though, it seemed like her piece was a hasty addition to the program, especially since there was no mention of her on the flyer. Her “Glimpses of Krishna” needed some reigning in at points; like with Putana’s pain/confusion when she realizes Krishna’s latched on to kill–it was overdone. It was not also in keeping with the spirit of the program. The MC had explained that there was no requirement for us to be knowledgeable rasikas for the second half, but then there was this traditional piece!

The recital redeemed itself in the last piece; which was experimental, novel in its story, and arresting in its portrayal. The two ordinary women played by Savitha and Navia, discovering that they are not alone in their wish for deliverance albeit for a temporary period of time was portrayed well. The non bharatanatyam vocabulary suited the story well, the two lithe dancers executed the free-flow rhythms well. Watching this made the memory of Sanjana’s story even more of a mystery- The choreographers paid so much attention to detail for this piece and not the other one?

What they should’ve done was create the entire second half around the Sanjana story but with this stylistically different approach. The red salwar khameezes, free-format dancing, white cloth indicative of the lost love–all of it would’ve fit very well in the experimental format. They could’ve dispensed with the filler traditional piece, and the second half would’ve been as enrapturing as the first one.

All in all though, one wishes Chinmayi well, and to see Savitha and Navia, together and as soloists again and again. However, a note to any further attempts at experimentation–do do a private peer level/ ordinary folk comprising friends/ family preview first! The simple feedback one receives at such informal previews goes a long way in tightening any performance. Also, a printed program lineup at the door is a must; even in place of the refreshments (it was a nice touch, but unnecessary). Without a program in hand, the audience doesn’t know what to expect, the MC’s script was no help at times. There should also be an announcement before the last piece that it is the culminating item–the event ended quite abruptly on Saturday.

In any case, one hopes that this is a more affirmative start to BharataNatyam Underground–more mature dancers and gurus taking on more experimentation.

Lehkikaa is a Bay Area dance and drama critic.

By Kashyap Deorah

India has a long history of entrepreneurship. Traditionally, entrepreneurship in India has fallen under one of the following categories: (a) family-owned businesses who pass along established businesses to the next generation of entrepreneurs to grow and diversify (b) forced entrepreneurs who do not get as many lucrative job opportunities as they get opportunities to make a decent personal income without significant investment (c) self-made businessmen with the nose for big opportunities and the acumen to bring together the right stakeholders and provide them with good share of profits in return for their power, resources, expertise or moneys. These three set of entrepreneurs still contribute to a bulk of the innovation and new business in Indian markets.

The late 90s saw a new breed of entrepreneurs, for whom entrepreneurship is a calculated career choice. These entrepreneurs neither have family businesses, nor dearth of good job opportunities, nor the natural tendency or access to deal with government, media, corporations or investors to mobilize a mature market opportunity. These entrepreneurs are usually young graduates from top colleges, returning Indians with a taste of entrepreneurship in the US, or senior employees in multi-national tech companies. This new breed of entrepreneurship, or organized entrepreneurship, subscribes to the ‘American dream’ formula and relies on access to external investment at an early stage of the company. In college campuses and NRI circles, the word entrepreneurship almost exclusively refers to organized entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, organized entrepreneurship in India has not seen enough success in India and probably mis-represents the term. Instead of extending the incumbent models of entrepreneurship in India with the meritocracy and scalability of entrepreneurship in the US, it operates as an elite form and even dismisses the traditional Indian models as rustic and arcane.

Dysfunction breeds dysfunction. In the late 2000’s, foreign investment came looking for investment opportunities in India at all levels – venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, mutual funds, real estate funds, investment banks. Between 2006 and 2007, dozens of US VCs set up India offices and set aside first funds of $50M to $150M for Indian investments. The fund management naturally saw opportunities through the goggles of the funds’ successes in the US and saw market trends from a US frame of reference. A rush to allocate the funds was tempered by the lack of understanding of Indian markets, culture differences in Indian start-ups and lack of access to local deal flow.

People who understood the differences and could translate from one culture to the other were at a premium. Full-time hires moving back from the US were good translators but suffered from the same handicap in understanding. Only a few funds hired management with operational experience in India, though rarely could a fund hire management with early-stage operational experience in India. This gap gave birth to a new culture of angel investing that mis-represents the phrase angel investing, and for identical reasons as organized entrepreneurship, let us call them “organized angels.”

