Kalasipalayam to Mettupalayam

 Starting from Bangalore, I ended up near Ooty, passing through Mettupalayam on the way. Actually, we did not get to Ooty, settling down at Coonoor after visiting friends in Kotagiri. The Nilgiri hills are a fascinating blend of scenery, wildlife, tea gardens and a lot more.

So the long-awaited holiday (due to COVID primarily), was completely enjoyable, and did result in some new friends being made, young and not so young. And of course, photographs in the ghats, in the rains, waterfalls, and tea gardens. Some of them are here-

A dam near Pollachi, close to the Tamilnadu-Kerala border.

Below, a farm house where we spent a night.

Delicious food at unassuming joints known as "Messes"(like the one above), and scenery to die for..

Rains added to the charm, and tea gardens were a visual delight.

Almost got to drive this mini tractor! And visiting Bisons were a sight to behold.

Peacocks too (above). Food, near Pollachi with interesting signboards. (below)

A typical hill station view (above) and the road leading up to it.

My stint in MBA

This was a marketing research firm founded by three IIM Ahmedabad alumni. The MBA stood for Marketing and Business Associates. I joined them in Bangalore, and we had an office in Benson Town, which I usually reached by crossing the railway tracks from Coles Park.

It was a very comfortable workplace. Being mostly MBA-populated, it was easy to understand the jargon. It was also a very open workplace, with ideas exchanged freely, and the language used was informal-everyone was on first name basis. My three bosses were Matthew Paul, CK (Sharma), and Shyam (Sundar) later in Mumbai. I also met Karopadi (Karo) who was an alum of IIM Calcutta, and Muthu, who was from XLRI.

Our work comprised executing marketing research projects. One of the first assignments had me going to Coonoor to survey tea estates and Potato farmers for a client who manufactured plant nutrient sprays. I had to estimate demand for it. An excellent chance to see some of the finest parts of the Nilagiri mountains. I took buses, mostly (I was on a budget), so I could experience life like a local, and also took a train ride for fun. The tea estate guys were mostly welcoming, and had a chat regarding what I wanted without much fuss.

Another assignment for a client sent me off on a meeting with Power plant managers, and those from fertilizer and chemical industries. I went as far as Tuticorin (SPIC had a factory there), and tried to assess interest in some pollution control equipment. The old IPCL plant in Baroda was also one that I visited.

In other sectors, we did projects for ready-made chapatis, and fabric softeners, and for soaps with additives like Tulsi and coconut oil (for WIPRO). HDFC was also a client for one of their husing finance schemes (this was later, when I moved to Bombay with their Worli office, behind Glaxo). We also did a project for Trikaya, where my client's name was Armaity Cabinetmaker-no less than Almighty for us!

Very interesting work, and great learning, till the call for a Ph.D. came and put a stop to it- I still use the war stories!!

Landscape and Portrait

Both are rectangular, but one is wide and the other is tall. Most of the time in photography, we do it Landscape style while in computer prints, it's mostly Portrait style. Here are three portrait style photographs.

 Above- Pooja looking at the Coonoor Horse-riding area near the Golf academy. Below- Jaggi Ashram, Velliangiri.

 Below- Pondicherry Botanical Garden

Golf 2018- Creating Memories

Some games are good, some bad, but memories are always golden. It's important to create some every now and then. These past few days, got a chance to look at Golf again after a longish break due to Operation (on my) Wrist. Managed to play a few good shots, though the luck+skill to get a good score was elusive. Nevertheless, it was great meeting old friends Dhanapal and Vijayakumar and playing, thanks to our gracious host at Wellington, Col. Ramki- a former student of Vijayakumar's.

 A ringside view (above)- and we pose (Vijayakumar is with me)

 Action, and a closing shot to end the game.

The 19th hole-the party-is an integral part of the game.

Lemon Apple Resort

There is this resort in Coonoor. Except a swimming pool, it's got everything you need for a holiday. You can book on makemytrip and booking.com too. Good location, about a km. from Sim's Park in Coonoor, beautifully done up rooms, a garden sit-out, a sit-in inside, and a couple who will cook to order (that's extra). Some pics that I took there last week. More on this link. http://lemonappleresort.com/

 The drive to get there-this is via Kotagiri to Coonoor. Also approachable from the other side.

