My Kolkata Journey in Pics

 From April 2025 till March 2026.

My entry- above, and my office with Shrabani

Visit to Kalyani, above, and Alumni meet, IIMB below

Tolly Club, above, and Suhasini Barman, new friend, below

Aakansh visits, and Bani and Anita, below

Football, and Barrackpore trip for Biryani

Banani Sah and Samarendra, and inauguration of Interfaith Dialogue

Students of BBA, and Karanjyot and Shrabani

Outing on Christmas, and Litfest at Alipore Jail

Ecopark restaurant, and Books I bought

Cute welcome at a school event, and meeting Ananya and Sayantani Saha of IMT Nagpur

IK Gautam visits, and Jasbir Matharu visits -with Abhinav Chandel

Debasmita Das and Shrabani

Reflections on the Kolkata Stay

 Since it has been around 10 months now, I feel entitled to a few reflections.

One, the cost of living is lower than in many other large cities.

But coupled with this, the salary levels are low in many sectors. 

Shared autos have 5-6 people in addition to the driver (I presume legally) in them.

The Totos or electric ricks are unmetered. So they quote whatever they want.

Buses are quite cheap, and if not crowded, doable if you are physically fit.

Metro trains are overcrowded, and have few coaches. They don't stick to the schedule.

Growth opportunities in the city are limited, so ambitious people have to move out.

People are generally self-absorbed, and know very little about the rest of India. 

Food quality is good, in general, especially non veg. and noodles. But the biryani has a potato in it 😊

Match the Following

 This is a game of matching words on the LEFT with those on the RIGHT.

Exclusive                         Everything

Paradigm                          Sale

Revolutionary                   News story

Once in a Lifetime            Product Ad

AI                                      Journal Paper 

Antecedents                       Conference Title

ArdorComm Roundtable on SAS AI and Analytics

 I was invited to a Roundtable and discovered that the invitor, ArdorComm Media, is a Pune based firm. SAS Institute was the sponsor of this meet, in Kolkata on Feb 20th. The discussion was about the collaboration options offered by SAS to educational institutes, students, or faculty, for their software. 

The major reasons we tied up with or bought SPSS in most institutions was the cost, for academic use. 

Anyway, it was good to listen to what was on offer, and offer my two bits on how this can be useful in Higher Ed. The event ended with cocktails and dinner at THE Great Eastern Hotel, now owned by Lalit group. There were some officials from the Kolkata based universities and institutions like Sister Nivedita, St. Xavier's and NSHM too. 

Jinping Jokes

 Who is Xi?

His favourite game? Ping Pong

His favourite spice? Hing

His favourite song? Ding, ding, ding, ding.. by Daler Mehendi

His favourite film? Ping is King.

His major fear? Fear of Sin-king.

Summer Begins in Kolkata

 I had my first beer of this summer yesterday- signifying that Summer is here. Normally, I don't drink beer, but it was hot, so I gave in. For some reason, Kingfisher Premium is not easy to find, so I tried Carlsberg light instead. It was Ok, though not as good as the KF.

Officially, it's my last summer here, as I will move back to Pune soon. Nevertheless, almost every city in India gets hot, maybe not so early as Kolkata does. Delhi, Pune, even Bangalore are hot in April. The coastal cities are hot throughout, so a bit hooter in April-June until rains begin and bring relief.

I am still planning on stuff to do post my move, and ideas are welcome. Will not work full time-that's the only decision I have made so far. 

If fate tempts me, I may teach here and there, part time, or not, if it doesn't. Golf and meeting friends will continue..

Sixth Convocation of JIS University

 I have attended a lot of Convocations. This was maybe the 20th of my life. But memorable, in many ways. The First in Kolkata. On 21st February, 2026. 

Debasmita Das and Shrabani Saha Choudhury,  

Backstage, from my vantage point

Below- With Bratati Bhattacharya, Director of the Business School.

and the folks from the Exam Branch, including Karanjyot Kaur and Sunita Samanta, who are friends as well.. they did all the back-end work in preparing the certificates, diplomas, medals  etc.