Sixth Convocation of JIS University

 I have attended a lot of Convocations. This was maybe the 20th of my life. But memorable, in many ways. The First in Kolkata. On 21st February, 2026. 

Debasmita Das and Shrabani Saha Choudhury,  

Backstage, from my vantage point

Below- With Bratati Bhattacharya, Director of the Business School.

Songs Picturised on Sanjeev Kumar

 There have been some great songs picturised on him, just like they were On Rajesh Khanna or Dev Anand or Sanjeev Kumar. 

Shaadi ke liye razamand kar li, maine ek ladki pasand kar li

O manchali kahaan chali

Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa nahi

Is mod se jaate hain

Tum aa gaye ho, noor aa gaya hai

Dil dhoondhta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din

Jadugar tere naina

Meri bheegi bheegi si

Hawa ke saath saath ghata ke sang sang

Khilona jaan kar tum to..

The Curious Case of the Dog Robot

 Some controversy erupted after the AI summit, where it is alleged that Galgotia University passed off a robot they had bought from a Chinese company as their own invention- if reports are to be believed. No idea if that is true.

But that shows how you can try and pass off another's work as your own. In academia, it's called plagiarism. In music too, I suppose. We have discovered for instance, that one of Usha Uthup's famous numbers was copied from One Way Ticket to the Moon.. I think it was Hari Om Hari.. 

So what, you may ask. So nothing. This world consists of people of all kinds, and sometimes, an inspiration will strike you, without your knowing where it came from. Whether that's a crime or not, I have no idea. Let the law take its own course, as they say.. if there is a complaint and a legal case.

Meeting IK Gautam

 Met IK Gautam, classmate from IIMB, on a visit to Kolkata from his place, Alwar. He runs a farm there, and mostly lives on the farmhouse too. His friend was with him, and Dash and I made the rest of the quartet. A long conversation on many things under the Sun, our kids included, was a part of this outing. At Tollygunge Club.

IKG on the left, his friend on the right. Dash and I, centre.

Global food Favourites

 Pho in Vietnam

Cheeseburger, and Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich in the U.S.

A simple vegetarian meal in Sri Lanka. Also their prawns, in any form.

Greek food- Moussaka is my favourite, both veg. and non veg.

Italian- Lasagna, Spaghetti with Meat Balls

Thai- Tom Yum Soup, Thai Red Curry, Green Curry

Burmese Khao Suey

Korean- Grilled Meat, with sauces. Barbecue Nation style. Kimchi.

French- Can't pronounce the names, but Seafood is good, and Crepes of various types. A soup with seafood called Bouillabaisse (I think!).

Also, in general, Pizza, and Chinese food from India. (never been to China)

British- they have switched to Indian food now, so...

Presidents and Paupers

 There is an old joke attributed to a Tamil actor.. that going to an engineering college makes you an engineer, but going to Presidency College does not make you a President.

On the same lines,

-studying Sociology does not make you social

- nor does studying Psychology make you a psycho

- or studying Commerce does not make you commercial

-nor does studying Arts make you an artist.

One can go on.. what about Management? Think of a good one? Or will you be a dog in the manger?

Life Goals and Surnames

 Are your life goals determined by your surname? 

At least in India, these are my hypotheses-

Agarwals want to own a Sweet shop.

Bansals want to do a flip-flop, or start a Flipkart. 

Sonis want to strike Gold, in what they do.

Burmans want to either go into music or Ayurvedic medicine, like Dabur.

Patels want to own motels- in the U.S.

Singhs from Punjab want a Canadian citizenship.

Dash-es want to be dashing cops.

Jhas want to make pickles branded as Jhaji.

Bannerjees want to carry banners and protest.

Boses want to add an 's' and become bosses.

Deys want to be knighted.

South Indians usually have no surnames, so either they are goal-less, or have the same goals. In case of Andhra/Telangana, the goal is to settle in the U.S. and maybe in Kerala, to get a job in the Gulf. 

Hype and Reality

 I have lived through both- reality of change, and hype, for 65 years plus now. And I believe that I can recognise which is which, most of the time.