Angel investment usually comes from ex-entrepreneurs or wealthy individuals with a penchant for new ideas, and is invested in entrepreneurs they can trust. The criteria for such an investment is informal, and each angel has a unique way of evaluating the idea, size of opportunity and people. Just like entrepreneurship, there is a long tradition of angel investing in India. Self-made businessmen, individual investors, family businessmen and wealthy corporators have been promoting new ideas and entrepreneurs informally and every successful self-made businessman tells about those in the network who helped him in times of need when no one else gave them a chance. Although angel investing is always active within networks, in India, it could even be seen as an extension of friends & family.

As long as real angels and real entrepreneurs work together to build great companies, there is much room for innovation and development of new ideas in India. As long as organized angels and organized entrepreneurs indulge each other without affecting the outside world, they would not affect the market in a significant positive or negative way. The trouble begins when the two paths cross. Entrepreneurs should be wary of organized angels when seeking investments for their businesses. First time entrepreneurs who are inexperienced with corporate structures, equity structures, and investment structures should especially be wary about raising money from organized angels posing as angels. This would take away their chance of building a company even before they got started. Here are a few ways for real entrepreneurs to identify organized angels.

Angel writes the cheque.
If the individual evaluating the deal is different from the individual writing the cheque, he is no angel. Angels may operate through trusts or other entities, but they do not not invest someone else’s money nor do they need the approval of another individual (besides maybe their wife!). Organized angels insist on council meetings, board approvals, business plan submissions, and defering to someone else for decision making or writing the cheque. If angels are organized as a fund that believes in a process driven evaluation and council driven decision making, the entrepreneur is probably paying the price of an institutional investment while raising money that would only get them past seed stage. Organized angels demand multiple board seats, usually seeking majority control of the board, making them more like institutional investors than angels.

Convertible debt is not Preference equity.
If the investor offers you a convertible note allowing himself sole discretion to convert to equity or withdraw money with interest when an institutional investor participates in the future, it is not an investment, it’s a loan. Convertible notes show as liability in the balance sheet and are not equity. The entrepreneur and future investors must view it as debt since neither has control over their conversion to equity. Preference shares, on the other hand, give investors rights protecting their interests in case of below-par performance, while giving investors all rights and ownership of equity. Preference shares do not force a dividend or return of loan when the company raises more money or generates cash, although allowing for those provisions if all parties find it necessary. Don’t let organized angels tell you that Indian laws do not have the equivalent of US preferred stock or that preference shares in India involve more paperwork than convertible notes.

Planned flip to a VC is not in Company’s interest.
An investor who wants to sell off all or part of his shares in the next VC round to cover his initial investment (with committed IRR) is not betting on the long-term success of the company, only on its ability to raise a VC round in the near future. While a long-term investor bets on the company’s eventual success, an organized angel is focused on the immediate gains. The organized angel would set up the equity structure, board structure and controls that protect this short-term agenda, even if it is in conflict with the company’s long-term agenda. After flipping to a VC, organized angels usually leave the company reeling without enough insider control and handicap future strategic alternatives. Organized angels also maintain sufficient control over the terms of the VC round, the choice of VC and when/whether it is the right time to raise money. In some ways, organized angels are VC brokers who get them good deals in return for a small commission that keeps them motivated.

Tranches are not for start-ups.
Start-up stage is probably the fastest growing stage for the company’s value. Every milestone that the company hits in the first two years reduces investment risk and increases valuations. Just as the organized angel wants to retain the right to not invest a committed amount unless a milestone is hit, the entrepreneur should retain the right to not accept a committed amount if a milestone is hit. If this is not the case, an entrepreneur is probably doing a dis-service to the company by issuing shares on a 6-24 month old valuation after hitting a big milestone. Besides, setting milestones beyond 3-6 months unnecessarily ties the company to a direction which may not be right. At start-up stage, there is tremendous value in agility. One should expect major milestones to change every 3-6 months and structure the business to allow for that change. Tranches help organized angels manage exposure on their loan and manage cash-flow on behalf of their fund. However, this is unnecessary baggage for a seed-funded start up.

Kashyap Deorah is the founder and CEO of Chaupaati Bazaar, Mumbai’s phone classifieds. If you are looking for good deals on computers, electronics, mobiles, automobiles and rentals, call 922-222-1947 and talk to a friendly call center representative. These deals are advertised by thousands of households and local entrepreneurs. You can advertise on Chaupaati too. Just call 922-222-1947.

