No Debate About This

...at least in my mind. TV debates by Presidential (or any other) candidates are so predictable and boring. They talk of the economy, statistics, housing starts, and budget deficits.

I am all for our brand of unrestrained potshots at everyone and everything-far more interesting.

Speeches are more fun..and when people rally to them voluntarily (!) you know that they are captivated by the stuff they get to hear, such as how the opposing party has ruined the country, and given a chance, will ruin it further.

How they have stashed money in Swiss banks, and given us a raw deal. How they are born from a long line of criminals, unlike our own party (applies to anyone who's the speaker) which is pure as driven snow (Snow White was from OUR khandan).

How we will make Mumbai a Shanghai, and you shall not be Shanghaied in the process. One great personality had promised to make Bihar's road as smooth as the cheeks of Hema Malini, the Dream Girl of Bollywood- I kid you not!

Where will all the GDP numbers and debates lead you, I ask, when you have the Happiness Index soaring after listening to such entertaining stuff?

No doubt, you will not want to debate this any further.

My Vital Stats

No, it's not what you think.. just a few stats that I remember or have cooked up. Half-truths?

Born 1960, citizen of undivided A.P. , India. Single and ready to mingle till 1988. No more.

Speaks (some) Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Hyderabadi, English.

Paid Jobs- New Horizons (Ad agency), MBA (Marketing Research), Clemson Univ., Lander, XIMB, Vignana Jyoti, Kirloskar (Harihar, a beautiful place), IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode (learnt how to pronounce it!), PESIT, IFIM (both at Bangalore), IMT Nagpur, IMT Ghaziabad, IIM Indore. Unpaid-Husband, father, son, etc.

Countries Visited- Japan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, USA, Canada, The Bahamas, Holland, Dubai. Appreciated the need for Swachchata Abhiyaan after these. Learning-East or West, India is the best. All major colonial powers thought so too.

Skills- reading, writing, joking, cooking.

Hole-in-one: Twice, at the Kodaikanal and Wellington Golf Clubs. In 2014 and 2016.

Past students- a million. Those in touch- Half a million.

Member- Google mail, Yahoo mail, egroups, Facebook, Blogspot, A music group (Hindi), ELMAR

Interests- Anything interesting-meeting new people or old friends, drinking good whisky, micro-brewed beer, good wine, playing/teaching Golf, talking about it, shooting the breeze, staring into space, developing new courses, writing blogs, G.K., puns, films, film songs, travel, food-especially biryani and Irani chai.

Hate: You guessed it- shopping. Mosquitoes, except talking ones.

The Ghost Who Walks

One of my favourite characters lived in a skull cave in the jungles of Denkali, among the pygmy Bandar. Guran was a friend of his from that tribe, who shot poisoned arrows. Jungle drums were used to relay messages to the Phantom.

He was The Nemesis of Pirates.

He had a girlfriend called Diana.

Old Jungle Sayings about the Phantom abounded. For instance,


Phantom moves faster than lightning. (when striking opponents too).

You never find the Phantom. He finds you.

The voice of the angry Phantom chills the tiger's blood.

He used to walk the streets of town like an rdinary man sometimes, and order milk in a bar. Devil, his wolf, accompanied him on his trips.

The Phantom Chronicles were stored in a secret vault in the skull cave, and contained the history of how he came to be.

Lee Falk was his creator.

Golf 2018- Creating Memories

Some games are good, some bad, but memories are always golden. It's important to create some every now and then. These past few days, got a chance to look at Golf again after a longish break due to Operation (on my) Wrist. Managed to play a few good shots, though the luck+skill to get a good score was elusive. Nevertheless, it was great meeting old friends Dhanapal and Vijayakumar and playing, thanks to our gracious host at Wellington, Col. Ramki- a former student of Vijayakumar's.

 A ringside view (above)- and we pose (Vijayakumar is with me)

 Action, and a closing shot to end the game.

The 19th hole-the party-is an integral part of the game.

Jaggi Vasudev

There are gurus and gurus. Some are born, some made, and some have gurudom thrust on them by their followers. I have enjoyed reading some books of Jaggi's. Also saw him on the Madras Gymkhana Golf Club a few years ago. I think he has something to tell us that may be useful. Of course, there could be flaws too, up to us to figure out. Anyway, we went to the Velliangiri hills and took a look at the majestic Adi Yogi statue that has come up there, close to his Isha Yoga centre. Some glimpses-

Lemon Apple Resort

There is this resort in Coonoor. Except a swimming pool, it's got everything you need for a holiday. You can book on makemytrip and booking.com too. Good location, about a km. from Sim's Park in Coonoor, beautifully done up rooms, a garden sit-out, a sit-in inside, and a couple who will cook to order (that's extra). Some pics that I took there last week. More on this link. http://lemonappleresort.com/

 The drive to get there-this is via Kotagiri to Coonoor. Also approachable from the other side.

