Birthday Girl

 December brings up the birthday of my daughter no. 2- Pooja. Here are some pics from her years on the planet, to which she just added one. 

Ladakh above, and Udaipur, below.

Learning Golf, relaxing on a rickshaw.

Udaipur, and Pune at my book launch.

A conference with Prarthana, and mad hatters.

A bigger conference on Muthu's terrace. Deep thought, below

Perched on y shoulder, and learning to sing.

All smiles. With Mom.

From The Udder Side

 Some good definitions from the book- 

Judge- A chap who gets his sentences right by trial and error.

Mall- female Utopia.

Nepotism- the theory of relativity employed in an organisation.

Taxidermy- The art of stuffing humans into a cab.

Dart- A pointed missile usually directed at one's boss' photograph.

Faculty- what you lose control over when you agree to be a Dean.

Gastronomy- the study of flatulence in outer space.

Genie- a spirit coming alive when you hit the bottle.

Policy- when you are dying to make some money from insurance.

Tomb- a monument to die for.

Resolutions For 2021

 Pandemic-induced resolutions for 2021. Not just for me...

Cut the inflated ego about your intelligence. A little, invisible virus can lay you low, or leave you scared/scarred.

Meet your family more often, even if it's on Zoom. Ditto, friends. Though not as good as a personal meeting, it's better than NO meeting.

Make new friends, acquaintances, nurture old ones.

Listen to music of your choice. Helps avoid the blues/cure them. 

Buy books, read them. Write one too, if you can.

Eat what you like, but in moderation. Too many rules about what to eat are tough, this is far simpler.

Cricket matches don't matter..Golf, let me think about.

Celebrate little things..they happen every day. Waiting for the big thing to happen could be a long wait.

Drink tea that you like (this one's for me..Coffee, likewise, if you prefer)

Once things open up, travel..search for more destinations close to nature, and easier to travel to. Goa excluded!

Year 2020- A Wrap

 It started off innocuously enough. In fact I travelled in each of the three month before the thunderbolt hit us. Met a few alumni of IMT Nagpur, in Delhi and Mumbai, and went to a get-together of a music group in March first week, and got to Pune for a weekend, just after finishing my Marketing Research class. Did not realise that I would be stuck there for almost six months.. the lockdown began on 24th March.

There were good and bad things about the year. I met my Mom several times after the lockdown ended, at her place. Other relatives who live close to her too. Celebrated her 91st birthday on August 10, with a Zoom call, where she heard her favourite songs from old films too. But later in November, we lost her to complications from old age. We were happy that she was happy almost till the end, and that many of us were around. 

One of her pics from 2020. Pune.

Taught some Ph.D. courses on Zoom. Got back to IIM Indore campus, and started packing for my new destination- NMIMS (Narsee Monjee) at Bangalore. But also got a chance to train some enthusiastic students (Prachi, Akansh, Anusha and Shantanu) in playing Golf, and made friends with them as a result. So I now have a pal each from Bho-pal, Delhi, Ghaziabad, at least. I also got some lovely parting gifts from them.

Got to Bangalore without a mishap, and Agarwal Packers did their part of the job. Joining an institution where students are not on campus is a new experience, but I have met most faculty and staff in person, and that's a start. 

A couple of nieces, and a couple of ex-students became mothers for the first time, and that was a big plus. Some got married, and others got new jobs and moved.

It was not as horrible as it seemed, at the end. But still, hoping for a better and brighter 2021 for all, like many of you. Some goals for the coming year are to get re-acquainted with Bengaluru hudugas and hudugis (boys and girls), and new (to me) students/alumni of NMIMS. We might do a virtual Convocation/Graduation soon-that'll be a first too.

And yes, I made my first video- on Personal Branding-thanks to a former student, Shailaja Gupta Kapoor, who also kindly lauded me for my courage!

Personal Branding- Now on Video

 I had earlier written about Personal Branding and how one might go about achieving success in it. My views, strictly, based on experience. 

Now, as a result of Shailaja Gupta Kapoor's efforts (She is a former student, from IIM Indore) combined with those of Priyadarshini from IIM Jammu, I have a video version, for those who like the visual medium better.

Take a look, and let me know what you think.. Here's the link. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR0BvP2jCHoyuAW-BVbYjgv6Tt0Wq-S4Svdcjo0CYedoQp2Z7E6OmWmyguU&v=FdBOh4JntM4&feature=youtu.be

An earlier writeup about the same topic can be found here- http://rnargundkar.blogspot.com/2020/12/my-two-cents-on-personal-branding.html

Two Types of People

 Trying to classify people is not easy. But this is a practical classification, with no claims to scientific proof. Put simply, those who give you positive vibes, and those who don't. Like the P and N junctions in electronics, if you will. 

