Best Friends- Part 3

 More of them-

Akshat Surana, Sampark Sachdeva, Ishan and Ankita Joshi, Khyati Jha, Siri Adi, Nagendra Rao, Omprakash and Geeta Chaudhary, Indira Kanagasabai, Rajan Mani, Venkatesh Gopalan, Lalita, Usha and Shiva, Ravindra Marghade, Rajni and Rimjhim Verma, Subbu, Mohan Gopalratnam, Lakshmi Rajgopal, Namratha Muralidhar, Poonam Bhatia, Muralimohan K., Bharath Shenoy, Shreya Sengupta, Tanaya Kar, Sharmishtha Singh, Shweta Agarwal, Supriya Shenoy, Roopsha Chatterjee, Sugandha Kumari, Bidipta, Harnam Kaur, Murtaza Kuwarawala, Navroze Sethna, Meha Kapoor, Abhinav Kamal, Girija Vemaraju, J. Radhika, ...

to be continued ..

Best Friends- Part 2

 Some more- Gopal Mahapatra, Manoharan, Vijayakumar, Dhanapal, Himanshu Manglik, Rajan of India, Harish Chaudhry, Alisha Thomas, Nisha Verma, Vrinda Khanna, Pallavi Bajpai, Anushka Mishra, Divya Sisodiya, Chaithu Gunapali, Pooja Varun, Roshni Chhabra, Bhavana Daga Sonthalia, Bhawana Moondra, Anusha Ramakrishnan, Saumyaa Sharma, Nikita Kumar Ray, Shruti Sharma, Aditya Naag, TK Chatterjee, Prerona Baruah, Ekalavya Barua, Aditya Deshbandhu, Venugopal Reddy, Nagarjuna, KS Murthy, G Sreenivas, Sreenivas Garudachar, Sanjana Rao Yarram, Sohni Roy, Anshita Abhishek Chetty, Gowri, Sreeram, Anusha Mamidanna, Meenu Mynam, Arvind Joshi, Usha Narayanan, Padmapriya, Jogeswari, Ranjana Rudra, Jaya Jha, Devapriya Roy, ...

The list will continue..

Will Zoom Survive?

 In case we all revert to life as in February 2020, what will happen to Zoom and Teams? There may be occasional use by some, and a regular use by a few, but the bulk of users may forget the online and move on to the face to face paradigm again.

By the way, even at the start of the online/WFH movement, whatever happened to Skype? Did it morph into Teams, or is it dead and gone? It was too complicated for most, I thought.

So maybe the lesson-another one- is that the better designed service will win. Zoom over Skype and Gmail over Yahoo earlier, are cases in point.

Fun People

 I am fortunate that I have had a lot of fun in the 61 years on this planet. Apart from unintended fun in the classroom, I mean. Lots of genuinely fun-loving people always existed in the family- cousins, for example. We had many summer holidays with them, and winter outings at a coastal secret location more recently, before the pandemic happened.

But classmates in school, college and then MBA, and colleagues and students have all been fun to be with, at all stages of life. Some I have met over the years, and some only a couple of times. Online too, my facebook friends and music group (newly-minted) are wonderful, and keep me away from Bay-of-Bengal type depressions. Banter, online and offline, is the greatest stress-buster! Recounting all their names is not possible, but I will name a few whose darshan elevates the mood- Sheetal Garg, one of the most enthu people I know, Prachi Jain with whom there's a lot of online banter, Meghna Sinha who paints the town Red with Asian Paints, Shatakshi Tripathi who I never met at IIM Indore but met a lot in Bangalore, Bhagyalakshmi, friend and ex-colleague, Narayani, a colleague at present in Bangalore, Rupam Verma, October-born, my wonderful party-organisers Anshita, Tosha and Abha at Bangalore and Mumbai, Nikita and the IMT Gang in Delhi, Sunil Kataria also in Delhi, Jogeswari in Hyderabad, Vidya and Sapna in Singapore (KIAMS vintage), Smita in Dubai, my twins (can't argue with facebook!) Shafique and Pallavi, film director Abhinav Kamal (or kamaal?), Bharath Shenoy (now author too), Savitha, Anushka in Bangalore and regulars in my party circuit, Muthu in Bangalore, and Geeta and gang in my music group. TK Chatterjee, Shreyashi Chakraborty-ex IMT. Also, Garima Dubey from the PGDM Exec. whom I met recently is a high enthu person. Ok, that's enough for now.. I am sure this will continue like the Panchatantra, because there's a lot of punch remaining..