No wi-fi, but a Golf academy and a tea estate at a stone's throw. You can learn Golf and take walks. And drink Nilgiris tea grown right there. Evidence- A pic of the tea-tree.

Vacationing in Coimbatore

Never shun a vacation. My motto now for the foreseeable future. This one was a good one for many reasons. Number 1, I met old friends from my days in Kirloskar and IMT Nagpur, at Coimbatore. Number 2, I played Golf. Number 3, I got to see a new resort/guest house in Coonoor with a Golf Academy attached-well, almost! Fourth, it was raining merrily all the time we were there-actually started in the air!! Delayed our landing by half an hour. Had a pilot who was from Honduras-that's a first!

Wellington Golf Club. My second visit, after 2016 December.

A Golf Academy..Pooja in training..

 We practiced too.

Brilliant view.

Another view from the Golf Academy. Coonoor Kotagiri Road.

The Gene- Book Review

Fascinating book. It proved a few points to me-

1. We have done almost nothing in molecular or drug or genetic research compared to some countries in the world. Genentech was making drug therapy based on genes roughly from the seventies/eighties. Research on these was happening at a furious pace even before, for decades.

2. Leaks are important-uncited work also is in the same category, more or less. Scientists don't always want to co-operate for a cause, like any other human beings.

3. Some people work for decades to solve a small problem, thanklessly at times.

4. Unless you can put two and two together, you are not going to be a discoverer/inventor. The twos can come from different people's work.

5. It's fascinating when a knowledgeable person explains the story of an invention, or discovery, just like the author here explaining how the structure of the DNA was discovered, among other things.

6. Eugenics was a stated ambition of many people in the U.S. though Hitler took it to undreamt-of evil extremes.

7. We (all humans) are all likely descended from one woman in Africa, because only women can pass on mitochondrial cells to their children.

8. Good books are rare. About science, even rarer.

Names and Places

Vidisha is the first that comes to mind-she was a student at IMT Ghaziabad. The place is in M.P. Rewa is another, she was my student at Indore. Om Shivpuri was an actor, and Shivpuri is in M.P. too.

Javagal Srinath comes from Javagal, Salil Ankola from Ankola, and A.K. Hangal from Hangal. Deepika and her illustrious dad from Padukone (Guru Dutt too, though he did not use the last name). These are places in Karnataka. Bezawada Gopala Reddy and Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu were prominent people from Andhra, and bore the place names of Bezawada (Viijayawada's earlier avatar), and Tangutur.

Of course, most kars are from the place that precedes the kar. Belagaumkar, Hublikar, Nargundkar, Dharwadkar are some examples. Some people don't use the kar, so you find a Nargund as a surname too.

A Savant may be from Savantwadi. (We had one at Kirloskar Institute, Ameet). I think C.K. Prahalad, the management guru derives the C from Coimbatore.

Kidding Around

 Kids of various ages- 8 months to 10 years. Fun, though exhausting.

 Trying to be Japanese

Malling it.

Cheffing It

Cheffing is fun, if it's not a chore. Also, if you have domestic help to clean up afterwards. This luxury one did not have when cheffing first happened in my US stay, so we did the dish-washing too. A US stay is good for the ego-to bring it down. The blessing in India is we still have maids around who do some valuable work-either the cooking, or at least the washing up- Maid in India, zindabad!.

Anyway, I tried my hand at some cooking (home-style chicken curry) after quite some time, and am happy that the result turned out pretty edible-yeah, I could eat it, and so did my family members. Some other regular summer treats like Ice Apple (palm fruit/Taadgola in Marathi) and mangoes from the coastal region of Maharashtra (Ratnagiri, Devgad) also add to the charm of being in Pune during the hot, hot days-this year has been just a bit hotter, with little rain. Solkadhi is now available in packaged form, and I am a big fan of the kokum+coconut drink-good for the soul!!

Also started on The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which describes the process of how genes were discovered and DNA was photographed and identified. 

Entertainment From Elections and Thereafter

Apart from the political outcome of an Indian election (serious side), there is a comic or entertaining side to it. The great drama that precedes it, the announcement of dates, candidates, (not the Communist) manifesto and the promises, but most of all the speeches. We don't yet have debates, unlike the U.S. Presidential candidates. But the barbs flying from all sides make the whole thing akin to any other great Indian event, which I think we specialise in. And we have lots more of parties-political parties-than they do.

But it does not end there. The exit polls, the fracas on TV between party spokespeople, the anchors, the fortune-tellers, the analysts, and so on add to the fun. The voter is sometimes hung by a hung Assembly or Lok Sabha, and the suspense is killing, better than an Agatha Christie mystery. The mystery is finally solved when the new C.M. (or P.M.) is installed, and wins a vote of confidence-or otherwise.

