And Jerry Pinto also. He was the day's highlight for me. Spoke about Palliative Care, and the book he has written about it. Shobhaa De was also good- candid, at 78 years, and promoting The Sensual Self in all of us.. that's her book, by the way, which I got an autographed copy of!
Went to Alipore Museum -a former jail- for this festival. Great experience listening to academics from US, authors from France and India, and activists who have also written books. Anita Nair, who was at the Bangalore launch of Hari's (my BIL) book, was also on one panel.
France is not very advanced on the female abuse front, according to a participant who was from rural France- Basque country. Now, the law is catching up and the terminology is changing to suit crimes against women. Violence against women was the subject the panel were discussing.
Another session featured Brinda Karat, and Subhashini Ali, both from the CPIM, but with different stories. Both spoke very passionately, and one surprise was to find out that Capt. Laxmi Sehgal who worked closely with Netaji Bose is Subhashini's mom.
Gallows humour- last pic.
This is about my wedding. I was a Ph.D. student in the U.S., and wanted to marry. So we decided on a visit to Pune, to advertise in a magazine- Rohini. This was dedicated to matrimonials, mostly. And in Marathi. So we wrote out an ad for a potential partner for me and published it in the mag.
In the meantime, also looked at ads from girls who wanted grooms. One or two were shortlisted with help from my aunt in whose house we were staying. So happened that we visited my wife-to-be and her parents for a cup of tea, after answering an ad. That was in Nagar Road, some distance away. I went for a walk with Anu to the Aga Khan Palace opposite their place. We chatted, and decided on a next 'date' for lunch in the Camp area. And I popped the question, and got a yes.
We came back, and announced our decision. That led to a frenzy. We got engaged, got married and got her a visa to go back with me! All in a space of two months, maybe a bit more.
It helped that her Mom was a doctor like mine, and they also got along. We also had a common friend, Abhay Temurnikar, who knew my parents as his parents had worked in the same company in Andhra Pradesh.
All's well that ends well.. or goes on .. this wedding was in 1988. At her place in Pune.
NMIMS Bangalore was where I was Director for two years, just when COVID had struck.. 2020 November till around 2022 October. It took a while to open the campus to physical classes. But once we did, we also started Golf training. Quite a few faculty (ladies and gents), along with students, got this training in the basics. I had also done this at IIM Indore and IMT Nagpur before. At Nagpur, Prof. Gadgil and I got a Green constructed, flag included, and played for half an hour at the end of the day with colleagues. Introduced students to it through a structured process in their induction week too. Some pics from NMIMS Bangalore-
There are two kinds of job, as per this classification.
Front-end means that you keep meeting some stakeholders regularly. Teaching happens to be one of them. It could be taxing emotionally, and crisis situations arise sometimes, which have to be tackled, because you are at the scene.
Backend jobs could be an I.T. person who does not meet customers, or a Bank Manager, likewise-compared to a teller who does.
Each of us may have a preference for one type of job over the other, assuming we are in a job. That may depend on our personality and preference. Extroverts usually like interactions, and tend to go more into the front-end jobs. Introverts may like the other type.
A lot of interactions can be exhausting, and some amount of resilience is required. It can perhaps be acquired through practice and observation, or other means. But it has its rewards, in the form of positive feedback from stakeholders when you do a good job. Whether there is an internal reward from the workplace depends on the performance assessment methods followed.
The backend job could be more peaceful, and a reward in itself- noisy surroundings such as in bars or pubs might illustrate this. If you are the type who likes a quiet drink or dinner, the noise can be a distraction.
As I said earlier, to each his/her own..
Kidnapping as a nefarious activity got a boost from unexpected quarters- The White House, after the Venezuelan saga involving Maduro. Now, to watch if it becomes a trend. Someone suggested that Putin could kidnap Zelensky and put an end to that war.
But as a marketing prof. I can suggest some product extensions- corporates who can get rid of competition by kidnapping their CEOs. In olden times, HUL (then without the U) could have kidnapped the upstart from Gujarat for eating into their detergents monopoly. Or one of the Haldiram promoter family could have kidnapped the other to end the battle for the question of who owns the right to their Soan Papdi.
Of course, in academia, you could kidnap that rival of yours who publishes obscene amounts of papers and makes you look small, or that consultant who has cornered all the major CEOs, leaving you with crumbs.
More ideas are available for a price.. why should I share them for free? Unless you kidnap me, of course.
P.S. Trump after Venezuela- Vene, Vidi, Vici. Inspired by good old Julius.
We ran a wall magazine on our Notice Board- and were noticed. During 1982-84 at IIM Bangalore campus.
Some of the gems that went on it and adorned the wall mag.
And Jerry Pinto also. He was the day's highlight for me. Spoke about Palliative Care, and the book he has written about it. Shobhaa De ...
