Madhosh Kiye Jaa: August 2025

What Makes People Attractive?

I don't know. It could be anything, and our perceptions are different.

Some like famous people- celebrities, from sports, film, TV or other spheres. But I am talking of mere mortals here. What makes the guy/girl next door, or those from the Ordinary Mortals class attractive?

There are probably many things. These might also be surprising in some cases.

Sincerity or honesty in my view, is one major factor that makes a guy/girl attractive.

Intelligence, in some cases, if it's not tinged with arrogance.

Sense of humour.

Politeness of demeanour.

A good smile helps, in all the above..

The opposite, what makes people unattractive, in my view at least -

Arrogance

A tendency to show off..

Zero respect for other people's time.

Inability to smile.

Inability to laugh at oneself.

Dhoom at Induction Program

JIS University had an induction program, which ended with a lot of dhoom dhaam at a big city auditorium in Alipore.

A highlight, apart from a guest from Tunisia, was a talk by alumni, and also some dance and music by a talented bunch of students! We also gave away some awards from competitions run during the week-long program, for dance, music and photography. Some pics above.

Below, my exec assistant Shrabani, and her gang of friends, in the audience.

She's second from right. Debasmita Das in front.

Amadeus -The Film

This film, on the life of Mozart, is brilliant.

The film focuses on the rivalry between a court musician in Vienna, and Mozart, an upstart musical genius.

Tom Hulce played Mozart with a rare mixture of audacity and verve. His laughter-at times hysterical- is a nice touch, and gives the character some distinctiveness.

The music, of course, is excellent, and a highlight for even those -like me- who don't understand Western classical music.

Definitely worth a watch.

Why Speeches and Presentations Are Boring

The explanation lies in Marketing Theory-believe it or not!

Who are you speaking to? The audience, for the duration of your presentation, are to be treated like customers.

Who are they? What is their motivation? What is their level of interest in the subject of your presentation/talk/speech? These are critical questions, not the great wisdom that you are about to spout.

I had once thought that Communication classes- a course in IIM Bangalore during my MBA- were useless, but now find that many speakers are in dire need of training in basics of communication.

I cannot summarise all my learnings, but in general, it helps if you can-

Speak the language that the audience understands

Use examples, anecdotes
Use some appropriate humour
Be Enthusiastic, if not passionate
Ask questions-even if rhetorical, they break the monotony
Wrap up well, keep your key points up front or in the middle.

This includes academic presentations at conferences, but not just those..

Mutual Admiration Societies

How many have you formed? Alas, non-living objects can't speak, or else we could have had thousands.

But with humans (not bots, yet- don't know enough of them or about them), we can have some. I have experienced this at all stages of life. One of my first officially recognised ones was with Meghna Sinha, who used to write a blog while she was a student. Later, we met a few times, and bonded over books and coffee, and other beverages.

The others include a few more students of IMT Nagpur, some of Kirloskar Institute, a couple from PES and IFIM B School, and some of IIM Indore. NMIMS too, I guess... faculty included, in most of these.

Anusha Soni of Bhopal who I met during her IIM Indore IPM stint, was one. We bonded over Guavas, Golf and small talk, and she treated me to a lunch in my hometown Pune (I think it was her first salary!) and came home too.

Prachi Jain and gang was a delightful bunch of Ph.D. scholars at IIM Indore, and we have had fun outings in Delhi, Indore and one in Kolkata with a gang member (Akansh) recently.

Abha Kulkarni and Sheetal Garg have been members of an MAS for many years now.

Pallavi Sharma/Bajpai and Shafique, naturally, because GB calls us twins- all three!

Shatakshi (the confused genius), who I did not teach at IIM I, and Anushka Mishra who I did not teach at Kirloskar, also.. due to Fb and later, physical meetings.

Natasha Kothari, who I met at a wedding, and Rimjhim, who I met through a music group I am a part of with her Mom!

Of course, there are more, but let me list those in MAS part 2.. to be continued.

Part 2

Bhuvneet Raheja of IIM Indore, who is now at Google..

Ananya Nandi De, ex-IMT NAGPUR

Nikita Kumar- Likewise

Abhinav Kamal- Ditto

Nidhi Kanungo, who is now in the U.S.

