Countries I am Aware of

 I became aware of England due to the language that they left behind. Vilayat meant England. There were a few Anglo-Indian families too, when I was growing up. Not sure if there are too many left. But in college days, USA was definitely the dream destination for many. I applied for an M.S. too, but managed to go there later for a Ph.D.- not in engineering, but Management. During stopovers in Europe, visited Greece, Italy, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany (West at the time), and Holland. France more intimately, thanks to Anne, a friend from Brittany we met at Clemson. 

Many years later, I have met people from Sri Lanka (have a good friend Samudrika there), Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, S. Korea, New Zealand, Dubai, Sharjah, Australia, England, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China ( I have a couple of friends there), and so on. 

I am yet to visit Down Under (Covid stole my thunder), and a few countries like China, and South America and Africa. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But I had friends from Iran, Nigeria and Portugal in my Ph.D. program, and also from Turkey, and a colleague from Venezuela at Greenwood where I taught.

That is not a bad score! Yes, I know there are around 190 countries, but I am just one person..

The Globalising Indian

During my growing up years, mostly Indians were going to the U.S. for higher studies, and then, many settled down there. Hardly any other destinations.

Now I find my friends/students or relatives in multiple places. Canada and Australia seem to be the popular ones, though there are a few in New Zealand, Dubai, Finland or Germany as well. This is a sign of globalisation.

I think it is also a sign that a few more countries have realised two things- that you need immigrants to bring in some new ideas, at least in some sectors. And that Indians have what it takes, in those sectors.

If immigration laws did not exist (I suspect they did not, long ago when India used to be one of the richest economies in the world, even if under monarchies), people (labour in the words of economists) would probably be better able to redistribute themselves according to need and joblessness may reduce - hypothetically at least. The alternative, globalised production according to the cheapest location that can produce anything, seems mired in tariff wars across geographies.

Anyway, interesting to see where all the nationalist, anti-immigration rhetoric in various countries leads us..and what happens to the oil-rich economies when oil runs out.

Diversity is Amazing

I am amazed at the diversity I have encountered in the human interactions I have had over the fifty nine years I have spent on the planet. Not necessarily boasting, but I have spent significant amounts of time in the four major regions of India, and a few years in the U.S. teaching and studying. While there, had a lot of international students/colleagues too. I visited at least one, Anne, in France at her home in rural France (and HER friend in Paris). Also met an Iranian friend in Malaysia and later, in India. Lots of American friends also invited us (my wife and I) home while we lived there.

It is also obvious while teaching in class, that diversity of age, gender, experience and background (previous education/subjects) usually leads to a richer class experience for all. This is true at least in management, where both technical and non-technical skills are equally important in solving problems.

The U.S. was open to immigrants (still is, compared to a few others, barring Canada and New Zealand/Australia) and has been enriched by those who chose to settle down there and adopt the American lifestyle. A few Indians are also at the top of the academic and corporate ladders there- I know at least a couple of them personally.

One has to wait and watch where the recently-made-fashionable anti-immigrant stance of countries/governments around the world will lead.

AHTMM 2018 Conference Pics

Conferences are wonderful networking opportunities with global audiences. Proved yet again. I presented a paper co-authored with Aradhya Vats, my student, on Positioning of Travel Brands.. some pics of the Conference in Bangkok, last week. The organiser is from the U.S.

A part of the gathering at the welcome dinner (above). Below, another session in progress.

I introduced myself with this pic from IIM Indore with some champions of the last batch (above).. and below, with a Nigerian (US Based), and a global Indian (Australia-based).

One pic of the presenters of a traditional Thai dance.and another of a fan of Amir Khan films from Turkey..

Global Fashion

A quick sum-up of the fashionable things.

In Syria, it is to migrate to Europe by boat, or bicycle.

In the U.S., it is to shoot at campuses. To find a higher purpose in life, shoot inside places of higher education.

In the Mediterranean, it is to resue the boat people mentioned above.

In Australia, it is changing Prime Ministers.

In India, it is to hold election rallies, build speed-breakers on potholed roads.

In Dubai, it is to boast about and construct tall buildings.

In Japan, it is to bow.

