Memorable Meetings and Outings

 What makes a meeting or outing memorable? Could be many things, but an important thing is the warmth, among those meeting up. Or going out. Some instances I remember warmly, in pics- 

Savitha and I met in her office on MG Road. She worked with Deccan Herald at the time.

Meeting Abha and Harsh Halve, in Delhi

and Amit Gope in my Kolkata office.

Or Venkat Rama Subramaniam in Calcutta Club

Garima and Ayan at Pune, 

and Bhagyalakshmi and Venaktesh at Pune TOIT

MSMT Pune and Mumbai gang in Pune 

and Asoka and Jyoti Dua in Indore at a Prestige Univ. outing

Swati Jain at Mumbai,

or Maya and Shubha at Pune on New YEAR eve, 2025.

Milind Chalisgaonkar in Kling's Bangalore

and Dhanapal in Dec 2024 at Kodai.

Adithya, a schoolmate in PUNE

and Annie, from Greenwood, and AJ, in Delhi.

Ishita Modi in Indore

and Shweta Kushal in Indore

Prachi Jain at Delhi,

or Jaya Dulani in Delhi

Sanjana at her wedding in Hyderabad,

and Pratima Gaikwad, a Hyderabadi in Indore.

Bhavna, Silky and Dheeraj at Gurgaon

and Riyaaz, Arun and Juhee and Divya Sairam at Indore.

And, an outing at Hindola Mahal, Mandu with Radhika, Shweta and Surbhi Dayal. 

Anniversary Number 37

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? 

Started in Pune, continued to a stay in the U.S. till we returned to India in 1991. Then, we went places within India. Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Harihar, Lucknow, Kozhikode aka Calicut, and on to Bangalore, Nagpur, Indore. Then, back to Bangalore and a second stint in Indore. Possible last stop is now Kolkata, for work.

Two daughters came along the way, and both are now grown-up young ladies with minds of their own. We are growing old and heading towards a sunset, but it has been an enjoyable time on the whole. Whether to marry is a personal choice that you have to make. If you do marry, you will more likely than not have kids, and take care of elders in either family at some point. Also make friends, and keep some.

It's an Endurance Test of a kind too, as there will be ups and downs of various types. But through it all, you have an assurance that you are not alone. That is a comforting thought, and makes it worthwhile. Just my view..

Memorable Moments- 1992-1995

 I was in Hyderabad most of this time.

Reconnecting with Alok's family in Hyderabad. We lived in the same building. Alok was my friend and mentor through college, admission to Clemson University and through my Ph.D. 

Meeting interesting colleagues like Thomas, Dayakara Rao and Sudha at Vignana Jyoti Institute.

A shoot we did for the first PGDM/MBA brochure. Set the stage for later ad material we did at KIAMS.

First batch of MBA- teaching them was fun. Deepa, Deepthi, and Ranjana Rudra are still in touch. Giri too, on fb.

Pooja was born, in December 1992. Daughter no. 2.

Saw a couple of good films, like Roja and Prabhudeva starrer Humse Hai Muqabla (remake of a Tamil original). It had an amazing dance sequence, Mukkala, muqabla, laila.. 

Also saw Darr, and the remake of Sleeping With the Enemy (shot in Greenwood, USA where we lived), which had a song 'Iqraar karna kushkil hai, inkaar karna mushkil hai, sung by Manisha Koirala on stage-my daughters' favourite). Nana Patekar starred as the villainish husband.

An Eventful Week

 Went to Hyderabad, and met my sister and BIL Hari, and niece Anjali after a long time. Anjali has completed her 12th and is looking at colleges up North. Also caught up with tow visitors at their place. Did not stir out much, as it was hot in the day. Of course, had biryani and small onion samosas with Irani chai once. 

Also shot 3 episodes of Chat Masala with Hari, Anjali and Vandana on various topics of their interest. This is a new Youtube Channel of mine where we discuss anything under the Sun. 3 episodes have aired so far, but we have shot a few more.

Back in Pune, we again shot another guest episode with Suhita Thatte, actor and my cousin, visiting from Mumbai. She was here to perform in a Play written by Sai Paranjpye. In Marathi, at a program dedicated to Female characters in Theatre.

Also shot two more solo episodes for Chat Masala, about Friends/ Students who became entrepreneurs, and Bosses I have had over the years -in industry and academia.

Sanjana's Wedding

 Sanjana Rao was a student I met at Indore when she was doing her 5 year IPM. She took one of my classes too. But she was also a friend who has remained in touch many years later. Sow hen she was getting married, we had to be there. My wife also knew her because of the preps. for a play The Importance of Being Earnest, where Sanjana acted, Shweta Kushal directed and we all played support roles of encouraging the actors, backstage. She acted like a pro. 

WE had a great time with her at the pre-wedding bash at her house, and at the wedding itself. Here's pictorial proof. Met her friend Nikhila from school in Pune also. She features in some pics too.

During the cremony.

The pre-wedding Haldi and Mehendi

The lovely bride..

Nikhila (below and above, her friend), and Shweta Kushal, my friend from IIM Indore

Charminar Trip

 A historic building, right in the middle of the (old) city. A landmark not to be missed. Happened to go there on a quick trip to meet my brother who was visiting from the U.S., partly on a working trip.

We also caught up on a few other sights, but this is about Charminar. 

The last one is from Taj Mahal at Abids, another iconic place that has had a makeover.

Guest Lecture by a Former Student

 Pratima Gaikwad, a former IIM Indore student who is now with MyDNA in Hyderabad, came for a guest session to our University. She spoke about marketing and branding of products and services, including those of her own company, MyDNA, that is into preventive testing based on genetic mapping. Students enjoyed the interaction and she did too.

Outdoors and Indoors, at Indore- Prestige University campus.

and in class with MBA students.. below.

