Mahanati - Movie Based on Savitri's Life

Savitri was a big heroine of Telugu and Tamil films, from a time when Telugu films were entirely shot in Madras. She acted with NTR, ANR, Sivaji Ganesan, and other big heroes, one of whom she also married-Gemini Ganesan, also the father of Rekha through another relationship.

Mahanati is a well-made film, sympathetic to the life and times of Savitri, who came up solely based on her talent, and made a name and lots of money. Her meteoric rise was partly due to her being spotted by Gemini Ganesan, then a production executive at Gemini studios. They married, and then, the story took a turn like Abhimaan (the Hindi film), with her becoming more successful. He could not handle it, and they grew apart, never to reunite.

She was a good soul, and helped everyone she could. Was taken advantage of financially, and died of a drink-induced diabetic coma-probably suicidal, after income tax raids made her penniless. Tragic story, involving many big names of that time, and glimpses of scenes from Maya Bazaar (Mohan Babu plays the SV Ranga Rao part), and a couple of other classics.

Keerthy Suresh and Dulquer Salman play the main roles well. Also, the kid who plays her childhood part. Her uncle played by Rajendra Prasad is also good. A bit long, but worth a watch for many reasons-history of cinema, for one.

Using Products Innovatively

That is, not according to directions- I am crediting Donald Trump for making my defunct brain function again, for this one! Thanks, bhai. My top 5-

1. Spray detergent in the air as you walk- poof, you get clean air.
2. Wear a suit made of magnets..your attraction levels triple!
3. Use a fly-swotter for all unseen viruses, and carry it wherever you go.
4. Use a garden hose to clean your furniture.
5. Use the big garden scissors to perform surgery (even plastic surgery)- no disinfectant please, that is strictly for injections!

European Odesseys

I had two of these. Some pics-

 The Eiffel Tower, and the Eurail Pass that got us there-

 Tintin country. And fooling around at a sandy beach in Europe (below).

 Gondola=Venice and on a train.

 Marseilles- that Bond-ish feeling! Heidelberg, below.

 Rome, and Chateau D' If, above and below.

 Leaning at Pisa, and straightened at Mt. St. Michael, France.

 The Roman fountain, and postcards..

 Mostly Greek, with mythology as the central theme. picture perfect, below.

Sabudana Makes You A Prima Donna?

Well, it's not for nothing that the Maharashtrian parents feed their boys and girls sabudana -the pearly white sago- in the form a a sabudana vada or sabudana khichadi from an early age. It is responsible for the glow in their (the kids') skin, the spring in their step (the kids') and a lot more.

Not all aspects of the mystique of Sabudana have been explored. If reports are to be believed, sabudana has a lot of other benefits. Both for males and females, their Sexiness Quotient (SQ) goes up manifold, making it easier to attract the opposite sex when they reach the appropriate age. Look around you, and you will see the truth of these reports. Unconfirmed reports also have it that Madhuri Dixit and Sachin Tendulkar owe their success to sabudana khichadi in large measure. Well, we'd have to check with their parents, but looking at the world-beaters Maharashtra regularly produces in various fields -not just cricket and Bollywood- I'd say there is some merit in this line of thinking.

Of course, the frequency and regularity of consumption is the key. Maybe one day, non-Maharashtrians will learn the secret recipe and produce Prima Donnas (or the male equivalent, Primo Uomos- I bet you didn't even know this word). Till then, you can just look at us, and be jealous of our kids (I didn't say us!).

Digging Into The Past Through Photographs

Photograph is more 'graphic' than pic, because it actually shows you a graph of your journey through life. Particularly when you are going through a lockdown like the present Covid-19 -20 one, you have some time to look back at the life you lived.

I have been enjoying this part of the lockdown- looking back at life through photos or pics. It helped that my parents were photography buffs, because that means I have a lot to look back on. Here are a few nuggets..

 With grandmom. (above)
SSB Selections which I failed.. no. 12 (below)

 With parents who were visiting the US. (above), and nieces, ditto, with their parents.

 My first day in the U.S, June 1986, with my brother.
My first day in a Gondola, Venice, 1987.