In North Korea, it is to make cutouts of their Leader to upstage Jayalalitha's.

In South Korea, it is to barbeque anything in sight.

Cliches and Cliched Comments

Some cliches and my even more cliched comments :)

This is a "landmark'' XYZ. What is? Is it really?Is there a "watermark"also?

My "blood boils''. Then how come you have not evaporated?

"Stock sinks" on Supreme Court judgement. Was it swimming till now?

Australia " hammer India" (this happened yesterday on the cricket field).  What else could they have used? A chain-saw?

XYZ gets a 'clean chit'. What happened to all the dirty ones? Were they washed or not?

"9/11, 7/11" and all other branded dates. Are we glorifying things that happened on those by branding them?

"Black Tuesday" to commemorate the stock market fall. If you invested in stocks, you can afford to lose the money.

You are "looking fabulous" . Hmm..

Speculative Blog on India Australia Match in Progress

I speculate. On what will happen post the outcome of today's India-Australia world cup semi-final match (in progress as of now).

1. India Wins

Everyone and his aunt will take the credit, as if they were on the field. Euphoria will prevail, until the nail-biting and (further) speculation on what it will be like against New Zealand in the finals. All the experts on TV will tell you "I told you so."

2. India Loses

Everyone will blame everyone and their aunt for the abject failure, dismal capitulation, match fixing, money driving sport, and every other possible irrelevant evaluations of a simple fact. They will swear off cricket- not to worry, that will only last till the IPL begins, or India plays something, whichever is sooner. There will be calls for ousting Dhoni, Virat, Jadeja, Sharma (all of them), Ashwin, etc. from the team.

May the better-playing team win. I am not an Octopus!

Lifelong Memories- Laxman and more

I used to watch cricket matches once. And I did watch the 1983 world cup triumph on an Uptron TV in the IIMB hostel common room. The great ones in that match were the likes of Kapil Dev, and Balwinder Singh Sandhu who put that one past Gordon Greenidge. In my later watching years, I saw entire series played abroad where only Rahul Dravid and Laxman and sometimes Tendulkar withstood the assault of the bowlers from West Indies, Australia or England.

Laxman played as if he was taking a walk in the park, so effortless was his style. Rahul Dravid was deliberate, and had grit more than style. Sachin, of course, was uninhibited in his early days, but as he progressed, appeared to be weighed down by too many expectations, which can kill even Superman's enthusiasm.

But the standout innings of Laxman and Dravid has to be the long 400 plus partnership in Kolkata that gave the Aussies their most stunning defeat when they were the top test team. Amazing, coming back after following on, and socking it to them. More exciting than a boxing bout for me.

He was a wonderful catcher and has a lot of great catches in close positions like the slips or forward short leg. His only minus point according to me was captaincy, and that showed up when he led Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers. But then, some would argue that IPL is not cricket at all.

Cricket and Life

What are the positives in this cricket test series for India? Difficult to see, but the bowlers played well in the first test. Have not yet (on Day 2) produced wickets in Test 2, so we will wait and see.

But the lessons are clear. That a player cannot go on forever. But I want to extend the logic to everything in life. Barring a Dev Anand, you cannot be a romantic hero forever. Even he wasn't successful after a point. A heroine seems to have a much shorter half-life. So what to speak of lesser mortals? Our productive lives are probably short, like the reproductive lives of half the species. We should try and discover what we like to do best, and then follow the Nike philosophy- just DO it.

I know we Indians like to pontificate rather than do things. We are better talkers than doers. We dither endlessly as a culture or as a people. But as individuals, we have had doers in every sphere, from Metro Rails (Sreedharan) to milk distribution (Kurien) to directing quality films (Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee), to entertainers (Kishore Kumar, Lata, Asha, RD Burman, etc.), to social workers (Medha Patkar, Baba Amte), institution builders (Nehru, the Tatas), Bankers (RBI saved us from many a financial crises, and deserves a thank you for it), and countless others who may not be known. It is because of them that we progress at 7% and more.

Those who can't, must accept it and move on, to give a chance to some others who may be waiting in the wings. The tendency of clinging on is a hard one to give up, admittedly, but I think we all (not just cricketers) need to learn- NOW.