ISB Roundtable on Higher Education

 I participated as an invitee at ISB Hyderabad's Roundtable to discuss the road ahead for Indian higher education sector. There were a few other education leaders, from private institutions/universities such as SRM, Galgotias, IMS Ghaziabad, and CRM etc. I met a few former colleagues. We had a couple of breakaway groups too.

Pics from the event. 

Where we Met

Starting with students from IMT. 

This is on the suggestion from Abha, whom I met at Nagpur, then Mumbai a couple of times, and Delhi, more recently, with Shalini Sinha. Nikita, I first met when she was Nikita Kumar, in Pune. Later, she moved to Hyderabad, and we met with her friend from Symbi, Ritika Sharma. Most recently, we caught up in Delhi. Meghna Sinha I first met in Delhi at a Starbucks, then at Yuwatcha, in BKC. Also met Meghana Joshi at The Good Wife, BKC with a couple of others. Vikas and Varun were there too. Garima Shah at Hiranandani, Mumbai, in The Yellow Chilli.

First three pics are IMT alums from various batches, in Mumbai, Bangalore and Mumbai alumni get together.

Abha, Sirisha and Tosha.

Ishita, Gowri, Rupam, Anshita and Anusha

Savitha of KIAMS Batch 1 

In some other meetings, Tosha and Abha were together, or Sirisha Adi and Anuj too, in Mumbai- Grandmama's Cafe was one. Sheetal Garg and I met mostly at Mumbai, and once in a large alumni meet where we sang a duet from Johnny Mera Naam! Ananya Nandi De at NOIDA, her place, and Delhi. Shraddha Nigdikar, at her place in Dadar, in Vashi and at Mulund at a friend's place. 

Abhinav Kamal, the digital marketer and film maker, I met in Bangalore, and in Mumbai after IMT Nagpur. I think Shuchi Bhatnagar was at a Hyderabad alumni meet. Divya Singh, first at Mumbai, where she also guest lectured in my class on Digital Marketing, then at Pune and more recently, Gurgaon. Harshad Lunavat and Meghana Khadilkar, at Pune. Target is to meet Karishma too, there. Anupriya Pandit, at Bangalore. Surbhi Mehta Chadha at Delhi. Also her neighbour Vrinda Khanna at her place in Delhi. Pallavi in Bangalore, Shafique in Bangalore and Indore recently. Kanika Mhendiratta in Delhi, twice, Swati Jain in Mumbai on a rainy evening. Khyati Jha, in Navi Mumbai.

In Ahmedabad, a whole gang of IMT students, led by Ishan, Ankita, Keyur and separately, Manjari two or three times. Also Punyashlok Dwibedy, who was at IIMA doing his Ph.D.

Anshita Abhishek Chetty organised two get-togethers for me to meet IMTans, and we met. In Bangalore, with Sreeram and Gowri, Rupam Verma, Ishita and Anurag with their kid, and Anshita's hubby Abhishek and their twins, Anusha Mamidanna and hubby Aashish were also part of the meets. Meenu Mynam, I met in Bangalore. Kedar Muley and gang at Thane -Ravi Mittal was part of that.

KIAMS students, everywhere- Smita in Dubai, Sudeshna and Sid Agarwal in Kolkata (and Delhi airport), Vidya TC and Swapna Gurijala at Singapore- twice. Nishka and Vikram in Mumbai, Rajiv Roy Chowdhury at Bangalore (his wife turned out to be from PESIT). Aditi Sood in Kolkata, Savitha, multiple times in Bangalore. Also Nidhi Kanungo in Indore a couple of times, but also in Lucknow, where her hubby is from. Jagdish Subramony, in Chennai, long ago. Jimmy in Bangalore, Mukesh in Kodaikanal. Also Navroze Sethna in Kodai, his hometown, Anupama at Bangalore, Padmapriya at Hyderabad and Delhi, Jogeswari in Hyderabad and Thailand (with her company Golftripz), apart from Calicut and Nagpur where she gave a guest lecture and shot a video. Sunil Kataria at Delhi along with Sharmishtha Singh. Nikhil Damle I met in Mumbai long ago, and Bangalore later. Anushka Mishra, at various bookstores on Church Street and also at 13th floor, MG Road. Zargar Basharat in Bangalore. Dheeraj Mohan in Chennai.

PESIT students I have met mostly in Bangalore, like Pooja Varun, and Aishwarya Omprakash with her hubby and kid. IFIM students too- Chaithu Gunapali, Bharath Shenoy, and Nagendra Shenoy. At an airport, I met Shreya Sengupta from PESIT_IUP. 

IIM Indore

Shatakshi Tripathi, Varun  and Shailaja Gupta from the IIM Indore (Mumbai campus) at Bangalore. And Pratima Gaikwad of the same program, only at Hyderabad- 3 or 4 times! 

Anusha Soni, IIM Indore student, and Neha Adiga, in Pune. Sapna Patni, Anam Nuhi and Harshad Sachani at Indore- him at Nagpur too! Bhuvneet Raheja, In Delhi. 

Vignana Jyoti students- Giri at Bangalore with his wife, Ranjana Rudra and Deepthi Balagiri last year in Hyderabad. Sudhir many years ago at Bangalore, with his wife Poulomi.

Lots of Ph.D.  students from IIM Indore, at Indore and some at Delhi recently. Akansh, Prachi, Vartika, Neeti Ingole, Geeti, Vanshika, Pratishtha are a few others. 

Lots more I would like to meet, like Pooja Shukla, who is hiding in the U.S. and Aashneet Gautam, no idea where. Tanya Jakhar, in Bangalore. Ruby Shukla, Delhi. Vaishali Bathla, Delhi, I think. Bhagyashree Agarwal.