Europe Tour of 1991

 Testing the porosity- Poros island, Greece (above) and Cape Sounion, below.

 This was a trip made by Eurail, a pass for 14 days that enabled us to roam around unfettered, staying with friends or sleeping on the train.. a nice and inexpensive way to look at much of Europe.

 More Greeks (above) and French (below)- Mt. St. Michael. Here (in France) we had our friend Anne who took us around in her car.

These Greek beauties came all the way to the U.S. just for this pic with me :) Not really, these pretty young women were daughters of Athena, whom my wife taught some English at Greenwood, SC, USA.

Driving Across the USA

I did it twice-once in 1986, and another time in 1990.

 Clemson Football (below) in my abode.

 Bryce Canyon (above) and South Dakota..

 Bonding with Roger Moore (above), and a map of South Carolina we found on an outing.

The first time, it was three of us, my brother Satish and friend Anil were with me. One of us slept at the back, while one of us drove and the second played RJ, changing the cassettes. We would listen to music through the drive (around 600 miles in a day). We took a break at San Antonio (Texas) at Anil's uncle's place, and then at Albuquerque, New Mexico, with some friends. The third or fourth day of driving, we reached Los Angeles. On the way, we stopped at the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest National park, and Las Vegas. Our car's radiator broke up near Las Vegas, and we had to go to a junkyard and replace it.

At L.A., we saw Knotts Berry Farm (an amusement park), with our friend Kiran, and also Disneyland, the NBC studios, Universal Studios etc. which then had the actual car that was used in the TV series Knightrider (it was called KITT, and it talked to the hero-a supercar). This was our first visit to L.A. and we were impressed.

The second time was a more circular trip, up to New York, across to Warren, Ohio (my cousins whom my parents had to meet were in these two places), and the to Detroit where a family friend resided. On the way, we also went up the Sears Tower in Chicago.

Then, it was real wilderness for hundreds of miles until we got to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota with the 4 Presidential faces carved into the mountain, and then to a highlight-the Yellowstone National Park. We rounded off the trip again with L.A. as our last stop (Kiran was there again to welcome us), and then back via Texas.

Saadat Hasan Manto- Film Review

This is a film about the author and screenwriter Manto. But it is also a broader statement about the film industry in India around the time of Indian independence (its unifying if commercial nature), and the divisive politics around that time which led to the formation of Pakistan, the migration, and violence that accompanied the shift.

It is directed well (Nandita Das), and acted in brilliantly by Nawazuddin. The author's character comes out as a fearless, modern, well-read and self-indulgent family man, on both sides of the border. The self-indulgence shows up in his choice of themes which are too realistic for the powers that be, and he faces flak from the establishment supported by the moral brigade. He of course, has his loyal friends and readers, but his life goes into a downward spiral, and he yearns for his earlier life in Mumbai where he lived most of his years.

Shyam (the actor who starred with Suraiya in Dillagi if I am not mistaken), Ashok Kumar, Jaddan Bai the singer, Naushad, the music director, are all characters in the film, and so is Ismat Chugtai, the author who stays back in Mumbai. Rasika Duggal, who plays his wife, and Tahir Raj Bhasin, playing Shyam, are exceptionally good. The enacted segments from his stories add a novel touch.

To me, it was a must-watch, and I am not disappointed.

Why I Hate Self-service

Self-service is a non-starter, as far as I am concerned.

First of all, the meaning of service is that the service-person is dedicated to serve me, the customer. If I am serving myself, what is he there for? Serving himself?

I end up buying more of everything I don't need, because of these *&* damn self-service retail stores. Who will pay me for all the wasteful expenditure?

The self-service concept dumbs down the service-people. Try conversing with a bookstore service-person in a book store, and you'll know what I mean. Do we want them to reach the IQ levels of a McD service-person in the U.S??

I hate to do my own work, when I don't have to. If I look for products, order them online, pay for them myself, and collect them at my doorstep myself, what are the service people doing? Or instead of royally hailing a cab or an autorickshaw (tuk-tuk),, if I have to spend many minutes booking it, and then explaining to the cab guy where to find me, I am not exactly thrilled by the experience.