Kashyap also maintains a travel blog where he logs his travels and tribulations.

At first it feels odd to listen to childhood favorites like Chura Liya Hai Tumne (Yaadon ki Baraat) and O Maajhi Re( Khushboo) set to meditative music. Then you think, “Pancham Da would have approved!”

This interpretation of R.D. Burman’s oeuvre is the work of Sandeep Khurana, a prolific Bay Area composer, who specializes in new age albums, from yoga music to Reiki albums, from Shiva Mantras to psychedelic versions of Hindi hits.

An IT professional (can there be any other kind in the Valley?) Sandeep took courses in music at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music here in the Bay and classes in film production and the media arts before deciding to pursue his dreams of a career in music full time. 11 quick albums have been the result since Sandeep started composing in 2002, some in collaboration with local artists like Rita Sahai and Renoo Nathan.

Ethereal Chakra

“Record companies are always willing to listen to a new concept,” say Sandeep, whose music is currently available in digital formats. In the US, Sandeep tied up recently with Songcast, which distributes his music on various digital download sites like Amazon and Itunes. The downloads are picking up but Sandeeps’s aim is to get a record label interested in producing CDs and have it on store shelves.

It’s not easy being a professional musician in a world filled with wannabes but Sandeep’s music has slowly been finding a market. “I just want people to give me a chance,” says the musician, confident that his work will do the rest of the speaking for him.

Check out some of Sandeep’s wide range of music here. One album that might be of interest is R.D. Burman – The Digital Way, volume one. Another one called “Celebrating Pancham” featuring Bay Area singers is in the works.

A disgruntled voter

May 18th, 2009

Sonia and Manamohan Singh - picture from NDTV.Com

I’m writing this after a lot of soul searching. On a day when stock trading had to be suspended after it reached the upper circuit and was ballooning out of control, on a day when LTTE chief Prabhakaran, his son and aides were declared as “shot dead while trying to escape”, when TV channels are on overdrive “celebrating” Congress victory and Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, maybe my voice will sound churlish.

Today, I lost a whole lot of my faith in TV reporting. PTI said Prabhakaran was shot dead while trying to escape in a “jeep”. IBN Live said while trying to escape in an “ambulance”. Strangely, after 3 years of relentless war against the LTTE, President Rajapakshe was in Jordan when the final assault was mounted and the area left to capture kept shrinking. Why would he go away? Why did he say, “When I return, it will all be over?” It is too much of a coincidence that there was no progress in the war during the gap of three days between the last day of polling and the day of the results.

The new government doesn’t have to deal with a messy war. It just has to send supplies to the displaced Tamils. Busy with national elections, it could not have done anything to enforce a ceasefire. Did it really want to?

With Prabhakaran out of the picture (he became too ambitious), one can only hope that the Tamils are lucky enough to find an activist dedicated to their cause.

Back to the elections:  Tamil Nadu went through large scale rigging and tempering of electronic voting machines – a reason why the machines have been rejected by the US and Japan? What could not be fixed by EVMs was done by officers in the pay of the government. Everyone knows about it but they all feel powerless to interfere. The print media published a sanitized version of the story. TV channels were deafeningly silent on it, choosing rather to say that there was big support to a government that was responsible for power cuts, increase in all food prices, unprecedented violence, bandhs, land grabbing and sand theft and it won because of its populist policies is to mock at the people who are suffering.

And the news channels didn’t raise a whisper about the way P Chidambaram got elected.

At about 12 noon on May 16, the counting got over and the results were announced. AIDMK’s candidate was declared as winner at Sivaganga. For three hours after that, the certificate to that effect was not issued. There was no round by round declaration of results either. There was a flurry of phone calls, PC was taken to a backroom and issued the certificate. After more delay, paramilitary forces amounting to 5000 arrived and the announcement was made: PC had won by the same number of votes that his opponent had won earlier. The Chief Electoral Officer was consulted and he said that his hands were tied since the District Magistrate of the area had used his discretionary powers to “recount” and had made the correction. This man, who is now being described as “squeezed through the election” may soon be our finance/home minister.

Today, PC went on air thanking the CM of this state for his help in his election.

