“The interaction was so business-like the team members even cancelled their sightseeing and stayed back for serious buyer-seller meeting. The delegates, whose country was under the French till 1960, clearly understood the Indian IT scenario and in particular the one prevailing in Mysore.”

From a news report in Business Standard , the recent meeting of the 21-member Ivory Coast delegation with the Mysore IT Forum members. Headline: Mysore IT firms sniff opportunity in S.Africa.

Thanks dear GVK for reproducing my report which appeared in Business Standard on the Ivory Coast team. I think the four-member German team to Mysore was more on a tourist visit than scouting business tie-ups with local IT firms. Very few had been told about the visit of this team. If the authorities had made known about its visit and included a meeting with the Mysore IT Forum in their itinerary, I am sure the office-bebarers would have held discussions with its members. I agree with you that the IT Forum should become dynamic and proactive and highlight the growing importance of Mysore as a major Tier II city.  

Guru wrote:

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I cannot understand why every time a group of foreigners visit Mysore, a posse of IT forum folks should chase them touting business.

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I can understand Mr Guru's derisive attitude, though I can't say I appreciate it. It is an affliction of folks looking in at developments back home from the outside. I used to have the same mindset during my stint in England. For one thing, some of us living outside may not fully grasp the context in which local issues are discussed and initiatives suggested. People living abroad, and those returning after a long stint there can't be faulted for their perspective. Kautilya's Arthashastra may not hold the same excitement for a Dewan's Rd. resident as it does to a scholar at the British Museum. Those 'condemned' to live through life in the same city become witness to its decadence. I'm sure if Mr Guru were to return to live here, he would be more charitably disposed to the socio-economic concerns of resident Mysoreans.    

Just to add further : I should be interested to know in what ways the IT businesses in Mysore are beneficial to some one living in Dewan's Road as GVK articulates. From what I know and heard from close friends is that the wealth generated by these IT businesses do not trickle down to that inhabitant in Dewan's Road, but rather snatched away by a bunch of non-Mysoreans whose sole economic contribution is to inflate the real estate prices.

"Apart they have priorities first in their office and not a group of "Retired" persons, who are back in Mysore and talking just about everything just to kill time and to keep themselves engaged".

Well-said Mr Prasad. The most productive work that IT professionals can do is to 'stick to their office work' and not waiting near the 'toll-gate' welcoming foreign visitors and 'touting IT business'. Perhaps there are a number of burning issues to air instead of pushing this non-issue into open. If the visiting Germans wanted to meet a bunch of IT professionals, they would have contacted in advance.

Blog item like 'Mysore IT Forum: Where was it when Germans were here?',makes one agree with Mr Prasad's observation '.... a group of "Retired" persons, who are back in Mysore and talking just about everything..." Probably no one in Mysore would have noticed/ read about the arrival and leaving of these German visitors except some one with a plenty of time on hand and twidling the thumb.... I rest my case.

Mr Satya has revealed the background behind the mysterious German visitors to the city, and at the same time unmasks the hollowness of Mr GVK's arguments. If the IT Forum had done what Mr GVK seem to be egging them on to do, they would have cut a sorry sight. The most likely IT connection that these German visitors would had is logging on to check e-mail messages! Sniggering thought this is! Seems like many kilobytes of blog space and many minutes of typing efforts were wasted on some has said it correctly 'a non-issue'!!

It is sad that an issue of importance, which was initiated by GVK with good intentions, should have been used for uncharitable remarks about ‘retired people’. Don’t we have elderly people in our own families; parents, grand parents, uncles, aunts etc.? Do we talk to them in the same tone? Or is it that we think that we are going to remain young perpetually? I am sure we all, who have not yet retired from a given profession, would not like to be referred to in the same tone as has been done in this blog-site, when we turn 60 or 70. Even when we retire, I am also sure that each of us would like to pass on our opinion of what could have been done better in a given situation. Didn’t the whole world celebrate recently, the day of senior citizens? I understand that it was done basically to appreciate their service to the society, and not to ignore them.

May I humbly request the people who use this space to refrain from personal attacks, and restrict ourselves to issues only? The person, who has taken a lot of trouble and put many of his resources at our service and provided us this opportunity to express ourselves, has not done so to hear uncharitable comments. Can we expect such a well meaning person to continue to maintain this site while being treated with uncharitable comments? Let is please appreciate the fact that GVK means the good for people around him, and he has raised only a relevant issue. At a time when the govts. all over the country are looking for business and employment opportunities, it was a sincere concern to GVK that a potential business opportunity might have been missed when German delegation came here.

