To Ethnic Minority Foundation’s Boardman House in Stratford to present a case study with Dilip Joshi MBE of Hindu Council UK explaining to students from Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland about the community work that we do and the issues that our community faces. It gave me the opportunity to express some of the conclusions that have resulted from my recent email discussions with Mamta (last mentioned 7 May 2008) about the relative achievements between Indian diaspora in the UK and the USA. Both Dilip and I mentioned Arun Sarin in our presentations as he is perhaps the most interesting case in point having been born and brought up in India but now coordinating a career at the highest levels spanning both sides of the Atlantic.

To Fox @ Stratford for lunch and drinks with V, the chap I met for dinner on 17 April 2008, and a few of his friends.
Quoting chapter 2 of journalist Thomas Friedman’s seminal work The Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999):

‘Maybe that explains why I gradually found that some of my best intellectual sources these days were neither professors of international relations nor… diplomats, but rather… hedge fund managers. [They tend] to be extremely well informed about global affairs and [have] a natural ability and willingness to arbitrage and interpolate information from all six dimensions [politics, culture, security, markets, technology and the environment] before drawing their conclusions.’

Using this definition we really were arbitraging information. There was a particularly interesting discussion around biofuels including the next generations of technologies: jatropha and algae. An excellent bunch of people and I’m sure our paths will cross again soon.

To Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Kensington with a good friend of mine – Deepti Patel who while having a day job as a trainee lawyer has managed to maintain a very strong interest in the area of arts and culture – for a meeting with their executive director and one of their trustees. This was a follow up to my meeting with Alpesh Patel on 15 May 2008 and the discussion on how to get a younger generation of people involved with the running of the Bhavan was continued. We will be forwarding some proposals to them around this shortly. The enthusiasm and genuine friendliness of people dedicated to charity and community work never fails to impress me but the two people I met today were particularly likeable. I do really hope that we can help them in at least some small way.

To the PwC offices at Embankment for the Vaishnava Professionals Network’s (VPN) event The Pursuit of Happiness hosted by the PwC Hindu Network. It was an interactive workshop covering introductory topics on parts of the Bhagavad Gita. The speaker was a young professional himself, previously having completed in the Teach First scheme and currently working as a financial trainer. His background and experience in training and teaching meant that he was perfectly suited to running the workshop and presenting the material. The event provided a helpful introduction to the themes and it will be interesting to see how ISKCON will use the VPN as a conduit going forward. They already have a good track record of establishing powerful organisations including Pandava Sena and more recently I-Foundation which will be opening the first UK based Hindu state school in September.

To the Sofitel Hotel St James for the International Network for Asian Businesses (INAB) Strategies for Success event organised by Orcha Group. The evening started with a great set of seminars including a particularly interesting talk from the International Director of Asian Art at Christies on Art as an alternative investment strategy. Some of the returns highlighted were quite astonishing although he didn’t say anything to dispel the perception that it is a closed and difficult market to access. These were followed by a panel discussion around the question ‘Are Asian businesses recession proof?’ One of the panellists was the CEO of a supplier to my family business and in light of the bad feelings amongst many of his firm’s customers and members about their recent treatment I could not help but ask him a slightly naughty off topic question to raise these issues. The final part of the event was a networking session over drinks and an excellent finger buffet during which I took the opportunity to meet a range of new people and also caught up with some old contacts and acquaintances. It was a very well organised event and a thoroughly entertaining evening.

To Carluccio’s in Canary Wharf for a late lunch with an old friend who I haven’t properly caught up with in a few years. She’s planning to revitalise the Asian Network at KPMG and is currently organising their next big event. It was pleasing to hear that she hopes to bring some aspects of eastern philosophy into the proceedings.

On that topic it seems that the Bhagavad Gita has this decade outshone Sun Tzu’s Art of War (which took centre stage during the eighties) as the preeminent ancient eastern management text. Whilst an argument could be made for the current governance in India and China being a reflection of those books respectively, I think more interestingly the shift from one to the other perhaps echoes a general global change in attitudes. With the increasing emphasis placed on such matters as human rights and the environment, we have seen a movement in management theory towards more holistic stakeholder based agendas which have most obviously manifested themselves in business as CSR. However, I don’t really see this as having taken away from the importance of maximising shareholder value, rather I hope that it encourages managers to take a longer term view. After all, in an increasingly interconnected and media influenced world, consumers are more and more likely to vote against unethical corporations with their wallets.

