Small pleasures

It is no secret that the small pleasures are capable of brightening your day far more than a jackpot that you may keep dreaming about. Some of these that I have encountered in recent times (and I am grateful for)-

A call, an email or a facebook contact from an unexpected source.

A long chat over coffee with a friend.

Meeting a fan of my textbook. We were sitting next to each other at a seminar.

A song that plays on radio, just when you were thinking about it.

A nice speech. Modi made one in Parliament that was excellent oratory after a long time. Why should parliament be boring?

A repartee. Sometimes it's better than a party.

An unexpected encounter. Met Amol Palekar at IHC. He was exhibiting his paintings.

Playing a computer game with a kid. I played a couple with my niece.

A nice conversation at the lunch table with colleagues. Happens frequently.

Unexpected weather. It's been raining almost every month at Indore this year.

Watching TV after a long time. I watched a few crime serials like Monk, NCIS (?) and Blue Bloods after a while, along with some Big Bang Theory, and quite enjoyed them. 

Also joined a group of like minded fans of Hindi film music through an old student of mine from XIMB.

Attended a rehearsal for The Importance of Being Earnest being staged by a colleague here. Great fun. Reminded me of Wating for Lefty that we had staged at IIMB years ago. I had starred in it.

Election Speech 1

Potentially, there could be many for the upcoming elections. This is a first attempt, so please excuse glitches. I promise to get better with time-

Brothers and sisters (and all the rest),

I promise that it will be a never-ending party. I mean, India will never grow up. We will remain teenaged party-lovers, always -starting with Valentine's Day of 14th Feb fame. You are all invited, except for the owls and other party-poopers, I mean.

Our country has had a great tradition of parties- only, we suitably disguise them as family functions or religious occasions. Countless times, I have attended The Great Indian Wedding, which runs for days, and has costumes which would put erstwhile monarchs to shame. This is all for a good cause, lest you scream "conspicuous consumption." Our detractors may scream all they want, but think of the hungry weavers, spinners (no, not of our party yarns, the real ones), cotton growers and cloth merchants who are able to feed their hungry ones because of these.

I promise that we at our party will serve food that is cooked in pure desi ghee, again aimed at benefiting our home-grown dairy industry, and keeping the greedy multinationals away.

And of course, we will provide everybody jobs in catering to the Great Indian Party that never ends. Think of the impact on our doddering GDP growth! Thank you, and hope for your support.

Ullu ki Dum (Tail of an owl)- I mean, Jai Hind!

Behno aur bhaiyon..

If Ameen Sayani were to be a convocation compere, how would it sound?

Behno aur bhaiyon,

IMT Nagpur ke Deekshant samaroh mein aapka swagat hai. Is saal IMT ki MBA Program ki saalana  seedhi par sabse pehle pesh karenge Arti ko. Yeh hain  paaydaan number do sau par, hamare shikshak gan aur APO ki ranking ke aadhaar par.

Paidaan number ekso ninnyanave  par hain Akanksha..jinki mehnat rang lai aur unhe is makaam par pahunchaya. Inke mata pita bhi yahan maujood hain apni beti ki aakanshaon ko poora hote dekhne ke liye.
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Aage dekhiye Akshar ko, jinhone management ki padhaai ka ek bhi akshar nahin chhoda padhe bagair, ..yeh hain paydaan number pachaas par.

Yeh hain Akash, jinhe unke kuch saathi 'professor' bhi bulane lage the, kyunki inke mizaj kuch professoron jaise hi hua karte the..

Dus number ki paaydaan par hain Archana, jinhone sirf Kotler jaise kitabon ki archana kee thee, aur bahut kaamyaab rahi apni koshishon mein..bahut bahut badhai aapko Archanaji.

Do number par hain Roshan, jinhon ne apna hi nahin, balki saare apnon ka naam roshan kar diya hai aaj.  Chief Guest sahab unhe medal dene mein jo lage hue hain..

Aur ab..dil thaam ke baith jaiye janaab...kyuni aane wala/wali hain number ek par...