Nishka Rathi, the Ghostwriter

Jogeswari, and Savitha.. from Kirloskar Institute

Preeti Ravikiran, faculty at NMIMS. Tanmeet Kaur, likewise.

Ekalavya, placement chief at NMIMS Blr.

Anshita Abhishek Chetty, Ishita Modi, Gowri, Rupam, Ashish, from Bangalore gang of IMT

Pratima Gaikwad of IIM Indore, now a pakka Hyderabadi.

Globally, Leslie Price, though we haven't met after I left the U.S., Annie Singh, also from the U.S., Samudrika Rasanjalee, Sri Lankan whom I met at a conference.

And a few of my classmates from school, college, IIMB and beyond.. and colleagues, like Bhagyalakshmi, Manasa, Jayasimha, Vijayakumar, ..TK Chatterjee, Smita Dabholkar Singh,..

Some are also online MAS's, like with Pooja Shukla, Anchal Sharma, and so forth..

Eventful Week at JIS University

We started our Induction for the new batch of students across 8 departments. Largest numbers were in Computer Science and Pharmacy-UG programs, followed by many others including Law, Agriculture, Education, Earth Sciences and so on.. We also had a Moot Court competition conducted by the Law Department. All in all, quite a few interesting things happening all around us.

And I attended a bit of the program at Austin tower, where our Management students came in..

Hillol, our cultural troupe of faculty and students, performs at the induction program. After listening to our speeches, the students needed this..

Above- a pic with judges for the Moot Court competition, and HoD of the Law Dept.. I talked about Perry Mason and the series starring Raymond Burr.

The ducks from our pond in campus also wanted to attend the induc-k-tion! They marched in!

Webinar by Rabbitt AI

I was invited to be on a panel in a webinar hosted by this company yesterday. It was about AI in Higher Education, and it was a great experience in many ways. We were a mix of teachers, practitioners turned profs., and administrators.

We talked of AI in curriculum, the process of teaching-learning, and the upsides and downsides of AI. It was good to see that Bangalore and Kalburgi/Gulbarga taking the lead in some practices in teaching AI as a part of their curricula, or inviting guests to teach the latest.

Pune, Gurugram, Kolkata, and the South were represented, in an all India panel. I recommended a book, and talked about Flipped Classrooms aided by AI, among other things. Faculty training too..

Coolie Starring Rajnikanth

He's cool, whether he's a Coolie, or a jailer, or anyone else. Saw his latest yesterday. Fireworks all the way, with a dose of emotion, and a twist or two.

He has an unmatched screen presence, in my view. He does not need a heroine, who looks like an extra in his presence-such is his magic on screen! He does not have one, therefore.. only a daughter-like figure who accompanies him for most of the film.

The smuggling operation is led by a villain, who has a past. Played by Nagarjuna Akkineni, Telugu film star with aplomb. Kattappa of Bahubali fame has a decent role as a friend of the hero, who gets killed by a surprise villain, and the story is a kind of revenge quest. Shruti Hasan is Ok in her role as the daughter-figure. Amir Khan gets to play a guest role, not a bad one.

The story is not new or great, but enough to hang his acting and screen time on, and for Rajni fans, nothing else matters, as I said. If you are a fan, go for it. if not, well, it's up to you. Only bad thing? The music.

Bonus- Ticket price in Kolkata is very reasonable!

Engagement of Prarthana Nargundkar

Daughter no. 1, Prarthana, got engaged on August 16th, 2025 at Pune. To Prathamesh Gadkari, who also lives in Pune's Kothrud area.

Only parents, and a couple of more people were present, as per the wishes of the couple. I was of course, one of the parents..

Pooja joins in..

Smoking hot couple!

Parents +Parents

Lunch to celebrate.

With Prathamesh's sister in law, Louise- she's Swedish.

Mehendi laga ke rakhna..

Singing..

Candid shots, and posed ones.

Giving a Speech is Not an Achievement

Politicians give speeches all the time. CEOs, sometimes. Guests at Convocations or events, all the time.

