38 Together and Going

 Our anniversary is coming up on 26th.. it's number 38. Tough to remember all the ups and downs we went through, first couple of years in the U.S. and then the rest in India, with a few trips to Sri Lanka, cambodia and Vietnam thrown in. A Eurail tour on the way back took us to Greece, Italy and France, Netherlands etc. We went to a friend's place in Brittany, near the Northern coast where Mt. St. Michael is located. 

Made friends in the U.S., Ron and Carmon Green, Leslie and Bob, the Sonis, and Athena and her family, Annie and Samrendra Singh and their sons, and a few more. Wilma Reeves and a Filipino faculty, Ceferina Hess, for example.

We also had a group of Indian friends, Alok, Anil, Suresh and my brother Satish hung out together. Alok's wife Pam too. We went to Charleston, Gatlinburg, L.A.  and Las Vegas, plus a few National parks like Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and so on. Visited Kiran Kenjale and Neena in L.A. and Prakash and Meena, in Detroit.

Made a few friends in our long stay in India at multiple places- Bani and BK Mohanty in Bhubaneswar, Bhagyalakshmi and Shweta Kushal at IIM Indore, Smita Dabholkar and Gadgil at IMT Nagpur, Vijayakumar and family, Dhanapal and family and Yashad Gaur, in Harihar, Anjula Gurtoo in Lucknow, and Shraddha and Neeraj in IIMK. Also Ravi and Dipi in Calicut. We also have musical friends from a group on FB.

We have a wide social circle that includes her schoolmates and students from when she taught (Vaseem), and mine from IIMB, Osmania and all the places I taught in, like IIM Indore (Sanjana Rao, Anusha Soni, Pratima Gaekwad) and IMT, (Ishita Modi, Garima Shah). Keeps us occupied. Plus all the Plays and concerts that we are able to attend in Pune regularly. Life is a party, when you have the right company, right?

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..

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..

Adventures of a Couple

 I am one half of that couple, and we have been at it for 33 years now. Well, adventurous life has meant travel, living in two continents, six states in India, and of course, raising two kids in this roundabout tour of Bharat. The best part is, it's not over yet, so we don't know how many more adventures are in store-at least till we are immobilised by old age. Till then, we are like a combo of Sindbad the Sailor and Baron Von Munchausen with a bit of our own masti thrown in. Maybe a bit of Don Quixote too, since my wife has visited his hometown-must have rubbed off.

Along the way, we made lots of friends. These number in the thousands, since both of us have taught a few hundred kids at different times and of different age groups. Some are globally spread out, and we will attend a Zoom wedding of one such in a couple of days-they are marrying in Finland.

A pictorial representation of some good moments from this journey.

Ha Long Bay, above. Grand Tetons near Yellowstone, below, with my Dad.

Arizona, and NY, my cousin's house.

Kondajji, Harihar, above and Nagpur, below.

Maheshwar on the Narmada, above, and Khandagiri, Orissa, below.

NY, and Las Vegas.

Negombo, Sri Lanka above, and Jaisalmer, below.

Padukone (town), above and Coral Island, Pattaya, below.. the kid has grown up.

At the start- 1988. My parents and hers.

The cake we had on the occasion...ok, two cakes we had. 

Three IIMs As a Professor

 I will shortly complete my 7 year stint at the third IIM I have worked in. Lucknow, 2001-03, Kozhikode or Calicut (2003-05), and now, Indore (2013-2020). I have been frequently asked why I did not stay too long in some workplaces. I will instead try and tell you why I did stay here for 7 years. 

I had visited IIM Indore a couple of times for different reasons, before I came to work here. Always found the attitude of the staff to be helpful on my visits. Indoreans are, without exception, nice people-probably extends to the rest of the state..I have recently made some friends in Bhopal/Dewas too, which reinforces this belief. Also visited Khandwa, Mandu, Patalpani, Maheshwar and Omkareshwar a couple of times at least. My interactions with the housekeeping staff, the drivers and attendants at the offices, were cordial, and they were always helpful when we needed help. 

Students, I had a variety of- one year EPGP, 2 year PGPMX at Mumbai, PGP here and at Mumbai campus, and the crowning glory- PGP regular. Occasionally, IPM and Dubai programs. MDPs, in-company,, and GMPE were some others. We designed a couple specifically for Whirlpool, Tata Trent and HPCL. Most were memorable.