To the London West End offices of Vantis for the City Hindus Network mentoring workshop as mentioned in my post of 7 May 2008. It was a great privilege and honour for your blogger as the youngest person in the room to chair a meeting attended by some of the most senior professionals from his community and the positive feedback received on the event was much appreciated by the organisers. One attendee even mentioned the workshop in his own blog (trackback).

To Great Portland Street for dinner at Lotus Thai and drinks at Loom bar to celebrate my friend C securing a place on the MBA program at Harvard Business School. She has just handed in her notice at KMPG but hasn’t yet been able to make any plans for travelling before she starts as her passport is being kept by the US Embassy for review before they issue her visa.

Blogging of handing in notices, N who was in C’s class at my university which was a couple of years ahead of myself and his sister P, is planning to leave his job as well. He told us that he will soon be joining his family business, a construction firm headquartered in Mumbai, to oversee the establishment of operations in the Middle East. This will no doubt be quite a change from his existing role on a front office desk at Citigroup’s investment bank, but I can hardly pass comment having undergone a similar career revolution myself. In fact, the route from City firms to family businesses seems to be becoming almost ubiquitous amongst the sons and daughters of successful Asian business owners with any links to London. Having had a long chat with P at the party as well, I would be surprised if she didn’t leave her own prestigious City job to follow the same path soon.

Then to the Tent at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace for a City Inter-Faith Forum Steering Group meeting. It was a small and very informative session and it was interesting to learn of the new approaches that the Forum will be taking – due to the unique nature of the City – in its work.

To the offices of Praefinium in Mayfair for a meeting with hedge fund manager, best selling author and leading figure in Indo-British relations, Alpesh Patel. Ostensibly it was an initial contact meeting between TiE (where Alpesh is on the board) and the City Hindus Network but the main aim was to consider what can be done to encourage a younger generation of people to get involved with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan; a noble cause indeed. We also had a much broader ranging discussion particularly around British and Indian politics.

To Liverpool Street Station for an alfresco meeting to finalise details of the City Hindus Network mentoring scheme particularly the mentoring workshop we are running for potential mentors on 19 May 2008. In addition to your blogger, committee members present were Aekta Mahajan who set up the Asian Mentoring Scheme at Accenture and Mamta Bhatia (blog) who is the Leadership Development Coach at Tesco.

Back to the House of Commons for an informative discussion on the business case for compliance with disability legislation as a guest of The Citizens Trust hosted by Tom Clarke CBE JP MP. I was representing my family business and attended with my sister who has just finished the final exams of her intercalated BSc at Tanaka Business School. The only other parliamentarian in attendance was Tom's fellow disability campaigner Lord Alf Morris who chairs The Citizens Trust’s parent charity The Disability Times Trust.

To the House of Commons for the Ramanavami Festival there as a guest of Minister of State Tony McNulty and Abhay Lakhani Parliamentary Advisor on Community Issues. Unfortunately Tony got called away to give a speech in the debating chamber and only joined us for the last few minutes of the event but the same Steve Pound MP from yesterday took his place as compere and host for the event along with Abhay. The event was focussed primarily on religious and cultural themes with a Ram pooja as well as Indian classical dance and music performances. These were interspersed with short addresses by various MPs and community leaders. General Secretary of Hindu Council UK Anil Bhanot made what I perceive as the biggest political contribution with a direct request to Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt who was in attendance to press the importance of preserving the Ram Setu bridge at the next Indo-UK Round Table that she will be attending in Delhi. The issues around this are quite interesting, it being a very real example of the intersection between Religion, Economics and the Environment. Overall the event was well executed and very informing packing much content into a short timeframe and bringing many aspects and sections of the British Hindu community together in a true masala.

