Mangalore and Nitte

Visited Mangalore after a very long time. The occasion was a conference on Learning and Teaching at Nitte's Justice KS Hegde Institute of Management. A bonus was meeting Lionel, an old friend from my IIMK days. An IIMB senior, Sankaran, happens to be the director of the Nitte Institute which hosted the conference. Mangalore is a quaint town, and reminded me of Calicut with its narrow bylanes and steep ups and downs everywhere. I presented a paper on Blogging as a learning tool in my classes on Digital Marketing.

Kannadigas in my Life

I have had a lot of them, starting from Kempaiah, the security guard at IIMB in my student days. Not sure if the creators of bonda and chai there (Uncle and Aunty) were locals, but I guess they were. Shailaja was a friend from childhood, whom I also met in Bangalore and Mumbai later.

At Kirloskar Institute, Haihar, almost the entire non-teaching staff was local, and most are connected  to me even today- Pavan and his wife Jamuna, Yuvaraj, Rajesh, Raghavendra, Karibasappa, Parameshwarappa, Mahboob, Rajsekhar, Veena are some of them. We had regular parties when these guys were bachelors, and attended some of their weddings. I also met Jayasimha, my current colleague, there first. Sudir, a student from VJIM, also worked there briefly.

At PESIT, of course, it was mainly the faculty colleagues- Manasa, S.P. Kumar, Shahida, and lots of students, some of whom I have bumped into now and then, like Soumyashree Gonibeedu, Mrunal, and Umesh. Many more are connected on social media-Manasa Bharadwaj, Roopashree, Chaitra,... At IFIM Business school again, it was a combo of staff, students and faculty, and I have met a few recently when I went back to visit Bangalore-Bharath Shenoy, for instance, who was a student there.

At IIM Indore, it has been colleagues Ganesh, Jayasimha, and the Chiefs of Admin. present and past, mainly. Students are in smaller numbers, Neha Adiga and Arshia being two that I remember, apart from Manjunath and Saumya.

They all have a few sterling qualities, from what I have seen. They make good friends, and are quiet, non-aggressive people who excel at whatever they put their mind to. I have been fortunate also to have lived among them a long 14 years in all- Harihar for 7 and Bangalore for an equal number if I count my student days and working years.

Lost in Translation?

It's fun translating things into another language..so I decided to translate a few song lines into Hyderabadi from Hindi (for those unaware, these are two distinct languages- like French and Chinese)-

Jab pyar kiya to darna kya?
 Pyar karinge, kaiku to bi daringe?

Naam gum jaayega
 Gum hote yaaro, hoshiyar rehna.

Papa ko Mummy se pyar hai
 Bawa ku ammi se pyar hai..

Nahi nahi, abhi nahi, abhi karo intezaar..
  Nakko nakko, abbii nakko bolrun na..

Thoda ruk jayegi to tera kya jayega?
  Thoda ruke to qayamat aa jati?

Gore rang pe na itna gumaan kar..
 Hume kaale hain to kya hua dilwale hain..

Akele akele kahaan ja rahe ho?..
 Badkamma Badkamma Badkamma ekkada potau ra? (Telugu is also a part of Hyderabadi)

Endangered Species- Us

There is a website that tells you, given a surname, how many people with that name exist in the world. Nargundkars are, like the Parsis, an endangered species, though the reasons could be different. There were only about 260 of us when last estimates came in (from that website). So it is with great joy that one looks at the arrival of a new Nargundkar. Here's the latest one on his uncle's shoulder..he will shoulder the burden of carrying our name forward when he grows up.

 and in his mother's arms, along with a slightly older Nargundkar in his Dad's.

Above-  The bride on the right is a newly inducted Nargundkar (if she choses to use the surname), with her dapper hubby and dapperer Father-in-law (and my cousin). One more cousin of mine is in white, upping the count.
Below, a few more of the species thrown in this post for good measure.me, with my Mom, sister, brother.

2.0 - Review of Rajni's Film

I will admit I was late in catching this film, due to preoccupations- usually, I watch it in the first week if it's the Thalaiva's film. I can't resist it, because of his screen presence and style. The story is secondary, though he has tackled College fees, slum redevelopment, and here, the ill-effects of cell phone towers/radiation.

But the point of his films is to capitalise on his charisma, and he has oodles of it. If you are looking for a classic, this one's not for you. But if you can suspend disbelief and enjoy the proceedings, which entertain, you should try it. Akshay as Pakhsirajan is not bad too, and Amy Jackson is almost a parallel hero in this one- I liked her. The special effects are another hero, and some are awesome! Particularly cute are the microbots on a pigeon.