I learnt a lot about the new kid on the block, Digital Marketing, while teaching it and writing cases about it, or sourcing them from students or alumni. Also developed a course on Tourism Marketing for PGP and Ph.D. Very interesting for me!

A few international conferences enabled me to interact with global researchers, from Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Korea, etc.- enriching. Wrote cases on international marketing, retailing, tourism etc. Wrote research papers on Social Media, B to B marketing and Faculty Branding, some of which found outlets in journals of repute. 

Ran a couple of conferences with NASMEI with young colleagues. Also guest lectured at multiple places, went for faculty selections at IIMs and NITIE (renamed as IIM Mumbai now), and FDPs at Belgaum's Gogte Institute. All in all, an action-packed, satisfying 7 years, I must say. Hope the victims of my teaching feel good about my attempts as well! Will remember lots of them.

IIM Lucknow and Tunde Kabab

You cannot think of Lucknow without talking of Tunde kabab. My luck changed for good in 2001 (luck then, not now-couldn't resist this pun). I worked at IIM Lucknow. Some amazing students and colleagues made my life there memorable-Akbar, BK Mohanty, Shailendra Singh, Bharat Bhasker, Vivek Gupta are some I spent a lot of time with. Avinash Mulky, Madhu Karmakar and Vinay of course were a part of a social group too.

 A hailstorm in which Avinash and Vivek pose with evidence.

 Relaxing on the lawn with Mohanty and Harish who was visiting from Delhi.

 My IIMB classmate Manoj Nakra visited. So did Sajeev Menon, and Nidhi from KIAMS with hubby.

Prarthana and Pooja decorating the front of our house. Anjula Gurtoo was our vertical neighbour, and we have stayed in touch ever since.

Lucknowi Andaaz

We have the last bastion of good behaviour, Lucknow, still standing amidst the falling standards of good behaviour in our country. This was an encounter with one of its citizens. (In Hindi/Urdu)-

Me: Aap ki taareef?

Lucknawi: Ama, hum apni tareef nahin kiya karte. Phir bhi, aapne poochha to bata hi dete hain, is nacheez ko Banda Nawaz kehte hain.

Me: Aap ko nahin lagta Nawaz sahab, ki Uttar Pradesh hud se zyada badh gaya hai, aur ise chhota karna chahiye, taaki woh tarakki kar sake?

BN: Logon ko Awadh ki biryani khane se fursat mile tab  hi to soch paenge hum iske baare mein?

Me: Aaj kal ki shaayari ke baare mein aap ka kya khayal hai?

BN: Dard wahi hai, sahab, magar shaayar nahin rahe jo use bayaan kar saken.

Me: Zubaan se to aap Nawaab lagte hain. Karte kya hain?

BN: Sahi farmaya aapne janab, magar sirf zubaan ke hain..warna aapki sahi khaatirdaari na karte?

Me: Kyun sharminda kar rahen hain mujhe? Bahut shukriya aapki zarranawazi ka,..phir mulaqaat hogi kabhi..

Lucknow Diary

Had a chance to go to Lucknow to speak at a conference recently. I was pleasantly surprised to find several people whom I had never met but was aware of. Rama Bijapurkar, who has worked in advertising and marketing research (like me) was a co-speaker. Prof. Mirza Saiyadein, whom I had heard of, but never met, retired prof from IIM Ahmedabad. And then, many faculty who had some links to IIM Lucknow, where I had worked before, 2001 through 2003. That's where my first book got published (Marketing Research, First edition)-  I am fairly bookish.

Lucknow has grown from being a small, under-developed capital, to a decent-sized city, and has good roads-at least ones I travelled on were good. Did not get a chance to go Ganjing at Hazratganj, but saw a branch of CMS, the school where my daughters went for a couple of years. I still remember the kababs with a melt-in-your mouth texture that we had eaten there.

Made famous by its tehzeeb (don't think it can be translated-just look it up), and the famous 'pehle aap', it remains a beacon in a state which has always performed below its potential, and remains plagued by many negatives-perceived or otherwise.

The Importance of being G

These ruminations are to prove that G is probably the most important letter in the alphabet. Wanna bet?

1. A lot of positivity comes out of words that start with a G- Good to Great.

2. Very commonly used term in Lucknow, U.P. is G Haan. In Delhi, or Punjab, it is turned around to Haan G, but still contains the all important letter.

