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?

Penn Masala- a Band From a University Abroad

 Went to a concert where only vocals rule.. the band does not use any musical instruments. A fusion experiment from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, the play a mix of Hindi and English songs.. or sing them. Interesting experiment, and moderately good singing. There are ten men in the band, I think. No women. That reduces the diversity of what they can sing, but the energy levels are high. I was not familiar with the English songs, but a few Hindi ones were pretty decent. 6.5 on 10.

All of them sing or perform music together, with no instruments..

Autonomous B Schools, or University Departments?

 Which is better?

In India, it appears, the autonomous B school outshines the department of management in a university. Especially if it is fully residential. This is unlike the US, where autonomy is inbuilt into university departments. The large bureaucracy in an Indian university nullifies some advantages that it may have in terms of scale and diversity.

Another unique thing is that the top Indian B schools are run by the central government. Unlike the Harvards of the U.S. This could be because the first independent Indian government identified Higher Education as a strategic growth lever, and went into action mode. Set up IIMs and IITs. The focus on one discipline helped them carve out a niche, unlike state universities, which also had fund constraints-still do. Industry participation initially was insignificant, and the government fully subsidised these institutions. My fees at IIM Bangalore for the PGDM in 1982-84 were around 3-4000 rupees per annum.  Seems to have paid off for the government.

Less bureaucracy, strict faculty selection and student selection and swiftly changing curriculum and pedagogy with freedom and incentives to faculty have made IIMs a force to reckon with- I worked at 3 of them, I should know.

Wars at Will

 It's becoming a pandemic, with world leaders the most susceptible.

Starting wars, I mean. Look around in the last few years. More than any other problem, Coronavirus excluded, it's the manmade ones that are endemic. 

The Russian and the American (and a couple of others) heads of state seem to think it's their playground. They can get up one fine morning and declare a war. Or Abduct Heads of State.

The U.N. watches helplessly. 

If China were to take over Taiwan, the same jokers would preach differently. Or if North Korea were to attack South Korea.

A democracy should probably have a referendum, like that for Brexit, when an offensive is to be launched. The laws must hold a Head of State guilty for a war that nobody in the country wants.

Uprisings in Bangla Desh and Nepal have underscored that unpopular governments or leaders can be unseated by popular will. Some day, it might happen in the bigger nations.

Seven Wonderful People

 Apart from parents and close family, that is. Cannot be restricted to a number like 7, but here is a small attempt.

Alok Srivastava- a classmate from engineering, also a friend, philosopher and guide who inveigled me into going for a Ph.D. in the U.S. Helped my brother and me settle in, and improve our research skills. He is no more, but his memory lives on.

Mangala, a senior cousin, who had a family of musicians, husband and two daughters. They were all very hospitable, and I stayed with them multiple times at Mumbai. She was an enthusiastic traveler, and came to visit us in Clemson, USA too.. all 4 of them.

Saumya Sharma, who was my Academic Associate at IIM Indore, and helped a lot with anything I tried- downloading Youtube videos or grading some exams, and so on. Cheerful, and still in touch. 

Gadgil/ Vijayakumar/ Dhanapal- We played a lot of Golf together, and therefore the clubbing- pun intended! Great guys, and we bonded over 18 plus one holes. I had my first Hole-in-one at Kodaikanal in their company. Inspiring!

Jogeswari- My student from KIAMS, Harihar who topped her batch of 2001, worked in Google, and went on to her current stint at Golftripz as a Director. A loyal friend. We meet up whenever we can, after all these years.

Savitha, also from KIAMS, a batch senior to Jogi (above). Varied HR stints in multiple companies and one of her own, a foodie and winey (!). Had many good times when we met.

Jayant, a cousin's husband, and a man who stood by his values. His involvement in Hindi films ranged from screenplays (Benaam) to film production (Ankahee). Hosted us at Shrivardhan for many New Year get-togethers in the late 90s. Lost him a couple of years ago, but his wife (my cousin) and her family- daughter, grandson continue to party whenever possible. She's also an actress, in serials and plays. 

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..

Tughlak Parallels

 In our history of monarchs, Tughlak became famous for quirky decisions which went unchallenged because he was the King! Now Trump seems to be giving him a run for his money.

Making sense used to be one of the benchmarks for administrative decisions- at least ostensibly. But new benchmarks are being set in a so-called Democracy. Is there nobody who can stop him? MAGA is likely to be Make America Grovel Again, looks like.. 