No wi-fi, but a Golf academy and a tea estate at a stone's throw. You can learn Golf and take walks. And drink Nilgiris tea grown right there. Evidence- A pic of the tea-tree.

Things I Did Not Do in 2017

This is a recounting (wrong word, actually) of things I did not do.

I did not go to the Dominican Republic to present a paper, because of visa and travel hassles. I did go to Colombo, though, proving that visa processes really affect travellers.

I did not look all around while crossing the road and ended up with a broken wrist. A lesson there, somewhere.

I did not exercise my wrist enough, playing Golf..mostly resting on my laurels last December when I got a Hole-in-one. This pic is from that trip to Coonoor/Wellington. Hope to make up in 2018.

I did not react to the aggravating stuff on facebook. I use fb to make connections with friends, and have some fun..and I succeed.

My Life in Industry

It was only two short years, compared to twenty plus in academia. But this is about those two.

I worked in an ad agency called New Horizons Pvt. Ltd. in Delhi right after my MBA. This was a part of the Living Media group, publishers of India Today and a couple of other magazines, I remember some colleagues- Madhu Vohra and Sunil in particular. I was an Account Exec. there, basically a customer liaison job. My major clients were India Today itself (in-house) and Appu Ghar, India's first amusement park. We had another client, Modern Suitings from Alwar, Rajasthan.

I learnt a lot from working there for about a year. But eventually, I got restless and left, joining another small Marketig Research firm called MBA in Bangalore (and later, Mumbai). This was a much more challenging job, and gave me exposure to Marico, HDFC, Sandoz and BHEL, among others as clients. Designing studies and seeing them through execution, overseeing field work (or sometimes doing it myself) was very interesting, and I enjoyed myself. One of my first assignments took me to Ooty and Coonoor. I went berserk with my camera during that assignment. I had to cover tea estates and potato farmers, trying to find out the demand for a plant nutrient spray.

Great stuff, which I still remember fondly. It helped me a lot when I started teaching Marketing Research later on and when I wrote a book on it. I also met Muthu, a friend who stood the test of time, during my stint at MBA, the M.R. firm.

Pics from the Nilgiris

 Roadies on the Coonoor-Kotagiri road.

 Ravi, Me, Suresh, Prabhakar and Ramesh from l to r.

 Swinging away.

 The Golf musketeers at Ooty Gymkhana.

 My hour of glory. Hole-in-one at no.5, Wellington Golf Club

 Conqueror's flag.

Views to die for.

Cooing in Coonoor

An old joke about cooing in Coonoor and wooing in (W)Ooty is what triggered the title. But our purpose this time was not one of the above. It was simply chilling. There were five of us, classmates from MBA days at Bangalore, who formed the chillar party, or the chilling brigade. Starting out in Bangalore, we headed out to Ooty, enroute to Coonoor, which was to be our abode. Discovering that the Ooty Gymkhana Golf Club was on the way, three of us decided to play there. We had a great time, and proceeded to Coonoor in the evening. Temperatures were actually quite pleasant, contrary to what we thought they would be.

Walks, talks, card games, and eating out at various places is what we indulged ourselves in, with a bit of Single Malt to keep us company. We also managed to get a sketch of ours done by an artist in one of the restaurants we had gone to (we HAD formally learnt management, after all).

On day 2, we played golf at the beautiful Wellington Golf Club near Coonoor. As we wound our way across the course, I had a Hole-in-one on the no. 5 hole, which is a steep upward hit. Unbelievable! Many people go through a lifetime of golf without getting one, chances of making one being statistically very slim. After this, of course, we had to celebrate, and we did-at the Taj Gateway, overlooking the valley.

                                                         Picking up after the Hole-in-one, above.

All in all, it was a great combination-both Tee and Tea in the tea country of Nilgiris, and I look forward to 2017 being different, and NEW.