If we can watch Hollywood film effects and Marvel at them (intended), let's salute Shankar, whose films are no less.

Good Service at GRT Grand

I have been staying at this hotel in Chennai for about three years now..while attending a conference each time. The service is excellent, and it makes you feel welcome. Small things, particularly, like asking for your preferences for various services through a small card, one touch number for all hotel services, and quick response to room service requests, a fruit bowl and a chocolate in the room, and a hot chocolate at bed-time, are nice touches. Even the TV input ports are all facing you, rather than somewhere at the back- a great touch! Design thinking, before anyone thought of it.

Last year, with Dheeraj Mohan, in their restaurant.

Amazing Kancheepuram 2

Some more pics-

Amazing Kancheepuram 1

There are around a 100 temples in Kancheepuram - about 70 kilometres from Chennai..we discovered some of these treasures last week. Ekambareswara, Kailasa and Vaikuntha Perumal are some temples featured.

More pics will follow.

Kishore Kumar Memorial in Khandwa

 A bust of the singer..

 The sign on the road in Hindi..(below).
On his birth and death anniversaries each year, a commemorative event is hosted by the M.P. government here.

One of my favourite singers is Kishore Kumar. I have been a fan since I first heard him sing the songs of Aradhana and Kati Patang, and of course countless other films before and after these. This blog is named after a line from his Yeh shaam mastaani.. so it was a great pleasure to visit his Memorial at  Khandwa recently, in the company of my brother and a long-time friend Anil. These are some pics from there- some more follow.

 SD Burman, who gave him his style, and unique songs to sing- Dil aaj shaayar hai, and Phoolon ke rang se are just two examples. (above left)..
Below, a memorable role in Padosan, left, and with Rajesh Khanna on the right. Middle, with Lata Mangeshkar..again, many memorable songs..I particularly like the Aandhi duets.

 RD Burman, with whom he had many of his hits, and Mohammed Rafi, an equally talented contemporary..below, right to left.

Something I am pretty kicked about accomplishing!

Uniquely Indian Things

Band baaja baaraat..nothing like it anywhere in the world..Ghodi pe hoke sawaar and all that!

Chain-snatching. Nowhere in the world do we have so many chain-snatchers..NY and Chicago have their Mugger-gangs , but not chain-snatchers.

Pan- the unique concoction of a betel leaf is used after food (Pet pooja) and the leaf alone is also used in many of our poojas/functions like haldi kumkum.

Chai..nobody drinks the kind of chai that we do-if we discount the wannabe Lattes, I mean.

The saree- maybe Sri Lanka also has a version of it in 5 yards, but the nine yard variant is certainly found only here.

Noise..everywhere, on the street, in the bazaars, and the aforesaid Baraats, we are a high-decibel society.

Song-and-dance in films.

The nod-it's different!

2019-What I Look Forward To

 A pavement in Clemson (above) which has my name on it ..that is looking back, a pre-requisite to looking ahead.

Look forward to-playing golf, travelling (road trips too), teaching and mentoring, having conversations on the tea and lunch table with colleagues, karaoke-ing, blogging, watching more films, reading good books/blogs, tasting some more Single Malts, listening to a lot of music, maybe a few more concerts (like the one below)..and some completely unexpected experiences! My book on Marketing Research is set to come out with a fourth edition soon too. 

 

Look forward to random and planned meetings- I met at least these friends/students in the last 2 years (at least some whose names are in italics I met for the first time, having known them pretty much from Facebook-I am grateful to Zuckerberg for this- some others I have subjected to torture in my classes).

Meghana Joshi, Varun Somaiya, Vikas Jain, Vishal Golchha, Anant Ajmera, Navroze Sethna, Abha Kulkarni, Tosha Dubey, Pallavi Sharma, Sirisha Adi, Khyati Jha, Divya Singh, Urvasi Anand, Shatakshi Tripathi, Garima Shah, Shreyashi Chakraborty, Nidhi Kanungo, Jogeswari, Bhuvneet Raheja, Shruti Suman, Swathika Selvam, Akash Gupta, Shafique Gajdhar, Anupriya Pandit, Zargar Basharat, Manjari Mundanad, Achint, Savitha, Punyashlok Dwibedy, Sanjana Rao Yarram, Sapna Patni, Shripad Kulkarni, Dheeraj Mohan, Mrunal M B, Pragya Singh, Arvind Joshi, Supriya Jain, Umesh M., Vishal Tibrewal, Vrinda Khanna, Aishwarya Omprakash, Sidhanta Patnaik, Bhagyalakshmi, Shahida, Saumya Sharma, Gadgil, Vijayakumar, Dhanapal, TK Chatterjee, Anant Ram, Milind Fadnavis, Radhika J., and a little earlier, Vidya and Swapna Reddy, Meghna Sinha, Nikita Kumar, Animesh,..

