Forts I Saw

 India has so many forts, and I have seen a few impressive ones, including Fort-palaces which were like cities once. One in France was Mont St. Michael, in Northern France-Brittany- along similar lines. The ones in the U.S. were unimpressive, and small.

Jaisalmer and Jodhpur are probably among the impressive ones I remember, along with Jaipur's Amber Fort. Golconda is also nice to visit.

Others would be Sinhagad near Pune, and one in Kolhapur that I forget the name of. Bekal Fort on the West Coast of India was good too. Have seen the Agra Fort and Delhi's Red Fort and Purana Qila (ruins, mostly) also.

I only saw Solapur's fort and Gingee Fort in Tamilnadu from a distance. While passing by on road trips.

I think Milind Gunaji has written a book about Maharashtra's Forts too. Should read it some day.

Gujarat and Rajasthan

 I have been mostly to Ahmedabad, usually as a guest of an educational institute- IIMA, Nirma, and MICA being my hosts in the trips I remember, and a University in Anand once. Therefore, I don't have too many recollections, except the people I met who were uniformly hospitable, unlike the land, which is mostly dry and dusty, and somewhat similar to the Dubai landscape I have seen, minus the huge towers.

My memories are mostly about people, therefore- Varsha and Anita at MICA, Manjari and Ankita, Ishan Joshi, Keyur Bhalavat (some of them entrepreneurs like true-blue Gujjus usually are). Some pics including a couple from neighbouring Rajasthan.

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Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, a desert destination, worth visiting-above and below.

Manjari Mundanad and Punyashlok Dwibedy above, and Ankita/Ishan Joshi, Keyur and others, below.

The MICA team with Varsha, Anita Basalingappa and others. I was there for a Ph.D. viva of a student of Anita's.

Road-tripping

Being on the road (in its positive sense) is a nice feeling. While in the U.S. between 1986-1991, we went often. Some long trips, and some short. Driving was fun, mostly, and roads excellent. But in India too, we have been on some-with a driver in a couple of cases. While living in Harihar, we went to Colva beach at Goa regularly, driving there via Hubli-Karwar, a very nice road at the time.

Recently, we went to Jaisalmer via Chittorgarh and Udaipur, and also stopped over at Jodhpur's Mehrangarh fort. Belur-Halebid, Jog Falls, and Hampi were some other memorable trips from Harihar. Ooty-Coonoor with some IIM buddies was another recent one, and a couple of Golfing trips with friends from IMT Nagpur, to Munnar and Kodaikanal were good ones.

Bryce Canyon, U.S. with my parents (above). Mysore, with German students and faculty from Lubeck (below).

Yellowstone National Park, with parents.

Jaisalmer road trip.

Rajasthan Over the Years in Pictures

 First, Udaipur, then, at Jodhpur (with Sita Mishra recently), and with Prarthana in the traditional colourful headgear on a roadtrip.

 Stayed in this haveli with Manoharan for admission work, 2009. A shot of the ceiling, below.

and the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.

Jodhpur, Mehrangarh, with Neveen Das, my Ph.D. student then.

 Chittorgarh victory tower, above, and a camel ride, below in Jaisalmer. 2015.

Rajasthan is fascinating, and I have been there several times.

and finally, the swag at having done it. Kuldhara, the mysterious deserted village near Jaisalmer.

Highlights of 2015

Looking back, I made a maiden trip to Japan for a conference in Beppu. Learnt a lot about Japan, and was impressed by their politeness. Skinny-dipping in their onsen (hot water spring/bath) was a first, after childhood. Made another trip to Singapore, and met a couple of former students, Vidya and Swapna, from KIAMS-from the 2000-02 batch! Caught up with another KIAMS alum, Jogeswari, who runs Golftripz, at Hyderabad. Met a few IMT Nagpur alums in Hyderabad (Nikita), and Delhi (Meghna) as well. And Animesh Jain in Bhopal. And of course, enjoyed interactions with lots more on facebook-too numerous to list! Caught up with a few IIMB classmates during visits to Bangalore and Delhi. An XIMB alumnus I taught in 1991 introduced me to a music group on Facebook. We are fans of old Hindi film music.

In Indore, my current abode, taught a couple of new courses (including at the Mumbai campus), and planned a couple more. Completed an interesting study on Personal Branding with some qualitative research, for a change. Started one on Identity and Social media, to be completed soon. Wrote a case on international marketing by Euroflex, an Indian B to B (Business to Business) marketer. Got some new clients for our MDP (management development programs) this year, including Tata Trent.

 My niece having fun at Mandu-Jahaz mahal.

 At Indore campus with my wife and cousin.

A road trip to Chittaurgarh (a song from Guide was shot here), and Jaisalmer (pic above in the dunes) via Jodhpur with family was another highlight. Five days of fun culminating in a desert safari. Another one with friends to Munnar to play Golf there was different, as it was my first visit to the place. One to Nagpur to rekindle old golfing days was also good. Wound up the year with a trip to Shrivardhan on the Konkan coast with some cousins. And for good measure, a party at Pune to celebrate a niece's wedding. My brother who lives in the U.S. was also in attendance.

Saw some good films, like Masaan, Dum Laga ke Haisha, Court (Marathi), Bahubali, Katyar Kaljat Ghusli (Marathi) and Bajirao Mastani. Read fewer books this year, but some good ones, as usual. Twinkle Khanna's was a surprise. Matt Ridley's book about the Evolution of Everything found me agreeing with him that almost everything is about slow and steady change. Maybe that explains why slow cooked food tastes so good!

Jaisalmer in Pictures

Barring the victory tower from Chittaurgarh, the rest are from Jaisalmer area, the sand dunes being about 30 kilometres away from town, and the lake right in the town. The place I am posing in front of is called Vyas Chhatree.

Of Jaisalmer and Rajasthan

We drove, a group of six, to Jaisalmer to visit the sand dunes. So now, we can claim to have "dune" it! Or, the dudes who dune it, in Americanese.

We stuck to the highways, except where it was inevitable. Advice from  faculty colleague from Rajasthan helped us select the best routes (via close to Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, and back via Jodhpur, Udaipur) and some of the highways were fantastic. Reminded me of the long circular drives where we went to around 20 US states each time (we did that twice)-Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon and South Dakota's Mount Rushmore remain etched in memory. Roads have a spinoff effect, and can take the country ahead. So does the metro railway, and Mumbai has developed due to its famed local trains more than anything else. Commuters like a predictable journey time.

Anyway, back to Jaisalmer. Dunes are fun, and every park should have a sand dune in my view. Camel rides are fun too, though some camels look starved. They should be fed well. We also did the dune thing, that is, stayed in a tent for the night, and listened to Rajasthani folk sing their thing and dance their tunes out in the dunes. Ok, I am almost dun with the dunes. For now. More later, with pics.