Among the positive, there may be further categories- like the Excited Electrons, super-enthusiastic types. They are bubbling with ideas, or enthusiasm, or both. They have banished the word Excuse from their dictionary. They will not say no to anything that comes their way, from God, or from his representative-the boss, I mean. 

Frequently, you find students who are in this category..not a lot of them, but some. A large number are found among the Doctoral students- there must be a correlation, I'm sure. (Ha, ha). But generally, these enthusiastic people carry the organisation forward. The naysayers may have their uses in keeping you from trying stunts that can take you off a cliff and prevent disasters, but they generally sap everyone's enthusiasm. 

I was reading a book recently about a theory of the universe, which said that desire drives everything, and that each element (even the smallest one) in it is autonomous, and makes choices or decisions, rather than one single, all-knowing entity. If you think about it, we do have choices, and we do pick pathways on how to go about each day. And the days turn into months and years, finally taking us where (hopefully) where we wanted to go. So it's up to us to avoid people of a certain type, and spend more time with the positives (excluding the Corona positives, for the time being).

Governance Made Simple

 In school, we were asked to write essays such as "If I Became President/Prime Minister/Chief Minister.." etc. where you could write about your childish fantasies, and be happy. I am no longer a child, and I am not writing an essay. Just bear with me. This is one and only one Mantra for Successful Governance, in my view. Ok, we'll call it Customer or Citizen-oriented Governance, maybe.

The Mantra is just this- Keep it Simple. Air Deccan used to have a slogan- Simplifly. I would recommend the same. For instance, why need people to go stand in line? Most government services can be home-delivered, if there is a will. A small additional charge is cheaper than wasting a citizen's time, energy and effort in finding which office to go to, and waiting endlessly with file pushers and gatekeepers looking for excuses to delay everything. If we want to progress from being a third-world country to a First rate one, an opportunity is in governance. Singapore has shown the way in many ways. 

Visa processes exemplify this in another sphere. I will henceforth only travel to countries that have a paperless visa not requiring a visit to the Consulates, or have a visa on arrival. Why should I subject myself to red tape and multiple visits to their consulates? They are not pretty tourist attractions, after all. 

Anyway, I think I have made my point. Let's exit red tape, bureaucracy, and meaningless paperwork which are all relics of the past- or should be, anyway.

Fun With Brexit

 Not sure if anybody takes the former Colonial Boss seriously anymore. But here's a small further attempt at not taking them seriously- Brexit jokes, in other words. Or more accurately, jokes that are inspired by the word Brexit.

What are these?

Cakexit..no, it's leaving a room which has an excess of cake. That day is not far, we are at December 23rd, right now.

Teaxit..taking down the truly English drink. Refusing a tete-a-tete over tea, in other words.

Coffexit- similar to the above, additionally proving that a lot does not happen over coffee, putting that advertising line in the CAN.

White Housexit- Throwing tantrums that force new inhabitants to evict you from the White House.

Sexit- Taking anything inherently dull, and performing some plastic surgery to enhance parts of it.

Textit- this is not a joke, it's asking someone to send you a text. As in SMS or Messenger.

Bullshit..it's nothing to do with the U.K, -it's found all over the world..universal xxx.

10 Books on Management

 You may or may not need to do an MBA if you read these books- most of them available in paperback editions.

Corporate Strategy by Igor Ansoff.

Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

The Mind of the Strategist by Kenichi Ohmae

The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt

The Seven Day Weekend by Ricardo Semler

These are not text-bookish at all, are fun to read and will teach you most of the management that you will need. Strategy, Marketing, Operations and Human Resources Management. Other important books..

Henry Mintzberg's The Nature of Managerial Work

The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker

Customers for Life by Carl Sewell

Psychology is About People by H.J. Eysenck

The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki

Any book by Seth Godin might be a good addition to these. 

3 Weeks at NMIMS Bangalore

 It has been an interesting 3 weeks at Bangalore in my new job with NMIMS here as director. Strange circumstances that have seen no students on the campus physically yet. Hopefully, we may see a few in the coming weeks, though it depends on multiple factors including State government guidelines and how COVID plays out. Vaccination has started abroad, but the U.S. and Europe data on current rate of infections is not exactly encouraging. Lockdowns are back in lots of places. 

