Foodventures of Bahu Bali- Of Coconut ice creams Warungs and More

Foodventures of Bahu Bali- Of Coconut ice creams and Warungs and More

A Warung is a small café or restaurant with a limited menu, and is easier to set up than a restaurant. There are lots of them, and we went to one overlooking a rice field. They had Thai and Indian curries in a set menu. At another place, there was coconut ice cream with a twist. The coconut served as the cup- a big one, into which different ice creams were served. Have a look…while on food, Gula is the name for sugar and Merica for white pepper, Garam Kounsunsi Beriodium for iodised salt.

Batik is a print unique to Indonesia, or at least it is famous here in many forms used for wear by men and women. We also saw a very interesting performance called the Barong dance, where Good triumphs over evil, performed in a small open theatre. The artists gamely posed for pictures with the tourists at the end. 

The cup in the first pic is of the Luwak coffee, and other glasses are of exotic teas and coffees.

(Above) the mascot of this Warung..

the young ladies who were waiting on us..

The coconut ice cream with its lovely vendor..
and (below) beautiful old ladies selling fruits..

Giant-sized coconuts at a restaurant near a waterfall, and

 lunch at a restaurant at the end of a volcano (Douglas Adams, apologies).

Adventures of Bahu Bali Part 1- Whitewater Rafting on Ayung

Adventures of Bahu Bali Part 1- Whitewater Rafting on the Ayung

Rafting on the Ayung river, near Ubud. An experience to savour, and physical exercise too- it tests you to just climb down to the river and up again. The rafting looks easy by comparison-child’s play! We had a couple of kids with their Mom and Dad on our raft, in fact.

The guide walks you down to the river after giving you a life jacket, and an oar. The walk to the scenic river-bed is quite deep, at least 300 steps down. And then, a set of instructions later, you are into the rapids. Rowing forward and backward is part of the instruction, but also some Chiki Chiki (bouncing on the seat to send the air to another part of the raft, maybe), and Boom Boom (crouching down to the bottom of the raft, to rebalance the centre of gravity, I guess) are two interesting manouvres that were practiced, and used. 

There is a stop along the way for a rest and a drink, and there are photographers who click and sell you pics of the ride also. A waterproof bag is also carried by the guide to save your camera if you are carrying one- essential!! The last time I tried rafting was on the Ocoee river in Tennessee.

Follow the instructions, and enjoy the ride- we did! Some evidence..

Making "rapid" progress in the pics above, and taking a break (below)

Prepping with the jacket (above) and walking down to the river through scenic road (starting point), below.

Interesting Conferences

One was on Retailing (about Online versus Offline Pricing), and a paper I had written had an unexpected reaction on fb- lots of people requested a copy, and I was amazed.

Another very interesting conference was in Beppu, a small Japanese town. Met some amazing professors and students there, and got a taste of Japanese culture- one of the most polite people on earth. Another was in Sri Lanka, and I thought about why we in India don't do more in partnership with their universities-could be very fruitful.

There were others, one in Cambodia by ABEM, that enabled a visit to Angkor Wat, which was on my bucket list. Some of our domestic conferences- one on Social Media at Bangalore, and another on film and literature at BITS Goa recently, also gave me  a chance to explore interesting themes.

Nearing 5 Years at Indore

I have been notorious for changing workplaces faster than Hindi film heroines changed their costumes in song situations. But looks like I am trying to change. Must be the poha-jalebis, and the nice people of Indore. I am about to reach my fifth anniversary at Indore, in early December. So what are my thoughts?

The beauty of the campus is incomparable- inspired by buildings at Mandu.

The Sun rises over IIM Indore (above), and below,  Singing in progress- Sadhana Lakshmi tries out her skills- karaoke party with my Google Online Challenge champs-Kalaivani and team

 Above-Nidhi Kanungo with her dad, visits. She was my student in 2000 at Kirloskar Institute. Below, our first Digital Marketing executive program in 2017, at Indore-dinner at Mashaal.

 Gulmohar gar tumhara naam hota..

 Above-Indrajit at the Mumbai campus, and below, the PGPMX 16-18 batch at Mumbai, during the Convocation visit to Indore.

I am thrilled with the peace and quiet, for one thing, on the campus. The variety provided by the PGP/MBA, short term MDPs, and the Executive programs at Indore and Mumbai is a great plus point. We did a couple of interesting programs for Trent, Whirlpool, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.

A chance to experiment with new courses, particularly in the Doctoral program, is for me a definite attraction. Even in the MBA, I started teaching Digital Marketing for the first time in my career, and have learnt a lot from it. I had only one stint with the IPM in a seminar course, apart from some good CIS projects they did with me. But I did interact with a few good actors and actresses during the plays they acted in.

Bright students are like Oxygen, and there have been quite a few, from the first batch whom I taught Advertising to, to the batches thereon, whom I taught Marketing Research and Digital Marketing-you know who you are 😃 Some champions have also won numerous awards and recognition- not necessarily due to me, I might add! I also have been on Doctoral committees of various students in the full-time and part-time programs.

Faculty colleagues are also great fun to be with, and I have had a chance to meet most at breakfast, lunch or dinner, informally, if not at recruitment seminars. Many past students and colleagues visited me at Indore, and I met a few elsewhere during these years. Some also contributed to books that I managed to edit, publish, and I look forward to meeting many more.

Had two admin. stints as MDP chair and Dean-Faculty, that were also enriching. I ended up visiting (for conferences) a lot of nice destinations, from Beppu in Japan to Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Since I also teach Tourism Marketing, it was all useful in my teaching too.

Enjoyed visits to places nearby such as Maheshwar, Pataalpani, Omkareshwar, and Mandu (several times-my favourite).