A Wedding Party in Nagpur

Went to her wedding and met Abha Kulkarni, a former student (of IMT), for the first time there- I was the bride's guest. Must have happened for the first time. Thanks to Facebook, though, I feel that I know her pretty well. She's been a winner of some of my awards on fb. Anyway, the feeling of meeting someone in person (and seeing the radiant smile in this case) is much more than a facebook friendship. I highly recommend meeting some fb friends regularly when you can, and multiplying your joy. I try my best to meet one per visit to any city, at least. My own alumni meets of sorts.

In this case, of course, I was accompanied by my ex-colleagues Vijayakumar and Anant Ram who had taught her at IMT and told me she was a great student. It was a coincidence that her husband Rohan is from Nagpur, and enabled me to be here for the event. Found out from chatting with her parents that they have lived in Bangalore for many years. I am a fan of Nagpuri stuff like Oranges, and I also like its clean roads in the newer parts. Of course, the speedy Metro construction is causing some traffic issues, but they won't last long, as construction is progressing at 'Gadkari speed'- defined as 20 times the average Indian speed. If he'd been in charge of the economy in the 1960s, we'd never have had to face the "Hindu rate of growth".

I was also happy it wasn't too cold- I am not a fan of sardi-Dilli ki ya aur kahin ki. Just the right medicine for ending the year- Food, Friends and Thums Up, as the old ad said. Thumb's up, totally.

Rohtak and More

On the way to IIM Rohtak, stopped in Delhi for two interesting meetings this weekend. One was to meet a couple of friends and batchmates who go back 30 years. This was catching up on old times (again, coz we have been meeting regularly, but it's fun anyway).

Another catch-up happened with a former student-turned friend, Padmapriya (I have a lot of these, having spent many years teaching and non-teaching or administering), who is now married and settled in Delhi. Both wife and husband will most likely work with an NGO that is into poverty alleviation. Both did a course in the US on Public admin (master's). Why we don't have such courses is a question worth thinking about. We do need good public admin skills in governing a vast country like India, and we need a lot of research backing our policies.

At IIM Rohtak, an old friend and colleague is currently the Director. I am here to teach a doctoral course on Marketing Models. Interesting, new to me and with a lot of potential for learning. Might also offer it at Indore sometime.

My first visit to the MD University campus, the temporary home of IIM R, and I am impressed by the planned layout and its cleanly maintained surroundings. It is cold as hell, though, but I am prepared with enough things made of wool, so it's fine. The rooms have a heater too. Met a few faculty visiting from IIT Delhi, GIM, and IIFT, here to teach various courses.

December is Here

..and so is the cold. Some interesting 'haps' (as opposed to apps- I still can't figure those out) in the last few days.

Attended an audition for the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" as an observer in the selection process, on campus. A colleague is going to stage the play. Reminded me of the Telugu film "Ashta Chamma" which was loosely based on the play, produced by a friend a few years ago.

The raw energy that a play (even in audition time) brings, and the sheer fun of the words Oscar Wilde had in this one, are infectious. Enjoyed the process thoroughly. Almost everyone who auditioned were talented, and might have fit into the play, if only the cast of characters were larger! Naseeruddin Shah says in his recent autobiography that he and his friends used to perform plays sometimes to an audience of ten or twenty. I can see why!

I do think we ought to make dramatics compulsory, if anything needs to be compulsory. In fact, faculty may also benefit from doing something like this. We may learn to shed some inhibitions, and stop being single-track in pursuit of knowledge in a routine way. And of course, learn to have fun.

On a somber note, Deven Varma passed away. The current generation may not have seen much of him, but he was a nice actor, who I remember singing "Mummy, o mummy, tu kab saas banegi?" among other things. He was laughter-inducing, even with facial expressions, even when he did not say a word. Good acting talent, never loud or vulgar. His best role may have been in Angoor, a double role with the 'double' Sanjeev Kumar.

Yercaud and Kotagiri

There was an excuse to come to Coimbatore this weekend, and so we ( a couple of friends from here) took off over the weekend to two places in the hills on consecutive days.

First, Kotagiri, a lesser known hill halfway to Ooty from Coimbatore. This, coupled with the excellent weather, made it a memorable tour de force (ok, the usage may be wrong, but it expresses what I want to). Cold but a healthy kind of cold, clouds passing by and then standing still, magnificient tea-trees-ok, plants-everywhere your sight went, and all this from the big window in the room too. Orange pekoe was the name of the hotel, and I recommend it for its location and view, not to mention good service.

Yercaud, the second leg, had a magical mist all through, and we enjoyed it sitting in the balcony of the cottage we were in, and on the drive down. The depression in the Bay had also caused rain on the way there, so it was a combination therapy for the blues, if any.

Yercaud is an unhurried kind of hill station, and a year-round one, being only halfway up the heights of the colder ones such as Ooty, Shimla and Nainital etc..that's my guess, by the way. That makes it one of my favourites, and this must be my nth trip there, n being between 10 and 20.

Using the Freeze

Apparently we in Delhi and around it are experiencing the deep arctic freeze, the likes of which happen only once or twice in our limited lifetimes. While pondering over the positives of this phenomenon, I imagined the following -

1. The gaalis freezing on the giver's face even before he gets to the colourful part.

2. Conservation of water as the urge and the necessity of bathing diminish.

3. Sales of many products rarely used increase- such as thermal underwear, room heaters, gloves, scarves, mufflers, shawls and so on..

4. Sales of some frequently used products like rum, brandy etc. may shoot through the roof, along with tea, coffee and other hot stuff including parathas.

5. People may discover the joys of staying indoors, and visit corners of their houses thus far unvisited.

6. Rediscovering of the simple joys of a bonfire- as long as it does not convert to a wildfire.

7. Writing more blogs, as there is nothing much to do outside. Don't know if it's a positive for the reader, though...

Cricket on Coldest Day

We had a different kind of Cricket. There were some Englishmen and South Africans involved, but no Pakistanis. It was actually a conference organised by a centre for rural innovation, knowledge management and entrepreneurship at IMT Ghaziabad, which goes by its acronym, CRICKET. This conference is partnered by the University of Essex's entrepreneurship centre.

Happened to be the coldest Delhi day yet this season, with arctic winds and freezing temples (the body parts), but the conference went on quite nicely at the India Habitat Centre. And the day ended with a dinner at the same venue.

Tomorrow a friend's book, The Hussaini Alam House, gets its Delhi launch at the same venue. Huma, who wrote it, is my classmate from Osmania engineering college, and the book is her first. I had reviewed it here before, but suffice it to say that it is really well-written, and evokes memories of a world gone by.

At this rate, my habitation at the Habitat centre may become rather permanent.