Star Students

 I have had many, in different spaces. Vikas Sethia (Mio Pods at airports), Nikhil Damle (NLP training) are entrepreneurs in different spaces, both from Kirloskar Institute (KIAMS).

Sudeshna Srivastava from KIAMS is launching Bhumija soon, to sell North East and East-based stuff online, after a long stint at PWC. 

Divya Singh from IMT Nagpur is a Digital Marketer and has launched a sportswear brand, and so is Shatakshi Tripathi of IIM Indore.. Abhinav Kamal is a film maker, also ex-IMT.

Aditi Atre runs Rajasthani Rangrez, selling local handicrafts from Rajasthan.

Freelancers like Nishka Rathi, ghostwriter, and Sheetal Garg, trainer.

Divyaa Sharma is a TV anchor, and has acted too. Padmapriya is an accomplished actor. Both from Kirloskar. 

Many more, but maybe later..

Corporate players are many. Bhuvneet Raheja in Google, Savitha as H.R. in many corporates, Abha Anagha Kulkarni as H.R. in a Law Firm, Shrishail Deshnur, Joyanta Dutta, Praveen Kotta, ..

If AI Could... a Fantasy

 If AI could hire people, train them, and do all the paperwork, we wouldn't need H.R.

If AI could manage creatives, media, and brand strategy, we wouldn't need Brand Managers.

If AI could handle distribution and other operations, we would not need other Sales Managers.

If AI could manufacture for us, we wouldn't need Production managers/workers.

If AI could do accounting and budgets, we wouldn't need Finance Managers

If AI could invest for people or organisations, we wouldn't need investment advisers.

And if AI could play Golf, we wouldn't need CEOs.

Makeover From Cute Professionals

 My niece's kids are in town from the U.S., so it was time for a makeover plus massage session for me and my daughter- it was great fun!

Predictable is Boring?

 Mostly, it is. Could be one reason why life in India is exciting.. all kinds of things happen unexpectedly, lowering the BQ- Boredom Quotient. Maids don't show up, rain falls when it shouldn't, delivery guys of all kinds show up all the time, and you have random conversations with people every day if you go out.

In the U.S., it was sometimes boring. We went to the mall, just to get some excitement in to the day, and see new faces, apart from on TV.

Do something unexpected. Yesterday, we had a couple of grand nieces do some make-up for me and my daughter, and it was great fun. Totally unexpected, and the little ones enjoyed themselves thoroughly using us as guinea pigs. I remember letting another (grand) niece in Bangalore draw something on my palm, and it was another fun moment for us both!

Depends on what you want to do. Buy a kachori, a sabudana wada, or a new toffee flavour just for the heck of it. Fly a kite. Take a bus ride, a metro ride or go watch a show in town. Or a movie-minus the expensive popcorn. Have tea in a new restaurant.. or a biryani.

Point is... yeah, you got it. Do something unexpected, whimsical each day. Seize the day.

Unknown Tourist Spots

 Relatively unknown ones I have been to- 

Rajanahalli and Kondajji, near Harihar, Karnataka, where I lived from 1995 till 2001. 

Lonar meteorite created Crater lake. Buldana district, Maharashtra.

Raneh falls, near Khajuraho in M.P. Had never even heard of them before.

Kinnersani, because we lived in Kothagudem nearby and used to go picnicking with our club. A riverside resort.

Jorhat, the Memorial for the Ahom King- forget the name, but it's impressive.

Chikmagalur..it's beautiful, and under-rated. The lake there too.. Hirekerur, I think.

Brittany region in France. We went to a Fort on the Sea Coast, Mt. St. Michael, which is magnificient.

Any corner of Greece, it's historic.

Small parks in South Carolina.

Kuldhara, ghost town near Jaisalmer.

Bhimtal, lesser know cousin of Nainital.

Anniversary Dinner for the 38th

 I am told (by my wife) that the right way to celebrate an anniversary is to have dinner outside. So we did- I am an obedient husband. Vanam is a new South Indian place, somewhat premium- somewhat like Carnatic in Bangalore, minus drinks. Off Prabhat Road. Pretty decent starters (like Chettinad chicken and mashed Parotha), and then Donne biryani, Appams and stew. We along with daughters Pooja and Prarthana) had a good time.

One man Show in Pune

 Just saw a 2490th performance of a Marathi one man act. Assal Manase, Irsaal Namune. By a chap called Prabhakar Nilegaonkar. It takes a lot to do this. He acts as mutiple people, both male and female. Talented. Reminded me of Babban Khan in Hyderabad, who used to do this.. though he had a couple of characters mostly as props.. 

With him after the show..