As Mr. Sathya has mentioned, if the IT forum in Mysore were not aware of the visit of German delegation, why can’t we simply say so? Why are we extra sensitive about unintentional irritants of minor nature? Why don’t we channel such energies in setting right the state departments and agencies like electricity supply companies, water supply agencies, PWD, municipalities etc.? The people manning these agencies are the ones deserving civilised anger of our population, than the well meaning citizens.

May I also humbly suggest that we try to create good opportunities to the society from the vast knowledge, experience, and contacts available with various users of this site, than to waste our precious time on hurting people, and probably putting them off too?

“Let good thoughts come to me from all directions”.

I agree with Mr. Sharma. GVK's main objective, as he has clearly stated in his home page, is to provide the bloggers a platform to focus on the future growth of Mysore, retaining its importance as a tourist and heritage city, and improve the life here with better civic amenities.

I feel somewhere in our discussions we are missing this point and sidetracking to unrelated comments on persons and other bloggers.

I think we should make our discussions/debate more objective, focus on the future good growth of Mysore, rather than discuss whether a person is old or retired, and whether he has no other business except to post something unwanted that comes to his mind.

I am sure all my friends agree on this and work togerther as a team for placing Mysore on a better status than the way it is going now with infrastructure and other hassels. I am sure if we work together as a team with a set goal we can put the city on the right growth track.

 

GVK and Satya,

If our friends in IT industry do not want anyone outside the industry to raise issues about the industry, then it is too bad. IT industry is important to the city of Mysore to retain its knowledge tag, and also to retain the relatively clean green image. If Mysore City takes the path of large scale industrialization, it will not only go Bangalore way quickly, but also will become less habitable. In this background we all should have a concern not to miss any opportunity to get more businesses based on knowledge and service, which will reduce the need to go for more of polluting industries. I understand that the issue you raised under the title of this topic was born out of this concern. If wordings in this posting did not entirely reveal the good intention behind them at first sight, a simple reasoning for the missed opportunity with the visiting delegation could have been appropriate. But lack of civility and sensitivity in some of the responses were totally uncalled for, and did not lead to any useful exchange of good ideas. It also might have resulted in the erosion of some goodwill.

A lot has been said in defense of the uncharitable and uncalled for remarks, which were totally out of context of the main issue. The essence of this issue is why the city of Mysore could not take the benefit of having discussion with the visiting German delegation. While the reason for missing this opportunity was given as lack of communication to the concerned people in Mysore about the visit of the German delegation, some of the people who commented on this issue also seem to have been annoyed that such an issue was raised at all.

It is a pity that an issue of relevance to the development of Mysore city, has been turned into an exhibition of how acerbic one could get. There is also a funny suggestion that this blog cannot exist without contribution from such people. It appears that just one or two people seem to be bent on making this site a place for calling names, or using poor communication skills. However, it is nice to note that most viewers of this site have showed a good demeanor worthy of emulation.

While the reasoning given for missing the opportunity to interact with visiting German delegation could be appreciated, no good purpose was served by the acerbic nature of some responses. A feeble attempt has also been made to take shelter under what GVK has said about the site. Whereas GVK’s comments had sportingly invited frank opinion on issues, no one could construe them as invitation for uncharitable comments on any one, let alone the originator of the issue. If the requesting the people to restricting themselves to the issues only without making personal comments can be termed as sycophancy, what can we say about people who repeatedly indulge in casting aspersions, and who thinks that is the correct thing to do, even at the expense of the main objective ?

GVK may consider to close this topic, or consider how to block such harmful communications, lest some people continue to indulge in denigrating others.

Some of us can well imagine that Mr Sharma want a bunch of 'nodding dummies'. It should be clear now that The German 'issue is a 'non-issue' in whatever manner Mr Sharma may attempt to dress it. I agree with Bhushan that except some light-hearted observations ( which I hasten to add Mr GVK himelf made against Guru) there is no smell of impropriety.
People seem to be very touchy about the term 'retired' which is has beocme the dirty seven letter word. Intersting indeed!

The issue was not properly thought out and discussion ensued after Mr Prasad's contribution. Let every one concerned accepts this without dancing around the nub of the problem.

The more Mr Sharma argues the way he is doing, the more he is proving Mr Prasad 's observation.