Conversational Abilities

 Some people have the ability to speak about any subject, for unlimited amounts of time. Think politicians.. no, just kidding, I am not into those. Just normal people. 

My own conversational abilities depend on the other person I am in conversation with. Usually, I like small numbers of people, not a very large group to converse with. And probably one or two others is best, Maybe three. 

I have had meetings with ex-colleagues- ones, twos most of the time. Students, usually former students- again, I have met them individually or in a small group. And had a lot to talk about, and listen to. Some of them I met for the first time outside class, and found them to be great conversationalists. Empathetic, knowledgeable and generally, agreeable personalities I would like to meet again. Anam Nuhi was one such, at Indore.

I can recall quite a few that I have had fun times talking with- more recently, Harshad, Meghana at Pune- earlier, Divya Singh at Pune and Mumbai, Nikita Kumar at Pune first, Hyderabad later, and then at Gurgaon with Shruti and Aditya, Tosha Dubey at Mumbai, Abha with her and Sirisha, Anuj too in Mumbai, and recently at Delhi, Sunil Kataria and Sharmishtha at Delhi, Surbhi Mehta and hubby at Delhi, Vrinda Khanna at her place (Delhi), Pallavi and hubby in Bangalore, and with Shafique (I had my first Sangria there), Pragya Singh (Kahwa?) at Pune, Anupriya Pandit at IIMI and at Bangalore, Dheeraj at Chennai, Meghna Sinha in Delhi and Mumbai (BKC). Meghana Joshi in BKC too. At THE GOOD WIFE, no less, with Vikas and Varun!

I have also gone book shopping with Nishka in Mumbai and Anushka in Bangalore- both KIAMS students. Sheetal Garg is the gregarious one, and musically minded too, and we have talked a lot. Ishita and Anurag, are from Indore, and Anshita too, though we (along with Rupam, Gowri and Sreeram, Ishita, Anurag too) met in Bangalore thanks to her. Meenu Mynam, I met after long at Bangalore.

Savitha (from KIAMS 1998-2000) and I are thick pals now, and so are Shatakshi and hubby. Vidya and Swapna I met in Singapore twice and had a great time.  Smita, in Dubai, and we went stargazing too!

Swati Jain, of the Curly Hair fame, and I had a great time meeting on a rainy evening in Juhu. And Anusha Soni and I met up in Pune after the Golf course at IIM Indore! She's my pal from Bhopal! Nikhil Damle (KIAMS) and I had a long chat at NMIMS Blr. And Chaithu Gunapali of IFIM, and Pooja Varun from PESIT.

And my Biryani friend Pratima deserves a special mention! We keep meeting in Hyderabad. Shailaja Gupta Kapoor actually started a group for IIM alums that's doing fabulously well, and I met them a few times in Bangalore. Through the group, met Nupur Prasmit whose wedding reception was last week in Indore! Also an Indori from KIAMS, Nidhi Kanungo, met me at IIM campus a few years ago.. she advised me to get onto Instagram, and I did..now!

More recently, met Ananya Nandi De at NOIDA too, along with her hubby and son. Had a great time! Here's to more such conversations, planned or impromptu.

Project Anopheles

 I am not sure this will take off, but if I do write something, I would like to do a complete series with Anopheles. She is a character I created (my claim to fame?) and was liked by many readers too, besides me. She is a female mosquito with a bite (a sting, actually), and has views about everything that she is not afraid to express. Almost like the females of our species, if you know what I mean. 

So, as a friend and former student told me, I may find my calling in writing another book after my retirement. So I am just putting my intent on record here, that if I do write a longish book again (my autobiography was the last one, many years ago), this is going to be it. There are a few existing episodes of my conversations with her, and I can always add Putin, Biden, the Gun lobby and create many more interesting episodes out of everyday happenings that we mostly fail to understand. 

Maybe I can write about nepotism, road-digging, and Metaverse too, not in any particular order. Covid too, maybe in passing. 

Aliens and Us

 I have had several conversations with Anopheles, a female mosquito, but never with aliens. I am batty, maybe, but haven't spoken to a bat either, except while playing cricket, of course. Sometimes I imagine what an alien talking to me would want to talk about.

Musk, Gates and Sir 'Virgin' Branson?

Insta, Twitter, Facebook?

Technology? Large Corporations?

MBA? Engineering? Education?

Hopes, aspirations, politicians (sounds funny in the same breath?)

Banks, Interest rates, Economy, GDP?

Meaning of Life? (Human or Alien)

It remains like a Black Hole- undetermined, little understood, by me at least.

