My Grandparents

Talking about storytelling, the other day, I was reminded of my grandparents. Both were good storytellers- my maternal grandparents. My grandmom told us many stories, among which were classics like The Count of Monte Cristo- years later, I visited Chateau D' If, near Marseilles, where the story is set. My grandfather we heard less often but he had a favourite animal story about a rabbit who poses as a fierce animal from inside a cave, and scares a lion away!

 My grandmother (Radha Oak), above.

 My grandfather (Madhav Ramchandra Oak), above and left top, in the photo below. He was a professor of Philosophy, and worked at Jaipur and Amalner (where Mr. Premji's family had started).

My grandmother was also highly creative, and came up with a poem/verse to celebrate many family events- such as the birth of a child (she had many kids, and grandkids), or a marriage. She also published a collection of these, in small, multiple volumes titled The Inner Voice (Antariche Bol, in Marathi).

Interiors

I do up my (office, home) interiors with photographs, and sometimes, with mementos. As good as any, because they stir up memories..that sometimes stretch back to three decades, like that pic of mine on the cover of Newsweek :)

 Japan and Bali.

 Vietnamese and Sri Lankan.

 Japan, Sri Lanka, Bali.

Goa (above), and Cambodia, Greece, Bali (below)

Crowdsourcing in Digital Marketing

Some class exercises to understand how crowdsourcing might happen. Experiential Learning!

T Shirt Designs

We were discussing the crowdsourcing strategy followed by a company, Threadless, in class. I went back and found a couple of designs of t-shirts from my wardrobe. Two were from a wine company, Sula, promoting wine.

The other was from The Week, a periodical published from Kerala. The Good News on the front is accompanied by Bad News for the competition on the back. It was part of a promotion they did at IIMK.

 These were not crowdsourced, by the way, but companies could do that too.

Kids and Grandfathers

I really feel like a proud grandpa- no, my daughters are not the reason, but my former students who look young enough to be my grandkids. I feel young in their company too, so proud AND young, I guess. Had a great outing with some of these kids, appropriately enough, at Grandmama's Cafe recently.  Some pics-

 Multiple reasons were found for the celebrations- Tosha's and Abha's Dads in the news, Sirisha's enagagement were three. Of course, the fourth was simply the joy of meeting each other- a joy like no other!

Oh, we also celebrated my advanced birthday- I mean birthday in advance. That expression!! Sirisha, you are a photographer's delight :)

Students at Work- Digital Marketing

In the Digital Marketing course, 2019 edition, students at work.. on a class assignment.

Looking Back at 2019

I know it's not December 31st, but I am looking back at the action-packed eight and a half months that have passed by. I started in January by reading a new author- Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go was the book-poignant, about human-like creatures grown for a purpose, and how they turn even more human-like. Unexpectedly, the delayed fourth edition of my Marketing Research text came out, and I was able to release it at our own conference. Lots of students from IIM Indore a couple of years ago contributed the case studies, so it was a proud moment. There was a Delhi conference at IMT too, and I managed to meet Padmapriya and her hubby, after long!

Started a new photography competition on fb in addition to usual awards and quizzes..discovering good photographers is a byproduct.

As usual, I met a lot of past students, some who visited Indore (like Anam and Harshad), and many more outside Indore on my travels to Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Ahmedabad (that was for a book release by a friend at MICA). Pune too, where I met Neha Adiga. Also gatecrashed (no, I was invited) into an alum meet of IMT Nagpur in Mumbai.

Met Sharmistha Singh, Shweta Agarwal and Sunil Kataria of KIAMS after about 16 years- and Anushka Mishra for the first time (we'd met on fb first). Also met Bharat of IFIM and Shatakshi of IIMI in Bangalore. In May, I went to Reva University for a talk on Smart Cities and ran into Shinu Abhi, a former colleague. Met SP Kumar and Manoharan, also past colleagues at PES. In Mumbai, visited Bhagyalakshmi and family. Met Shraddha Nigdikar too.

My friends from MBA too. I met Dash in Kolkata, and a big gang at Venky's boy's wedding. Stayed at the Presidency Golf Club too, a first. Also went for a conference at Goa, but missed out on meeting Prashant who lives there as he was busy. Harish and Snail at Delhi and Hyderabad I did meet.