Independence Day 2021

 An independence day show put up virtually by our students at NMIMS Bangalore- some glimpses.

Good going!

Human Resource management During Pandemic

 Some good and some bad, for the H.R. folks, I think. Recruitment had to go online, joining in many cases too, for new recruits. I interviewed online, but joined physically for my new job, for instance. For the MBA students, some job offers were delayed (or joining was), and internships had to be carried out online, with lockdowns persisting in most places around India.

Some events that student clubs regularly conduct moved online. In some cases, this led to a greater reach, because travel time and cost for speakers was cut, but it also meant a loss of 'the experience". The education/training itself underwent a huge change, and started to resemble distance learning in some ways. Of course, the tech-savvy B schools/colleges adapted quite well, but the experience was still a notch lower because of the lack of the social aspects, and peer learning opportunities.

H.R. lays a great amount of stress on people-to-people contact, and that took a hit. But they adapted to the inevitable, and will probably use the learnings well, if and when we get back to normalcy.

Holistic Approach to Life

 Today is the festival of Holi in India. So, naturally, I had to think about the word holistic. I don't remember when I heard the word first, maybe in the 80s while doing my M.B.A. Some other words from the same period were Value Engineering, M.R.P. (later turned into E.R.P.), Positioning, and lots more.

Returning to holistic, that's a view of anything, a more rounded, broad view. So if one were to look at the Corona pandemic, a holistic view would include all stakeholders, including government (worldwide) which learnt (hopefully) that welfare of its people, including healthcare and hygiene, comes before economics, no matter what the Pink papers have to say. Hospitals and healthcare industry, which learnt that R and D has a major role to play, and many frontiers remain unconquered.

The common man in many countries learnt how responsive his government (elected, in democracies) was to his pain. We all learnt to live digitally, order food online, educate our kids online, and work from home. Pollution on roads and in factories declined, weather improved as a result, and some positive effects on health were felt in urban areas.

We also lived with no major congregations for any reason, proving it can be done. Also without international travel- discretionary- and it did not affect us as much as we imagined. Of course, the tourism industry took a hit, and the hospitality sector. And airlines-but most of the airlines always have a yoyoing life, economically, even without a pandemic. 

The biggest negative was not being able to meet classmates, colleagues (those we like and dislike!), teachers, and relatives and friends, whenever we wanted to. A big loss! Hopefully we will get back!

Tourism Conference at Shillong

 This was supposed to have been last year, but happened online this year. GHTC conference, organised by NEHU, a university in Shillong. Missed out on visiting Shillong, but an interesting mix of papers I heard as a Session Chair. Some glimpses.

A presenter from Amrita University Coimbatore (above)

The two moderators from NEHU, below.

A presenter from Bhutan (above), and another from Tirupati below, top left. There were a couple of international participants too- you can see one below.

3 Weeks at NMIMS Bangalore

 It has been an interesting 3 weeks at Bangalore in my new job with NMIMS here as director. Strange circumstances that have seen no students on the campus physically yet. Hopefully, we may see a few in the coming weeks, though it depends on multiple factors including State government guidelines and how COVID plays out. Vaccination has started abroad, but the U.S. and Europe data on current rate of infections is not exactly encouraging. Lockdowns are back in lots of places. 

But we did manage a few distanced meetings among faculty colleagues at NMIMS, and we are still grappling with COVID-related issues like everyone else in education, I guess. Mostly, everybody has become comfortable with online modes of learning and evaluation. We also have marketing campaigns running for our Executive programs and Undergraduate programs, both of which are a part of our portfolio at Bangalore's two campuses. One undergrad program that I find very interesting is the B. Sc. in Applied Statistics and Analytics. It's cutting edge, and the need of today.

Remotely chaired a conference session too, at the IMS-NASMEI Conference today (Dec. 18, 2020)..a good substitute for the Great Lakes NASMEI conference that I usually attend physically this time of the year, in Chennai. Might also experiment with a Zoom session on Personal Branding for a former student. based on how it goes, you may see more of me on some Youtube forums..just a friendly warning.

Also began to catch up on old friends. Savitha (below) for example, who is from the first batch of Kirloskar Institute, Harihar. We have met regularly since those days. 

Leading Life Online and Other Ponderables

Imagination is supposed to be the difference between man and (other) animals.

