People Next Door

 These are further sub-divided into the Boy Next Door and the Girl Next Door. In films, for example, many of the hero/heroine characters are made of fantasy, with qualities you rarely encounter in one human. And they are flawless. Except when Basu Chatterjee made films like Rajnigandha. He had Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha play two simple and relatable human beings, who could have been your next door neighbours, without any superhuman qualities in fights or dancing or anything else. 

On the other hand, there's plenty of talent, beauty, etc. to be found next door (not literally but in your circle of acquaintances) if you care to look. From my encounters with my own students and alumni (and colleagues), I am constantly made aware of this fact. They know so many things, that I have never heard of. They have talent for entrepreneurship, or for some fine art, or sport, often. Or they are experts in game-playing/gaming (in a positive sense), and so on. Some are into acting, modelling, writing, painting, and what not.

My point is simply, that fantasy has its place, but people who make a difference in our lives are right next to us, if we just care to look around, So start looking, and befriending them...you might just learn something new.

Creative People

 Poets- Wordsworth, etc.

Authors- Murakami, the guy who wrote Zorba the Greek, Gerald Durrell, PG Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stout in English, Pu.La. Deshpande and Bha. Ra. Bhagwat in Marathi

Playwrights- Shakespeare, Girish Karnad, Mahesh Dattani.

Songwriters/lyricists- Anand Bakshi, Neeraj, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Gulshan Bawra,..

Music Composers- SD Burman, RD Burman, OP Nayyar, Ravi, Roshan, Rajesh Roshan..

Photographers- Don't know all their names, but many over the years

Film directors- Kurosawa, Guru Dutt, the man who directed Cinema Paradiso, Ramesh Sippy, Shyam Benegal, the director of Lunch Box, Manmohan Desai, J. Lee Thompson (McKenna's Gold), Alfred Hitchcock, Mel Brooks, 

Comics creators- Goscinny and Uderzo, Herge, Lee Falk (Mandrake and Phantom were his creations), Walt Disney

And of course, ordinary mortals, many of whom I know in all these categories and more!


Sports Tournament

 Our Undergraduate students Sports Club kicked off their first tournament after a long time! Started with basketball, which was fun to watch. Mixed teams ensured that girls played too, and a referee was also a girl. Great to see some sports action. Pics from today's game...








International Conference at NMIMS Mumbai

 Our Mumbai head office hosted an international conference for encouraging collaborations between Asian and European Universities. We had participants from Vietnam and Coventry online, and Bangla Desh, Spain and Bulgaria offline.

VIT and University of Hyderabad, who have internationalised themselves significantly were invited to share best practices too. MoUs were signed between various universities present. Some pics- 















Meeting Sheetal and Abha from IMT

 We have had some meetups (IMT students and I) at different places on multiple occasions. So this was a continuation, of sorts. Sheetal and Abha are both talented and accomplished ex-students that I never taught in a class, but maybe have learnt from by just talking to them. We meet when we can, and chat about everything under the Sun. This was at the iconic Prithvi theatre yesterday, after a Covid-induced hiatus. Some pics-







The Juhu beach nearby



Chikmagalur Diary

 More like a photographic diary. Great place to be in, reasonably priced, and not far from Bangalore- 5 hours by bus. You can also club this with Belur-Halebeedu temples if you take an extra day off. For local travel, you can rent a bike or a taxi for a day, and go around the major attractions. Walk around and go to the World of Coffee, an Experience Cafe too, which serves snacks and coffee of different kinds, including Vietnamese style coffee!





















Pics to inspire you to take some days off. 


Coffee Time in Chikmagalur

 After a long wait, it finally happened. I have visited several tea growing regions, but hardly any coffee growing ones. This last weekend, I made up, ticking one more box on my Bucket List. Very interesting place, Chikmagalur. A Sufi saint is supposed to have brought the coffee seed here, the legend goes. Believable, because Monks are supposed to have invented Beer too.

Anyway, amazing scenery, simple and clean living in a two-street town, and a 4-5 hour run from Bangalore are some of the attractions. You can stay a couple of nights, and soak in nature's bounty. My guess is monsoons should give you more greenery, but less clear views. So take your pick, or do both seasons. Some pics- 















Work Travels in Delhi and Maharashtra

 We had a rather hectic week, first at an admission fair in Pragati Maidan, Delhi. We met a few prospective students and counseled them to a...

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