Just giving a speech is not an achievement, in my view. If you have actually achieved something significant, in career, life it's fine. If not, you are simple fooling people. Just a motivating speech is only a way with words. It may sound good for a minute, good to listen to, but might not have a lasting impact.

Why are people fond of listening to speeches? I have no idea, but I try to speak as little as possible. From experience, I know it is painful to listen to human drones in full form- have done enough of listening.

Why am I in this mood? An independence day is coming up, and what happens on that day? You are right, speeches do..

AXE

I was the founding member of a Union once, many years ago.

Yes, you heard that right. At one of my workplaces, the faculty and staff were unhappy with the authoritarian ways of the management, and we decided to take action.

Organising a union with staff was difficult, so the faculty took the lead, and seven of us registered a Union.

Its acronym was AXE, and it had a useful impact on taming the management in the institution. With a co-founder of AXE, Banikanta Mishra.. pic above.

Why Things Don't Change for the Better

We live in a world where power is concentrated in the hands of a few- monarchies were a good example. Now, many countries have democracy. But the common man/woman has very little say in governance priorities, once elections are over.

For instance, potholes on our roads. Many governments later, the Indian roads are full of them. The nexus between the builders of these, and the ones who award contracts and monitor quality (?) is strong and unbreakable.

Policies that encourage people or institutions to do their best should be a given. Yet, we have regulations that stifle, rather than encourage. Perhaps the quintessential Babu or bureaucrat is to be blamed for some of these.

But as members of society, civic sense is also a culprit why we have a lot of filth on the roads, or in public spaces. Or why we don't come on time anywhere, or why we don't do our job as well as we could/should.

Multiple reasons, therefore, why things remain as they are. Mobile phones and technology gives you an illusion that they are better, but are they, really? It's a moot point.

A sense of humour does help one survive, though. Nurture that..

What I Like About Countries

The food, and foot massage.. in Thailand.

The Ha Long Bay, in Vietnam..

The discipline, in Singapore. Also the public transport.

The politeness, and the public baths- Onsens- in Japan.

The language, in Malaysia.

The National Parks, in the USA.

The pretty islands in Greece. And Moussaka, my favourite dish.

Simple, hospitable people in Cambodia.

Greenery in Sri Lanka.

The temples in Bali, Indonesia.

The openness in Holland.

Monuments in Italy. Venice too, though Bezos didn't invite me..

Of course, many things about India.. will list those out separately.

Unique Sights

There are many around the world. Some that I have been to, and I think are unique-

Lonar crater.. formed due to a crashing meteor, thousands of years ago. In Buldana district, near Amravati.

Mount Rushmore- four faces carved into a mountain.. Presidents of the U.S.

Ha Long Bay.. unique for limestone peaks jutting out of the bay. Vietnam.

Buddhist temples- many, in Thailand. architecture is unique.

Ladakh- a cold desert, unique in India.

Konark and Khajuraho- unique for their erotic sculptures on a temple wall.

Bali temples- again, unique shapes, open architecture.

Belur-Halebid in Karnataka.. carvings are 3D, and unique. A pic-

Pulicat and Chilika lakes- salt water lakes near the Ocean.

Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park.

Purpose in Life

Ok, it is paying taxes if you work.. according to the government. Unless you live in a tax-exempt country. Yes, there are a few. Oil rich ones, usually.

It is buying financial products every day, according to banks which send you mails about them. Or, taking a loan. So you won't feel a-loan- when the collectors visit!

Grocery stores think you are born to eat..

Liquor stores think you are born to drink.

Kids think your purpose is to be like the World Bank- fund the poor and unemployed.

Mosquitoes want you to eat well, so your blood tastes good.

Trump thinks it is to elect him, and hate Elon Musk.. who also helped elect him.

Jewellery makers think your purpose is to be decked up 24 by 7.

Fake wedding party organisers - not sure!

Meeting of Musical Minds

Minds and bodies.. it was a physical meet of a music group that I am a part of. In a member's own farm house near Mumbai. Beautiful setting, a karaoke mic, and us 10 enthusiastic people. Phir kya tha? It was non-stop fun with antakshari, singing songs, and lots of eats-our host is also into the catering business! Pics won't do justice, but.. here they are.