But we did manage a few distanced meetings among faculty colleagues at NMIMS, and we are still grappling with COVID-related issues like everyone else in education, I guess. Mostly, everybody has become comfortable with online modes of learning and evaluation. We also have marketing campaigns running for our Executive programs and Undergraduate programs, both of which are a part of our portfolio at Bangalore's two campuses. One undergrad program that I find very interesting is the B. Sc. in Applied Statistics and Analytics. It's cutting edge, and the need of today.

Remotely chaired a conference session too, at the IMS-NASMEI Conference today (Dec. 18, 2020)..a good substitute for the Great Lakes NASMEI conference that I usually attend physically this time of the year, in Chennai. Might also experiment with a Zoom session on Personal Branding for a former student. based on how it goes, you may see more of me on some Youtube forums..just a friendly warning.

Also began to catch up on old friends. Savitha (below) for example, who is from the first batch of Kirloskar Institute, Harihar. We have met regularly since those days. 

Places That I Remember Visiting

 Some unusual places first.

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, where 4 Presidential faces are carved into a mountain, in the U.S.. 

Kodikkarai, on the east coast of Tamilnadu, a nice drive from the deep.

Daman, on the West Coast, a tipplers' delight for those from the Dry state of Gujarat. Daman is a Union Territory which does not have Prohibition.

Tirunelveli, in the deep South again, known for its halwa- a gooey, colourful sweet that is made really well. Calicut also made something similar, I remember.

Chilika Lake, in Orissa/Odisha, that I visited in 1991, with a friend. The waters were choppy, and our boat was not confidence-inspiring.

Pulicat Lake (another Salt Water lake) and the Dutch Cemetery. The Cemetery is badly kept, but worth a visit. The lake, even more worthy of a visit and a boat ride. Near Chennai.

Ethipothala waterfall is near Nagarjuna Sagar dam in Telangana, and the waterfall is visible from a tourist cottage set up opposite.

Jog Falls, Karnataka. Majestic in the rainy season. Climbed down to the base a couple of times..it's a steep climb back.

NMIMS Bangalore

 Some of our offerings..at the city campus in Koramangala 

The campus.. includes a terrace on the 5th.

The facade, and the programs offered here- two are part time (one below and a general one-last pic), while the Banking &Fin Services program with CRISIL is full-time.

Memories of Bangalore

 I passed the Silk Board junction yesterday. Brought back memories, not all good. But the good ones were of joining PESIT in my first academic leadership role, with a set of 15 faculty and 120 MBA students. A university affiliated system in India was new, and some challenges were to transcend its limitations. We did Ok, with a journal being published (PES Business Review), case method adopted by many faculty, and training programs and conferences being done. An international collaboration with Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania too.

Then came a brief stint at IFIM in Electronic City. New colleagues, and we tried new things in admissions, touring 30 centres to admit students from all over India. I went as far as Dehradun and Amritsar, apart from Chandigarh, Udaipur and Jaipur. We achieved our target.

One common feature of places I was in-charge of, were the FDPs or faculty development programs we ran for our own and other B school faculty. On research methodology, or Case method of teaching/learning, Case writing, etc. that saw good participation. Alumni connect was also strengthened in most places I worked in, and continues to this day.

Of course, the metro railway is new, and the pubs and microbreweries have grown in number since then. 2020 was a peculiar year due to the COVID pandemic, but there's a lot to explore in Bangalore.

Friends of All Ages

 I have friends across age groups. They range from about 3 to 70 plus.. and I keep making new friends fairly regularly. Here is a run-down on a few..

Friend's Mom who was also a friend, L.A. above. Anushka, an FB friend turned friend, below.

Above, musically minded friends, young and old. Below, IITD friends, new and old...equal number of

 beasts and beauties in this one!

A very useful friend, above, who did my makeup for a wedding. and below, friends of different ages- the bride, her dad and his dad at the same wedding.

Naveen, ex-Ph.D. student, with Mohan, ex-PGDM student from XIMB. Lionel and Nethravathi (the river in Mangalore), below. 

Group of faculty and a kid taking lessons, above, and students from Indore, below.. 

An IMT gang below, and Fanni and Bharti at a conference, above.

Harshad and wife, above.

Prachi, and Akansh, latest friends and Golf converts. Indore.

Varunika, and Pratyush, with their Mom. Karaoke party.

Maya, my niece, above, and Manjari's kid (no longer so little) below.

and Amyra, my latest cute 3 year-old friend..above and below.

A Tribute to My Mother

 She passed away at the ripe old age of 91, with no regrets. I know, because she said so, many a time. Our expected life span is probably around 70-odd years, in most cases. And some of us are afflicted with ailments large and small, in our old age. Barring a pace-maker in her heart, she had none of those ailments-in fact, she treated with homeopathy, many others who needed help, till recently. 