Here's letting some of it loose-

What if we could lead our lives online? What do we really need to do offline? Work life can certainly be online 90% of the time. And online marriages can probably succeed as well as offline ones..you just need to figure out how to throw pots and pans at each other online..I am sure our I.T. guys are capable of doing that, given time.

What if instead of freebies, we made everything free? How will the world change? Karl Marx must be shuddering at this leap of faith beyond what even he thought of.

What if we banned jargon? Lawyers (and MBAs) may cease to exist, and all corporates would have to mend their ways. Point 2 above anyway would have shut down marketing departments.

What if all Heads of Government disappeared?  Would the world be a better place? And national boundaries? (I can already see the smile broaden on your face...)

I could go on,..but the real nightmare is if Apple disappeared from our Garden of Eden, isn't it?

Second life becomes First life..any takers?

Looking Back at 2019

I know it's not December 31st, but I am looking back at the action-packed eight and a half months that have passed by. I started in January by reading a new author- Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go was the book-poignant, about human-like creatures grown for a purpose, and how they turn even more human-like. Unexpectedly, the delayed fourth edition of my Marketing Research text came out, and I was able to release it at our own conference. Lots of students from IIM Indore a couple of years ago contributed the case studies, so it was a proud moment. There was a Delhi conference at IMT too, and I managed to meet Padmapriya and her hubby, after long!

Started a new photography competition on fb in addition to usual awards and quizzes..discovering good photographers is a byproduct.

As usual, I met a lot of past students, some who visited Indore (like Anam and Harshad), and many more outside Indore on my travels to Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Ahmedabad (that was for a book release by a friend at MICA). Pune too, where I met Neha Adiga. Also gatecrashed (no, I was invited) into an alum meet of IMT Nagpur in Mumbai.

Met Sharmistha Singh, Shweta Agarwal and Sunil Kataria of KIAMS after about 16 years- and Anushka Mishra for the first time (we'd met on fb first). Also met Bharat of IFIM and Shatakshi of IIMI in Bangalore. In May, I went to Reva University for a talk on Smart Cities and ran into Shinu Abhi, a former colleague. Met SP Kumar and Manoharan, also past colleagues at PES. In Mumbai, visited Bhagyalakshmi and family. Met Shraddha Nigdikar too.

My friends from MBA too. I met Dash in Kolkata, and a big gang at Venky's boy's wedding. Stayed at the Presidency Golf Club too, a first. Also went for a conference at Goa, but missed out on meeting Prashant who lives there as he was busy. Harish and Snail at Delhi and Hyderabad I did meet.

IIT Guwahati was a revelation. It looks like a European town, with lakes on campus. Had gone to Belgaum's Gogte Institute on invitation, and had a fabulous drive through the Chorla Ghat, with the rains and clouds for company. Saw a few good films too, and read a few more books-among them old favourites by A.A. Fair and Rex Stout.

Also visited Bali for a conference, and went rafting on a river. Not bad for eight months!

Social Media- Misuse and Dangers

I was reading an article yesterday about a Youtube celebrity (female) who went to meet her fans offline. One of her admirers took out a gun, and shot her, and then shot himself at this meet. This is an extreme case, but illustrates that you really don't know too much about online connections, particularly when they are of the "celebrity-admirer" type. Of course, confidence tricksters from around the world have also made their online friends part with money in many cases, some of which have come to light.

An interesting case of a big amount being asked for (and given) by some random person who promised big returns in a short time has happened to someone in my friends' circle, and may not be an isolated case.

There is worse, and one reads about stalkers and predators doing nastier things globally. So it may be wise to be careful, and allow some regulators (not necessarily government, but including govt.) to exercise control, and make privacy laws stringent, so that at least you are protected to an extent. Of course, be careful whom you befriend online.

Friends

This is not about the TV serial, but my friends. Friends are great, for many reasons, and it doesn't matter where they are- next to you, or in another corner of the world, as long as you connect when both are inclined to connect (HMT watches had a slogan once- If you have the inclination, we have THE TIME).

I am energised constantly by my friends-online and offline. It helps to meet sometimes, obviously, but that's not always possible. Where it is, I try, whether it's a work trip or a holiday. Most times, I am able to meet an ex-student, or a friend I haven't met in a while, and share lovely conversations about the good old days. In terms of numbers, many are from IMT Nagpur, my IIM Bangalore batch, Kirloskar Institute, PESIT, IFIM and then, IMT G, IIMK, IIML, VJIM, and of course, IIM Indore (my second longest stint after Kirloskar Institute-I love poha).