Made some new friends from Conferences- among them people from China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, (finally went to Vietnam too). Reconnected with some from Vignana Jyoti on fb.

Tried some new things while teaching Digital Marketing and Marketing Research, and from collaborations with students of our programs- from IPM (Shivangi, Aradhya, Satchi, Ayushi,...) to FPM (Shweta Jha, Anjali Sharma, among others). Presented a few of these papers in conferences.

Good Things

Good things come in twos, like Brangelina, DeepVeer, and PicNick. So I decided to experiment with some more Indian names of potential jodis..they can decide if they want to get married based on whether they like the sound of their combined names-

KirKir, because Kiran is a name that both sexes can have in India..

AshBhi, a celeb couple we already have.

ZoNe, for Zoheb and Neha.

GaSha, another celeb couple, with the lady's name first.

VinVin, when Vineet and Vinita decide that they are  a couple.

ManNa, for Manisha and Nana, who were reportedly together for a while.

ShoSha, for Shobhana and Shamsher.

I could go on, but I have to attend the party that JamSam are throwing in Jodhpur- Jamuna and Samrendra, guys!

Travelexp 4- Cambodia

This was one trip I will cherish for a long, long time. Very impressed by a lot of things including their simplicity, cleanliness, and heritage. Also the use of U.S. currency everywhere-and an easy visa process.

 Just so you know where it is- Managed to go to Vietnam too, later on..

 Rooted to the camera (above) and nose-touching (below)

 Entering a complex. and posing (below)

 I was not the only one- Angkor Wat (above) and Phnom Penh poser.

 Ok, if there's a garuda around, I have to be seen in his company.

and the last one shows the beauty and the symmetry of Angkor temples once again.

Being Nice to People

I am not sure why people find it so tough to be nice. I mean, it's not rocket science, is it?

I am not talking of situations where as a part of your role, you may have to tick off someone- an errant student, or an errant employee for justifiable reasons..even there, a gentle ticking off is recommended, if you ask me.

I am talking of more general interactions, where you have a choice- to be not nice or be nice.

I find it's nicer to be nice than not nice, because it gives you a good feeling, which lasts for a while. And we are all in it together anyway, and not for much more than 70 years at best..so why not make the most of it?

And most people are actually quite nice, as long as you are not spending 25 years with them..and some, even if you are..

QED. I have probably proposed a new way to live- for some.

Naal- Marathi Film Review

This is an incredible film for two reasons- one, superb photography (by the director Sudhakar Reddy). Second, not many can make a sensible, emotional film about an eight-year-old and his quest for a mother's love- real and imagined.

Great acting and direction (the main actors are Nagraj Manjule, the director of Sairaat, Devika Daftardar, and the kid- Shrinivas Pokale). All the actors are classy in their roles. The rural atmosphere is well-captured, and some scenes take your breath away through their beauty. And yes, there are subtitles in English for non-Marathi speakers.

Understated, nicely edited, and heart-tugging most times, you can easily feel what the main characters are feeling. The resolution, I thought was handled beautifully too, when it could easily have sunk into melodrama.

4.6 on 5 from me!

Malt Mania

There is this group called Malt Maniacs, and it has as its only Indian member, Krishna Nukala, my new guru. If you have to follow your passion, do so in style, is a lesson I learnt from him the other day, when he gave us a fascinating insight into the art of appreciating Single Malts from around the world (Taiwanese and Japanese included!). Starting with lighter-flavoured sherry-cask ones (Glenfarclas 21 year-old), we moved towards some known and some unknown (to me, not him) names that went towards the peaty, topping off with some Ardbeg that he got in an auction. A rare version of Amrut and a Paul John, both Indian, were represented, and made me proud. Some glimpses into the tasting - heady stuff!

I won't forget this evening in  a hurry!

 He launches into the fascinating stories, and a taste of the best.

For more on Single Malts, you can go read https://www.maltmadness.com/index.html