The Good and the Better

I had yet another session lasting about three hours with a couple of former students the other day- I think I am getting rather good at this now.

The conversation ranged from careers- with me adding my two bits to whatever amazing things the youngsters are up to (some of which I understand, not all)- and educational opportunities in India and abroad- of which I know a bit. We also delved into films of yore, and I was surprised that one of them actually asked me to recommend films from my times to watch! The tension arising from seeing their classmates getting married in quick succession also figured in the conversation..had to, I guess.

Reminiscing about the good old days from IMT Nagpur was another track that took us back a few years, nostalgically. I spent the prime of my youth (!!) there, and so did they. We also tried a couple of yummy mocktails (one was called Dark Beauty!), and turned out we could also recommend some cocktails to each other. All in all, a very satisfying conversation, and we parted with promises to continue them.

Reminds me- a few days ago, I met a current student who was taught by my wife much earlier (in school at Bangalore), who remembered her fondly. Well, the profession is such that it throws up pleasant surprises often!

Long Conversations

I have just realised that I like long conversations too. After having had some this week. Enlightenment does not happen in one shot; it can come in installments too.

I have already had three (long conversations, not bouts of enlightenment) this week. Met a student of IMT and her parents, at their place in Mumbai. We chatted about several things including places we'd lived in, and found some common peeves (cold weather), and likes-filter coffee for instance, which her dad made very well- I vouch for it. Saw a lovely Golf course which I did not know existed near her place too, and some beautiful rain-soaked mountains.

Two other students of IMT and I met for dinner, and we discussed important life and career matters, aided by some really unique stuff like Nitro Dhokla (talk about being politically correct!). The importance that Law has suddenly found as a career was one topic, and life in the U.S. (mine, erstwhile) was another. Also the importance of HR in different sectors in India. We did not realise how quickly time had passed, and quickly gobbled up our dark chocolate (with a rasgulla or rasmalai stuffed in it) and got back to our abodes.

I travelled in a cab with a lady prof. visiting to teach at our Mumbai campus, and realised that we had been to the same school in Kothagudem-St. Mary's. So obviously that took us on a long chat about our childhood (at different times!), and our Ph.D.s- she did hers at Monash in Australia, and I at Clemson in the U.S (at different times). Picnic spots near Kothagudem and rivers (Edla vagu and Muredu vagu) found a reference.

And today, I met my favourite ex-associate, who is between jobs- Saumya, who was at Indore briefly. Having met after a year and a half, we talked about Marketing Research (in which she works) and a lot besides.

So that is the long and short of it.

What I enjoyed most this year..

So far this year, I enjoyed-

random chats with fb friends.

teaching the Digital Marketing course.

planned and unplanned meetings with alums of earlier batches of various B schools I taught in- some took the trouble to visit me in Indore too.

family time at Hyderabad, Pune.

conversations around the dining table, faculty lounge, in restaurants or at home.

running quizzes on random subjects on facebook, reading the answers.

watching some offbeat films... and a few formulaic ones.

reading a few good books- made my debut with Harry Potter.

travel to Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand for various conferences or work.

taking pics, one or two selfies included. :)

A Hyderabadi Alumni Meet

Actually, make that two. I had a meeting with my Bangalore chum in the morning (older guys meet in the daytime, keeping our limitations in mind), and then a gala IMT alumni meet (these guys and gals are young) at the Green Park in the evening/night.

The noise levels threatened at times to beat the traffic noise that is 'normal' in all great Indian cities today. But that only reflected the urge to catch up, sometimes after a year's break or more. Mayank, a first batch (2004-06) Nagpur alum was there with family, a highlight. He got introduced to some of the recent happenings at his alma mater. Of course, a lot of recognisable faces (names were added by them at times) for me from the last few batches when I was with IMT- Khushboo, Sneha Goyal, Harleena, Haritima with her hubby this time, Roshan who has now joined Tata Motors, Aashish and his lovely wife (and batchmate)  Anusha, Kaavish who is a regular, Akash (Prof), and Lakshay who both work for Verity, and many more.

The hall was full, and conversations animated-including, but not limited to Seemandhra and Telangana, the Modi landslide, Alia Bhatt and Anjaiah jokes, and people's own plans for the future. One of the highest turnouts in Hyderabad, indicating that alums are enthused. Faculty contingent had Shivnath, Anant Ram, TK Chatterjee, Smita and Sayan. And Vekat Sai from placements,happy that Hyd placements have picked up after years of effort.

It was lovely catching up. Glad I could make it..we did take a group photo to jog the golden memory..it also needs exercise to stay fit.