Put your name here.

Wouldn't that be great?

Anopheles Comes Back- Episode 6

This is my friend, the female mosquito who bites. She staged a comeback, buzzing into my room the other night after a long time. She asked me what I was up to.

"We are going to have our Convocation soon," I said.
"What's a Convocation?" she wanted to know more.

" It's neither a con, nor a vocation, but a special event where our graduating students are given their diplomas and medals, and there are a few speeches."
"Who gives these speeches?" Anopheles asked.
"Well, the invited Chief Guest, and our Chairman", and sheepishly added, " I do too."

"Why is humankind into speeches so much?" she asked.
"Why, don't you have speeches?" I was curious.
"I haven't heard many, except from this fellow FULL MARX that I told you about. The revolutionary whose ideas died a quick death. But that was a long time ago."

" Speeches can transform people," I argued. "Look at what Martin Luther King did with his ' I have a dream' speech. And Lincoln before him, I guess."
" How many have you had since that one with the same impact?" she wanted to know.
"Not many," I grudgingly admitted.

" People must first want to listen, and absorb what the speaker is trying to tell them." she continued. "Or else, it is a lot of hot air."
"Hell, that sounds like a lot of classes of mine going to waste," I thought to myself. Outwardly, I put up a brave front. "Yes, but that's what the audience is doing-listening."
She gave me one of her trademark 'looks'. "Is that what you think? Why don't you ask anyone at the end of your speech as to what they heard?"
I promised to do that, and hastily changed the topic to something more comforting- or that's what I thought.

"We are again turning champs in cricket, you know. We beat Australia," I informed her proudly.
"This game of cricket. How many countries play it?"
"Six, no...seven, I think.
"Why don't you guys win some football games?"
"Umm," ..I muttered something incomprehensible, realizing I had blundered into the wrong territory again.

I resolved to be better prepared for a debate next time, and said my goodbyes to her.

Inauguration of the 9th Batch at IMT

Convocation speeches and inauguration speeches fill me with dread, usually. That's because they tend to sound the same. It's like trying to make a romantic love story on celluloid. How many different ways can you do it? But today was a pleasant surprise. Both the invited speakers did very well, I thought, to keep things interesting, and the audience (of around 350) interested. Their style had one common factor-the use of stories, mixed with the usual advice to incoming students, about various things in life at a B school and beyond.

One was a marketing and content/creative specialist (producing Kaun Banega Crorepati among other things), another a senior HR professional, and both were great examples of how to speak to a large audience- even though captive, it's tough to hold an audience these days. To their credit, the audience responded well, with rapt attention and apt enjoyment of the delivery.

Our lunchtime conversation was equally interesting, ranging from CSR (Corp Social Responsibility) practices of corporates to astrology and several other things. Industry interaction is a great way to meet people from various companies doing very different things, and you learn a lot from them. Here is to more of it at IMT.

Staging a Speech

Shakespeare said, "All the World's a Stage, and we are .." but I am not sure if he visualised that the stage would be set for staging several things. When we set the stage for a formal or even informal function, why is it that everyone around who is a somebody has to make a speech? What purpose does it serve? And why do speeches have to eulogise everyone who is in sight?

One could argue that this hones the speaker's speech-making skills. I read a cartoon in today's paper that says "Why is it that all the after-dinner speakers are men?"
The answer is, "Because women can't hold on (without speaking) for so long!" There are even clubs that call themselves Toastmaster's Clubs that encourage members to make speeches regularly. I guess the purpose is to prove that unless you make a good one, 'you are TOAST'.

True or false as it may be, why this urge to speak, usually to an unwilling and disinterested audience? Does it prove that language has its uses, but more of misuses than uses? Or is it trying to prove a point to the Martians in case they are planning to take over our beloved earth, that they will be bored to defeat? One does not know, but the fact remains that at every conceivable occasion, we indulge in this self-flagellation of sorts. At this rate, I wonder if we all haven't run out of things to say already! Or have we?