I am reminded of an old joke from a column in Filmfare.

Who is a politician?
One who shakes your hand before the election, and your confidence afterwards.

Resemblance to real events is purely coincidental. Jai Hind!

Lois Lane from Superman

The original Superman movie from the 70s had Christopher Reeve as hero and Lois Lane, his co-worker on the Daily Planet newspaper was played by Margot Kidder. She is no more, according to a news report.

Women had small roles in Superman type films, but Margot made her presence felt, and was identified with this character because of her innocent looks- I still remember the scene where Superman takes her out on a joy-flight with him.

Super-characters are always successful, because they can change things in a jiffy. The Superman movie had a scene where he turns the earth backwards so that some bad events taking place don't happen when it starts turning the right way.

The fantasies help take away the pain of everyday life for lots of people, and are usually successful diversions. Of course, living in a fantasy world after you get out of the theatre may not be a great thing, and tough to pull off anyway.

RIP, Margot Kidder.

Running Away

This is supposed to be me running- irony? Maybe. I haven't run since I discovered walking. Running away from anything except running is not my style. Maybe pointing out things, or pointing towards them-that is more like it. I am pointing at a walkway in a Pondicherry garden..only, the walkway is on a wall.

Being touristy, as opposed to being too wristy, as in VVS Laxman, one of the most wristy. Posing at a Sri Lankan dhaba a year ago..on way to Sigiriya, THE ROCK.

Tile Trouble

It is disconcerting to find the earth splitting under your feet- tiles splitting too. We had just such an experience last week. The reasons for this ground-breaking event can vary from improper laying of the base to wrong materials used to lay the base. The heat in closed homes does the rest.

 A tile cutter being used to remove the damaged rows. Below, the job is almost done.

 Below, the dark material is the base for fixing the new tiles.

An educational (and expensive) week of learning.

102 Not Out- Film Review

This is a cranky Hindi film-meant as a compliment. Unusual, in many ways.

Usually heroes try to pass of as youngsters. Here, a 70 year old plays a 102 year-old, and a 60 year-old plays a 75 year-old.

There are no women in the cast, except for a brief appearance by one or two.

The format of the film is like a mad game, with some method in the madness.

The length of the film is just right.

So many pluses. There are minor negatives like predictability in parts, but overall a good way to pass two hours, and watch Rishi and Amitabh in very different roles.

Band Baaja Baaraat

Sometimes I go to weddings- my classmate from (Osmania) engineering college provided me with an opportunity in Pune, when his daughter got married the other day. Nice occasion to catch up with friends and their families. Mini-reunion of sorts.

My occasional golfing partner Venugopal Reddy is on the extreme right. We played at the Delhi Golf Club a few times while he was there. He was with Indian Railways for a long time. The bride's father in orange headgear, is an Engineer with Engineers India. Another friend, Krishnamurthy, is with Powergrid Corporation. All successful and about to retire, while my work life is extended on account of retirement age being 65 for faculty..how I envy them!

Nude-Marathi Film Review

Another great offbeat film in Marathi. I am happy to be living through a renaissance in Marathi films. After Dadasaheb Phalke showed the way, films in the language had lost their way for a while trying to imitate Bollywood- and failing.

The director (Ravi Jadhav) needs to get an award just for making this film. Not many would have dared, given the negativity we usually associate with nudity-until a few years ago, kissing on screen was not allowed, just to give you some perspective. Not only has he made the film, it is a sensitive portrayal of a mother and wife (Kalyanee Mulay) who expects some gratitude and love from her husband and son, but finds it instead in a set of art students.

The way the scenes are shot, you even forget the lack of clothing when it happens, and concentrate on the feelings of the characters. And there are two strong women characters (Chhaya Kadam plays the second) in it. There is also a hat doffed to M.F. Hussain in one Painter's character who appears 8barefoot in the film, and some of the dialogue (it is minimalistic, mostly), makes you think about where the world is headed in freeing up thought and art.

Cinematography and acting are first rate, and in my view, this is a world class film.

Quaint Summer Holidays

In the good old days (post-1960, when I began gracing this planet), there were only trains if you wanted to go long distance. And reservations were difficult to get. But we did travel to many places, as my cousins, aunts and one uncle were spread far and wide, not to mention my mother's aunts and uncles. So it was that we covered Satna, Indore, Jabalpur, Jalgaon, Pune, Nagpur, Delhi (on way to a Kashmir holiday, no less, in 1978). Mostly it was in the summer, as that was the only time we kids had holidays. I don't remember the discomfort one bit, though. We also went to Haridwar and Rishikesh one time, and it was a memorable trip. Usually, our black and white camera rolls captured the pics before 1983, when colour first appeared in them.

