Not mine, but should be on others' lists, because I have read these books/authors already. That was a Googly.
Zorba the Greek
Maverick by Ricardo Semler
Bertrand Russell
J. Krishnamurty
Alice in Wonderland
Wodehouse- almost any book
Pu La Deshpande - if you read Marathi
Bill Bryson -his travelogues
Woody Allen- he writes well too
Comics- Asterix, Tintin, Mandrake, Phantom
Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stout and Arthur Conan Doyle among the stalwarts of whodunits
There aren't many, because I only have cocktails among friends at a party, now. But we experimented at one time, and had a few home made cocktails in Calicut.
Polly's Folly, with Vodka, lime, soda and salt was a favourite. A sliced and de-seeded green chilli is added and left for a couple of minutes, to add some zing.
Among standard ones, Tequila Sunrise is one I liked. Among the exotic ones, Bahama Mama and Bahama Papa. Remember having the Mama with Kanika Mhendiratta in Delhi recently.
Bloody Mary too, among standard ones. Sometimes, a Gin and Tonic.
Gin and Cointreau also tastes pretty good.
Somebody's post on a Social medium triggered this. What is a job? Salary plus perks. The salary is in cash, and tangible. The rest is in the form of mostly intangible benefits, or perks, if you will. I am talking of higher education, and institutions which are reasonably well known as good employers, private or government.
The first perk in a good institution is good students. If they interact in a class, do their assignments reasonably well, and so on, it is quite a satisfying outing for the faculty. Doctoral students can perhaps stretch this feeling further, in discussions outside class too.
Autonomy to drive your own interests is another great perk. You can produce some output in terms of case writing, publications, text books or conference papers, depending on your interests and motivation. Institutional support helps, naturally.
Organising events for the institution or its stakeholders, can be a useful activity with a lot of learning. Alumni meets or short term programs for executives, or for faculty, are some examples. Industry seminars are another avenue to bring about greater interaction and understanding. Tracking internships or getting cases written by students are possibilities.
All in all, a fulfilling career can be built in a good academic institution. The bonus sometimes is a lot of alumni who are still in touch after they have moved out. Some become friends for life!
Inspiring book- the one on the right! Got it at the Kolkata Litfest recently. Heard him-the author too.
The book deals with an unusual subject. Memoirs of a Courtesan, as narrated to her son. Very inspiring, and I won't give away the story and be a spoiler.
Read it if you can. Manish Gaekwad is a journalist/writer. It's his mother's story. And she was a courtesan here in Kolkata.
Simple, straightforward, touching.. with some Hindi words, mostly translated.
The other book I got autographed by the author. Still reading it.
I know it's Kolkata now, but the title needs to match.
I was in Calicut in 2003-2005. We had just moved into the new campus. My interview was held in the old one at NIT Calicut.
I wrote a book, Services Marketing, and taught that course as well as Marketing Research. We also did a couple of FDPs, on Case Writing and Research Methods. Also organised a conference with Tapan Panda, where we got NASMEI as a partner. Remember publishing a book of conference papers. Met Anita Basalingappa of MICA for the first time. Still in touch with profs. SSS Kumar and Keyoor Purani.
The campus was lovely, but there was no housing, so stayed in Malaparamba. Gave us access to the town, which was a couple of kilometres away. My brother and his son visited from the U.S., as did Jogeswari from Hyderabad, ex-student of KIAMS. Krishna Kumar from IIML took over from Kalro as the director during that time. We did an MDP at Kodaikanal too, for BHEL, I think.
Kolkata happened in 2025. Joined JIS University as one of two Pro Vice Chancellors. A relatively unknown brand, outside West Bengal/Kolkata. I have tried to encourage branding efforts, and now that we are a part of CUET as well, awareness for the brand will grow. A small management department in New Town, but larger depts. like Pharma, Computer Science, Education etc. in Agarpara on the outskirts, and Agriculture even farther at Kalyani.. they need a larger space.
Some great food, and some new friends too... including Ananya Ghosh, a Ph.D. scholar at Xavier University here. And Suhasini Barman, who is known to Manglik, a classmate of mine..
These are Hindi film songs, translated into English. We played this game when young and stupid.. ha ha.
1. Ok, I am going. See you again tomorrow.
2. Stop stop stop, stop my dear..
3. Smoke your joint, sorrows get wiped out..
4. Where will you get such a chance again?
5. Today tomorrow our love story is on every tongue..
6. Your dreams and mine are one colour now
7. Two words only, story of the heart..
8. In the window opposite mine, lives a piece of the Moon.
9. A clever woman, after decking up..
10. A wet, wet girl, sleeps at night as if awake..
I think it was Edward De Bono who came up with the idea of wearing 'different hats' to think differently. But I am talking of literal hats- some of the hats I have tried are Vietnamese (my favourite), Baseball cap, Mexican Sombrero, Moroccan Red, and some pagdis (headgear) like in Udaipur, Jodhpur (Rajasthani) and a Mysore Peta and Marathi Pheta. Of course, many Golf caps too.
Many of these are immortalised in pics- hopefully I will find them.