The pandemic actually gave me a chance to meet her more often than otherwise, as I got stuck in Pune and was teaching from there, my classes at IIM Indore. So it was that we celebrated her 91st birthday on August 10, with a Zoom call the previous day, and a cake-cutting on the 10th with a couple of cousins. She was happy, and listened to a few Youtube videos of her favourite Hindi songs from yesteryear.

Of course, she led a remarkable life, first as a medical student, and then at CMC Vellore for her housemanship, and then as a doctor at Dhanbad/Katras in the coalfield hospitals, before moving South. I was born at Kothagudem, in the Singareni Collieries regional headquarters. We moved to Bellampalli and Ramagundam along the way. She (and my dad) settled in Pune in 1989 after retiring, and lived in the same house till Nov. 2020. She travelled a lot, when she was mobile, visiting my brother in the US a couple of times, and Malaysia and Rajasthan with a travel agency. Also spent time at Hyderabad occasionally, at my sister's. Had a Bridge-players' club going at her own house till 3 years ago. Regularly hosted visitors who came from her past, relatives included. Food and laughter was always on the menu. 

Her life was fulfilling, and happy. What more could we ask for, as her kids? She wanted to be home, not in a hospital, at the end. She got her wish. Some pics..

On her doorstep above, and studying the menu in Hyderabad (below)

Beach near Shrivardhan, with my cousin. (above)

Wacka-doo with her niece, my cousin a couple of years ago.

Anopheles and Covid Vaccines

 Anopheles was back once again after a while, and I gave her a quick update on the COVID situation in India and the world. I said, "This has proved more dangerous than anything that mosquitoes have done to us." She couldn't resist a smile. She said, "Aren't you supposed to have a vaccine?"

I told her the truth. basically, that we don't know if and when we would have one. I said, "Oxford has a vaccine coming up that may be the one.." . She said, "What about Cambridge?"

I said I didn't know, though I was wondering how she knew that Oxford and Cambridge were usually spoken about in the same breath.

I told her Sputnik was the first one off the mark, but it went UP in smoke, and has not been heard of since. Also, that China does not need one, since there is no outbreak there any more. She raised her eyebrows (OK, its equivalent..mosquitoes don't have eyebrows, I know). 

"Are you going to take a shot if they want to give you one?" she asked, putting me in a spot.

"I really don't know," I said. "I don't know if enough of them will be available anytime soon. Plus, the data on its efficacy is a bit sketchy." 

My Two Cents on Personal Branding

 For what it's worth, I will share my thoughts on the subject. 

1. Being an expert counts, so be good, very good, at at least one thing. Could be photography. I know lots of brilliant photographers, and I remember them because of it, whoever they may be otherwise.
2. Develop a human quality that's memorable-courteous behaviour in these rude times can be one. Kindness towards animals (all, not some) could be another. Maneka Gandhi first became a brand through animal activism.
3. Be active on whichever forum you choose to be on. Could be a real or social medium. A blog, Twitter, facebook, instagram, LinkedIn,..choose any one, but be regular on the chosen one. 
4. Multiple dimensions of a personality will help, not hinder. Be an expert at one, but also have multiple interests-that will develop you as a person, and a brand. (Brand Reinforcement). Some people write well ( I have a ghost-writer friend), some sing, and some dance (I have a student who teaches modern dance now). I listen to music-golden oldies in Hindi. Some have an interest in art-drawing, painting etc. and others in cooking! A prof. friend is into Chess-playing.
5. Meet people when possible. I have benefited from every person I have met, almost. They always have a fresh perspective that you never thought about. Which brings me to the next point. Brand Rejuvenation.
6. Keep evolving, and learning. Some people change wardrobes. Learning goes deeper, and you can do it through reading, watching good films, TV or OTT shows too.
7. Keep away from trash, time-wasters (fixed Sports, hateful or propagandist media) and instead DO things-relax, even, or meet a new person. If nothing, go for a walk, or travel solo.
8. Get a good photographer as a friend, to help you create memories to stand by (I have appointed Kanika Mhendiratta, my former student-she's on her way to click some pics!). Take a lot of pics yourself, and share them.
9. Last tip. Keep records, or archives of your journey. (Brands with a long memory of their history are valued more). A diary, if possible. 

A shorter video version of this is available at the link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR03jSS4JVs78nDFqLEtUb5Vs9P1WHxmzRBHH-FyhbPoP-PPN-Z00rwQv-o&v=FdBOh4JntM4&feature=youtu.be