Well, everyone has an expiry date and so will he.. so what are our options as a common man? Take the R.K. Laxman view, and laugh at his quirky decisions which make zero sense, on the back of whatever America has stood for, all these years. 

Luckily, I don't need a visa to go to the U.S... I went in saner times, when Universities weren't persecuted. When it was actually Great!

What I Like About Countries

 The food, and foot massage.. in Thailand.

The Ha Long Bay, in Vietnam.. 

The discipline, in Singapore. Also the public transport.

The politeness, and the public baths- Onsens- in Japan.

The language, in Malaysia.

The National Parks, in the USA.

The pretty islands in Greece. And Moussaka, my favourite dish.

Simple, hospitable people in Cambodia.

Greenery in Sri Lanka.

The temples in Bali, Indonesia.

The openness in Holland.

Monuments in Italy. Venice too, though Bezos didn't invite me..

Of course, many things about India.. will list those out separately.

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..

Oral and Written Communication

 Our (Indian) education system, in school particularly, stresses written communication much more than oral. As a result, when we get into higher education- college or beyond, our spoken skills are limited. Except for a few students who get into debating or speaking classes.

What I observed in the U.S. is that spoken skills are a lot better among undergrads. Maybe among school students also. Their society needs some socialising skills among opposite genders for dating and so on, which are accepted forms of getting to know potential partners.

Whatever the reasons, our students need a lot more prepping for communication skills. My MBA was the first time I was expected to really participate in a class discussion, and that was when I was 22 plus!

Some training, and opportunities for all through curricular and extra-curricular activities- drama, for example, may be great to develop these skills. Schools and colleges, and individual teachers, can do more in this respect, I think.

Not sure what the impact of social media is, on these two forms of communication among youngsters.. a research topic, maybe?

Memorable Moments - USA 1986-89

The day I landed. Sometime in June 1986, abroad for the first time, except a stopover in Zurich by Swissair). Went to New York, took a can from JFK to another airport, and caught a plane to Greenville, South Carolina. Was picked up by Alok and Satish. 

My first teaching experience for undergrads (BS in Management). At Clemson, where I taught computer applications. I barely had a month or two to prepare, but I managed reasonably well. Class size was small, and we had software and a lab. 

First football match with Clemson playing. This was American Football, handheld. Exciting, colourful, with cheerleaders at halftime doing some acrobatics. Great atmosphere, and Clemson was a Champion team from the same decade, a few years earlier.

First drive across the U.S., in a Ford Granada, which also conked out near Las Vegas. Had to change the radiator, which we found in a junkyard. On our way in a hour or so! 

Amusement Parks. Six Flags over Atlanta, Knotts Berry Farm, and Disneyland (last two in L.A.), NBC Studios, and Universal Studios.  Hollywood, a bit of a letdown. The animation studio at Disney was great to see.

Graduating in 3 years, August 1989! Got my name carved on a sidewalk at Clemson- coz it was a centenary year!

US Memories

Wannabe Mexicans.. in L.A. with Anil Lahoti and Satish Nargundkar

Indian artefacts and us..

Arizona, one of those landscapes.. near Petrified Forest National Park, and Painted Desert.
 

Loss of a Friend

 Losing family and friends is always tough. Around two years ago, my mother passed away at the age of 91. Though she had a full life, healthy and satisfying-pathbreaking in many ways too-it was not very easy to digest the loss. COVID saw many lose their life, and even hearing those stories was tough. Now, I heard about the loss of a dear friend who was a pillar of support, and a great joy to be with, in Greenwood, where I taught for a few years before returning to India. He was a prof. at the same place too.

We would land up at his house unannounced, any time we felt like meeting up, Indian style. He was always welcoming, and insisted on us having a drink. His wife also became a great friend, and continues online to this day. His sons were little at the time, and I remember them prancing around, or playing Basketball out in the lawn.

Well, it's true that the bell tolls for everyone, but still, hard to bear some losses of dear ones.

Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas

 Pals from various places. An attempt at a comprehensive classification of my pals, geographically.

