2023-02 - Chennai, India meetings
Taj Connemara, Binny Road, Anna Salai, Chennai
India has changed so much in the last 10 years since my last visit.
The new Vande Bharat train from Chennai to Bangalore is as nice as any train in Europe, and the four-hour journey costs 1100 Rupees - about $13 - including a nice meal service.
The new UPI cashless payment system is amazing. Instant free bank transfers for every bank account in India, no fee, just by scanning a QR code. Everybody and every roadside vendor now has it, so it’s thoroughly practical even for little payments of 40 rupees (50¢).
The new Aadhaar government ID is impressive, and has enabled anyone to open a bank account, which created the ubiquity of UPI.
One downside is the current political climate which had my friends literally looking over their shoulders and speaking in hushed tones when the subject came up.
click a name for notes:
Kiruba Shankar- speaking, marketing, web, hiring, farm stay
Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian- medicine, charity, hospital
Ramkumar Venkataraman- fraud, Singapore, India, startup, risk
Soundarya Balasubramani- immigration, startup, mentors
Senthil Kumar Muthamizhan- India, religion, Tamil, Kural, time
Sainath Rajagopal- startup, Bangalore, Chennai, Singapore
Shaizil Sheriff- Kerala, communism, religion, India
Martin Jeffery- India, dance, programming
Srikumar K. S.- translation, music, politics, programming
Chandhana Sathish Kumar- science, education, comedy
Santhosh Sundararaman- Pune, parenting, religion, Maharashtra, Tamil, Vande Bharat
Mayur Vamanan- India, education, family
Akash Chinnaiah- writing
Manivannan Sadasivam- tea, family, film, copywriting
Saravanan Sampath Kumar- family, Hinduism
Prahalad Rajkumar- bridge, Om Swami, marriage, school
Mukesh Amaran- Chennai, Tamil, Kollywood, music
Lakshmi Pratury- US vs India, fundraising, altruism, education