To the Washington Hotel Mayfair – which incidentally is owned by a British Indian – for the Labour Friends of India (LFI) Annual Luncheon as a guest of Saffron Chase. The compere for the event was current LFI chair Steve Pound MP. Our Prime Minister Gordon Brown was the chief guest of honour with current Mayor of London Ken Livingstone following him. Both gave speeches of some interest on the subject of Indo-British relations. Gordon received a particularly large round of applause when he said ‘I believe the (UN) Security Council without India cannot be a Security Council reflecting the reality of the day’. In general, I have found that the Labour party follows a more proactive line in dealing with India relations when compared to their opposition. Ken highlighted his recent opening of offices in India during his own speech but his Conservative criticisers have tended to scoff at these efforts charging him with wasting money. However I think that – as an emerging superpower and one of the fastest growing economies in the world – British policy makers cannot afford to ignore India and should be doing all they can to maintain our country’s historically close relationship. At the event the Fenner Brockway medal was presented by the PM to a predecessor as Labour Party Leader Lord Neil Kinnock who currently chairs the British Council. I took the opportunity to introduce myself to him after the speeches and lunch were over and found him to be quite engaging. I also met International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander along with the PM’s Special Envoy for Forestry Barry Gardener MP. Other distinguished attendees included His Excellency Mr Asoke Mukerji the acting Indian High Commissioner, Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw, Minister for Olympics Tessa Jowell and British Ambassador for Overseas Business industrialist Lord Swraj Paul. It was great to see so many of in our government supporting the importance of good relations with India and it was a very well put together and enjoyable event. Happily I bumped into a few old friends and acquaintances as well and I shared a particularly entertaining walk and tube ride back to the office with a Partner at a boutique securities trading firm which does a lot of work on Indian products.

To Corney & Barrow Paternoster Square for Karamsad Samaj UK Youth’s Networking Night. It was an opportunity to finally meet the chair of their committee who I’ve been in correspondence with previously on an unrelated issue around the Shri Vallabh Nidhi (UK) Trust. I bumped into a couple of old contacts and a relation there as well so it turned out to be a quite an enjoyable night, although it did seem to be arranged along the lines of a nightclub with the result that there wasn’t much opportunity for any real networking.

To my club for dinner with an old acquaintance. He recently left GLG Partners (where a survey by Alpha magazine has revealed that the co-founders each took home $350m last year) to join a small British Indian owned Fund of Hedge Funds focusing on emerging markets. It’s always good to get some insight from industry professionals; perhaps I will invite him to the next Information Arbitrage meeting.

To Waterloo, then to Twickenham, and on to Hounslow for an extended meeting with the editor of e-magazine Hindu Voice UK (blog) – which at the time of posting has a substantial circulation of around 30,000 – and a couple of his contacts to discuss a project we are working on.

To Rex Bar and Cinema for the engagement party of probably the most golden couple from my university years, A and K. I recently holidayed with A and a few of our mutual friends at his villa in Murcia. With the memories of that break fresh in our minds it was a jolly good night out and great to catch up with some other old friends.

To Lambeth Palace as a guest of the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend the Lambeth Inter Faith Lecture given this year by Professor Anantanand Rambachan on the subject Hindus and Christians: Celebrating Friendship and Facing Challenges with Hope. An interesting talk which was – as usual with these things – followed by some challenging discussions with the speaker as well as Rt Revd Dr Rowan Williams who didn’t seem to have any problems with taking the floor when certain audience members decided to direct their questions at him rather than the lecturer.

To the Radisson Edwardian Hotel Heathrow for the Lohana Community North London Business & Professional Seminar dinner as a guest of HELM Asset Management. It’s organised annually by a cousin of the Lornamead brothers whose son is very well known in the British Asian nightclub scene. Unfortunately he wasn’t there, but I did bump into my uncle who is a Director at Bank of Scotland Corporate and on his table was one of the Director/brother’s at Sigma Pharmaceuticals (a big supplier to my family business) whose son I met last year at a friend’s sister’s wedding. Guest Speaker for the night was Sanjeev Shah who has just taken over from star manager Anthony Bolton at Fidelity on their Special Situations Fund. No real insight from him on the global economy as he held he takes a bottom up approach but he was of the opinion that there is some value now available in the financial services and banking sector. It was a thoroughly enjoyable event though and quite surprising to see so many people there from outside of the Lohana community.

To the Civil Service Club to meet Richard Barnes (currently Leader of the Conservative Group on the London Assembly and widely expected to become Deputy Mayor if Boris Johnson wins on May 1st) as part of the British Hindu Community’s engagement with our nation’s politicians. I found his approach of aiming to cut out the diversity industry in the process of political engagement with minority communities thoroughly refreshing and certainly feel it could be a welcome change from the divide and rule approach that seems to dominate many echelons of government today. A similar approach indeed – although much more clearly stated – to the impression that Boris gave when I met him earlier on in the mayoral election campaign.