 After we moved to Pune, my parents' anniversary. My great-aunt is in this one-we once visited her place near Baramati in a bus+bullock cart!

 One of the typical gatherings of relatives-this was in Patrakaar nagar, Pune.

and this is a recent one at my Nagpur abode, with a cousin and hubby. Nagpur being in the centre of India, you can't avoid it wherever you travel by train.

There were also trunks and hold-alls, because we travelled second class sleeper, and had to carry our own bed rolls in those. Stations on the way held fascination for the unique goodies they sold. I remember buying a basket of Oranges from Nagpur on one trip, and an earthen pot of gulabjamuns from Fatehabad or some such place near Indore or Ujjain. Both yummy.

One summer on my internship, I travelled solo to the end of Assam from Tinsukia, and that was fun too. Doom Dooma and Margherita (I am not kidding) were some place names I remember, where I went in (Bajaj?) Matador shared taxis.

The Nobel and Other Awards

This is a reflective piece-don't say I didn't warn you!

Some people get awards-others don't. Does not usually mean that the others are not worthy. If I remember this right, Dharmendra never got a best actor award. But we enjoyed his acting in many films- Sholay, Chupke Chupke and Satyakaam, to cite just three.

Mahatma Gandhi did not win a Nobel, while lesser mortals got it. Murakami has not yet got one, and given the controversy about the Academy, this year is unlikely for him too. Point is, awards or no awards, every one of us may be contributing in our own way to something good. Award-givers are human, and can't possibly be right in selection all the time.

From a different angle, artists may get love and affection from their fans, which is bigger than other awards (for them) and helps sustain some of them for long periods.

Nothing against awards-many of my students have got them regularly, and I am proud of them. But I am also proud of those who did not get the awards, but are good at anything they do-or, are simply sensible human beings.

Filmy Character Names

Some memorable filmy characters, mainly due to their names-

Dr. Fu Manchu- Peter Sellers in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, who drinks a youth elixir made out of diamonds, stolen by a band of henchmen whom he calls "dacoits."

Rice Plate Reddy, a villain in the funny film, Quick Gun Murugan, which also had a seductress named Mango Dolly.

Dhurandhar Bhatawadekar -the incomparable Utpal Dutt, in Rang Birangi

Mogambo - Amrish Puri in Mr. India, who made "Mogambo khush hua" a household dialogue.

Soorma Bhopali- Jagdeep in Sholay, speaking in his inimitable style.

Virus in 3 Idiots, played so well by Boman Irani.

Circuit in Munnabhai MBBS. Arshad Warsi's best role, maybe.

..and finally, Lola Kutty, the delectable Mallu lady of the T.V. show by the same name. "Aalex"  was her frequent companion.

Interesting Turns of Phrase

" Going where the Czar goes on foot" - apparently means going to the toilet, in Russia. Because the Czar used to be carried everywhere else but..

" From the sublime to the ridiculous" - nice phrase that expresses a wide range of something. His blog posts/fb posts went from the sublime to the ridiculous..well, that may be cutting it too close..

"Go Doolally" (To go mad) apparently comes from the British garrison town (in India) of Deolali, where British officers waited, after finishing their duty, to be taken back to Britain-sometimes for months.

Shot "point blank" . Point blank refers to the white (blanc in French) circle at the centre of a target for archery practice. It just means from a very short distance, from which it is easy to hit the target dead centre.

(sources-various, on the net and in print)

Mythological Characters

Stories that your grandmom (or grandpa) told you usually stay with you. Some characters from the stories/myths that stayed with me-

Ghatotkacha, Bheema's son. The lasting impression is from a Telugu film about his adventures, from the film Mayabazaar. A song from the film while he devours an entire wedding feast by himself was a highlight.

Narada, the sage who appears and disappears at will. He keeps chanting Narayan, Narayan, as he is a bhakt (devout follower) of Vishnu, and keeps carrying tales from one place to another, sometimes causing consternation, if not mayhem. There is also a funny story about Vishnu giving him a test to see if he still chants his name while carrying a bowl of oil filled to the brim. His task is to carry it around the world without spilling  a drop. Naturally, he forgets to chant Vishnu's name in the process.

Abhimanyu, the brave son of Arjuna who gets into an enemy formation called the Chakravyuha, knowing fully well he may not come out alive. He doesn't.

Karna, the son of Kunti, along with the major Pandava brothers, Arjuna, Bheema and Yudhishthira. Their tales of bravery and righteous behaviour would keep everyone glued. B.R. Chopra's retelling of the Mahabharat was a masterpiece, with Shakuni being played brilliantly by a goofy guy called Goofi Paintal. Kunti and Draupadi were strong female characters.