Say NO to self-service. I would have started a movement against it, but then, that would be another exercise in self-service...

Labeling People

Labeling products is helpful, as it tells you what the product is expected to do, or in the case of food products, what it contains.

But reducing a person to a label is not such a great practice. For one, we were not always like the label. We might not be in future, too. For instance, when we were kids, we were not Democrats, Republicans, or Feminists or Liberals, or Bhakts. At best, these are passing phases, based on current impulses and influences. Religion or caste could be a little longer-lasting influence in our case in India, but many people outgrow these too.

Closing the possibilities of what we can be/do, as a result of labelling is also very likely. For instance, calling someone  a nerd or its opposite (duffer? Party animal? Good-for-nothing?) too early in life is a bad idea. People are multi-dimensional, and sometimes don't discover themselves until late in life, maybe due to lack of exposure or opportunity.

Introvert and Extrovert are similarly, not extremes, and we are usually a  combination of both to different degrees. Having an open mind with regard to people may be a good idea, in general.

Write, Left and Centre

I am no Leftist..Nor a Rightist. I am a Writist! Yeah, just coined the word.

I write, and I have not left it for a long time, nor do I plan to.

What's right, and what's not, is tough to say. It depends on whether you approach it from the Left or the Right..

But write about it, and you find that the Centre could be the way to go. Not because the Buddha advocated it, after being enlightened. But because it seems like the right thing.

So, right away, take up writing..and see yourself leaning in, from both the Left and the Right.

There are always two (or more) sides to a story. And more than one may be right. Right?

Blasts From the Past

Been meeting friends and students from the past who are now friends. Gives you a great feeling to see what they are up to, in the case of students, and in the case of friends, to see how they have aged (ripened). A bit of both happened, recently.

 PESIT alums Siddhant and Aishwarya (above) I met after quite a few years, and their little cute daughter for the first time.

Prabhakar and I checked out the Single Malt collection, with Mona Lisa smiling down at us-we were like the Columbuses of Single Malt discoveries a few years ago, and have now achieved the status of We Have Seen it All- almost!

Also had a chance to meet IFIM alum Bharath Shenoy again after a while, and found he's a globe-trotting researcher. And attended the Ganesh Chaturthi with Muthu and Vasanti at their place too. He like me, is a member of the Two Daughters' Club. Seems to be enjoying his time off from Marketing Research these days. When will my turn come? (Mera number kab aayega, in Hindi).

A recent trend I have noticed is that I first meet people on facebook, and then in person. So it was with Shatakshi and Varun, a couple from IIM Indore who I had never met except on fb. Meeting them at home though, it seemed like we had known each other for a long time- a homely feeling.

Book Lauch- Digital Marketing Cases From India

We launched our new edited book- Digital Marketing Cases from India- at IIM Indore on Sept 10, 2018. This is a collaborative project between us and Jaipuria Institute of Management Indore, and many alumni from different institutions-- IIM Indore, IMT Nagpur, IIMK, and Jaipuria Institute and PESIT among them-who have authored the cases. The book is published by Notion Press, and is available through Amazon and Flipkart in India.

Some pics with Prof. Subin Sudhir, Prof. Romi Sainy (my co-editor) and Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan, Director IIM Indore, who released the book.

The book is ideal for use along with any text on Digital Marketing for courses in Schools of Business.

Getting Together

There are many reasons we get together. One of my many cousins is senior to me by a few, and we got together last weekend to celebrate her 75th (Platinum) birthday. It looked for while that I would be the youngest at the gathering, but then a cousin came in to make me look OLD..

 A collection of cousins to celebrate with..life mein aur kya chahiye?

 The TV at the back played a major role, as one of the attendees is a TV actress who has a Marathi serial running at present.. so some time was spent critically (not very) analysing it.

 Making pan at home can be fun too, as our host showed!

A garden walk was part of the plan!

Great fun, and came to an end too soon (as usual).