Australia- Pooja Daniel, Sanjeev Undri

Dubai- Smita Mohan

China- Yapin

Sri Lanka- Samudrika

USA- Nidhi Kanungo, Annie, Samren, Leslie, Ron and family, Dr. Soni, and Athena, Kamalesh Nayudu, Avadhanulu, Seshu, Nandakumar (Junior), Jockey, Zoom, 

New Zealand- Chasha and Ruab, Gurvinder Singh

Canada- Vaseem, Tanya Shrivastava, Radhax, 

Finland- Anusha, Bhawana Moondra

UK- Senior (Nandakumar), Shuchi Bhatnagar

Hyderabad- Jogi, Venu, Nagarjuna, Nagu, Ramesh, Basudev and lots more, Pratima of Satara fame. HPS classmates galore, including Dattu, Krishna, Praveen (part-time resident).. Aditi Gupta ( lived in South Carolina too)

Lithuania- Natalija

Delhi- Shruti, Aditya, Nikita, Shweta, Sunil Kataria, Harish Chaudhry, Himanshu, Harish Arora, Pradeep Acharya, Kanika Mhendiratta, Padmapriya

Jaipur- Achint, Garima Shah

Bhubaneswar- Ramana, Banikanta Mishra, 

Lucknow- Bhuvneet, Anam, BK Mohanty

Mumbai- Bhagyalakshmi, Sheetal Garg, Abha, Meghana Joshi, Meghna Sinha, Pallavi Sharma

(Originally from) M.P. -Tosha Dubey, Anusha Soni, Pooja Shukla, Manuja Seth, lots in IIM Indore

Bangalore- Bharath, Nagendra, Shailaja Gupta, Anushka Mishra, Savitha, lots of IIMB classmates- Prabhakar, Himanshu, Ramesh, Lingu, Sid-Shubha,.. SP Kumar, Manasa, Sowmyashree, Rajiv Krishnan, Ram Seshu, Muthu

Chennai- Vijayakumar, Lady Daga (Bhawana)

 

Hyderabadi and Gun Control

 A blue-blooded American was trying to make a Hyderabadi understand the Gun Laws of his great nation- and not succeeding. We will try and follow the conversation, for a bit.

Hyderabadi- Kya pareshaani hai bhai, yeh bandookaan..

American- You see, we have the right to defend ourselves.

Hyderabadi- Kya bolre miyaan, humareku nahi hai kya? Ek ungli uthaake dekho tum, kya haal hota malum padinga..

American- No, no, I mean we can carry a gun to defend ourselves.

Hyderabadi- Aisa? Phukat mein milta kya ye bandook aap logon ku?

American (proudly)- Of course not, man. We buy them at the nearest supermarket..

Hyderabadi- Paise deke apne aapku barbaad karre bolo na phir..

American- You call that barbaadi? What if a thief enters your house and opens fire when you catch him? Don't you want a gun to shoot him?

Hyderabadi- Kya baataan karre bhai, usku chappal phenkke martun na main.. dekhe mera chappal? Bandook apne pairon mein maar liye to, chupke to bi lene ke dene pad jaate na..

American- Oh my God! You are impossible. (Exits)

The Younger Self

 I go back to thinking about my younger days, when I see some photos from that era.. and I have tons of them. Some memory is associated with many of the pics. In the U.S., we travelled a lot by car- gas was cheap, and we had the urge. Some pics from that era.. 

Classic Pics

 Some real classics I found recently on an excavation.

Last one has my maternal grandparents, parents, aunts, uncle and cousins of my age group.

Petrified Forest National Park Arizona

 One of the many impressive sights in the U.S. was the

 

Petrified Forest- a place where logs-turned-into-stone are lying around, in various sizes and shapes, broken or unbroken. Very well-maintained, with a visitor centre, like all their parks. 

Nearby was the Painted Desert, layered formations in different colours, that give you an impression it's painted. Seeing it in the snow just added the whites.

Digitizing Slides Part 2

 Some more slides which I recently got converted into digital photographs. Removes the need for a slide projector, though that is an experience in itself. Some of these digitized pics- 

The flyers- we actually took a joy ride in this Cessna (above). 

Below, the guys who flew first at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina- Wright brothers.

Picnic at a Clemson Park.

A real Golf Club where I learnt most of my Golf from Sadanand, and below, my Dad trying out Putt-putt Golf in the U.S.

Niagara, with parents (above) and Sravanabelagola (below) with friends from Harihar

On the Harihar Golf course, and below, Kirloskar Institute, at Harihar where I spent 7 years. (1995-2001)

Digitizing Slides

 I was quite a photography enthusiast, and continue to be one. One experiment I had tried out in the U.S. was to shoot slides which could then be projected on a screen or a wall with a slide projector. We never owned a slide projector, and occasionally borrowed one and had screenings.

I found these slides lying around and got some of the better ones digitized at G.K. Vale, in Bangalore recently. Pretty good, they turned out. Some of these-

Many of these are Fall colours in the U.S.- an amazing sight!