The internet and mobile phones synchronising communication and other technologies in a small package, were actually revolutionary, like the Wheel being invented, or 4 of them being put on a moveable frame by Ford (afford-able ones- that's a pun). 

But some of the corporate buzzwords that come and go with predictable regularity are just that- buzzwords. Nothing life-changing is going to happen, except to a few billionaires who may go bankrupt. Which is a good thing, if you see what they are doing after making those billions. 

To educate you, a smattering of buzzwords that more or less went bust or lost their pizzazz over time- Benchmarking, Globalization, Business Process Re-engineering, Agile, SaaS (not the mother-in-law, she still retains a sting), CRM, Service Quality (ha ha!), Good Governance (this is non-existent, mostly, anywhere you look), and a few more that I can't even remember.. to this you can add DevOps, AI, ML, or any others you can think of.

Relevant Re-labelling

 Investor Summit= Irrelevant Summit.

Davos Meet= Devastating Meet

Incubation Centre= Geometric Illusion

Department of Justice= Department of Jokers

Watergate= Petty Crime

ICE= Not Cool

Tariff= Weapon of Mass Destruction

Trump Presidency= Beginning of the End

Valentine's Day (New) Thoughts

 Thoughts come and go, so these are  new ones, about good old Valentine's Day.. and love.

Love makes the world go around, someone has said. True, along with lesser forms of it, like goodwill. Otherwise, we would all be dead, maybe killing each other in larger numbers than we do now. 

So what exactly should we do on Valentine's Day? Try and be loving. Start with yourself. 'Like' all the good things about yourself. Then start appreciating people who deserve to be- your friends, colleagues, family or whoever is worthy of that appreciation. Bosses too, if they are deserving. 

Sending Chocolates or Roses may not be the only way to do it. Having a chai or a Misti Doi with them (you can tell I am in Kolkata? How?) might be OK too. I do try and have a lunch or dinner or coffee, with those whom I like and appreciate, whenever I can- not just on February 14th. Any day when we can do that. 

Being Human is not a slogan, or should not be. It should be an everyday feature of our lives. Be nice, and most often, it will brighten up your life, along with some others' . 

Vintage Pics of IIMB Profs

 Some vintage pics of profs. and some of us at IIM Bangalore, 1982-84.

Shyamal Roy, Prakash Apte and batchmate Sriram aka Thalaivar

Henri Fayol (Srikant Payal) , Jagadish, Tathagata Ghosh

                                                      Vish, Usha, Dash, me, Pradeep Chittoor

Bandmaster - a recent one, with a Golden Jubilee t shirt.

Ghostwriting

 If I were a ghostwriter, who could I write for? 

Based on their spoken language, most politicians could do with my services. 

Some academicians as well, because based on evidence from conferences or seminars, they don't seem to know where to stop.

Regulators from the education sector who speak as if they have changed the world. They haven't.

People who have conquered the world- not factually, but on Linkedin. I can always talk about how they did so, in the ghosted book.

Any more ideas, please let me know.

Retirement- Possibly for Good

 I have contemplated retirement, often. Of course, life does not always turn out the way you think it will. So it was that I came to work in Kolkata. But circumstances have forced me to relook at life's priorities. And it is very likely that I will soon retire from full time work. 

It gives you enormous freedom to think, and indulge.. in things that you could only dream about, and occasionally partake of. This may include some travel, some reading, some Golf, meeting people at various places, or in town, doing new things, and listening to music. Of course, family responsibilities, as they are, will be a part of it too.

I am of course, open to occasional forays into teaching if there's any demand from an institution. But mostly, not admin. positions that are devoid of student interactions.

Pune will be the base, or adda- not the Bong version, but the Marathi or Hindi one- as far as I can tell. Mumbaikars, beware. You might see more of me in the months to come!

It has been good while it lasted, through corporate jobs in Advertising and Market Research, and teaching through my Ph.D. to post-Ph.D. days, in the US first, and then in India.

Some great colleagues and students who turned into friends along the way, are my billion-dollar wealth.

Some Easy ways to Evaluate Learning in AI Age

 We talk about AI as if it's a villain. But plagiarism has been around long before AI happened. So what does a professor do now, to make out what's original learning from a student in his class?