IIT Guwahati was a revelation. It looks like a European town, with lakes on campus. Had gone to Belgaum's Gogte Institute on invitation, and had a fabulous drive through the Chorla Ghat, with the rains and clouds for company. Saw a few good films too, and read a few more books-among them old favourites by A.A. Fair and Rex Stout.

Also visited Bali for a conference, and went rafting on a river. Not bad for eight months!

Dream Girl (New)- Film Review

I am quite happy that the "middle-of-the-road" cinema is still alive. Rather tired of the hyped other stuff (signs that I am old?)- maybe due to an overdose of bad films in recent times. The plot is king here-a deftly arranged and directed one.

This film has shades of Gol Maal by Hrishikesh Mukherjee with switched identities-only, here the confusion is much more. Many people simultaneously loving a "girl" at the other end of a phone line is the basic plot. The dialogue is clever, and raises quite a few laughs.

Mostly depending on Ayushmaan (he has gone places, from Dum Laga Ke Haisha onwards till here) and Annu Kapoor, some of the other characters- like the poet-policeman (Vijay Raaz?), Dadi, and the Sardar friend, have done very well. Nushrat Bharucha is adequate in a male-dominated story. But then, Gol Maal was also male-dominated, with Utpal Dutt and Amol Palekar stealing the show.

Go watch it for fun. The music is bad, but inconsequential to the film. The lecture at the end was also unnecessary, I thought..got too may lectures in life, maybe?

The Narrow Path- Malayalam Film Review

This is a 2016 film which could be one of the lowest budget films I have seen. Mostly, the action happens in one small house and its terrace. But it is also one of the most unusual, because it is gripping.

The hero is not fair and handsome, by any stretch, but he acts like he is a natural. Actually, there are two heroes- a son and a father. Both are great for their roles. It's about a son who has to care for his partly paralysed father, and the possibility that he may have to forego his love because of the situation. The dilemma keeps the movie going.

Wonderfully narrated story, direction and editing. I saw it on Amazon Prime, and you should too (anywhere), if you like good cinema. Subtitled where I saw it.

Again brings home the point that the story can be the lifeline of a film- Race 3 guys, are you listening?

Once a Hyderabadi Always a Hyderabadi

I don't have to tell you I grew up in Hyderabad and thereabouts. The environment, people, culture, sort of seeps into your blood, as many Hyderabadis will testify, if you ask them. Anyway, I will not wax eloquent- baataan nahin karte, hum Hyderabadi- and instead give you a peek into some of what Hyderabad does best-

The blend of the old and the new- a view from behind the metro station (above), and the station itself.

The last one is only to highlight one of the many bowlis..before Gachhi Bowli came along, it was Putli Bowli that was well-known to Hyderabadi public..phir yeh IT wale logaan aake sab bigaad diye :)

What I Learnt in Electrical Engineering

This post owes its origin to a discussion I had with Surbhi Dayal, a colleague..there you go, Surbhi :)

OK, so these are things I learnt (or think I did).

1. Never work the hard way, if there is another way. Inspiration- electricity takes the path of least resistance...so do humans -or should.

2. Circuits can work in parallel, or in series. Make mistakes in parallel, and succeed serially. In relationships, try other ways of connecting if one does not work..some relationships should be without parallel, though. :)

3. Starting torque has to be provided to a motor from somewhere..you need something to motivate you..sounds similar to some Newtonian stuff, but it's different.

Gyan (wisdom) is good in small doses (like an electric shock)- so I will stop for now, lest you are shocked out of your wits..

Clouds and More

I like shooting the clouds from the window of a plane. Living in the cloud is not the prerogative of data alone. We can temporarily enjoy The Cloud too. On a recent flight, these are from the Eastern parts of India-

 and these masks are displays at Kolkata airport..above and below.

 This is the view from the escalator (below) while transiting.

Poha in Flight

Slightly misleading, because it was not the poha that was flying, I was! But the flight was made interesting with the poha and the scenery-clouds of different shapes, and the blue sky. Anyway, it also proves poha has arrived, because it is being served at 35,000 feet to high-fliers!