Peanuts

 A few years ago, I had an attack of Gout- used to be known as a Rich Man's disease at one time. Rich food with no exercise caused it, I assume. Anyway, I looked it up, and treated it for temporary relief. It lasts 3-4 days an is painful in the toes and makes it tough to walk.

The few things to do, included eating more nuts. I tried this, and worked well.. the humble peanut is good, so is akhrod. So I set about consciously eating peanuts. Easy to do if you also have a drink .. 

And also, drink a lot of water and eat citrus fruits. And avoid seafood, in my case.

I found a brand of salted peanuts at Indore, and became a loyal consumer. It was a local brand, just like another local brand I found in Bangalore's J.P. Nagar earlier. Found these better than Haldiram's, and fresher too.

The point is, I am nuts about some nuts..get it?

Being a Thought Leader - A Guide

 How do you become a thought leader? It's easy. Follow these 5 important steps.

1. Have thoughts

2. Make sure no one else has the same thoughts.. mind control.

3. If you are a leader already, you have nothing to worry about. 

4. If you are not a leader, find followers.

5. Call yourself a thought leader, in all your intros. Express yourself widely, on social media, particularly the 'professional' social media. 

You are done.

A Trip Through the Clouds

 You don't have to be in a plane to be among the clouds. These pics from a train journey between Indore and Pune (On October 22nd, 2024, early morning) via Khandala prove this- 

Time to Say Goodbye

 As usual, the feelings are mixed. This time, it's not a new job I am leaving for, but a transition of a kind. But stepping down from a full-time role for now. Heading Prestige University as a founding VC has been an adventure, with multiple challenges. The location, Indore, is not top-of-the-mind for outsiders looking for a good education.

Faculty are always a challenge, whether you are at an IIM or any other B school (we started with a management dept.), and the fight for good faculty will continue. Infrastructure, luckily, wasn't a big challenge, as we have an award-winning building (for its architecture, by Sanjay Puri and co.) which is almost done. Only the student and faculty housing remain. 

Marketing, someone has said, has to be the mainstay of any business. So we tried participating in student admission fairs at various locations, doing a lot of digital marketing and branding through participating in invited events, and sometimes as guest faculty at other institutes too. All this, along with student activities through Clubs and committees, will pay off. A great placement team also helped.

Our industry connect through guest and visiting faculty has been exemplary, thanks to many of our contacts giving us generously of their time. Past students, classmates and others have helped us tremendously.

Here's hoping for a great future for the students, faculty and staff of Prestige University.

Tata to Ratan Tata

 Goodbye to an industrialist who changed India's image globally. We were known within India for various achievements in different sectors, but abroad, only for I.T. Services. Even there Tata group had TCS for many years. But it was really with the Tetley, Corus and Land Rover-Jaguar acquisitions during Ratan Tata's time that we arrived on the global stage.

He also consolidated the group by reducing the power of Russi Mody and a couple of other strong and independent-minded heads of various Tata companies. Also, appointed Chandrasekaran of TCS as a chairman following a spat with Cyrus Mistry who was earlier chosen Chairman.

He was also known for philanthropy, and some good human qualities. I never got to see him in person, unlike Mr. Premji, Mr. Ambani or Mr. Sunil Mittal (they came for our convocations at IMT Nagpur), but know enough to think he was good for our country, though he came up the hard way from being in charge of a dead company, NELCO, which made radios.

Gifts I Liked

 The best gifts are visits in person, of course. That I got from old friend Shweta Kushal, on my birthday eve! We had a blast, and visited Dopamine for some yummy food too. 

The other great gifts, apart from wishes in hundreds, were pics of me with the wisher.. Sheetal Garg had one of ours at Prithvi Theatre, from a couple of years ago, and Meghana Khadilkar, likewise. Ananya Nandi De posted one of ours from a Delhi meeting too.

A surprise was a wish from Manuja Seth of NMIMS Bangalore. She had emceed our online convocation.

Enjoyed hearing from friends in Harihar too, on the occasion. And of course, my bookworm and ghost writer friends were at the forefront.

Two more visitors who made it special, were Ishita Modi, ex-IMT and Harish Chaudhry of IIT Delhi, a former classmate from MBA days. Ishita gifted me a Golf ball inscribed with her company name!

We also had a cake cutting at Prestige University, thanks to Divya and faculty colleagues.

Lots of relatives on Whatsapp too. Had a video call with my daughters too, which was nice.

64th Birthday Wishlist

 Actually, there's no wishlist - just a few thoughts. More of a throwback.

I was born in 1960, which was a very different time. Rationing was in force, for sugar, cooking oil (Dalda) and a few other things- sometimes Rice and stuff. Radio ruled (still does in my life), TV did not exist in India. 

Cricket was a gentleman's game, still played in Whites with a Red ball. We went to school, of which I remember only some kind nuns in the first few years, and a couple of classmates. Boarding school was different, and I remember the tough schedule, starting with P.T. at 6 am every day. 

College is a blur, except the Hindi and Telugu films we saw in Hyderabad, and a mess-Ramaiah- we ate at on Sunday evenings coz our hostel mess took a break. Food at our mess was bad. But we survived. Chai and bun omelette at Hilton (Irani, not that one) was a luxury we enjoyed sometimes.

CAT happened, and then IIM Bangalore. That gave some direction to work life, as there was campus placement. An ad agency and a marketing research agency later, I headed for a Ph.D. to Clemson University, South Carolina.

It has been an adventure (starting with an Ad Venture where I worked) in teaching since 1989, full time. And then, admin. here and there, including PES, IMT, IFIM, and NMIMS and Prestige University now. As I prepare to say goodbye to this role soon, it's been a satisfactory run, as Nero Wolfe would say. 

Don't have a specific wishlist. I have grown up, maybe?