3. Important dialogues in films start with the word Gaonwalon, like in Sholay. Used by Gabbar (G again) and Dharmendra on the water-tank.

4. Important countries of the world (those whose currency does not depreciate) are called G-10 nations.

5. GDP is a measure of how well you are doing, except in Bhutan, where only happiness is measured. Poor souls.

6. India's answer to James Bond, Mithun, went by the name Gunmaster G-9. Not F-9 or B-9. Even the cult movie on campuses is Gunday, starring him.

7. An often-used gaali (honourable term of address) in Hindi is Gadhey...

8. Ghotala, the Hindi word for scandal, also begins with a G. Where would news channels be without these?

9. Ganga and Godavari, two of our most important rivers, are G rivers.

Above all, two words that drive the spiritual, and the corporate sports-world start with a G-

10. God, and

11. Golf.

I rest my case.

The PGP (MX) Program

I was in Mumbai to attend the inauguration of a weekend program for working executives we run in Belapur (new Mumbai). There is a good amount of interest among working people to do this to enhance their qualifications, and learn some management concepts. Currently, many candidates are self-sponosored, but going forward, companies might consider sponosoring their executives, so that they turn out more effective in their jobs, or get to leadership positions in the organisation and shoulder more responsibility.

We have had this program for a few years now out of a temporary campus near CBD Belapur. We are likely to move into our own campus in a few months. That will give us much-needed space to add a library and a few other things to this outreach campus. Other IIMs that have a second campus are Lucknow-NOIDA and Kozhikode-Kochi. There were plans to have an Ahmedabad campus in Mumbai and Bangalore campus in Singapore many years ago, but they came to nought.

Maybe a few foreign universities starting MBA programs could shake up the IIMs and prod all of them towards thinking global. Right now, an assured domestic market of Indian students ensures some complacency.

Deep Freeze

After balmy Bangalore, I returned to find Indore has turned into the Arctic or Antarctic, depending on which way you are facing. I would not be surprised to find an Eskimo peeping out from inside his igloo, or a penguin walking by flapping his flippers.

One is used to his butt freezing in Delhi or Lucknow or northern Rajasthan or Punjab (it happened to me in Amritsar once), but not in Indore. However, there is a bright side to it. You can remain immobile and hibernate unless there is something important to make you move. In my case, it is only this blog post, but that is doable from the warmth of the home.

Why it is freezing and rainy is beyond me. Might have to build a regression model and try explaining it. Maybe the Gods are angry with us. For the way we conduct ourselves. Last time I had a batch reunion, there was a tsunami (in 2004). This time, it's a deep freeze. Now I know how that packet of peas or sausage feels in the freezer.

The Sea and Food

That food from the sea can see us through many a drought, has been my theory for many years. A man living on the coast can never starve, if he can teach himself to fish. A dish containing fish multiplies in its price as it leaves the coast and travels inland. But there are places where seafood is quite cheap (relatively)- Thailand comes to mind. And Karwar, closer home.

Some of the most interesting seafood I ate has been in Calicut, aka Kozhikode. That is because we lived there a full two years, and had a chance to taste mussel, fish of many hues, and prawns. All quite yummy. A great thing about seafood is that it is fairly easy and fast to cook, and tastes good with minimal work. Mutton is the opposite, but delicious when done right. Lucknow kababs are a good example. Nizam's in Connaught Place is another. But I am digressing. Goa of course  has its fishy delights, from beach shacks to homes of friends. I have also eaten good fish at times in Kolkata, and even some of the tikkas in Delhi have been good. Some unusual seafood I ate was -

1.  In France, our friend Anne made something out of a live sea shell that resembled a conch, that was quite tasty. 
2.  I also have swallowed an oyster (you are supposed to) during a Christmas dinner in Greenwood, USA. 
3.  A hot pot in Thailand had me cooking my own fish in a bowl of steaming water right at the table, and adding sauces of my choice to it a few years ago. I also remember long, long ago, in Hyderabad's tank bund, eating fish fry from the fisheries dept. stall. That was yummy!

Why I am on a seafood rhapsody today is- you guessed it- that we just went to a seafood joint called Nisarg in Pune. Quite nice, I must say. Might just do it again.

Goa Case Conference 2013

We at IMT started a case conference in 2010 November, and we are now in the 4th year. This is a conference where participants bring a case they have written, and get feedback in an informal round table setting. Faculty members, students and corporates are welcome to participate. We have had several interesting cases emerge from the conference.