Yes, the Congress won a lot more seats this time and will provide a more stable government. Without having to depend on the Left (there’s international relief that the communists are out of the government) the party can speed up reforms and bring in more FIIs, more MNCs, more food imports and more cash to the party’s coffers. But behind that “stability” are candidates who muscled and moneyed their way in.

There are criminal charges against three Tamil Nadu ministers in the previous cabinet. They will get berths this time too. In addition there will be one more from Madurai who set a newspaper office ablaze over the family feud. It killed three workers inside.

By Geeta Padmanabhan

I cast my vote today

I went out and voted in the fifth and last phase of elections (2009) to the Lok Sabha. I thought I would be there before the 107*F summer heat kicked in and reached the polling booth at 7 am , the opening hour. Many, I found, had had the same idea. Each entrance had at least thirty voters. Only the election staff wasn’t ready. We had to wait at least a half hour before they opened the proceedings.

“Will they extend the timings?” asked the man behind me. “They weren’t expecting a crowd,” said a woman. “Anyway, they are adept at cramming the votes into the last hour (a reference to what happened in Thirumangalam).”

The large voter turn-out wasn’t really a surprise. In the last week, wherever I went, I had a flyer thrust into my hand. They all had this one message. “Go out and vote.” Each carried the name of an outfit – Liberal Association, Ekta, Election Watch – loosely constituted NGOs whose only aim seemed like they wanted to stir “public conscience.” Musical bands have been belting out similar messages on TV. There were celebrity endorsements for voting. The general slogan was “If you don’t vote you have no right to criticize”.

Mine is a very middle class constituency. So what does the higher voter turnout mean? A sense of despondency? Anger? (Plenty to be angry about, price-rise, power cuts, lack of a proper garbage removal system, construction of bad and unnecessary overhead roads, shrinking of walking spaces and sidewalks). They might be thinking: “If I don’t vote, I’m doomed. I’ll have no voice in what’s being done to my environment.” Voting out of anger is not a new phenomenon. If that brings them to the polling stations, it is very welcome.

Considering the magnitude (mind-boggling numbers) the Election Commission had done a decent job. There were ramps and voting papers in Braille. Policemen were helping voters find their way. Names and symbols of candidates were prominently displayed. Form 49-0 was easily available. The print media have been carrying regular reports on the “How to” of using the electronic voting machines.

But there are serious problems – systemic ones – in the voting process. To set them right, we need electoral reforms.

Voting is not compulsory and the day is a paid “holiday”. People just take off. Why should it be a holiday?

I have no say in who the political parties choose as their candidates. On what basis are they given “tickets”? Caste? Influence? Money power? Winnability? I am forced to vote for the party (and its supremo) and not for the candidate. This limits my choice.

I could vote for an independent candidate. My constituency has Sarat Babu, an IIM-A guy whose mom educated him on the earnings of her small roadside idli shop. Another independent is Venkatraman who has a long history of working for the disabled in these parts. But then, there are 35 others contesting for this south Chennai seat. Do they stand a chance at all? Do people even know about them?

My neighbour and his family were turned away because their names were missing from the voters’ list. They had voted in the last elections. If it is any consolation actor Kamalhasan wasn’t allowed to vote because his name went missing too. How did this happen?

A couple of days ago, my husband and I were given a “voting slip” by an anonymous caller. The slip carried our names, the name of the voting venue, and our voting register number. Those who did not carry this slip were barred from voting, even if they had voter IDs. No slip, no vote.

The shocking part is that the slip was not a plain innocuous one. It had, prominently printed on it, the election symbol of the ruling party. A pamphlet highlighting the “achievements’ of the party was attached to it. We almost looked for the pinned cash. Why is this piece of paper indispensable for voting?  Why would a political party spend on it and the election officials insist that we have it at the time of voting?

We also saw those infamous black-trousered-white-shirted guys around the polling station. They were constantly on their cellphones. We heard a guy say, “The bundles are with so-and-so.” We thought of the worst. Why can’t we cancel the candidatures of the contestants caught distributing cash or kind?

It will be good to have an age limit for the contestants. It will be good to make voting compulsory and open a “help booth” to sort out problems at the venue. It will be good to see 100% voting. Good to see proper vetting of “independent” candidates. Why would they contest, knowing well they would lose their deposits?

Each candidate is allowed to bring two observers. It is an open secret that many independents are dummy candidates to facilitate the presence of musclemen.

But I voted and I’m happy about it.