Stepwell in Hyderabad

 Bansilalpet has a neat stepwell, and an art gallery that has old paintings and photographs of that area and the stepwell. Near R.P. Road in Secunderabad. Worth a visit. 

Hyderabad Heritage Walk

 Mah Laqa Bai Chanda was a Courtesan, poet and warrior in the Nizam's time. Her tomb in Hyderabad was the starting point of our walk, which continued to the Moula Ali shrine nearby, dedicated to Ali, the Prophet's Son-in-law and whose followers are Shia Muslims.

She was also a possible inspiration for the book Umrao Jaan Ada, made into a film by Muzaffar Ali. A colourful personality. Pics from the tomb and Moula Ali hill.

Music Group Hyderabad Meet

 Met a few members of a music group, Mile Sur Mera Tumhara in Hyderabad, and spent time getting to know each other better. Namratha Muralidhar, Lakshmi Rajagopal and Sita Verghese (introduced by Kinnera Murthy to the group), me and my wife-an honorary member-made the party. We met in Begumpet.

Meeting Nice People

 Many years ago,, Honda ran an ad- You meet the nicest people on a Honda.. I think for its 2 wheelers launch in the U.S., before the 4 wheelers went there.

So where do I meet the nicest people? Workplaces, obviously. Students, staff, colleagues from all places I worked in.. MBA the research firm, New Horizons the ad agency, Lander, Clemson, in the U.S., XIM, VJIM, KIAMS, IIML, IIMK, IIM Indore, PESIT, IFIM, IMT Nagpur, IMT Ghaziabad, NMIMS Bangalore, Prestige University Indore, and JIS University Kolkata (current employer in 2025).

Besides, I met people online, or through other people, in many cases. Students I did not teach, or taught Golf to, became good friends. A bunch of Ph.D. students at IIM Indore from non-Marketing areas is a case in point. We just met, and gelled well enough to have had a couple of parties in Indore and in Delhi, Kolkata. Thanks mainly to Prachi Jain, my Golf student, and Finance prof. now. Pratishtha Batra, Neeti Ingole, Vartika Varyani, Akansh Khandelwal are some other members of this wild bunch, now spread across the world. We shared pizza with a 'secret sauce' and more!

I met Sanjana Rao first through a play that she acted in, directed by Shweta Kushal. Later, she was in my class and we formed a Mutual Admiration Society-went to her wedding too! Manjari Mundanad, whom I met in Ahmedabad, and went to her place too. She's an NRI now. Abha, who I first met at her wedding, and is a fast friend now. Divya Singh, whom I met at Vashi, Pune and then at Sikanadarpur in her office. Nikita Kumar/Ray, at Hyderabad, Pune and Delhi, multiple times. Ananya Nandi De, whose place I have visited twice. 

Rimjhim Verma, daughter of a friend from a music group, who now teaches dance. Gowri, whom I have met in Bangalore. Rupam, Anshita, Aashish and Anusha too. Bharath Shenoy, after IFIM days.. Ishita Modi, many times. Pratima Gaikwad, in Hyderabad at home and in Biryani joints. Nidhi Kanungo, NRI, in Lucknow, and Indore, after Harihar. Saumyaa Sharma, my former assistant, in Bangalore and Indore. Swati Jain and Nishka Rathi in Mumbai. Sheetal Garg too. Vidya and Swapna In Singapore, and Smita Mohan in Dubai. Dheeraj in Chennai.

Moral of this story? You can meet nice people almost anywhere.. and that's really nice!

FICCI Conference in Hyderabad

 Pics from the event about AI in Education- held at Park Hotel, Hyderabad. Education in the AI world was the theme. Some interesting perspectives were presented among others, by MUralidharan, founder of TMI, an IIMA alum. (not in pics)

Diwali Chronicles

 No match for Chronicles of Narnia. But significant for us. Spent a few days in Hyderabad with my sister, BIL and niece. Highlights were a meeting with Pratima for a biryani as planned, and a couple of outings for lunch (at Peshawar with a friend), and dinner. Also a lot of biryani at home too. 

And celebrated Bhaubeej/Bhaidooj. 

Soda swag, before Biryani at Peshawar, Lakdi ka pul.

Nawabi style. Chai with Pratima.

Global Citizens

 My wife and I have lived in multiple places, and visited a few countries.. more than twenty, I am guessing. So some reflections about the places, though we are not particularly attached to any place.

Bangalore- great weather, great filter coffee, and many old friends.

Lucknow- good memories, professional and personal, bad weather, great kababs and biryani

Hyderabad- Great biryani, Irani chai, friends and some relatives too.

Delhi- bad weather, good metro service, bad traffic, good friends, positive attitude

Mumbai- bad traffic, efficient train service, professional workers, friends galore

Pune- Bad traffic, good bakarwadi from Chitale, great cultural scene, lots of relatives

Kolkata- Bad weather, good food, new friends who are nice, Chai addas, celebrations with gusto

USA- Some good friends, no domestic help, good National Parks, roads, no railways or autos..

Vietnam- Friendly people, no English, Ha Long Bay is world class

Cambodia- Cheap, Historic, nice buildings

Sri Lanka- Green, beautiful, good beaches, people

Greece- Chaotic, friendly, historic, Sea is amazing, islands too. Good food- Moussaka is my favourite

Amsterdam- Fun place with unique features

Rome, Venice- Good for long walks, bad traffic, Gondola ride like a Shikara in Dal Lake..

October Shines Bright

 It has been a rainy monsoon season in Kolkata, but there's some sunshine (mixed with showers) so far in October second week. Not sure how the rest will pan out, but there's hope of dry days (not THOSE dry days). 

May help me to move around a bit. Though I may spend Diwali in Hyderabad, and stuff myself with some local biryani there. Pratima of IIM Indore fame and me never miss a biryani when we meet.

Osmania alums also might meet up, it's been a while now.

We did have early celebrations of many of our birthdays in Pune earlier, but why not continue? Life is a celebration- while it lasts, right? And biryanis are meant to be savoured.

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.