This is quite different from research conferences that involve big sample data, which is the usual format in an academic conference. Powerpoint presentations that are normally used in these, we don't allow in our conference. It fosters a more friendly setting, non-threatening, and pleasant.

This time we had a strong contingent from IIM Lucknow presenting their cases, and a lot of people from a diverse set of Business Schools, from all over the country. There were also a few cases from Goa Institute of Management. It was nice to see the enthusiasm from the first time writers of cases. We also offer review and mentoring for anyone interested, over a longer term through email etc. Some of the cases presented here go on to get published after a revision or a rewrite.

We have been doing it at The International Centre, Goa, that has a beautiful setting near Dona Paula.

Launch of The Hussaini Alam House

It was my newly found habitation again- India Habitat Centre in Delhi. But the occasion was cerebral- a book launch of this book I have been raving about. A few classmates made the occasion even better, all Osmaniacs from engineering days, including Huma, the author.

It was well conducted by Zubaan, the publisher represented by Urvashi Butalia and her colleagues, who provided the tea and then kept away, leaving the floor to Huma and to engage her in a talk, Vidya Rao, also a Hyderabadi who does not live there right now. The reason this is important is because the book among other things looks at a Hyderabadi way of life gone by, and maybe that is a microcosm of the world anywhere else. It also speaks of events in the background of the lives of its characters, and though mellow in its criticism of stuff like Babri Masjid and Police action and the Godhra riots, forces us to introspect on where we are headed as humans. The Delhi gang rape that recently took place brought this home forcefully too.

I am happy that the event was housefull, and chairs had to be brought in after a while. The conversation included Huma's views about the characters in the book, and the character of Hyderabad and other places like Lucknow. It centred around something called grace- not sure if many would recognise it today, for it is all too rare. Vidya epitomised it in the way she conversed with the author. Mark Tully was also there.

If I Ever Start A Business

If I ever start a business, these would be my top choices-

1. A retail store at Pune. Do nothing all the time, turn customers away half the time, a siesta from 1 pm to 4 pm. And still make enough sales to make a living. Marketing theory can go to hell.

2. A real estate agent. Do nothing most of the time, show a couple of houses to a customer once in a while, and make money because the guys are desperate to live somewhere, so they have to rent/buy

3. A sharebroker. This is my top choice, because there is greed all over the world, and it will make me (the share broker) rich. I would have said a dealer in fancy derivatives, but that game has now been overdone, and I might go to jail. Guys ahead of me on the curve got away with it.

4. Sell biryani (and kababs on the side) with a fail-safe recipe, preferably Hyderabadi or Lucknowi, in a place where they eat tons of it, like Hyderabad, or Lucknow. Having your cake and eating it too. I would enjoy dying with the aroma surrounding me. The stuff is God's gift to mankind (effect of a recent visit to Hyderabad).

5. Be a film star, preferably a Khan or a Kapoor or a Bachchan. Even with zero talent, producers will sign me on for at least five films, and if they all flop, I can still make merry with my grandpa's earnings.

Maybe you can think of a few more for me and you. We have time....

Places I Liked Living In

Going on with this places thing, I lived in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Calicut/Kozhikode, Lucknow, Harihar, and Nagpur in my working life since 1984.

If I were to think about places that I liked living in, Harihar would top the list. I did not know where it was when I went there, but the small town-great facilities combo was like suburban living in an idyllic suburb of any city. We lived in a colony which had 40 year old trees, a river (Tungabhadra) within walking distance, a market also close enough to walk to- I am reminded of Bill Bryson's comment that we hardly walk anywhere these days- and a golf course within walking distance, to top it all. What more can a man ask for?

Bhubaneswar was also idyllic in its own way, no pollution, all green, and an almost rural feel. Why do we yearn for this rural ambience? Because it relaxes the spirit. Very tough to be relaxed in the midst of screaming traffic and chaos everywhere around you, I suppose. We find an escape through watching weird TV shows, and the like.

Nagpur is also a nice place, if you don't commute through the heart of the town- I don't. The campus of IMT (about 35 kms, from town) is of course like a little green zone, very picturesque and gives you the feeling of being in a garden. Lucky are those who get to work in such places. Talking of picturesque, IIMK's campus at Calicut is one of the prettiest (work) places I have seen (and also worked in a couple of years).