There are many ways, I would think.  Some of these could be

-a Viva or oral test instead of an assignment which if it is take home, will almost certainly involve the use of AI.

-argumentative questions which require some justification of a stand taken on a controversial subject/situation, even in a case study

-ask for original stuff that AI cannot produce. 

-ask students to write something in class- not just in an exam, but regularly. If the class is large, it could be a group assignment.

-assign an AI analysis exercise where they get info from AI and then critique it for what it leaves out, or what students can add to it. Can be done in class.

Innovation in pedagogy/evaluation is always possible, to check a student's learning. 

Doubling the Joy- Unusual Meetup

 Sayantani Saha is an alumna from IMT Nagpur 2010-12 batch of MBA and works in Kolkata at present. Ananya Ghosh is a Ph.D. candidate at St. Xavier's University, whom I met at XLRI first in 2023, and then when I came here to work. I didn't imagine that they would know each other, but coincidentally, they do. And Sayantani spotted a pic of Ananya with me, and recognised me in it! So we finally met over a long lunch and conversation, at Cafe Miami in New Town. The ambience was great, and the food too, but the catching up and banter about their lives and mine, was the best. Some pics-

Smileys- Collection of Smiles- Part 2

 Proof of the pudding is in the smiling. Some more from my collection over the years-

Sapna Patni, first pic, and 

Tanmeet and Alisha, second

Naveen Das, Kolkata book fair

Rimjhim at her place

Ekkirala and Vaishali at IMT

Alum meet in Mumbai, IMT

Radhika, Park in Mandu

Ganesh, and Tamros Mondal, IIM Indore

                                               

Shreyashi at my office, Indore, and Siri Adi in Kharghar

Potential Quizzes

 What/Who comes to your mind, when you see these words?

1. The Skull Cave/Col. Worobu/Guran

2. Gestures Hypnotically

3. Ina Mina Dika

4. Chupke Chupke Raat Din

5. Ek taraf uska ghar, ek taraf maikada

6. Gori tera gaon bada pyara

7. Ye kya ho raha hai?

8. Bindiya chamkegi, choodi khankegi

9. Woh kagaz ki kashti, woh baarish ka pani

10. Made in India

11. Shola jo bhadke dil mera dhadke

12. Hum kale hain to kya hua dilwale hain?

13. Tu auron ki kyun ho gayi?

14. Dil mein ek lehar si uthi hai abhi

dialogue

1. Mogambo khush hua

2. Peene ka pani alag, gutter ka pani alag

3. Behno aur bhaiyon..

4. Lilly, don't be silly

5. Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, naamumin hai

6. Babu moshai,...

7. Ek chutki sindoor ki keemat tum kya jano.

8. Ye kya ji, goda chatur, goda chatur? 

9. Pushpa, I hate tears.

10. kkk..Kiran..

Pronunciation- we are Like This Only

 We pronounce English words exactly as we like- influenced by the Mother tongue, is many cases.

For instance, Telugu chaps usually pronounce the d in Bridge. 

Marathi people think the Pen is a Pain.

Odiyas confuse the Boss with the Bus.. and Xavier becomes Jhabier.

The Bongs think the Heart is Hurt. And Award is aa-word.

Tamils pronounce Money as Mani- the na is the hard one.

Mallus are Zimbly too much, and gulp if someone else goes to the Gelf.

In some parts of the North, they study in an Iskool, isn't that cool?

But the best is a friend from Bihar who completely changed Voluptuous to Bholuputus.. can't beat that!

What People Might Do on Valentine's Day

 A bit early, but the day is not far away! So, imagine what the following would do, and where they would be on Valentine's Day.

Donald Trump- He would love to take over Greenland, Poland, any land where he can spread some love!

Putin- He believes in communism, and so loves all equally. Ukraine ho ya Afghanistan. Will try and prove it too.

Sherlock Holmes- he would go out in search of True Love- more difficult than all his other assignments put together. 

Hercule Poirot- he would just be his charming, old-world self. 

SRK- short for Shah Rukh Khan. He would love to sign autographs for his million admirers.

Salman- his search is unending, because he occasionally beats them up.. lovingly, of course.

Road Romeos- would be locked up in a safe place! With no Juliets in sight.