Sometimes, we end up playing Golf, but just chats are great too, over a beer or coffee. Sometimes I bug my friends to write cases or give guest lectures (ha, ha, beware!), and some actually oblige. But more often, there's no agenda, it's purely for fun and joy.

Here's to more meetings with friends, or chats online-these happen regularly too. I notice people asking me for advice these days-all that grey hair probably makes them think I know something they don't -wink, wink...

Names in My Friend-list

Some names are unique, and some ubiquitous. I thought I would list out some names that occur frequently and not-so-frequently in my friend-list (online and off).

Frequent, but of course, each one is unique. Apoorv, Ankit, Ankita, Abhishek, Neha, Chandni, Isha, Sriram, Anuradha, Pooja, Priyanka, Aditi, Aditya, Vishal, Praveen, Deepti, Divya, Anjali, Animesh, Naveen, Saumya, Garima, Siddhartha, Gunjan, Vikas, Vijay, Sheetal, Aishwarya, Akanksha, Archana, Bhawana, Sudipto, Bibhuti, Srinivas, Smita, Meghna, Sneha, Supriya, Shalini, Swati, Sapna, Shraddha, Rajesh, Alok, Suresh, Ramesh, Priyanka, Anant, Gautam, Milind, Deepak, Shruti, Madhuri, Ekta, Urvasi, Shweta, Pavan, Rohit, Saurabh, Kriti. Kritika, Monika,   ..

Infrequent or unique. Tosha, Tanaya, Paridhi, Harika, Yoshitha, Sabala, Sarvani, Satchi, Rewa, Angaee, Anupriya, Aman, Aashneet, Mrunal, Manasa, Laura, Lubna, Arafat, Tamros, Bhuvneet, Sarita, Anwesha, Khushboo, Manjari, Roshni, Murtaza, Indrajit, Indranil, Banikanta, Radha, Mishleen, Jasmine, Ruminder, Jasleen, Harnam, Harshdeep, Barleen, Vrinda, Shatakshi, Shreyashi, Jayasimha, Shahida, Harshad, Dheeru, Dheeraj, Vishesh, Hiral, Ishita, Parul, Aishani, Dhaarna, Lionel, Navroze, Jogeswari, Indira, Shikhar, Ratnashree, Shrunga, Ojasvi, Eisha, Sirisha, Nikita, Reitu, Pradyumna, Dhanapal, Nagendra, Avadhanulu, Keyur, Kamonasish, Miten, Geegesh, Zargar, Jyotirmoy, Shrishail, Shuchi, Sounak, Noori, Nancy, Shafique, Amlan, Damini, Swathika, Kalaivani, Sadhana, Natalija, Fanni, Yapin, Twinkle, Ron, Leslie, Lingaraju, Anumeha, Padmapriya, Prabhuvardhan, Bernadette, Alpana, Kanika, Shatabdee, Savitha, Shonika, Shyamli, Nits, Vidya, Swapna, Frane, Ansh, Anshita, Sirsa, Virajay, Oshin, Nagarjuna, Huma, Smriti, Novi, Pragya, Nisarg, Devank, Pulkit, Sucharita, Susmi, Sita, Vatsal, Radhika, Darwish, Uddipta, Aalap, Anubhuti, Anindita, Anuj, ..

Among other things, during this exercise, I discovered that I make friends with the Kaurs quite easily..can that be called a Kaur competence?

I think I have mentioned in an earlier blog the surnames that I seem to be surrounded by- the Sharmas, Sinhas, Singhs, Mishras and Srivastavas. Not to mention the Guptas, Jains and Agarwals.. so I won't get into that again.

Games People Play- My Digital Marketing Course

This was the title of a best-seller of days bygone. It described some psychological 'games' that people indulge in. But who says the pyschos should have all the fun? Digital Marketers can have fun too.

So it was that we played this game involving bidding for a good position on a digital search platform. The bidding happens against a keyword which you think people will use to search (online) for your product, and if you want your advertisement to show up on the search results.

One can, of course, be found without paying, if your website content is the most relevant to the search query/keyword, but paying for it assures you a position in the top few advertised spots.

Anyway, the game was quite useful as a learning device and the class was able to articulate a few takeaways from only two rounds of playing it, with a real company-Golftripz- being the subject used, on whose behalf the bids were made.

We are also trying out an ad film for online use on Youtube or elsewhere (blog, webpage), for marketing your brand online. Let's see how that goes..