 Fooling around at a European beach, with sand covering.
My colleagues in ad agency New Horizons, CP, Delhi. (below)

 My sister, wife, and friends, Hyderabad terrace.
Deep dive, Bahamas

 Discussions with Dr. Gopi and Prof. Chary, KIAMS.

 Friends from engineering on a road trip. Srisailam.
Friends from IIM Bangalore, at a reunion.

 IIMB friends more recently, Bangalore.
My only stint in a play -Waiting For Lefty, IIMB.

 Taking a swing. (above)
Launching Marketing research, Edition 4, at IIM Indore.

 Heritage- not just the train.
Me and my alter-ego (below), Bombay Presidency Golf Club guest house.

The New Cool

Earlier, there were three ways to be cool. Two of them involved travel. The third involved running- that started roughly a year ago.

Now, all three are out. Therefore, we have had a rethink, and had to re-invent COOL. So here are some new ways-

1. Try out weird yoga poses, either real or invented.

2. Try out new recipes. They should look good, no matter the taste.

3. Jokes and memes about staying locked up- I mean locked in. You forward them, mostly.

4. Take selfies, usually with disastrous results. You know why. What used to be super-cool, is , let's just say, lukewarm? Still, it keeps you occupied.

5. Take Balcony shots (if you have one- Rohit Srivastava, no offense). If you don't have one, well, sneak into the neighbour's and get a quick shot.

6. Write an autobiography..nobody's tried it yet, but would be Super-cool, if they did. It's not an option, coz I already did it many years ago.

7. Develop a sense of humour. Tough to do, if you didn't have one already.

Halfway Mark at Covid Lockdown and the Future After

I think it was a bold and necessary step to lock down India -a vast country- for a period of three weeks. U.S.A. has not been able to bring itself to do that, nor the U.K. until recently.

The next step/s will also be critical. To isolate areas or cities with a large population (or even a significant small population) of likely spreaders, and current hot spots. If this is done well, and it may mean a spurt in detected cases- a good thing in the short run during lockdown- we may be able to prevent a larger disaster. The hot spots may need a further bunch of restrictions over a longer period, in my own view.

Either home delivery of groceries and medicines, or keeping small stores open with distancing being practiced will of course be required, and can be geared up once areas are identified that need it for longer periods. Migrant labour camps will also need to gear up and provide food and/or a kitchen and groceries.

Domestic flights except for the hotspots can be started at first, and then all domestic flights, in phases. International flights should be restricted to those who have a family emergency and can prove it..otherwise they can wait for a couple of months. Big congregations including malls, theatres will in my view, have to remain shut for a few more weeks. If not, gains made will be frittered away.

Sensible planning (and behaviour) may still carry the day. Let us hope so!

Harihar- Unique Days

My years (six and a half, 1995-2001) spent in Harihar, a small two-road town near Hubli, were unique in many ways. One of the unique things was the close relationship between everyone, the students, teachers and non-teaching staff. I still have fond memories, and occasionally meet the non-teaching staff from Harihar.

Raghavendra, Rajesh, Rajasekhar, Mr. Joshi (who passed away, was the librarian), Capt. Murukesan, Dr. Gopi, Karibasappa (aka Amitabh Bachhan), Parmeshwarappa, Pavan, Yuvaraj, Mehboob, KT Nagaraj, Umesh, were all like family, and we frequently went out for parties in the "best" restaurants in town- Narthaki was one- as equals. We also had a couple of picnics in rural Rajanahalli (river Tungabhadra) and Kondajji ( a hill-lake) nearby.

Many students from batch 1 to batch 4 that I was fortunate to interact with closely, are still in touch, from Dubai to Singapore, and in between. That feels great. Just in the last year, I have met Savitha, Sharmistha, Sunil Kataria, Shweta Agarwal, Nishka and Vikram, and before that, Achint, Padmapriya, Jogeswari, Dheeraj Mohan, Smita, Vidya TC and Swapna a couple of times at least..also Anushka Mishra and Zargar Basharat, though they are from recent batches that weren't around in my time (we met online first)!

Playing Golf (and learning from Sadanand who came from Belgaum) regularly was another unique feature. The caddies were among the best and taught us a few tricks! Made a few fast friends there, like Yashad Gaur, and my own colleagues Dhanapal and Vijayakumar, with whom I have played in various places.